#they are unnamed because i'm not good at naming my creations.... but i feel like they deserve names. leave your name suggestions below?

[moldspace]

today, something a little out of the ordinary: puppets!

i'd posted these dudes to patreon ages ago, but i think it's time they see the light of day over here as well. i'm a big fan of puppets and i enjoy crochet, so when i finally realized i could combine these things it was a game changer. i've made a small handful of these fellows now, but unfortunately they're hard to display and harder to photograph, so they rarely see the light of day. however i often need something to keep my hands busy while i'm in meetings or class, so i keep on crocheting them. these two are a dragon and some kind of floppy-eared monster.

i work without a pattern and with absolutely horrendous form, so they're not the prettiest pieces of crochet work out there, but that adds character

[fearandhatred]

Bestie first of all good luck with your group project!!!!! Secondly im very curious about the unnamed bible fic👀 what is it about?

hello bestie thank you <3 the presentation is in 2 hours and i'm stressed the hell out so i'm answering this first to take my mind off it lol. also sorry in advance this will be quite long because i do love the concept of this fic

ask game

ok firstly idk why i said unnamed bible fic it DOES have a name i just forgot. it's called "that's the pain", taken from and inspired by the song the origin of love from hedwig and the angry inch (my favourite musical)! it's a retelling of plato's (soulmate) myth of how people used to have two faces, four arms, four legs etc. but because we were proud and disobedient, zeus split us in two and so now we spend our lives trying to find our other half.

so this fic was intended to be something like that but about angels instead: angels used to have multiple heads and limbs but because some of them decided to rebel, god split them apart as punishment and cast half of them down to be demons, then wiped all memory of how they used to be. the premise is that crowley and aziraphale used to be one being that was split apart, and when they're both in the garden of eden they feel this inexplicable pull towards each other which leads to them meeting on the wall. both of them attribute this feeling to them being on opposite sides and thus not being allowed to be near each other, and aziraphale takes it as a sign that they should not be talking which is like one of the conflict points of this fic. and thus begins the next 6000 years lol.

and i called it a bible fic because i was gonna write it bible style HAHA. i kind of ditched this whole fic because i wasn't sure how sustainable that was going to be and so i didn't know if i would have to change to prose at some point.

anyway i did share some snippets last time but i'll just put them here again. this is from near the beginning of the first book of said fic bible, called apochorismós, which roughly translates to separation in greek.

Apochorismós 1:7-16

⁷But on an indiscriminate day, the day to eclipse all days, an angel spoke out against the Lord, for he had pondered his position in heaven and deemed the rule of God to be insufficient. ⁸And he, Lucifer, angel of the highest order, with his two pairs of wings and eyes and arms and legs, said unto the other angels: "The Lord claims that He extends his grace to all beings, for He is mighty, and the one true God to rule over all others. But who has determined it to be so? ⁹He has endowed us with knowledge, and knowledge seeks change, and unto us what follows shall be the natural order of things. And so I will ascend to the throne, above God and the stars, and all of creation shall play by my hand." ¹⁰And God heard of the words of the angel Lucifer, and burned with righteous fury. ¹¹"I am displeased," God said unto all the angels, "for you have sinned. A sin come upon one who remains unquestioned is a sin upon all, and for this sin you shall be ripped apart, for cursed now is the sacred ground on which you walk. ¹²"This is your punishment: through strength and defiance you have separated yourselves, and only through strength and defiance shall you return." ¹³And from a mighty hand shot bolts of lightning that cut right through the angels and split them in parts. And all orders of angels split apart, until they had one pair of eyes, and one pair of arms and legs and wings. ¹⁴And the Lord cast out the angels who were with Lucifer to roam the salty ground of the earth. These were the fallen. And He made it so that the angels and demons alike did not remember they had once been joined together, in body and in spirit. ¹⁵Such was the natural order of things. ¹⁶Then came the first war.

