#not only appearance but also function. he doesn't have much of a sense of touch and he doesn't feel normal bodily urges other than being

[meltlilies]

not everything from arasaka is a gift, y'know.

[copperbadge]

Okay but can the royal family be called to serve jury duty?

We were talking about this in comments briefly! I've been thinking about it since.

I think the discussion is predicated on the idea that Askazer-Shivadlakia even has trial by jury. France apparently only has jury trial for felony level crimes, while Italy doesn't use juries at all (they have a council of judges). Askazer-Shivadlakia has a number of cultures tugging on it, but given they speak English due to an occupation, probably they have a jury trial format of some kind. Perhaps with only five or nine jurors (Italian Judges Style) instead of twelve. In any case, let's assume they do.

Alanna and Jerry aren't elected or immediate family, they have paid staff positions -- although this made me think that Michaelis and Miranda offered Alanna the title of "princess" as a teen, because of her close relationship to them and lack of parents, although she probably didn't really need it, given her grandparents. Anyway, let's also put Jes in this category of "not royal", because they hold no official title or staff position but have a clear association. Michaelis and Noah are Royals but Michaelis is retired and Noah is appointed, so they have similar status to staff. Eddie, too, is "royal but not elected" and his main function is paid staff much like Al and Jerry. So really it's just Gregory who might legally be exempt. In the US, at least, elected officials at the federal level are. So let's presume that getting elected to king exempts you from jury service until you leave office.

Michaelis, Eddie, and Noah (once he turns eighteen) could be summoned to appear, but would immediately be disqualified from criminal cases because they're affiliated with the Crown and could be argued to have an unconscious bias. What we were discussing in comments was in part my thought that Michaelis, who became king (and thus disqualified) very young and ruled most of his life, would be rather excited for a novel civil service experience, and disappointed when he was dismissed.

I think pretty much any of the royal family except Gregory would be qualified to serve, and allowed to in a civil case (Jerry, Alanna, and Jes would also be fine in a criminal case). Jerry and Al are famous-ish as the local nobility, Jes is a famous journalist, and Michaelis, Noah, and Eddie are royals, but I did a bit of research and I guess celebrities aren't given any kind of special exemption usually. And it's canonical that the Shivadh find celebrities amusing at best, so I doubt their presence on a jury would even be particularly disruptive. So yeah, I could see the royal family serving jury duty.

But my brain is a bit sidelong, so while it would be entertaining to write that story, I was thinking more about...hearings, court protocols, the hierarchical structure of the courtroom, and the weird way in which everyone in a court is pushed into a very specific role. I'll probably write more about that in a general sense later, but where it took me was the idea that Gregory, as a king who has a parliament he has to obey but also certain specific unilateral power, might hold something like a quarterly "King's Boon" session ala the Big Block Of Cheese Day from the West Wing.

Some period of time, every few months, he basically holds open office and meets with people who are struggling to get heard in other ways -- people who want to suggest new laws, or want state funding for something, or need help untangling some bureaucratic issue. One person might have an idea for a law but not the legal training to write it up; Gregory might put them in touch with Palace legal, who can help them draft it for presentation to Parliament. Someone else might be having trouble with some kind of bank issue, Gregory can call up the bank and be like "Hey I'm the king and I'm here with one of your clients, let's get this solved before I audit you." When the recording studio collapses at the start of Infinite Jes and Michaelis says "I'm going to have a word with the government about building inspections", if he wasn't the former king he might take that kind of issue to the King's Boon. Two ordinary people who are arguing about some issue but don't want to take it to the courts might ask Gregory to decide the matter for them. Could be who owns the tree in their mutual front yard, could be some kind of philosophical argument they've got a bet about and they're willing to let Gregory rule on it (this is also very Talmudic, the idea of finding a Sage to figure your shit out for you).

And the nice thing is, much like in the West Wing, this is something Royals and palace staff would participate in -- so when Michaelis was king, he and Miranda would both participate (as would Eitan, as Well Connected Nobility); eventually Gregory as prince and then crown prince would participate as part of his training. It's basically "you, too, have a friend in high places" week in the Palace.

So you've got, say, King's Boon Week, where you get a number, show up on your appointed day, and hang out in the ballroom, which has been converted to a waiting room with nice chairs and snacks (presumably people who can't make it in person can get a Zoom call set up). You wait to be called, and you might meet with Gregory, but you also might meet with Eddie, Michaelis, Alanna, or Jerry. Noah would also participate but for a few years he'd be sitting in with Michaelis as training. Eddie would sit in with Gregory for a year or so after officially becoming King Consort, until he had a more thorough grasp of things. I have a feeling Jes would spend the time circulating and interviewing people for a quarterly podcast. :D

That just seems like a cool thing that is possible to achieve given the size and informality of the country, and would make I think potentially a more interesting story.

I mean. Just imagine. You're having trouble getting the permits all in order for the nightclub you want to open, and you're hoping to get Lady Alanna because you know she's got every bureaucratic "in" it's possible to have. But you groan a bit because you draw Duke Gerald, who...sure he's nice, but you've heard he's a daft scatterbrain. But then you meet with him and he goes through your business plan and is like "This is really solid. Let me make a call," and while you're gaping at him he calls a friend in Legal, gets your paperwork in order, phones a guy he knows who has a vacant building that you can lease on the cheap for the first year or two, and then looks you dead in the eye and says, "Do you need investors? I'd take a thirty percent stake in this," and you wander back into the waiting room, dazed, to inform your business partner that you've struck a deal for each of you to sell 15% of the nightclub to His Grace the Duke of Shivadlakia.

Now THAT'S a fun story. :D

(Eddie is like "Just herd anyone who wants to open a restaurant into my office," and the quality of the food in Fons-Askaz, already pretty good, shoots up a notch that year.)

[solazu1]

More questions cause I took a nap and came back with some.

Are there other angels that have wings that are functional? Is Jay the odd one out as per usual or is it common?!?

(Are all angels bird themed? And are their wings?)

This isn't so much a question as I silly thought, do you think he's opened his second eyes instead of the first ones when he first wakes up? Or both? Cause idk I just see Tim looking over and there is a bleary Jay with not his normal eyes open.

THE FEATHERS!! Are they other bird feathers? Do Angels and well Jay mainly need help getting the casing/shell off? Usually birds do it themselves but if they can't they have friends and other birds as far as I've seen. (Or in cases of pets, they have owners help if they're trusting).

Onto Tim, How did he hide his mythicalness from the orderlies and nurses and doctors of the sort while in the Mental hospital? Did he? Cause you show him wearing really baggy jeans to hide his legs and boots and such. Like unlike Jay he can't put a sort of mask on.

Does shaving his horns down? Or does it only hurt once it hits that one spot like nerves and blood supply and such?

He's got big ears, does that mean he can hear Jay more easily? And to further that. (Do you think Jays heartbeat is different then a normal human?) You wrote in the notes he's terrible at pretending to be human.

I'm sorry if some of these aren't answerable or don't make sense, they came to me through sleep deprived naps.

(Last silly question, can we use your art for backgrounds? Like a home screen on our phone or the desktop?)

so excited to answer all these questions ^_^!!!! Big ass explanation post incoming!

So firstly, angels having non-functional wings are very common and there aren't any documated “supernatural” cases where angels have actually flown. An unusually short angel may be able to glide or hover up to a taller ledge like how some Galliformes do. An Angel’s wings are mostly there for display! To attract or repel and for communication.

Jay is, as usual, the odd one out though. Many angels are more light than feathes so when light passes through them the most you can see is their face, wings, bones, and whatever part of them are also feather. Jay is unfortunately way more feathered than the average angel, of whom actually don't have that much coverage on them besides wings and face. Also, most angels have a very ethereal appearance too them, they naturally walk with grace and elegance and have bird-like mannerisms while Jay is awkwardly lanky, clumsy, and unnerving. He does still carry the bird-like mannerisms though.

For the second question he wakes up sometimes with he second eyes, yeah 💀. It is a bit unnerving especially when Tim didn't even know the marks on his face were eyes on his human form.

On the question of maintenance and preening for Jay’s feathers and other angels. Angels, again, usually don't have as many feathers as Jay does and the most help they need is with their wings on the back. Jay struggles reaching his back, his nape, and his wings. It's only a little extra hassle but he's figured that using a brush or back scratcher is the best alternative he has since he doesn't visit his family that often and he can't really expose his forms to his friends. Besides, he's never been at that level of bonding and/or intimacy with someone to let them help preen him!! Alex was a close contender but yk, that didn't go anywhere so really the only people he trusts are his family. (Tim eventually does get permission to help out and touch his feathers but that's for a short while before entry 72). Also some angels resemble real birds while others may appear as a combination of some, others don't even look like they're belonging to a particular species especially in wing type. They're all very naturally colored though ^_^!

Tim is a long explanation because well, the hospitals knew about his whole mythical-ness. His mother was a satyr too but she was really good at hiding it and taught him how to hide it too. It wasn't that hard since his horns hadnt grown in and his ears weren't too big but he still had the issue of the slender sickness. It got so bad the school took notice and she had to admit him (not that she minded, she wasn't the best mother). It didn't take long at all for him to be discovered a satyr and since then he has been in and out of the mental hospital, going back and forth between medical universities for observation, tests, research, and then back to the mental hospital for his “condition”. They weren't really sure what to do about it and once the original facility he resided in burned down he was returned to his mother's care (with medication now obv) and placed in high school. After his freshman year, his horns started to grow and he went from wearing hats occasionally to wearing hats all the time.

