#io has an answer of a sort

[sentience-if]

good day! or night? idk, but either way, how would the ros react to Io eating bees? or like, chomping down on rocks? if this hasn't been answered already or is similar to something else, and if it has been answered, how would they react to Io trying to climb walls, roofs, pipes, etc. like a cat trying to explore?

believe it or not, Io eating non-edible things has been discussed in length. scroll back in my archive to January 2024, you'll find all sorts of stuff lol

as for climbing-

Klaus: long sigh. just don't do it in public

Ira: one part panic, two parts "oh thank god someone who can reach the top shelf"

Kat: watches in fascination, side-eyeing the staircase that leads to the exact same spot

Connie: same way I react to my cat climbing in places he shouldn't be. hope you can find a way down, idiot. I'm not helping

Val: is also climbing the walls

[best-thing]

When the ides polls are done the people demand a roundup of which things managed to defeat killing the emperor. It's me I'm the people.

The answer is... none of them! "Assassinating the Emperor" won all of its pairings, but because that thing has been assassinated by the Thing (which sort of like a Senate (look it up)), it will not appear in future leaderboards.

However, here's how close each option got! The number after each one is the % of votes that it had vs. Assassinating the Emperor

Bestthing.info 3.8 Salads, when it’s hot outside 6.2 Argyle Print 6.3 Neoplatonism 6.5 The iOS Notes App 7.4 this emoji: ☺️ 9.9 The 1961 Lincoln Continental in midnight blue 11 Carrots 11 Tumblr Sexymen 12.5 Parabolae 12.6 Chalk 13.6 Dark Elves 13.8 Pumpkins 14.1 Practice 16 Cream 16.1 Gorgons 16.3 the phrase 'blorbo from my shows' 16.4 Evapotranspiration 16.7 Rainbows 17.5 Candy 18.3 Apples 18.5 Pinecones 18.8 Fiction Podcasts 19.7 Bees 19.9 The color orange 20 Velcro 20.1 The Crab Nebula 20.4 Hiking Trails 20.5 The word “perhaps” 20.6 The Nile 21.2 Daydreaming 22.2 Guitars 22.6 Bellzi stegosaurus plush 22.9 Thin Mints 24.4 Mac & Cheese 24.7 Panties & Stockings worn with a Garterbelt 24.9 Etymology 25.5 Snow 25.7 The Fibonacci Sequence 25.7 Striped Hyenas 25.9 The sun 26.2 Puns 26.5 Rock Music 26.5 Spotted Hyenas 27.2 Lego 27.5 Tumblr 27.6 Hope 27.7 Ventilation 28 Dogs 31.3 Botany 31.6 Old Woman Yuri 32.1 Isopods 32.8 Good Friends 33.2 The Pacific Ocean 36.2 Dragons 36.7 Solar Power 36.9 Yuri 39.8 Friendship 39.9 Dresses with Pockets 40.1 The smell of garlic and onions cooking in olive oil 40.3 The sky 42 Gay Sex 43.2

[luna-the-cretar]

Random little Avantris details I never pointed out before but won’t leave me now (not specific to any particular campaign, and little to no spoilers of any campaign mentioned)

In Beneath Dark Wings, I love that in Felix’s introduction, Andy was basically over here like “This is Felix, my beautiful baby boy. He’s running from the government and I love him dearly :)”, while everyone else was essentially like “this is my character. And that is all I’m gonna say about them”

In Edge of Midnight, Richie just. Fingerspelling H-E-X every time he uses Hexsblade Curse. Tho I think I’m just partially happy I can understand it lol

The fact that some of them do research on their characters beforehand??? The ones I’ve mostly noticed this so far is Andy, Mikey, and Richie, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the others do research for their characters too. Like with Andy knowing about Tieflings Virtue Names (like Shepherd); Richie seemingly looking up actual Latin for the Heart and Harvest oneshot (idk if he was actually changing IN Latin, but it sounded better than just taking the names of some spells and just adding -io at the end); etc.

Some of the characters just straight up looking like their player. It’s most obvious with Marius (Andy) and Gideon (Mace), but I feel like Gricko shares some resemblance with Mikey, Jornir with Richie, Kana with Maya, and Victoria with Kelsey (tho with those last 2 I feel are slightly skewed bc they actually cosplay their characters for CoS). The only one I’m having trouble placing is Derek, but my mind also keeps telling me that Frost vaguely looks like him so idk.

The DMs constantly asking each other questions like “what stat would you use for this roll” or “how hard should i realistically make this DC for this roll, and why”. And the players consistently replying with legitimate answers to these questions, and reasoning for these answers.

Also the worldbuilding feels so…idk, collaborative? Like, I’m pretty sure this world is of Mikey’s creation, but the others seem to build onto it constantly and so seamlessly and I lowkey love it??? Also makes the world feel more alive somehow, and I’m not sure why.

The sheer amount of differing personalities between characters???? Like, it’s so easy to just make every character you play just have your personality, but the cast, for the most part, don’t do that. Of course, there are some semblances of a player’s personality that won’t go away regardless of character (most notably with Andy and Mikey, I’ve realized), but the majority of the personality is very different. The best example I can give is Mace’s characters—at least Gideon, Yorgrim, and Taishen—they’re all Mace (Taishen more-so I think), but they’re very different characters. Richie’s characters are also a great example of this (Clayton, Kremy, Jornir, Briggsy, Toa).

Also how interactive they are with the fandom as a whole??? They interact with their fans, fanart, they keep up with what ships and characters are popular and why. Idk, it makes them feel a lot more real to me.

This was supposed to just be me pointing out little details in different campaigns, but it turned into me actually realizing just why I lowkey love this fandom? Not just the media, but the fanbase, and how they interact with the fandom. Idk, this has been one of the healthiest fandoms I’ve been in in a WHILE. Like, no, it isn’t perfect, but considering that some of my most recent fandoms included all sorts of controversy and content creators being shitty people, this is an upgrade lol.

[yurucamp]

Hello Io!

I'm planning to write an essay and analysis about Flesh Blood and Concrete, so I wanted to ask a few questions. (of course no pressure to answer any of them)

Firstly, should I be checking all of the artifacts for meaning? I've dissected symbolism out of many of them already, but should I try to figure out all of them? I saw that in an older post you referenced the artifacts as "...items which evoke that bygone peaceful world." Does that mean they're completely customized to Lera?

Secondly, how cannon are are Violet's (Gay_as_fuck on ao3) stories? Because, if they are mostly cannon, I want to talk about them a bit! Or should I not worry about them and focus on just the game and what I can find here?

Thirdly, is there anything you think should be highlighted? For example, posts I might have missed in your blog, or a particular artifact from the game. Or maybe even a lore tidbit that has yet gone unshared? I think I've been fairly through, but who knows.