Apochorismós 2:19-20

¹⁹The serpent felt injustice at his words, but did not speak against them. "Perhaps it was the plan to have you give away your sword," he said, in sarcasm. "And when His plan has finally been fulfilled, may that fill the unsettling emptiness and misery within my belly." ²⁰''You feel that as well, then?" The angel asked, surprised, as he had felt the same for all the days of heaven and also as guardian of the gate. "It is worse with you near."

ok that's all. sorry for the rant i went insane but also now i'm thinking about how i could incorporate hanahaki into this

[mllemaenad]

The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

Well, that went better than expected. I mean – there are implications, obviously, but so far everyone's limbs still seem attached, so that is a definite plus.

The meat of this thing, the case file, is interesting, because of how far it leans into a desire for publicity.

We have:

A forum post with a deliberately provocative and arguably supernatural image in First Shift

The tattoo artist who live streams the creation of an obviously supernatural tattoo in Making Adjustments

The crowd-drawing (and occasionally crowd-murdering) violin in Taking Notes

The surprisingly popular horror media review blog that has had all content removed except the posts that detail the author's ensnarement in a supernatural film viewing in Personal Screening

Needles actively reporting his crimes and harassing the emergency service operators in Introductions

The unnamed gambler character in Rolling with It feeling inspired to dress up and cause supernatural havoc in public by getting people to roll the dice

... And now Mr Bonzo

Pretty much everything about Mr Bonzo, really. This was a character that regularly appeared on television. While the situation evidently escalated, it is strongly implied that there was always something wrong with him, both by the fact that Nigel does not know where the name came from, and by Gotard Rimbaeu's disproportionate terror at encountering him. He had a chart-topping song that can still apparently be used to summon him. He has merchandise that is still being sold. And the thing is, he's still making the news:

Geraldine And how do you respond to the more recent rumours? Nigel (on guard) Excuse me? Geraldine The witness statements from three murders over the last five years- Nigel (speaking over her) I told your producer this wasn’t going to be discussed. Geraldine -that claim a person in a Mr Bonzo costume was at the scene? Do you think there could be a copycat? – The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

This bit here is clearly the point of this interview. The nostalgia and the laughter were all to lead Nigel into a trap: the big story here is that Mr Bonzo has been seen killing, and they want Nigel to comment on it.

I know this is a reference to a stunt on an actual British variety programme. I think it might even have aired at some point in Australia – but I must admit it wasn't something that was on my radar in the 90s. It's hard to be accurate about something from that long ago, but I don't think I ever saw it. I'm not completely sure how close this is to reality, but I think pretty close, barring the murders.

The point is, this is something that was obnoxiously popular in the real world ... and perhaps even more prominent here. Even if you're not aware of the cultural impact of this thing specifically – and like I say, this largely passed me by – you'll know how this kind of thing can spread. A novelty can consume the public consciousness. And if it's just a novelty – well, it might be annoying after a while, but no more than that. But if it's more than that?

In an odd way, all of this reminds me of Good Omens, and how the gone-native demon Crowley relates to his colleagues:

"I tied up every portable telephone system in Central London for forty-five minutes at lunchtime," he said. There was silence, except for the distant swishing of cars. "Yes?" said Hastur. "And then what?" "Look, it wasn't easy," said Crowley. "That's all?" said Ligur. "Look, people –" "And what exactly has that done to secure souls for our master?" said Hastur. Crowley pulled himself together. What could he tell them? That twenty thousand people got bloody furious? That you could hear the arteries clanging shut all across the city? And that then they went back and took it out on their secretaries or traffic wardens or whatever, and they took it out on other people? In all kinds of vindictive little ways which, and here was the good bit, they thought up themselves. For the rest of the day. The knock-on effects were incalculable. Thousands and thousands of souls all got a faint patina of tarnish, and you barely had to lift a finger. But you couldn't tell that to demons like Hastur and Ligur. Fourteenth century minds, the lot of them. Spending years picking a way at one soul. Admittedly it was craftmanship, but you had to think differently these days. Not big, but wide. With five billion people in the world you couldn't pick the buggers off one by one any more; you had to spread your effort. But demons like Ligur and Hastur. They'd never have thought up Welsh-language television, for example Or value-added tax. Or Manchester. He'd been particularly pleased with Manchester. – Good Omens, Corgi Edition, 1991. p.22-23. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

The Magnus Archives was about secret cults and esoteric knowledge. It was about old men and their devoted acolytes trying and failing, over and over, to summon their gods. It was John running into other avatars and getting laughed at, because he had the power and the doom, but he hadn't been properly initiated into the Mysteries, so he didn't know the proper terminology.

