#especially anything with a sentient crystal

[dongbangskies]

Deaths in FFXIV

They are so tragic but so beautiful because the focus is not the death itself but memory and who it has left behind.

Spoilers for Post ARR under the cut

I think its so beautiful that they did that because its reflects reality. This game does it so well.

This game set is good. So good.

For example, the Final Steps of Faith hurt more than the Vault or Ysayle sacrificing herself.

Or when Minifillia said her final goodbyes in the scene before she leaves for the First. Her thanking her friends for carrying on her hope. The first time we saw her as the Word of the Mother didn’t hurt nearly as much.

Or even earlier, the mourning of Moenbryda.

and the most recent for me, Papalymo.

Lyse's small dialogue in the duty to awaken Omega where she's like "Are you watching Papalymo?" and her constant reminder of his memory is way sadder than his actual death.

Some of the other deaths in FF (ex Noctis and Lunafreya or all of Type 0) have been sad but it was for the moment. This one keeps bringing it back and really drives it home.

This game set nails it.

[snowfolly]

Devoured

Astarion has only known hunger, be it for gold or for blood in the two and a half centuries of his existence. He feels that he can never be satiated, at least not until he meets you.

Astarion x GN reader | 1,295 words

CW: References to Astarion’s past abuse, sexual content, cursing, vampire feeding, blood

(Thanks so much to @brabblesblog for doing such a stellar job beta’ing this for me! If anything’s still messed up that’s on me)

Read this on Ao3

-

It seemed to Astarion that all he had ever known was hunger. Before his death he had only been peckish though; he had gathered a taste for riches and glamour rising through the ranks of Baldurian society.

He had sampled the gilded crumbs of debauchery amongst the elite and he had found them quite to his liking. He had enrobed himself in silks and diamonds, had sipped wine from gold and crystal goblets, both of which cost more than most peasants would ever see in a lifetime. He had indulged in carnal pursuits, used to grandstand and garnish attention, and ultimately he had become a glutton for power — power which led to his famine.

(More under the cut)

Astarion has never known true hunger like the ever-unsatiated, unnatural emptiness that has taken over every shred of his being after his untimely death. He is voracious, animalistic; violently craving the blood of sentient creatures every single second of his pathetic undead existence.

But he had been denied that abundance every single one of those countless seconds.

He had been starved to the brink of madness for nearly two hundred years.

But he hasn’t been broken.

He had been fed cold, fetid rats when he yearned for the warmth of red blood coursing through sentient veins. Astarion longingly imagined the feeling of his fangs sinking through supple flesh as his victim panted below him, his teeth so tantalizingly close to their neck as they moaned in ecstasy, knowing that even if he lived another five hundred years he’d never experience anything other than the hands of countless strangers on his body as he starved.

He’d known nothing but humiliation as his body begged him to bite. Just fucking bite. Feed and feel satisfied for the first time in centuries…

But he could not obey his own urges, could obey nothing but his cruel master.

But he hasn’t been broken.

He would never forget those nightmarish years, never forget that starvation — not ever in his eternal lifetime , but he could dull that time of horror whenever he’s with you.

In his time on the road with you the vampire spawn has felt the ecstasy his fangs sinking through sentient flesh many times; not so many that he’d ever forget the endless years of desperation, of course, but he has tasted the blood of many sentient beings and has found it delectable. He relishes in their quickened pulse as he takes their lifeblood, panicked and struggling as they regret their choice to ambush your party.

And as delightful as all that is, it is nothing compared to the blood you gave him freely, intimately.

When he had decided for himself that he wanted space to figure his life out and what he wished for himself, to rediscover what had been lost after so many years as an unwilling thrall, you had readily given him that space. It was a dark time in a dark and hollow land, and again he starved. Despite his revelation to you of how he manipulated you, you had readily offered your wrist to him so that it didn’t have to be as intimate as feeding from your neck if he didn’t want to.

And so Astarion took your offer; in the dark of his tent, he lapped at your wrist and took sustenance as you gently stroked his silver-white curls with your free hand, comforting him deeply as he fed. You had asked if you could touch him first, of course, and he had smiled at you, nodding, before kissing your wrist and biting as gently as he could;opening up a vein, allowing enough blood to flow.

During this time his mind was burdened with many regrets, especially at how your relationship had started. He had slept with you a few times as payment, in a way, for keeping him safe. You hadn’t known that, of course.

You had thought Astarion was attracted to you when he propositioned you, and he was , of course he was — but that wasn’t the reason he had sex with you in the first place. He had nothing else to give, and using his body as a bargaining chip yet again was something that he had grown to deeply regret as you spent more time together, laughing and telling stories, learning about one another while being faced with neverending horrors and the potential for the most horrifying of fates.

You helped him when he needed it, you shared with him what little you had, you gave him your promise that you’d destroy his former master — and of course in time you did. You actually listened to him, the first time anyone had ever truly done so in hundreds of years. And then you gave him space.

The spawn’s sluggish, undead heart hadn’t truly been his own for two centuries, but in his freedom he had plucked it back from Cazador’s icy grip and had learned what it meant to carry such a heavy, guilty thing beneath his ribs. It had been a grim host to the horrors that had been wrought against him and of those he had inflicted on others.

But it isn’t broken, and he made room in his heart for you.

He helps you when you need it, he shares with you what little he can, and he promises you that he’ll be by your side through all the horrors yet to come.

He has listened to you; after hundreds of years of tuning out the prattle of his victims and the vile words of his master, he has truly heard your voice. He has grown to care for you… to eventually love you. Gods, more than anything he loves you.

You are so much more than he feels he deserves, and when he had felt like being intimate with you once again it was so much different than all the years he had spent having uninterested sex with a stranger, some poor victim that he knew would be dead by the morning. He had been forced to use intimacy as a weapon for so long that he thought he’d had his fill of it for good, wasn’t sure that he could ever truly see it in a positive light again.

But with you, he did. On that night in the graveyard every kiss was thoughtful, every movement, breath and touch was with passion; at the first thrust into you it was pure pleasure, almost like it was truly the first time and you both only knew love, and love and love.

He had never imagined he would ever love and be loved in return, had never experienced it before death and had certainly thought he’d never do so in the hell of his undeath, but here you two were. Laying together on his grave under the moonlight, both fully clothed once again, your body heat warming him like a miniature sun.

In Astarion’s long life he had tasted riches and extravagance that had left him wanting ever more; had laid starving upon filthy damp stone, begging uncaring gods for just a taste of blood, just a drop. He knew that unless his curse was lifted he would never be free from this gnawing hunger - he could never in a million years devour enough blood to satiate that undead thirst.

But laying here with you, stroking your hair as you doze, he feels his reclaimed heart overflowing with warmth, better than anything that can ever flow from a golden chalice or an open vein. He can never recall a time before that he has ever felt so happy, so loved.

He gazes at you in awe, now sleeping peacefully at his side and Astarion realizes that he is truly satisfied for the first time in his life.

[internetskiff]

Breen's unfortunately pretty underrated amongst the Valve antagonists, which I suppose is understandable compared to the likes of GLaDOS or The Administrator, but just like those two I feel like there's plenty of things to talk about when it comes to him. He seems like a very conflicted character, especially if you take into account the BreenGrub account and Laidlaw's Epistle 3. First of all is, of course, the leadup to the Black Mesa incident, with the G-Man seemingly making an offer to Breen which seemingly involved overloading the Anti-Mass Spectrometer while processing an extremely pure sample of Xen Crystal - and yes, while it's pretty obvious that the order to overload the systems was very intentional and motivated by whatever deal they struck, I believe that when it comes to the aftermath he may have been sold on a lie. Considering his actions as Administrator of Earth being entirely in the interests of keeping Humanity from feeling the full force of the Combine, I don't think "Becoming the de facto leader of all of Earth" was on his agenda. Perhaps G-Man promised that whatever their deal would entail would bring about a prosperous future for humanity, perhaps all he promised was the possibility of establishing contact with another sentient species (which is something he technically did provide), or perhaps it was something else - there's simply way too much room for speculation there, I think.

A little detail from a HL:A newspaper implies that his position as Earth's administrator wasn't exactly handed to him on a silver platter, instead he had to go out of his way to reach out to the governments with information on how to communicate with the invaders, at which point, already beaten down by Combine forces, they simply gave him the all-clear to speak for all of mankind. This still begs the question of who, or what, gave him the knowledge of how to speak with them - however, it's safe to say if they didn't, Earth would've been left a smoldering pile of rocks and withered carcasses. Once again, he acts with Humanity's best interests in mind, having to choose between the lesser of two evils - it's either enslavement or extinction. He simply chose the option in which Humanity would survive, even if just for a little while longer.

And ever since, we're watching the aftermath. He's trying to talk the last generation of Humanity down, so they may either pass of old age or be absorbed into the Combine - at least if that happens, something gets preserved. Once again, the alternative? They'll just wipe the slate once they get the local teleportation technology they desire. Breen sees no other way than to go along with their demands. He's eventually proven wrong, of course, but he refuses to see the Rebellion as anything but a suicidal march towards the extinction of the human race, and he sticks to that belief up until he is killed by Gordon at the tip of the Citadel. Of course, this doesn't make him a good person. Not at all. This belief has lead him to seek out and destroy anyone who tries to resist. He shows no sympathy to them. He paints them as fools. He himself believes it so. This intense hatred for anyone who resists is seen perfectly in how he treats the Vance family. He views them as fools. As narrow-minded rabble in the streets, senselessly struggling against a tide beyond their comprehension. He's willing to send off a father and his daughter into a world far beyond simply to use them as a bargaining chip. Listening to the two comfort eachother as they're almost raised up to a fate surely worse than death, the only expression on his face is that of pure contempt and annoyance. He's a very fascinating character that I wish Valve would explore again if they ever do another Half Life set during a time period in which he was still alive. He's a coward that easily bends to the oppressor, yet in the end he only does it to make sure something survives. He's cruel to those who resist because he's completely convinced they're going to get everyone killed. He is the Combine's perfect puppet.

haha anyhoo so why was he straight up serving on the magazine covers in HL:A like what was up with all that

[btas-swap-au]

Introduction and pinned post to the my In Stars and Time Swap Au. Is the title lazy? Maybe. Post is subjected to updates in future, so pay attention. Or don't. I'll probably tell you if I change anything.

