#idk idk still not satisfied but yeah

[redladydeath]

The Vees struggling to deal most with the days Vox is afraid is something so heartbreaking.

The Vox they knew was never afraid, at least not in such an obvious, vulnerable way, not the way a child hiding under the covers is afraid.

Valentino in particular struggles to deal with seeing him that way. It’d be so easy to snap his neck, go to his room, retrieve a gun, dig for one of the few angelic bullets he’d scrounged up and put an end to this whole pathetic charade.

He never does it though, instead he’ll continue playing out the ill-fitting role of a caretaker role for as long as it takes. As long as what takes? He doesn’t know.

All overlords build their empires by constantly projecting strength and invulnerability. Hell's already a place where you learn very quickly that you can't show weakness for even a second, lest someone take advantage of you, and overlords are the sinners who took that lesson most to heart. Val was already someone who couldn't stand being "weak" when he arrived; the idea of not exploiting weakness in others is so utterly foreign to him that he can't understand why he keeps choosing not to take advantage of Vox's vulnerability in some way.

Velvette's in a bizarre situation because she's so young by Hell's standards. She's fully committed to the idea that you've always got to be the toughest, most ruthless person in any room you enter– something she learned from Vox himself– but she's still got some niggling bits of humanity left in her that older sinners have long since left behind. She feels compassion for Vox, then gets angry at herself for being compassionate, then tries to rationalize why being kind to him is okay but she should still treat everyone else who's vulnerable like scum– and it just goes on like that.

How do you make sense of the urge to be kind when you've built your entire identity around being as cruel as possible in order to stay on top?

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

The Fourteen Hidden or "Bug" Audios In Order, With Reasoning

(i think! I'm fairly confident in this! I'm willing to Debate!)

12-14 / Howdy & Barnaby

[we know that Barnaby and Wally go to Howdy's every morning]

8-14 / Eddie & Frank

[the post office is right across from Howdy's]

6-14 / Julie & Frank

[Wally isn't scared of bugs, so he could be recruited to help with Frank's gardening problem]

1-14 / Howdy & Poppy

[Howdy mentions that he has a shipment waiting for his signature]

3-14 / Howdy & Sally

[it's possible that Wally went to Howdy's to get something for the beetles]

13-14 / Howdy & Eddie

[it looks like Wally just bought a box of apples, or something similar. Howdy signs for the shipment]

4-14 / Barnaby & Frank

[behind the pins, it looks like there's an apple or two on the ground. the shape and color is wrong for it to be tomatoes. an offering for the beetles?]

9-14 / Frank & Poppy

[the table is clear of yarn, and Frank references the damage done to his garden]

2-14 / Sally & Poppy

[there are cookies - Poppy mentioned to Frank that she might have a non-seed recipe for his butterflies]

10-14 / Julie & Sally

[Wally could have gone with Sally to help with the script reading]

5-14 / Barnaby & Eddie

[Eddie mentions that it's late in the day, and he already delivered the bowling balls]

7-14 / Eddie & Julie

[Barnaby calls, asking after Wally]

11-14 / Julie & Barnaby

[the lighting through the trees looks like afternoon/evening]

14-14 / Barnaby & Home

[the end deterioration is very final, and Barnaby references things that happened throughout his other audios]

[good-beanswrites]

My lyrics for Double!! I really loved this song and became like a thousand times more impressed by Deco27 and Natsuki Hanae after working with it for so long 😅 I chickened out of recording this one in the apartment but if anyone wants to cover it... lmk.... 👀 I can definitely put something together to help hear how the rhythms work, because I got it all to line up very nicely! (Lyrics under the cut and my little commentary in the tags)

(I’ve got you, leave it to me!)

Welcome home, it's another day, keeping things at bay, you see no change

Not a smile in this mess, you're doing your best, you say (wake up)

"Don't need a break" as you proceed to start breaking, both sleeping and waking makes you bleed

And now, reborn anew -- I'll take in on for you

Not your plan? Who gives a damn, I'm here and here is where I'll stay

It's just the two of us, nothing left to run from. You're safe now, your hero's come.

All I did was dream, is that a crime? Is that enough to name me guilty by?

