#free pictogram

[retops]

Woman=Life

[therightfont]

Truculenta is an unconventional sans serif typeface designed by Iván Castro in collaboration with Omnibus Type, first released in 2020.

This distinctive open-source font draws inspiration from mid-century lettering and offers three weights—Thin, Regular, and Bold—along with a "Dirty" version featuring a rugged, textured look.

The Dirty variant also includes 40 unique pictograms illustrated by Barcelona-based Eva Sanz, also known as Lady Eve.

Perfect for packaging, branding, book covers, illustrated editions, and film titles, Truculenta brings a vibrant personality that stands out from conventional neo-grotesque designs.

[dogcoyote]

Often when I'm feeling dogmode or any other kind of alterhuman way, I like to play video games as a way of self-expressing. Especially ones that let me play as something similar to [x creature] I feel like at that moment. Here are some I'd recommend to others, sorted into vague categories. Almost all of them will include some degree of character customization, as that's what I look for the most in games like this.

Canines:

WolfQuest: A simulation game where you live as a wolf, finding a mate and raising pups together. There's a learning curve, but it's so much fun to play. The devs really do a wonderful job of striking a balance between realism and enjoyable gameplay.

WolfHome (browser game): An MMO/chatroom that is very old and very dead, but I still like to hop in it and emote for funsies.

Reach of The River: You can play as a deer or a wolf.

Rabbits:

Bunhouse: A cute gardening game where you play as a rabbit that can walk on both two legs and four.

Deer:

The Deer God: A pixel game on Steam where you get to be a deer. Not super great, but I liked how relaxing it was.

The Endless Forest: A free indie game from the early 2000s where you play as a deer with a human face in an idyllic forest. No chat system, no identification beyond a pictogram if you choose to make an account. You can customize your deer with masks, pelts, and antlers, but you need the help of other players to do it!

Reach of the River: You can play as a deer or a wolf.

Birds:

Feather: A relaxing game where you play as a bird and fly around. Yes, that's it. Yes, it's beautiful.

Untitled Goose Game: It's a beautiful day, and you are a horrible goose.

Various real-world animals:

Meadow: A relaxing, no-combat, no-chat game where you can play as various mammals (and a few birds, and a frog!) including lynxes, foxes, goats/deer, rabbits, hedgehogs, pheasants...

The Shelter Series (including Paws): Badger (Shelter), Lynx (Shelter 2/Paws), Elephants (Shelter 3). Made by the same company that made Meadow.

Animalia Survival: An MMO survival game where you can play as a lion, zebra, wildebeest, hunting dog, and various other African animals. This one isn't as enjoyable as a game, it relies heavily on finding a good server that isn't toxic, but I still like prowling around as a lioness in it.

Dinosaurs and Reptiles:

Beasts of Bermuda: Like Animalia Survival, but with dinosaurs. Relies on finding a good server.

Lil Gator Game: You are a baby crocodile anthro running around in a world of other creatures.

Bugs and Aliens:

Empires of the Undergrowth: Ant life simulator. It's pretty good, but strategy-oriented.

Rain World: Slugcats are both slugs and cats. Somehow they feel more like aliens to me though.

Outer Wilds: You are an alien exploring space. This one has a beautiful story and is very immersive.

Drunk on Nectar: Various bugs, including jumping spider, mantis, and butterfly.

Robots:

Warframe: A free game that has a fantastic story once you get into it. Lots of shooting things in space, but you can swap between Warframes and customize your Warframe's colours etc.

The Talos Principle: A puzzle game with strong themes of religion, autonomy, personhood, etc. You are a robot.

Misc:

Book of Travels: If you kin any kind of human from older eras of humanity you might like this one. I can't explain it, but it brings me comfort when I'm feeling Paleolithic despite not being in that era at all.

Roblox: There are tons of games on Roblox that will allow you to play as all kinds of creatures, from realistic to fantasy. Warrior Cats Ultimate Edition, Feather Family, and Farm Life are ones I enjoy a lot. There are various dragon and dinosaur ones too, gryphons, unicorns, etc.

Furcadia: There are so many realms where you can be whatever you want. The community is very furry and alterhuman friendly. It can be quiet in the SFW areas but it's still absolutely worth checking out.

Illarion: You can play as various fantasy races. Roleplay is enforced, but I personally like it for wandering around as an orc or a lizardman or what have you.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey: If you kin any kind of ape or prehistoric human, this one's for you!

Personally I really recommend checking out Roblox, there are SO many beautifully-made games with shockingly good graphics on there. Not just for therians either!

For humanoids, I also generally recommend games with fun character customization screens like Skyrim, Baldur's Gate 3, and Elden Ring, even if the gameplay itself doesn't bring me much euphoria.

Please feel free to add your own recommendations and thoughts!

[radioactivepeasant]

Free Day Thursday

(Per the poll) Eldritch Dad versus Jak versus Cultists

(Featuring characters from The Disowned Game 😅)

For context: the antagonists are trying to unlock an ancient seal to conjure the patron of dark eco, to basically turn the whole population into dark eco warlocks.

Their sage insists that they must spill the blood of a prism channeler to "appease the gods."

"You don't know what you're doing!" Phoenix shouted, straining against Skyheed's soldiers. He managed to get a good kick in, but there were too many to take in one fight. "Skyheed, stop!"

Keira lunged for the ceremonial dagger, a snarl on her lips.

"You so much as scratch him, and the gods will be the least of your worries!"

The blade slammed into the altar as Keira cracked the priest's arm against the stones. He cried out in pain, releasing the knife.

"The madness of the Light will not save the hero!" he gasped, struggling in vain against an enraged sage-in-training.

Jak strained his fingers towards the knife, just out of reach of the triple shackles. So close. He was so close! But he was going to need help.

"Keira! You have to cut me!"

"Are you nuts?!"

"No no, I recognize that glyph! It's gonna be fine!"

The glyph was familiar. Studying with Sister Merci at the temple, Keira had come across many pictograms older than the writing she and Jak and Daxter had employed as children. She could read one or two, but most still mystified her. This one's meaning escaped her memory, but she was certain she had seen it before. Which meant that unfortunately, Jak probably knew what he was talking about.

Reluctantly, Keira pressed the tip of the blade to Jak’s finger. Two small drops of blood slid down into the channels carved into the stone as Phoenix cried out in horror.

"Keira, no! What have you done?!"

Darkness took them.

Out of the blackness, the sounds of scuttling filled the room. Hundreds, thousands of tiny legs across metal and stone. Spiders began to creep down the walls, congregating on the twelve iron cuffs. Thousands of tiny, hairy, bodies pushed between metal and flesh, heedless of the crush until Jak could slide his wrists and one of his ankles out.

"Phoenix! Get everybody out!" he warned, "We don't have a lot of time before-"

"Who is misusing my gift?"

a voice like dry leaves, like the creak of timbers, like bells, filled the chamber.

The darkness drew close, twisting and writhing around itself to form the shape of a woman so tall her masses of curls brushed the ceiling. She took in the prostrated forms of the cultists below her with glowing eyes and curled her lip.

"And what, pray tell, is this?"

The question seemed to shock the onlookers out of their stupor.

"Oh great lady of darkness!" Skyheed bowed from the waist. "We, your humble devotees, come before you to ask your blessing on-"

The woman turned her head to see Jak still struggling to free himself. He'd taken hold of the obsidian dagger to pry off the ankle bands.

"Agh-! Mi'jo, no!"

the goddess snatched the blade from his hands in an instant.

"That's a knife!"

It was as if she hadn't even seen the cultists. Micteca held the hilt between thumb and forefinger, scowling.

"Foul thing. Ugh! How did you even- Nevermind. I'm calling your father."

Jak cringed. "No-! It's not even that bad!"

He and Keira broke the last shackle together as he continued to babble protests.

"He-! He's busy! You don't need to tell him, i can handle this-"

"DAMAS! LOOK WHAT YOUR SON GOT INTO!"

the shout shook the room, sending curtains of dust raining down on them.

"Dude, your mom's a snitch," Daxter snickered.

There was a clap of thunder, and the chamber filled with a blinding light. A biting chill curled around them, contrasting sharply with the warm voice emanating from the center of the light.

"Why is it always "my son" when he's gotten into something he shouldn't?"

Jak groaned. "Guys, I'm right here."

That wouldn't help him and he knew it. But he had to save a little face in front of Daxter and Keira.

Incrementally, a face appeared in the light, then a muscular body, held aloft between wings more like an anemone's tentacles, formed of living sand. Stars wheeled across dark skin like a piece of the sky had come to personally judge them all. The giant gazed down at Jak and narrowed his eyes.

"Hello, son."

He sounded amused.

Ignoring the choked off curses and whispered questions around him, Jak dropped his face into his palm.

"Hello, Father."

"Got yourself into a Situation again, haven't you?"

"It wasn't my fault this time!" Jak protested. He pointed at Skyheed, and decided that whatever followed was on the duke's own head. "That guy made Dark Warriors out of his whole city! He was going to sacrifice me so he could control them all!"

"Ohhhh crap." Keira cringed.

Micteca's eyes flashed. In a much too calm voice she said,

"Kids, would you step outside for a second?"

"Yep! No problem!" Daxter said hastily, leaping off the altar, "No problem at all!"

Keira ducked the priest and Skyheed to grab Phoenix by the sleeve. "Let’s go, let's go! Trust me, you don't want to be anywhere near this room."

"Uh....maybe...don't kill all of them?" Jak offered, pausing at the door.

"The pale ones didn't choose this."

"Jakkkk-"

Micteca frowned.

Jak glanced at the bewildered soldiers, all completely disoriented by the mass influx of dark eco.

"Mamá, please?"

"...you're as bad as your father."

Burning eyes narrowed down at Jak, and long black talons drummed impatiently on the goddess's folded arms.

Damas left off prodding at a smaller Dark Warrior to smirk.

"I think that's the nicest thing you've said about me all year!"