Please tell if I start rambling in any of my posts thanks or if something isn't full clear.

BEYOND TIME AND STARS (IN STARS AND TIME SWAP AU)

THE SWAPS!

I've done my best to make sure the characters feel unique yet similar to their vanilla counterparts. However there are some changes to their personalities.

Here's the main cast:

Siffrin - The Scholar. Swaps with Odile. Came across the party (Mirabelle, Isabeau, Odile) while attempting to research Sadnessees, helping them fight and joined them. While intelligent, they hold onto a certain pride that gets in the way of being fully honest. Scared of being touched. Obsessively keeps a journal of all their craft skills as well as enemies, all coming with a pun. Unable to take things fully seriously. Keeps a coin around, enjoys taking heads and tails bets. Loves crystals and minerals. Stuck in a time loop.

Odile - The Bandit. Swaps with Siffrin. Got beaten down by Mirabelle and Isabeau who she tried to rob while drunk on the open road, who held her tied up for a few days before they trusted her and left her go. Left home as she wanted to make something for herself than let the Universe lead her along (Ka Bue takes the Universe leads ideology). Carries her mom's familytale around like a burden unable to let go off. Lost an eye protecting the party from a large sadness attack. Unlike the Odile in the base game, she acts more jaded, and cares deeply for the party. Fast and steady.

Mirabelle - The Hunter. Swaps with Isabeau. An exiled housemaiden from the House of Eternity who became disillusioned with the religion and rebelled. Lived alone in a forest, only entering local towns for trade. The one who originally started the adventure, hearing about the Emperor's curse and her good nature couldn't let herself stand by and do nothing. Does her best to be gentle, but she's slightly more rougher and confident than ISAT Mirabelle. People are still charmed, though (Everyone loves a rebel). Never feels comfortable unless her survival gear is in arms reach.

Isabeau - The Guardian. Swaps with Mirabelle. During his transition process in one of the Eternity houses in Jouvente, stumbles across a certain charm bracelet, which he decides to wear as it makes him feel stronger. However, when the curse strikes, it turns out the charm protects him from becoming a "Husk", and many believed he has been blessed by Eternity. Pressured, he accepts it. Mirabelle comes upon Jouvente, requesting for the help of any of the Jouvente knights of Eternity for help. Instead, they volunteer Isabeau to go, which he happily accepts, hoping to escape the responsibility of home. Instant friends with Mirabelle (extremely one-sided for a very long time).

Nille - The Teen. Swaps with Bonnie. The party originally stumbles upon her passed out amongst a group of defeated Sadnessees. She had passed out from hunger and dehydration, which the party quickly help her with. After hearing their story, she becomes insistent on joining them. Extremely shaky and nervous, especially with body contact, bonds with Siffrin over this. Good at martial arts and wielding massive hammers, but still a cook in training. Extremely low confidence, often falling behind in the chain of cheers ("Hip" "Hip" "Was I supposed to do something"). Misses their sibling Bonnie greatly.

The Emperor - The King, swapped with the Change God. Maniacal, Evil, Giant Ice Pick wielding Villain who took over Vaugarde and resides in the warped House of Eternity. Unleashed a curse known as "The Emptiness". Souls are frozen in time, but the bodies are kept alive, muttering and speaking any lines they can muster, husks of their former selves. Madnesses (Sadness replacements) are fully sentient creatures that are formed by the madness within people, payed in literal peanuts by the Emperor to do their work. Defying time has left a reality scar on them, making them speak in a strange manner (>_<). Blows bubbles of insanity that turn one into a husk upon contact. Wears a crown that looks like antlers.

Loop - Nothing has changed about them that differs from Vanilla, besides calling Siffrin "Gemstone" now. A big fan of entertainment, jokes, and being cheekily mysterious. Sits under The Favour Tree.

Zero - A diamond headed entity that exists as another guide alongside Loop, much to both of their dismay. Enjoys practicality, results, and efficency. Calls Siffrin "Subject". Sits on top of the stump of The Giving Tree.

Other things to say about this au:

- Certain new characters.

- Floor Bosses have personalities.

- Ghostfrin is their own character with their own questline.

- The Bomb is now a Firework.

- Instead of scripts and plays, Siffrin is more into games and puzzles.

- ENEMIES ALSO SWAP! Is it weird I've very enthusiastic about this.

NAVIGATION

Below will be links to posts I have. A page of contents, if you will. Very possibly in chronological order, I won't guarantee it though.

MISC

The Swap Gang

Enemy Swaps:

Enemy Swap 1: "Mensonge, Creux and Fierté" plus "Intrusif Trois"

ACT 1

Prologue + Waking up

An Elderly Gal on a bench

ACT 2

FLOOR BOSS 1: THE MASTER, BIG BALL HEAD (Pre-fight)

ACT 3

Zero and Loop, Together (Part 1) Ghostfrin, Encounter Four: Meet NIRFFIS

ACT 4

A Room Of Remembrance: Poem

ACT 5

ACT 6

[popatochisssp]

tell us more about underfell fruition? :)

tw for confinement and medical abuse and abuse in general

Underfell Fruition

A young Sans’ attempt to escape his creator, the Royal Scientist, is a failure.

No one hears anything about it.

Life continues as normal for everyone Underground, with few exceptions.

A handful of shop owners around the Capital and the researchers working in the Royal Labs may notice that Dr. Gaster is sending a lot of new interns around on his errands instead of the young skeleton he had doing it, but nobody is especially surprised—the only surprising thing about it is that the guy had lasted so long.

The Royal Scientist gets bored of his interns easily, and everyone knows that.

Gaster is and continues to be a force to be reckoned with, a fearsome reputation and easily the power and ruthlessness to back it up.

They say he’s loyal only to Emperor Asgore himself, and he considers anyone less as utterly beneath him, minions to do his bidding and stepping stones along his path.

(Fodder for his experiments, the rumors say too, but there’s no evidence of that.)

(He’s far too careful for there to be evidence.)

Asgore allows the Royal Scientist the freedom to operate as he pleases, in spite of the doctor’s somewhat ill repute, for all the impressive work he does with the carte blanche he’s given, resulting in significant military advancements for monsterkind.

As the years go by, Gaster happily proves his worth, producing many innovations that will be invaluable when the time comes to seize the final human soul, shatter the Barrier, and take back the Surface by force.

His most famed creation is a device which produces magic limitlessly, boundless energy for its user to draw upon as if it were their own, infinite bullets and fighting potential without tiring or running dry—no one knows what it looks like save the Emperor and the Captain of the Royal Guard, but they vouch that it does exactly as advertised.

Gaster is still working on expanding the use of the device to more than one monster at a time, but its potential is clear.

In the meantime, while he gets the math to work on that, he hasn’t been idle.

His latest feat of engineering, painstakingly perfected, is a living war-machine that he calls 2P.

2P, while not truly sentient, is capable of comprehending orders given to it and employing basic problem-solving skills and intensive physical training to obey those orders with swift, devastating precision.

An army of monster-shaped weapons of its kind is a tantalizing prospect—soldiers for the upcoming war that won’t think or feel or do anything but drive forward, with unrelenting force…

But first, it needs a field test, to see if it’s viable.

Gaster lends 2P to the services of the Royal Guard, with instructions on how to command it and to report back when—not if—it satisfies all conditions of whatever tests and trials they put it through.

Captain Undyne is…far from satisfied.

Not with 2P’s performance, of course, for its strength and speed and obedience are everything the Royal Scientist advertised it would be.

But…

There are signs she’s seeing, things she’s noticing as she works with 2P that she…really wishes she wasn’t.

2P isn’t supposed to feel pain, but she’s caught it wincing or favoring something after a heavy blow.

It isn’t supposed to think for itself, but she’s seen it in Waterfall, gazing out over the glowing pools and sparkling crystals with an expression she can only describe as ‘thoughtful.’

It’s not supposed to be sentient…but she saw it, smiling when she told her soldiers a stupid joke during training—and she saw fear in its eye-sockets when it realized she was looking, before it went coolly, irreproachably blank again.

It’s only a suspicion, a gut feeling pushing insistently through the denial, but…

Undyne doesn’t think 2P is an ‘it.’

And if ‘it’ isn’t, that’s a very, very big problem.

She can’t report this to Gaster.

If 2P is more than a living construct meant only for battle, then telling its creator, the man with complete power over it, in charge of whether it lives or dies, is the absolute last thing she should ever do.

Emperor Asgore…

Well, she trusts Asgore, but…he’s a busy monster, weighed down by duty and grief as much as he’s always been and he trusts Gaster—as questionable a choice as that is. If it came down to the Royal Scientist’s word against her ‘gut feeling’…

She needs proof.

Something solid to open an investigation over, to really do it by the book.

