#surely i can't be the Singular One Person In the World who is at least slightly reminded of chara's post-geno dialogue with that line

[juneboat]

the fact that save files in deltarune are quite possibly even more diagetic than they were in undertale fills me with fear and dread like no other

[elspethdekarios]

Gale as an archmage

I've been thinking about this for a while. If you select Gale as an origin character in the character creator and play his intro, he introduces himself as Gale of Waterdeep™ he immediately follows with "please - no need to be intimidated."

Now I think we initially brush this statement off as Gale being full of himself, but the first time you talk to him and ask him to tell you about himself, there's an option to say something like "Come on, you must have stories from your time as archmage."

And I've always wondered - how would tav know this? Gale hasn't mentioned it. Which leads me to my research question:

Is Gale famous?

Not Elminster-famous, of course, but is he THE archmage of Waterdeep, known throughout the Realms? Is Gale of Waterdeep a legitimate title, not just one he decided to use because it sounds important?

Maybe all of this is common knowledge in DnD lore, but it's a fairly new world to me. Here's what I found about archmages:

From the Forgotten Realms fandom wiki (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Archmage):

Archmages were among the most powerful arcane spellcasters found throughout all of Faerûn. These practitioners of the Art were experts at manipulating and altering their spells, often in strange ways. Many cities across Faerûn had a single archmage who dedicated themselves to serve that settlement and its people. Some notable cities included Lyrabar in Impiltur, and the great western metropolis of Waterdeep. The term "archmage" was often used to refer to spellcasters who took on leadership roles among similarly-inclined practitioners of The Art. In the drow city of Menzoberranzan, the head of the arcane academy known as Sorcere was granted the title, Archmage of Menzoberranzan.

So, to summarize, archmages are super powerful, big cities often have a singular, dedicated archmage, and they take on leadership roles in the city, sometimes (or at least once) being deemed THE archmage of the city.

I've already seen posts about the insane amount of power held by archmages, so I'm not really going to go into that. I'm just interested in how well-known Gale would be in the Realms. One issue I'm running into while researching is that many people seem to approach the archmage in terms of DnD stats (spell levels, player levels, etc) rather than from a storytelling perspective.

I can't find much else specifically on how widely known archmages would be. There is a list of archmages on the Forgotten Realms wiki, but Gale isn't included on it. I'm assuming maybe BG3 lore is considered an off-shoot of FR lore and therefore not necessarily canon? Let me know if I'm wrong about this.

So that leaves me with message board responses. Here are some notable ones:

An old candlekeep.com forum on the differences between the titles used by magic users. Several users seem to agree with this person.

From the same thread as above.

Interestingly, DnD beyond has archmage categorized as a monster. I'm not sure if this applies only to evil-aligned mages or not, so anyone with more familiarity, feel free to chime in. Anyway, here's what DnD beyond says:

"Archmages are powerful (and usually quite old) spellcasters dedicated to the study of the arcane arts. Benevolent ones counsel kings and queens, while evil ones rule as tyrants and pursue lichdom. Those who are neither good nor evil sequester themselves in remote towers to practice their magic without interruption. An archmage typically has one or more apprentice mages, and an archmage's abode has numerous magical wards and guardians to discourage interlopers."

Gale does mention having students/apprentices at some point (he says something about being impatient with them if I remember correctly, but I can't remember when he actually says it), and, if he's Professor Gale in the epilogue, you're told that an apprentice delivered the invite to the party.

I also find it interesting that archmages typically have wards around their home to keep out intruders, implying that they're well-known enough to have people regularly trying to break into their home?? Or at least has happened enough times to warrant protection.

I also appreciate this reddit comment on a thread asking about the rarity of archmages:

This lead me to a super interesting reddit post which I really suggest you check out if you're interested. The OP breaks down the percentages of each class and level and translates that to city populations. I'm bad at math so that may be a horrible explanation. Anyway, here's a chart that they made:

I have been trying my hardest to put the alt text on the images for accessibility but I have no idea how that would work with this chart. I did include the text at the bottom for screen readers just in case. I'm sorry!

Sooooo someone in the comments asked specifically about Waterdeep and here's what someone who is good at math figured out! (They are correcting a previous comment with incorrect math, hence the first part of the comment):

Since a wizard is considered an archmage at level 18, it's safe to say that Gale would definitely be one of only a few wizards in Waterdeep with such a title. And if the above commenter's assumption about the Blackstaff being one of the only archmages in the city, Gale being of a similar level is HUGE, right? The Blackstaff is a big deal. From the Forgotten Realms wiki:

Blackstaff was the title and name given to the master of the eponymous staff and Blackstaff Tower, including Blackstaff Academy, as well as the Archmage of Waterdeep.

So if the Blackstaff is THE Archmage of Waterdeep, Gale, obviously, is not. But!!! If we can trust the math of the reddit users above, and we assume Gale was at least a level 19 wizard pre-orb/tadpole/whatever ... he would be one of two archmages in Waterdeep, second only to the Blackstaff themself.

I personally think that's enough renown to be a somewhat familiar name throughout Faerûn. So yes, Gale is a bit arrogant and, in his own words, pompous about being Gale of Waterdeep™ but perhaps it's warranted.

This has been a deep dive fueled by procrastination about writing the research papers I should actually be writing right now. Thank you for your time

[comingdownwithme]

Can we see more of Jeff and Toby also is Ben and Ej I’m the comic of not what are your headcanons for them??

Jeff and Toby have always been my favs since I was a kid, so you'll definitely be seeing more of them!

As for the comic, the whole thing is more of snippets and peeks into my interpretation of Creepypasta instead of a solid, sequential storyline, so not a whole lot is concrete, and I won't be posting a whole, fleshed out comic since it's very time consuming. I'm definitely sure Ben and EJ would show up though, especially during Jeff's directionless wanderings

Anyways, Woe! Headcanons be upon ye!

Eyeless Jack

Jack Nyras is a man just trying to survive after he had been left disabled and transformed from putting his trust in the wrong people. Even as the demon contorts and shapes it's host as if it were trying to fit itself it's host's own flesh, Jack remains conscious, all too aware of what is happening to him and the dizzying, maddening hunger that drives him forward

He's gone from a 5'6"-ish guy to a whole 6 foot something of a man after the incident. The demon disfigured and stretched his body to "make itself at home", though it isn't too obvious with his shitty posture and what he wears

He used to go to medschool and was about to graduate as a Valedictorian.

He carries a roll of surgical knives in his hoodie pocket! (My best friend gave me this idea :)))

Burn scars over his eyes! Hot tar does that to you ig, and it harmed him enough to last despite his new form's accelerated regeneration

He's still sane enough to have morals (or at least, he believes he's sane enough), so though he isn't exactly picky, he prefers kidneys since his victims would usually survive with only one, and he strikes at night when his "patients" are sleeping

He's good friends with Jeff (even if neither would admit it, ESPECIALLY not Jeff). They first started out as seeing each other as nothing more than "easy body disposal" and "free meal provider", but each time they bump into each other, they've began to get along past their perceived usefulness

BEN drowned

An angry, vindictive spirit that's been freed from the confines of where he had been sealed. Even still, he can't remember his own face, so despite his newfound freedom, he had taken the form of the model he had been using during his digital imprisonment to manifest. He now wanders the world, vengeful and curious, yearning for a peace he might never get.

His face is stuck between 2 expressions: the calm, neutral look of the elegy of emptiness (which is his usual), or a more expressive- albeit heavily distorted face- during moments of heightened emotion like anger, sadness, etc. Nothing changes from his expression, not even his mouth moves.

The latter is also a reference to how fans usually drew Ben, along with just... .EXE characters in general-

His clothes are always soggy :(

He can manipulate and change his physical form, but the binary scarred into on his calf stays no matter what he does, whether that be changing forms entirely or removing the limb from his "model", in which case the binary moves elsewhere.

Ben is telepathic. He can choose who can understand him at any given moment, whether it be a group, a pair, or a singular person. Everyone else outside of the conversation could hear only gargling, wheezing and coughing.

Avoids areas where water is usually found in large amounts. I.e, lakes, rivers, bathrooms, etc.

[zahraaziza]

a call to action for everyone who is passionate about palestine:

i have no idea who this message is going to reach, but for the little time i am on this platform, i will amplify the importance of partaking in raising awareness for the palestinian cause.

since i haven't been on here for a long time, i was honestly shocked to return to a ton of informative posts, reblogged in high numbers by my mutuals, on what is happening in palestine.

this current movement on social media, the fact that people across generations are, slowly but surely, waking up to the 76 years of torment, land theft, occupation and genocide the palestinian people are subjected to, has never happened before.

it was about damn time.

everyone, let it be a die heart zionist, a willingly ignorant person or the "people" that are in charge and have all the buttons below their fingertips that could get them to put an end to all of this-

they are never ever going to stop at making you feel insignificant. they are going to downplay your efforts as an activist. they are going to make you question your integrity. they are going to bring up seemingly unrelated issues, in a deplorable effort to make you feel like the "load" that we, as activists and people that are trying to raise awareness about palestine, carry is too much of a burden, to keep going.

they'll tell you things like:

"what is my contribution going to change? we're all doomed to die anyways with how things are going"

"what could a singular dollar/ euro, that i spend, possibly do to support israel? i don't wanna miss out on (xyz item)"

"well if you're so adamant about saving the world, then why don't you go to gaza yourself?"

"yeah right, if that's the case then i would have to also care about (xyz historically oppressed group of people) and i would have to do this, this and that to raise awareness on (xyz historically oppressed group)"

never ever let these individuals in. never ever let them see you doubting your own self or your efforts as an activist.

when i tell you that standing on business has never been more crucial, you can take my word for it.

as someone who, due to the communities i belong to, has practically grown up defending this cause, i can tell you that the tides have not once started to turn the slightest bit in favor for the palestinian cause in the publics perception. most especially in the west.

now is the time to get up on our feet and make room for palestinian voices, not the seeds of doubt planted by zionists.

anyone that still genuinely believes that one, they can't do anything to bring about any change

two, believes there is any legitimacy in the existence of an "israeli state",

or three, denounces and dares to critique the forms of resistance coming from the oppressed palestinians, after five whole months of the ongoing israeli operation to annihilate them to move closer to the achievement of the "greater israel" project, is immediately disqualified in any discussions on the palestinian fight for freedom.

don't ever give your time to zionist apologists or people that try to infiltrate the pro watermelon movement, in order to gain an outlet, in which they can voice their sympathy for core ideas of the zionist movement (a right to israels existence, pseudo self defense argument, pseudo the people are not the state argument, pseudo not all israelis are settlers argument) without further notice.

now is the time of focus. partake in all the activities you can. do your part. do what is achievable.

palestinians, whether it be in the diaspora or on the ground in gaza and the west bank, don't have time for our inconsistencies.

try to control your spending habits as much as you can, try to control the pop culture (tv, music, film) you consume as much as you can. that is the very least we can do.

also, a teeny tiny, but crucial note, we all need to internalize is the fact that we need to decenter ourselves from the end goal, which is the liberation of palestine and land back to the palestinian people.

the people that are going to free palestine aren't us.

palestinians are going to free palestine. the palestinian resistance is going to free palestine.

our obligation is to facilitate that to happen. we partake in the bds boycott, put pressure on representatives of our countries and take to the streets and social media to make the voices of palestine heard.

looking inward and coming to that realization is utmost important for us as non palestinians to know our place in the bigger picture, so we can move on, organize and operate from there.

by no means am i a representative of this cause. but i am human. so i hope that you could all take something from my message.

from the river to the see, palestine will be free!!!

[junkbbykow]

𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔑𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔎𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔄𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔜𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔉𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔰

Hey lovelies! Sorry it's been so long since I made a pac :( I hope you like this one!

This reading is about understanding your current platonic relationships and unveiling the alignment or misalignment they have from your soul family. Whether you feel confident in your friendships or are considering ending them, this reading is for you. Please only accept what resonates, as this is a general reading.

Think of your current friend group and pic a picture.

pile 1 pile 2 pile 3 pile 4 pile 5

Your Current Friend Group Dynamic

Hi, Pile one! From the cards I am getting that you lose a lot of your power in your current group of friends. This has also been a pattern throughout previous relationships. I heard that you can be belittled or torn down by the people around you. It might not be as obvious to you whether that's because you have a neurodivergences that makes it hard to pickup social cues or because the people you are around are sneaky about how they mistreat you to make sure you don't leave. This reading might be for you if you feel like the odd person out. If you're the fat friend, or the Black friend, or any other singularity within the group. Additionally, this pile might be for you if you don't have very close ties with anyone, including family.