"Oh don't you start-! Alright! We'll see."

Micteca glared at both Jak and Damas.

"The things I do for you two troublemakers..."

"Appreciated, my love."

Damas -- or Deimos or Xenodamas, the monks could never agree on whether his name ought to be more "formal" now -- tucked a lock of hair behind Micteca's ear and began idly braiding it.

"There. That ought to keep the blood out of it."

Jak met Klout's flummoxed and slightly horrified gaze. He, unfortunately, could relate.

"Ugh. There's a time and a place, Father," he muttered under his breath.

A nearly prehensile wing tip snaked out to cuff Jak across the back of the head.

"Be glad your mother has more restraint than I usually do. Relocate, offspring."

Jak shoved the wing away and grinned. "Yeah yeah. Thanks, Ma! Okay, eviscerate away!"

"OUT."

The great stone doors slammed into place behind Jak, and he rolled his eyes at his honorary siblings' unimpressed expressions.

"Well did you want to wade through pureed soldier bits?" he asked indignantly.

Phoenix stared straight ahead, wide eyes focused on nothing.

"What," he finally choked, "just happened?"

[walkintomymystery]

Fall Into Me

(Set after Sonic 3 - Alternate Ending)

Defeated, world-weary, and impossibly lost, Shadow allows himself to be taken back into G.U.N custody. While they decide his fate, he is housed in a secret facility hidden deep in the heart of one of the country's National Parks. Still reeling from the heartbreaks that have shaped his life, Shadow never expected to find the closest thing to a home he'd known in over fifty years.

Pairings: Shadow the Hedgehog x Original Female Character

Warnings for this chapter: very tiny spoilers from Sonic 3, descriptions of chronic illness, loss, grief

//

Chapter Five

“Do you know how to use it?”

Shadow tensed.

Caught.

He looked up at Lisa. She stood with her arms folded, pulling her jacket tight around her thin frame, watching him with sharp, bright eyes.

He thought he might make it to the cafeteria without anyone noticing him. Stupid really. Sometimes it was easy to forget that this base was not the ARK and that these humans were not used to seeing him wandering around.

All eyes had turned to him the moment he stepped through the wide double doors, intrigued by a flash of unusual colour, and stayed fixed to him when they realised he wasn’t Kit.

“No,” Shadow admitted quietly.

He’d ignored the food, there were too many people around serving themselves breakfast. Instead, his gaze had been caught by a squat black machine that smelt strongly of the sharp, full scent of coffee. He didn’t get to finish his first cup and Shadow craved something warming and bitter.

Aggravatingly, the machine was completely foreign to him. He thought he might be able to just push a button and be on his way, but there were so many options, and even if he could understand the language they were written in, half the letters had peeled away with time.

Lisa smiled and reached for a styrofoam cup.

Her movements were swift and sure, as elegant as a crane. Her long fingers always circled and danced before she touched anything. Shadow had known many scientists throughout his long life, Lisa was no different, despite her smiles and her gentle touch.

“It’s easy enough. Just select whether you want regular or decaf, then the type of coffee you’d like.”

She placed the cup under the spout then held out her hand, her graceful fingers hovering over the buttons.

Shadow studied them closely but still couldn’t match any of the faded pictograms with the strong, rich drink that Kit had brought him a few days ago.

“I’m not sure which one I had before.”

He prickled with embarrassment, it was hard to admit ignorance, but Lisa just shrugged.

“Well, it’s free. You can just keep trying them until you find the one you like. But I’m pretty sure Kit would’ve got you this one, it’s what she always has.”

She pointed to one of the top two buttons, but her hand moved so quickly, Shadow couldn’t discern which she meant. Too ashamed to ask to see it again, he simply nodded.

“Thank you.”

Demonstration complete, he hoped Lisa would leave him alone now, but she stayed by his side, looking down at him with a glint behind her wide, round glasses.

Something about the scientist discomforted him. She was almost as smiley as Kit, but seemed to lack her sincerity. Shadow had met enough humans to know when they weren’t being completely honest, and he sensed it in Lisa, even though she had been nothing but kind to him, aside from keeping him locked away in an secret base, sapping his powers and after all this, asking for help.

Lisa pressed one of the buttons on the front of the coffee machine, then another further down.

The little black box sluggishly groaned into life, almost as if it had to heave itself off the floor in order to start working. It rumbled and shook as it poured hot, black coffee into the cup, whirring sickeningly. Shadow wondered why they didn’t just put it out of its misery.

Coffee in hand, Lisa drew in a long breath, inhaling its earthy scent, and smiled, as if this alone was enough to warm and energise her.

“It’s good to see you out and about,” she said. “Have you been exploring?”

So that explained her sudden appearance, why she had parted with her colleagues in favour of speaking to him. It made a difference from being stared at but not one Shadow was totally comfortable with. Attention from scientists had never worked out well for him.

“I wanted something to eat,” he said quietly, hoping that short, concise answers would bring their conversation to a brisk end.

But Lisa didn’t appear deterred. She sipped her coffee and nodded, as if his answer pleased her.

“Good. I’m glad. You need to keep your strength up. That weakness you talked about, the feeling of being disconnected from your powers, the best way to combat it is to eat and rest just like everybody else.”

Aggravated, Shadow said nothing, but his clenched teeth were beginning to make his jaw ache. He wouldn’t have to go to such lengths to maintain his body if Lisa hadn’t taken away what was rightfully his, or had she forgotten that?

Lisa swirled her coffee cup, watching its contents pool and spin as if she might find the answer to some great cosmological question in its depths. When she came up empty-handed, she glanced around, suddenly realising he was on his own.

“Does Kit know you’re here?”

Shadow’s scowl deepened.

Kit was his keeper, not his babysitter, he didn’t see why he had to update her on his every move, especially since these people had practically tripped over themselves to insist that he was free to move about as he pleased.

“You should probably tell her before going AWOL,” Lisa said. “She’ll worry.”

“Why?”

“Kit cares about you. It’s her job.”

Shadow’s ears flattened just a little. It had been a long time since anyone had cared about him.

He still felt so wary around Kit. Shadow could hardly speak around her most days, and pretending that it was indifference rather than fear was beginning to grow exhausting. He still wasn’t sure she was being completely honest with him, but she really did seem to care, more than anyone had in a long time.

“She’s good at it.”

Lisa smiled fondly as she took another sip of her coffee.

“I knew she would be.”

Shadow said nothing.

He glanced towards the door, contemplating making his excuses.

It was so much calmer in his room, dark and quiet and completely his own. No one bothered him there, even Kit never stepped over the threshold. But this was the first time he’d been alone with Lisa, and he had questions that still hadn’t been answered.

“Kit said the sooner I help you, the sooner I can leave. What kind of help do you need?”

Lisa seemed puzzled by this, but the emotion passed almost as soon as it appeared. Had Kit made promises she couldn’t keep? Or was Lisa just surprised that he’d asked her anything at all?

“Well, your creation was a marvel of science, Shadow. If we could run some tests, maybe even take a few blood samples, you could help a lot of people. With your permission, of course.”

Shadow tried to ignore the nervous fluttering of his heart. This was all sounding uncomfortably familiar. How many times had he heard scientists give him that exact spiel? It always ended the same way, sharp needles, cold gurneys, and the vague dizziness of long-lasting anaesthetic.

But it used to be worth it. It had all been worth it, the unease, the constant prodding and poking, the endless questions, the wires and the blood and the sour taste it all left in his mouth. Maria needed him.

She was the only reason for his existence. All that discomfort meant she had a better chance at a full life, and Shadow had promised himself that he’d do whatever it took to make her better.

But that was then, this was now.

“Help people how?”

“You’re a cure, Shadow. Your genetic makeup could be the answer to a lot of questions.”

“You’re conservationists. How will my DNA aid that?”

“I don’t know yet. Isn’t that exciting?”

Lisa shot him a smile that reminded him very much of Kit. It was daring and irreverent, and almost selfish in its indifference.

There was a certainty to the pair, a complete confidence that they knew better and couldn’t possibly be wrong about anything. It worried Shadow. Over-confidence was what got a lot of scientists in trouble.

“Think about it,” Lisa said. “We won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Shadow barely resisted a derisive huff, but settled for fiddling with his bracers. No, they wouldn’t force him, but they would push him into a corner, shackle him, and then wonder why he wasn’t more cooperative, why he was so resistant to trusting them.

Lisa checked her watch, then glanced at the wall clock above the door for confirmation.

“Listen, I’m going home for the weekend - I’ve gotta help my folks move - but I’ll be back on Sunday night, okay? We can pick things up next week, if you like?”

Again, Shadow felt his chest constrict. He hadn’t said he’d be willing to help but she’d already filled in the gaps.

Nothing ever changed. Humans were selfish. They’d get their way, one way or another.

But this was all he’d ever known, and even though he hated to admit it, Kit and Lisa were right. He was created to help people, it was his sole purpose.

Maybe he’d landed on the right path for once, maybe he should trust the holistics that had brought him to this place. Maybe.

Shadow ran his thumb along the edge of one of his bracers, the metal smooth under the rough leather of his glove.

“Kit said that you found her,” he said quietly. “Out in the woods.”

Lisa seemed surprised by the sudden change in topic.

“Not me but- Yes, a couple of the rangers out on patrol found her. She told you about that? She doesn’t usually like to talk about it.”

“She lets you run tests on her?”

Lisa’s expression softened with understanding.

“Kit trusts us.”

She reached out, as if to put her hand on his shoulder, but thought better of it and stopped halfway, her hand hanging awkwardly in midair between them.

Shadow looked between her outstretched fingers and her bright, sharp eyes, and tried not to think about the last time anyone touched him without bad intent. All he could come up with was Maria’s hand in his, fifty years ago. Since then, there had been nothing but pain and malice.

Despite his distrust, despite everything, a part of him ached for Lisa to rest her hand on his shoulder and squeeze gently, reassuringly.