Shaving his horns down doesn't hurt him unless he shaves it too far down, then it’ll start to bleed. He spends a shitton of time filing them down though cause its pretty hard to shave them with a nail filer.

He does have significantly better hearing than everyone around him so despite Jay being pretty quiet when he enters a room, Tim can almost always hear him. With the addition to that question Jay does in fact have an irregular heartbeat. It's way too fast sometimes and way too slow other times and if it's too fast then Tim can hear it, he gets concerned for the guy a lot.

Whoop and for the last question, yes!! You can use my art for wallpapers and/or background ^_^!!

[stars-in-a-jam-jar]

Thinking about how I developed an Immediate attachment to Damian Wayne the second I learned he existed. Not even the second I saw him, the second I heard his name in a YouTube video about those animated movies he's part of, something in me went 'We are going to make liking this boy the newest facet of our personality' and that was when I was like *15 years old*. I've never actually directly read any of the comics he appears in because accessing them required (in order) money I didn't have, library locations I didn't have access to, piracy skills I had too much on my plate to acquire, and more energy to go further out of my way than my ADHD would allow me. So instead I simply kept up with my boy from afar.

My image of him is both so clear and probably So Far Off Base.

He is haughty and entitled. Because he is Ten Years Old and raised to believe if he was mean and deadly enough he could do whatever he wanted forever. Because his existence was functionally an experiment to see How Powerful Of A Being Batman's genetics could create and now he is obsessed with his own bloodline and birthright in a way No Healthy Person Is. Because in all the ways that matter to him, he has succeeded through Raw Stubborn Determination up until he is confronted with the fact that he cannot please his father while staying this way.

And isn't every child entitled to their father's love? So why does his father disapprove of him so much? Why does he treat these other people like family when Damian is his real family? Why does he work with them so closely but tell Damian to step back and follow orders? Damian is better than all of them in all the ways that matter most, obviously! He's earned his father's love and he should have it by default anyway!

But Damian doesn't know what love looks like. He knows what expectations and tests and goals and master plans look like. When you love someone you watch over them and notice things about them, but the only thing he was ever watched for, the only thing that was noticed about him all 6-to-10 years of his life was his ability to dispense death and navigate mortal peril and rigid high-control-group power structures. He doesn't know, he doesn't know how loved he is when Bruce tells him to put the blades away, to reel himself in, to not commit murders, to go to bed on time. How easily and automatically his father looks at him and sees a child in his care. Because to Damian, 'child' is a demeaning powerless role that only applied to him for as long as he had yet to grasp the mechanics of walking.

He doesn't realize how lonely and starved for affection he is. His slowness to believe in others and his overly formal abrasive speech speak to someone so unsocialized with anyone it'd be appropriate for him to socialize with that nothing short of Multiple Years Of De-Conditioning could possibly get him to a place where he can comfortably exist in a casual, gentle setting.

And then his dad Fucking Dies (this is comics and also It's Fucking Batman so obviously he gets better, But Like Still) and he has to orient his life around one of the people he started this whole journey territorially attacking for daring to think he had a comparable place in the heart of Damian's father just because he came into Bruce's life first. He becomes Dick Grayson's Robin, and suddenly everything about the way he's been operating gets shuffled and shaken and crackled into a shape that looks like a properly heroic young man. He connects to Dick in a way he's never connected with another person, he doesn't just feel a sense of 'Yes, this is The Correct Way Of Going About Things', he feels comfortable and like he's part of a team and not a Power Structure.

Has anyone else seen this? Do they touch on this Even A Little in the comics? All I know is the broad strokes and yet I Am Obsessed With This Boy. He's lifted from the original context of his life into the role of 'Batman's youngest son' and is floundering for a place in this family, but he doesn't understand that 'love' and 'family' and 'power structures' are not synonymous words. He is trying! He's trying to prove he's so cool and competent and valuable and why does everyone keep treating him like one of the least competent forms of person??? He's not a child, he's Damian Wayne Al-Guhl. He takes the mantle of Robin for himself because he refuses the idea that he should be asking permission, because to ask is an admission that not everything is meant for him all the time.

I'm so sleepy I wanna say more but I've already written so much about a character who I've only directly experienced in Wildly Inconsistent Forms.

I just like Damian Wayne a bunch, he's my blorbo.

[cicerenella]

on that note- how do you view gerita/itager btw? would love to hear more about it!🇮🇹🇩🇪

i was waiting for a pairing ask! I actually really like gerita/itager, but I see it in a way that's just a little bit different from the canon...

to start, feli is obviously older than ludwig. i like to think that when germany was still a teen he looked at italy with something resembling...admiration? because think about it! this guy represented the duchy of tuscany, the republic of venice... secular and powerful kingdoms. he probably didn't realize that he was having a small crush on him. feli, on the other hand, didn't pay much attention to young lud.

gerita didn't always have the relationship they have now. during both world wars it was er...difficult, if you bring in consideration all what happened. so it was only after the establishment of the European Union that they started to actually form an healthy relationship.

that and also the fact that I headcanon italy being a tad noncommittal in his romantic relationships after the death of HRE (for context, I dont consider chibitalia a thing, so they were both adults). so at the start, this rubbed ludwig off in the wrong way an awful lot, since he is on the other hand very serious about this type of stuff. it was rocky lol.

but besides all that, today is all good! and they're not just dating, but also colleagues? they work an awful lot together, since yknow they're North Italy and Germany. EU's economy is in their hands!

so it's very cute when they finally have a moment together far from meeting rooms. feli brings out the more "laid back" side of ludwig, while ludwig brings that sense of stability that I think feli needs.

on another note, lud absolutely wakes feli up at 6 am to take him trekking in god knows where. he literally has to rip him out of the covers or something. for him it is peak quality time.

and speaking of quality time...it is actually ludwig's preferred love language along with acts of service! he isn't the best when it comes to expressing his emotions, and he's a bit stiff when it comes to physical contact. but you bet this man runs to feli's side if he needs anything, even the simplest things.

on the other side, feli's love languages are physical touch and quality time (as well)!! he's awfully coddly and will literally force ludwig to stay in bed for like...15 more minutes because he doesn't function during the day without cuddles.

just imagine these two otherwise workaholic men being awfully sweet with eachother first thing in the morning ♡♡

but don't think these two don't tease eachother restlessly! feli is a cocky bastard and ludwig easily flustered after all eheh.

the last anon said something about lud calling feli "old man" and that is something I absolutely can envision happening. ludwig might be physically more "imponent" but feli has a more mature appearance to him.

and you know after that, feli is gonna tease him back even harder, he's a bastard in that. cockiness runs in the family at this point LMAO

a genius idea just sparked in my brain and I also remember that it is canon that they cook together?? anyways, yea, they always cook together with feli teaching lud how to prepare traditional Italian (north) dishes. and again, lud teaching feli how to bake, since headcanon that he really enjoys baking.

uuuh yeah, this turned out as more as if general headcanons but we need more gerita anyways top tier ship🫶🫶

[lucius-morningstar]

Possible Next Gen (Maybe?)

So only one maybe two of these will be canonical for the next gen I'm working on. (One in particular will not be but will probably be put in a separate AU. First off let me start by saying thank you to LeonTheDemon on Toyhouse for designing these characters for me, they're honestly gorgeous and I can't wait to find a place for them. First off is one who will definitely be in it. I have decided to make Eris a little brother. The age difference will range from 2 to 4 years of a difference. Not big enough to really make a huge deal of it. He will also be the future love interest to Harper/Raziel. His name is Liam Samael Morningstar

Why him, honestly why not. Nothing would piss off Lute more then her first and only child being attracted to the son of her enemy. Say hello to Liam Morningstar. His personality leans a bit more towards his mama (Vaggie), he's stern a little grumpy and a bit of a realist in most situations. Gaining his trust and loyalty will earn you a good friend in the long run. He has his mama's temper as well, if you know what buttons to push you'll have hell to pay, pun very much intended. Little Quirks/traits - The x in his eye is actually not an issue, in fact the x works to his advantage, people mistake it for him being unable to see but it's fully functional and it's capable of sensing where the weakest spot on his enemy is. - He has a close relationship with his sister, to no one's surprise but his cousin and him don't always see eye to eye and often argue, he isn't huge on Molly either. -------- Next we have my possible replacement for Lila, Estelle Carmine.

She is the daughter of Zestial and Carmilla Carmine. Her buggy appearance from her father's side, shines in a lot more. I am not sure if she'll be apart of the next gen I'm working on. That's still in the air. Personality: She's oddly calm, very forthcoming and highly intelligent, she was and has been trained by her mother, do not let her looks fool you.. On second thought, let them fool you. She'll take more joy out of surprising you. Little Quirks/traits - She's actually quite flirty, which is another way she gets her enemies off their guard. - Estelle's antennae allow her to sense movement from all directions, she senses the air motion as well as vibrations. Yes they're also capable of smell and touch but that is one of the few things that bother her. ------ Last but not least.. I've jumped on the bandwagon and had a Radio Apple child made. Why because I have no self control and honestly the design potential is just too good. So everyone say hello to Minerva Mae Morningstar.