With Strength in reverse, you have great power, wit, and charisma but around the people you currently see as friends you make yourself small, avoid stirring the pot, and get mistreated. I also feel as though you have made yourself docile? Like you have the ability to clapback and stick up for yourself, but around these people you have lost touch with that incredible ability. It is okay to be angry. It is a justified response to being mistreated. One thing you can do is reconnect with your anger and be confrontational. Your current friends are WAY too comfortable making jokes at your expense, excluding you, and even talking about you behind your back.

With The Emperor in reversed after that, your energy appears to be off balance. What I am picking up is that you are overly giving. Now, I am not saying you are too generous of a person. I AM saying that there is not a fair exchange or a sense of reciprocity in your current relationship. You may show up to all of your friends events, plan birthday parties, help your friends find opportunities and resources while all they do for you is the bare minimum. I'm seeing that your inner self is very used to this mistreatment. What I am seeing visually is a young femme presenting person who's familiar with being bullied for their appearance or how they act. Again, that might just be people picking up on you for being neurodivergent and not knowing how to handle it. Regardless, I see a person who's very familiar with being the topic of discussion in a negative light. Your inner self has latched onto these friend groups that do the bare minimum because at least instead of bullying you for how you come off they give "constructive criticism" that you can use to be "accepted". That is not friendship and you are perfect the way you are. You don't need to glow-up or do a complete 180 with how you show up in the world to be deserving of love. I also feel like there is no amount of clothing, makeup, money, or glamour magic that will stop people from being hating a$$ b*tches. Just do you. Similarly, you have a personality and energy that can't be hidden so stop trying!

The Wheel of Fortune in reverse demonstrates to me that your blessings are being put on hold due to the unhealthy dynamic of the people around you. I genuinely believe the people you currently hang out with or have been with in the past don't have your best interest at heart. If given the chance, I think these people would deliberately harm or betray you. Their loyalties do not lie with you and they think you are easily used and manipulated (you are not). The reason this is halting your blessings is because these people are very envious and insecure. If you have great opportunities in your life to reach your dreams they will disrupt it on an energetic and physical level. I see a whole WORLD of opportunity open for you and the spiritual hands at be do love you.

Your current friend groups feel restrictive. You can't fully show up as yourself. I can tell you feel alone, isolated, and unloved, but that doesn't have to be the case forever.

With The Hanged Man in reverse at the bottom of the deck you are not showing up in your authenticity. The people around have probably told you that you are too loud, take up too much space, or something along those lines. To me you are bodacious in all meanings of the word (audacious, impressive, and attractive). These can be intimidating for a person who covets those traits but doesn't know how to embody it. While you might not believe me because your friends may be more conventionally attractive, go on dates, and seem outwardly courageous, the way they mistreat you goes to show how little they think of themselves and the pedestal they put you on because you are unapologetically you and there's now way to hide it. Their attempts to change you are to make your smaller and less remarkable.

Your Soul Family's Dynamic

First, I'd like to acknowledge that your soul family's energy is very vocal. And what I heard is that they are concerned about your well being.

CW - the next paragraph mentions suicidal ideation. Please skip the next paragraph if you are not in a place to consume this type of content.

For anyone experiencing suicidal ideation, your soul family genuinely wants to support you through this time. For those of you who can afford metal healthcare please invest in working with a licensed professional. If you cannot access a mental health provider please take some time to ground yourself through mediation, somatic yoga, affirmations etc. If you do have trustworthy people in your life reach out, but if not, I heard a tarot reading could be a way to connect with your soul families energy and bring you some reprieve (this reading does not have to be with me and is not a promotion of my services. It's genuinely what came through as a solution).

END OF CW

With The Hanged Man upright, you'll be in a position to be your truest self. Your soul family will naturally pull you out of your shell or help you unmask for those of you who are neurodivergent. Your soul family is a group of people who all outwardly express themselves differently. As a group you may not look like you make sense together or you all are very expressive in how you dress or show up in the world. Your soul family values being different and not obeying social norms. They may also have unconventional jobs in sex work, art, or a job you never knew existed.

With your soul family, you exist within The High Priestess energy. Your intuition is heightened, your independent, and you are working towards your own goals. Your not wrapped up in other peoples BS or missing out on your own life supporting someone else. Boundaries are respected and you can have your needs met. This High Priestess Upright card also represents not looking for more. You are satiated. Your are not looking for greener grass or needing to beg for your friends (and partner(s)) to provide what you need in the relationship. I also feel like you get to be a lot more selfish with your time and resources. To me, this indicates being with people who are a lot more self reliant then your previous friends (I initially wanted to say partners so maybe your soul family is less platonic and more polyamorous or you identify as aromantic/asexual. Alternatively, this could simply apply to both romantic and platonic relationships).

The Chariot upright, your soul family helps you get places they are the horses pulling you along. You and possibly several of your friends may be disabled. You all work together to get through the day. This could be helping each other clean, reminding each other of their responsibilities, etc. Basically, if you feel like you're doing everything alone and it's holding you back from living the life you desire, your soul family will make it so that is a more collaborative, community effort. These friends may also bring you into connection with a romantic partner.

Judgement upright indicates that these relationships will not only help you in the physical with The Chariot card, but on an energetic level. Having the support of your soul family will help you reach new heights and start on a new stage of your journey. You will be transforming a lot as a person in this group. Your soul family will also help you with decision making in a sense. If you are very indecisive as a trauma response, this will be healed through these connections.

With Justice upright, your soul family connection will not only feel balanced but the amount of love and support you receive will almost make you forget all the bullshit you went through. I think it will also help you value the relationships you have built with these people because you recognize how bad you used to have it. Your inner child will also be very excited for this relationship because it'll be the kind of friends you always wanted to play with as a kid. There's a lot of deep healing here.

With The Tower upright, these relationships will definitely deconstruct your old world view. Essentially, you have never experienced a love like this before and it will reshape how you see love. From this I see a romantic connection coming through with The Lovers Upright (you might meet at a house party/kickback). Overall your friendship is very harmonious.

Last thing I will note about your dynamic is that The Hierophant upright indicates you will be setting some new personal vales. Again touching on your new found ability to be decisive. This also may be more spiritual, so you could gain a better understanding of what you believe when it comes to your spirituality.

How to Evolve towards your Soul Family

If the Shoe Fits indicates you need to go where you are accepted. A lot of past relationships consisted of you bending and contorting yourself to be included in a group of people who don't love themselves let alone you. You'll know when you are moving towards the energy of your soul family when you go where you are wanted. When you are no longer seeking invites, but simply existing on your own. An aspect of this card is appreciating your uniqueness without muddling it down to fit into a box. You are not a "core" or aesthetic your a human being with a wide array of traits, quirks, and abilities. You'll be a lot more outwardly expressive through your clothes, speech, or something that is on public display. This could also be voicing opinions or unmasking if you are neurodivergent.

With Clear As a Bell following the previous card, you'll be in a space in your life where you don't feel bogged down by external factors. There's sense of freedom and openness in your life. Because of this, you'll have less room for BS from other people that you tolerated in the past. I'm having trouble putting this time into words, so you may not even notice when this is happening. It's a period in your life that will sneak up on you. What I can tell is that you'll be focusing on yourself and goin through a time of grounding. Reconnecting with your body through nature is highlighted here.

Fill Your Cup shows me that evolving towards your soul family requires you to invest in your own wellbeing through therapy, exercise, somatic healing, shadow work, hygiene, organizing, and other forms of self and healthcare. Like I said before, focusing on yourself and what you have going on will bring you closer to your soul family. Prioritize yourself and what you have going for you.

At the bottom of the deck there is Offerings. This card is double-sided. On one hand, you'll notice an uptick in opportunities and abundance, but on the other you will be asked to sacrifice valuable things in your life. While I say asked (and of course nothing will be forced on you) it will probably won't be the easiest to let go of. For example people, places, and things that no longer deserve to hold space in your life will start showing their a$$. This is a tell tale sign that you should pack up and move on.

Final Remarks

There's an airy playfulness not only to you but the life you will lead in the future. This is the energy you should look for in a friend group.

The first step is acknowledging that people have not been the best to you and then processing that. Then you can finally grieve the relationships you have never had but always wished you did.

It will be very clear that the people you consider your soul family are. There won't be hesitation or doubt. The relationships you build won't come with many setbacks. For example in your past relationships you could have fall in and out of contact with people or maybe had a argument early into the relationship or a third party disrupted your friendships.

Did you enjoy the reading? Please give me feedback! If you'd like to book a reading, I have Cameos for $15 here and written readings for various prices here. Find more PACs here!

Your Current Friend Group Dynamic

Immediately I felt as though your current friend group was in alignment with where you currently are in life. I think this is more how you feel and perceive them and less to do with the reality of the relationships you are in. You idolize your friends in ways they don't deserve. With Death being the first card for this reading, your current friend group has put an end to a lot of unhealthy cycles for you. Simultaneously, I am picking up on a codependent energy. While they may help you unlearn a some destructive perspectives from your past, they are teaching you just as many new ones. Your current platonic relationships consist of a group of people from all backgrounds. It seems as though there's a lot of people with different perspectives on life all connecting through a mutual experience or philosophy. This could be connections born from close proximity like roommates, coworkers, classmates, etc. While this group may be in alignment with you currently, I do not foresee these relationships being lifelong commitments. One thing I'll note is that I am picking up that you are very different from the people you currently hang out with. I don't think you realize it yet, but beyond the surface you will come to realize just how different you and your current friends are. I see this taking years to accumulate and present itself to you.

With The World following the previous card, this is apart of your life journey. These current relationships are there for a reason and you are currently exactly where you need to be. While this may sound positive, it's really a neutral outlook. Your current relationships aren't bad or good. There's an energy of indifference. I just heard "good for now." Enjoy the people you are currently around. Cherish the time you spend together and what you have gained from them being in your life while they are there. When it's time to le t go, be open to leaving these relationships behind even if they haven't been "bad" to you in the physical.

With The Fool on the bottom of the deck, I think you are oblivious to the true intentions of the people around you. You're moving to the beat of your own drum and taking things as they come. People around you are definitely not in that energy. I see people being envious of this energy you have and investing a lot of energy in seeing you fall.

The vibe of your friend group is very trickstery and they almost convinced me they were not of harm in the current moment, but they definitely are. Please leave the people you are currently around immediately. If you are in forced close proximity due to being roommates or something like that, create distance, spend less time with them, and create relationships outside of this group. Someone(s) trying to control you and keep you to themselves.

What I picked up earlier in the reading may be true. You might be in alignment with this energy, but I don't think you want to be. I think this might be the first time you have had a friend group that feels even halfway decent. The trickster energy might even be coming from you in some aspects. I think you are disregarding A LOT of red flags in these relationships. You have never not been mistreated so being mistreated less feels good. To you it seems like normal arguments because at least it's not as explosive as before. It may be subtle but it is deadly.

These people are definitely blocking the right people from entering your life.

Your Soul Family's Dynamic

With Death reversed, this dynamic will be an opposing reflection of the relationships your currently in. For example, where your current friends may be all about dressing super nice for superficial trendy reasons, your soul family will dress up because it makes them fell good and is representation of who they are. Your current friends are very performative and egotistical, whereas your soul family is pleasure based and is motivated by their internal compass instead of external gaze.

The Empress indicates that your soul family is a community. No one person is the "leader" or better than the rest of the group. I feel as though your soul family pulls its resources together into a community library of source. if there's something someone needs one or all of you are willing to lend it. Similar to Pile One, your soul family is not seeking anything more than what they currently have. They are satisfied with the relationships they have built and are more focused on cultivating one they have than looking for greener grass. There's an openness to new opportunities with your soul family, but you wait for the opportunities to arise instead of spending time searching for them constantly.

Temperance only further proves that you soul family is a group of people who call it by ear and coat with the circumstances they are given. There's a playful balance and a skillful maneuvering of abundance within this family. With temperance, I see your soul family is appreciative of your fool energy. Instead of looking to manipulate this playful, naive, and optimistic personality you have, your soul family embodies these attributes as well. This brings a lot of luck and positivity to you all.