"He can't be trusted, he lied," you cried. Made me out as the bad guy. But why?

Ah, I'm the one that saved you, don't you see? So tell me why the hell you cry to me!

Let me hear you revel, grateful, cling to me with "savior," "adore" -- oh, sing to me.

Welcome home, it's another day, keeping things at bay, you see no change

Too late, your limits passed. Too late, yourself has cracked (goodnight)

If you persist I'll assist with releasing, keeping your peace is why I exist

And now reborn anew -- I'll take it on for you

(Oh, hello? Mom? It’s been a while. Yeah.. well, I mean, some days are hard but I’m doing alright, don’t worry. How’ve you been? I’ll go home next time I get some time off...)

The reason I'm alive, must be making sure that you survive

"He can't be trusted, he lied," you cried. Made me out as the bad guy. But why?

All I did was dream, did you forget? Go on and forgive me, I'm no threat.

Listen to me confess, honest. Eat your words and I bet, regret

Ah, I just tried to help, tried to be strong. So tell me why the hell it's all gone wrong

Let me hear you revel, grateful, cling to me with "savior," "adore" -- don't sing me this song

Lost my memory

I'm double, it was unavoidable

Living painfully

I'm trying, as hard as possible

Tell me, tell me.

If I wasn't born, maybe this trouble --

Tell me, tell me.

It's all my fault

[anxiously-sidequesting]

So I don't know if it was ever revealed how Duncan felt when we killed Malistaire all three times but I'm wondering if maybe some part of him could hate us for that too. Like you hear that and you go "but why. Malistaire was terrible and even Duncan knew that(?). Why would he hate you for getting rid of him."

But like I think it's so....... interesting in a very, very, very sad way how Duncan so easily latches onto anyone who directly feeds into his delusions of grandeur. And that's no fault of his own that he was manipulated by the nasty Schism but when you think about how desperately clung to the idea that Malistaire, easily one of the greatest necromancers any of us had ever heard of (at that time), somehow actually recognized Duncan's talents (even when canon supports that Duncan wasn't all that talented, at least no more than the next necromancer) and then praised him for it so often that Duncan believed that he would be the next Death Professor is. I mean ☹️

So like with that mindset I unfortunately feel like it would be quite easy to twist even Malistaire's death as something that's horrible and awful and all our fault. ESPECIALLY if the Schism was feeding into Duncan's already broken mind and shattered ego and was constantly telling him that everything bad that ever happened to him ever in his life was Our Fault. That's like a realistic conclusion that someone like Duncan could come to

And like, at this point in time, are Malistaire's crimes even a factor in how he thinks????? Was Duncan ever able to separate Malistaire's talent and skills and prowess from the terrible and awful things he did? If Duncan wasn't able to consciously tell that distinction in the first place I can't imagine it would be any better during the years he was being manipulated and isolated and lied to

Like in Duncan's mind it probably isn't, "maybe I shouldn't idolize a national criminal, or idolize anyone at all for that matter, and aspire to be like someone so harmful when I can recognize my own talent and build from there" it's probably more like, "you (the wizard) permanently got rid of a brilliant mind, an innocent person who just made a few mistakes, and someone who believed in me no matter what just so that you could be the better than me and loved by everyone else" and that's! very sad actually!

[foster-the-moths]

Tymbal (Septendecim AU)

Warnings: Body Horror, Suicidal Ideation, Use of a Gun.

Adam and Jonah make it back to HQ. They are not the only ones to do so.

1,538 words. Sequel to Exuvia.

"We're here," Adam's voice calls, startling Jonah out of his half-awake haze. The sun is just starting to peek over the horizon, washing the world in a dull blue light. They blink, everything coming back to them in a flash: Adam needs medical attention, badly, and Jonah needs to get him into the apartment.

They unbuckle their seatbelt, fumbling around with one hand until they hear a click as it releases, fighting until they are unrestrained by it. He leans forwards, bringing up a hand to claw at the car door until he finds the handle, yanking on it and toppling out of the backseat. Maybe they should have been a bit more graceful, the movement aggravates his headache, the dull ache rousing into a spike of pain as their head spins. They catch their balance, and brace both hands on their knees to keep steady, taking a moment to wait for the world to stand still. He heaves out a sigh, and straightens, using an arm to brace himself against the car as he trudges to the driver's side.