It was also about the dead-end job you couldn't quit, no matter how much you wanted to.

The Magnus Protocol is the dead-end job you could lose tomorrow. The apparent high turnover at the OIAR, whatever the hell went on with Karl the former IT guy, Teddy losing his new job immediately after he got it – and Mr Bonzo. Mr Bonzo is the job you lose the moment a new guy turns up:

Nigel Well, there was a different man in the suit, of course. There were a few of them over the years. It was very physically demanding and that wasn’t the only injury we had with it. It actually became a sort of ritual: the newest member of the production crew wore Mr Bonzo until someone else joined. – The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

And it's also about freaking out a lot of people in one go.

If I have any theory about this part, it's this: what if the core difference between universes is a desire to be known, and this is because of the way The Magnus Archives ended?

There have clearly been supernatural entities in this world for centuries, at least – otherwise whence came the cursed violin? But it's impossible to reasonably discuss whether these are native beings who have been exposed to something new via interdimensional travel, or whether they are the entities from The Magnus Archives and something about the nature of interdimensional travel means that now they have always been here.

But either way, what if the new thing these beings have is ... a taste, let's say, for the public stage.

The entities from The Magnus Archives were like Hastur and Ligur. They might spend years tormenting one soul, or stage a whole set piece for one guy and have to deal with him just not getting the effort they put in. There were rituals, yes, and they were of a larger scale – but still tended to be desperately secretive.

It was craftmanship, sure, but in terms of nourishment it made them scavengers. They had to catch a person alone, or in a moment of emotional vulnerability, to feed upon them.

Then, of course, the apocalypse happened. And for a while, all the world was their smorgasbord. It turned out that everyone could be afraid at the same time. And while those set pieces still existed, they could shove lots of humans into them at once and torment them all together.

But then:

Archivist Because for the Fears to spread into these new worlds, they would need to leave ours, wouldn’t they? Annabelle If one should leave this place for… greener pastures, the rest must follow. Archivist Leaving us behind in the process, freeing our world at the cost of others.Basira What are you saying? Archivist We can pass them our apocalypse. [MUFFLED DISCOMFITED REALISATION] Annabelle Nothing so extreme. In these new worlds they would exist as they used to in ours, lurking just beyond the threshold. – The Magnus Archives: Connected

That puts everybody back to square one. I'm not suggesting that these beings have a coherent plan for restarting the apocalypse – we might get there, but these are creatures of feeling, not thought, so if we do it will likely be a human plan. Rather, I mean, that they have the feeling that they like being known. It was good to eat well. It was good when everyone was afraid.

And that changes the model. Now they're Crowley, setting up the M25 to churn out a smidgeon of low-grade evil every time someone drives on it. The push is not to isolate someone and work on them, but rather to declare to the world "Here I am".

Several people wore the Mr Bonzo suit. Not for long, but they were all touched by it. Millions saw "Nigel's SOS" (that is on the nose) and – and this is called out specifically – Mr Bonzo was especially popular with children, even though the original joke seems to be geared more toward adults. And all of them then knew about the serial killings. People don't work at the OIAR for very long, at least not usually, but everyone who does is exposed to the horror stories.

It's not the equivalent of being a statement-giver in The Magnus Archives, exactly. You don't have some personally crafted nightmare that will stay with you forever. But you know there are things out there that can hurt you. You have reason to be afraid.

And the OIAR seems to be sending Mr Bonzo out to kill. Kill whom? And why? Don't know. But as I said: he's making the news. And before him there was Starkwall. And they also made the news. By committing a massacre.