I might have a few more questions in the future, but that's all for now. Thank you for any and all answers! I hope you have a wonderful day.

hi! i'm honored, i hope you'll give me the chance to read your essay once you're done :3 in general, i think it might be misleading to look at everything in the game as a puzzle hiding a specific, intentional symbolic meaning; rather, my interest is in objects which take on a variety of different meanings individual to the player. so don't feel despondant if you don't "get" why i included a specific object, because i probably don't "get" it either haha. but yes, the idea is that all of the objects (and the setting of the house as a whole) is "built for" lera.

vi's stories are canon! well, i'm sure there are things there that might not be a part of my own version of the story, but for the most part i wouldn't hesitate to call them canon. vi was a huge help in the creation of the game and my beloved forever pal

as for anything i think should be highlighted... that's tough! er, have i mentioned before that nika's like a puddingstone inside, that she's sort of a weird collection of the wrong types of tissue in the wrong places? thus, she can bend her arms in all sorts of unsettling directions. oh, and she can't sleep.

i hope you have a fantastic day too and don't hesitate to write me if you think of anything else~ i can't promise i'll have anything smart to say, but i'll try...

[miniherodesktales]

Day 15: Virus

Kryten shook his head.

'It's not good news, sirs,' he said quietly. 'His Light Bee is getting weaker.'

'You saying he's done for?' Lister whispered.

'I'm sorry, the anti-virus has failed. The Light Bee is maintaining his projection for now, but I fear his mind has already gone.'

'And there wasn't much of that to lose in the first place...' The Cat wiped away a tear with his silk handerkerchief, ruining it.

'What do we do?' asked Lister.

'We should make him as comfortable as possible and say our goodbyes.'

'You mean switch him off?'

'His Light Bee is overheating and slowing down. He'll suffer less this way.'

***

The malware had trapped Rimmer inside of his own mind. All around him the bunk room was fire. Rimmer sat on the floor with his head in his hands. He was waiting for rescue, but it was a long time in coming.

'You mean switch him off?' Lister said from the computer screen.

Rimmer looked up, startled.

'His Light Bee is overheating and slowing down. He'll suffer less this way.'

'No!' Rimmer shouted. 'I'm here! I'm still here!' He slammed his fist against the wall, making the screen shake. 'You idiots! Help me!' The flames swelled around him. 'Help me, please! Dave!' Helpless he sank to his knees. 'Help me,' he whispered.

'They can't hear you, boy, so all this shouting and screaming is an entirely futile waste of your energy and very limited time.'

Rimmer felt his heart sink. 'Not you,' he moaned. 'Not you.'

'I am here,' his father said. 'I'm the antivirus and I suggest you listen to me.'

Oh, of course. Thank you fate, thank you fortune.

Rimmer allowed himself to sink sideways onto the floor. He closed his eyes.

'Enough of that,' his father scolded. 'Think! You can't communicate with the outside world and you can't lie on the floor. What other options are open to you?'

'I don't know. I'm tired.'

'Sleep!' his father declared. He wrote it on the chalkboard, as loudly as he could. 'It is an option. But of course choosing to sleep now will only lead to....come on, you know this!'

'Death,' Rimmer groaned.

'Precisely. And you know death, Arnold. It's the only thing you were ever good at.'

Rimmer opened his eyes. He pushed himself upright.

'How can you say that to me?' he rasped. 'I'm your son, help me!' He held out a hand to his father.

Professor Rimmer stared at the hand. His own twitched slightly, before the look of contempt returned. He folded his hands behind his back and bent down, pushing his face close to Arnold's.

'Dying is your forte, boy,' he droaned. 'Dying and...'

'I'm fading,' Rimmer gasped, he sank back down. 'Help me...'

'Dying is what you are good at and....what is your other strength? Answer me! This isn't difficult. You've been doing it you're entire exsistence.'

Rimmer couldn't answer. He had no strength left.

***

Lister placed his hand just over Rimmer's. The projection was so weak he could see the mattress beneath him.

'See ya, Arnie,' he whispered.

***

Rimmer closed his eyes. He felt quite comfortable, really. Lister was holding his hand, but he had given up on him. They'd all given up on him.

He began to dream, his dying mind throwing up all sorts of final memories before it would shut die for good.

He remembered nearly dying of malnutrition, but he hadn't. He had nearly died in the Great Io disaster when a volcanic explosion so powerful had wiped out one of the neighbouring bio-domes - he'd gotten lucky. Then there was the time Howard had nearly drowned him by pushing his head down the toilet. And when Porky had thrown him in the septic tank. Being tied to a spit; getting too close to an exploding scutter; sepsis; attacked by malfunction andriod....radiaition leak...ok, so that last one had taken him out, but frankly it was bucking trend.

It was the pattern in his life. He nearly died but clawed his way back out of pure stubborness. The world hated him, wanted him dead, well he wasn't going to go. The world was suffer a little longer with him in it.

Rimmer tore his eyes open. Pushed himself to his feet.

'Yes!' his father encouraged. He turned to write on the chalk board. It read: spite. 'You can choose to live. That is your option. Dying and surviving through sheer stubbornness and obstinacy. That is your talent, lad!'

Rimmer walked through the flames to the computer screen. He stepped up onto the chair and began to push his way through. His hands and arms melted though the glass.

He was about to duck through when his father said,' Arnie, I did the best I could.'

Rimmer blinked, then said, 'No you didn't.' And he left, leaving his father to the flames.

***

Kryten was astonished.

'Sirs, his Light Bee, it's turned itself back on! Working at 20% functionality. No, 50%, 60%, 80% - he's coming back to us!'

Rimmer opened his eyes. He was struggling to sit up as the Cat threw his arms around his neck.

'It's good to have you back, Goalpost Head! I still hate you!'

'I hate you more,' Rimmer rasped back.

Lister squeezed his forearms, beaming. 'I thought you were a gonna, man. Welcome back, Iron Balls.'

'Sir, I don't understand!' Kyrten cried. 'You were dead! Your Light Bee had shut down, but then it reactivated. How did you do that?'

'I'm very stubborn,' said Rimmer. 'You're all idiots for giving up on me.'

[notallrobots]

@cloudy-osc HI i think your ask about fancyphone disappeared into a void but i wanted to answer it ^_^

i shouldn’t be surprised to find myself drawn to this ship… i’ve wanted to incorporate it into my au for awhile!!! i really like these two confident girls together (in harmony or argument; you must know by now that the ships that i like aren’t usually pure fluff eheh).

disgust, despite her practical application and razor-sharp eye for social politics, is actually a very romantic person (judging by her interest in that guy lance slashblade or flashblade i forget. he’s only important because he aids in disgust’s characterization). even though she can be haughty and stuck-up, she is still the kind of girl to daydream, drawn to the tall and handsome, (sorry fear. you’re handsome but you aren’t all that tall…) and also to complex heroism.

i think that disgust would ascribe that same kind of romanticization to ennui’s laziness - disgust might view ennui as some sort of pure, languorous beauty, her apathy a manifestation of poetic (and thus attractive) unhappiness.