Luckily, she may have an in.

One of Gaster’s assistants, a former intern, with rumors flying that she could even be his successor, if she lasts long enough.

Alphys is close to the Royal Scientist, and has clearly honed the ability to keep her mouth shut—which will be very useful for Undyne if it turns out that she’s trying to open up Pandora’s Box with her digging.

The young doctor is thankfully very willing to assist with the very very hot Captain’s covert investigation and freely shares all she knows.

Definitely only in the interest of cooperating with the law.

Yes.

But well, she is suspicious of Gaster herself and has been for some time—not because of 2P, but because of his ‘magic-creating’ device.

Alphys is a scientist and its never sat right with her, the idea of magic being created from nothing. It’s not possible, it should be coming from somewhere! But her boss always brushed off her questions, and when he started giving her looks, the same kind of looks he gave people who lost their jobs and were never seen again…she stopped asking questions.

Gaster is almost certainly up to something shady, and if the Guard is getting involved, maybe now they have a chance to figure out what.

Unfortunately, Alphys wasn’t brought in until well after 2P’s completion. She was never allowed to be involved in any of his training and refinement, so she isn’t much help there…

She does make an attempt to pull up its documentation, but what she can access is heavily redacted, and the rest is locked behind Gaster’s credentials.

The most she can find is a mention of an earlier iteration, a 1S, but nothing about it beyond it being put into storage, and nothing at all after that point.

It’s most likely just a failed prototype, but it could be a place to start, if they can track it down to wherever it’s been stored.

It takes a lot more digging, some risky exploration and a bit of hacking into systems she definitely should not have access to, but Alphys manages to find what she thinks is the ‘storage’ mentioned in the notes—an extremely deep basement level of the Royal Labs, far below the other floors and not shown on any blueprints, locked up tight.

She can’t investigate further…but Undyne can.

A gut feeling isn’t cause for a search, but a secret unsanctioned dungeon beneath the labs that no one knows about with such high security…?

That’s something that warrants the Emperor’s notice.

Asgore is not best pleased to hear that his Royal Scientist has kept such a secret from him.

He orders that Gaster be detained pending further investigation, and is quite unpleasantly surprised when—even at his order—Gaster refuses to cooperate and allow access to the elevator down.

Undyne takes Alphys and 2P with her to investigate anyway. If Alphys can’t hack the door, then 2P should be able to brute-force it.

Besides, whatever’s down there… 2P’s probably seen it before and can help handle it.

What they find…is not pretty.

There’s evidence there, the dust of monsters Gaster ‘disappeared’ because they got in his way, or simply because he could.

Shambling amorphous creatures that once were monsters, Fallen Down and resurrected with DT, only to melt into each other, amalgamated beings. ‘Impervious to damage,’ the Royal Scientist had written of the poor souls he kept locked away, ‘possibly useful, further testing needed.’

And…far back, in the very last room—barely the size of a broom-closet—a skeleton.

Another skeleton, strapped down to a chair and hooked up to more monitoring equipment than even Alphys has seen at one time before.

This one is nothing at all compared to 2P, short where 2P is tall, frail where 2P is sturdy, sickly-looking and seemingly half-dead where 2P is strong and healthy and alive.

“Th-this…must be 1S—”

“SANS.”

The captain and the doctor both jump to realize that 2P was the one who said it.

It doesn’t speak again though, for all that it’s staring very intently at the other skeleton in room, utterly frozen and immovable in the face of this sick and terrible discovery.

Because…the thing is…

………

He was just…gone, one day.

Their creator never spoke his name again.

He wouldn’t acknowledge him, that he’d ever existed.

And 2P…

He…forgot.

He tried to forget, because Sans wasn’t real.

Sans was never real, Sans was something he made up to pretend he wasn’t alone in a horrible place with a horrible man who said he wasn’t a ‘he,’ he was an ‘it’—and he had to forget any stupid ideas he had that he was anything but an object, a tool meant to take orders and obey and don’t think, never think, never want, never be anything but 2P.

Never be…

Papyrus.

He is…Papyrus.

And his brother is real.

Alive, though just barely.

1S—or, Sans, apparently, takes some time to come around from his heavily-sedated, comatose state, but all too eager to cooperate with the strange monsters hovering over him when he sees his brother is among their number.

The story as he tells it is this.

He and Papyrus were creations of the Royal Scientist, created from his body—his kids, if the man had been any less of a maniac, but since Gaster is indeed a maniac, he planned to keep them under his thumb for the rest of their lives and use them (but especially Papyrus) in all kinds of fucked up, illegal experiments, to mold them into whatever he saw as their greatest utility.

Sans tried to snatch his little brother up and run, but he got caught, and Gaster got to have his way.

Papyrus became the living war-machine dear old dad had always wanted, and Sans—who had fucked up by proving he was a stubborn, uncooperative jackass who no threat against him or his brother could seem to control—was repurposed.

See, he’d always generated magic at a pretty high rate, but after what Gaster did, he became a battery, a constantly replenishing source of energy to be drawn on at any time, an impressive little toy to win some brownie points with the Emperor and earn even freer reign to do whatever the hell he wanted, whenever he wanted.

Alphys has to double and triple-check the readings on the monitoring equipment around him to believe it, but he really is the source of Gaster’s impossible device, producing massive quantities of magic with such incredible range that (if she’s reading it right) Gaster or anyone else using it would be able to siphon his magic from miles away.

But that’s not the only thing Sans can tell them.

He also knows, and is more than happy to provide, several passwords and access codes that the Royal Scientist was too lazy or too cocky to change in the years since he put Sans under and locked him away.

Which is, of course, access to more than enough detailed and meticulously recorded evidence of Gaster’s crimes against monsterkind to shut him down.

Permanently.

The Royal Scientist is unceremoniously fired, convicted, and eventually, executed.

Alphys, who played a large role in bringing him to justice and is a brilliant and respectable scientist in her own right is ushered in as his replacement, and Undyne is given several honors for her dedication to uncovering and bringing down corruption at the highest level.

The skeleton brothers receive support—both official and unofficial—from the crown in order to integrate into society without undue hardship, after the significant hardship they already faced.

Life continues as normal, but maybe a little bit better now.

Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans)

In poor physical condition at first due to how long he spent unconscious and immobile, but recovering mobility and independence as fast as monsterly possible (fuck the wheelchair, fuck the crutches, fuck soup, he is gonna walk his ass to a damn burger and nobody is gonna stop him)

Only vaguely aware of time having passed while comatose, but as his magic grew stronger and his range stretched, he developed an ability to poke into peoples’ heads. It’s very surface-level, mostly just skimming thoughts off the top, but he’s found himself drifting through enough monsters’ subconscious that these days, most people Underground might not recognize him but still get the feeling that he’s hauntingly familiar

Still overproducing magic at an extreme rate due to modifications made to his body, magic which he actually needs to use in large amounts regularly. If he doesn’t, he starts to physically overheat and things around him start to fritz a bit from the outpouring of excess magic, which is naturally something he’d rather avoid if possible

Eager to make up for lost time, open-minded to all kinds of new stuff he never got around to doing before he got locked up

A little bit cocky, loud and arrogant, but with just enough boyish charm and joie de vivre to pull it off…most of the time

Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus)

Extremely physically powerful due to biomodifications over the years as he was growing up, very tall, wide, and strong. His soul was also…adjusted, and he no longer takes damage from even the most vicious and lethal intent, only physical or magical attacks that land can harm him

Struggles significantly with free will and independent thought—largely due to how heavily punished and very not allowed any signs of choice or independence were. Slowly getting comfortable with being a person, and being allowed to be a person again, supported heavily by his brother and Undyne

Went a very long time under the impression that his brother was a figment of his imagination, and there’s some…complex feelings there, that he was real and alive and trapped the whole time and he didn’t do anything about it. Said brother doesn’t blame him in the slightest, but it may be awhile before the two of them aren’t a package deal everywhere they go

Likes things that are slow and with obvious correct ways of doing them—or at least no wrong way of doing them, so he can take it at his own pace and not be afraid of making a mistake

A little stoic and a lot intimidating, but (with a bit of patience beyond that first impression) curious and gentle and just starting to learn what it means to be himself

[legs-art]

ELEMENTAL REALM / ECLECTIC CHAMBER OCS!

Hiiiiiii first art post I'm sharing publicly! This has been a month in the making but it's so worth it. These are a handful of characters in my OC universe, the Elemental Realm! AKA the Eclectic Chamber, I'm currently going through a name change from elemental realm to eclectic chamber. Don't worry about that.

Italicized names mean those are placeholders while I still try to come up with a better name. For some, those placeholders have been there for years :P whoops

These comprise pretty much all the significant characters I have (with a guideline of appearing in at least 2 stories although there's some exceptions). There are roughly another 100 or so characters that I opted not to include because they're either not as significant, I don't have an interesting design for them, or I just didn't feel like it. Full namedrop behind the read more in case you're interested! Maybe I'll do a part 2 of this in a year or so, who knows.

If there's any characters here that tickle your fancy, shoot an ask or a comment for me to infodump about them! Quality of infodumping may vary, especially considering I still have to step around spoilers and whatnot, but I'm very interested to show you how these characters have been sculpted in my head over these past several years. (Also, I will be revealing some info about the story ideas I already have in mind for the Elemental Realm soon, so stay tuned for that!)