He almost does a double-take as he sees Adam's actual face through the reflections of the car window, but as they make their way over to the window, their own shadow obscures the light bouncing off of the glass, and he can once again see the grotesquely distorted image of his best friend. That is not him, that is not Adam. Adam is dead. He sighs, rubbing his temple with a wince. it was… disconcerting to see he was still hallucinating, but it was useful to know certain things could break the illusion.

They shake the musings off, they had more important things to worry about. They tug on the handle of the driver's side door, grimacing at the nagging pain that flares up in protest.

---

Adam does not want to get out of the car. If he gets out of the car, then he has to move its his disgusting body. If he gets out of the car, then he will have to tell Jonah the truth. Despite this, when Jonah opens the car door, he twists his body so he is facing the outside world, and tentatively paws at the ground with its his left leg. Although he had walked on it before, he's still surprised when it manages to hold his weight instead of buckling and sending him sprawling to the floor. The bones creak as they lock together, and the feeling of it sends shivers up his spine, but there is only a muted ache of discomfort rather than pain.

Jonah offers out an arm to Adam, who grasps it as he tries to haul his body up and out of the driver's seat fully, swinging his right leg forward.

He stumbles, and Jonah strengthens their grip, bringing their other arm to rest on Adam's back. The rest of its his right leg follows him like a revolting shadow, trailing on the asphalt as it he shuffles forward. Ever since he had woken up, it seemed his body could not decide whether he was in pain, completely numb, or in some sort of state of not-pain, but agony nonetheless. He grasps Jonah's arm and shoulder like a lifeline as they slam the car's door closed, then readjust to help Adam to the front door.

Each step to the apartment is its own circle of hell, and by the time Jonah is fishing the keys out of his pocket, it Adam wants to shove himself away from them and scream. It he cringes as the key turns in the lock, the sounds of it reminding him of bones breaking and distorting, slotting into places they shouldn't. He holds onto Jonah tighter. The door opens, swinging inwards, and Jonah beelines for the couch, heaving Adam towards it as its his limbs trip over themselves in an attempt to move. They finally reach it, and Adam simply lets itself himself fall forwards, collapsing on it face-first.

"Shit, man, be careful! You said you have broken bones, you can't just do that!" Jonah yelps, off-balance from the unexpected shift in weight.

"Jonah--," Adam starts, but is quickly cut off.

"I mean, seriously, i know you're probably exhausted but you have got to take better care of yourself. We can't go to a doctor, and I don't know anything about medical care! And unless Sarah has some secret medical degree, I don't think that we--"

"Jonah!" Adam shouts, a sharp jab of anger clouding his thoughts, before fading as quickly as it materialized. It he gives up on trying to get comfortable on the couch, slumping into the cushions.

"…Yeah?"

"…It doesn't even hurt. None of it does," Adam says, voice barely above a whisper. He isn't lying, the 'pain' that isn't really pain at all has stopped, if only for a moment.

Jonah seems to misconstrue the implications of Adam's statement, "Shit, okay, you must be in shock, just let me get Sarah's laptop and--"

"Jonah. We both know that's not true," Adam cuts in harshly. This has gone on for long enough, he can't keep pretending like this. He pauses, taking a breath to center himself, and asks the question he dreads knowing the answer to, "You… can see me, can't you?"

"…What do you mean?" Jonah asks, voice quiet. Adam sees through it, they know what he is asking.

"If this were a hallucination, then you wouldn't be able to see this too," Adam presses on, ignoring how sick the words make it him feel, "I know that you can see this."

Jonah shifts, looking away in discomfort. "I… I don't know what you're talking about. See what?"

"Jonah… what do i look like to you right now?" Adam inquires, already knowing the answer.

Jonah does not even look at him as he answers, "Normal. There's nothing wrong, you-you're fine."

"Jonah, look at me," Adam heaves out a dry laugh. "You're not even looking at me, and you want me to believe that? Just tell me the truth."