this is not realistic, my darling disgust. ennui in actuality is just a bum, and she is happy to be one (although she is at least standing up a little straighter towards the end of io2). ennui answers questions as briskly and brusquely as possible. ennui takes naps in the middle of work. ennui unabashedly criticizes riley’s uncool friends (and she certainly has the right… ENNUI IS THE ONLY “COOL” CHARACTER IN THE IO FRANCHISE. Everyone else has some form of neuroticism. EHEH). ennui doesn’t brush her hair all that regularly, but it’s still long, silky, and flowing around her shoulders and sweater. ennui the only bilingual in the cast. She’s a part of two worlds. Beautiful. Ennui, i self insert as every character in inside out just to get closer to you.

omg this turned into ennui love poem… uhm.

i don’t view this ship as exactly one-sided, but the romantic endeavor is certainly disgust’s to begin with. only time will tell when it comes to this yuri success…… o_o i have faith. don’t forget that french is the language of love after all :3 And disgust wants to love!! 🩷🩷

take this crummy doodle on the magma for now…

i’m so fancyphone you already know i’m in the fast lane

[yuespropagandablog]

Hello esteemed mutual. If you are reading this, then that means my propaganda is working. But you might still have questions, so I am here to answer them. Well. Actually. My propaganda already worked without the help of Captain America, but I also like writing these posts and SOME OF Y'ALL haven't bought it yet after I posted a lot so here I am after all.

What is Spiritfarer?

Spiritfarer is a management game by Thunder Lotus Games about death. Yup, death. I have... an interesting history with this game, that you can ask me about later, but I read multiple times that it's a great game to deal with grief and yes, it is. Also, apparently it's been renamed to Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition, but that basically means that the game is complete. After release, there were some major free content updates. Now that the game's been finished, I might replay it as the full package.

You play as Stella, who upon her death, arrives in an afterlife of sorts and takes over from Charon (yes, that Charon) to become the Spiritfarer. In life, Stella was a palliative care nurse in charge of helping increase the quality of life of patients with a serious illness, who stayed with these patients till the end in order to ease their pain. That's why she is fitting for this role. Stella inherits Charon's boat and sails around, picking up spirits of deceased people who haven't really moved on 'to the great beyond' just yet. Stella houses them on her boat, makes them feel comfortable, helps them with unfinished business, and eventually lets them go.

Yup. You need to let them go.

Anyway, have a trailer:

What's so great about it?

Personally, I think this game excels at the combination between story and gameplay. As in, I am usually fine if a game prioritises one over the other (like Tears of the Kingdom's gameplay is better than its story, and Night in the Woods's story is better than its gameplay), but this game is just right. It's a management sim, so you need to care for these spirits, update your boat for more rooms with activities to do, collect resources, farm, cook etc. Your management influences the mood of your spirits, which in turn impacts the game.

Once you're off your boat, there's some platforming and 2D exploration. There are also special events for certain kinds of items that lead to a special mini-game.

It would've been a cosy and relaxing game if it weren't, you know, about death. I mean, it's still relaxing and chill. It's really nice to play. The impending goodbyes just loom over you.

And aside from satisfying gameplay, the story is just amazing. The amount of characters that Stella meets is great and everyone has their own story. It's a game about death, as I said before, and it shows how death can occur in different ways. Prepare to weep. A big part of this game is about saying goodbye. The game simulates a grieving process. You may foolishly believe that it's just a game, and you control it, and you may hold on to some spirits, but in order to progress, you need to let them go. Oof.

The story is well-done in a way that it surprised me, but looking back on them, all those surprises were predictable. Those kinds of stories are the greatest. It still makes you feel something, but it wasn't a left field either. It's just good shit.

Where can I play this?

Thank you Wikipedia for listing it: Linux, macOS, Windows, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Stadia, iOS and Android. I think the mobile port is done through Netflix Games. I played it on Switch.

Can we play together?

There is local co-op. Stella is joined by her cat Daffodil, even in the soloplayer mode. But in multiplayer, the second player controls Daffodil. I have never played it in co-op, and Daffodil cannot do everything that Stella can do. I think he's like a better Cappy. But again, I have no experience with it myself.

Are there content warnings?

It's about death, and as I said, it's about different ways death can occur. Death isn't always natural. In fact, people unfortunately die from illness, unnatural causes, or from self-inflicted harm. And not everyone reaches old age. Also, you delve into the lives of the spirits, and not everyone had a rosy life. Topics like abandonment issues and unhealthy relationships are part of the story.

Is there DLC?

Nope. That's because the content updates were free. I do have, you know, things to say about content updates in general, but I have more to say about paid DLC so I respect the hell out of Thunder Lotus for not charing extra money for it.

Are there German characters in Spiritfarer?

GUSTAV IS GERMAN, BABY!!!!

[pkg4mumtown]

Special Weapons and Tactics (Ch. 4)

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Original Male Character (OMC)

Rating: Mature

Summary: León and Hotch are called away on separate cases after their coffee date.

Content Warnings: strong language, first person POV, canon-typical violence, mostly fluff, descriptions of murder, casefic

A/N: (March 8, 2025: The fic has been officially transitioned to Hotch/OMC. The fic sort of got away from me and I realized I've been putting more detail than I should be for a reader insert as I've been writing future chapters. I apologize ahead of time for anyone who enjoyed it as a reader insert, but I wanted to rectify this in the hopes that future chapters wouldn't feel so forced/odd/specific as I write them.) Welcome back!! Thank you for all the love you’ve all given! This fic is the first CM fic I started and I love it with all my heart. This chapter and the next chapter are pretty case focused, so I’ve changed the rating because of the descriptions.

Spotify Playlist songs for Chapter 4: Working for the Weekend

Also available on AO3 - I do use a workskin on AO3 for text messaging, so I uploaded screenshots of the texts here. I know this isn’t what iOS looked like in 2010 but I didn’t feel like learning a new workskin lol.

tags: @l-a-u-r-aaa

July 2010

I took off toward the DC office to get briefed on the case and sighed at the interrupted date Hotch and I both had to leave. I was glad he had a good time, though, and I couldn't wait to see him again. I scrubbed a hand roughly over my face, needing to get thoughts of him out of my head.

Now was not the time.

“The victim is Theodore Jackson, forty-three years old. Baltimore PD found him Friday morning in Mt. Vernon Place stripped naked, beaten, and with mutilated genitals. ME is working on the autopsy now and they’re already started a full blood work up.”

“Jeez. Mutilated genitals?”

“He was castrated,” my chief simplified.

I looked at the horrific images that he pulled up. Our unit was stretched thin, leaving usually one or two agents to work with local PD on violent crimes cases.

“Family?”

“No one local except for a partner, Tyler Clarke. Said he went missing Thursday night when they were out at a club,” my chief stood from where he’d been sitting on the edge of our conference table.

“Any other victims? Gang ties? MS-13 has a high concentration around there.”

“We just got the case. No one has looked into previous victims yet,” he gave me a dejected shrug. “Everyone has their hands full with other cases."

“I’ll get Fielding on it,” I nodded, making a note to call our analyst. Being short-staffed was an understatement.

“They want you there today. I sent you all the info.”