Uhhhhhh yeah. Hopefully I'm not forgetting to say anything important. I really love what I made lol I hope I can finally start moving this universe outside of my head and into the world ^_^

Anyway, yeah, sorry to the following for not making the cut:

The Pawn

OBJECT

Pirate Cat

Frost Wyvern

The Other Plant Species

Ishmael

Olive Hills Grandmother

Disco Restituo Grandmother

TVHead Salesperson

The Hidden Prime Minister

AtmOS

Operatic Nobeard

KUR-180 (Ferret Form)

Hyperlink Trace II

Squirrel

Wibblewobble Vortex

Cuttlefish "Danger" Aromantic

Sporror

Teodoro Locksmith

Galleria Monies

Vapo Sea Devil

Sternum Crease

Base Sorceress

Nom Diamonds

Zareen Hangus

Mark Genuine

Blundered Impersonator

Alice

Senderman

Jasper

Cow Cowboy

Blood Knight

Ice Prince

Ice Squid

Ice Cephalopod

Stratos

Kozmo

Old Guy With Badger Stand

Overseer

Loomynutty

Blobular Shapeshifter

Santa

Krampus

Chad Shakespeare

Angelsbane

Elephant Friend

The Tourist Trap

Fluffy Boy Rabbit

Fluffy Boy Bear

TTRPG Komodo Dragon

Windmill Gnome

Robot Police Dog

Little Mouse Guy

Perfect Soup Nerd Bird

Sentient Tiny Hot Air Balloon

Lugnarts

Verde Mermaid

Clownimatronic / The Machine

The Crescents

Suntronic

Mongoose Man

Blizzard Wizard

Kulfi Wala

The Beast

Still Chaos Penguin

Caged Water Beast

Metakellos

Monsterfucker Snake Robot

Rodrigo

Crystal Aurora King

Star Matter Ursa

Glorp

ANN-13

Crysple

X-02

Pyramid Of Mayhem

Fishbowl

Top Hat

Alien Traffic Control Tower

Fridgey

Dice

Easel

The Stalker

Majesty Of Colors

Andromeda V5

[wizard-smut]

THE FOUNDATIONAL MYTHOLOGY OF THE SEXY WIZARD SCHOOL UNIVERSE

from the nonexistence beyond even entropy there sprang from nothingness a cosmos irradiated with magic, whose laws of physics were born with jellied bones, where the rubber of reality stretched with the slightest application of will. the kind of place where misadventures followed the strict moral guidance of 19th century children's fables.

A Shitty Place, by any measure

in one neglected corner of this vibrant universe there spun a planet full of sapient bipedal creatures whose primary concern centered on growing the biggest grasses imaginable. tall grass, wet grass, potato, they had it all.

then one day, one especially unpopular and bad-grass-growing hominid wandered into a weird cave in the side of Only-Bad-Dipshit-Live-Here Mountain.

unbeknownst to this hominid, whose name was Gug but was commonly referred to as Ugg (this is a cultural joke that doesn't translate directly) ten billion years prior a sentient shaft of rainbow light wasn't paying attention and slammed into mt onlybaddipshit, permanently trapping itself in a crystal geode.

well, let's just say Gug made a real Ugg of itself and decided to smash open the ominously glowing crystal wall at the back of a cave full of skeletons of Freaky Space Mammoths &c and other species unknown to Grass Hominids or anything else ever

so Ugg is bathed in scintillating hues, obviously, saturated with colors from out of space, primitive hominid brain awash in magickal powres, gates of perception blown open, yadda yadda yadda, cognizant of all space and time, angels dancing on the head of a pin, and he becomes a wizard

this is just what one DOES

but not JUST a wizard. oh ho ho no. an EVIL SPACE CAVEWIZARD. that is legally the worst kind, according to law. real kill on sight asshoeles.

so Gug, who immediately starts referring itself to Drakenhof Von Vilesmythe, flies out of the cave and starts going full Dresden on the grass hominids. he rains fire, casts lightning, rains snakes, most of his attacks were either weather or vermin-based, just really typical Ugg behavior.

he wipes out the grass hominid society in like, fifteen minutes. there were not a lot of them, and they generally lived under piles of trees, because they were so fixated on big grasses that they never invented architecture.

Drakenhof Von Vilesmythe went ahead and magicked himself up a real nice castle atop Mount Very Normal Crystals, and sat alone on his throne.

as all despots do, he got bored, and wandered into his workshop, where he went about inventing all kinds of new monsters and such. Dracowyverns, Fang Children, Flying Knives, white people, Sexy Elf's, basically the most foul line-up of villains the universe ever seen.

well the universe DID in fact seen, and responding to the laws &c of cosmic narrative functionality, rose up in protest of such evil, and created GOODMAN MCMANANUS, a powerfully Good Cavewizard, and lo they did battle.

they cast fireballs, firesnakes, thunderrats, fought each other in the rain on the side of a tower, took turns hurling each other off cliffs, just really made a day of it

anyway this fighting went on for Way Too Long. the minions and fell servitors got bored and eventually developed their own society independent of the wizard wars. it evolved to exactly feudal medieval european level, or at least what i imagine that was like.

sadly due to the world being a janked up mess after aeons and aeons of Wizard Combat, the heavy background magickal radiation ensured that a higher number than normal of these babies were born with the W-gene.

after getting their shit rocked and re-rocked immediately after unrocking itself, the creatures decided that the safest thing to do was build a giant school for the wizards to fuck around in and just let them do their own thing way over there.

and so, every day, when a denizen of Normalsville turned 18 and started developing Protagonist Thought, they would find their asses shipped off to....

THE SEXY WIZARD SCHOOL

oh also i forgot to mention that all the monsters and wizard servants and stuff, their genes all combined and mixed together and made creatures that look indistinguishable from modern humans. note to clarion workshop scouts, thats the kind of rich worldbuilding and social commentary you can expect to find here at tumblr dot com slash wizard smut.

ok thanks everyone have a good day and dont get diseases

[isfjmel-phleg]

April 2023 Books

Moongarden by Michelle A. Barry (reread)

The character arcs and themes are so drastically different from those in TSG that I'm inclined to call this one a retelling only in the basic premise of there being a secret garden. That's not necessarily a criticism; just go into this one managing expectations accordingly. The second time around I found this one a bit of a slog for me. There were a couple of interesting supporting characters, but I didn't really connect with the protagonist or even the plot in general. The worldbuilding is interesting, but it wasn't enough to make me want to seek the sequel which is coming out later this year.

The Runaway Robot by Lester del Rey

I forget which one of you recommended this one, but it was delightful. The robot narrator was endearing, and for a book its length and intended audience, it had quite a thought-provoking examination of the nature of humanity and a society that treats sentient beings as less than human because they're robots.

Disenchanted and Transformed by Megan Morrison

Morrison's worldbuilding is striking, and her retellings of fairy tales inventive (to the point that the Cinderella retelling is practically unrecognizable thematically). I didn't find the more political plotlines very interesting, but the characters were more complex than those of a typical middle-grade book.

When the War Came Home by Lesley Parr

I enjoyed Parr's first book, but this one was less interesting to me personally.

Lost and Found by Sarah Prineas

Sequels to The Magic Thief. I liked them well enough but am not especially invested.

The Beatrice Letters by Lemony Snicket

This one isn't very long and is more of a contribution to the Lore than furthering of the plot, but the love letter ("I will love you if I never see you again, and I will love you if I see you every Tuesday...") is the highlight, both darkly humorous and rather poignant.

The Painted Garden by Noel Streatfeild (reread)

Maybe this isn't Streatfeild's best children's book from a technical perspective, and it is definitely flawed, but the way the narrative interacts with TSG is quite thoughtful. You can tell that Streatfeild loved and understood the book. The story is also fascinating culturally and historically: a glimpse of late 1940s California from the perspective of British children. Streatfeild is fascinated by every detail of daily life, and it makes the world of the narrative quite rich. (This is downplayed quite a lot in abridged versions, such as the American edition titled Movie Shoes, but the abridgment does have the advantage of eliminating a lot of the material that didn't age well.)

The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud

I liked this one, but it somehow wasn't as much of a page-turner for me as the first book. I am looking forward to reading the next one. Stroud's style is a thing of beauty.

The Crystal Snowstorm by Meriol Trevor (reread)

The premise of this one is fascinating, but I wish Trevor had developed her young protagonist more! I got the sense that who she really wanted to write about were the adults.

This was an interlibrary loan from the Library of Congress (these books are so hard to find that that's what I had to resort to), and I meant to finish the series but am opting not to after finding that the beginning of the second book wasn't to my taste.

Gravebooks by J. A. White

Refreshingly did not suffer from Middle-Grade Sequel Syndrome (i.e. the first book was charming and original and the second is somehow a lifeless slog). It was a worthy successor thematically to the first book.

The Mystery of the Gulls by Phyllis A. Whitney

Not one of Whitney's stronger mysteries but had an interesting setting.

As for comics, I haven't been reading anything new steadily since I was concentrating on screenshotting a series I've already read (so I don't have to put myself through scouring the entire thing whenever I need a panel for reference), but now I'm moving on (slowly) to screenshotting early Tim Drake material, including some issues that were new to me. You guys might get some of those panels inflicted on you at some point.

[savebatsfromscratch]

Okay fine. Fine. I will talk about my 'Pokespe Better Powers' AU publicly.

(Basically, it's an AU where the dexholders other than Yellow ALSO have magical powers??? Also Yellow's power gets buffed a little bit because I was annoyed of how it was written in Fire Red Leaf Green compared to the Yellow series. It's not completely fleshed out yet, but it's very fun for me, so here goes.)