Instead, she took another styrofoam cup from the stack and handed it to Shadow with a smile.

”I wouldn’t ever let anything happen to either of you,” she said, then turned to go. “Don’t get into too much trouble while I’m gone.”

Shadow didn’t dignify that with a response.

He turned to look back at the machine, determined to not let it defeat him. He was the Ultimate Lifeform, for crying out loud, he could make a coffee.

His fingers hovered over the buttons, trying to remember which ones Lisa had pressed. Eventually, he decided on the top left, which he thought meant regular, and the second from the bottom on the right, the one he was sure Lisa had said was Kit’s usual choice.

While he waited for his coffee to finish pouring, Shadow went over to the self-service station in the cafeteria and grabbed a few things to eat, now that it wasn’t busy.

His stomach growled uncomfortably, a feeling he still wasn’t completely used to. Eating in the past had always been for pleasure rather than necessity, and the idea of having this constant wolf at the door made Shadow anxious.

His ears swivelled as he picked out a few recognisable foods, making sure no one would sneak up on him while his hands were busy. But no one paid him the least bit of attention. The novelty of his presence was clearly starting to wear off. He was as ubiquitous as Kit now, just another little alien running around a hidden research centre.

Breakfast in hand, Shadow went to grab his coffee and took an experimental sip. To his surprise, it tasted completely different than the sharp tasting drink Kit had given him before. This was lighter, much, much sweeter, and went down a lot smoother. In fact, it was delicious.

Shadow took another sip, then another, pleased to have found a type of coffee that suited him a little better.

His body warmed and his hands full of breakfast, he headed back to his room.

Shadow considered exploring the forest again on his own, scouting the area to see exactly how far The Hill’s influence stretched into the forest.

Though he’d begun to understand a little of the scale of their operation, Kit had told him that the soldiers also acted as park rangers, helping visitors and protecting the ecosystem. Did that mean people often drifted by? Perhaps park visitors got curious, wandered off the path, and got a little too close to The Hill for comfort, and had to be guided back towards a designated area.

Shadow grimaced at the thought. He didn’t know what was worse, bumping into one of these armed guards in the middle of the woods or running into a human who’d never seen anyone like him or Kit before.

A sudden daggerish pain in his back made Shadow falter. He stopped, clutching his coffee cup until the feeling passed.

He’d been feeling out of sorts for days. The aching, wrenching sickness of being cut off from his powers only seemed to grow worse with every passing hour, but since his fight with Kit, he felt completely exhausted.

He slept through the last two nights, completely dreamless in his fatigue. Even just getting out of bed had worn him out.

It worried him but Shadow shook it off. As Lisa said, he was practically mortal without his powers, and he hadn’t been eating well enough, sleeping for long enough, or meeting any of the needs a regular body needed to survive, let alone thrive.

He took a sullen bite of plain toast, forcing himself to chew and swallow, if only to keep himself alive long enough to figure out what was going on here.

“Hey!”

Shadow looked up.

Down the other end of the corridor, Kit was waving at him. She looked relieved to see him, yet another emotion he wasn’t used to seeing in others.

She half walked, half jogged to meet him in the middle of the hallway, a wobbly smile taking the place of her usual irreverent grin.

“You scared me. I came by your room and you weren’t there.”

Shadow frowned.

“You said I could come and go as I please.”

“Well, yes. I just-” Kit looked embarrassed. “I was worried.”

Something bright and unspoken hung between them, connecting them. Neither of them dared move for fear of pulling it taught or snapping it all together.

Kit was supposed to be his handler, his confidant, a link between him and the humans. Her job was to make this bizarre transition from bioengineered monster to park ranger and test subject a little easier. She wasn’t supposed to worry about him. She wasn’t supposed to care this much. And Shadow wasn’t supposed to like it.

He’d almost forgotten how wonderful it was to be someone’s first thought. No, no, he hadn't forgotten, he just couldn’t bear to remember.

He forced the feeling away, shoving it to the back of his mind to worry about later, but his tongue still felt heavy and clumsy when he spoke, his voice a little tighter than he’d have liked.

“I’m surprised you couldn’t hear me in the cafeteria,” he said, and glanced pointedly upwards.

Kit’s sheepish expression faded. Instead, she rolled her eyes, her ears flattening self-consciously until they were almost pointed backwards.

“You know, it’s not something I enjoy. It’s not as if I have a choice.”

Shadow considered this. Now that his own senses were dulled, the world felt distant and one-dimensional. Though he missed feeling strong, he had to admit it was something of a relief to not have such a high sensitivity. He could enjoy the birdsong that swung past his room, and the gentle voice of the wind through the trees, without fear of overstimulation.

Kit’s hearing was even more impressive than his own once was. The base was piled high with chattering humans, whirring machinery, and heavy-booted soldiers, which was to say nothing of the cacophony in the forests. How she didn’t go mad, he had no idea.

“This place must be… Overwhelming,” Shadow said quietly.

Kit shrugged, though he could tell she was pleasantly surprised by his sudden display of empathy.

“I’ve found ways of dealing with it. With everything.”

Shadow let his gaze follow the outline of her mouth, how it twitched up at the corners and softened her already warm gaze.

She always had something to smile about, even after everything that had happened to her. It half infuriated, half amazed him. And worse still, a part of him ached to know how she did it.

Against his better judgment, Shadow was beginning to relax around her. It sounded ridiculous, he could hardly look Kit in the eyes when they first met, but he could slowly feel himself warming to her.

It was hard not to feel at least a little more at ease when Kit was around. Caring and patient, she didn’t try to pry or force him into any conversation he wasn’t comfortable with. She was never deterred when he brushed her off, and though he was fairly certain she could tear him apart with just a flick of her wrist, Kit had never seriously hurt him. But something held him back.

Shadow wanted to believe that her attentive, sweet disposition was not an act, that the way she seemed to admire him with one breath and tease him with another was a genuine expression of friendship, and not some twisted manipulation.

Kit worried about him, even though he’d hurt her, insulted her, done everything in his power to push her away. It was her job after all, but maybe there was more to it than that.

Her keeper, this place, none of it sat right with him. But it had been so long since someone had been gentle with him.

“What…” Shadow hesitated, bolstered his courage, and tried again. “What do you do? To help you deal with it? With what happened to you?”

Kit face softened. In the low light of the corridor, her lavender eyes seemed to glow, as Shadow had been told his own did.

“I’ll show you,” she said.

To trust someone was to put your heart entirely in their hands. Shadow knew he couldn’t possibly, and perhaps could never truly allow himself to do that again. It hurt too much, and he was so much more afraid of pain these days.

But despite the voice in his head telling him to go back to bed, curl up, close his tired eyes, and wait for his newfound hunger to claim him, there was another voice, softer, kinder. It sprang from somewhere in his chest, from the centre of all his heartache, and told Shadow that it was alright, that he shouldn’t squander the beautiful gift of simply being alive, especially when so many others weren’t so lucky.

The voice that sounded faintly like Maria told him to let Kit in, to trust her, to listen to her and know that she didn’t mean him any harm. She was not like the others, she was just as lost and afraid and lonely as he was, and though he put up a good front, nothing frightened Shadow more than being alone.

“Fine,” he said.

“Really?”

Kit’s ears rose to stand at their full impressive height again, and Shadow couldn’t help huffing in amusement.

“Yes. Lead the way, fox.”

/

Kit went back to her room to grab a jacket.

The days grew ever colder as autumn approached, chilling the air and turning the leaves in the forest to spun gold. It was impossible to leave the base without some form of clothing, much to Shadow’s annoyance, so he too begrudgingly picked out a sweater while he finished his coffee.

Kit passed him a walkie-talkie as they headed out. When he looked at her questioningly, she laughed.

“You’re a ranger now, Star Man. You need a walkie.”

The name resonated with Shadow, sparking a memory that had long laid dormant, but Kit was talking again before he could pick at it any further.

As Kit spoke, she moved closer until she was almost pressed against his side. She showed him the on switch, the button he’d need to press to speak to her, and the dial to swap between frequencies.

Shadow kept his eyes fixed on the walkie-talkie, but all his muscles tensed in anticipation for contact that never came. When Kit moved away again, his face felt hot for some reason.

“I’m on two, someone here at the base will be on one. I think it’s Mike today.”

She pressed her thumb against the side of the walkie-talkie and spoke into its ridged body.

“Hey, it’s Kit. Can anyone hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Kit. You heading out?”

Kit mouthed ‘Mike’.

Shadow huffed.

“Hey, Mike. Yes, the Ultimate Lifeform and I are going to do our rounds.”

“Okay, you crazy kids. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Mike sounded young, bored and severely underpaid.

Shadow frowned down at his own walkie, waiting for it to buzz again. He’d expected the third degree but it never came. Maybe they really did trust him. Maybe he really was safe here.

Together, they headed straight for the tree line at the opposite end of the clearing.

The lime-coloured grass was beginning to grow dry as fall set in, and had been tramped down to half its height under the heavy boots of The Hill’s soldiers.

Bright purple and orange wildflowers scattered the ground, and Shadow turned his head from side to side to catch their sweet scent. It was becoming harder and harder to remember that he was here against his will.

He still had so many questions. Why had G.U.N allowed these people to take custody of him? How long was he supposed to stay here? What would happen to him after?

Inside the base, fear wracked his body. Danger seemed to loom around every twisting, dark corner. But out here, things were different. Ever since he was awoken, Shadow had felt nothing but fear and confusion and pain, but one thing he knew for certain was that his mind felt calmest when he was in these woods, when he was with Kit.

If it weren’t for the discomfort that clawed at him, Shadow was almost convinced he’d be enjoying himself.

As they trudged through the clotted undergrowth, one of his sneakers caught on the gnarled root of a towering pine and he tripped, cursing under his breath at the sudden jarring burst of white-hot pain it sent through him.

It was getting harder to ignore and conceal how awful he felt. Something was wrong.