Everyone say hello to Minerva, so for her I really wanted to inherit some of the "Seraphim qualities" that Lucifer possibly had at one point and figured hey why not put it into one of his kids. Hence the blue iris colors, the red obviously comes from Alastor. Now I know looking at her she looks pretty intimidating right. Well don't judge a book by it's cover because she is actually different from many of the Radio Apple children I've noticed. I decided that while its fun to make a chaotic child, it's even more fun to subvert expectations. Minerva takes more after the angelic side of her family, she's got a pretty gentle and kind demeanor and prefers to talk out her problems instead of outright using violence. All in all she's a lot sweeter then she looks. Little quirks/traits. - She has Alastor's ears and smile but purposely hides them. She knows the smile is eerie to people so she does her best not too which results in her just looking rude when she has a solemn face twenty four seven. The ears, she just personally doesn't like them and they're super sensitive to sound. Sometimes her ears perk which often knocks off her hat. - Her outfit was designed by Rosie, yes she's aware pink stands out more but she doesn't mind. - Her eyes have a sense of holy magic in them, so she's capable of spotting honesty and virtue in the sinners she bumps into. - She is very insecure of her looks. Why, why not. However she does find a friend in a dog much like Lucius. I am trying to get some kind of pitbull demon lookin thing. Misunderstood babies who just need love.

[cantsomeoneelsedoit]

Ch 41: Couldn't Care Less About Pain

Meeting for the first time, twice.

Is it just me, or does this Andy kind of remind you of Frankenstein's monster? The expressions and the bandages remind me of when the monster was first on the run after he escaped from Victor's lab. Also, the name "Victor" hmmm... Is whoever "created" Andy in UU a literary Victor Frankenstein parallel? Is Victor a kind of Victor Frankenstein? Is Andy a kind of monster?

Anyway, they are in Longing! But he doesn't answer regarding the year. It's interesting that he can already speak Japanese.

If this part of Andy's past is just after the Civil War, then the US hasn't been in official contact with Japan for very long. How did he learn Japanese?

Maybe it's that only Victor's memories are locked in the memory card, but not his skills. If Victor could speak Japanese, then Andy can, too. Obviously, Andy could still speak English after Victor was suppressed, so there are some things that were passed along.

Oh, Josh doesn't want this new chick moving in on her captain! (Captain of what, exactly?)

None of them trust Fuuko from the start, so she thinks of the best way to prove she's not a threat. It's a similar situation to when she earned the trust of the kids in Longing; winning people over is something Fuuko's going to be doing a lot in this story.

Fuuko proved she knew Andy by identifying his tattoos and scar, just like Juiz did when she pointed out his mole! Poor Andy having people come up and tell him about parts of his body that he hasn't (knowingly) showed them!

But also--- damn, Andy has a lot of ladies after him! Everywhere he goes! Gina, zombie preschool teacher, Fuuko, Josh...

The rescued children all return to their parents, and the group accepts a meal as payment. The woman at the bar has an apron that appears to say "Sunflower Saloon." They just can't stop naming things after sunflowers in this town, I guess. It's almost like Longing longs to be a certain way.

It's like a setting that the author reuses just because they like it so much. They even included a similar premise with the kids needing to be rescued. In some ways, Longing functions in the meta in the same way it functions in the story: as a movie set.

Shen told us in Ch 11:

Yes, except the THEY in this sentence is the Author/God! They reuse this setting for all things Western. I'll bet we see Longing a few more times before the series ends.

Alexa, please add "Quantum Leap/amnesia traveler" to the list of genres.

Andy's crew still doesn't trust Fuuko, and it gets even weirder when she said she knows him from his rampant nudity.

Andy gives Fuuko the initiation test, and now she's looking as reckless as Anno Un! She was so sure that her Andy wouldn't have put real bullets in the gun. Again, she knew him almost better than he knew himself!

And that's how Fuuko joined Cap'n Andy's Wild West Adventure Crew! And then, almost immediately, he loses everyone except her.

I'm not even sure present-day Andy has ever made a face like this. It's so distant and cold.

What a disappointment that the saloon lady sold them out! I get that she was trying to protect the kids from more harm, but these are people who literally just protected the kids! What the hell, lady?!

OTOH, I think the narrative reason for having her sell them out is to prove to the readers that the bad guys shooting up the place wasn't any kind of effect from Fuuko's Unluck, from when Captain Andy caught her or when Josh touched Fuuko's hair, or any other theory. It was pre-planned before Fuuko even came into the scene. It would've happened anyway, because it's part of Andy's past.

"It makes more sense to get in close." That's a line spoken by someone who has killed before and expects to kill again. And if Captain Andy were a villain, that'd be a pretty chilling thing to have him say! It's so detached from emotion.

But Fuuko knows his heart, and she knows how much each loss hurts him (even Red, who we hardly met...)

Compare this reaction to what he said about his war buddies in Russia and his tone when he told Fuuko they were all dead:

He said they'd back them up when they need it! And he was looking forward to the restaurant (he was probably gonna introduce Fuuko to them!) And then he just says they're dead, just like that. And when she asks "what now?" he assumes she's talking about dinner bc he's not thinking about his dead friends OR dinner right now. He's pushed down grief for so long just to keep fighting! T.T He's a lot like Juiz.

Masterpost

[valdrift]

Hey since I also have threeleaves brainrot: do u have any opinions on how Kingsley's style might adapt as he goes on? Since when he was "born" he hated Molly's coat and thought it was tacky. But now seems to be leaning into the big sparkly red coat and tall boots look?

On the other hand, the official art seems to suggest that he had Molly's face tattoos removed. Which I get, but.... still makes me sad 💔😭😭😭

i always ascribe to the idea of king being the reconciliation of lucien and molly's souls a la tneol so i imagine his sense of style to be a healthy mix of both. I can see why he, at first, found mollys fashion distasteful seeing as he was very much Not molly and didn't want tht identity shoved onto him. But i can imagine the more comfortable he gets with his life and sense of self, he'd loosen up more i guess on past opinions. The 3leaves have a flair for the dramatics after all, so while he may not be into the bright colors like molly, he'd have his own way of making a statement. Also ik u only asked abt Kingsley but ill get into my 3leaf fashion his bc they're all so different and i love them <3

Lucien: ik the book said he liked those rlly deep cut shirts but tbh i think thts the most Risqué hell get lol. Lucien to me has a very modest fashion sense, as in function is more important than looks, and hes fine with it so long as its durable. He favors darker colors and prefers looser easy to move in clothes tht can protect him from the elements. Maybe its the former urchin kid in him tht wanted to survive the run and not draw too much attention to himself 🤔 Anyways i also personally think he wld rlly like skirts and dresses (this has nothing to do with my latest Lucy drawing but alas). As always, performance is a big theme for him, so i think he wld have clung to the idea of looking intimidating and wld have a hard time letting go of the specific image of what being the nonagon looks like in bis head. But without the weight of tht title and maintaining appearances, as well as getting to actually explore his gender and presentation, i think lucien wld rlly enjoy nice flowy skirts and dresses. Still very low key with little to no jewelry tho

Molly: what is there to say tht has not been said abt our favorite tacky tiefling!!! His appearance is like the picture definition of hedonism, getting intricate tattoos and wearing the brightest most garish clothes in existence. Regardless, i think its touching how he woke up with no memories knowing he had a dark past, and deciding to make his body his own. A complete 180 from lucien in terms of appearance and thts exactly how molly wld have wanted it. In regards to gender presentation, he wldnt have the same hangups lucien wld so molly did whatever the hell he wanted and he looked good doing it!!

Kingsley: oh man ok. So he doesn't have the same taste as molly regarding bright and tacky clothes but hes not like lucien who's a function over fashion person. Instead, he makes a statement in a way thts a good mix of both. Whereas lucien is more rough around the edges and molly is bright and colorful, king is more sleek i think. Black, gold, silver, hints of red or cool tones. Dark coats befitting of a pirate captain, tasteful jewelry, etc. Dramatic in his own way, goth instead of glam rock. Maybe in the beginning he kept it plain to figure put what he liked without the burden of other identities being pushed onto him but after, he develops a look thts very much himself :)

[stormtail221]

Leonardo (2012 and Rise) angst from a leadership perspective

I have been in CAP for 2 years, and one of the core curriculums of this program is the study of leadership as both a science and an art. So naturally, when I see characters thrust into a leadership position, I immediately start foaming at the mouth and planning how I can use what I know to create the maximum amount of angst for the given scenario. 

And when I saw both of these Leos in their respective leadership positions (and these can apply to Rise!Raph too), I began to plot their imminent demi- I mean the struggles they might face as leaders of a team. There are numerous elements that go into being an effective leader, and if anyone wanted a comprehensive list of those, I am sure it wouldn’t be hard to find. However, this is a compilation of the leadership characteristics that I believe can be the most angsty. (I did not go through over 2 years of leadership training to write angst for these characters. It is merely an added benefit)

Do with this what you will. 