How to Evolve towards your Soul Family

You'll connect with your soul family's energy when you stop constantly searching for the next big thing. I think it eats you up inside not to be where you want to be or experience setbacks, but it's okay to slowly ease int the life you want or take a turn for something better because you have the capacity to take it on because you were going slow enough to change course.

With Fill Your Cup, you should dedicate energy to uplifting yourself. With Plie 1, this was about self-care, mindfulness, and health. For this pile, I see you should invest in your education. Learn what it means to be in healthy interpersonal relationships, but also improve your technical skills in your your hobbies/career. I think you all should take time to cultivate a strong sense of self. What do you like and dislike, what's acceptable or what's not, and what are you seeking and does it actually interest you.

Final Remarks

MAJOR shadow work needs to be done in this group. Literally had a breakdown reading into this energy xD Please write, talk, move whatever you are dealing with out of your body.

YOU DESERVE TO BE LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY AND NOT HAVE YOUR FEELINGS HURT BY THE PEOPLE CLOSE TO YOU!

There is a funky energy around you. Please heal and protect yourself from harm when & how you can

There's a person around you either love bombing you or just very aggressive with how the try and get close to you. Your relationships should unfold overtime. They are faking closeness to misguide you

Your current friend(s) do not see you in high regard. They think your easily manipulated or just flat out not smart

If you are seeing this and this pile truly resonated with you, there's an opportunity for you to leave your current friendships before it blows up in your face. Creating distance and not making long-term commitments to the people you are currently around would be a smart move based on the energy I am picking up. When you avoid a sticky situation, you'll never know what was wrong or out of alignment with your energy. You just have to take that leap of faith and trust that you made the right choice.

Did you enjoy the reading? Please give me feedback! If you'd like to book a reading, I have Cameos for $15 here and written readings for various prices here. Find more PACs here!

Your Current Friend Group Dynamic

I didn't get a card for this question, but it seems to me you don't have friends. It's interesting because the image of your group makes me thinking of having an imaginary friend. Maybe you're a frequent or maladaptive daydreamer. You might have acquaintances or people you talk to but no real bonds with these people. On an emotional level you feel very distant from most of your peers and general environment. I'm hearing this could also be a one-sided dynamic between you an other people. A majority of you are giving your best into "friendships" you have but the people you are trying to build relationships with don't seem to show an interest in any offers you make. This might also be in the reverse where someone(s) is trying to be your friend and you keep shutting them down.

Overall, you are alone or alone adjacent. I'm also picking up on a defeated spirit.

Your Soul Family's Dynamic

Your soul family's dynamic is sort of elusive. The best way I can describe it is as an empty beach with big crashing waves. It makes me think of that one scene from My Sister's Keeper. Your soul family might have disabilities both visible and invisible. /i think internalized ableism is going to be something you unpack with your real friends. You might also live together for an extended period of time. I think you'll start as friends and then become roommates and start to feel like a family. There's probably four people in this group but two in particular stick out. One has a very goth presentation while the other seems more generic or "normal." I am also picking up on the city of San Francisco and living in a duplex with one of those rounded windows. I'm also seeing a queer flag hanging on the wall like a tapestry. Your house with them isn't messy but definitely lived in. The vibe is an mid-2000s romance/drama. Also everyone in the group is pretty young. I think you'll meet in your mid to late 20s.

How to Evolve towards your Soul Family

Your evolution doesn't require steps. It's more of just keep hanging on. Like giving up is an option that I think you very eagerly want to take, but the only way to get to these people is by sitting through the bullshit and waiting for it to get sorted. Basically, you need to build up your endurance. If there were any steps to take it would be to fill your time with something until they come along. Hobbies, binge watching TV, sports. doesn't really matter as long as it keeps your from ruminating in scary (possibly self-harm ideation) thoughts.

Final Remarks

From the very start f this reading I can tell that this collective is very dissociative. Please look into professional counseling or seeking out grounding rituals that will tether you to your reality.

You're loveable now your just not in a loving environment

There's emphasis on not changing. Don't alter your values or change your standards in hopes it will speed up the process. It won't.

Doing stuff for the plot is fine, but be safe. You may have a self-destructive pattern that puts you in harms way (specifically with romantic/sexual encounters) Be wary of people who view you as a sexual being and nothing else

ENJOY YOURSELF. There is no point in being sad for your entire wait. If it makes you happy do it.

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Your Current Friend Group Dynamic

Your current friend group seems curated. Almost as if you handpicked them to serve a specific purpose in your life. While this a great strategy for networking and building a career, it doesn't carry the depth of genuine connection. You may still be picking friends based on who your parents or some authority figure would approve of. I almost feels as though your "friends" have to be impressive asf (on paper) to run in your circle. This may even transfer into physical beauty and expecting your friends to meet a certain standard. While I think you are satisfied with your friend group from a certain perspective, it doesn't have long lasting impact. Do you feel like your relationships are lacking? It might be missing sincerity. These transactional relationships lack reciprocity. Both you and who you are in relation with expect some compensation for every good deed from rides to the airport to venting about a shitty ex.

Your Soul Family's Dynamic

Your soul family is supportive. They show up. They aren't looking for anything in return accept your love and affection. Your soul family is trusting. They don't look for the evil in everyone. These people genuinely have an optimistic outlook on life and believe people are "good" at their core. I'm picking up Gemini energy so you might be a group of talkers. There's also two sides of your groups dynamic. On one side you are supportive and hold deep conversation while on the other you have fun an goofy conversations. I see a minimalist apartment in a city that's candle lit for some kind of dinner party or game night. Your soul family has a seriousness about them. You might all excel in your fields and still be impressive on paper but that's not WHY your friends.

How to Evolve towards your Soul Family

To reach your soul family start by living your life without expecting to get hurt. I also feel like you like to play games with people and test them. That won't serve you when you engage with people who are genuine. You have to learn how to trust and lean into what feels right. I also suggest gaining an understanding of when your body is aligned to people and places. Instead of testing people you can simply check-in with how you feel and make choices from your internal world instead of external.

Final Remarks

Hang out with people who look different. Add some diversity to your circle

Your need for perfection is impacting your ability to make true connections. Unpack how you force yourself to meet impossible standards and how that might be bleeding over into other relationships

Give back to others. Your energy is very self serving and there isn't much space for other people in the picture

STOP GIVING A F*CK

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Your Current Friend Group Dynamic

Your current friend group seems like it's a group of people who feel counter-culture but perpetuate the same systems they feel oppressed by. You may be surrounded by (or you are as well) people who describe themselves as "haters." While critiquing harmful systems and practices there's a point where is becomes obsessive. Are you and your friends pointing out how a trend or style is appropriative or are you just bullying "normies." When n your not hating or sticking your nose in other peoples lives what are you doing? Is any of it meaningful to you? Does it feed your soul?

This one is a bit harsh, but this isn't an easy thing to hear about yourself of your friends. Please keep in mind I am in no way judging your character. This is just the energy I am picking up.

I suggest taking note of how much your current friends talk about random people and the choices they are making. When you remove the comedic timing and social justice lens is it a critique or is it just liberal bullying? You might also notice that the same things they claim t hate may be perfectly fine when they do it.

Your Soul Family's Dynamic

Your soul family is nonjudgmental. They don't spend much time focused on the actions of others. Your soul family dynamic is more focused on pleasure and giving back. Instead of making sly comments about things they dislike, they have a strong sense of morals that they do their best to uphold in daily life. Essentially, they lead by example. When I see your soul family, I see a backyard garden. one that you all share. I also see your soul family as people who do random acts of kindness just because they can. I'm not sure how you all will interact with each other but you all seem very focused on making the world a better place. I think you all enjoy the simplicity of life: reading books, walking, and looking at trees.

How to Evolve towards your Soul Family

You need to do a thorough assessment of who you are surrounded by. Are you oblivious to the true intentions of your current friends? Are you perpetuating harmful behaviors that aren't aligned with who you want to be? You might also be lacking in abundance. That's a clear indication that the vibes are off and you need to plant yourself in a more nourishing environment. If this reading resonates, it's likely your close friends are sending you evil eye, engaging in one-sided competition with you, or just genuinely could careless about your wellbeing. To evolve to you soul family, stop running from loneliness. If you spend time alone, you'll probably discover a lot about yourself and be able to see your current relationships from a new perspective. You might even come up with a solution to your abundance problems.

Final Remarks

Love yourself enough to sit with your own thoughts

Your current relationships come off as codependent. Do any of your friends have anything going for them or do you all just fill up each others time to avoid dealing with your problems

The nature of your soul family with become clearer as you spend time deciding what YOU want from life

Do you even like your friends as people? Like sure they are funny but are they people who are nice?

Don't let someone else's problem become yours

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[spectr3inl0ve]

Sooo I read cradlerobber!bruce Wayne

And what do you think I would happen if reader became a vigilante and hid it from Bruce? 🫣probably leading to an argument abt how he wants her to “be safe” but ending in comfort

(Maybe dick knew but did t tell anyone else lmao)

I mean I don't see this being "canon" in the cradle robber!bruce wayne verse BUT hypothetically...(Idk why I wrote in third person for this sorry 😭)

reader prolly met lucius fox in secret to get a suit made for her, and with a hell of a lot of convincing, he caves and gets a suit designed and made for her. i think that generally bruce would try and get her to learn self defence, the basics at least. she would spar with dick and learn stuff she wouldn't learn from bruce (ig flexibility, yk) and she would learn dicks fighting style, and vice versa.

she would leave around 20mins after bruce leaves for patrol, sneaking out the balcony in the bedroom no less. she would go on foot, using grapplers to her advantage and would stick to dealing with low life thugs in alleys trying to rob and assault other civilians. it goes on for maybe a month or two, because something bound to happen when you're surrounded by some of the world's best detectives.

reader does tail some of the members of the batfam, but for only short periods of time as to not be noticed. and she thinks she's slick, but she's not; the batfam knows when they're being followed, and by this mysterious woman. but who is she? bruce has started discussing this mystery woman at dinner, reader jokingly saying, "well i hope she doesn't interest you too much, bruce." and he waves her off, assuring her, though she knows there's nothing to worry about.

within the next week, reader can't seem to find nightwing, but hes started to follow reader, watching her watch and observe his family her family. he can't help but wonder why she never tries to pounce at them, if she timed it right, she could easily take one down. she's watching red robin intently, her eyes following his movements, always making sure to stay on the rooftops and far away. a loud crash and a singular gunshot comes from the opposite building. "warning shot." she whispers, if dick wasn't almost right behind her, he wouldn't have heard her. she turns her attention from red robin to the building, trying to gauge the situation through the dirty, dusty windows. dick knows what's going on in that building, and it's not anything that this amateur vigilante should be dealing with. "don't go in there." he says lowly, startling her. she turns around, straightening up. "and who are you to tell me that?" she makes her voice more deeper? more depth, maybe. but it does the job in partially concealing her real voice. "I've got more experience, I'm trying to help you." his hands moving with his words as he responds. the woman says nothing glaring slightly. "got a problem? hey, who even are you?" nightwing smiles good-naturedly. "it doesn't matter." reader readies her grapple gun, aiming at the rooftop of the building where the gunshot came from. dick grabs her wrist, "hey- you can't just leave. you've been following my team for the past couple months. why?". she laughs, "what's wrong with watching?" "tell me why you've been following us. before i make you." he threatens, his grip on her wrist tightening. she goes to punch him in the face, but he catches her fist easily, moving to hold both her wrist in one hand. she knees him stomach, struggling to get free while he recovers (quickly ofc). as they continue to fight, nightwings starting to notice some patterns. she always goes for the face first, simultaneously kicking at his shin. sure, it's not that uncommon for someone to do that, but the way she does it...well, there's only one other person who's done it in the amateur, repetitive way she has: [readers name]. I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try, right?

dick calls her name, slowly, trying to gauge her reaction. as much as she tries to hide it, a small look of surprise washes over her face. "don't worry, your secrets safe with me." he chuckles as reader grapples away without another word.

so, for obvious reasons, things have been awkward with dick. to her at least, dicks having the time of his life watching her be constantly on edge around him.