-

Source for the names (in the 'Main Dexholder' section. The others are headcannon): https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9dex_holder

-

Main Dexholders:

Red: He's "The Fighter" so I gave him super strength. It's nothing fancy, but I'd imagine it would take a second to get used to.

Blue (male): He's "The Trainer" so I thought it would be cool if he could like... have a commanding presence? Like he could tell someone to "stand up" and they would. (This would be able to be resisted, particularly if you had warning, but it would also not be able to be used on more complicated requests.)

Green (female): She's "The Evolver" so I thought it would be really cool if she could evolve and devolve (also mega evolve) Pokemon... just at will. The Pokemon would have to be okay with this of course, but the trainer is not to be consulted.

Yellow: She's "The Healer" and because she already canonically has a magical power, I think that it would be cool if I just gave her less of a cooldown. (Doesn't pass out quite as much, I think.)

Silver: He's "The Trader" (Or the Exchanger, whichever you prefer.) So I think it would be cool if he could swap the places of sentient things. (Like Pokemon and people.) He could tap one, run across the room and tap another, and they would swap places. It would have to be on a certain timer (like five seconds for Pokemon, ten seconds for people... or something), but I think it's cool. :)

Gold: Uh... Sooo Gold is "The Breeder," right? (Or the Hatcher. But I read it with Breeder first and this is going to be EXTRA cursed if you don't keep that in mind.) Okay so... TW for mentions of Omegaverse (SKIP IF YOU MUST.) What if he was like... able to have children uhhhh both ways? Yeah I know it's crazy. I made it up 'cus it was funny. qwq I swear it's mostly a joke. He seems overpowered anyway, so I didn't want to give him anything ACTUALLY good (even though he is my favorite).

Crystal: She's "The Catcher" (Or the Capturer, I think) so what if she could like... produce Pokeballs out of thin air? Like toss her hand up, and a Pokeball comes down into her waiting hand. (This is especially fun if there are just... berries disappearing off trees as she does this.)

Emerald: He's "The Calmer" and because I didn't want anything that made his cool mud shooting thing obsolete, I thought I could just enhance it by giving him the ability to get the mud he needs at any time he wants. Just... summoning mud from any place he wants.

Sapphire: She's "The Conqueror" so how about she has the ability to unleash a burst of confidence on her side or a battle, and a feeling of overwhelming dread on the other? (Not that that doesn't happen already.)

Ruby: He's "The Charmer" and I think that the Pokemon move "sweet kiss" describes what I'm getting at well enough. (Either that or something similar to "charm speak" from the Heroes of Olympus series. Which allows the user to basically persuade who they are talking to do do anything. The only problem there is that it's a bit too similar to Blue's power.)

Pearl: He's "The Determiner." I... I don't really know what to do with this information so I'm just gonna buff the power that he has. (Meaning his ability to see what move a Pokemon is about to use.) I know that kinda sucks, but I have no ideas man. Feel free to suggest some!

Diamond: He's "The Empathizer" so I decided on the ability to feel other people's emotions. Sort of the way Jayfeather can in Warrior Cats? If you know what I'm talking about?

Platinum: She's "The Understander" so, because I am very bad at coming up with powers, I decided on the ability to understand any language, written or otherwise. (Not including Pokemon languages though.)

Black: He's "The Dreamer" but he's not the only one. Because of this REALLY COOL narrative choice (seriously that could have some cool aus about it), I think it would be interesting if him and White could read each others thoughts. (And appear in each other's dreams.) Like, when both of them want too, they can hear all of each other's thoughts, but to make it so that White isn't always overwhelmed, that can also be turned off. There is still an 'emergency call' thought beam (?) though. So if someone gets stuck they could ask for help even if the other one wasn't planning on listening to their thoughts in that moment.

White: She's ALSO "The Dreamer," and I basically gave a rundown of her power in Black's entry lol. Just because they are connected.

Blake: He's "The Arrester" so I thought that if he wanted too, he could create chains out of nothing. Like, *taps something*, *draws hand away and a chain follows it*. If he closes his hand, the other end of the chain attaches to his wrist, if he taps something else first, it attaches there.

Whi-two: She's "The Liberator" so I thought she could be the other end of Blake's 'law of science breaking' so she gets rid of the chains that he creates. They dissolve and stuff. I bet it would be pretty. :)

X: He's "The Loner" (lol Professor Oak that's so mean). I couldn't think of ANYTHING for this power, so I had to ask my mom and she said "invisibility" and I think that's pretty good.

Y: She's "The Flyer" and even though I already based this AU in a wing AU (don't worry about it lol), I thought it would be neat if she could turn her arms into wings at will. (And also fly with them... obviously, otherwise the power would be dumb.)

Sun: He's "The Saver" (which sounds kinda cool until you remember it's about money). Because of this disappointment, I decided that he should be able to sense when there's a coupon or a discount on something if he wants too. Like, Person 1: "I want this desk but it's really expensive. :(" Sun: "There's a discount in the IKEA in Viridian City. Try ordering from there."

Moon: She's "The Mixer" which is about medicine, so I decided to make it about poison because of course I did. ...anyway I want her to be venomous.

-

Bonuses (some from Pokespe, some not):

Wally: First off, Wally is perfect. Second off I want him to be "The Captivator". Partially because it sounds really fricking cool, but also because it starts with a 'c' like the other trainers from his region. I think that this power could be used to draw everyone's attention onto himself. (Letting other people, I don't know, sneak across a room without being noticed.) This might put him in danger though, to be honest.

Shawna: This is probably gonna sound stupid, but I think a name like, "The Designer" would fit her pretty well. Her thing could be a (powered down) version of the Evillustrator from Miraculous Ladybug. (If you aren't familiar, he draws things and they appear in real life.)

Tierno: This is ALSO gonna sound dumb, but how about "The Dancer?" (Mostly because he likes dancing and I had no other ideas.) A possible power to go along with this would be giving him higher agility and speed than your average human. That could be VERY helpful in a whole array of situations!

Trevor: Because I gave the other two in his group of trainers dexholder names that start with the letter 'd', I'm calling him "The Decider." I can't really think of a power that matches how cool that name sounds, but maybe a little bit of a time slow? It would be very limited and would probably need a fairly long cooldown though.

Ash Ketchum (from the anime): I think the name "The Victor" fits him fairly well. So how about SLIGHT (and I do mean SLIGHT) HP drain on his opponent's Pokemon if he wants too.

Koya (from Pokemon DPA): I'm gonna call him "The Changer" because of his character arch in DPA. BUT, the power is gonna need some prefacing. I have another AU that I have had SINCE I FOUND these series (so like... six years ago?) that I seem to be physically unable of letting go of. Specifically for Koya. (As he is usually the main character.) Because of that I want him to have fire and dark powers. Meaning that I want him to be able to control fire, but that fire doesn't give off any light.

Hareta (also from Pokemon DPA): Maybe "The Befriender"? That might sound dumb. Well, in Pokemon DPA, Hareta sort of has this weird ability where he can become friends with (almost) literally anyone or anything. I don't know if that was on purpose, but that's pretty much what the power I'm giving him is. It's not gonna change much, but the character needed a nerf in comparison to the other ones.

Mitsumi (still from Pokemon DPA): I like to call her "The Gambler." I think her power could be better luck with slot machines (or in general), because she really likes them but she's really bad at them and it makes me feel sad. :(

Jun (last one from Pokemon DPA... or in general): I think he could have another 'double name' situation. I'm gonna call him "The Gambler" along with Mitsumi. This, again, will be the same power, making him more lucky. However, I am now deciding that when the two are in a battle together, they can choose to basically 'flip a (figurative) coin'. This will let them be 1. even MORE lucky (for that battle), or 2. UNlucky (for that battle).

-

Feel free to come up with your own powers/upgrades lol. This is very fun. :)

I HIT THE TAG LIMIT DANG IT-

[sonderwrit]

C93: It burrowed into the brain

I Have to Be a Great Villain - Masterpost

Wang Yi fights with sentient ear wax slime and S-0 tries (uselessly) to help.

(SFX: *pah*)

WY: Ahhhh it, it crawled inside!

S-0: Host! Here's some tweezers!

WY: The ear canal's too narrow, can't use that! (Get out get out get out!)

S-0: What about a straw?

WY: (slapslap) Then start sucking for me!

Slime: Where should I start eating from…

[Note: Abnormal organisms eat differently from normal life forms]

Slime: When it comes to humans…the tastiest part is still their emotions.

Slimes: Especially…when they're being tormented.

WY: AHHHHH—! (falls on knees)

S-0: What's wrong?!

WY: I, I don't know—

WY: Feels like something's touched my brain.

WY: It's like being electrocuted….ahhhhh!!!

WY: I can't tell if it hurts or feels good.

S-0: Eek! Hold on, Host, I'll definitely, right away—

WY: Ahnnnn—hurry up! (wuu~)

WY: (What's going on?)

WY: (It's like my mind's suddenly crystal clear.)

WY: (Is this slime attacking my consciousness? It's unlike any feeling I can describe in human terms—)

Slime: Hm? These memories—are so familiar…

(Ba-thump)

WY: (There's a voice?)

Slime: Could you be.. …?

WY: Who's speaking?

(S-0 hands him a rubber hose)

Slime: Hear.. …me? Ah… ..you

Slime: … …here!

Slime: Remember… …

WY: UWAHHHH—!

WY: It seems like, there's something else there. But it's all static, I can't understand—

S-0: Okay, Host, stop babbling! Hurry and suck that jelly back out!

WY: Ah? You want me…to do it myself?