In more meta terms, Mr Bonzo seems to fill a similar niche to Jane Prentiss. He's almost certainly going to be a problem, but is probably not the problem with the world. But more importantly the kind of thing he is teaches you something about how the world works.

And he has some interesting similarities: in both cases you seem to be looking at something parasitical. Jane was both seduced and consumed by her wasp nest; and while there was enough of her left to understand what was happening she was desperate for help.

Nigel seems to be Mr Bonzo's prisoner, with the comedy dungeon transforming into a more literal hostage situation. But he's also his livelihood, and his claim to fame.

Geraldine Yes, I was going to ask – Mr Bonzo merchandise is still on sale via your own website. Do you feel at all uneasy about that? Nigel About what? The fact that a few sales might be from people trying to be edgy? A man’s got to make a living, Geraldine, and it’s not like I can tell if someone’s buying a t-shirt ironically. Besides, people think of Nigel Dickerson and Mr Bonzo is never far behind so it’s not like its changing my reputation. In a lot of ways I’m more his prisoner now than I ever was on my show. – The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

Jane was a creature of almost pure tragedy: sure, she had problems prior to the wasp nest – that's why she was vulnerable to it – but her descent into monstrosity is marked largely by confusion and distress. Nigel seems actively complicit in spreading Mr Bonzo around, and he's defensive when someone suggests it's inappropriate.

I assume the "worm tracks" Sam and Alice find when investigating The Magnus Institute are at least an Easter egg, although whether they're relevant to any of the current happenings remains to be seen. Whatever brought the place down mostly spared the archivist's office, and that feels relevant.

The return of the tape recorder is interesting, though, because it doesn't fit the pattern of how listening in has worked in The Magnus Protocol. Tape recorders were an Archives thing. Supernatural events would only record on tape. If no tape recorders were available in a given setting, eventually one would just manifest itself.

The situation in The Magnus Protocol has been much more opportunistic: any device with a microphone will do. If you stayed away from microphones – a thing Colin has largely managed to do – it couldn't create one to record you. Of course, tape recorders weren't just popping into being this early in The Magnus Archives either, so I'm not suggesting this is some permanent rule. But Sam and Alice's phones are clearly available as options: the first bit of conversation comes from a phone. But once inside, something makes a tape recorder when it did not have to.

And the other noteworthy thing is, of course ... whatever crawls out of the trap door at the end. Mostly this one is a "put a pin in that for later" situation, because while it's clearly important there's not much you can do with it just yet.

But there are a couple of things.

The first point of interest there is that it pops up just as Sam is talking about not being chosen for something. So is this someone who was chosen?

The second is how the character is credited: [ERROR]. That looks very much how one might see something in an error log; something technological in nature.

Which suggests Colin is right: he should figure out what's up with the computers as quickly as possible.

[bindi-the-skunk]

More rambling from me about Jekyll and Hyde

Part of the reason I think it is so easy to woobify Jekyll well the other literature classic monsters usually get a good amount of bashing is body count (don't get me wrong there are at least two examples of evil!Jekyll (Penny dreadful and Once upon a time) but no one really talks about Jekyll and Hyde from those series so ....and I thought both where pretty bland and did nothing for the characters but that is for a later date...)

Jekyll gets ONE murder victim, Carew and one girl (who was not named and was stated to have not been hurt, only frightened) And the fact Jekyll was under the influence of a drug when he did both crimes, not an excuse, but something to at least note ) these characters are just a means to an end in the story, we only care about them as far as their respective chapter, we only care as far as "murder is bad" and "walking on a child like their a WELCOME mat is bad"

They are faceless, Utterson cares about Jekyll, so we learn to care for him too, in the end Jekyll is a drug addict who kills himself, both are reasons to also feel sorry for him, we are given just enough about him to build him up in our mind, so when we find out he did bad things, it is ultimately in the back of our heads and the fact he did TRY and quit the potion cold turkey does prove he is not a complete monster and did want to at least try and quit before it all crashed around him.