I'm so so sorry but I think I needa do a part 2 to finish your ask cus I don't rlly know what to write for this 💔💔!! again, this is not canon to the cradle robber!bruce wayne verse

[lets-try-some-writing]

The Grim Dark Archives: Transcript #004 Higher Ups

[Transcript taken [Redacted: Sensitive data]. The following transcript is technically personal, but I've decided to put it here nonetheless. The conversation I had was with one of the higher ups who I will leave unnamed for privacy reasons. I was attempting to explain my reasoning behind my decision to... attempt further investigation into the aliens on my own.

I just can't sit here and listen as problems arise. [Redacted] is indeed useful when he feels like being so, but I refuse to wait around twiddling my thumbs while more horrors go on around me. I want to be proactive and learn as much as I can about this threat so that hopefully, when the time comes, I can do something to stop it.

Transcript begins.]

══════════════════

Agent Witwicky: Thank you for accepting my request for an audience BLANK.

BLANK: Of course.

Agent Witwicky: I am sure you saw my report and my detailed plan.

BLANK: I did, and I can't say I fully agree with it. I assume you came here to explain yourself?

Agent Witwicky: That would be correct, Sir.

BLANK: Go on then.

Agent Witwicky: Very well. I will try to keep things as concise as possible.

Agent Witwicky: To begin, I feel that we should begin looking more into the Autobot threat. They have claimed to be allies, but [Redacted] has proven this to be at least quite likely to be false. Not to mention these Decepticons have yet to do anything whereas the Autobots have already claimed civilian lives.

BLANK: And what exactly is your goal here Witwicky?

Agent Witwicky: I understand that it would be dangerous to dedicate a team to the task of understanding these aliens. And so I would like to suggest a singular agent be assigned this mission. That way if things fall through, this agent could be cut off from the government and claimed to be rogue, saving the US military from the ire of any potentially harmed parties.

BLANK: A sound suggestion. Let us imagine that you are this hypothetical agent for a moment. What would you be doing exactly?

Agent Witwicky: I would first get into contact with Agent Fowler and establish communications. He is by far the most knowledgeable and I would like to collect statements from him regarding the Autobots.

BLANK: That could be done without a dedicated mission.

Agent Witwicky: Yes, but what I would do after this would be less easy to accomplish for anyone tied down by military regulation.

Agent Witwicky: I would then take the risk of speaking to Optimus Prime in order to possibly acquire further information on Cybertron and its people. We currently have very little actual information. [Redacted] is a good source, but he only speaks on subject we inquire upon. I would like to dig deeper, to ask the Prime himself about Cybertron and its history. Maybe then we can determine the best course of action.

BLANK: That goes far beyond what we need to keep them in line.

Agent Witwicky: I need to know Sir. I need to understand these beings. Don't we have agents sent to other countries to understand them? Why can we not have an agent here to understand the aliens too? They could have valuable data, maybe even information on other worlds for NASA to use-!

BLANK: Enough. I understand Witwicky. Let us drop all pretenses here. What do you intend to do?

Agent Witwicky: I want to interact with the Autobots personally, to get their statements and stories. The more we know, the better chance we have of fighting back. I don't intend to tell [Redacted] about my visits either. Having two sources of information will help us pick out what is real and what are lies.

BLANK: We can make you a Diplomat. But I see that look in your eyes, that isn't the extent of what you want to do. Right?

Agent Witwicky: Correct Sir. I also want to look into the children. I want to see the changes they undergo and hopefully gain greater insight through them.

Agent Witwicky: Rafael runs a blog. He hasn't posted much, just a few thoughts every couple of days. But [Redacted] has implied that he will join the Archive, an organism of knowledge. A human mind cannot handle huge amounts of data, so there must be an outlet for all of it. I want to see how his thoughts change.

BLANK: You want him to be a test subject?

Agent Witwicky: Isn't he already one? We can't get him out now. So the best thing he can do for humanity is show how he is changing.

BLANK: ...

Agent Witwicky: The girl, Miko, she has a journal and a sketch book. I intend to get access to those things and transcribe the information they hold. Miko is the only one out of the children who is unaware of her situation. I want to see how that changes her view and if she can pick up anything we can't.

BLANK: I see...

Agent Witwicky: Then there is the older boy, Jack Darby, Arcee's target. He is by far the most interesting at present. He has been issued regular conversations with the military sanctioned therapist, correct? I want access to those recordings. Jack must hear things we could never comprehend. He must know so much more than us-

BLANK: Witwicky, what are you really after here?

Agent Witwicky: What do you mean? I've already said that I want to understand our potential enemies to help us fight back more effectively-

BLANK: No Witwicky. You have a personal investment here. What are you actually hoping to get from all this?

Agent Witwicky: ...

Agent Witwicky: I want knowledge. [Redacted] is hardly explaining anything. I hate having missing pieces in my puzzle.

BLANK: I see.

BLANK: ...

BLANK: Your orders will be issued soon. Consider yourself no longer outwardly affiliated with the United States Military. We will fund you and you will have access to everything you need, but if you are discovered, you will have no protection. Do you understand Sam?

Agent Witwicky: Yes Sir. When can I begin my work?

BLANK: As soon as you feel ready. Keep this information from [Redacted] as long as possible. He's already proven capable of violence when threatened.

══════════════════

[Transcript ends.

The higher ups were dubious about granting me my new position, but they will understand with time. It's going to be dangerous, that's for sure. But this way we will learn so much more about our enemies. Especially with [Redacted] here as well.

I don't mean to use the children, but considering they are all but lost causes, I think its for the best to just... make the best of their situation. Learn what we can so that no others share their fate.

Here's hoping the Decepticons are less convoluted.

Agent Witwicky signing off.

Recording end.]

[obsidiancreates]

Will Prove Untrue (Then What Will You Do?) {Part 1}

Logan lays still for what feels like a very, very long time. He stares up at the cold, crudely-bolted, shining metal ceiling.

This must be something Remus cooked up. Can't be Roman, because the pod beside Logan still hasn't hissed open (yet, hopefully, or maybe better it doesn't? He isn't sure which he'd prefer at this juncture) and he can see Roman inside and-

Well. Roman probably wouldn't do that to himself. And he wouldn't do... this, to Logan.

... Maybe he would. But- no, no Roman would make it a little nicer.

If Roman designed a proper cyborg Logan, he probably wouldn't leave bits of shoddily-saudered metal exposed through flesh, wouldn't leave exposed wires in a surgically-removed hole in the side of his neck, and wouldn't leave a mess of several short antenna sticking out from the back of Logan's head.

To put it simply, as Logan stares up at his reflection in that sterile ceiling, he looks a mess.

And Roman-

Kck-hsssssss.

Logan finally pushes himself up, head spinning- he adds 'dizziness' to the list of Extremely Disconcerting Elements Of This Dream/Imagining. In moments of extreme responses to situations, good and bad, sure, he's not the only Side who's experienced a response such as that to some form of stimuli- but he's never experienced it so casually. It's a sensation like Thomas gets when getting out of bed after a poor night's sleep. It's distinctly physical.

Roman's pod opens slowly, and unfortunately his appearance does not turn out to be some trick of the fluorescent lights and foggy ice-caked glass over him. His facial structure, his hair, that's all fine- but on the bits of skin visible through the blue leather jumpsuit they both seem to be wearing, there's what can only be described as severe discoloration.

Green-ish and yellowed patches of what appear to be significantly thickened skin are visible on Roman's hands and peeking out of the collar of his jumpsuit, and one unfortunate patch that stretches from his left ear over his eye and down to the hollow of his cheek. He also looks, potentially, taller, and is definitely stockier- while the jumpsuit is somewhat appropriately-sized for Logan, it looks to be a bit too tight on Roman.

Roman groans, putting one hand up to his head as he immediately tries to sit up. "I don' want to work th' lights," he mumbles, "Tha's Hot Flop-ic's job."

Well. At least he's acting like himself. Why wouldn't he be? This is just some scenario Remus likely cooked up. It has to be.

If Logan pretends the heartbeat thumping in his chest isn't shaking his skull, maybe he can make himself actually believe that. It's the only logical conclusion, and he doesn't exactly get gut-feelings.

He absolutely is not getting one right now. He is not sure, somewhere deep down that he can't have as a simple facet of imagination used to personify a singular aspect of personality, that this is all very real and very, very bad news.

Logan steps out of the pod, his foot making a solid and hollow clunk against the metal floor- the jumpsuit seems to have some very unused and very thick soles, and he hopes that's the only reason. Robot would be fine. Cyborg would be acceptable. Something about this particular configuration, however, is deeply unpleasant. There's a static sound buzzing in the back of his head, an overly-warm sensation where the metal meets flesh, and he can feel stale artifically-moving air blowing through the open wiring of his neck.

"Roman?" He half expects his voice to come out with a mechanical crackle, but it is... assuringly normal. The heartbeat he shouldn't really have slows a bit, rattling his view of the world a little less. Enough for him to notice the... data tracking? Some kind of overlay, to his vision. A small compass-like figment in the left bottom corner of his vision, another bar measuring "HP" in the bottom right.

"Mmm- Logan?" Roman rubs his eyes, yawning, still sitting in the pod. "What're you doing in my room?"

"Well, first of all, we are not in your room?"

"What?" Roman looks up at Logan, and blanches. Blancing means bloodflow, bloodflow is another point of evidence towards Physicality, that's not possible-

"Oh, sweet cyclops spectacle!" Roman looks around in a panic, quickly climbing out of his pod- and yes, Logan was right, Roman is taller, a good head taller than Logan in fact.

"As I suspected, you have nothing to do with this particular scenario we find ourselves in?" Logan reaches up to adjust his glasses by pure instinct, but his hand meets empty air. The heartbeat that he supposes must be his own but can't seem to connect to picks up again.

"What? Of course I don't!" Roman looks all around the room- it's small, containing only the two pods, two lockers, and a desk with an outdated-looking blocky computer on it. "This is an absolute nightmare of chrome and- that!" He gestures at Logan in a general sense.

"Yes, the... mechanical, nature of my appearance at the moment is not the ideal of what it could be." Logan holds up his right hand to inspect- it's about half flesh, at least visually, with his thumb, pointer, and middle fingers being exposed machinery down to the knuckles.

"And the jumpsuit."

Logan purses his lips, looking back at Roman through half-lidded, unimpressed eyes. "Yes, Roman, that is the biggest cause for concern in this situation. Our fashion."

"Our fashion? I'm not- WHOA!" Roman looks down, shock and horror crossing his expression as he first takes in the suit, and then his hands. "Ah- that is- oh, I hate that."

"It is very unsightly. And as you may have noticed, we are different heights all of a sudden."

"Hmm, indeed we are... towering above you felt so natural it simply slipped my mind!"

Logan sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, again made aware of the absence of his glasses as he does so. "Roman, focus. Do you know why Remus might've created this, presumably, incredibly vivid dream?"

"Of course I don't! We are completely different forms of creativity, I never understand a single bit of what he does or why!" Roman tenses as he practically shouts his denial, a look crossing his face that Logan finds difficult to decipher.

Logan sighs. "Fine. Then we shall have to find and confront Remus about whatever this is. Assuming he has set this up as some sort of game, this... uh..."

As he rounds the desk to look at the computer screen, he finds himself at a loss for words. Roman walks up behind him, making a confused noise low in his throat.

"This isn't really the style I expect from my brother," Roman mumbles.

The computer is... ancient, but not historically accurate. It's boxy-yet-rounded shape has a vintage air to it, and as Logan hit the large red power button in the bottom right corner, the sound of a vintage keyboard or typewriter click-clack-tick-tacks out and echoes in the empty metal room. The text writes itself across the screen, bright green and blocky like a computer from the early days of the very concept.

"Well, the green is at least aligned with his usual trademarks," Logan says, sitting down in an uncomfortable office chair and rolling it closer to the desk. "Perhaps you should check those lockers while I see what's on this ah... terminal."

"Terminal is right. This thing has to be on it's last legs."

"The computer is not attached to the table, Roman. It doesn't have any legs."

"No, I mean- nevermind, lockers it is!"

With no mouse, Logan takes a bit of time to figure out how to operate the terminal. Longer than he would like. But it also takes Roman a good while to open one of the two lockers- the first was unlocked, containing just a pack of 3 bobby pins (random, strange, but still not the kind one would expect from Remus) and another ugly jumpsuit. Logan can see now, as he looks up while Roman struggles with picking the lock of the second locker using the bobby pins (at Logan's suggestion- perhaps Remus is experimenting with Escape Room ideas) that there are words printed on the back of their jumpsuits. Well, one word, and a space for some kind of Number or Designation that never got added. The word Vault is emblazoned on Roman's, and presumably Logan's own, back in bright yellow stitched into the blue leather.