S-0: Of course. Has Host ever seen a cat who can use a straw? (*Cats will leak air if they try)

WY: You damn—you can't do anything but you're a champion at pissing people off.

S-0: Do your best!

WY: (I have to be careful not to swallow it by accident) *sucks*

*sucking sucking*

Slime: !

WY: (Is it not powerful enough?) *increases sucking strength*

*SUUUUCCCCCKKKKK*

Slime: No.. …it's not enough

Slime: It's not enough ahhhh!!

WY: (?!)

WY: (It's coming!)

*SPITS*

WY: Ha—thank goodness…hah….that's dealt with.

S-0: *slams lid down*

S-0: Uh-huh, gave me a scare. I thought we'd die and exit this world right after we started our vacation.

WY: Looks like even "safe" scripts have lots of hidden dangers. We can't lower our guard.

*bangs case shut*

WY: (It assimilated the piece that broke off…no wonder it's a slime, what strong vitality.)

S-0: Huff…Host's body is all right? Shall we send this thing away?

WY: Aish, I feel fine now that it's left my ear. The other specimens might be even harder to deal with, so keep it under observation first.

S-0: That works too.

S-0: Right, just then the Gardenia in the Apocalypse world finished its run and gave us points.

WY: Oh, how were the results? A lotta points or a little?

S-0: Same as the one before, upper-middle levels.

WY: Oh oh, then what was the ending? Between Bai Mo and Qin Xian, who ended up as the city lord?

Slime: *regained a bit of energy*

S-0: The ending, hmm…

S-0: It was, "Bai Zizhi (FL's name) destroyed the Zombie Stone and then united all the lands, becoming the first ever female city lord in the Central Regions."

S-0: And then—huh! 

S-0: ?

S-0: She spent a blissful, happy life with the second male lead?

WY: Hah?

WY: Then what about Qin Xian? (Where did he go?)

S-0: Qin Xian…

S-0: Qin Xian went to deal with the next zombie swarm after you died…and charged straight into the mob for the sake of saving Bai Zizhi, sacrificing his own life in the process.

WY: ….

WY: In other words, the protagonist exited the stage before the novel reached its ending?

S-0: Mhm. *nods*

WY: All right, I got it.

WY: Keep the points for me, I'm not going to buy anything now.

S-0: Kay. Call me when you need me…

S-0: Wait, Host. Where are you going?

WY: I'm drowsy.

WY: Gonna sleep for a bit.

S-0: Aye, you can definitely rest. 

S-0: You need to hurry up—and extricate yourself from the memories of the last world, oh~

—

*scurry scurry*

Slime: Thank goodness.. …

Slime: Thank goodness this human is such a fool.. …

Slime: He didn't even notice that the "me" he sucked out of himself…

Slime: …was only part of the whole.

[protectrule]

zelda retains some of her draconic features once she returns to being human. the only one that's a constant is that there are, almost in perpetuity, pale - blue crystals embedded in her skin that give the appearance of scales at first glance. small, almost - flat ones congregate on her cheeks, shoulders, and the backs of her hands, while larger ones which protrude further out from her skin tend to congregate around her spine. the crystals shed eventually — and the ones on her spine can be filed down or chipped away — but grow back given time. they rarely cause her pain, though the ones on her back can sometimes inflame the skin around them if they get too wide, in which case the best move is to remove them.

also, the ones on her back especially make clothes kind of a pain. they don't stick so far out that shirts can't be worn or anything — she doesn't usually let them get more than an inch or two off her skin — but if she doesn't sand them smooth then they can rip through tops. she is discovering a new appreciation for backless dresses.

additionally, she regularly experiences dissociative episodes — it's difficult to return to being fully sentient after thousands of years spent without memories, self, or thoughts beyond basic instincts and a longing / missing. when dissociating badly, or more rarely when pushing her abilities to their limits, her eyes become echos of the light dragon's appearance. this is because she hasn't fully erased that part of her identity.

—— after all, it's meant to be impossible to return once you've become an immortal dragon. the king and queen less healed her and more gave her her old form back and sealed the dragon within her. it's...in remission, essentially.

she knows link feels a lot of pain over her sacrifice, and especially over the way it still haunts her, and so she tries to hide what can be hidden and downplay what can't be. frankly, the parts of that part of her which linger are really upsetting, but she tries to pretend otherwise.

[elerrinacrownedwithstars]

Of the Silmarils, part 1: Are the Silmarils somehow alive?

I've been reading The Silmarillion lately, and some of Tolkien's letters and other such things, and I really need to write down some of the ideas and thoughts it has caused me to have. I don't know how many parts this series will contain, but most of them will probably have to do with the Silmarils, or the people whose lives and fates they came to impact.

This first post concerns the beginning of the Silmarils, and especially whether they are in some way alive.

It feels like there is a shift in the story once the Silmarils come along. Up until now, Noldor have been busy (and apparently happy in their business) learning from the Valar, and building, and crafting works unlike anything that is ever achieved in Middle-earth. Does it also play a part that they are able to do these things in the bliss of Aman, where they don't need to spend time or their creativity in fending off the dangers of Middle-earth? Then again, at this time there is also peace in Beleriand, and companies of Sindar walk there unarmed. It is curious that Fëanor accomplishes the Silmarils around the same time that Morgoth is allowed to walk free again.

"And Varda hallowed the Silmarils, so that thereafter no mortal flesh, nor hands unclean, nor anything of evil will might touch them, but it was scorched and withered;" - Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor

The Silmarils are rightly called Fëanor's greatest work. Was it the jewelcraft that made the Silmarils so extraordinary, or did the wonder come from the Light of the Trees which was ensnared within? The text of the Silm appears to imply the latter. It seems that the Trees themselves were sacred to begin with, to the point where even things made in their image are held in special honour right down to the White Tree of Gondor. Was Fëanor maybe taking on more than he realised when he first conceived the idea of making the Silmarils, the only three things in the likeness of the Trees that would also capture their Light?

There is also the question of to what degree the Silmarils are alive, even sentient. Their light seems a different thing from, say, the stars that Varda made - though we don't know what substance the regular stars are made of, or if their sheer distance from Arda plays a part. But this light originated with and from the Two Trees, themselves living things, brought forth by Yavanna and watered by Nienna's tears - so perhaps the light itself was alive from the beginning? I remember wondering, during some earlier reading of The Silmarillion, about why was not Varda involved with the making of the Trees when their Light was so important. But this feels like there is something else at work. There's even this curious passage that compares the Silmarils to the Children of Ilúvatar:

"Yet that crystal was to the Silmarils but as is the body to the Children of Ilúvatar: the house of its inner fire, that is within and yet in all parts of it, and is its life." - Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor

Is this comparison just a convenient way to describe the relationship between the crystal and the light, or is there something deeper about these lines?

"Therefore even in the darkness of the deepest treasury the Silmarils of their own radiance shone like the stars of Varda; and yet, as were they indeed living things, rejoiced in light and received it and gave it back in hues more marvellous than before." - Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor

So, the Silmarils at the very least "behave" in the presence of other light than that of themselves. It makes one wonder if Fëanor was aware of this, and it makes the following line somehow sinister:

"... he seldom remembered now that the light within them was not his own." - Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor

This line makes him sound so much like Morgoth himself, who always sought to take possession of everything, even things that were not of his making. I am probably reaching here, but is it possible that the Light of the Trees was the physical manifestation of Flame Imperishable, or something akin to it, the light that lives? It might explain why Morgoth coveted the Silmarils so much.

To talk more about Silmarils "behaving", there are interesting moments in the tale of Beren and Lúthien. When Lúthien sings before Morgoth, the Silmarils blaze with a great light and somehow almost seem to be aiding the intent of her song:

"... but the Silmarils in the crown of Morgoth's head blazed forth and suddenly with a radiance of white flame; and the burden of that crown and of the jewels bowed down his head, as though the world were set upon it, laden with a weight of care, of fear, and of desire, that even the will of Morgoth could not support."

Which is pretty incredible. It's like they are sensing a chance to get the hell out of Angband, and are seizing it! Moments later, Beren who is mortal, is permitted to touch the Silmaril, though it has been hallowed against it:

"As he closed it in his hand, the radiance welled through his living flesh, and his hand became as a shining lamp; but the jewel suffered his touch and hurt him not." - Of Beren and Lúthien

So, though the Silmarils have been hallowed by Varda, and there are boundaries to who can touch them, the jewels themselves can ignore those boundaries. Does this imply that it's not the hallowing that is significant, but that the Silmarils themselves choose who may touch them and are therefore sentient?

No wonder it feels like the uncomplicated joy of earlier days seems to change with the coming of the Silmarils. Even if you did not know the title of the story, you can feel that something has entered the text that will change everything that come afterwards. I wonder if this change was felt by the Valar and the Elves living in Valinor - and if the hallowing was a precaution against what would come after.

Was the hallowing done against Fëanor's will? There is no textual evidence to support this idea in the published Silm. Rather, the text is against it:

"Few ever changed [Fëanor's] courses by counsel, none by force." - Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor

Looking at how he later reacts just to the perceived threat of being forced to do anything against his will, it seems very unlikely he could be commanded even in better times. If anything, it seems that the hallowing, and Mandos' foretelling of how the fate of Arda was within the Silmarils, is welcomed and adds to the pride Fëanor feels over his creation. My belief is that at this point, Fëanor sees only flattery in the attention his creations get, and I think this is more in line with his characterisation. But the creation of the Silmarils has already stirred something ominous:

"For Fëanor began to love the Silmarils with a greedy love, and grudged the sight of them to all save to his father and his seven sons... - Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor

I can't help but think of how Tolkien so often warns against loving material things too much.