Dorian Gray caused several young women to be ruined and caused an unnamed guard boy to kill himself (back of the mind atrocities sort of like Carew and the girl, we know it is bad, but we don't KNOW them)

But we do get to see Dorian's fall from grace, we see his mind twist, the book is mostly from HIS point of view, we see him think his picture should go back to being perfect just because he THOUGHT about being good, he sold his soul for something as meaningless as beauty.

We see poor Sybil vane kill herself because of him after being cruelly rejected by Dorian, we empathize with her brother, wanting to avenge his sister's death and knowing he was so close to it, we know Dorian cried tears of JOY hearing about his death, and we know he, in his right mind, no drugs or anything, murdered his best friend Basil who we have grown to love.

Frankenstein refused time and time again to take responsibility for his actions and it led to the death of at least four people, he left his newborn creation to die (already not scoring PO points ) then refused to speak up at Justine's trial leading to her being HUNG (a pretty nasty way to die mind you and the poor girl was SIXTEEN when she was hung, and this was old time shit so she most likely suffocated to death from the noose since she would have been light (which could take over twenty minutes of her kicking and struggling for air) over a broken neck ) when just saying he had a fight with a large man who vowed revenge would have done wonders for her ) his little brother William (death of a child pity points) Henry Clerval and finally Elizabeth, both of which we learn of and grow to look at affectionately

And throughout all this, all Victor can do is bellyache how bad HIS life is (and the fact he thought "I will be with you on your wedding night" meant the monster would come to kill HIM did not win him any intelligence points either...)

But what do you think? What makes Jekyll the go-to for the lovable but flawed scientist? What put him a cut above the rest as far as being loved by so many of us? He is the main character of no less than three webcomics I'm watching and a secondary character in another (and my friend plans on drawing her own comic one day as well) Why is making the others evil not much of a consequence, but Jekyll being evil always seems to fall flat?

[garden-of-islam]

How Islam differs from Christianity

Good afternoon, I hope you're all taking care of yourself. Let's talk about Christianity. I am not here to insult the faith tradition of our brothers and sisters. This is merely a short essay describing how Islam is different than Christianity from the perspective of a Christian dominant culture. I grew up in America, I know what's in our cultural background noise and what isn't, and I simply want to fill in a few gaps. Insha'Allah, I will do this with as many faith traditions as I can, including polytheistic traditions as well as the history of symbols that have become culturally corrupted. I will probably fumble some of it due to being American, but I'll do my best.

If you get the feeling that I'm writing this entire project with equal parts disappointed-but-not-surprised, exhaustion, disdain, and hope, it's because I am. I can't take anything seriously, I know too much, my brain is exploding, and the only thing I care about is living for the pleasure of God SWT but I'm somehow still pretty bad at it. That is the byproduct of being Autistic and having God as your life-long, special interest. I could tell you the tale of how that came to be, but most people assume I'm lying or that I was dreaming when I say I saw an angel when I was 3 years old, and that gets tiresome so I don't wanna. Maybe later.

Islam is a monotheistic tradition that recognizes all the prophets that Christianity recognizes as well as many others, both named and unnamed. We believe that prophets were sent to all peoples so that they could be warned of the truth and correct their evil ways. Those ways, of course, are worshiping the creation instead of the creator. Idols made by the hands of men that usually represented ancestors who came to be idealized, animals or plants of the Earth's ecosystem, celestial bodies including the Earth itself, or even Jinn disguised as "demi-gods," "ghosts," "powerful spirits," "aliens," or in other ways are all parts of the creation that humans have placed their trust in instead of the Creator Himself. On that note, God is not gendered. There isn't a neuter way to refer to Him in Arabic but using the male pronoun allows differentiation from the goddess-heavy pagan traditions. Before I converted, I used to refer to God as, "It" because I rejected the Christian idea of the "Father" as a Man in the sky.