The computer turns out to be a dead end- first it pulls up a screen of garbled nonsense symbols with random words scattered among the chaos, and 4 tries to somehow pull a Password out of it all. Logan gets it wrong 3 times, and then tries for a classic turn-it-off-and-on-again to hopefully get more tries. It works, and he slowly figures out the mechanics of this terminal. Anything within some form of a closed pair of Brackets will either get rid of a "dud" potential word, or will give him back all 4 tries if he's used any up. Each wrong pick does tell him the ratio of letters that correlates to the correct pick- 3 out of 7, 5 out of 7, 4 out of 7-

He hears Roman give a frustrated yell at the same time that he finally figures out the puzzle and selects the correct word. A sense of accomplishment and satisfaction swell within him, and Logan realizes that uncomfortable heartbeat has settled to a comfortable baseline.

Roman seems to be having a less relaxing experience as he gives up on picking, jamming the bobby pin into the lock harshly and trying to force it open by sheer strength of/and will.

"I don't think that-"

"FINALLY!" Roman throws the locker door open, grinning brightly, and then deflates. "Ooooh, it's just a bunch more junk!" He tosses out another jumpsuit, another box of what sounds like five pins at the most, some kind of injection device with a large vial of liquid and a circle topping it, and-

"DON'T THROW THOSE!"

Roman startles at the Falsehood-level scream as Logan points at the pair of glasses in Roman's hand. They're not his usual style- they're thinner, more square, and have no rim on the bottom. But his face feels naked, so he'll take what he can get.

"Ah. Right! here you are."

Logan clears his throat and slides the glasses on- his hands move to adjust his tie, but grip only the zipper of his jumpsuit. While the glasses help, he still feels incomplete.

"Thank you, Roman. Ahem. We should assume that most of this has been left here for some reason. The more we do, the more I begin I to doubt my initial theory of Remus being responsible for this-"

"No kidding. He wouldn't make puzzles."

"Precisely. But you are clearly not responsible for this either, so perhaps it is some... new manifestation of an internal issue Thomas is experiencing. As such, we should treat everything as important. Including everything you have just thrown on the floor."

"Oh. Well, I guess I can see your point... alright." Roman picks up the items and- somehow- fits all of them into the pockets of his jumpsuit. Then his wrist pings.

Up until that moment, Logan had assumed the odd, clunky brown cuff around both his and Roman's wrists was related to the stasis pods they'd woken up in. But as Roman tucks away the items, the screen on the cuff crackles to life. Roman lifts it up, surprised, and squints at it.

"Uh... this thing knows what I just picked up." He fiddles with a knob on the device, and the screen flickers. "And what I'm wearing! ... And my limb health status? ... Are you sure you didn't make all this?"

"Positive." Logan frowns and brings his own cuff up to visibility, turning the knob and watching the screen buzz to life. He flicks through the same arrangement of menus. "... There is a radiation measurement and Geiger counter on this."

"Now I'm suspecting Remus again."

"... Perhaps." Logan looks back at the computer terminal. The dimly shining green-tinted screen has a simple message on it.

Terminal Power Insufficient. Files Corrupted.

> Subject #1 Status

> Subject #2 Status

Logan selects the first file.

> File corrupted

The same story applies to the second file.

"This is a full-blown mystery game," Logan breathes.

Roman eyes him with a combination of wariness and disgust, leaning away. "Calm down, Mr. Disc-Drive-You-Wild."

Logan slumps, pursing his lips and narrowing his eyes again. He shakes his head and stands up. "If we are labelled subjects One and Two respectively-"

"Excuse me, why are you Subject One?"

"Why would I not be?"

"Ugh!"

"Moving forward, if we are labelled Subjects One and Two, that likely means our fellow Sides are somewhere in this same facility as Subjects as well."

Roman lifts a hand and opens his mouth to argue, then thinks for a moment and nods before brightening up. "So this is now a rescue mission!"

"Mmm, not quite. We have no evidence or reason to assume they're in any form of danger."

"No danger? Ha!" Roman scoff-laughs, striking his classic pose with one hand aloft and one close to his chest. "That's exactly what someone about to be in danger would say!"

"... I... actually don't think I can argue with that one. Very well, we will proceed with caution yet collected calmness."

"And I shall lead us as you make more tongue-twisters behind me!"

"I did not- ... I did. At least, it wasn't a pun."

[abyssal-author-and-artist]

Bitter Kipper 1

For @kirbytimelma0

Thanks for asking me to do this!

It's another day on Planet Popstar, and Kirby is sick of it. He's sick of the stares as he waddles down the streets. The people yelling at him over the smallest things. So what if he swallowed a building? That wasn't his fault! He was doing his best, and no one ever seems to understand that. At least he has a friend, one singular friend in the world. They always understand him, no matter what.

In fact, he's heading there early in the morning, holding onto whatever scrap of optimism he can. It'll be worth it, after all. He loves spending time with this friend. As he pushes his squishy, pink little body through the door, he smiles as widely as he can. Considering most of his body is mouth, that's pretty wide. He's so excited to see his friend.

Blood.

There's blood everywhere.

Blood and guts and horror. In the center of the room, there's a small, squished, mangled body. Small and green but covered in red. It's horrifying, and he spends a solid chunk of time just staring. It's like he's frozen in place.

And then suddenly, everything starts happening, and it starts happening fast. He's being pushed, and then he's pushing, and he can't see and doesn't know what's happening except that he's doing it, he's hurting people, he's lost in his own blind rage, he's losing himself.

He goes on a rampage for a long, long while. After a while he loses track of what he's done, who he's hurt. He literally sees red - a hazy screen of senseless rage he literally can't see through. Unfortunately, it leads to him tripping and falling off a cliff. His eyes open and close frantically, the sky so big and open and wide, and then he compresses and everything goes dark.

He can't open his eyes.

He can't see.

Oh. He can't see. He can't feel.

He- he can't. Is he... is he even anything right now?

Panic starts to set in.

And then he can open his eyes again, and he does except they're not his eyes. Not his body. It's too light and long and big and wrong. He's sitting in a bed, blankets tangled around his too-long-feeling limbs. He sits up clumsily.

Oh.

He's not him anymore. He's in the body of someone else. A young boy, it seems. He lifts a strange, long arm and flexes it. The feeling is weird and definitely not what he expected when he fell off a cliff. There's sunlight streaming in through a window.

Suddenly, the door slams open and he looks over to see a girl walk in, her face pouty and her steps heavy. She's got long hair and braces and there's what looks like cat fur all over her sweater.

"Can you believe it, Dip-dot?" she asks, and he's instantly more confused. "They're still sending us away to Gravity Falls!"

"I... w-what?" His voice is oddly low and words fall out with almost no input from him. There's no strain or extra brain power required on his part. She fixes him with a strange look.

"Our parents? Sending us to live with our Grunkle Stan for the summer? Do you... not remember? It was yesterday."

"I. I don't think you h-have the right person," he strings together, his brow furrowing from the effort of making sure he says the right things in the right order.

"Dipper, cut it out," she sighs. "I like playing games, too, but now's not the time."

"D-dipper?"

"Yes, Dipper, that's your name. Mason 'Dipper' Pines. And I'm your twin, Mabel."

"S-stop patronizing me," he says, pushing himself off the bed with shaky, too long limbs. There's an edge in his voice that he didn't even know was possible, though he doesn't even know what's happening and that's probably a factor.

"What? I'm not-"

"Cut the crap. Something's n-not right here and I'm going to figure out what." He stalks over to her and, though they're the same height, she backs away and shrinks into herself.

"You... you're really not Dipper, are you?"

"No."

"Who are you?"

And so he explains everything. Planet Popstar. His friend. The cliff. In return, once they're on the bus, a hat on his head and cat fur lint-rolled off her sweater, she explains to him everything she can. Mostly it's inane sibling bullshit, and he gets sick of her rambling after a few minutes.

"So you're telling me I'm stuck in the body of a nerd with no powers, and I have you to rely on?"

"Hey, that's mean, Kirby," Mabel says. "I'm doing my best. Actually, we should give you a name because you're half my brothe-"

"Does your best have to include so many unnecessary tangents?"

"I'm trying!"

"Not very hard, it seems."

"What do you know about trying? Aren't you a pink puffball?"

"A pink puffball who saved the world, like, a billion times."

"Why are you so aggressive?"

"I'm not aggressive. I'm passive-aggressive because you're an annoying little kid and I don't want to deal with you."

She gets up and moves away from him after that. Which is fine by him. Not like he wanted to talk to her or hang out with her anyways.

There's a long pause where nothing happens, and then Mabel shifts where she's sitting on the other side of the bus.

"I'm calling you Kipper."

"Don't call me that."

"You're Kirby in my brother's body. I'm not calling you Dipper or Mason and I can't really call you Kirby."

"Try."

"No, I mean people will get upset if I do. Kipper is easier to pass off as people mishearing."

"That's a stupid name."

"Hey!"

"Makes sense. You're stupid, after all."

Mabel shuts up after that - a thing which he is eternally grateful for. Yeah, he's probably being mean, but he just died and he's sick of everything already. He hurts and he's tired and Mabel's voice is high and annoying.

The bus grinds to a halt at Gravity Falls and Kipper catches Mabel staring at him. Instead of acknowledging her, he gets off the bus.

Gravity Falls, Oregon.

He hates it already.

[mayihaveyournameplease]

TIMING: current PARTIES: Siobhan & Beau LOCATION: Tupperware SUMMARY: An unusual fae pair work together to escape and unwelcomed kidnapping. CONTENT WARNINGS:  Unsanitary tw. WRSPICE because IYKYK.

Siobhan didn’t sleep much; the night was for having fun and the day was for having fun and there was no time left to not have fun. Terrible things happened when Siobhan wasn’t having fun, anyway. So, when she did sleep, hopefully so thoroughly exhausted that dreams didn’t dare to knock on her skull, she coveted the time; it was sacred. When the smell of varying stale foods flooded her nose and pulled her up from sleep, she was angry. When she looked around and noted the thick, cloudy plastic walls and bright blue ceiling above, she was livid. Siobhan screamed; if anyone was asleep before, they certainly weren’t now. The plastic, for its part, simply quivered a little—being reinforced by its trips through the microwave, into the freezer and the fridge and then back into the microwave. It technically wasn’t freezer safe but that hadn’t stopped it from showing up in the freezer. 

Little Beau Beep was counting sheep. They danced and pranced in his dreams, and every time he got close to one it would snap its teeth at him. “I’ll turn you all into lamp chops!” He declared, pulling a flamethrower from the dimension dream items came from. Dinner was cooked well done. Deep in slumber, a cartoon figure donned in a sleeping cap with a singular puff at the end, and a onesie, buttflap unfortunately unflapped. The smell of old food wasn’t what woke him, it lingered well with the greasy feast he was partaking in. Instead, he woke up relaxed, and happy. A big stretch and a yawn, eyes blinking wearily. “Good morning world.” He announced, as if he was the star from which the universe revolved around. It wasn’t his bedroom he caught sight of. Beau blinked, rubbing the slumber from his eyes and eyes darting around. “I am not cheesed to be here.” He mumbled in his plastic container. Spotting another contained individual, Beau raised a hand in greeting. “Hello! There seems to be a mistake. I shouldn’t be here. Haha! I’m going to be late for work! Haha.” 

There weren’t many people Siobhan decided she hated upon first sight. To hate someone was usually far more care and attention she wanted to give. Yet, as a chill struck down her spine with the familiarity meeting another fae often did, and as he laughed the way that was too fake and utterly useless, Siobhan decided she hated him. Perhaps it wasn’t fair, they were stuck in a plastic container and that was sure to be what was really souring her mood. She forced herself to smile, in a way that was also too fake, and tried to be polite. “Unfortunately, I’m not the person that put you here! So I can't get you out. Haha.” She imagined jamming his head under the lip of the lid; she imagined it squeezing and popping off like a pea freed from its pod. The image brought her peace. “I’m also not…” she sighed. “…cheesed to be here.” She stepped closer to the man, despite herself. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to get out, would you? I would like to leave.” She paused. “Haha.” 