Kit looked back at him over her shoulder. When she saw his tight-lipped grimace, she stopped and waited for him to catch up, her eyes focused and sharp with concern.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine,” he brushed her off, but Shadow knew it wouldn’t be enough to deter Kit.

She held out a hand to stop him walking any further.

Again, Shadow tensed, expecting her to push against his chest, but she still didn’t touch him. He appreciated it, he’d spent his whole life being prodded and poked and examined, it was a relief to spend time with someone who he knew wouldn’t touch him without asking.

After a moment, Kit unwrapped her scarf from around her neck and held it out to him.

“Here.”

Shadow stared at it, then at her.

Kit waited another second then stepped closer. Slowly, her eyes fixed on his, she raised the scarf and lifted it over his head.

Shadow said nothing, but he also didn’t stop her. He just watched, stunned and confused, as Kit settled the scarf around his neck, then took the two ends and carefully crossed them over each other.

“There,” Kit said. “This will keep you warm.”

Shadow looked down, following the wobbly stitches until his eyes grew tired. The scarf was such a brilliant red, like rowan berries and maple leaves. It warmed him just to see it.

Kit must have misinterpreted his interest because she huffed, embarrassed.

”I’m still learning, okay?”

“You made this?”

“Oh, I had all kinds of hobbies and interests before you showed up.”

Kit tucked one end of the scarf over his shoulder, forming a loop that immediately trapped his body heat within.

“You’re a full-time job, handsome.”

Shadow ignored her.

He plucked the edge of the scarf between his thumb and index finger so that he could examine it more closely.

Now that he had a better view, he could clearly see that the scarf was homemade. The tension was too tight in some places and too loose in others, and the stitches warped and stretched into different sizes. But it was warm. It was so warm.

He faintly wondered how she found the time for all these activities. Kit said she’d read all the books in the library. She’d also managed to map most of the surrounding wilderness in her mind and worked almost daily with Lisa down in the labs to hone her powers, and yet she still found the time to knit, and learn about the planet, and look after him.

It was a lot for someone who’d only lived on this world for six months; Shadow couldn’t figure out how she found the energy. Maybe Kit needed him more than she let on. Maybe being tasked with helping him settle in and adapt to life on Earth was the distraction she’d been hoping for.

“There are holes in it,” he said.

“Like you could do any better. Unless being the Ultimate Lifeform extends to arts and crafts.”

“Who knows, I haven’t tried yet.”

“You woke up with a sense of humour today. That’s good, I was getting worried.” Kit tugged at the end of the scarf that hung down his front. “It matches your eyes.”

Kit smiled, her gaze switching across his face, until her attention was stolen.

The bright morning sunlight warmed her face, lighting up her eyes until they seemed to glow with the same lilac fire as when she used her powers.

Shadow waited, his chest tight.

He hated being stared at. The scientists on the ARK, the soldiers here at The Hill, the people in that busy Tokyo square, all anyone ever did was stare at him, like he was some little monster. It was just another reminder that he didn’t belong here, that he was wrong and unnatural.

He let another moment go by before he finally grew frustrated and scowled at Kit.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Sorry, it’s just you’ve got…”

“What?”

Kit’s gaze refocused, and she was smiling again.

Always smiling. He’d never known anyone to smile so much, it was exhausting. What had he said or done that could possibly be worth smiling about this much?

“Your eyes,” Kit said, and circled her finger in the air beside his face. “There’s a ring of gold in them. I hadn’t noticed it before. It’s pretty.”

If he’d been given a hundred years and a thousand guesses. Shadow was sure he never would have been able to predict that’s what Kit would say next.

Her warm gaze suddenly made his face feel hot again, and a feeling he couldn’t name slipped up his spine until he had to force down a shiver.

Kit’s gaze dropped to his hands when he self-consciously balled them into fists at his sides.

Her fingers rose to brush against the bracer at his left wrist before she remembered herself, just as Lisa had. Kit pulled back her hand and tucked it behind her.

“How are they feeling today?” she asked, nodding to the bracers.

Shadow grimaced.

He had absolutely no intention of letting anyone know just how much pain he was in, but of course, Kit noticed. As he’d told Lisa, she was good at her job. There was no use lying to her, but for some reason, Shadow found he didn’t want to anyway.

“Worse, I think,” he said quietly.

Kit looked genuinely concerned. She wrinkled her nose, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she looked him up and down.

“I’m sorry. I keep trying to tell them but they say… Well, you know.”

“Maybe you don’t have as much sway as you think.”

“Sway?”

Kit snorted, then turned and headed up the path, pushing her way through the lowest branches.

After a moment, Shadow followed her, pulling a face every time the pine needles dug into his skin

“They’re conservationists, Shadow. I don’t need sway. They’re just a bunch of hippies.”

“I’ve met hippies. These people are not hippies.”

“I’m trying to enjoy my walk so I’m going to pretend I don’t hear you every time you grumble.”

Together, they headed up a muddy bank, the dry autumn crunching beneath their feet.

Soon the ground levelled out and Shadow was able to pick out multicoloured stones embedded in the earth. To his amazement, they shone dark red and pale yellow, like gemstones glistening in the sunlight.

Just a few paces ahead of him, Kit’s face was upturned towards the blazing sapphire sky.

It was a beautiful day. The days were always beautiful here. Shadow could imagine this park would still perfect in the dead of winter, when most of the trees had lost their colour and the ground was thick with snow.

His ear flicked at the sound of a bird singing to its partner off in the distance. He’d read about most of the creatures that lived in the park but had yet to see them in person. The rich, sweet sound rose and fell around their heads, an ancient song impossible to decipher.

Shadow could easily understand how Kit had fallen in love with this place.

In his youth, he’d known nothing but large, temperate rooms with metal walls and artificial lights. Anything natural and real could only be seen through cold, thick glass.

He reached out and let his gloved fingers graze across the rough bark of a tree, then the velvety petal of a bright pink flower.

Maria would have known its name.

Not for the first time, Shadow found himself with questions he wanted to ask her, questions that would never and could never be answered, like he was reaching out into the darkness and grasping for her hand but finding nothing.

“It’s called Fireweed.”

Kit was gazing at the flower with fondness, as if they were old friends.

“They’re everywhere in the park. They’re usually the first flowers to grow after a fire. Iris says her grandmother used to make tea with them. They're lovely, aren’t they?”

Shadow took his hand back, annoyed that she seemed to read his mind yet again.

Kit insisted that telekinesis was where her power ended, but Lisa seemed certain that with the right training and enough time, she would be able to see into people’s minds too.

Perhaps the ability was already there, inert in the centre of Kit’s brain, only coming to the surface when she wanted to annoy him. It would certainly explain how she always seemed to know what he was thinking.

“It’s fine,” he said.

He pushed past the flower only to find they’d reached the edge of a meadow full of them.

A thin trail ran through its centre, so narrow that they’d have to walk in single file. On either side of the path, the tall grasses stretched on until the ground rounded off in the distance. Before them stood towering purple mountains, flanked with banks of pure white snow.

Kit noticed him staring and laughed softly.

“Beats a G.U.N facility, huh.”

“How would you know?”

“Well, I know they kept you in a tank for fifty years. Anything’s got to be better than that.”

Shadow had to agree, but kept it to himself.

“What do you-”

“Oh, no you don’t.”

Kit waved her hand at him, so animated compared to the stillness all around them that Shadow couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.

“Come on, Shadow, I’ve been answering questions for weeks now. It’s your turn.”

He’d been here for weeks? That couldn’t be right. Shadow cast his mind back, counting all the seemingly endless nights he’d spent in his dark little room.

Time moved differently here, there was only daylight and nightfall, and whatever happened in between felt sluggish and exhausting. He supposed he had lost track of time. What did it matter anyway? He had nowhere to go, nowhere to be.

“Alright,” he said, hoping Kit would keep her questions short and to the point.

She turned and headed up the narrow path, placing one boot in front of the other to avoid treading on any of the grass or flowers that bracketed them on either side.

It reminded Shadow of something he’d read in one of her books. Take only memories, leave only footprints.

Humans were a devastating species. The moment they discovered something new and beautiful, they found a way to grind it up and turn it into profit. They weren’t all like that, Shadow knew this in his heart, but he’d been wronged too many times to allow that small minority any grace.

He followed Kit, walking just as she did, placing one careful foot in front of the other.

The sunlight warmed his back, easing the ache in his muscles, if only a little. There was a slight breeze, a reminder of the changing seasons. Soon, the days would turn shorter and darker, and the flowers that burst with colour all around them would be gone.

“Have things changed much? In fifty years?” Kit asked, glancing back over her shoulder at him.

Shadow shook his head.

“Not as much as you’d think.”

“Is this your first time on Earth too?”

“Yes. We would often gaze down at this planet and imagine what it would be like to live here. But we never…”

He trailed off, realising too late that he’d spoken in the fourth person.

It was impossible to separate her from his memories, and he didn’t want to. Every second spent aboard the ARK was warmed and shaped by Maria’s presence. There was no him without her.

He’d never even considered that someday she would no longer be here. Before she was taken from him, Shadow hadn’t even truly understood what death meant, or how brutal loss could feel. But now he was here, without her, and he was still breathing somehow. It shouldn’t be possible. But it was.

“Is it like you thought it would be?”

Shadow looked up from the path to find Kit looking at him again, except now her irritating smile had been replaced by a sobriety that didn’t suit her.

Her bright eyes searched his, and he wondered if she was tracing that ring of gold she’d mentioned, a facet of his own face he’d never noticed before.

“No,” he said, and left her to wonder what it meant.

They reached the edge of the meadow.

Shadow’s body was beginning to tremble with the force of the shivers that wracked his muscles, but he gritted his teeth, forcing the feeling away.

It wasn’t a sensation he’d ever known before. He felt tired and achy, almost fluish, but there was something more, something beginning to burn in the centre of his brain. This was more than post-sparring pain, this was something more, and it frightened him.