Moreover, after the Darkening of Valinor, the Valar ask Fëanor if he would give up the Silmarils, so that their light could be used to restore the Trees. Emphasis on ask. Remember, at this point the whole world is dark, save for the light of the stars, and the primary source of light (which was more than just light, culturally and spiritually) has just been destroyed in a very traumatising way. The very light of Valinor that nurtured all its inhabitants is in the scales against Fëanor's ownership of the jewels. But the Valar do not command him, and leave it for him to choose whether he will give up the Silmarils or not. And when Fëanor refuses, the Valar let the Trees die before they will force him. This, if nothing else, makes it clear that the hallowing was consensual.

Fëanor's mistrust of the Valar only comes after Morgoth has sown lies and strife among Noldor. Had Fëanor created the Silmarils at some later point, then I have no doubt that he would have refused anything the Valar suggested vehemently - unless he saw it as a precaution against Morgoth. And why would he be against the hallowing, unless he already had evil in him and thus expected to do something that would make his hands unclean? But timing here is everything, and one should not read the beginning of the story with the knowledge of hindsight. The Valar make plenty of mistakes, so why not criticise them for the things they actually did, rather than make up stuff that they canonically did not?

There is also this interesting line:

"The Silmarils had passed away, and all one it may seem whether Fëanor had said yea or nay to Yavanna; yet had he said yea at the first, before the tidings came from Formenos, it may be that his after deeds would have been other than they were." - Of the Flight of the Noldor

To me it sounds like, this choice is not just about the Silmarils and the Trees, and were he able to give up the Silmarils at this point, a grace would be granted to him not unlike what Bilbo receives when he gives up the Ring. But Fëanor's "greedy love" wins in the end and it dictates his path from thereon, eventually leading him to Alqualondë.

[kokorowoutsu]

-- HC: Worldbuilding ‘faq’

A list of questions that are answered to what I consider canon for my characters at the least.

-- What is this AU and how does it work?

Essentially its what I dub a Modern Fantasy + Pokemon AU. It isn’t uncommon to find elves, orcs, or other fantasy races existing here or even being trainers, and pokemon take the place of sentient animals. Pokeballs are simply a means of transport and instead being a trainer means having a knack for communication with the hearts of said pokemon which, in past years, was not common. It is only in recent times that there’s a influx of them.

There is also the ‘Primal Energy’ source that pokemon can call upon for power boosts in battle and it gives them more power then the usual pokemon might have in say anime or game verse. This truly is a fantasy world but just make it pokemon.

-- Who are the Champions of the Regions?

The Champions of each region are the following; Lance/Donovan* (Kanto/Johto, Donovan is his protege), Steven (Hoenn), Cynthia/Night* (Sinnoh, Night is her protege), Iris (Unova, Alder retired), Diantha (Kalos), Hau (Alola, there was no protag), Savannah* (Galar, Leon retired), Geeta/Nemona (Paldea, Nemona is protege). Champions usually will take on a protege at some point to train and they are trained to take over when they retire ( ie. Alder with Iris ).

-- How do you handle each generation / sets of games?

All game timelines have taken place and everything is set into one verse!. ( ie. Naranja-Uva Academy existing ) The only exception games that haven’t taken place are Black2/White2 because it never happened for my verse.

-- What ships are canon in this verse?

Ships that are actively interacted with across blogs tied to this one, canon or OC ( or both )! 

-- How do Legendary Pokemon work in this verse?

Depending on the legendary there is usually one one or multiple depending such as there being one Dialga and many Celebi. It isn’t uncommon either for legendary pokemon to pick a ‘Champion’ and take them under their wing, sometimes granting them their power or an unlimited lifespan. Such is the case with Kianga/N and Reshiram. The thing about them, however, is they are incredibly picky and usually revered depending on the culture as Gods or a bane. They are also jacked up in power feeding on primal energy and or being its source.

-- What is ‘Primal Energy’?

Primal Energy are invisible wellsprings that I like to think of color-coded fountains which is metaphorically where pokemon sprang from. Pokemon had this power first, but in time they shared their knowledge with the other races of the worlds and they bonded together. That’s how trainers and pokemon came to be alongside one another.

Type Specialists are especially in tune with these well-springs and have otherworldly abilities depending on which one it is. The oldest of old are, of course, ones such as Fire, Water, Grass, etc, but the ones that gave rise to civilizations for trainerkind and pokemonkind are said to be Dragon, Fairy, and Fighting-type. 

-- How do the battle mechanics work in this verse?

Mega Evolution, Z-Crystals, Dynamax, and Terastilize all exist in the same universe and work much like the anime. There are also Shadow Pokemon, Totem Pokemon, etc available in this verse and considered canon. The Fae-Touched Pokemon I include here are exclusive to fairfolk-touched pokemon and is a mechanic that is like Totem Pokemon but they’re not big, just the same size but more powerful and prone to more feral movements in battle.

-- What regions are considered canon?

Everything in the canon pokemon universe across all games and fangames. I will consider SOME fangames canon depending on if people can convince me. As for Ranger Regions, the lore of aotoreiki’s is considered canon here so look to their posts for more on the various Ranger Regions!

-- What technology exists in this verse?

Real world technology exists here! Anything you can think of just think of it pokemon-ified!

-- How does the world work in this verse?

The Pokemon League is the government respectfully of every region. Champions are responsible in overseeing the entire region. Elite Four respond to serious cases. Gym Leaders are ‘mayors’ of their towns and are responsible in keeping them safe. Lance is the only instance where there is a Champion of two since he is the Champion of Kanto and Johto.

MORE TBA

[criticalbloc]

Abortion Rights: A Battle for Morality 

In the recent overturning of Roe v Wade, a historical decision that gave the state legislation the right to either provide abortions or restrict it, the everlasting discourse surrounding the right to terminate pregnancies intensified. Particularly upon the basis of morality.

The conservative right values human life at any degree, regardless of conscious experience or any other metaphysical definition of personhood. They accuse abortion of murder. The left considers access to abortion a human right, as written out in the UDHR; the right to be protected from forced pregnancies. There are those on the left that refuse to refer to the unborn fetus as a baby, or, on the extreme side, refuse to acknowledge it as human life.

Obviously, a human fetus will always be a human life. There is in fact a scientific consensus that life begins at conception. Therefore, no matter which way we look at it, abortion is the killing of a baby. However, the word murder is a highly moralizing term. Inherently, it implies that the termination of the pregnancy is unjust and it is that which makes it murder. The act of taking a life is not inherently unjust, since the action can be exercised in the pursuit of defending oneself or others, or even as an act of judicial sentencing. Then why is a woman terminating her pregnancy seen as unjust?

First, we must acknowledge the uncomfortable truth. A fetus has the potentiality to become a fully sentient and conscious human being. It does not do us any favours to treat it as anything but such. However, we, as a society, have also determined the precedent that there exists such cases where it is morally admissible to terminate a human life. In war, we have murdered hundreds of millions of babies. Was this not morally reprehensible? It seems for the sake of pragmatism, we must sometimes commit morally reprehensible actions. Indeed, and that is why we must look at the abortion dilemma through a lens of pragmatism.

Although it may seem to be a problem on its own, abortion is only a symptom of a larger and much more infectious disease. Or, at the very least, a number of them. The conservative right has espoused many painfully obtuse myths regarding abortion and those women who incline to undergo the procedure, sometimes suggesting that these women are sexually promiscuous and murder babies as a form of birth control, a narrative that further moralizes the decision of abortion in an effort to paint the picture of a devilish woman, a selfish woman, a whore.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Empirical data reveals that 50-60% of women who undergo abortion were using contraceptives at the time. 11% of women who undergo abortion were married. And over 2/3rds of women voiced a similar reason as to why they decided to terminate their pregnancy, a reason which ties in to the infectious disease which has caused such an influx of abortions in the first place.

Financial insecurity.

Additionally, abortions can cost upwards of $300-400. No woman is using abortion as birth control, if we mean to dismantle these ignorant lies that are peddled by conservative talking heads.

Now, if women are terminating their pregnancies because they are financially incapable of supporting a child, isn't it so that they should not be having sex at all? Isn't it so that consenting to sex is in fact consenting to pregnancy? Ideally, yes.

But we do not live in the ideal world that conservatives (perhaps, I included) would like to live in. Sex is a very common practice, especially among young adults. There is such a pervasive culture that has deemed sexual intercourse to be an act of neither shame, nor modesty, but rather, something that should be prided and adorned as if it were a tapestry hung inside of a crystal palace. To go backwards, it would require centuries of education on the risks of casual sex along with an emphasis on community values. This is of course, both possible and admirable, however, it will take time. Quite a bit of time.

In the meantime, we can acknowledge the facts of abortion as we know it today. We know it mostly occurs in impoverished communities, disproportionately affecting black minorities, and we also know that impoverished communities become pools of sexual deviancies, drugs, and crimes. Forgive my lack of clearer language, but there correlation of impoverishment and lack of education and poor decision making cannot be ignored. So, it can't come as a surprise that an impoverished community would not create the ideal environment for anyone to appeal to something as insignificant as values there. These people must toil.