“I’ll get going,” I pushed myself away from the table. “Thanks, Chief.”

“I’ll take you off rotation,” he called after me.

“Thanks.”

How ridiculous would a SWAT mobilization be when I was forty miles away?

-

I started the drive after making sure I had everything I needed, then left DC as quickly as I could. About halfway through the drive my phone rang, and I answered it without looking at the caller ID.

“Navarro,” I answered the phone.

“So, you’re meeting up with my boss on the weekends now?”

“Hi, Derek, Happy Saturday,” my firehead softened at the voice on the other line and I cooed in my best teasing tone.

“Don’t try and sweet talk me now, boy,” I heard his grin over the phone. “What gives?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I exhaled, feigning ignorance.

“Your name is on his cup, genius,” He laughed, and I heard the sound of a plane engine coming closer over the phone.

“Ah, well, plenty of Leon’s in the world,” I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me.

“Brother, there is a whole ass accent on there. They might not realize who the name belongs to yet, but I do. The bets are being placed as we speak,” he said in a sing-songy voice, a smile evident in his tone.

“Let me know how that goes. Have fun in Indiana, babe,” I blew the phone speaker a kiss and hung up.

“Little shit,” Morgan grumbled playfully to the phone after I hung up.

“Who was that?” Hotch asked curiously from his seat as Morgan stepped on the plane.

“Don’t play with me, Hotch,” he sighed and threw himself into a seat.

Hotch took a slow sip of his coffee to hide his growing smile.

“And how was your morning?” Rossi greeted Hotch, eyeballing the exchange between him and Derek.

“It was great.”

“Great, huh? Have anything to do with that name?” Rossi nodded to the coffee cup. Hotch immediately spun the name away from him. “I saw it in the elevator. You’re not slick, Aaron. Who’s León?” he drug out the name dramatically, adding a little flair to add to the drama.

Hotch feigned ignorance by opening a case file and flipping through it.

“Were you on a date?” Emily asked curiously, making JJ lean in to hear better.

Hotch opened his mouth to speak and was interrupted by Reid, “According to a study published in the Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, divorced men tend to re-enter the dating scene faster than women. They found that 31.5% of men were dating again within a year compared to only 19.4% of women. Considering how long-ago Hotch’s divorce was, it’s not unlikely.”

Hotch stared at Reid with a blank expression.

“Sorry.”

“The case? Please?” Hotch looked at the rest of his team.

-

I arrived at the Baltimore Police Department’s Central Station in an hour and immediately got to work.

“Captain O’Malley,” an older, weathered looking woman introduced herself as I walked to the front doors.

I shook her hand, “SSA Navarro.”

“Sorry to call you guys in on a weekend,” she peered around me as if she was waiting for someone. “I thought they’d send more of you?”

“We’re pretty inundated. Let’s hope we don’t need more than me,” I shifted, my bag threatening to fall off my shoulder during the exchange. “Where can I get set up?”

“We cleared out an office for you. Let me know if you need anything. I can take you to the crime scene when you’re set up.”

“That’d be great.”

Upon visiting the scene and looking over the surveillance footage, we determined that the unsub did his homework scoping out cameras and being careful to not get his face seen. He seemed fit enough to carry the act out alone in what we did see of him and managed to lure Theodore outside where the visuals ended. This meant that the murder was meticulously planned, and further we noticed the castration didn’t have any hesitation marks. It led me to believe that the unsub had definitely done this before. In conclusion, it was a big “NO" to gang activity.

Great.

“Fielding,” our analyst answered.

“Hola, mi reina. Justo la voz que quería escuchar,” Hello, my queen. Just the voice I wanted to hear, I greeted, hearing the smile in her laugh.

“No idea what you said but, oh, do I love the way it sounds, Leo,” she cooed.

I laughed and got us back on track, “I need you to run a search for me. Murdered males, middle aged, castrated or mutilated in some way.”

“That might be a big search, honey.”

“I know, uh—narrow down anyone who went missing from bars or clubs.”

“Alright, I’ll let you know what I come up with,” she confirmed and hung up.

A knock sounded on the office door, “Hey,” Captain O’Malley rushed in. “The M.E. finally called, they found traces of ketamine in Theodore’s system. They also found saliva on his neck and face but no hits.”

“The unsub drugged his drink? Maybe that’s how he got him outside?”

“It was hard to tell from the video,” O’Malley hummed.

I got Fielding back on the phone, “Hey, also cross reference any victims who had ketamine in their systems.”

“You got it,” she answered and hung up again.

We interviewed Theodore’s partner and other bars in the area, as well as reviewed hours upon hours of surveillance footage from surrounding bars to see if we could spot the unsub hunting anywhere else. According to Tyler, he and Theodore were dancing, Theodore left to grab them a couple more drinks, and never came back which checked out with the footage. Their car was still in the lot when Tyler checked outside.

The bartender that Thursday night that Theodore went missing took some persuading to talk. He had initially waved me off, claiming he had already given a report to the police but I managed to strike a rapport with him, stressing how important it is that murders in our community are taken just as seriously as anyone else. With some reluctance since he didn't want to be involved, he finally sighed and mentioned seeing Theodore and Tyler that night. He said they were regulars and that Theodore was a bit of a flirt with other men, too. He had seen Theodore talking to another man that night, someone who wasn’t Tyler but with how busy it was with their happy hour special and being understaffed, the bartender didn’t have time to get a good look at the guy—just that he was younger and pretty fit. He also mumbled about it not being his business, but mentioned that they were there one moment and gone the next.

It was equally helpful and unhelpful, though we could safely assume this was carried out by one person. Captain O’Malley increased patrols around the clubs in the area in case the unsub decided to strike again tonight.

I checked into a hotel near the station to try and get some sleep and come back to the case with fresh eyes. After taking a quick shower, my phone broke the silence.

“Hey,” I answered Fielding’s call.

“Hey, so I had a lot of hits but focused specifically on genital mutilations and narrowed the list a lot. Ten other victims fit the victimology,” she answered. “I’m sending them to you now. Six of them were in Missouri and four in Oregon, all in the same areas within each state, all fitting the age, too. And get this...”

I hummed in response, leaning over the desk in my room to pull up the info.

“They were all abducted from gay clubs, and all had partners around ten or more years younger than them.”

“Shit.”

“That’s an understatement,” she sighed.

“Thanks, get some rest,” I ordered and hung up.

After getting dressed, I sifted through the information she sent over in bed. Surveillance footage showed similar abductions to the case here with the victim willingly following the unsub. Just like those, the unsub was cognizant of keeping his face hidden. My phone vibrated next to me, breaking me out of my trance and making me realize it was 2:00 AM. I set the laptop on the nightstand and grabbed my phone.

Damn profilers.

“Get some rest. You’re no use to them off your game.” -Hotch

Damn profilers.

“At this point it might not even matter.” -León

“Are you OK?” -Hotch

“Might have a serial on my hands.” -León

“Are you sure that’s all that’s bothering you?” -Hotch BAU

Before I could respond, my phone buzzed. Hotch was calling me.