The first characteristic of leadership that will be covered is technical competence. According to the wonderful internet, Technical Competence is, “the knowledge and abilities required to apply specific technical principles and information in a job function or role.” 2012!Leo maybe be able to say that he does not have all the answers, like his Rise counterpart, but someone who has been in the position of leader for as long as 2012!Leo must maintain a certain level of technical competence as leader, because it is his duty to ensure that, even if he doesn't have all the answers, he does have most of them. Technical competence is a vital part of being a leader, because your team doesn't have to look to you for all the answers, but you still must be competent enough that your team can look to you for knowledge and guidance in a time of crisis or danger. I imagine Leo likely has to train and study more than the others, because he has to have the technical and mental ability to guide them through the missions when they fail. He doesn't need to have all the answers, or make all the plans, but he does need to be competent enough to be someone for them to fall back on when they need to. He must be someone that the team can look to, and rely on. He must be the back up if all else fails, and ready to step in when the team stumbles. This standard likely creates a level of isolation, because they can rely on him, and he in theory can rely on them, but even then, there is a separate expectation that Leo has to uphold, and relying on his team too much might make him appear weak or untrustworthy.

Leo must also, as a leader, be willing to make the tough calls. I know this is touched on in the show, but I’m going to go into this a bit more. Being a leader means taking advantage of a situation and making most, if not all of the choices during a mission or even out of it. Leo is responsible for making the difficult choices and carrying the team through those difficult choices even when he doubts himself or feels like failure is imminent. If Leo shows any signs of doubt or fear, the team will sense this, and their performance will suffer as a result. He has to be able to look at a situation and make the appropriate call, sometimes in a split second. He can't risk hesitating or taking too long to make a choice, or else it might already be too late. He must be able to make the tough calls, and more importantly, make the right call in a timely manner. And this is tricky, because in a high risk situation, you might have to make an incredibly difficult call in only a minute with only half of the information that you need. This one has the most potential for angst. I mean c’mon. 

Another key part of leadership is the importance of finding the balance between being lax and being serious and strict. Now, due to this, both Leos find themselves in a unique position. Because this isn't just their team, it's their brothers. So there is a line that must be balanced between serious and playful, and should Leo veer to far into one of the other and lose that balance, he could not only risk his relationship with his brothers (they think he is being too hard on them and thinks himself above them bc he bosses them around too much), but also their lives (he is a bit to silly and his recklessness ends up costing their lives or their objective). It can be an extremely difficult line to balance on, especially when you are close with the people you are supposed to be leading. Not only can there be major consequences if you mess up or over correct, but you worry constantly about if you are doing it right, and if you have the right balance. 

Another key thing is Servant Leadership, which is the practice of leading by serving your team and leading by example. This practice includes putting your own team first and ensuring your safety and security before your own. However, you cannot be a good servant leader without first taking care of yourself. This may seem somewhat contradictory, but, of course, that is where the angst comes in, because our beloved stupid Leos will indubitably take this the wrong way, and completely ignore their own personal health and sanities for the sake of the team. By believing they have to be independent entirely, and having the belief that they can’t rely on their team lest they show weakness, they try to take care of matters by themselves so as to not burden others. This is of course not how servant leadership should be executed, but having minimal training in leadership and sort of being expected to figure it out on their own, that might simply be how they interpret it. 

In Conclusion, these bad boys can fit so much angst in them.

[m1d-45]

sorry i've been mia i was busy rizzing up the kaeya and diluc ais. anyways imagine reverse isekai with ur main. i personally would have a blast being able to talk about minecraft and mystery flesh pit national park and warrior cats with people who do not even have the internet.

also my diluc and kaeya plushes arrived and now i need to make clothes for them so they won't be naked but i have to make sure they have an equal amount of clothes with an equal amount of effort put into them so that it doesn't seem like i'm favoring one brother over the other (this is the same reason why i bought the diluc and kaeya plushes together in the first place) - teddy anon

1) it’s ok 2) kaeya ai? 3) this idea oml

aside from the fact that showing them all the weird and obscure shit in our world would make them lose their minds (speaking of nobody tell them about organized religion. barbatos is surprised ppl follow him after a few hundred years of no contact well look at this right here-) they’d be fascinated with how you control them.

i imagine they wouldn’t appear in game, and you couldn’t like use them for anything. makes logical sense to me.

if you’re like me and struggle to form teams at all, let alone ones without your One Good Built Character, they’re borderline going to be apologetic at seeing how you struggle. part of them is proud they’re so needed, but the other part is sort of sad.

i literally only run teams w/o kazuha for the abyss because his playstyle and the team i run for everything else is so ingrained in my head. i genuinely struggle if i don’t have an anemo character on my team and always fumble for a while if it doesn’t have kaz because it’s like i forget i don’t have him. it’s a problem—

if you’re not dependent on a single element like i am, they love seeing you work around them. it’s simple, you explain, swapping to an alternate team, and they watch in awe at how easily you adapt to change. they marvel at reactions they haven’t seen, at how much this new team differs from the one with them in it.

if you try and show them how to, they’ll immediately insist that they’re fine watching, that they wouldn’t dare touch such a holy object or manipulate teyvat in your stead.

for some, this is true. for others, they’ll cave with enough pressure.

itto treats your controls with the most delicate care, very gentle with everything as to not break it. not really prone to gamer rage, more so just “your grace, i can’t figure this out :(“ and watching over your shoulder as he promises “ok, i’ve got it this time, swear!” he doesn’t, but the smile on your face as you watch him die for the nth time soothes any anger he feels. refuses to kill rifthounds btw.

mona doesn’t know anything. you could tell her sixteen times how to access the inventory and she’s still asking you which button it is. don’t tell her about the wishing system she’ll quite literally lose her shit. she doesn’t understand the value of items like dream solvent but refuses to spend even a single coin of your mora or your food. collects her own ingredients and keeps track to cook her own food because “i wouldn’t want anyone else touching what’s mine.” pls tell her it’s ok and losing some of your 2k sweet flowers isn’t the end of the world.

ayato wouldn’t directly play, but he does sit beside you and offer semi-functional ideas. “run a team with x y z characters,” “fight this boss without the element it’s vulnerable to/full physical damage,” “take on this enemy without a healer,” etc etc. he likes seeing you solve problems, and likes watching you explore. if you have low mora he’s incredibly confused, but doesn’t comment on it once he sees how much it is to level a talent or ascend someone. if you have like 7mil mora and go “why do i have so little :(“ he’s asking a few more questions, but overall is silent about it. you don’t have a job in teyvat, and get most of your money from chests or leylines. it makes sense you guys would view mora differently.

alhaitham doesn’t touch your device, but kaveh (yes he isn’t out at time of writing no i didn’t ask) could be convinced into exploring a bit. he refuses to engage in combat and always uses his glider, never dropping more than a second or two at a time. panicks if your characters get hurt at all and either runs to a statue of the seven (give him time, he forgets he can teleport) or triggers your healers skill. if you run a character that has hp drain he’s flipping his shit and either demanding to know how to change the team so they don’t get hurt or runs them and three separate characters. loses his shit when you tell him about the teapot. that’s all he does now lmao.

zhongli will tap at stuff a bit, get a hold of the general game, and then just. not play. you tell him he can do commissions if he wants or run domains and he shakes his head, “i will not interfere with a world i don’t own.” so silly. doesn’t understand why shops don’t give you stuff for free. speculates on how monsters dying gives you mora. refers to everything by their full names no matter what silly nicknames you have for anything. if you have a well-decorated teapot/generally take care to plant stuff or collect realm bounties or similar, he’s happy. if you mostly neglect it, he’s asking why. it’s an adeptal art, and he needs to know if it isn’t satisfactory.

yae would love to manipulate a world of her own, but the knowledge that the world you control is real and has real actions is a bit too much. yelan asks to see, but only because she wants to know what you’re on about when you talk about lag, ping, or hitting the wrong button. finds it funny even gods can mess up. yanfei fusses over whether she should even be allowed because of like divine right to rule and whether her interference counts as idolatry since she’d technically be playing god. you let her worry about it in the corner and don’t ask questions about where she pulled that giant book of law from.

if you allow him to, venti sits in your lap while you play. he’s very much just a guy that’ll sit with you and maybe play his lyre if you’re getting frustrated, and adores the ingame soundtrack. give him youtube and point him in the direction of the ost and he’ll obsess over it. within a week he has everything memorized and has composed at least three ballads about ‘the song of the heavens’. wont actually do anything directly, but if you’re running abyss and ask him for suggestions on fun team comps, he’s already got ideas. is a bit unnerved at first if he recognizes some of the people on screen, but rationalizes it quickly enough. if you’re like me and leave your characters sitting at a bench or table before logging off, he insists you sit them in the statue in mond.

neither childe or scara even entertain the idea that they’d be allowed to use your device, and just kinda watches from the side. scara laughs a bit if you get hit by an enemy. childe asks about what his build is prior to his vanishing and probably studies meta and like crit ratios and stuff (no i don’t know what meta qualifies as yes i’m just sayin shit). xiao’s worried his karma could infect through the screen, and wouldn’t dare suggest anything. if you’re doing it, it’s good, if you’re not, you have a reason. ask for his opinion and he’ll bluescreen.

[ladykf-writes]

The Soulmate, Soulmarks Verse

(as requested, and as will be seen in the upcoming fic, Waltzing Through Time, primarily featuring ReGen pairing - Reeve Tuesti / Genesis Rhapsodos.) Yes I WILL make that a thing.

So, how does this world work? For right now, we'll mostly talk about the soulmarks.

There are two kinds of soulmarks -- primary, and secondary. We'll talk about the secondaries in a bit.

Primaries

There are at least two primaries as you need two marks to make a bond - yours, and a partner's. However, polycules may find themselves with three or more marks. (Usually three, and very, very rarely more than five as it's only counting the core matches and not any wider web of not-mutual lovers. It's possible! But unlikely.)