Jonah finally lifts his head to meet its his gaze, and Adam can now feel the slightest bit of fear in the air. Strangely, it is anxiety, not dread, and it is not directed towards him, but it wants it to be. It wants Jonah to be afraid of it. It shoves it down, but its own thoughts leave it feeling ill nonetheless. It does not deserve to pretend to be Adam Murray anymore, not after that.

Just as Jonah opens their mouth to respond, there is a click of a doorknob turning, and they both freeze, stiffening at the jarring sound, neither daring to make a noise. They both turn, slowly, to face the front door just as it begins to open with a strained creak. It swings outwards, revealing Sarah, hand on the doorknob and head turned downwards as she scuffs dirt and snow off her boots, not yet looking at either of them.

"Hey. Have either of you seen… my…" Sarah starts, and then trails off as she finally looks up, eyes unfocused until they land on Adam. She pauses, perplexed, trying to make sense of what she is seeing, the pieces not connecting into anything that makes sense. Until they finally snap into place, and she sees the full image in front of her. Adam can tell the moment she does, because it floods the entire room in a heavy miasma of dread.

"What the fuck is that!?" she croaks, her voice squeaking at the end, too terrified to even scream as she locks eyes with it. It almost leans towards her, to bask in the terror that radiates from her like rays from the sun, but it forces itself to stay still. It tells itself it does not want her fear, it may not be Adam, but it will not allow itself to stoop down to the level of a monster. It was still pathetically desperate to cling to its own non-existent humanity, after all. Such a shame.

"S-Sarah? Oh, wait- what?" Jonah starts, stops, starts again, and then seems to give up, head whipping back and forth between Sarah and Adam as if failing to keep up with a high-speed chase. It couldn't understand why, every moment seemed painfully drawn-out to it, making it process every detail, whether it wanted to or not.

Sarah jolts out of her stupor, and its eyes follow her hand as she reaches for something from her side with a frantic fervor.

Ah.

It knows what is going to happen before Sarah even rips her gun from the holster on her belt. It knows she never hesitates to pull the trigger, and it knows she will not hesitate this time, either. And as a flash of steel is leveled towards its head, it thinks that maybe it is better this way. Or maybe it is just a coward. It does not have time to ponder this, there is only a flash, a deafening sound it does not have time to process, and the world imploding in on itself into nothingness.

It thinks it may be screaming, but it cannot tell, because it does not exist anymore.

[authoravalonroselin]

My best attempt to explain my gender is like--

How Others Perceive Me*: Ms. Female Girl Woman (TM)

How I Perceive Myself: A mini goblin. A small trash panda. Little gremlin that lives in Hoodietown. Hunched over and playing Pokemon since birth. This creacher is not complex enough to have a Gender.

How I Wish To Be Perceived: Androgynous long-haired Fire Emblem character and/or vampire that makes you question your sexuality (regardless of what your sexuality is)

Hell let me just be completely honest, Alexander Stirling from the fucking Vampire Kisses manga has had all of my gender envy since I was 13 and then Byleth came around to destroy, me entirely**.

My gender, apparently:

*"Others" here meaning "strangers at first glance" and "coworkers," not people who have known me for years and actually make the effort to de-feminize me in their minds because they know I'm not comfortable with being "a girl".

**The fact that these two characters are both boys does not make me a transman. I do resent that every stranger I meet immediately clocks me as AFAB but I don't want to transition to being male and would be equally uncomfortable being clocked as AMAB by all randos in the supermarket.

[luxsea]

i heard karlachs monologue was rlly good but holy shit i genuinely dont think i'll be the same after that

[inkedmyths]

Totk thoughts so far (SPOILERS sorry I'm on mobile and don't remember how to add a Read More)

I'm having a lot of fun!! The added game mechanics, new items, new map additions, new monsters... its all making for a great experience, and not just a carbon copy of BotW. The greater focus on characters and story is a huge bonus as well, I'm having a ton of fun with that.

That being said... the game seems really hesitant to reference the events of BotW in some ways? Like I understand leaning away from it in an effort to not be just another BotW, but like. No mention of the Divine Beasts? What happened to all the Ancient Sheikah tech? Mechanically, most of it has been replaced by the Zonai stuff, it seems, but where did it all go in the first place?