“Talk to me,” he murmured.

“I just—” I sighed. “—there’s a bunch of gay men being murdered and this guy is pretty good at staying under the radar. I’m frustrated that people aren’t being more helpful.”

“Yea, that kind of frustration can get under your skin. But—” he paused, sighing, “Staying up this late isn't going to help.”

Despite his words not being all that helpful, I was already feeling a little better just hearing his voice.

“Yea, well, we can’t all be top-notch profilers.”

Hotch laughed over the line, “I’m sure you’re not half bad.”

“Careful,” I teased. “You talk me up too much and I might get a big head.”

“It can get bigger?” he teased back.

“Ouch,” I laughed, sighing as my frustration subsided with our laughter lightening the load a little. “Thank you for checking on me.”

“Of course. Call me if you need any help,” he stressed.

“I don’t want to be a—”

“You’re not. Get some rest,” he interrupted me.

“We’re in the same time zone, you go to bed, too, Hotchner.”

“Yes, sir,” he replied with a hint of sarcasm.

Once the call ended, I tossed my phone onto the nightstand and flopped onto the stiff hotel bed, rubbing a hand over my face. I was mentally exhausted but my mind refused to slow down despite that.

Ten victims. Three states. Same pattern.

I closed my eyes, willing my brain to rest. I even tried a technique I learned years ago overseas, relaxing my toes, ankles, feet, legs, fingers, arms...nope. Groaning and feeling the frustration bubbling up again, I turned onto my side, staring at the glowing red numbers of the hotel clock:

2:47 AM.

With a frustrated sigh, I pushed myself up, knowing damn well I wasn’t getting any real sleep.

Sorry, Aaron.

The case file was still pulled up on my laptop, the screen dim in the dark room. I laid back against the pillows, cracking my neck as I scrolled through the victims again.

Male, mid-40s, younger partner, abducted from a gay club, castrated ante-mortem.

The unsub wasn’t picking victims at random—he had a specific type.

I tapped my fingers against the plastic of the laptop just next to the trackpad, my jaw clenched and tight.

What’s the connection?

He wasn’t just going after older men. He was going after older men with significantly younger partners. But why? Was it about control? Power? Or something personal?

I pulled up the Missouri cases, clicking on one of the earlier victims. Daniel Watts, 44. Murdered in 2008. Same exact M.O.

His partner? Cameron Ellis, 27.

I moved to the Oregon cases. James Holloway, 46. Murdered in 2009. Partner? Jordan Lewis, 28.

My stomach churned uncomfortably at the images and testimonies given by the distraught partners. Every age gap was nearly identical: Forty-something victim. Partner ten to fifteen years younger. Over and over again.

My fingers hovered over the trackpad as something settled uncomfortably in my gut. He’s not just killing them because they’re older men. He’s killing them because they remind him of someone and the mutilation played a key part.

I exhaled sharply, leaning back until my head hit the wall, replaying the rudimentary profile in my head.

Was the unsub in a relationship like this before? Was he the younger one or the older one? Based on the interviews, likely the younger one. Did something happen to make him snap?

The longer I stared at the screen, the heavier my eyelids became. I scrubbed a hand down my face and checked the time again.

4:57 AM.

I should at least try to sleep.

Shoving the laptop aside, I slid down back into bed, my body finally feeling the weight of exhaustion. My eyes shut, but my brain kept working, crime scene photos and autopsy reports flashing behind my lids.

Hotch was right—I was no use to the case if I let it consume me. The thought barely settled before my phone rang, its sharp buzz slicing through the darkness.

I groggily reached for it, barely checking the caller ID before answering.

“Yeah?” My voice was hoarse.

Captain O’Malley’s voice came through, groggy but tight, “My boys found another body.”

Damn.

I was already sitting up and throwing the covers back before she even finished the sentence.

“Where?”

“Monarch. Club goers found him behind the bar. We’ve got a perimeter set up, but…” she hesitated, exhaling. “This one’s fresh.”

My stomach tightened as I pulled on random clothes from my bag. “How fresh?”

“Less than three hours.”

My pulse spiked, the unsub was still in the city which meant we could expect more murders still.

“Send me the address. I’m on my way.”

I hung up and grabbed my badge and gun, my exhaustion forgotten for the time being.

-

Chapter 5

[foxybouquet]

I've known about Ghost since their beginning but only 3 years ago really got into them and I've always wondered why they all have an accent? Is it supposed to be Italian accent? Did Tobias ever reveal more of their background lore? From what I understand the church is based in LA? So how did they end up there? X

I wish I could answer all these questions. Though none of the last four real popes was Italian, they all lived in the Vatican in Rome, so perhaps that’s part of it; also Tobias Forge is a known Italophile, and he approaches Italian culture with a lot of whimsy, the way he approaches Ghost lore.

I don’t know if he’s ever explicitly said they were Italian, but the second and third Papas referred to themselves upon introduction in Italian:

“Io sono Papa Emeritus Secondo.” (I am Papa Emeritus the Second)

“Io sono Papa Emeritus Terzo” (I am Papa Emeritus the Third)

As for Cardi C, we know he was raised by a German woman, so it doesn’t make much sense that he has an Italian accent nor that his given name, Copia, is also Italian; but I’m starting to understand that the lore is more of a changeable fluid structure than anything else. And again, it only follows Tobias’s mood at any given moment. So that’s my best guess! Evviva il Papa!

* Also, papa V apparently has sort of a non-descript accent that seems to change from ritual to ritual so far.

[theinfiknight]

What if the characters of Discworld were Avatars of the 15 fears from the Magnus Archives?

Now, just a disclaimer, this is just my personal opinion of which character would best fit the bill. Regardless if you agree or disagree, feel absolutely free to do so either way. Also, obvious spoilers for the books excepting Shepherd's Crown and Raising Steam.

The Web:

This one is obvious and can be no one other than Lord Vetinari himself. An absolute master of subtle manipulation and long term planning, Vetinari is the perfect Avatar of the Web. He creates a reputation of pervasive fear and makes people believe that he could do away with them at a whim, despite him never once killing a single person who wasn't an irredeemable criminal of some sort, and even then usually giving them chances to redeem themselves first. This being the case, I'd say Lady Margolotta is also an Avatar, and the one who exposed Havelock to the Web in the first place.

The Hunt:

The most stereotypical aspect of the Hunt is manifested most by Wolfgang von Uberwald, the textbook Hunter who chases and kills for the thrill of it. Both Sam Vimes and Angua hear the call of the Blood, but both refuse to heed it, and so aren't Avatars. I'd argue that there's another Avatar of the Hunt fulfilling the other role, created by the Hunt to be the perpetually hunted, the never caught but ever pursued white stag/ golden doe, the one, though not only, Rincewind.

The Eye:

One Avatar is Jeannie and every Kelda before and after her. The Kelda sees everything and knows what has happened and what will. The alternate answer is Blind Io, given his literal eyeballs that float around and also that he's cognizant of everything that goes on in the Disc, and that everyone knows he's watching.