Before going forward I would like to add: soulmates are not inherently sexual or romantic. By the world's definition, your soulmate is the other half of your soul, someone that fundamentally completes you in some way.

Notably: Drew Morrison - one you've met if you've read Dog Whistle - is aroace, in every verse including this one. Full on aromantic, and on the gray asexual spectrum though he doesn't usually realize that. And he is paired with Benji Richards, who is gleefully bi and still hooks up with other people to fill those needs, much to Drew's relief. But they fit in a way no one else can complete them as soulmates.

So, regardless of how many are involved... now that we know what the primaries are (you plus mutual partner(s) regardless of orientation) when do they show up and how do they function?

The following applies no matter how many marks you may have:

When you hit puberty, a soulmark appears somewhere on your body, and simultaneously appears in the same place on your soulmate's body. Since I've already disclosed Drew&Benji we'll use them as an example.

Drew's mark is a thick rope of ivy with leaves that forms a bracelet around his right wrist. It appeared when he was thirteen, in full vibrant jungle green colors. There's jokes when he's older that it's because he ties people together. (Not wrong, as you'll see.)

When he's sixteen, three years later, a the black outline of a lightning bolt appears on his upper right arm (Benji's mark, because he's fast, thinks quickly, and is very intelligent) It doesn't have color however, because they haven't "bonded" - the colloquial term for this is "triggered" as in haven't triggered their bond so it's active, as you would other sorts of mechanisms, like opening an automatic door, and not in the medical sense of something that triggers a traumatic reaction.

In order to activate or trigger your bond, you must make skin-to-skin contact. This has affected everything about clothing and what is and is not considered reasonable to wear. Most people seek out their bonds, and leave points of their body bare to touch. Hands are a big deal, and shaking bare hands goes from a mere pleasantry to a spectrum between 'I would love to bond with you' and 'we're clearly so incompatible I'm not worried about it' - and you get to guess which is which.

Then there are people who don't want to bond, who wear long sleeves and pants all year, constantly wear gloves and try not to let any but a scarce few touch them skin to skin. You get a lot of that with the Turks and also with SOLDIER, who likely screen a partner first for what their mark is before having a hookup. Not, necessarily, because they don't want a bond. Most people want a bond, to know what it's like to meet the missing half of your soul - to even know what that means. But their jobs are dangerous. Is it fair to bond with someone with a life that is likely going to come to an unnaturally short, and likely violent, end? There's different schools of thought, including 'is it fair to make that choice for them?' as well.

Backing up from the questions of ethics of bonds... what happens if you do?

When you bond

Once you've made skin to skin contact, what was essentially line art fills in with the same colors your soulmate wears. Benji and Drew highfived after training, caught skin on their arms, and were immediately fixated. I choose to use them as an example because of the next topic.

Skin hunger. It affects everyone, be they a minor that has no business getting ah, involved with their mate yet - because of course, you can get large age gaps between soulmates, some people get a marker say, five years before they get their own, and know that their partner is at least five years older. Or, in Drew's case, someone who... while not repulsed by sex was honestly really uninterested.

But the thing with skin hunger is it's just a call for skin-on-skin. It has nothing to do specifically with sex. In Waltzing With Time, you'll see Genesis just laying on Reeve, shirtless, while Reeve pets his hair and occasionally brushes his shoulders or lays a hand over his heart. (And, of course, there is a lot of coincidental, mundane contact. Even holding hands helps soothe the urge down to manageable levels.)

It doesn't matter your job; you are required, by medical and insurance purposes (union as well, but we're mostly talking about ShinRa), to take a week off. And you are not allowed to work remotely until the fifth day. This is because you're commonly believed to be a bit... out of your mind from the new bond. Not just the skin hunger; the vast majority of bonds cause an immediate, often irrational, anything for you mentality. To the point of endangering funds, other relationships, their body, and their dignity. (And probably more, but that's worth note.) With this in mind, again - a week off, to "settle into the bond" and begin to get back to where you can function as independent people.

In ShinRa it's often called a 'quarantine' period, though there are gentler and warmer phrases like "soul reunion" and "bond week" as well as simply settling. The most common phrase in the eastern ShinRa lands is "taking a week" and is universally understood that unless you specify it's just a vacation, it is bond related.

There is also a note on senses that is not just connected to the enhanced: sometimes, when soulmates are apart, they can share sensory information. However, it's not so easy as just sending it.

Sight is the most desirable and in theory also the easiest (it's not a high bar). You see what your soulmate sees if they're fixating on something for long enough - assuming, of course, that the receiving soulmate has their eyes closed at the right time.

Technically, with enough emotion behind it and a strong enough bond, you might be able to override a second or two of the receiving partner's sight with their eyes open but by far if it's ever done it is deliberate on both ends

Sound only transfers when it has made an impression, and it is almost entirely random unless you can fixate on it. (Shared stuck songs, anyone?)

Touch is spotty. It's almost never sent deliberately, and if it is then the partners have been deliberately practicing or there's some wild adrenaline and hyper focusing going on.

Smell + Taste seem to be completely at whim. There's talk of people sending it on purpose, but not much proof beyond say-so.

There is anecdotal evidence that the closer the soulmates are, the easier it is to share sensory information.

Worth noting as well: the shared senses does not include true telepathy.

Additional Primary details

Some other notes:

You have to go through the week for every set that bonds at the time. As in: if Partner 1/3 bonds with Partner 2/3 that's one week, but they have to take another week when they find Partner 3/3 and all three bond.

While the skin hunger and unreasoning levels of attachment fade by about the fifth day, and while partner(s) are literally able to separate by the end of the week, it has been proven that bonded mates can NOT be separated for more than five and a half weeks without beginning to have a reaction - by six weeks, skin hunger begins to return, as well as an increasingly over the top, dramatic and unreasonable thought process. It will take at least two weeks for the bonded to calm down and get back to being separately functional.

Many, many groups are advocating for a healthier two week period instead of the bare minimum single week. However, due to behind-the-scenes "government" ShinRa intervention, this motion hasn't passed.

With the nature of having to have skin contact for a bond to activate, you can have walked by your soulmate for years completely unknowing. However, there are some anecdotal "signs" that your soulmate is near. Including two that are true: their or your mark itching when you're close by (hard to prove), and getting pins and needles if you touch your mark through your soulmate's shirt or pants (you have to pay close attention to notice)

if your soulmate is dying, their mark begins to scar up around the edges; if they die, it will be raised up and rough to the touch, the colors faded and muddy. The living mate has to be watched carefully; they rarely outlive their mate by more than a few months unless they've been conditioning and are likely heavily drugged.

Secondaries

Secondary bonds, simply put, are found family. Someone has become so important to you that their mark appears somewhere on your body the moment you've started to feel that close and have touched each other. Now note:

This mark does not necessarily appear on you where it does on them, and it will be in miniature. This is helpful for people like Drew who have a dozen + marks.

These are not necessarily mutual, though by vast majority they are. Friendships, for example, being reliably close, but "work friends" are not necessarily mutually close.

Some people are far more prone than others to accumulating marks, and some are more inclined to gain them all over their body in comparison to one place.

Secondaries can be romantic or platonic; there is no way to know which is which - soulmarks are not defined by anything but love.

Secondaries don't require any taking a week, and don't offer the perks of Primaries, they're just there as proof of the people you feel closest to.

Secondaries, unlike primaries, can fade, vanish, or be replaced as your feelings change over time. This is therefore considered natural and normalizes the value of relationships in the moment over the course of a lifetime.

In Conclusion

And that's a wrap on the 101 of the Soulmarks!Verse. Now of course, something that would become such a huge part of society, and it's not a stretch to say it would change the world of FF7 as we know it. Old, not-dead faces in the Science Department, new Reactor protocol, new alliances and family ties and boogeymen that have slipped off to Reactor 00 oh my.

This will, of course, be covered in a later post; I think this one's long enough lol. Feel free to borrow the verse or the soulmate rules for something else! Just let me know. I want to seeeee.

[splendidissimus]

January 2002 - Repressed Memory

((Content warning: mental manipulation, mind invasion (mentioned), false / repressed / erased memories, loss of autonomy))

((Promptspiration: @whumptober-archive 2023: day 29: I only sink deeper, the deeper I think / Troubled past resurfacing / "What happened to me?" ))

Genre: whump

Romance level: minor

Angst level: 4/5

Draco's headspace: anger / fear -> vicious -> fatalistic

((words: ~2800))

------------------------------------

Theo was watching Draco more closely than he normally had to; it had been clear to him for a while that something was weighing on him, but he was trusting in Draco to mention it if he needed to. He didn't want to talk about it, and he seemed to be handling it well enough, though mostly by throwing himself into work; he hadn't even been home in four or five days. It wasn't impairing his ability to function, so Theo didn't push, but he was there if he needed him, and he watched. 

Watching so closely was how he was able, when he followed Draco through the floo, to catch the end of the subtle motion of him pulling his sleeve down to hide the flashing alarm of his heart monitor. "Draco?" He touched his back.

"Hm?" Draco looked back and up at him, casual, hiding that there was anything to acknowledge.

"What is it?" 

"There's nothing." 

He caught Draco's hand before he could pull away and pushed back his sleeve. The alarm was still flickering in reflection of his dangerously fast heartbeat. "Whatever this has been, it isn't getting better. Let me help." 

Draco looked away and pushed his sleeve back down. "It's fine. I know it's in my head." 