Maybe it is explained, and I just haven't come across it/gotten to that point, but in some ways, the lack of explanation seems very weird and makes parts of the story suffer for it.

Mind you I haven't delved extremely deep into the story yet, but its been bugging me the entire time. Like, this weird attempt at balancing it for "new players" (who is playing this without knowing at least the story of BotW...) and still being a direct sequel... idk. Maybe this is the attachment to BotW and its mechanics and story.

[dashiellqvverty]

my opinion on season 11 is that ian and mickey were all over the place from episode to episode and i ultimately wasn’t very happy with where it ended for them

[renxmaiden]

Ren referring Jeanne by her actual name > Maiden

[claratwelve]

yeah no okay i just finished s13 and i loved it, that was some good cinema

[fowlblue]

Weird little AU I thought of today because I’ve been watching too many horror short films-

So when the Fowl Star sinks, everyone dies except Tim (or a few others live but are killed when they wash ashore, because Britva’s an asshole). He’s not in a coma but he’s still really badly hurt, still has the broken leg and the burns and all- Britva shows up to gloat about everything and Tim gets so pissed off/is so outraged by the death of everyone else that when Britva crouches down to gloat further, Tim punches him square in the nose.

Which... backfires. Badly. Tim gets drowned right there in the shallows by Britva and his henchman, alongside his crew, and nobody survives. The news reaches Fowl Manor and Artemis wakes up to his mother screaming- the full moon sets only to rise again the next night.

And along with it, the vengeful, warped souls of those lost on the Fowl Star, twisted into half-human, half-finned creatures of the deep- led by no other than Tim. Together, they all tear Britva and his men apart. Whoever goes onto the boat the next day to investigate what happens finds nothing but bloody pieces and bones.

A few days later, Artemis manages to escape from the grief-heavy Manor for a few minutes, and walks the long way down to the cliffs, and the beach- as if drawn there. Something wicked this way comes, he just knows it. Some magical force tells him he must be there to meet it.

And Artemis and his father reunite! Just with one looking a lot more terrifying, and acting a lot less human, dragging itself up from the water and watching Artemis with eyes black as a shark’s.

But hey, at least ‘he’ made it home.

Now that it’s home... does Artemis keep it? Does he look it in the eyes and call it ‘father’- what will happen when it grows hungry again? He got what he wanted, his beloved father back, by forces no man can understand... but at what cost?

What, exactly, came back at all?

[bibiana112]

I'm going to draw wktd fanart (to cope with a highly specific situation) while I still have the time for it (looming employment) and that is a promise to myself (I probably have something else I said I'd work on but whatever)

[girlwithfish]

having horrible self image i just have to deal w it cuz like hwen am i ever happy with how i look or my body i just want to stop being at war w myself or at least w my looks cuz it just is such a downer always being unhappy with my physical self like im already unhappy w who i am as a person cn i at least be satisfied w how i look😔☹️idk i never grew out of the self hatred phase it just sucks. very ed sh tw in tags i guess

[eleanorfenyxwrites]

'You Are Of Their Ilk' has just passed 30k hits. I would just like to take a moment to say, ahem:

HOW IN THE FUCK?!

Anyway now that that's out of the way uhhhhhhhhhh wow I feel like I should do something for this? I mean I'm working on a new chapter for it and I hope to wrap up the whole fic relatively soon, but like hot damn. It's already been almost four months since I last updated because I had an idea for where it was going next but I completely changed the next chapter up when I didn't like how it was going (story of the entire fic, tbh). Idk man I just. This fic is SUCH a struggle for me to write most of the time and it just blows me away that it's my most popular fic by MILES. It has a solid 10,000 hit lead on my second most popular fic (by hits) which is 'All Dreams Were Worth Keeping'. I don't know what it is about 'Ilk' that gets people's consistent attention when I barely ever update it and it's been going for like a year and a half at this point at a snail's pace but uhhhhh yeah. That's a Thing. That I'm very happy about and very confused by, simultaneously lol

[imagine-nerd]

Something something the same as it ever was