The Spiral:

The Elf Queen. The undisputed master of illusion and deception, creating false worlds that operate on her rules, trapping people in unreal dreams they cannot escape, making them see and believe what she wants them to see and believe. Bel Shamharoth is also a possible answer given how he distorts the senses and feeds on those he traps.

The Buried:

Albrecht Albrechtsson. Knockermen are undoubtedly Avatars of the Buried, with the complex stew of fear and reverence they feel for the underground, and Albrecht is the lowest among them. Agi Hammerthief is probably the only fully realised Avatar of the Buried, who dwells beneath the Disc where no one will ever reach him.

The Flesh:

The Igors and Nutt. The Igors for obvious reasons, their affinity for tinkering with bodies, and their indisputable understanding of the fact that meat is meat, and as such can be used for a lot more than its original intention. Nutt because he is a creation of said tinkering, flesh made warped, with a living engine of meat inside him.

The End:

Mort and Bill Door, and possibly every zombie. This really needs no explanation. Mort stepping into his Master's role is the textbook descent of a human into Avatarhood, developing strange powers and slowly becoming Other. I'm not counting Death because he is the personification of the thing and isn't human enough to qualify as an Avatar. Susan is possibly some kind of Agnes Montague analogue, born from the force itself.

The Slaughter:

Carcer, the Gonne, and Cohen the Barbarian. Carcer killed for the fun of it with no care for reasoning, consequence or morality. He WAS a one man slaughter by himself. Cohen's existence was also very similar to Carcer's, albeit he killed far more people and lived by a Code that ensured that though he mass murdered on the regular, he always did it with the same honesty as a man hunting for his next meal. As such perhaps Cohen was more an impersonal personification of the Slaughter like the Piper rather than an Avatar of it. The Gonne was more an a artifact that channeled the Slaughter into whoever held it, be it D'Eath, Cruces or even Vimes.

The Corruption:

Vorbis and the Cunning Man. Vorbis absolutely embodies the toxicity and insidious creeping infestation of the Corruption. He pollutes organisations and people, changing them and turning them into versions of himself, utilising extremely unhealthy relationship dynamics in order to do so, creating an atmosphere ripe with fear, desperation and despair. The Cunning Man is similar except his method of corruption is more direct than Vorbis's ie literally taking over the body of his victim while subtly influencing the minds of those around him when he's less corporeal. His presence is filth of the mind and stench of the soul, and incites disgust and fear among those aware of his true nature.

The Stranger:

I had some trouble with this but finally decided on Susan and Lu Tze. Although one would intuitively put Susan under The End, in practice the characteristics she actually exhibits line up more with the Stranger. She walks unseen among others, unknown in the places she passes through, never usually staying very long in one place unless that happens to be her dwelling at that time. Her presence unsettles people. She doesn't fit in among others and has always been set apart. She's too undead to be truly alive and too alive to be truly undead. The only people who really know her are Death and Time. To everyone else, she's a stranger they see sometimes.

And Lu Tze, of course, is just the Sweeper. No one knows the first thing about him apart from the fact that he happens to be there. He's a part of the background of whenever he is. If anyone ever truly Looked at him, and actually noticed what they saw, that he's in fact a stranger in their midst, the first words out of their mouths would be "I do not know you"

The Desolation:

Stratford, Spider the Rat King, and Ipslore the Red. Stratford was a motherfucker who would bleed every last drop before abandoning the corpse he created. This was a bastard who, wishing to cause Vimes as much pain as he could, chose to target his son rather than seek him out directly. A man after the Desolation's own heart. Spider was out for everything the humans had. It wanted their utter ruin and destruction and was well on its way to achieving it. And Ipslore attempted to destroy the whole world with his resentment, using and abusing his own son as his instrument to do so, and would have succeeded too, if it weren't for some idiot with a half brick in a sock.

The Extinction:

The Things from the Dungeon Dimensions. The Extinction is the end of the rule of Man and their replacement with the horrifying Other. And there's nothing that fits that description better than the Things from the Dungeon Dimensions, constantly seeking to bring about exactly what the Fear is.

The Lonely:

This was difficult to decide as well, but I believe the First Tooth Fairy might qualify. Living literally locked up in a bubble separate from the rest of reality, it lives apart from everyone and everything else, keeping alone for all eternity. Additionally, I believe that every living witch(with the exception of Nanny Ogg) carries a piece of the Lonely inside them. Its influence never goes away, and those who succumb to it are the ones who become cacklers.

The Vast:

Tiffany Aching and, funnily enough, a Simon once again. Tiffany's primary source of power is that she is, at her core, something far bigger than herself. She may be just Tiffany but she is also Land under Wave, the power and will of millions of years of life before her. At her most powerful she is aware of EVERYTHING, from the bones of the flint beneath the chalk to time itself to the stars being born in the distant sky. She is small but she is also Vast. And Simon sees the whole universe and truly understands what he's looking at. He sees and understands more than he can express and his knowledge of the Vast almost approaches comprehension.

The Dark:

The one, though once again not only, Samuel Vimes. There couldn't be any other answer here. The dark walks with him. He was born in it, moulded by it... By the time he saw the light it was nothing more than BLINDING. But yeah, he is most at peace in the true dark in the pissing rain on the cobbles, even before he was literally possessed by the living darkness itself. The dark aids him and talks to him. The dwarfs and the goblins may live in the dark, but Sam Vimes looked into the Abyss, and he wasn't the one who blinked.

[till-alnst]

// OOC Question for Mod

Do you think Till's also made a solo song? Like how Ivan made Nowhere from awhile back

// hello! Mod here! I would like to apologize for taking fucking 2 months to respond to this, but I think this is a better time than ever to respond since Hyuna’s third solo song dropped a couple days ago!

I absolutely think Till has made a solo song, he’s been a musical child since he was born, and we can see that in Io’s comic where she doesn’t want to sing along with Till, knowing what is fate will be if he continued to sing, but his voice was so beautiful that she couldn’t help to indulge him. So yes, absolutely he has a solo song.

Despite knowing this, I have no idea as to what it could be about. The most obvious answer is Mizi, just like Nowhere was about Till, but as we saw in Ivan’s song it wasn’t just about Till. My guess is that Till could’ve also used the solo song as a chance to vent out his feelings about the treatment he’s received from the segyein over the years. We learned in Io’s comic that his disdain for the aliens as a whole comes from the fact they were the ones who took him away from his mother, causing his rebellious nature that we see in the show.

With this in mind, if Till did use a solo song as a way to make sprees all his feelings, then I believe we’ll see a song that’s filled with lots of repressive and villainizing themes to it when referencing the aliens and then almost saviour like themes when it comes to referencing Mizi, like how she was his shining light in a tunnel of darkness and all of that sort of stuff.

TLDR; yes! I do think he made a song!