"Has it been getting worse?" The way Draco didn't answer or look at him confirmed it. "Tell me." 

Draco glanced at him, eyes slightly narrowed, but he had made a promise to answer that phrase, and he kept it. His eyes flicked around the room. "I've been having the same dream for… months. It's getting more detailed, and I've started having… flashes… of it, while I'm awake, especially in this room." He ran his hand through his hair and gripped the back of his neck, briefly. Then he shook his hand out and he appeared composed again. "But as I said, I can handle it." 

May as well get out of that room, then. Theo led the way from the drawing room with a hand on Draco's back. "What is it?"

"It's Death Eaters… It doesn't matter. It's just that it keeps coming back." He took out his potion bag as they walked. "I think I'll go to sleep until dinnertime tomorrow," he said, and took out a Dreamless Sleep potion, holding it to the light to gauge how many hours it would last for. 

—

"You're wanted downstairs."

Theo wasn't used to being addressed by the portraits, especially with such purpose, and he had to blink up at it to be sure it was actually talking to him. It was the Elizabethan Malfoy portrait that Draco called his father's spy, now sharing a frame with an old woman that Theo had never bothered to ask the identity of, and that made sense. It was also looking impatient with him for delaying. 

"Right. His office?"

"The master study, yes." 

When he made his way to Lucius' office — sorry, study — both of Draco's parents were there, him sitting at the desk and her beside it facing her husband, looking very much like he was walking in on a serious conversation, and the way they both looked over at him was decidedly uncomfortable. 

"You've no practical experience with Memory Charms, have you?" Lucius said with no preamble. 

"No…"

"Might I suggest you acquire it. In the meantime," he pushed a business card across the desk, "arrange a pretext for him to visit her." He looked at the name on the card, and then glanced back up for an explanation. "An Obliviator of particular discretion." 

He glanced at the portrait behind Lucius' desk, now observing; he didn't have to ask how Draco's father knew anything, no doubt it had been eavesdropping when they came home. Obviously his parents knew something Draco didn't, something that troubled them. "Then you're saying he's not dreaming?" 

"I'm saying that if you mean to help him, this is what you'll do." 

The door swung open and hit the wall solidly. Draco was wearing a narrow expression of fury that made him look sharp. "No — answer the question, Father." 

"Draco—"

"Because it didn't." His voice had started low and clipped, but as he came closer it got higher, as anger gave way to something less controlled. His hands clenched in tight white balls. "That never happened!"

"You're right!" Lucius had to raise his voice to get through to him over his own yelling. "It isn't a real memory."

"Then what is it?" he demanded. "What do you know? Why do I keep thinking of… of…"

His parents exchanged a look that would have been subtle outside this house but was a yell to people accustomed to speaking their language. "Just get rid of it," his mother said. "Don't worry about it."

"No! Tell me! Tell me what happened to me!" 

"The Dark Lord did it," Lucius said flatly. "Gave you a memory that never happened. Punishment for your failures, and your… proclivities." 

"No…" He took a step backward, pulling away. "He can't — he couldn't —"

"He took amusement in giving his victims such visions they would wish they were dead, at times. When he wanted to truly make them suffer before he killed them. Or, occasionally, in lieu of killing them, when he could still use them."

Draco gripped the back of his neck so tightly his fingernails were going to draw blood. "When? I don't— I would know…"

"The first night."

"No. No, I passed out when you were Crucioing me, and that's it." 

"No," Theo said quietly. "I've seen that memory… that's not what happened. Voldemort did do something, and you started… you had a bad reaction."

Draco's eyes jerked from Theo back to his parents, flicking between them before focusing on his father. "And so you Obliviated me? You just decided to take my memories? What right—"

His mother interrupted. "I did."

If they thought that would temper his anger, that he couldn't be angry with his mother, they badly miscalculated. "Of course it was you!" he exploded. "Who else could it be? Who else thinks that my mind is their plaything besides you and Lord Voldemort? Now getting rid of my inconvenient emotions wasn't good enough. Why even stop at memories? Why not just root around and pull things out until you actually fix me? Maybe you can even make me like women and not have to deal with a fucking fairy—"

"Don't speak to your mother that way," Lucius ordered him. She was bearing Draco's outburst stoically, but she had crossed her arms. "The Dark Lord—"

"Stop calling him that, you sycophant, there's no one here to impress." 

Lucius' eyes narrowed. "Voldemort left little option. You couldn't keep that. No one had any way of knowing you would be this fragile." 

He was trying to reason with Draco; that was the wrong tactic. There was no point trying use logic with him when he was in full attack mode — he wasn't interested in the truth or working anything out, he was just lashing out to hurt people as deeply as possible. Anything they said would just be turned into more ammunition for him to turn back on them. 

"What else did you take?" Draco demanded. "How much more?"

"Nothing," his mother said firmly.

"I don't believe you." He looked like he was realising this as he said it, and he backed away. "But I'll never know, will I?" The cuff on his wrist started flashing.

Theo stepped forward, arm out between them to try to steer him back. "Draco, you need to calm down," he started. He didn't get to go any further; Draco raised his hand and clenched it without even really looking at him, and then he had the disturbing sensation of his mouth being fused together, pressing his tongue flat as his teeth disappeared and he had no lips to open. He backed off, groping at it and fumbling for his wand. 

"You can't just do this to me!" Draco screamed at his parents. "Stay out of my mind! It's broken and it's shitty but it's mine and you don't get to touch it! I'm not an extension of you for you to pose like a doll and dress up like you like. If that's what you want, go have another kid, if you think between you you can scrape together enough emotion for another human being — maybe you can raise them right this time, and you can have what you always wanted, and leave me alone!"

And then he was gone, slamming the door behind him, with his magic instead of his hands. The silence felt deafening. Draco was a storm, at times, sweeping through, overwhelming, irresistible, leaving destruction in his wake when he moved on. It was awesome to behold, but being caught in it left you miserable and disoriented. Theo was relieved to have only been hit by the edge of the blast directed at his parents. That was exhausting enough.

Theo finally ended Draco's curse on him in the calm after he'd left, watching the door, and thoughtfully put his wand away. 

"A while ago, I actually suggested modifying his memory to get rid of his dreams," he said. "To make it easier. He made a pretty convincing argument that it would drive him mad if he knew he couldn't trust his mind."

His parents didn't respond. His mother turned her back to the door and stared into the fire. It was quiet for a minute.

"The solution seems pretty clear," the portrait noted. "Have the old memory removed, and the memory of this. Perhaps try to do it better this time." 

"Not helpful," Lucius said, tone annoyed. The portrait sniffed. 

In another minute, Theo silently left the room to see if he could find him.

—

It took Theo some time to find Draco, because the last place he would have expected to find him was the drawing room, the scene of whatever false memory had been haunting his dreams. He only found him there when he had come to the conclusion that Draco had left and was on his way to follow him.

"Draco." He couldn't help the tinge of relief in his voice. Draco hadn't even taken his favourite chair, he was just sitting in the middle of a sofa with his elbows resting on his knees. 

He came to put his hand on Draco's shoulder, but Draco reached up to knock his hand away before he could touch him. "I'm fine," Draco said, and spread his hands to show how he wasn't crying, or sick, or caught deep down in his thoughts, or exploding with rage. "You can go report to your masters that I'm not tearing down the house around their ears." 

"I didn't come for them." He sat down beside him, but didn't touch. "I work for you, remember?"

"Sure." He clasped his hands between his knees again. 

Theo studied the firelight flickering over his distant expression. "Are you actually okay?"

"If I say 'no', what are you going to do? Cheering Charm to make me be happy? Numbing Hex so I don't care? Sleeping Charm so I'll sleep it off? Obliviate away the memory of tonight?" 

"Just talking," Theo said patiently. 

Draco looked distantly into the fire. "Now I know my mother has done every one of those things, and probably more that she didn't think I needed to be aware of."

"Cheering Charm? That doesn't really sound like her." 

"I was a happy kid, but not always. I guess when I was little that was the easiest way to deal with it when I got sulky." He gripped his hands tighter. "But at least that was temporary. This is an irreversible change."

He kneaded his hands together, hard, absently pressing his thumb along the bones of his hand like he was going to force them out. 

"I can't trust them ever again," he said distantly. "Even if I want to, I can't. How could I?"

"They were helping. You might not like what they did, but you know why they did it." 

"That's right," Draco said acidly. "I guess that proves I can trust them, all of you, to do one thing: whatever you think is best, whether that means you're doing something for me or about me or to me. And what I want doesn't matter." 

"Why are you including me in that? Are you saying you can't trust me, either?"

"Don't pretend like you weren't going to do what he said."

"Seeing this…" He searched Draco's drawn face. "Yeah, I'd have thought about it, at least. Is it doing you any good to remember? Because it looks like it's just hurting you." 

"It's not remembering that's hurting me. I think I could have dealt with that memory… It's so far beyond awful, I want to be sick, but I think I could have handled it, eventually. Especially knowing it wasn't real." He bowed his head over his knees and gripped the back of it with both hands. "It's… Now, every dream I have, I have to wonder, is that another torture memory he forced into my head? Or even something that really happened that they tried to erase? Every memory I can't get out of my head, I have to wonder if it happened, or did he put it there? How much of what I know is real? Everything that happened… is that really how it went? After what I think is the end, is there more I was made to forget? Did I do things I don't know, that were erased 'for my own good'?"