The tingle down Beau’s spine told him that this was another fae, which was nice. Beau hadn’t made many fae friends since coming to Wicked’s Rest. He had met that dumb fae child, but she was a lost cause. Then there was the Doctor fae that kept turning him down. Beau had stolen the knowledge that he was fae from her, so they couldn’t bond over that. Then there was the goat, who didn’t like him. All these Ls and Beau never couldn’t figure out why. Maybe this fae was a chance at redemption. “Haha!” Beau responded, at least this fae had a good nature. Full of laughs! Even if her laughs sounded a bit dry and flat. “Seems like we’ll be tasked with figuring out how to get out ourselves, haha!” He placed his hands on his hips, very much looking like that one construction worker who only ever watched as the others constructed. Beau turned in a slow circle, staring up at the plastic lid. “It would appear we are in very large tupperware.” Beau announced, as if it wasn’t the most obvious thing he could have said, and it was something helpful. “I’m just swissed about this. Haha!” His forced smile burned his cheeks. Beau did the most manly thing he could think of, he kicked the plastic container with his foot. His foot was only covered by the onesie foot. His toes crushed into the plastic causing him to topple over and curse with pain. “I HATE THIS I FUCKING HATE THIS.” He screamed into the air, before remembering he wasn’t alone. One cough. Two coughs. “I mean. Haha.”

“Haha,” Siobhan said plainly, using the idiotic phrase to hide the anger that roiled inside of her. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, saying ‘haha’ was an easy way to stop herself from saying ‘I don’t care if you’re a fae I’m going to skin you alive and use your flesh as a wreath’. “Haha.” Watching him hurt himself was nice, like a sitcom one might leave to play in the background; amusing enough but largely a waste of time. Even if the live studio audience in her head broke out in laughter, the more sensible director was keen on keeping them on task. As this man was a fae, despite his obvious flaws, Siobhan decided she would pretend like she cared about him. “Oh! You poor, sweet thing!” She walked very slowly to his side, bending down to try and help him out. “Your toe! Oh, how that must have hurt--this terrible, evil box wants to destroy your strong manly foot. Oh! If only you could use your big, smart brain to get us out of here. Oh! If only, maybe, you could stand on my shoulders and see if the lid will lift!” She smiled tightly at him. “Haha.” She was thinking his eyes would look lovely in a jar. 

The throbbing pain in his big toe was infuriating. He hopped around on his good foot for a bit while the other fae started talking. The fae, a woman, she was hot. A bit old looking for his normal tastes, but he could forgive a fae for aging since she was so nice. Beau preened as she doted on him, calling him strong and manly. He is strong and manly. He definitely could use all his big strong manly brain power to get them out of the box. Beau put his hands on his hips, he’d seen superheroes do it on posters and he was about to be the savior of this woman’s world, it seemed fitting. “Have no fear. You should stand on my shoulders. Since I’m so strong and manly. I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself with effort. Besides, I like a woman on top.” He added a wink, just to let her know that if she was interested in staying in this weird large tupperware container with him, he wouldn’t be against it.

The man looked like a simple tap would have him keeled over, Siobhan didn’t want to think about what having the full weight of someone on his shoulders would do to him. Thankfully, at least, she had fallen asleep in the same clothes she’d gone out in, so there was no free show for Beau if he decided to look up between her legs; pants could be a wonderful thing. “Oh, but shouldn’t we uplift men?” She tried to smile; she didn’t enjoy the fact her words seemed to work so well on him. “In this current political climate, shouldn’t men stand on top of women and push up heavy tupperware lids? What if my weak woman arms can’t do it?” Siobhan might have been born over a hundred years ago, but growing up in a matriarchal society that largely sacrificed its men had given her a very pointed view of the sexes; it was a very spider-like idea of feminism. Even joking in this manner had her stomach twisted into knots; she’d have to be careful about how she was complimenting the sad, small man. “I don’t want to damage your…” Siobhan gestured to his sad excuse for muscles. “...manly shoulders.” 

Beau’s chest started to puff out with each passing statement coming out of her mouth. This was a woman chasing after his own heart. Beau bravely ignored the throbbing in his left foot and straightened his back, chasing that extra inch that he knew would make him all the more handsome and impressive in her eyes. “I don’t say this a lot, but you might be the smartest woman I’ve ever met.” His tongue slipped against his upper lip. He’d seen tiktoks of younger men doing the same sign to look attractive to women. He hoped it was working. “Alright, I’ll get on your shoulders and I’ll use my strong manly arms to get us out of here. Anything for you, my excellently aged cheese.” He hoped it wasn’t too soon for fond nicknames. Every marriage needed fond nicknames. Oh wait. Maybe marriage was getting ahead of himself? He mulled it over before deciding it wasn’t. Beau walked closer to the woman, craning his neck up to look at her face. God. She was an amazonian of a woman. “Uppies.” He stated, holding his hands up as if he was the petulant toddler he acted like. 

If this man died right now, Siobhan was sure it would be her happiest memory. Nothing would fill her with more euphoria than being able to scream for him and then stab him several times. She was thinking twenty seven times but the count went up every time he opened his mouth. Suddenly, she didn’t want him on her shoulders. Maybe it would have been better if she had just crushed his trapezius with her heels. “Maybe you’re the smartest man I’ve ever met.” A muscle below her eye twitched. “You��re my hero, my egg,” she said, imagining cracking his skull like one. She hoped she never had to see him again. When he said ‘uppies’ she amended her thought: she hoped that she did see him again, thoroughly dead. 

Siobhan bent down, lifting the annoying gnat with ease--as, unlike the man, she was strong. A lifetime of rigorous training to be an instrument of Fate had changed her deceptively thin physique into the sort that could easily lift up another person. The feat was probably lost on him. “How are you?” She asked, straightening up slowly. She kept a firm grip on his legs, trying to stop him from falling over; she wasn’t sure what lies she’d have to tell about his manly body to get him to shut up if it happened. “Are your strong, big, thick, manly arms doing anything?” 

The woman lifted him up in his big strong arms, and Beau was a little breathless for a second. Strong and a man enjoyer? What did he do to get the whole package? His heart began palpitations. Then she was speaking again, honestly she spoke too much. That was another downside she had. When they got married she’d need to talk at least 95 percent less. Beau stretched his arms against the clear blue plastic cover and started pushing and pushing. At first it seemed like it wouldn’t budge.Then sound of plastic scraping against plastic, and it was becoming loose! “I’m doing it! I’m doing it!” Beau shouted, his feet doing little joy taps against the woman’s shoulders.

Beau was not doing it. A large face appeared. It belonged to a man. The ugliest man Beau had ever seen. “Hahaha! Some feisty ones.” The person’s voice was loud, causing Beau to shake a bit. “Get down. I’m here to deliver your daily milk.” Beau was manhandled. Could you believe it? Man handled! He was lifted off the woman’s shoulders and placed onto the plastic ground as milk began to pour over and around them. Beau was disgusted and a little aroused, if he was being honest. “Hey! Let us out!” He shouted, fist flying against the air. But nothing changed. Milk was delivered and the tupperware was closed. 

The only thing worse than having to deal with the annoying, short man would be a shower of milk. How strange it was that the next thing to happen was precisely that. Siobhan seethed, vibrating with the force of her rage. Milk dripped from her hair and soaked into her clothes, which clung tightly to her body in a way that was flattering, though that was the only fortunate thing about it. Milk covered their tupperware in a pool of white, coming up to Siobhan’s knees. She waded through the liquid, ready to be done with it. She’d plunge his body below the milky wavers and drown him. Escape would be more steps away from her but at least the last shreds of her sanity would remain. She stormed over to him, milk sloshing; she felt a little like a slow-motion attractive lifeguard coming to shore. The milky hair flip didn’t help with the image. 

She was close, close enough to strangle when she remembered that killing fae was the sort of thing that had gotten her wings ripped out. As much as Siobhan hated him in this moment, as he was the vehicle for her frustrations, he couldn’t be harmed; a fae was a fae and fae were family. “Looks like another case of someone trying to keep men down, my sweet, sweet omelet.” Her hands balled into fists by her sides; she spoke between clenched teeth. Her shoulders ached from where he had tapped in excitement on her. She wanted to crush him like a bug. “What now?” Her gaze dropped, she noticed a strange lump in her pocket--cylindrical. What did she have in there? She pulled it out, staring at the drenched knife. She twisted it, watching the blade catch light. “Would you look at that, my egg?” She grinned.

The worst thing about the milk was not the fact that it was seeping into his onesie, congealing against his toes and setting on his skin in a thick and sticky film. No. The worst thing was the milk was warm. Warm milk? What kind of sin had the woman next to him committed to cause them to end up in this place? Surely Beau had done nothing to deserve such a treatment from whatever giant had opened the container and doused them in warm milk. “Haha.” At this point the laugh had lost any and all luster it once had, the smile which never reached his eyes was starting to not reach his lips. How was he supposed to thrive under these conditions? Then Siobhan was pulling out a knife, and for a second, when she was calling him egg, he thought she was about to poach him. Beau blinked, a little bit of a laugh and went. “Haha, my finest aged cheddar, what are you going to do with that knife?”

Siobhan thought about how lovely the man’s blood would be against her knife; she pictured his skin ripping in layers when she would stab him, flesh given to blood given to bone. What sort of expression would he make, she wondered. Would he haha? She looked at him and then her knife and then back at him. She could not kill another fae. She splashed around the container, making her way to the wall. Siobhan plunged her knife into the worn plastic and pulled down with as much force as she could summon, ripping a jagged, vertical line into the box. It looked suspiciously like a certain anatomical opening, but Siobhan wasn’t going to make that comparison. “Come, help me open this,” she called back at the short man, pulling at one side of the tear. “I need your…strong man arms to help me…because I’m…too much of a woman.” She hoped he’d slice his hand on the plastic, feeding it to the warm wilk (which was surprisingly nice, she thought, like a bath).   

Beau smiled broadly as the beautiful and slightly too old and aged looking woman stabbed the knife into the plastic and started sawing their way out. He should have known she would be too weak to follow up. “Don’t worry, I am excellent with my hands.” Beau lied, but since he truly believed that lie to be true he suffered no ill effects. Beau stepped forward, shoving both of his hands into the gash she’d created and started tearing it open. Nothing happened. Beau coughed, adjusting his hands to focus on just one side pulling back instead of pushing the two halves apart. He started getting somewhere! The plastic gave a bit. “Big and strong, what can I say.” With each long and tiresome tug the opening got bigger and bigger until the plastic tore and Beau found himself being spilled out on the counter with the milk flowing out. Suddenly the world was no longer small and tiny and Beau was large. This was the tallest he’d ever been! Except, as he looked around, he started to get the feeling that he was simply his normal height now. Disappointing. 

Siobhan knew for certain, in that moment, that her partner in milk was completely useless. She pulled, her muscles flexing--as she’d been raised to be the perfect instrument of Death, there was an undeniable strength held in her limbs. She pulled, and pulled harder to make up for the man’s lackluster efforts. The tiny cut turned into a gash and then an opened and milk sloshed through and their bodies tumbled with it. Out of the tupperware, whatever strange--slightly perverted--magic was at work seemed to wear off and Siobhan was at her usual height, which towered over the obnoxious man. She brushed milk off of her; a futile gesture. “Siobhan,” she said, holding her milky hand out, “I forgot to introduce myself and…” She drew her hand back, which trembled in the cold, dry air. In front of her were a hundred jars, lined up in neat rows, holding their own lakes of milky fluid and a singular figure standing in the liquid. She thought she saw a unicorn in one; she wasn’t even sure those existed. Wordlessly, she tilted her head to the side and wrung milk out of her hair. “I think we avoided something terrible,” she said, “perhaps because of your manliness.” She added that only because she thought it was funny. 