He didn’t want Kit to notice that he wasn’t feeling well. He flinched when she suddenly turned to him but her attention was elsewhere.

“Here, I’ve got something for you.”

Shadow frowned as she reached up and tucked her hand behind his head.

“What are you-”

This was the closest they had ever been to each other, apart from when he’d pinned her down on the forest floor, not far from where they stood now.

He hadn’t been in the right frame of mind to notice much about anything then, but now things were quiet and still and calm, his attention was drawn to her ridiculous ears. When Kit wasn’t paying attention, the left seemed to droop a little lower than the other, giving her a perpetual look of inquisitiveness.

There were two tiny patches, one at each of her temples, like scars that were still healing, most likely from the night she was found out in these woods, and in the warm autumn sunlight, he could see that the white spots that speckled up her nose to her forehead looked almost pearly, rather than stark white. They were pretty.

She was pretty.

Shadow blanched as the thought fizzled and died like a firework in the back of his mind, gone before it could even fully form. Still, it concerned him, but Kit was rambling on again before he had the chance to put any thought into it.

She pulled a sprig of a sapling from behind his ear, a verdant little branch about as long as the width of his palm. Kit must have been carrying it in the bag she had slung across her chest.

“Not too bad, eh?” Kit grinned, pleased that she’d managed to successfully pull off the rudimentary magic trick. “Campbell taught me that.”

“Who is Campbell?” Shadow asked, and held his palm flat when Kit gestured for him to do so.

She laid the little plant in his hand, placing it down so carefully and gently, he dared not move for fear of dropping it. This precious little thing, this tiny burst of life.

“One of the scientists. No one remembers his real name.”

“Why do they call him Campbell?”

“He’s a soup fiend.”

“Nothing you say makes any sense.”

Kit laughed softly and Shadow allowed himself the tiniest of smiles, tucking it behind his scarf so that she wouldn’t see.

“I’ve been propagating it in my room for weeks. It’s finally ready to be planted.”

Kit crouched down and dug her fingers into the earth, curling her hand into a fist to scoop away the dirt until she had created a small divot in the ground. Then she looked up at Shadow.

“Go on.”

He hesitated, then sank down beside her.

Shadow cupped the tiny fir tree in both hands and gently placed it in the hole Kit had dug. He held his breath, keeping his shaking hands steady as he carefully pulled them from under its tiny white roots, leaving it to stand proud and happy on its own.

He leaned back as Kit swept her hand over the earth she’d upturned, pushing it into the hole until the fir tree’s bottom half was completely covered.

“Just like magic.” She beamed. “In a few hundred years, we’ll both be long gone. But this tree will still be here.”

Shadow shook his head.

“I will outlive every tree in this forest.”

Kit looked up. Again, her lavender eyes searched his face, looking for what, he didn’t know. But she seemed sad, or something close to it. It was even worse than when she smiled at him.

When she spoke again, it was with a halting hesitancy, almost like she was embarrassed to ask.

“Your file was censored. I’ve seen the footage from Tokyo, but it’s limited. I… I know there are others like us.”

“There is no one like me.”

Kit huffed.

“Others like me then,” she corrected herself, placing a hand on her chest.

A voice in the back of his Shadow’s head warned him that he’d already spoken far too much today, given too much of himself away, but Kit was so open and curious, the fear of being known by her didn’t seem so intense.

“The doctor used to call you Mobians.”

“What are they like? Can they..? Do they have powers too?”

Kit kept her voice low, and the way her eyes switched across his face gave her words a sense of urgency Shadow didn’t understand. Had she waited till they were far away from the base and definitely out of earshot to ask?

“Yes,” he said, subconsciously matching her tone. “But it’s not common. Mobians with unique abilities are rare.”

Kit nodded, almost to herself, as if he’d confirmed a hypothesis she’d been mulling over for some time.

She gazed down at the tiny sapling they’d planted together and grazed her fingertip over one of its thumbnail-sized leaves.

“I keep asking to meet them. I thought perhaps they could be invited here but… They said no, for now. I understand, but it would be nice to meet others from my world.”

Shadow shook his head.

“They may not be. There are countless planets, innumerable tribes and peoples.”

A faint wave of disappointment crossed Kit’s face, and Shadow felt guilt clamp around his chest.

Her amnesia had been his mind’s constant companion. With very little else to distract him, Shadow found himself going over her story again and again, looking for holes but only coming up with more questions.

Found, cold and alone, in the middle of a forest on another planet, with no memory of what had happened to her, no memory at all. She must have been terrified.

He wondered if Kit had a family, if there was someone out there searching for her. Six months was a long time, perhaps they thought she was gone forever.

Shadow almost envied her. No memory meant no pain, no loved ones meant no loss.

What was it Gerald said? The question isn't what Maria would have wanted; it's what do they deserve? Remember what she meant to us. Remember what they took from us.

It tore him apart to have those words churning in his brain. His creator’s mind had snapped in two, bent and twisted by grief. Gerald didn’t care if either of them lived or died.

Shadow thought he knew what loneliness was before that last day aboard the ARK, he could never have guessed how painfully alone he felt now.

If there were a magic word he could say to wish all his agony away, he was sure he’d be tempted. But then his family would be nothing more than a dream, and the life he’d lived prior to the one he lived now, everything he’d learnt, everything wonderful about those days, would be gone.

Love was stronger than pain, he knew that now.

Kit stood and dusted her hands off on her jacket. It had clearly once belonged to an employee at The Hill as it was about three sizes too big for her. Black and puffy, like the kind a security guard would wear, it made her stick out amongst the soft greens and pinks all around her.

“What are they like?” she asked.

“Other planets?”

“Your friends.”

Shadow narrowed his eyes.

“They are not my friends.”

“Acquaintances?”

“No.”

“Associates.”

“They’re idiots. You’d like them.”

“But are any of them..?”

Again, she pressed her hand to her chest.

Shadow knew what she was asking.

“There is a fox. But I don’t think you could be from the same village. His ears aren’t half as ridiculous.”

Kit laughed, bright and clear, breaking the stillness of the tranquil world she’d led him into.

“Okay, okay…”

She waved a hand at him then turned and headed onward again, following the path down into a thick clutch of towering pines.

“C’mon, a little further and then we’ll go back. There’s a storm coming.”

Shadow raised his face to the sky. There were no clouds, and only the slightest breeze swept through the trees. Blue and endless, he couldn’t believe that another dark storm could be on its way.

“Can you hear it?” he asked, hiding his smirk behind his scarf again.

Kit shot him a scorching look, though he could tell she wasn’t actually annoyed with him. In fact, she looked quite pleased that he’d poked fun at her.

“I looked up a weather report this morning. They’re not that big.”

Shadow eyed her ridiculous ears as he moved past her, taking the lead this time.

“They’re pretty big, Kit.”

He stepped down onto the trail, feeling the solid, sun-baked earth beneath his borrowed sneakers.

As the trees grew closer again, their gnarled roots and thick branches knotted together until they blocked out most of the brilliant blue sky.

These trees were a glimpse into the future of the little sapling they had planted. As Kit said, in a hundred years time, they would still be standing proudly in this glorious place, towering over the landscape, keeping watch.

Though their home had been cut back and blighted for centuries, they had existed here for far longer than any human, and they would be here for a long time after they were gone. Longevity, the idea of something beautiful existing forever, despite fire and flood and human interference, the thought brought Shadow peace.

They walked a little further, until the sound of rushing water made Shadow prick up his ears.

He glanced back at Kit over his shoulder. She nodded encouragingly, and he kept moving, pushing through the low branches until the path opened up into a clearing.

Shadow stopped, frozen with awe.

Before him stood a proud waterfall, stretching several feet above their heads. Over the millennia, it had cut through the trees and the moss-covered rock, and collected in a pool of perfect, clear water that rippled gently in the breeze. A fine mist hung in the air, glinting in the sunlight and making the fur on his face stick to his skin.

Kit stood beside him, gazing at the waterfall with open adoration

“It’s perfect, isn’t it. I come here when I need some peace and quiet. No one ever comes here.”

She took in a lungful of the crisp air and let it go again slowly, her shoulders rising and falling like the gentle waves in the pool.

“Every time I explore, I find something new and it’s all beautiful. If this is just one park, I can’t imagine what the rest of the planet looks like.”

At their feet, the sunlight split in the water, turning great patches of it to molten gold. The only sounds were the rush of the waterfall and a woodpecker hammering against the bark of a tree in the near distance. It was one of the most beautiful things Shadow had ever seen.

Kit sat down at the edge of the water, cross-legged on a wide, flat rock.

After a moment, Shadow joined her, being careful to keep enough distance between them so that there would be no chance of them accidentally touching.

“It’s not all like this,” he said quietly, afraid that if he raised his voice, the scene would shatter like glass.

“I know. But I wanna see it all. The rainforests and the deserts and the big cities, and- All of it. There are a million different worlds on this planet. I don’t think anyone could possibly see them all but I want to try.”

Shadow glanced sideways at Kit, surprised by her answer.

Her inquisitiveness and her openness, despite all that had happened to her, reminded him of Maria.

What he was sure would’ve frightened most into a reticent life had only sparked her curiosity. Kit wanted to understand this world she’d fallen into. She treasured it, she was grateful for the home she’d found here. And she wanted to share it with him.

This place, this world, meant so much to Kit, and she was willing to open up her palms, hold it up to him, and show him all that she loved about it. She treated him as an equal, a friend, not a weapon, or a monster, or the key to some great scientific revelation, just like Maria used to.

“Where would you start?” he asked.

“If I could go anywhere?” Kit brightened, her mind reeling at all the possibilities at her fingertips. “Oh, I can’t pick one place. There’s too much to see, I want to go everywhere.”

She pulled her knees up to her chest and tucked her arms around them to keep herself steady, then turned her face to the sky, as if she might find her answer there.