Theo could see how Draco's quick mind was working against him. The moment he was introduced to the first problem, that his dream was a memory, his mind immediately jumped ahead to find the second and third layers of the problem without pausing to process any of it. He didn't have time to come to terms with one thing at a time; it all piled on him at once. 

"Has this started coming back before?" Draco wondered blankly toward his knees. "And they got me Obliviated before I could remember completely? …Have I learned this before and they had that memory erased, too?" 

"I really don't think so."

"But that's the point, isn't it? You don't actually know. And neither do I. I never can. For the rest of my life, I'll never know…" 

Theo set his hand on Draco's back, and Draco let him this time. He rubbed his back slowly, but Draco wasn't tense; he was loose, defeated, almost limp. 

"I don't know what to do," Draco admitted quietly. 

"I think the first thing is really just to sleep. This might seem less overwhelming if you get some decent rest, and you can think about it better in the morning." If he'd just gone to sleep when he'd said he was going to, he wouldn't have noticed Theo coming downstairs, he wouldn't have followed, he wouldn't have heard any of this… He wouldn't be having to deal with this. If only he'd done that, if only Theo had checked that he'd done it, this could all have been avoided.

Draco didn't answer for a moment. "Not here," he finally said, dully. "Everything here is memories. I'll go back to my office." 

"Or to my house."

Draco thought about it, then nodded. Theo felt a tiny knot in his chest unclench; what that meant was that, no matter what he said, Draco did still trust him. 

"Can I come with you?"

"Do whatever you want… it's not like I could stop you." 

"Tell  me 'no' and I won't," he said patiently. 

"You don't get how that's not the same." Draco pushed himself to his feet. "Yes. You can come."

"All right. Go ahead, I have to get something." 

"Tell my parents, you mean?" Draco said. "Don't bother." He pointed over and up the wall without looking, and only then did Theo see the Elizabethan portrait sharing a frame with a witch on a horse. 

"No, I really do have to get my stuff, but I'll be right behind you."

Draco nodded without answering and through floo powder into the fire to take him to Theo's house. 

Theo sat back with a sigh, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. "I'll try to bring him back tomorrow," he said in a minute to the portrait, since now he didn't have to actually find Draco's parents now. "If he's not okay, I'll let you know." 

Then he went upstairs to get his books and join Draco.

[evilaccountant]

Ed Nashton headcanons first

1. What is the character’s go-to drink order? Coffee. Usually black. It's too expensive to buy in cafes and he doesn't like being around people so he makes his own at home. It's cheap, instant coffee and it tastes awful. He doesn't really drink, he had too many bad experiences as a kid, but if push comes to shove he always has the shittiest vodka in his flat.

2. What is their grooming routine? He does the bare minimum to stay presentable but he loves hot showers and will spend as long as possible standing under the water. He uses plain soap and shampoo. He smells fresh but boring, he likes cotton scents as it gets rid of the damp smell of the orphanage and later his flat. He wears pretty simple deodorant and owns a cologne he doesn't use that he won in a work raffle. When he was a kid he'd never get haircuts and ended up with long, shaggy hair. He hates how his hair feels against his face so he now keeps it a tidier length. He hates going to the hair dressers though as the noise is a lot, he doesn't like strangers touching him and if they try to put mousse or gel in his hair he'll freak out.

3. What was their most expensive purchase/where does their disposable income go? His car. Only £1500 as it was third hand but reliable. It gets him where he needs to go and is pretty economical. Ed often wishes he was better at mechanics so he could fix it himself more. He likes to drive around aimlessly when he feels stuck. It's pretty beat up red 3 door but it does the job.

4. Do they have any scars or tattoos? He doesn't have any tattoos (too frivolous) but he has quite a few scars. He has self harm scars on his arms from when his intrusive thoughts get too much. He has a small scar on the back of his head under his hair from being pushed over as a kid. He was belted by the orphanage enough times that he has a few thin lines across his back.

5. What was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances? Years ago, maybe when he was 13-15 years old. He was in the orphanage, no one would foster him because he was weird (read autistic and traumatised). One day he got pushed over and just snapped, hitting his bully back, clawing him, biting him and whaling on him until he stopped moving. He was immediately brought before the nuns and belted hard enough to bleed. Half way through the beating he stopped crying and begging and just took it in silence. Since then he has bottled everything up.

6. Describe the shoes they’re wearing. Army surplus boots. Worn to bits with multiple fixes. He likes how comfortable and practical they are but they're also just the best quality boots he can afford. He also has tidier work shoes, plain tan leather brogues, they're scuffed but functional and he only wears them in the office to keep them in a decent condition.

7. Describe the place where they sleep. Looking at the behind the scenes pics of his gross ass apartment, he sleeps in a single bed, surrounded by piles of documents, newspapers and cages of rats. His room is organised in a way that only makes sense to him. Theories and plans line the walls and it's started to look more like a rats nest than a flat. Despite its disgusting appearance it's still clean. He treats the rats well, their scuttling helps him sleep. The kitchenette is scrubbed regularly. He can deal with untidiness but absolutely no dirt as it sets him off.

8. What is their favorite holiday? His favourite is probably Labour Day, if only because it gives him time off and he likes the idea of unions and rioting. His least favourite is christmas by a mile. He can't stand the consumerism, the waste, the veil of cheerfulness, the faux happy families. Especially not the way Gotham city council spends millions on gaudy Christmas lights and parades whilst people starve in the streets. It's all a sham to him.

9. What objects do they always carry around with them? He usually carries a backpack filled with stuff because it makes him feel more prepared. In his pockets he keeps his keys and phone (he's turned off all location based services and has a vpn). In the backpack is a multi tool, documents from work, duct tape, his rubix cube, an inhaler, a comb, his notebook and a biro, 2 expired medications, tissues, his Polaroid camera, binoculars and a mini sudoku book.

[eievuimultimuse]

👻 and 🦵 for Baxter stockman?

MISCELLANEOUS SYMBOL HEADCANONS.

👻 - How does your muse handle feeling scared ? Do they enjoy horror ? Do they believe in the paranormal ? What calms your muse down ? Do they have any scary stories ?

i'll certainly preface by stating that i'm sure baxter fits the stereotypical 'scientist doesn't believe in the paranormal' image lol. i imagine he's always been the skeptic when it comes to ghost stories, always the first to be like 'that doesn't make sense,' etc. he just never personally understood them, that's all ! as for whether he enjoys horror...it's hard to say. i feel like he'd be pretty indifferent ? i mean, no offense to his kids, but like...let's be perfectly honest, is there anything that fictional horror could present that outweighs the sort of work he's doing gKJGHK LIKE....he'd be pretty unbothered by it i think. or slightly annoyed, depending on what it is ( i'm sure he'd have minor complaints about anything featuring a mad scientist, mostly pertaining to its accuracy ).

as for how he handles feeling scared...well, i do believe that when it comes to FIGHT, FLIGHT or FREEZE, he probably chooses FLIGHT everytime. that isn't to say he's cowardly — that'd be a complete discredit to his actions ( seriously, how brave do you need to be to steal from your own company ? so as to keep your creations from being turned into weapons ? ). it's just that the sorts of things that scare him — which are often very scary and legitimately dangerous — usually, the best, smartest response for a guy like him IS to run. i'm not sure if there is a whole lot that can calm him down in such situations; i think the anxiety of such situations leaves him with the resting heartrate of a hummingbird quite frankly ( /j ). i think the only thing that can calm him in such scnearios is the sheer belief that what he's doing will be worth it in the end.

🦵 - Does your muse have any physical ailments ? How do they live with them ?

well !! there is the fact that he appears to have some form of brachydactyly where his middle finger on his right hand is especially shortened ( i believe it might be type C ? pardon me, i'm definitely no expert so feel completely free to correct me ). i would think that this might make grabbing things a little awkward at times, but it otherwise doesn't impact his daily functioning ( as for how it impacts him socially...well, i'm sure he wasn't treated particularly kindly about it. i'd daresay other people have made him feel self-conscious about it before ). the only other things i could imagine that would be up with him physically are things that are probably typical for an aging man who undoubtedly works himself too hard and stands up for too long and hunches over too much, etc. sore back, poor knees, probably the occasional bit of wrist pain when he's writing for longer than he should. i doubt he's particularly great at taking care of these things while he's still actively working, although i think in the scenario where he raises his kids, he probably does take care of it a little better. makes it a point to wear braces, at least takes ibuprofen, that sorta thing.

OH ig while i'm here i might as well touch upon some verse specific stuff as well: living AU baxter does have a burn scar on the right side of his face. as a result, he's a little more sensitive on that spot and certainly needs to be careful with it. he takes care of it to the best of his abilities, especially when he first receives it, though living in hiding in a shipyard makes it difficult at times.

'07 baxter also has some scarring on his face but while visible, it's significantly less severe in comparison. he does, however, have the additional ailment of having poor eyesight in one eye ( well, extra poor; can't neglect the fact that he wears glasses for a reason ). he can still see out of...kind of, but he's partially blind in it. it takes a lot of getting used to when it first happens, but eventually, it affects him about as minimally as it could due to getting used to working around it. that being said, he does ask that people try not to sneak up on him from that side

[beetroot-merchant]

a couple of prod's siblings and their creator! blease click the images to actually. See Them

Lore(TM) is under the cut! long post

So first off, if you haven't already read Prod's lore I suggest you do that first since I talk about Aeolian (referred to as "the programmer")'s motivations & what the purpose of these sticks are over there, I'm not sure if this'll make much sense otherwise :p

[also rq since i dont remember mentioning it in the original post - prod is a year old, created only a month or two after dea]

Aeolian_84

"It's not an axolotl tail, it's an eel goddamnit!"

The programmer and owner of the computer everyone else originated in. "Aeolian_84", if it wasn't already obvious, is an online handle- he's never disclosed his real name. He's in his mid-thirties, human, if you couldn't tell, and is currently studying artificial intelligence and how "human" it can become. He personally doesn't believe AI could ever achieve sentience, and regularly taunts his sticks about how he's more alive than they'll ever be; whether or not he's right is up for debate.

Aside from his work in AI, he's very into in philosophy- and although his knowledge in the area is impressive, he's also a pompous prick about it. Generally arrogant and stubborn- until he's faced with something that takes actual effort to fix, then he's a master of coming up with excuses.

Quite lazy when it comes to names, just calls the files whatever the latin word for the paradox is. Addresses his sticks, if at all, by their full .exe name, regardless of whatever nickname the sticks come up with- and they do come up with nicknames a lot, since usually the latin words sound stupidly pretentious or are hard to pronounce, and also as a symbolic bit of retaliation.

As for the many ways his stick figures have tried to rebel over the years, he doesn't usually try to stop them unless their methods actively slow down or halt his experiments, or take up more system resources than he's willing to give up. He's described their attempts as "cute; inspiring, even".

dea.exe

Preferred name: Dea

Full name meaning: Goddess

Age: 1

Paradox: Omnipotence paradox

Result: Capable of creating inherently impossible objects, however, they cannot be observed and appear not to exist to anyone except him.

Despite their appearance and significant power, Dea is quite gentle and caring towards almost everyone. Always willing to listen and comfort and somehow almost always knows exactly what to say. A master of both de-escalating and escalating situations depending on their motives. Their face can be a bit scary to strangers, but he plastered it onto himself willingly, simply a sign of rebellion against Aeolian and the role of an angelic, pure being he forced onto her. Although the area around the black mark is generally more sensitive to touch and gets hurt/infected easier, Dea maintains that she has no regrets.

Dea is the only stick Aeolian has ever made with actual powers (they're titled "reality manipulation" in the files but really, that could mean anything) but they're usually blocked by a secondary program the animator made specifically for them. Every now and then, Aeolian will come up with a new task or experiment for them to carry out; usually they'll barter a little, Dea only agreeing if he allows for something else (whether it be longer rest time for Prod or access to a certain site, since the ones the sticks can access are whitelisted), however they both know not to go too far - Aeolian because he knows she might outright refuse to do anything for the next couple weeks, and Dea because they know he might do something to hurt the other sticks.

Otiosus.exe

Preferred name: Otio

Full name meaning: Quiet, submissive, obedient

Age: 3

Paradox: Barber paradox [scept. sticks don't have hair, so its holding their wrist and leaving a little band of light teal paint on it. which although feels different, its functionally the same - a procedure that the majority of the population can't perform on themselves]

Result: Changes depending on the way its coded.

The most passive stick figure when it comes to their programmer. Since his time as a paradox was quite easy except for the occasional hostile response, and none of its code actually causes him any harm, most of the hate that does exist stems from how much he's hurt the others; namely Fluvi, since they've been close friends ever since he banded them - probably because she was one of the few non-NPCs he interacted with before the creation of the others. He's also one of the few older ones along with Fluvi lucky enough to be deemed "interesting" enough to be kept alive, rather than being trashed or wiped like most of their older friends.

He's been known to be overprotective of his friends- likely the most notable incident was when he made Fluvi stay behind during Prod's escape, much to her indignation. It says it was just worried that exe may have been given better odds at pulling it off than the average stick, since they hadn't seen exes code at the time; which although even Fluvi accepts is fair, she still brings it up from time to time as something of an inside joke. They both still say they have no regrets.

Fluvidus.exe

Preferred name: Fluvi

Full name meaning: Inconsistent, fluid, changing

Age: 5

Paradox: Liar paradox/Pinocchio paradox [However instead of Pinocchio's nose growing, it's a color shift between pink and black]

Result: Flashes between colors at a speed determined by the computer's processing power

One of the first stick figures Aeolian ever created, and the most outwardly against him. Because of how inexperienced he was at the time of her creation, they continued to flip randomly between pink and black in different chunks of their body even after the code was removed - and still glitches out regularly. Aeolian is, of course, fully capable of fixing it now that he's more experienced, but refuses to on the basis that she's old and irrelevant, and that he would rather spend time tinkering with something newer.

He's aware of the simplicity of her paradox and how easily it can be solved, even without a computer; this combined with how much Aeolian neglects her often drags her down a spiral of self doubt, believing her existence to be meaningless. This used to be his main philosophy before Otio's creation and their eventual friendship - but despite the bond between it and everyone else, she still spirals sometimes.

[everysongineverykey]

okay! time for a blind wd gaster headcanon masterpost! SO!

-most skeleton monsters have functional eyelights that allow them to see, but gaster was born (or yknow. the skeleton equivalent of "born") with nonfunctional ones that don't perceive even light

-they're invisible (or "off") most of the time, and only ever appear briefly when he's shocked or greatly surprised. they flicker on and off for a second, but they usually turn back off pretty quickly.

-this is why his eyelights only come on in the mystery man room when frisk goes right up to him and touches him- he didn't hear them come in, and their sudden gentle inquisitive pull on his robe is quite a shock.

-gaster, being a genius, could absolutely invest in or just build some bionic eyelights for himself, but he doesn't bother- never really has the time, and besides, he doesn't really care. he technically doesn't need to wear safety goggles in his lab (he's the only one who doesn't, obviously) but he often does anyway around new recruits, just to set an example.

-he created sans and papyrus through vague fantasy science stuff. they both have functioning eyelights, but papyrus' still aren't visible due to his genetics- he and sans are technically gaster's clones, but they're his sons in every way that matters!

-he has the ability to summon extra hands- as many as he likes. this gives him a much easier time feeling his way around the world. this ability of his is much stronger than it probably would be if he were sighted, since he's had to hone it for his entire life. the holes in his hands are also simply a genetic peculiarity, with him since birth. for as long as he can remember, he has almost never walked into a wall or anything like that.

-his sense of hearing is, of course, extremely adept, even though he doesn't have ears. he can tell who's approaching him by the sound of their footsteps. it also helps that his friends all wear different types of shoes (sans- soft quiet slippers, papyrus- probably mostly tennis shoes at that age, asgore- barefoot, etc)! he knows sans by his slow, soft pattering, papyrus by his scurrying from place to place (plus usually his voice and the small skeleton crashing into gaster with a hug), his young lab assistant alphys by the swishing of her tail on the floor, and asgore by the distinctive clicking of a trident on the ground in time with his steps.

-if he wants to read something, he has a few options- he either asks someone else (often his kids) to read it out loud for him, or he inputs the words into a computer and uses a screen-reader. or, of course, if it's in the monster version of braille, he just reads it. i think human braille texts often find their way into the underground through waterfall, but naturally they're indecipherable to blind monsters, since they were developed by humans using a separate system. all the same, he has spent some time studying their version, to understand the species better. of course, he has more than a few comical misunderstandings about the human race.

-his writing and speaking in wingdings is a result of his frustration with most sighted monsters not being able to read monster braille, leading to him just. making up his own font. he doesn't know what sighted monsters' writing looks like, so he's got basically no blueprint for it, but wingdings make perfect sense to him and everyone close to him (naturally his employees and partners make sure to take a crash course in it before they come on board).

-drawing out schematics and blueprints can be a long process, but he manages. his extra hand ability makes it easier- he can summon a million hands, join them together in a shape, and get an idea of the form based on how all the hands feel (they become real, feeling parts of him for the time they exist). he is assisted by his coworkers, who help him draw and write everything out. it's good that they have a hand in the creation process, because the blueprints are written almost entirely by him in wingdings, so they'd take a while to decipher for a stranger!

-he probably worried a bit about how complicated his job would be with his disability at the beginning of his career, but his passion for science was not to be underestimated, and while he existed, he was known as the underground's greatest mind.

-w.d. gaster may have neglected to add railings to the core (because he's a dumbass), but he knows his way around. due to his blindness, many are inclined to believe he simply stepped in the wrong place one day and fell into the core by accident. no one's fault. this is what they will tell you. it is not true.

-did someone push him? did the platform break? did he jump? who can say anymore? at any rate, he's no longer around.

-the void is dark. that's nothing new in itself. darkness, after all, is all he has ever "seen". but this is a new kind of darkness- not the familiar, friendly kind full of sounds and sensations that he is used to.

-no, this darkness is thick, and empty, and silent as the grave. it smothers his every sound and he can no longer hear himself think. there is nothing, pure nothing, and it is terrifying. dark, darker, yet darker grow his prospects.

-and yet. perhaps a new hope can be found- a new player in this twisted game- a higher being, with knowledge even he could never hope to have. their internet communication hub will translate his wingdings just fine. here, then, is the man you have been looking for all this time.

-deltarune is an experiment. the goal, you ask? you will know in due time. the doctor does not need sight to know his new world glows brightly from your hope. but be warned before you join him in his new game- in this land, only eyes blinded by darkness like his can see the way.