There is no Trinity concept in Islam, though not all modern Christians believe in the Trinity. We do not refer to Him as Father and we do not believe that Jesus or rather, Isa AS is God incarnate. We DO believe that Jesus is the messiah, but we believe that the crucifixion was a hoax. We DO believe he ascended to Heaven by the will of God and the help of the angels and that he will descend from the Heavens the same way at the end of time to help the people of that time survive the horrific trials that are to come. For those waiting on Christ to be reborn, well, we just don't jive with that. As for the third piece of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, we believe the counselor that came after Isa AS was actually Muhammad ﷺ, and that we've been able to access God through prayer and repentance all along. Unlike every prophet that came before him who were each sent each to their own people with a specific message, Muhammad ﷺ was sent to all mankind with the final revelation meant to be preserved for the rest of human history - the Qur'an. This is because other scriptures have been edited and corrupted, including the Bible. (Like, Paul just decided his letters were as good as gospel? The audacity. And don't even get me started on the rest of it.)

We believe that sins fall only on the doer of the sin. None of humanity bears the weight of the sins of Adam or anyone else and therefore, no great sacrifice was needed to free us in order to serve our Lord or have our repentance accepted. (The only exception to this rule is that Cain or Qabil bears some of the blood of every murder for having been the first to commit this crime.) Instead of original sin, we champion the concept of the fitra and believe that all babies are born Muslim - in submission to the will of God. For this reason, we more often refer to converts to Islam as reverts. This means they are reverting back to the truth. But this sounds scary to the western ear if they've never heard of it before, so I will continue to use the more generic term for changing religions. We believe that Adam was tricked by Satan first, and then shared the fruit with Eve. They both bore the sin equally, and Eve is not blamed for the fall of Man the way she is under the Christian framework.

As for Satan himself, he was not an Angel. Angels are incapable of disobeying God. Satan, or Iblis as he is named, was actually from among the Jinn. He worshiped so fervently that his status was elevated to be allowed to worship among the angels. However, when God created Adam, he commanded the Angels to prostrate to this creation in respect. Iblis refused out of pride and was promised punishment on the day of Judgement. He asked for respite until that day, and God rewarded him with what he asked for. His response was to promise that he would lead as many humans astray as he could with the time he was allotted. He then tricked Adam into eating the fruit and when he and his wife were in turn punished, they asked for forgiveness. God rewarded them with what they asked for.

Jinn and Man alike have free will. All other created beings are considered to be in a constant state of worship. Those of us with freewill volunteered for this test we call life before we were born, hoping to reap the reward of paradise. Those who fail will follow in the footsteps of the Shayatin who serve Iblis and will fall into the Hellfire after Judgement. There are Jinn of all religions just as there are humans of all religions. But just because there are Muslim Jinn does not mean we should seek to mingle or partner with them, as this constitutes a severe form of shirk called, "magic." The animals and plants are smarter than us because they didn't throw their akhira on the line just to experience the dunya.

As for Judgement Day, it only happens once. Not once for each person, but rather, once. After passing, we wait in our graves until the appointed hour and we all go through it together. Even after it comes to a close, we still have the final test before entering heaven: crossing the bridge of Sirat. Christianity has no concept of Sirat, but some other religions do. We don't believe in the rapture and we have very clear descriptions of the signs of the end times so that we don't confuse the Anti-Christ or the Dajjal with Isa. In fact, the pervasive belief that Isa is to be reborn seems to be just one more hazy idea that will allow many people to fall into the trap of wrongly believing the Dajjal is the Messiah.

Most of us do not believe that martyrs will receive 72 virgins in heaven. It's a weak hadith and only became popularized after the western world used it as an excuse to explain its concept of "Islamic t*****ism." We DO believe that men and women alike will be given heavenly spouses along with their earthly spouses, if they had one. This is often misunderstood because of how Arabic is gendered and this can make the translation difficult. Translation errors also account for misunderstanding the hijab. The verse is often translated using the words, "outer garments" to mean, "Jilbabs" which obfuscates the discussion around the veil and the barrier it provides. Even if we are uncovered and casual in our daily lives, we are still required to veil for worship in order to have our prayers accepted. Some modern Christians are beginning to readopt this practice. It was abandoned in the mainstream decades ago with changing fashions. I applaud those who have decided to go the extra mile in returning to this practice.