”Oh, but lately I’ve been thinking a lot about having ice cream by the beach. It can get so cold here in the winter, and it’s not much warmer in the summer. I’d like to go somewhere nice and hot. But the ice cream is the most important part.”

Shadow watched a yellow leaf drift down from a nearby larch, lifting and swirling in the breeze until it landed on the surface of the water without making a single ripple.

He thought of all the times he and Maria would sneak tubs of ice cream from the ARK’s extensive kitchen in the middle of the night. They would stay up for hours, watching movies until they both fell asleep. He was sure the doctor knew about it but it was so rare that Maria was able to just be a kid, they never got in trouble and they were never disturbed.

“Ice cream is nice,” he said quietly.

“I’ve never tried it.”

When Shadow turned to her, shocked, Kit laughed and raised her palms to him.

“They don’t have it here! I’ve only seen it on TV.”

“Can’t you ask Lisa?”

Kit looked sheepish. She shook her head.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know it- It seems stupid to ask. She’s the smartest person I’ve ever met, not that I’ve met many people but… I don’t want her to think I’m an idiot.”

Kit clammed up then. He saw a door slam shut behind her eyes. It occurred to Shadow that she might’ve been given a set of rules, limitations on how much of herself she was allowed to give away to him.

As much as Kit obviously longed to learn about and be with her own kind, Shadow understood the pull that family had, even a found family.

In Kit’s mind, the scientists at The Hill had given her everything: warmth, food, a home, even a purpose. Loyalty, love, these things were stronger than any power, and certainly stronger than all her curiosity about him.

“It’s not stupid,” he said.

When Kit looked at him again, the light was back behind her eyes, that door open wide again.

Shadow wondered briefly who she would choose if it came down to it, him or them, but again, the thought faded almost as quickly as it appeared, and he ignored the nagging feeling it left in its wake.

Instead, he turned back to the idyllic spot she’d brought him to, taking in every detail until the picture was burned onto his brain in the hope that, if he didn’t manage to ward off sleep tonight, his dreams would be full of warm sunlight and soft, running water, and not the nightmares that greeted him like an old friend.

“It is beautiful here,” Shadow murmured.

Beside him, Kit bloomed like a peony. The smile that broke across her face was one of pure relief and delight, like she’d half expected him to not like it here, this place that clearly meant so much to her.

She leaned forward and dipped the very tips of her fingers into the cold water, only just breaking the surface tension.

Every move she made was precise and careful, as if just walking on the grass was tantamount to harming this wilderness that she loved so much.

“What was it like? Seeing the Earth from space?”

Behind his scarf, Shadow smiled.

He wasn’t sure why, but something about Kit’s questions was beginning to grow comforting. Perhaps it was that she never asked about anything painful. All her interest seemed to focus on learning about him, about the world he grew up in, the good memories, rather than a grim curiosity about everything that had come after. It was a nice change.

“Incredible.”

Shadow closed his eyes and pictured how the world had looked behind the wide windows of the ARK. A beautiful, blue-green marble, suspended in space, ghostly quiet and teeming with life.

He remembered pressing his forehead up against the cold glass and looking down upon the planet, but he never felt like a giant, he felt utterly and blissfully insignificant.

“We saw earthquakes alter entire coastlines. Oil spills and hurricanes and wildfires. Wars and floods and…”

His voice caught in his throat as another memory rose to the surface. He could still feel her small, warm hand in his.

“There was a time - someone explained it to us after - cold water had bubbled up from under the sea off the south-east coast of Australia. It disturbed the phytoplankton and they bloomed across the Pacific. It was...”

Shadow could still see it now, that dancing, gleaming azure light, an aurora borealis beneath the waves. It swept across the ocean, lighting up the planet.

Maria had rushed to grab her camera and took countless polaroids, including one of the two of them with the Earth in the background, her arm around his shoulders, his smile bright and carefree. She pinned it up with all the others in her room, a collage of her life aboard the ARK. All gone now though.

Beside him, Kit had taken one of her bizarre ears in her hands and was running her fingers along its edge, as if checking for something.

Shadow realised it was the same one he had yanked down as they fought, and for a moment, he almost felt bad.

She let it go again, and it flicked comically back into place.

“I think this must be the most beautiful planet in all the cosmos.” Kit mused, without taking her eyes off the waterfall. “The humans don’t know what they have.”

Shadow looked down at the pool before them. His reflection stared back at him, unforgiving and phlegmatic, so he switched to looking at Kit’s.

She was smiling gently, her eyes glowing in the golden sunlight.

Shadow said nothing, but he couldn't help thinking she was right.

/

By the time he finally made it back to his room, evening had begun to fall.

Shadow felt completely exhausted. Every single one of his muscles ached and shivered beneath his skin, and he could barely put one foot in front of the other.

Just get to bed, he thought. Just get to bed, shut your eyes, and it will go.

But would he even make it that far?

Stumbling like a drunkard, he didn’t bother with the light switch. His eyesight wasn’t as good now as it used to be, but Shadow could just about make out the vague shape of his bed in the darkness.

The door slammed closed behind him, and the sound echoed and ricocheted around his head, beating against Shadow’s eardrum until he let out a groan.

He felt almost nauseous with the pain. The room wouldn’t stop spinning.

Shadow stumbled towards the bed and grabbed onto the headboard, gripping the frame so tight, his knuckles almost pressed through his skin.

He had this awful feeling, like all his insides had been scraped out, and he was suddenly acutely aware of every electrical impulse in his body.

This was not the aftermath of his scrap with Kit. This was something far worse, something that sent a shiver of panic through his body.

Shadow sucked in a sharp breath as his entire body contracted again. He only just managed to angle himself towards his mattress before his legs gave out entirely.

He tried to call out, to who he didn’t care, anyone would do. In the end, all he managed was a feeble, strangled cry he hoped someone would hear before the darkness closed in all around him, blurring the edges of his vision until it consumed him completely.

Shadow’s last thought before he sank into agony was of that stark white laboratory, the sharp, digital scraw of medical equipment, and Maria’s outstretched hand, painted red.

//

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@star-maker-rain-dancer @your-arm-is-minty-fresh @anniesangel-universe @ur-non-local-weirdo @gadgettheraccoon @mxauthor @triasticalwarlock @your-nameno13 @notsogoofyjelly @starheart-blog

[cdmx-pictogram-tournament]

Hello!

(General information under the cut)

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(Spanish under the line)

Hello! In this blog, I'll make a tournament between the pictograms / icons of the Mexico City transportation system. I plan on making one poll per day, starting with 4 options in each, to narrow down the choices, and probably decreasing to 2 per poll later.

I'll start with the Metro station pictograms, and may do the other transportation systems in the future.

In case anyone isn't familiar with the Mexico City transportation system: In most modes of mass public transportation, each station has a unique pictogram which identifies it.

These are generally related to the name, location, or points of interest near the station. Some of them are quite interesting and creative, so I thought it'd be interesting to see which ones you all prefer.

The full list of icons is in this post. Feel free to send in propaganda via ask, for any icons you particularly like, even if you don't know or haven't visited the city.

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En este blog, haré un torneo entre los logotipos de estación del metro de la Ciudad de México. Planeo publicar una encuesta por día; inicialmente con 4 opciones, para ir disminuyendo los contendientes, y probablemente luego baje a 2 logotipos por encuesta.

Primero haré el torneo entre los íconos del Metro, y tal vez luego haga lo mismo para otros sistemas de transporte.

Por si alguien no conoce los íconos del trasporte de la Ciudad de Mexico: En los sistemas de transporte público, cada estación tiene un ícono / pictograma / logotipo único que la identifica.

Estos generalmente están relacionados de alguna manera con el nombre, localización, o puntos de referencia de la estación. Llegan a ser bastante creativos e interesantes, por lo que pensé que sería entretenido ver cuáles se consideran los mejores acá en Tumblr.

La lista de logotipos está en este post. Por favor manden por ask, cualquier propaganda o comentario de los íconos que más les gusten, aún si no conocen la ciudad.

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Header image source (CC-BY-2.0, by "maxintosh") https://www.flickr.com/photos/50653019@N00/429756014

[fantasyfantasygames]

Post-Literate

Post-Literate, Pictogram Games, 2011

Post-Literate takes on one of my favorite genres, transhumanism. I think it's the only transhuman game in which your characters are all illiterate.

They're not idiots, reading just stopped being necessary. Artificial intelligence (like, real AI, not the limited kind that's impacting every industry like a bomb right now) is ubiquitous and powerful, and humans rely on it for basically everything. You want to know something, just ask the open air - there's probably an AI nearby who can reply. If icons and warning signs don't make things obvious, they clearly weren't designed well enough. People who can read in this society are like someone in the modern day living "off the grid".

It's not a post-scarcity world, though. No replicators, no unlimited resources, no free energy, just so much computing power no one can run out of it. Biotech, nanotech, and computation are all massively advanced, but each of them has limits: bio is big and powerful but slow, nano is quick and precise but small-scale, and computation can't affect the real world without the other two.

The game has two typical modes of play. The first is more exploratory - what do humans do in a world where machines can do everything? The second posits a group of rogue AIs who consider humanity a drain on the world's resources, as opposed to the vast majority who are programmed to preserve humanity. You get caught up in the rogues' plots, either as a pawn of one side or the other (AIs do find humans so very hard to read), or as an ally.

Mechanically, the game essentially runs on Fate with PbtA playbooks. I'm sure plenty of other folks have done it. Given the publication date, though, the current batch of Fate stuff wasn't out yet, so this is focused around the then-newly-released Strands of Fate implementation. Definitely crunchier than one would expect from a Fate game.

The game could use more examples - a lot of examples - for aspects, stunts, and so forth. For example, the game says "use this wealth system to represent your connections with other people", but then... that's it. I can figure it out, but I'm also the GM who's read over hundred games.

Much as I love the concept of the game, I think it just didn't lean hard enough into the feel of the game - which is a shame, because that's exactly what Fate games have to do. There should be systems for mind games against AI opponents, fast-talking people into giving you access to their systems, parkour chase scenes... and you can do that, because it's Strands of Fate and it'll handle it just fine, but it's not built for it. It's too generic.

Art, including the cover, is black-and-white line drawings in a very cyberpunk style. To their credit there are almost no robots (as an AI why would you bother with running a drone 99 days out of 100?), but the tech depicted seems a bit understated for what the game describes.

Pictogram Games made Post-Literate and another game about using symbols for magic. It had the most breakable and least handicapped-accessible magic system I've seen in a long time, so buckle in for that one when I get to it.

[chase-prairie]

Poesy rings - Also spelled posie or posey, these rings derived their name from the French word “poésie,” or poem, because of the short sayings with which they were engraved that were religious, friendly or amorous in nature. Posy rings were popular from the latter half of the Middle Ages, which extended from the 15th to 17th century. In medieval times, when religion was very much a part of everyday life, it was common for saints’ figures or religious text to appear on the rings alongside romantic expressions or even expressions of friendship. In this way, the rings functioned both as a religious talisman and a gift of love. The phrases were written in Latin, Old French or Old English. Until about 1350, the lettering was done in a script with rounded capital letters known as Lombardic, while later examples use Gothic script.  Certain inscriptions appear on multiple rings, indicating the goldsmiths of the day had a book of stock phrases from which clients could choose.

Phrases:

‘A Frindes gift’

‘A loving wife during life’

‘A true friends Gift’

‘A vertuous wife preseurueth life’

‘After consent ever content’

‘x AMICVS x TVVS’ ‘I love you.”

‘As God decreed soe wee agreed’

‘ As gold is pure, so love is sure’

‘AS I DESERVE SO I DESIER’

‘As I prove I wish your love’

AXCEPT * THIS * GIFT

‘Be true in Harte’

‘Bee firme in faith’

‘ CERT A MON GRE ‘ (certainly my choice)

‘Content is a treasure’

‘Continew Faythfull’

‘Denial is Death’

‘EN BON’

‘EN BON DESIR’

‘EN MI MARIE’ (to my husband)

‘Far of yet not forgot’

‘Feare god love thy choyse’

‘Feare not mee, i’le faithful bee’

‘God above increase our love’

‘God made us two one’

‘God send me always of his grace’

‘Harbor the harmless hart’

‘Harts United Live Contented’

‘Humility is the true Nobility’

‘I am free for God & Thee’

‘I cannot show the love I O’

‘I give it the to think on mee’

‘ I have obtained whome god ordained ‘

“I joy in one yet enjoy none”

‘I x LIKE x MI x CHOYSE’

‘I LIKE MY CHOIES ONLY’

‘I live in Hope’

‘I love and like my choice’

‘I rejoyce in the my choice’

‘I with your pretty sight, will breed you much delight’

‘In Christ and thee my comfort be’

‘In love abide till death devide’

‘In loyalty Ile live and dye’

‘In thy breast my heart doth rest’

‘In thee I find content of mind’

‘In thee my choyce I doe reioyce’

‘In thy sight is my delight’

‘Knit in one by Christ alone ‘

‘Let the Lord above send peace & love’

‘Let this present my good intent’

‘Let love continue’

‘Let us share in joy and care’

‘Let vertue rule affection’

‘Let vertue still direct thy will’

‘Let virtue be a guid to thee * ‘

‘Live & Love’

‘Live and Love Happy’

  ‘Live in Love & feare the lord above’

‘ Love I Like Thee + Sweete Requite Thee’

‘Love is my joy’

‘Love is the bond of peace’

‘love never dies where vertu lies’

‘Loue to be louved’

‘Love till you dye and soe will I’

‘Love vertu’

‘Moe love to Myne’ More love to Mine’

‘My gift is myselfe’

‘my hart is thine’

‘My Heart I Bind Where Love I Find’

‘My love by this presented is‘

My love to thee shall endless be

‘NE MEUR BON’  followed by a heart rebus (A good heart never dies)

‘No gift like good will’

‘No riches like content’

‘Noe Heart More true than mine to you.’

‘Noe recompence but love’

‘None Can Preuent the Lord’s Intent’

‘Not loft but gon before.’

‘Not so able as willing’

‘Not the value but my love’

‘Of earthli joyse thou art my choys’

‘Oh hurt noty [heart pictogram] whose only joy thou art’

‘One chosen both happy’

‘Rather dye then faith denye’

‘Remember the giver’

‘Sith hands and hart with one Consent let nought but death the Knot preuent’

‘Some love in earnest, some in jest, I love her that I like best’

‘Success to our fleet.’

‘The god of peace our love increase’

‘* THE HART SAW * THE LOVE CHOSEN * * NEVER BROKEN * JOYND ETERNAL *’

‘The Lord us Bless with Good Success’

‘The loue is trew that I O U’

‘The Love of thee is life to me’

‘The ring is round & hath no end so is my love for thy’

“Thinke it not strange though wee exchaing”

‘True love is endless’

‘True love will not remove’

‘TRYFULL+NOT+WYTH+THE+TRUSTY++’

‘UBI AMOR IBI FIDES’ Where There is Love There is Faith’

‘United hearts death only parts’

‘Vertue paseth ryches’

‘Wee joine our harts in God’

‘Wee joyne our love in God above’

‘When this you se remember me’

‘Yield and Conquer’

‘You and I will Lovers dye’

‘You have my hart’

‘You never knew a heart more true ‘

‘YOURS TO COMMAND.’

[beardedmrbean]

While royal-themed baby names like King, Prince, and Princess are gaining popularity in the United States, New Zealand is maintaining its strict stance against such monikers.

According to a recent Official Information Act inquiry, the New Zealand government rejected 11 requests to name a child King. Other royal-inspired names like Prince (10 requests), Princess (4 requests), and even the creative variation Pryncess (2 requests) were also denied.

New Zealand’s naming rules, enforced by the New Zealand Law Society, require names to be under 70 characters, free of non-standard symbols, and not resemble official titles.

This contrasts sharply with the more lenient approach in the United States, where royal-themed names have surged in recent years. According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, King ranked 266th among the most popular baby names in 2023, followed by Royal at 402, Prince at 364, and Princess at 919.

However, even in the U.S., some states impose restrictions. For instance, names like Adolf Hitler, Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the symbol @ are banned.

Few specific names are explicitly prohibited as U.S. courts generally interpret the Constitution as protecting parents' rights to choose their children's names.

Despite this, many states restrict numerals, pictograms, foreign characters, emojis, and offensive language. Notably, California bans accents but allows hyphens and apostrophes, permitting names like X AE A-XII, chosen by Elon Musk and Grimes.

While states like Kentucky have no specific naming laws, others still restrict titles like King and Queen. For example, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ son, known as King Combs, has the legal name Christian Casey Combs.

Surprisingly, the top baby names of 2024 in the U.S. and New Zealand are quite similar.

For males in the U.S., Liam, Noah, Oliver, Theadore, and James take the top spots, compared to New Zealand’s top five: Oliver, Noah, Henry, Leo, and Theodore.

Top female names in the U.S. include Olivia, Emma, Amelia, Charlotte, and Mia compared to Isla, Amelia, Charlotte, Olivia, and Mia in New Zealand.

[silentdreamweaver]

For something dubbed the PACIFIC, this ancient ocean ( once, long ago, just a growing sea on a young burning rock ) is as turbulent as any other. Storms batter its many islands, wild and free and treacherously destructive just as their creator's moods. Only one island has ever been spared this relentless onslaught, somehow kept out of harm's way even while its inhabitant slept.  And he has slept for a very, VERY long time. He may still be asleep, her drowsy pilot, even as stormclouds coalelesce around the swirls of floating golden sand, a disembodied yet WARM voice speaking on the wind. ❝ Sanders--Sandy. ❞ A stumble already, a long habit giving in to simple, comfortable familiarity. ❝ I wondered about something... if you would indulge me. ❞

Golden sand coiled upwards sluggishly, swirling like a particularly thoughtful cup of tea deciding whether or not it wanted to be stirred. A small, luminescent figure hovered in the air, blinking sleepily as if waking up was something best done in increments.

A soft pulse of curiosity thrummed through the sands like the misting of perfume. Slowly at first, as though wading through the heavy hush of sleep - A pause. - Then a brilliant golden shimmer as recognition flooded through.

Her smooth voice as natural as the shifting tides. Like an old conversation waiting to be picked up. His thoughts unspooled into pictures, each one forming in the air like the sort of particularly vivid daydream that usually ended in someone asking if you were listening.

A series of symbols flickered into existence: a question mark, an ellipsis, a small pictogram of a hammock. These were the sorts of things that meant, in no uncertain terms, I am listening, but I reserve the right to do so while remaining at least forty percent asleep. He grinned at her, for a moment forgetting the estrangement of time.

Then, at last, a single, warm phrase formed in the space between them.

❝ Always. ❞

The warm light of his words lingers, waiting.

[protography0]

"Enter Leave The Backrooms"

Pictogram/Exit Sign for "The Backrooms" webseries by Kane Pixels. Made in GIMP. I reused some pictograms that I made for my The Oldest View mockup signs.

This one took about 2-2,5 hours. Mostly because some part of me is now having *expectations* about what end results I can get (and also changes its mind constantly). Also because I have decided to try and not just make the stick figures stand out by recoloring the 'gaps' but actually making them transparent.

Modeling the threshold would have been more exciting if my brain didn't first insist I make it inside the doorframe, but I like how it turned out in the end. Also making the Lifeform(/Bacteria) truly was a lot of fun.

Overall, there is still stuff I could improve upon, but for the time being I quite like how this turned out.

I also think I know where I originally might have gotten the idea from to make these signs - years ago, I owned a book called "Film In 5 Seconds" which did storytelling with pictograms in a very effective way. (So this is hardly the first time someone has tried something similar to what I am doing rn, though they are not using the 'exit sign' format for example.) I really recommend the book, it is a lot of fun to look through.