[roocomehome]

📩 Simblr question of the day: Who's your biggest inspiration/s on Simblr? Mention them! Tell us why you like them!

honestly probably could've made an 800 page essay on people who inspire me on simblr, but these are my BIGGEST biggest inspirations :P

@minimooberry : Honestly, she's the reason why I even pursued rendering in blender and her stuff is probably the only reason why I even joined Simblr to begin with 🥹

@stellarfalls : Bree, the LEGEND, has inspired me in a lot of ways but the biggest one was her GIFS... I remember seeing her post of Rohan and Hana's first meeting and that sparked a light in my chest... I wanted oh so badly to make Gifs as good as her... I'm getting there but we all have different styles so it'll never be exact and I know my gifs will be good in their own way 🫶

@birdietrait : Their overall sim style just... idk its so good and loved it when I first saw their posts 🥹

@groovetrys : Her general editing style was a HUGE inspiration for me, I can't quite explain or pinpoint it but I LOVE her editing its sooo aesthetically pleasing

@slightly-ludic : This is a bit of a smaller detail, but I just LOVE how Jade edits her globetrotter screenshots, I love the sort of narrator perspective in the text and I've started to try and do something similar in Make the Most of It :)

@mattodore : So i've always loved being passionate about my characters (hence why Roo still exists 5 years later), but seeing River's blog and how IN DEPTH they go for Theo and Matthias (and their other OCs ofc) and how much passion they have for their characters inspired me to get more into the blood and guts of my characters, I don't think I'll ever get there exactly cuz I feel like u could ask River what Theo was doing on February 9th 2018 and they'd have an answer and I would not LMFAOO

@rebouks : I am just overall VERY inspired by Becca, but she's one of the people who got me inspired to start making more poses (albeit I was already into making my own poses, she definitely bumped that inspo) and I'm very inspired by her storytelling, its SO good and feels soooooo human

@buttertrait @miralure @acuar-io : squishing these three together because all their vibes just make me so happy and inspired or at least allowed me to feel like I can be myself in this community (mainly cuz their vibes are similar to the vibes of people I like and am friends with irl)

@torissims : her whole aesthetic is just something that I ASPIRE to have... like the vibes of her yesterday save posts are just MWAH chefs kiss man

@missatan : (nat getting all my love today damn LMAO) I don't think my renders will ever be as 8K ultra HD 5 billion pixel quality as hers, but the symbolism behind them and just how good they look have inspired me to at least WANT to do/get better at rendering

some of these might not really be classified as "inspirations" but I still felt like sharing my adoration for these people - There's SO many more people I could've @'d but felt these were my very VERY best inspirations.

I should mention that all my mutuals inspire me one way or another, the community as a whole has inspired me to be kinder and inspired me to just spout my adoration for peoples' work

[sentience-if]

Omg hi sorry if this has already been asked xoxo

How would crushing RO’s react to Io talking sweetly about them to friends not knowing their could hear?

And/or how would RO’s try and goad Io into admitting they loved them?

i have answered the first, sort of. The answers would basically be the same 🤭 so here's the second question

Val: just straight-up whining and melodramatic begging. Tell me you love meeeeee~ quick, before I shrivel up and die of being unloved

Connie: not much for goading, really, especially with someone they actually like. Connie'd rather never hear it than push Io into it. Or so they tell themself, anyway

Ira: goading is also not the right word for Ira, but they might fish for it. Saying it first, leaving space and opportunities for it, but never out-right provoking it. Ira's patient.

kat: Says it for Io. I know you love me, you don't even have to say it. Is this pointed? Is it a little bit of a guilt trip? Maybe. But in Kat's brain she's doing Io a favor and nipping any anxiety in the bud

klaus: *gestures broadly at everything Klaus has ever said or done*

[tidaldiariessimblr]

Tidal Diaries Update #1

As we head into the next part of Tidal Diaries, I thought I would share a big ole collection of RAW unused/unedited screenshots - some are references to plot points I abandoned / screenshots I felt wouldn't serve the story / screenshots I just didn't end up using.

TD Recap:

Imogen was vacationing on Isla Escudo and was off on an excursion when a storm both capsized and smashed the ship into the island - very close to Io's grotto/cave thing. He found her drowning and saved her for...reasons.

Io is a merman who has had contact with human prior to Imogen and has definitely drowned a few. They taste good, I guess - I don't know, I'm not a mermaid sadly.

Imogen has been stuck on this unknown island (the custom world is Palm Springs btw and it's amazing as is, but I did A LOT of work to it) for almost 2 months.

Both are emotionally constipated.

Fun TD Facts & Some Minor Spoilers:

Ioannis is pronounced 'EYE- OH- ANNE- IS' (I am aware that is not the actual pronunciation of that name which I think is closer to Yo-ahh-nis) but it's how I personally like to say it.

Both of their names were changed upon my decision to start posting their story - it is not their names AT ALL in my actual game simply because I haven't updated it lol.

I initially did not start any of this using pose player but found out VERY quickly it was not going to be possible to tell their story without it, so I am immensely grateful for all of you who create poses, even though I am constantly fighting with Io's dang tail.

Speaking of Io's dang tail, his weird scale coloring was completely by accident because I'm DUMB and don't read directions. He was initially A COMPLETELY different coloring, with a completely different tail before I found I think it's RStar's(?) default tail and because I don't follow directions, I couldn't figure out the DF/Non-DF and so I was way too lazy to change anything and said fuck it. I have since figured it out but it's too late for him so he has to suck it up.

Same thing with Imogen's hair color - started off with the ginger thing and it wasn't working for me. Transitioned her to blonde long before I even decided to start posting.

My actual gameplay of them is VERY far ahead in the timeline and they're actually overrunning me with their fricking offspring. As a mother of twins myself, the number of kids they (will eventually) have stresses me tf out - like WHO IS RAISING THESE FISH BABIES?

There will be other merfolk and even plant sims in the distant future (also some sort of bog witch but this is still being worked out).

I have changed Imogen's outfits a million times (which you will see as the story advances) and Io's literally will never change lmaoooo.

🌶️Part two will be....NSFW... at least some of it when I figure out how to go about that. And it will be sooner rather than later.

Well, that's all I can think of off the top of my head but am happy to answer questions or trade theories - otherwise, onto part two we go!!!

kthnxluvubye ( ˘ ³˘)

[thefirstknife]

Hey Bel, I was wondering if you or one of your followers might be able to give me a rundown on the Nine, specifically as related to Prophecy; I just recently read the Ishtar entry on Eris and Drifter’s dialogue that (used to I guess) play throughout, and I’m pretty lost as to how Orin became the Emissary, how Eris knew her, why the Nine made her their Emissary, what their answer to the questions posed by us might mean now that we know so much more about Light and Darkness, that sort of thing? You’ve probably answered something like this before so feel free to kick me in that direction if so lol. Thanks for all you do for the community! 🩷🩷

No problem!

You can still get all dialogues in Prophecy! You get some at the start, and ofc at the end, but when you return to the big deserted area after defeating the second encounter, you can get dialogues. However, you have to find the little copy of the Emissary just floating around on each of the areas.