In their miniature forms, the woman had towered over Beau. Old and tall, both had been marked against her in his constant judgment. However, stuck in a tupperware container, Beau had been kind enough to offer her grace. Grace that whatever had stuck them in that tupperware had messed up the shrinking process and had shrunk Beau just a little bit smaller. Now as the two of them were standing normal sized in a room full of jars, Beau felt disgust boil over him to realize she actually was just behemothly tall. That was very unbecoming of her. Old or tall. Pick a struggle. Then she introduced herself. Rage danced underneath Beau’s skin, causing it to prickle. He hadn’t asked for her name, eliminating all ease of snagging it from her. Sure. The pull in his chest informed him that she was a fellow fae, but she could have been kind enough to ask. His practiced smile pulled across his face as he turned to look up at her. “Beau. “ He returned his name, “But you can call me Beautiful. On account of how manly I am.” He struck a pose. At least she was smart enough to recognize him as the man he was.

She marveled at the ease in which murderous fantasies involving the man flooded into her mind. By the time Beau had finished introducing himself, Siobhan had mentally flayed, dismembered and tortured him in a hundred different ways. She stared down at him and knew that her favorite of the fantasies was the one where she crushed him like an insect. No, like a tin can; instead of a smear, she’d stomp down and snap bones into a perfect circle. She smiled. “Beautiful,” she said, looking beyond him and into the imagined version that waddled around with his collapsed body, slowly pulling up to reveal smashed bones and flattened skin in the shape of an accordion, dangling limply. “So beautiful.” Her imaginary arms lifted him, laying his accordion body on its side so she could separate each ring of flesh so she could twist it again to get a never-ending cord of his body. She looked around at the tupperware and jars and suddenly it all made a sort of perverse sense to her. The warm milk, however, remained a mystery. 

She knelt down to his level. “Beau, beautiful, manly Beau.” Siobhan rested a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. “Putting you in a jar would be such a waste. I’d want you where everyone could see. I’d want wrapped around the room like tinsel. I’d call people over, I’d say ‘look at Beau, isn’t he so beautiful’.” You wouldn’t believe it, he was such a tiny man in his life, now look at how tall and grand I made him. It was the sort of irony Siobhan liked. “You’re so special. You would have been wasted here. I’m so happy that you’re free.” Trapped, Beau’s unique, repugnant nature would have been lost to the world. He was a pacifier, sized like one too; her mind reached a new level of calm, setting all its cognitive efforts into cruel punishments. He was meditative, soothing, a zen garden for a murderer. She leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to the tip of his nose, picturing herself with acid lips to break down his cartilage. “Beautiful Beau.” She rose to her feet. “I hope the next time we meet, there’s less milk.” And she left.

That night, she completely forgot about the stained tupperware and all questions she had about how they got there or where there even was—she didn’t even remember how she got home—but she couldn’t forget Beau. He’d given her so much peace that for the first time in over forty years, she slept through the night, carried by easy dreams of Beau dying beautifully. 

Maybe older women had their place in this society. Despite the lines around her eyes, and her probably sagging bosom, Beau was enthralled by the tenderness at which Siobhan reviered him. Despite asking, multiple times, to be referred to as Beautiful, Siobhan was the first to listen to him. She kissed his nose. She left him speechless. If only she was better looking. Beau watched as she walked away, not ready yet to escape from the room that had bound them. Milk clung to him, and he knew it would sour and turn disgusting soon, but there was one thing he needed to do first. He’d seen a unicorn, miniaturized just like they had been, only in a jar. Beau plucked it off the shelf and dropped it into his milk-soaked pocket. This would be coming home with him.

[hearteyedbunny]

you mentioned an oc, Thatcher, in your tags on an oc prompt post. who's he?

these tags??

oh Thatcher. oh my sweet boy. he is most definitely "always having a bad time, all the time". LMFAO.

his name is Thatcher Black! he's a priest, in his early thirties and dedicated to his job and community. he's a very, very honest and kind man, he would do anything for anyone if they asked. he's devout to his religion and tries to use it in a way to better the world, not tear it down. that being said, he also struggles with putting himself first and standing up for himself because of it.

well. an angel named Abaddon (or Abby) is sent to earth to be his sort of... guardian angel. except they are incredibly bad at their job. I'm still working on their story, but they are using Thatcher to regain their status as a high ranking angel after being cast out because of...previous activities on earth not going as planned. I don't want to type too much, but just know Abby is not a good person and cares little for the people (especially humans) they hurt along the way of achieving their goal. they are just here to have a good time.

so! long story short, the two meet and Thatcher's entire world view is shaken to its core. sure, angels are real apparently, but there is no singular all mighty "God" that he preaches about, only several different deities running different aspects of the world, and the angels that work under them. all of his views are wrong, everything he preaches about is wrong, the book he runs his life by is wrong. he feels like a fraud, but tries to continue his life as normally as he can despite being shaken to his core. and on top of everything else he now has to deal with this angel taking up space in his life. and apartment.

their story is a bit long but Abby gets him into many a precarious and dangerous situation. Thatcher slowly unravels as they spend more time together, him falling in love with Abby being his absolute downfall and being the thing that ends up killing him. I haven't decided if his death is the "canon" ending, but it feels fitting for a man who loses himself and intertwines his life with such a dangerous otherworldly being.

SORRY THAT GOT LONG! him and Abby's stories are intertwined so I can't have one without the other. I should have just said Thatcher is Abby's punching bag and been done with it haha. Thatch is never having a good day ever in his life. but at least he gets to kiss a beautiful angel.

unfinished art of them for your viewing pleasure

[coffinsister]

Eeee so I can't pick a favorite between Ashley and Andrew but when I was playing it I definitely saw Ashley as sorta yandere vibes? Like yknow with the girl dying in the box was the primary example, Andrew going along with it too was like 👀 because why would he go along with killing someone unless he was either The Biggest Doormat (which i definitely understand seeing the creator's notes) or he was also vaguely yandere but not acknowledging it. There's a lot of toxicity between them obviously and a lot of trauma (not sure where from aside from whole being locked in the apartment for Hecc knows how long and maybe neglectful parents) but they seem to be reading the same book but they're not the same page if that makes sense. Andrew probably also has some Older Sibling syndrome going on there because he cares about Ashley if reluctantly sometimes and takes responsibility for things, while Ashley makes sense as the younger sibling (as an older sister myself it at least was recognizable with how Andrew was telling Ashley she had to realize what they'd done at the end of the chapter) and with the whole demon thing it made me wonder what the talisman will show Ashley or if there will be more complicated horror with the two of them encountering more cultists or if their parents had something to do with the issue because I definitely agree on the whole sus mom thing

All in all I love how the game gives us enough information to see kind of where it could go but doesn't spoil the plot and the Coffin part of the title definitely gave me 4th wall thoughts similar to Homestuck. The apartment/demon occult based horror is similar to Sally Face too so it just took the gremlins and made me super interested in the story. If i ever write anything i'll definitely send it to you!! I work as a writer off of tumblr for a larp company currently though so my brain is a bit fried but I love this game a lot and it was super interesting to see what was going on in the story 👀

Thank you !!! Don't overheat your brain anymore than necessary to survive in the techno capitalist hellscape singularity we are currently in but if you do find the time to write anything that would be amazing :D

And now to answer everything else:

I love both siblings for their own reasons I really do but I fell in love with Andrew the moment I saw him because brocon tendencies defeat all sorts of common sense immediately for me

Yeah Ashley totally fits into the yandere archetype except she's more real I would say and she's definitely more western than full on anime like

I say she's more real because she's actually shown to struggle a lot with socialization and with her parents and just seems to be rejected by the world around her because of her personality instead of just being a random girl who somehow exists with that behavior and it's okay

Yeah I actually don't really understand Andrew's motivations for going along with stuff all that deeply I always feel like there's something I'm missing with him but mostly I just see it as well he genuinely really cares for his sister and doesn't want to see her in distress and he's super codependent as well and cannot lose and he's a pushover too and finds it easier to go along and blame her for everything instead of standing up to her and risk losing her and then having to confront himself

As Ashley did say she's the only person he can be real with so he can't stand to lose her

I also totally think he's yandere on his own right like maybe yandere wouldn't be the right term for him because he definitely doesn't present himself at first as more approachable like Ashley does but he's still super overprotective of her

Like straight up one of the like 7 times the Rage sprite is used twice are just for the time where Ashley makes the comment about getting pregnant from their neighbor

So yeah they are both yanderes for each other and we love that for them

Personally I see the trauma from them steming from yeah killing that girl that's definitely not something you can just walk off but also from their parents seeming to be very detached and neglectful of them and also from Ashley specifically I see her as somebody who's never managed to have a long lasting relationship of any type with anybody other than Andrew

She expresses that just who she is and her personality makes people turn away from her and that over so much time and starting up from so young can really mess a person up

And then she starts isolating Andrew too and they wind up becoming dependant on each other and no matter what forcing one person to carry the weight that a whole entire social circle should is always going to end up turning toxic ah~ which is what I so love about them I'm just a natural sucker for toxic siblings dynamics

Actually your perspective saying that Ashley fits as a little sister is really interesting to me because I am a little sister I can't really understand how older siblings look at their younger siblings but I can see a lot of how me and my older sister are like in just how they banter and stuff

Like that bit where Andrew is like nope you go get the batteries It was like a Deja Vu for me swear to God

I definitely think the whole prophetic dreams stuff is gonna play a big role in the full game and I'm really looking forwards to the horror potential of it all

I also really enjoy the idea of Ashley being super paranoic all the time about everything she dreams because what if she interprets it wrong what if she doesn't see the right thing what if it ends up getting Andrew hurt and as much as he doesn't want him to be able to live on without her that stems from the fact that she definitely cannot live on without him

One thing I really enjoy about dystopian stories is that they tell you just enough they make you feel like the world was already here before you and you are just watching it at the moment and this game does that so well

I know nothing about Homestuck but everyday I learn something new about it as it seems

And sorry, as you can probably tell, I can talk a whole lot about my special interests jejeje (☍﹏⁰).

[inscrutable-shadow]

WIP Intro: An Umbral Arena

An Umbral Arena by Coy Chambers

part of the ieiunusverse series

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Sci-fi, New Adult, LGBTQ+, Whump

Estimated Length: 50-70k

Features: Lady Whump, Vampires, Lesbians, Vampire Lesbians, Thanatos is a Wife Guy, Rhys is Wondering Why He is Even Here, The Author is Aware Avrae is a Mary Sue, Homosexual Pining, Stoic Whumpees, Rival Teams, Environmental Whump, Team Combat, Field Medicine

Posting: On Tumblr and AO3! Not going to commit to a schedule because it's me, but hoping to have at least one chapter out a month! (my chapters can be between 4k and 10k so it'll be worth the wait I swear)

Summary:

Avrae's always been a soldier. She is now very firmly retired, of course, content to casually hunt petty criminals and read gothic literature, but when the closest person she has to an "old friend" knocks at her door, does she really have a choice but to drop everything and risk her life in an intergalactic blood-sporting competition she will almost certainly fail to return from? Of course not. The Umbral Arena is designed to break you down until you can't pick yourself up again, but the biggest challenge will be managing a collection of vampires who unequivocally hate each other and keep them working as a unit until it's complete. There really is no rest for the wicked.

Cast:

Avrae Tenebrus - (she/they genderfluid bi lesbian) - two thousand years old and about tired of your bullshit, a mall goth/punk who values getting a job done and having fun while you're doing it (and if you can't, getting it over with as quickly as possible)

Beatrice Nocta - (she/her cis demiromantic lesbian who doesn't know it yet) - six thousand years old and has spent five thousand of those in administration, a victorian goth who values stoicism and practicality, sponsor of the Arena team

Thanatos Iuventus - (he/him cis? homoromantic bisexual) - four thousand years old and not intending on cutting that short any time soon, a dark academic who'd much rather be writing a philosophy treatise than anything involving being stabbed or shot at, dedicated Wife Guy whose husband is the manifestation of Reality itself so write that down, have you seen aer? look this is my husband isn't ae beautiful?

Rhys Velancier - (he/him cis bisexual) - a fresh-faced five hundred year old on the field trip of a lifetime, happy to be anywhere he gets to slash open arteries with his scythe

Emsy O'Connor - (they/them) - the twenty-nine year old empty-shell reader insert from the original ieiunus has a bit more personality than a reader insert should really have, an aspiring novelist working as a barista who sucks in any and all supernatural-related knowledge

World Eater Less - (it/its) - a sentient singularity orphaned at a young (for a singularity) age, fond of Rhys and consuming new objects to understand them

The Archfey, Reality - (ae/aer) - the manifestation of Reality itself/one of the Twin Divines, Thanatos' partner and host for Emsy and Less during the events of the Arena

and more....