By banning abortions, we are conclusively condemning the impoverished into a future of impoverishment. Having a child out of wedlock would tarnish these destitute women. While the father can walk off and leave his child behind (only 4% of women are paid child support), the woman must bear the brunt of her pregnancy. Not only that, but, since the conservative right refuses to even acknowledge impoverishment as anything but a natural reality, the children who are born to mothers that cannot provide for them will also be condemned to a life of impoverishment. Is this really more ethical? Pragmatically, it has no basis. But does it really have a basis in morality? Why is it better to have a generation of the wretched, rather than to improve the living conditions before we even think of making such abject and totalitarian laws to deprive women of their autonomy? Is this how we treat the infection?

If a doctor tells their patient that they have a kidney stone with only two possible treatments; one being an invasive surgery to remove it with instruments, and the other, a diet plan designed to slowly break the stone down and allow it to pass naturally from the body, albeit causing perhaps a few months of pain. What option would the reasonable person take? And if you yourself would choose the latter, how dare you advocate for any other solution in the real world where the decision would put others in pain and suffering but not you.

We must ask ourselves who truly benefits from the continuing cycle of creating a wretched and impoverished class of society, doomed to toil and be exploited, doomed to be taken advantage of and outcasted?

[lexosaurus]

Eldritch Ghosts

My piece for Day 4 of DP Side Hoes Week! Initially, I was kinda wary about writing this one just because I usually don’t really do a ton of world building in my fics, but I’m actually pretty happy with how this one came out!

Character: Clockwork Theme: Origin

---

Every ghost had an origin story, the tale of how they came to be. For most, they were created from a dying body, driven to existence through a deep sense of purpose. Perhaps a dying wish they never got to fulfill, or an especially traumatic death that resulted in an overexertion of brain matter in the last moments. For most, this was their origin story.

For other ghosts, they were created in the Zone. Most of that group were born from the procreation of two other ectoplasmic creatures. Not all ghosts had the capabilities of reproduction, but some of the more sentient, more powerful ghosts could find a way if they so pleased.

But for a small group, they were born from the Zone itself. From the deepest, most ancient parts of this vast expanse of ectoplasmic energy. There were only a few ghosts who developed this way, but those few possessed powers that other ghosts could only dream of.

They were called eldritch ghosts.

“So what about you?” Phantom asked. He had taken a liking to a particular stuffed armchair in Clockwork’s haunt, lounging with his back to one arm and his legs dangling over the other. He asked the question lazily, his eyes more focused on the ice shapes he was creating in his palm than on Clockwork himself. 

“How were you made?”

Clockwork shifted to his adult form. “I know you’re not a full fledged ghost, but even you should know the taboos of our culture.”

Phantom dissipated the ice crystals. “Oh come on, Clocky! You know how I got here.”

“I know how everyone got here. I am the master of—”

“Yeah, yeah.” Phantom shook his hand nonchalantly to the side. “Master of time, god of all past, present, and future, observer of all timelines and potential outcomes. I know, but even you have an origin story.”

“Not everyone has an exciting tale of origin, ghost child.”

“But you still came from somewhere.” 

Clockwork turned his attention back to a portal he was watching. It was of a young ghost child learning to ride a bike for the first time. Clockwork had seen this before, and he would see it again in the future. 

He sighed, shifting into his child form and wiping the portal to show a new landscape. It was dark, black. He waved his arm, zooming in further on the scene until a bright green orb of swirling ectoplasm came into view.

“Come, child.”

“Huh?” Phantom rose from the couch. “Oh, what’s that? Is that the zone?”

“Correct.”

Phantom peered closer to the scene until he was hovering just mere inches away from it. “I don’t get it. Where are all the doors?”

“There are no doors in this realm of the Ghost Zone. No portals to other lands, other timelines, or other worlds.”

“Oh. So then why are you showing me this?”

Clockwork pointed his metal staff towards the glowing green mass. “Do you see that?” 

“Yeah?”

“That’s the epicenter of the Zone. We all exist around it in an ever growing mass of ectoplasm and space. Everything in this plane originated from that core.”

“Wait, the Zone has a core? Like ghosts do?”

Clockwork nodded, his purple hood bobbing at the movement. “That is correct.”

“Does that mean…” Phantom’s face scrunched up. “Does that mean the Zone is a ghost?”

“Not exactly. The Zone is not sentient, it is merely an expanse of space that emits ectoplasmic energy, the thing that creates and sustains us. Without this core, the ectoplasm in the Zone would be unable to sustain itself, and the Zone as we know it would cease to exist, along with all of us.”

Phantom’s eyes shifted warily back to the screen. “That’s sort of dangerous, isn’t it?”

“How so?”

“If the core is so important for us to stay alive, then why is it so...I don’t know, exposed? Couldn’t some insane ghost just go destroy it?”

“No,” Clockwork said. “That’s the biggest mystery of the Zone’s core. Anyone who’s ever tried to get near the core has never made it back in one piece. The core is so powerful that it incinerates any ghost who attempts to get close. Hence why there are no doors around it either.”

“What if someone just like accidentally stumbles across it? Like what if one day I’m flying, minding my own business, and I get too close to this core?”

“That wouldn’t happen. Ghosts can feel it.” He shifted to his elder form and waved his hand once more at the portal, zooming in even closer to the core until the duo could see all the individual swirling speckles of ectoplasm pulsating around the core.

Phantom was silent for a moment, staring up at the bright green core with childlike wonder. “It looks sort of like a sun.”

“It is like the sun. If we fly too close, we can feel it. But it’s not hot in the way a human sun is. It won’t burn or melt you if you get too close.”

“Then what happens?”

Clockwork took a deep breath, closing his eyes. It had been so long, an eternity even, but even he could never forget the way the Zone’s core felt. How it affected his core, how it directed the ambient ectoplasm around him, guiding him away from the ancient depths of the Zone.

Most ghosts would never get that lucky. Other ghosts would cease to exist. 

But not him.

“A ghost who gets too close would feel an intense amount of pressure. At first, it’s just a slight warning, but the closer the ghost gets, the more they would feel as if gravity itself is imploding around them. But if they get close enough, the core’s radiant ectoplasm would begin to interact with the ghost’s own core, and they’ll be driven insane by the Zone’s sheer power. The ghost’s core would become parasitic, and would force the ghost’s body forward until the Zone’s core can reach them. At that point, they’d simply dissolve.”

Danny shuttered. “Seems like a bad way to go.”

“It is.”

“So…” Danny started, his tone shifting into one of cautious curiosity. “Not that this isn’t cool and all, ‘cause it is, but why are you telling me all this?”

Clockwork shifted back into his childlike form. “You wanted to know my origin story, did you not?”

“Well, yeah. But I don’t see how the Zone’s core has anything to do with you specifically. Other than, you know, us being a ghost and needing the Zone’s core to exist and all that.”

Clockwork held his gloved hand up to eye level, watching as the miniature clocks adorning his wrists ticked away at their various times. “Every couple thousand years, the Zone’s core has too much radiant ectoplasm it needs to dispel. A human star does this much more often in the form of solar flares. But the Zone’s core is made of ectoplasm, and so it dispels its energy in the form of a new ghost.”

“So...you mean...you were born from the Zone’s core?” 

“Yes. Exactly.”

“And you’re still here?” Danny jumped up, swirling around Clockwork in alarm. “How? How did it not drive you insane and make you explode?”

Clockwork chuckled. “Child, I am the Zone’s child. Why would it kill its own creation so soon?”

“But you said the Zone wasn’t sentient.”

“That I did.” Clockwork hummed, shifting back into his adult form. He waved his staff once more at the portal, transforming the scene to a ghost wandering beyond where doors existed. If anything was amiss, the ghost paid no mind, traversing deeper into the empty landscape. 

In a few hours, the ghost would be no more.

“I’m sure if I tried to go near it now, I would end up like this poor soul. But upon my creation, the core was expending excess energy. It wouldn’t have wanted to take back the energy it just spent so much effort getting rid of.”

Phantom eyed the portal, looking ill.

"Remember, child." Clockwork swung his staff, morphing the scene back into the child riding a bike. “The Zone is full of mysteries. Ones that I myself do not even fully understand.”

---

Thanks for reading!

[norcumii]

So, random 2am thought - how does a Gathering work in Star!verse? Do they wait until they're padawans, or do they borrow a few clones before then?

Hm. So I think this has a lot of potential for hilarious hijinks, but sadly I think it doesn’t work like that in Star. The Order is a LOT larger, so regularly ferrying folks out doesn’t seem too sound an approach.

So my guess is that whatever group regularly makes/maintains lightsaber (parts) has routine harvesting trips to gather up lightsaber crystals, and bring them back to the Temples, so that when someone finally gets hosted they can go to pick out a crystal that resonates well with them. If for some reason a Jedi can’t find ANYTHING very usable, I presume they take a field trip to Ilum, but at the end of the day a lightsaber’s a tool. A shiny useful tool that the Force makes it much easier to use, but still a tool. Having that be a neigh irreplaceable rarity is gonna be difficult, especially for what’s supposed to be the standing army.

Oooof, and the difficulties with hosts – like, what if the crystal in your lightsaber doesn’t vibe with a new host nearly as well as the old one? Does that have to be taken into account, or does it not matter? For given values of ‘vibe’ since I am very squicked by the whole ‘lightsabers are quasi-sentient and enjoy being tools for the Jedi! :D’...THING. And then there’s issues with having to tweak the handle size if one’s host isn’t a clone, and does that mean you might need to change the crystals to accommodate that length or something.

I do think at least one of the Temples has some kind of area devoted to fabricating artificial crystals as well, so they don’t strain Ilum’s resources. But overall, it’s less of a single Significant Event than in canon.

Once again, MANY apologies for this taking so long!