So, "the wasteland" (the big desert area) has 5 locations that are from the planets that were taken by the Pyramids at the end of Arrivals (for some reason, two for Mercury). When you get back to this area after the cube encounter, the Emissary will spawn in a specific order. It's always Titan first; if you don't go there first, you won't see her on other areas. After Titan, it's Mercury (Infinite Forest gate), then Io and then Mars. You can watch them all here: there's several per location. Alternatively, if you have the time and patience in-game, you can listen to them once, then kill yourself before you proceed to the next encounter. That will wipe you and restart you in the area and you'll be able to listen to them again. Sometimes you'll get repeating lines, but sometimes new ones will play.

Orin's story is detailed in her lore book, Ecdysis! In short, she was one of the passengers on the Yang Liwei, so the original Awoken in the Distributary. She was friends with Sjur! After leaving the Distributary, she left to Earth where she ends up dying and becoming a Guardian (Titan). Later down the line, after Mara met her again (this time as a Guardian), Mara tasked her with helping figure out how Sjur died. This is the start of her connection to the Nine.

Sjur "died" mysteriously and only a strange coin was found on her body. A strange coin is the little relic that is associated with Xur and therefore the Nine. In her search, Orin found Xur (and got terrified, resulting in breaking his back with her hammer; this is why Xur is standing that way, his back is broken). Her meeting with Xur left her somewhat changed and she started experiencing weird things that were pulling her to the Nine. Over time, she also met the Drifter and after realising that he lied to her about his identity, she snapped and went to look for the Nine full-time. She found them and became the Emissary.

I don't think it's ever specified how she and Eris knew each other, but it is most likely through Mara (if there's any piece of lore that explains this, feel free to share). But yeah Drifter confirmed they were friends "back in the day."

The whole conclusion to Prophecy is really interesting for us now because it shows that it was essentially... well. A prophecy. The Nine used it to tell us that the Light and Darkness are not some sort of moral opposing forces (confirmed now) and that they're both just tools that can be used in different ways, for both good and bad (also confirmed). This idea is also present in the mechanics as well, as we have to utilise both light and dark to progress and get things done.

It's a really cool dungeon! Though a lot of the context is now missing. It came out in Arrivals as a sort of precursor to the planets leaving, which is why there's a lot of imagery about them, especially the wasteland. It was also a sort of an intro into how we'll eventually need to use stasis, by showing us that Light and Darkness are tools we can use and that we shouldn't be rejecting the Darkness on the idea that it's inherently something bad (or that the Light is inherently good).

[flecks-of-stardust]

calling the astrophysicists and planetary scientists of rain world

hi i'm a little bit fucking nuts, but i'm curious about this and hopefully someone on tumblr has an answer for me. tl;dr: i got myself into trying to figure out whether it was possible (following our laws of physics; if you want to reinvent physics, be my guest) for a planet to have a significantly shorter period of daytime as compared to nighttime on average, so something like a day-night cycle where daytime is 12 earth hours, while nighttime is 1 earth week. it doesn't have to be that extreme though, at minimum i just want to figure out if it's possible to have an uneven day-night length.

the reason this is relevant to rain world is because i'm trying to work with this idea as a possible explanation for why hibernation is called 'hibernation,' since having a night time this long, due to a whole host of issues like temperature outside, would force any life to take shelter until daylight returned. obviously not everything about rain world can be made applicable to our laws of physics; we don't have anything resembling void fluid, and that's. probably a good thing, but it means anything void fluid related, we can't really predict in terms of planetary science, so i've mostly been ignoring that.

going to add a cut here because the longer this post goes the more unhinged it's going to be. but if you don't want to read the rest of this, proposal for you: planet rain world is actually a moon of a bigger planet.

that crack theory is something i settled on because based on what i've looked at so far, it doesn't seem possible for a normal planet to have such a staggered day-night cycle? not unless it's tidally locked with its sun, sort of like what mercury has going on in our solar system, but tidal locking with the sun is probably not a great thing for life in any capacity, so that's not what i'm going with. the concept here is that due to planet rain world being a moon of a bigger planet, there is a portion of time it spends completely behind the bigger planet, thereby being completely blocked from receiving sunlight. i don't know if this idea alone is even possible; our own moon doesn't seem to be blocked from receiving sunlight by being behind earth, but our moon is also tidally locked with earth and it's god damn gigantic for a moon, so i don't know if it's a good point of comparison. i haven't got around to looking at jupiter or saturn's moons yet, especially io, but i ran out of steam before i got to that point, so i don't think it's happening.

this obviously gets into a lot of problems. how big is planet rain world and how big would the planet it's orbiting be? where are both of them in their solar system? how many other planets are in the solar system? what's the orbital path of both planetary objects? their rotational velocity? orbital velocity? axial tilt? geoactivity? among probably other questions that i can't even think of right now. there's also the factor of planet rain world very obviously having a moon of its own, which is theoretically possible (hence why i brought up io earlier), but we haven't found any planets with submoons yet. what i did find said that submoons are very likely to have unstable orbits that will result in either the bigger planet adopting the moon, or the submoon spiraling into the moon and crashing into it, and both of these scenarios probably did not happen with planet rain world (or... not yet? up to you i guess). there's also other concerns regarding planet habitability, stuff related to climate and atmosphere and evolution and what have you, but i'm not going to keep going here. point is, there's a lot of complicating factors, ones that i don't know how to contend with. i'm not an astrophysicist or a planetary scientist, i'm a biologist that's way out of their depth. the furthest i got was this:

this doubles as an image description, but there's a lot going on in this. the orange quarter circle in the bottom left is the solar system's sun. the blurple circle in the middle is the big planet, and the partially black circles on an elliptical path around it is planet rain world. the orange parts on it are a marker of the sunlight exposure they're getting, while the blurple parts are where the big planet blocks sunlight from reaching planet rain world. (if you actually bother drawing lines on the left side of the orbit, you'll see that the point where planet rain world is starting to loop back around to the starting position but is still partially blocked by the big planet is not, in fact, actually blocked by the big planet. i... drew this in medibang.) so obviously the half of planet rain world that faces the sun is going to get sunlight, except when it's behind the big planet, wherein it'll get no sunlight. the white dots on them are a marker for a particular position on the planet, showing how it's spinning counterclockwise as it orbits the big planet. it also completes one full revolution in only half of its orbital path, so it takes approximately two full revolutions to get sunlight again. the yellow ellipses and the dark yellow dots on them represent the moons of planet rain world, orbiting it quickly clockwise.

i know i am making so, so many assumptions here and i don't even know if this works at all. but i'm way out of my depth here and i gave it my best shot. the elliptical orbits are just... i'm pretty sure a circular orbit wouldn't give me what i'm trying to go for regarding daylight length? that's really the main reason, and also just. single planet systems are more likely to have planetary bodies that orbit elliptically, from what i've read. but that's about all i know. if anyone else knows more than i do and is interested in taking up this theory themself, feel free, and let me know if you ever figure something out, i would love to know as well. otherwise... dunno. consider the crack theory. if you want.

also because it's space, i made a version with a dark background and stars: