#promise i haven't forgotten about you

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

How are you doing?

Your last post said you were really stressed for the move so I just wanted to make sure you haven't exploded-

Hello!!!

I have not exploded as of yet!!

I'm due to move in from the 30th, so only a couple weeks to go, and I'm so bloody excited!!!!!!! It'll be a lot of stress, as I haven't been able to take any time off work, but I have Thursdays and Sundays off and my partner has Saturdays and Sundays off. It might take us a couple weeks to fully settle, but I'm not under any pressure to leave ASAP and my partner's current lease doesn't end until June 31st, so we've got time.

I'm trying to get back into writing but I just have no motivation anymore😭 hopefully it'll come back eventually lol

[tastesoftamriel]

Hello! Just wanted to let you all know that I can see the inbox filling up with stuff re: the website. I see you and will respond very soon! I have a huge backlog of stuff to do for my PhD so I'll attend to things here in a couple of weeks (I have an important meeting coming up so I'm studying).

Anyway I have been bedridden with some horrible flu/covid/whatever god I've pissed off. Nonetheless I went out to a goth night yesterday and I think I'm getting old, my knees hurt from dancing in New Rocks. Hi the person behind Talviel is actually a goth. Pic for attention:

[lady-harrowhark]

Hello! I saw you mention that Pyrrha remembers pre-resurrection, and I totally missed that!! Do you have any theories as to why?

I have a few thoughts!

Just for context - because I didn't catch that on my first read either until I started going back through! - there are a few instances that seem to suggest Pyrrha remembers at least some of her life pre-Resurrection. Off the top of my head, I know there's one point where she refers to G1deon as G--, just like John does. Nona also says that Pyrrha calls her "Hairy Maclary", which is referring to a series of children's books by a New Zealand author. Here's a link to a picture and some info about Hairy Maclary... I can definitely understand why Pyrrha would call Nona that lol. This one's super interesting to me in that it's such a fantastic example of the way Tamsyn uses memes and references so skillfully! In the previous books, most of the references are fairly organic in that they're things that could conceivably be, you know, just things the characters say; the readers catch it (if they also know the reference! otherwise they're fairly unobtrusive) but the characters themselves aren't intentionally making a reference. This would be the things like "You can't just ask someone why they want to be a Lyctor" and "a hunger that only thumbs could satisfy," etc. The exception, though, is John. The "none Houses with left grief" particularly is SO fun from an exposition perspective (but if I start on that one I'll never stop), and then of course we have Commander Wake Me Up Inside. The implication here being that John remembers these specific things and is intentionally making those references within the context of the story. Pulling that same expository trick with Pyrrha sets them up as both remembering... at least to some degree. The hints that we get from Pyrrha are such that it's pretty unclear to what extent she remembers, leaving a lot of room for juicy speculation :)

I initially touched on it over on this post where I rambled about names, memory, and the Eightfold Word, but I'm copying over the Pyrrha-specific paragraph so that you don't have to dig for it:

When assisting with Harrow’s lobotomy, Ianthe tells her, “If you push your brain too hard, any surgery could simply heal over.” And in NtN, Pyrrha tells Palamedes, “You should be draining and replacing her fucking brain fluid... When Gideon and I designed that trial, I used to crack his skull and sieve it myself, just as a control variable... The only other people I put through that damn trial were Mercy and Cris, because only Cris didn’t mind being trepanned on the regular.” I don’t know exactly where the threshold is for pushing one’s brain too hard, but I suspect frequently draining and replacing one’s brain fluid is in that ballpark. Which is to say, it’s very possible that Mercy and Pyrrha (and potentially others) could have healed over from anything John had done to their brains.

Also, I don't know why this didn't occur to me as I was writing up that other post, but when Pyrrha's telling Palamedes about how dangerous their uhhhhh living arrangements are, and how they're risking brain damage... Pyrrha and G1deon were operating under somewhat similar circumstances for thousands of years. Cumulatively, it's possible that G1deon's brain was racking up damage that eventually eroded away whatever John had done. Another thought is that maybe the fact that G1deon died and Pyrrha didn't is at play here.

It could very well be less dramatic than that, though. We don't know much about how Lyctorhood impacts the brain, although to be completely fair, we also can't say for certain how a typical human brain would function after ten thousand years of runtime either. Our brains are constantly wiring new neural pathways and rewiring and revising old ones. After thousands of years, might we be reaching a Ship of Theseus situation with regard to the neural circuitry impacting pre-Res memories? Which is a fancy way of saying, "Maybe it wore off."

It could be all of the above, too. Assuming that Lyctor brains retain plasticity like we see in typical human brains (and I'm not letting myself think too hard on implications either way, because in sci-fi/fantasy make-believe land, neuroscience can be whatever you want it to be), we'd probably see that effect happening with the other Lyctors at roughly the same rate, but at least as far as we can tell (and that wording is intentional because I'm not taking anything off the table with this series), the others don't seem to remember. So that might be contributing, but not sufficient on its own. BUT perhaps ten thousand years of rewiring PLUS ten thousand years of cohabitation PLUS however long of being "trepanned on the regular" PLUS G1deon dying might override John's meddling.

We've still got so many open questions here regardless of what the specific mechanisms are. Like, I'd love to know when Pyrrha started to remember exactly. And did G1deon remember anything, then? It seems like he was Straight Up Not Having a Good Time so if he did remember, he might not have been relying on those memories much. Whatever's going on, I'm sure it's just as bonkers as the rest of the series!

[froggydraws]

the girlies!!! they're here!!!

[magnifiico]

if anyone is waiting for anything from me (be it an ooc response in IMs or some sort of beginning to an interaction), please know i'm not ignoring you or not disinterested! (ꈍ ‸ ꈍ✿)

i was sick all week last week and now we're diving headfirst into the holidays, so i've been a bit scatterbrained with remembering to reply to things — i guarantee it's me, not you ♡

ty for your patience; i'm stoked to explore dynamics together!

[iclimbtreestofeelalive]

IF YOU LIVE IN TENNESSEE-- PLEASE LOOK HERE

this bill is currently advancing. it's going to come up again on 1/23/2024. don't be surprised-- be prepared. this is a nice silent bill that's slipping under the drag bill right now, but if it's passed, it's going to make it incredibly difficult for queer people (especially queer christians!) to get married in TN.

call your representative. you're a republican who has gay family and is disgusted at this bill. you're thinking of switching to the democratic party if this keeps up. they don't care what left-wing people vote as, so while you're on the phone, you're a republican and a christian. i'm not taking Any chances on this-- we can't say "this is too absurd to pass" anymore. stay safe, keep fighting. there are people who care about you across the country, you've not been abandoned. i Promise.

[crashing--waves]

This is probably dirty af 💀, but how would Cove feel about the doggystyle position? (Whether he was on top or bottom)

Your mind may be in the gutter but this is the exact type of ask I love to receive lmao, keep em comin if you have any more 👌🏽

As for Cove and doggy... I feel like he's more of a face-to-face kinda guy when he's fucking. He prefers to be able to kiss u, caress your face, watch your expressions for any subtle signs of ecstasy or discomfort. So if he's topping, he can only tolerate it for so long before it starts to feel weird and he has to flip MC back around to be close to em again!

Now, if he's bottoming, he's a lot more open to it, for a few reasons 👀 Not only is he putty in their hands and willing to do whatever they say/ask, but it's also probably a lot easier for him to handle. He can hide his face, which is obviously beet-red from getting him into this position in the first place, and he thinks he can muffle his moans in the pillows. But one can easily put a stop to this by pulling his hair or holding his hands behind his back til he agrees to be good 😌 If you wanna keep him like this tho you're gonna have to find some way to kiss him while you're at it; it's a non-negotiable part of lovemaking for this man, and he'll get sub-drop n probably cry if he doesn't receive them. He doesn't mind twisting his neck a little to make it work, just keep ur lips on his <3

[rocknrollinbitchforu]

one thing about me is I have to have an exact recipe for my support system to function as a human person

I have to have my local best friend, my best friend who lives in a different state whom I met in person, my next closest local friend, my next closest friend who lives in another state whom I met in person, a smattering of close friends who u know won't judge me (no more than five at any given time), and my mommy

[thychesters]

#wipwednesday! i’m going to challenge myself to keep up with these again since it used to keep me pretty on track. this time we have a fic that’s starting out in the east blue and going to branch across the series into the time skip, so i have my work cut out for me. ew. but also, cool.

anyway, luffy looked at zoro went yep, he will do. and then took a minute to figure out what else that could imply. zoro is banking on some solid naps and oblivious. (haha unless ... ? [oblivious.]) // text under the cut:

He’s still working out how to communicate to him that he can initiate physical contact too. Something that isn’t fishing him out of the water or in the middle of battle.

Right now he rests with his arms behind his head, and Luffy stares at him from where he has his head pillowed on his lap, clouds slipping by above while his gaze burns a hole into Zoro’s elbow. He can feel the ghost of it along his stomach, the phantom sensation of a hand at his hip the more he thinks about it. No longer content to simply lie there, he almost gives in to the urge to grab Zoro’s arm and wrap it around him himself when he cracks an eye open.

Luffy freezes under it, tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth as he doesn’t even dare breathe for fear something dumb might slip out.

“You good, Luff?”

Too many options flit through his mind right that second, most of those unintelligible and screaming, and it’s all Luffy can do to nod his head.

That eye remains fixed on him for a moment longer, like he can see exactly what he’s thinking, and his stomach continues to burn. Zoro’s arm shifts and for a brief, fleeting second, he thinks yes and it’s immediately dashed to pieces when he just uses it to cover up a yawn.

“You’re too quiet,” he says, hand coming to rest on the deck beside him. If Luffy scooted his hips just an inch or so he might touch his thumb. “Something on your mind?”

He almost laughs because. Well. Where does he even begin. Every point of contact should be warm but he feels goosebumps raising against his flesh. Zoro’s looking down at him and if he’s not careful Luffy’s going to betray everything, because he’s a shit liar and always has been.

He thinks he’d like for Zoro to just touch him – sling an arm around his waist, ruffle his hair or rest a hand on his arm. He also thinks he’d like to clamber back up and straddle Zoro, knees on either side of him, let his hands skitter up his sides and then wrench his head back to get a full view of the column of his throat, but he can’t exactly just say that.

“I’m bored,” he says instead.

[fleetsonourgecentral]

Imagine If Fleetway Super Sonic and Sonic were actually very friendly with each other.

Now imagine Scourge getting jealous or be shocked by it

I think Scourge would be too busy being shocked to be jealous by it lmao. I headcanon he's surprisingly not as jealous a person as people expect him to be, and even if he was, he'd be too busy going "who are you and what have you done with my Sonic" to be jealous. In an extreme case, where the change of heart seemed to be sudden, he'd be worried about mind fuckery going on, maybe concerned Super or someone else has some mind altering power or device that's fucked with Sonic's head to make him be friendly with Super

Fortunately for Scourge, it's doubtful that will happen (unless someone really did pull some mind fuckery on Sonic, which would be a pretty cool storyline ngl) because I don't think Sonic will ever be friendly with Super - or at least it would take a very long time and a lot of work (and maybe some forced proximity). I think Sonic is still hung up on that one time he thought he - as Super - murdered his friends, and doesn't really believe Super can ever be truly good also his whole issue with Kintobor/Robotnik. He probably thinks there's no justice in Super getting a happy ending and being good despite being made out of chaos energy when Kintobor couldn't. Maybe that would calm down after Kintobor's return but who knows. He's not against second chances, but I don't think he'd be particularly willing to give one to Super, partly because he sees Super as more a manifestation of chaos energy and the evil within it than a person. As for Super, I think he's (understandably) nervous about being around Sonic. His ire would be hurtful, considering Super is trying so hard to be good and Sonic just will not believe it. Sonic's fear of Super undermine's Super's efforts to be a good person, and Super is worried, deep down, that Sonic is right. He was right before, after all

I think the relationship between them could certainly improve, albeit most likely with outside influences - Sonic could certainly stand to learn Super is a person and not just an evil manifestation of chaos energy that wants to destroy everything he loves, and therefore see him as a person who is not only capable of being good, but who wants to be good - but it's very difficult to envision them as ever being friendly with each other. The tension between them can be minimised, but it would be incredibly difficult to eradicate it enough to be friendly. I actually got a comment on one of my previous fics, that described them as "working towards chill civility" which I think sums it up perfectly! They can absolutely learn to co-exist in chill civility, accepting one another's presence in the world, but just... preferring the presence to be at a distance as much as possible. Anything more than that would take a lot more effort than I imagine either of them are willing to give lol

[radjerda]

Please accept an old drawing (nearing a year ago, wow) of one of the Brigmore Witches because I was thinking about Dishonored again (and also because I was going through my art folders to stall on making something new)

[cattyanon]

I had a thought earlier and uh. There's extremely untapped comedy potential in the AUs where Mecha Sonic succeeds in the body swap cuz there's no way he won't immediately fuck up being in an organtic body.

He's been a robot his entire existence and you think he's just going to be able to use Sonic's body with no issue? Especially with that leg injury? Absolutely not.

Mecha Sonic is gonna experience pain for the first time when he moves the injured leg followed by trying, and repeatedly failing, to sit up. And when he does eventually sit up? He's gonna go to stand and end up on the floor while flat on his face experiencing even more pain.

I am having so many thoughts right now, you guys are in for it now.

[andiwriteordie]

some of you (*cough* @booksandpaperss ) sent me ficlet prompts that are too damn good and now here i am. ficlets basically turning into fics. woopsie.

[aceghosts]

Last Line Game

Tagged by: @purplehairsecretlair, @harmonyowl, @derelictheretic, @direwombat, @marivenah, @natesofrellis, @socially-awkward-skeleton, and @spookyvalentine.

Here's the last line I've written:

Wesker smirks as he pulls away, guiding them towards the helicopter. “That’s my Hunter.”

So, I'm supposed to tag as many people as there are words. Sending tags to @sstewyhosseini, @thomrainer, @hoesephseed, @bluemojave, @allthearchetypes, @whateverthefuckyouwantiguess, @chocobothis, @commander-krios, @poeti-kat, @beautiful-delirium, @confidentandgood, @clicheantagonist, @roofgeese, @nonfunctioning-queer, and uh anyone else who wants to do this. (Also, this is all in good fun, so no pressure to do this.)

[theghostbunnie]

ur art makes me wanna throw up every where out of happiness i love it so much

💗💗💗❗❗❗❗❗❗

THANK YOUUUYUU !!!

[satari-raine]

lamplight pleaseeee 🥺

Rules for the WIP Wednesday Game here!

The fire crackles within the space of the cavern, Bisco placing a rhythm to the snaps of firewood burning blue flame while Milo snores softly beside him. With every snap and crack comes a flash of guilt, mimicking the ring of bone snapping clean, leaving Bisco mindless as he takes Milo's hand, fingers worn and rough taking to brushing light strokes against a pale wrist. He listens as Milo sleeps, fitful but mostly settled, tucked into the crook of Bisco's arm, Bisco's cheek against a soft crown of hair.