Excerpt:

"What do you need so badly that you'd give me a transwarp and a second hunting planet to get it for you?" Beatrice takes a sip of Blanc, steadying herself. She'd probably rather be anywhere but here begging Avrae for help. Av doesn't talk about other vampires much, but from what I can tell, they kind of hate each other by nature. "My house is dying." ... "You need the prize… Bea, it could kill you." "Yes. It could." "We'd probably be destroyed before we ever got that far." "It's possible." "You're sure about this? This isn't something you can back out from." "I am aware of the risks. I have offered sufficient compensation for the assumption that you are also aware of them." ... "I'll do it. Not for the hunting planet, obviously. For you."

Tag List:

@albatris, @robinbugbanned, @painful-pooch, @milkshakes-lust-and-chiral-dust, @thethistlegirl

Let me know if you'd like to be added or removed!

[a-dragons-journal]

Tsaheyluri // Regarding the Bond

(A disclaimer for any fandom folk who stumble across this: I speak here of my own noemata as if they are The One True Canon(TM). This is purely for the sake of ease. I do not in fact believe in The One True Canon(TM); if your headcanons or interpretation of canon differ from mine, please take no offense and godspeed, have fun. I speak here only of my personal alterhumanity, my noemata, my Pandora. You are entitled to your own.)

Tumblr decided to shatter on impact and eat the first version of this, so here we go again.

Anyone who has read my previous writings about my hearthome has some idea of the fact that one of the things that draws my heart to Pandora most is tsaheylu, the Bond, and Eywa, the result thereof. For those unaware: tsaheylu is the Na'vi word for what happens when two Pandoran animals join their mehuru (singular kuru), their neural queues, specialized organs many Pandoran animals have which allow them to make a direct connection between their nervous systems, creating an intimate connection and mind-to-mind communication. The Na'vi famously use tsaheylu to tame and ride several species - the ikran, the pa'li, the ilu, and I'm sure many others - but it's not limited to Na'vi; fa'li are known to make tsaheylu amongst themselves before large herd movements, presumably to coordinate the herd.

I have noticed a discrepancy in how fandom folk tend to talk about tsaheylu versus how I think about it. When I see tsaheylu brought up in fandom, outside of "is this or that kind of bond possible" conversations at least, it's almost always in the context of "I wish I could bond with and fly on an ikran" or similar - that is, focused on the actions tsaheylu allows, rather than on the bond itself.

Perhaps it's just that my longing for flight is taken up by my longing for my own flight in the context of my draconity, but this is... beside the point of tsaheylu, for me. I long for tsaheylu of its own sake - the ability to bond with another being that closely, to Know another creature more intimately than this world allows. That is the point of tsaheylu to me - it's not just a tool to a greater end, it's an act of connection, an act of love.

In all fairness to the fandom: the movie does not do a great job of conveying tsaheylu, and that's no fault of the movie's either, just a side effect of the medium. Tsaheylu is really something that would be better conveyed in a written medium, because it's an internal, perceptive experience - you can't see the effects of tsaheylu from the outside. We get some idea of it from that first scene where Jake makes tsaheylu with a pa'li for the first time, with Neytiri serving to narrate and explain it to us, but it's still... shallow, at least compared to my gut instincts about what it's actually like. And then the rest of the movie it's just kind of a background feature - which is completely understandable, but kind of unfortunate.

Tsaheylu is a bond. It is a merging of two into one - a partnership, a working-together. This, I think, is also a common misunderstanding on fandom and sometimes canon's part, and I understand that this part is entirely my interpretation: the Na'vi do not command or take over the animals they bond with. They partner with them. The pa'li does not do what the Na'vi wants because it has to, it does so because the Na'vi asks respectfully, and because through tsaheylu it gains an understanding of why they are doing these things, why they are important, as the Na'vi understands it. It understands, at least while it can understand the world through Na'vi eyes, that the work they do together that would otherwise be utterly foreign to a "wild" pa'li enables them to care for each other and create a life that is safer and more comfortable for both of them than it would be alone.

This is, I think, part of why Jake struggles so much with learning to ride. He's constantly trying to command his mounts - we see it in his first flight with his ikran as well. Even in his Iknimaya -

This line, to me, is a sign that he still does not fully get it. He's still thinking of these animals in terms of possession, of mastery. And, predictably, his first flight almost gets him immediately killed.

Now, we don't... see him figure this out onscreen. But the way he talks to his ikran here, versus how he interacts with him later:

The fond smile, the use of "we," the acknowledgement of Bob's (yes, he canonically named his ikran Bob.) feelings about it, the fact that Bob came back for him unprompted after the destruction of Kelutral despite the potential danger that posed - all of these say to me that they have bonded beyond "guy and animal he considers a servant." Maybe I'm wrong about that, but it's kind of beside the actual point I was getting to here, I've just realized I've done the ADHD thing and derailed.

Back on track! (Can you tell I don't edit these before I post them?)

Anyway. The point is, tsaheylu is... so much more than "control an animal with your mind," or even "talk to an animal with your mind." You become not-two-not-one. You feel each other's bodies, each other's minds; with a little practice, communication can become so instantaneous that you move as one being. It is the deepest kind of tìkusame, of Knowing, that one can have.

And... we don't have it here. It crushes me, sometimes. Not because I'll never be able to fly on an ikran, not because I'll never be able to do something tsaheylu allows, but because I will never have that connection itself, that deepest knowledge of someone and being known in return. That is the importance, the meaning, of tsaheylu.

(A note: For anyone wondering about weird word changes in this, such as kuru -> mehuru, pa'li -> fa'li, etc., it's a function of Na'vi pluralization, which I prefer to keep even when the rest of the sentence is in English because "pa'lis" looks deeply wrong to me. Na'vi has three plural prefixes: me- (2), pxe- (3), and ay- (4+). All of these inflict lenition, meaning if the word they're appended to starts with certain sounds, those sounds get softened: tx -> t, kx -> k, px -> p, t/ts -> s, k -> h, p -> f, and ' gets eliminated entirely. Thus, kuru (one queue) becomes mehuru (two queues), pa'li (one direhorse) becomes (ay)fa'li (4+ direhorses), etc. The ay- prefix can be eliminated in cases such as fa'li where lenition is present, because if a word is lenited with no prefix, it's assumed to be in the general plural ay-; I frequently do this because it's faster (except when the lenition is getting rid of ', because I have trouble hearing the difference between, say, 'angtsìk and angtsìk when spoken), but it's not required.)

[sorrowtainted]

man sometimes i just think about... god/eldritch-like being chuuya... (my headcanons and stormbringer spoilers under the cut!)

I was kind of sad about stormbringer at first, ngl, because i absolutely adored the concept of chuuya being a literal god and struggling with his humanity as a result of that, and stormbringer seemed to kind of debunk that entirely. but then i realized i could easily come up with headcanons to make my ideas work anyway asfjsdhkjs

i do think what's (probably) intended in canon is great too, but I love the concept of a singularity being like... while it's not strictly a god in the conventional sense, and scientists think of it as more of a non-living phenomena than anything else... nobody actually really knows what one really is. while it's noted several times that the singularities don't have "personalities" so to speak, they do seem to embody the feeling of hatred, which suggests some level of sentience, at least to me - and who's to say that they aren't alive on a level that humans simply can't comprehend??

that goes along with my other headcanon, where first things first. chuuya is the clone - i know he was strongly implied to be the original and not the clone in stormbringer's epilogue, but it's not explicitly stated, so either interpretation works in my mind. either way though, i like thinking of the "artificial personality" of chuuya as having become one with the singularity arahabaki, which in spite of the scientist's beliefs, is actually more akin to a living, ancient being than an ability - one that simply accesses the world through the phenomenon of contradictory abilities clashing.

basically, i may not be explaining this right, but chuuya is actually arahabaki, the ancient and incomprehensible creature, rather than just a vessel for him. however, the artificial code used to create a human personality for arahabaki and his human body kind of interacted upon his "birth" with his already existing consciousness as a "god" and they kind of fused, in a way?? i'll probably make another post explaining what i mean better later, since i'm not sure i'm making sense, but.

i'm partially biased because i have a huge thing for the whole "arabahaki is chuuya" concept and have done from the start, but it's also because like... i like the theme of chuuya actually NOT being human in the most literal sense, but slowly coming to terms with the fact that he still is human in every other way that counts. that just feels more meaningful to me personally than him being a perfectly ordinary person after all. i liked that there was plenty of language in stormbringer bringing home how otherworldy the singularities were too, tbh.

tldr is that in my mind, in spite of what we were told in stormbringer, chuuya is the singularity arahabaki rather than just being a vessel for him, and accordingly, singularities are actually not what they appear to be and are living on some level, similar to the concept of "gods." i'm just trying to work that headcanon in with stormbringer so that everything's still technically compliant with it, lol. please tell me if this post makes no sense because i suspect that's the case and i'll explain better hopefully ahsdhfksdjdskj

[rin-and-jade]

I'll like to stay on Anon, as of now, as that way I am free from consequences. Anyways, Do you have any other inconsistencies in personality? I would say that I really do constantly change my personality. It's kinda weird, as I have one singular line of consciousness throughout the day, but in that day I am constantly changing how I act and present. You can currently see it right now, as when I wrote to you earlier in the day I wrote way more eccentrically and emotionally, while as of now I write more professionally and medically. It honestly feels fake to me, but I make no conscious effort to do this... as far as I know... Are there gaps on memory that can't be explained and still happen randomly? There's not really "gaps" in memory, but I do struggle with it. As I mention before, I experience a single line of consciousness, and don't really have areas where I was, I guess, blacked out or something. However, I do seriously struggle with memory. I say alot that I do not have memory and I live in a constant present, and I really do think this is the best way to describe how I feel. I struggle with my perception of where I am in time, I don't really know what I did yesterday, or for a large chunk of today, a lot of times people tell me about things I don't remember, and I have absolutely no idea what I ever did for most of my life. Any thoughts or feelings or urges that pops up even if it feels foreign, or something you don't recognize where it came from? I would say like at least 30-40% of my thoughts, feelings, or urges are like this. Just irrational, out of nowhere, but not really like intrusive thoughts or feelings or urges. There's not really much else to say, but I would note that like 70-80% of my actions do not feel like they're my own. Is there any other personas present excluding this one? How many can you guess if it's a yes. I don't fully know what you mean by personas. If you mean identities... well... maybe... I can't really directly talk to her, but I did completely lose my sense of who I was once and I directly trace who I felt like to a, well, like a part or a side of me, or something like that. There's not really any good words to describe what those things are in my brain. However, I can kinda feel that there is at least 3 different parts who wants, see, and feel different things in me. It's more like a battle in my brain over what I should do. One is prone to anger, and is quite cynical. They don't trust the world and has a grim view of it. One is softer, and a whole lot more feminine than the rest, they've always seemed to be good at actually being able to address and acknowledge issues I have. She's more hopeful, and tends to trusts other stuff more. The last is just a pure jokester I or something I think. They don't really have any different world views or wants, they just tell me to say jokes 24/7. It really sounds like I'm describing alters, but truthfully, I do just don't know what these are. For all I know, they could just be different sides of me showing at different times, and there's actually no separation If you have inner monologue, do you find yourself talking actual conversations, as if, like a real person responding to you? And could elaborate, add opinions, and etc. It is possible if I'm conflicted. It's less like a real conversation, and more like a "There's this" "but what, there's is also this and that" I can't really explain it well, as I've never questioned it, and I'm not fully sure this is truthful, or an accurate representation of how I think. How often do you feel different on the things you like, hate, or prefer, has it been confusing for you or has it been the same and stable? Mayybe? I don't really know, the tiredness kinda kicked in as I was writing this section, so I can't think well, but I do certainly constantly change my thoughts on all the different things I do. I wouldn't say it's confusing though, as they usually seemed to make sense to me. I think my likes are just kinda fluid, I always change what my likes are cause I get bored and just swap it up a bit.

Yeah thats fine, and hm.. you might sound like one to me, but take that as a second person opinion.

Let me give you a read on DID right here and for the OSDD here. These two links has been skimmed by me to ensure the articles given elaborates better, have more explanation, or a better text/structure for ease of reading.

And come back to me once more to tell your evaluation/conclusion (after reading that) and also add if this defines your situation, alright?

- j