Obligatory sidenote - GIMP is absolutely not the best program to make vectors and pictograms. If anyone wants to seriously get into that kind of art, I have read that Inkscape is supposedly far better suited (like GIMP, it is also free).

[wanderlustmagician]

Some more Modern AU things;

Figuring out how and where to do a Hyrule-esque name change for the technology and other things is a fun challenge. Since some are easy, like Pictogram for Instagram or calling a GPS a Navi Nav-system.

Others are a little harder. Especially since there may be no need to change them, like Facebook remaining the same. I debated on having it be something Mask based, but it felt forced and ill fitting… so I left it. Others were more fun, like the name of the AI for the speaker in Wild’s kitchen or what the nav system in War’s car (Navi) is called.

So Proxxi is the name of the AI for Guardian Tech, a web search engine turned electronics conglomerate (aka it’s like Hyrule Google).

Then I have Purah and Robbie having created and running Slate, Inc. The AI is called Cherry. They also have a series of computers called the Purah Pad. (Aka they run Hyrule’s Apple Inc LOL)

Wild drives a Master Cycle, but it’s not a motorcycle… it’s a Vespa Scooter. Some things that would have been obvious translations (the Master Cycle being a motorcycle), I made small changes to for the fun of it. Others I left as is, Epona is a horse. She lives on Lon Lon Ranch. Wolfie isn’t a wolf but he is the Hyrule version of a Siberian Husky (a Hebra Husky) which is pretty close to

I also wanted to include the other fairies that are seen in Majora’s Mask, Tatl and Tael, but didn’t want all the fairies to end up as tech. So they’re a pair of rescued pups that live on Lon Lon.

Other things may end up incorporated as locations as things move on. Like the Gate of Souls being a large archway built centuries ago and sitting in the Hebra region’s shining city, Tabantha, and it’s also home to the Temple of Souls. Meant to have similar vibes to Paris, France with the Arc de Triomphe and all.

Or the Mirror of Twilight being salt flats out in the Gerudo Desert that are very reflective, sort of like the Uyuni Salt Flats.

Others will be obviously direct references to locations in the games as is like the Lost Forest/Sacred Grove or the Forest of Time.

That said I’ve made it obvious that some of the boys have tech but some fun quirks;

Time refuses to get any sort of smart watch, Bluetooth headphones. He likes his old school watch and earbuds with the cord, k thanks bye.

Wars has a smart watch, its Guardian tech brand, and he has Guardian tech wireless earbuds. He’s partial to the brand because he knows the people who designed the AI.

Wind and his sister Aryll each have Purah Pad laptops for their school work. Wind’s phone is Guardian tech because of Warriors though. He complains, unseriously, that he can’t connect his phone and computer and that it’s weird to text Wars since the bubble is green. He likes making Warriors eye twitch.

Twilight and Four both have the same brand of Bluetooth headphones. They’re a Twili based brand, Fused Shadows, and they claim to prefer the sound quality. It’s the only piece of tech other than the Proxxi speaker that Twilight owns that isn’t Slate brand.

In addition to his headphones which are over the ear, Twi has a smart watch, smart phone, and laptop- Slate brand that Wild gave him.

Four on the other hand has just a smart phone, also Slate brand. He doesn’t care for any other tech since the forge’s heat tends destroy most tech. His headphones are earbuds.

Wild somehow gets free, top of line, not even released yet Slate brand items. He hasn’t figured out that Purah totally found where he’s living now and is sending it to him. When he gets to buy it for himself, he doesn’t really care.

Hyrule, like Time, has a regular watch but his also has a compass. He also has a Guardian tech phone. Other than his camera, he doesn’t really carry much tech with him on the go. He has a laptop at Wild and Twi’s that he uses for editing.

Legend has everything. It’s all Slate brand now but it used to be a bunch of different ones. Robbie reached out to him after it was realized he was friends with Wild and popular online. He does some advertising on his blog for their products.

Sky, currently, only has his phone. It’s Slate, Inc so he can easily FaceTime with Twi. He will start brand wars between the others purposely, just to watch them bicker.

[freakystrashdump]

I'm curious how The Coven members use or conjure the magic! Like is there specific steps in a sort of ritualistic way or is it more conjure spell circle magic comes out?

All forms of magic, basically!

In hell, they have their own "supply" of magic, not connected to Lucifer, however they are OP because of Lucifer being their magical sugar daddy. Their contracts to him are what gives them around 60-65% of their power. Which kind of sucks since uhh during purges, in order to make them less of a target for the angels he cuts them off from his magic (I said before, angels specifically hate witches and zero in on them during purges, so Lucifer cutting off his supply makes it harder to find them)

Now, they most often use casting magic. Surprisingly enough, the way I had them use magic is near identical to the Owl House system of spell circles (however mine would form visible complex runes and pictograms inside every time depending on the spell). Not all spells, but a lot of them. Complex spells had them draw the full on spell circles in the air, all details involved. Real easy spells don't even require spell circles, just flicking their hand or wiggling their fingers.

They also use potions, ritual magic, incantations, you name it, they can do it, however there is specialization amongst them.

Salem is great with ritual magic, Draco excels at drawing magical sigils (and can free-hand a perfect circle like no problem), Dax is a savant when it comes to potions and Boogie is unparalleled in magic dealing with the mind (empath powers from birth do wonders in this area tbh) and divination.

[dullahandyke]

Just thought the sentence 'I showed them this' and my brain helpfully included this sprite as an accompanying pictogram... when will I be free from my shackles of 2010s danganronpa fandom

[ID: three copies of the same image. It is a sprite of Angie Yonaga from Danganronpa, holding up one hand in presentation as she holds her other arm behind her head.]

[doesnotloveyou]

Why are some weirdos making this an american thing? I work in tourism and i assure you all humans are capable of being this stupid

Had a French lady proudly and confidently tell me she had been breaking a specific rule every time she visited so I was the one who was wrong. I pointed at the sign she was parked in front of that had been there for years. She was absolutely Karen levels of livid at me personally for pointing at a sign she had never read even though she bragged about parking there often

Countless Korean, Chinese, and Mexican families starting campfires and letting dogs run loose in areas that clearly said in multiple languages and/or pictograms DO NOT DO THAT. Europeans frequently confused and almost offended that we expected them to pay for things or not block driveways with their vehicles, etc., when the signs were present and legible the whole time. International college students standing in front of signs saying "no glass or alcohol" while drinking beer from glass bottles. People were constantly coming to me to complain about parking tickets (not my dept) and I would physically flip the ticket over and point to the instructions on the back. This always answered their questions, but they could've avoided a trip by simply reading the damn thing

My favorite psychological foible was people demanding to know why we were charging them when the sign said "FREE."

It said 'fee'...

never forget the universal rule of the order of things: People Will Not Read It

[archeo-starwars]

Jynni's Virtue Ship's Log

Captain Naz Felyood Recording

Day three of our extended stay on Korriban. The engines have given out, but Deksi says he's cobbled together a simple generator using parts from the ship. That should keep our power cells charged -- and, more importantly, the blasters. I've ordered everyone to make sure they're armed, even in the [DAMAGE]

Last night, I suspect something approached the perimeter around our camp. [DAMAGE] of glowing red eyes, but Babbnod said I was nuts. Claimed it was light reflecting from the moons. Could have been, I suppose. Maybe she just needs to tell herself that. Still, some wandering predator ain't going to keep me from exploring this valley. I left the crew back at the ship, and Deksi managed to find some climbing equipment in the stores. I'll resume this recording once I'm on the [DAMAGE]

[DAMAGE] roughest climb I've had since my last visit to the Bouncin' Yunka. I lost the sun halfway down -- not that there's much to the sun here. The glowlamp died about the same time, so I'm burning a chemical flare. The light makes some of these carvings look -- well, it's my log, so I'll say it: The things look like they're moving. But that's crazy. I see what looks like an entrance nearby, coordinates . . . 55 mark 302. I'm going to [DAMAGE]

Should have seen the cracks in the flooring. I'm in some kind of large, cavernous room. Hear that echo? This place is huge. The light from the flare can't reach the ceiling or the back walls, so I can't say for sure how far this thing runs. Make a note: If Deksi can't get the holocam working soon, he takes a permanent pay [DAMAGE]

Uh, resuming recording . . . Something's making noise in here, but I can't spot it. When I do, I'm putting a blaster bolt into it.

I've counted fourteen individual shrines with pictograms of different Sith wizards mounted on the wall above them. When I come back here with Jolsz and Farbor, we'll try lighting one, but right now . . . Call me superstitious, but I don't feel like letting the wizards know I'm here any more than necessary. There are eyes in here, watching me. I thought it [DAMAGE]

[DAMAGE] but I think no animal could have survived down here for so long. This place is sealed tighter than . . . well, a crypt. It looks like the biggest shrine yet is up ahead. Makes sense the most valuable stuff would be up there, so I might as well start at the top. I think I can use the climbing spikes to get the sarcophagus opened [DAMAGE] a few spares for the climb back up. And the lid's halfway off. Time to take a closer [DAMAGE] in there.

I've got something. No, lots of somethings. A sword . . . that'll fit in the pack . . . an amulet, some kind of pyramid-shaped crystal that feels warm to the touch -- maybe it's some kind of power cell treated to work in this environment. There's also a jewel as big as my fist sitting where this fellow's heart should be. Wish I could read these inscriptions, or provide an image for [DAMAGE]

[DAMAGE] there? Come out, I'm armed. Step into the light, damn it. [Sounds of scuffling and recorder dropping to ground] Yeah? What makes you think you have anything I want? [Several minutes of silence not attributed to damage. Sound of metal on stone. The following speaker cannot be identified by Jedi researchers.]

UNKNOWN VOICE: Zhol kash dinora. Ja'ak. Vexok savaka. [Translated from ancient Sith: "It is done. I am free. Wake up, there is work to do."]