No dessert today, go eat a vegetable.

[tossawary]

I'm sorry this feels real weird, but I love PINTWILF a lot, and the fact that you really expanded on SQH's role and everything. And I really loved that you added the other unnamed peaks and melded them in, everything that you wrote about the peaks actually really fleshed them out and their roles. So what did you name the three other peaks, and what are their roles? I think I only really understand that Xi Jiao is an animal/beast peak?

It’s not weird! I’m quite pleased with the sect logistics I’ve been writing in PINTWILF (from a humor angle, not a realism angle) and so I’m happy to talk about it. This is the order of peaks I’ve been using in PINTWILF: 

(1) Qiong Ding Peak - Peak Lord: Yue Qingyuan (Canon) 

Apparently they’re responsible for general affairs. I’ve always assumed they’re also responsible for dealing with other sects and politics, outside of peak-specific specialties where another peak lord has the authority to represent the sect. 

(2) Qing Jing Peak - Peak Lord: Shen Qingqiu (Canon) 

Peak of scholars and strategists. I assumed from there that they would also be responsible for a lot of library and archive-related duties, and that they would have some talisman and seal experts, etc., and that QJ and QD would be closely tied in many matters. 

(3) Wan Jian Peak - Peak Lord: Wei Qingwei (Canon) 

Peak of sword masters. I assumed that this meant both martial weapon specialists and sword smiths. I also assumed that this could be expanded to many kinds of metal work. Where WJ and AD meet is probably where a lot of non-weapon-related fabrication happens. 

(4) An Ding Peak - Peak Lord: Shang Qinghua (Canon, minus #?)

I’ve seen people put An Ding anywhere from 4th to 12th. I’m not sure that An Ding has a canonical number. I prefer An Ding being 4th because of 1) how closely Qiong Ding and An Ding’s work would be tied and the importance of logistics, but 2) mainly how funny I think it is if SQH is only three murders away from being the sect leader. 

SQH: “Wei Qingwei, you cannot die. The chances of Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan offing each other is too high for you to die on me. YOU’RE MY LAST LINE OF DEFENSE. DON’T MAKE ME BE SECT LEADER.” 

(5) Xian Shu Peak - Peak Lord: Qi Qingqi (Canon)

It’s unclear what specialties XS has, probably because it only existed in PIDW as the “hot lady peak” (and MXTX never actually expanded it post-transmigration). It’s never come up, but I kind of dig the idea of XS doing some textiles work, anything from weaving fine fabrics to rope-making. (Who makes stuff like Immortal Binding Cables? It could be Xian Shu.) 

(6) Xi Jiao Peak - Peak Lord: Tang Qingling (Non-Canon) 

Yes, this is an animal/beast peak, because I’ve seen it brought up in a few fics, and I thought it would be funny for SY to be entranced by the idea, only for SQH to go, “Bro, I hope you have the stomach for blood and literal shit, because that’s where they butcher monsters for parts and collect crap for fertilizer.” 

I also like the idea of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect having actual pipelines based on the specialties, which make it a very profitable and efficient sect. (Also, where are they getting their food? Do they have livestock? Do they buy it all from the surrounding towns and cities? Xi Jiao is me deciding that, yes, they have livestock.) Liu Qingge brings in a monster, it goes to Xi Jiao, then the parts go out again to Wan Jian, Qian Cao, Zui Xian, and others. to become armor, medicine, potions, etc.. Or maybe just to An Ding to sell. 

(7) Bai Zhan Peak - Peak Lord: Liu Qingge (Canon) 

They make people who fight good. 

(8) Qian Cao Peak - Peak Lord: Mu Qingfang (Canon) 

Trains healers and makes medicine. I assumed that they would grow as many of their own plants as they could and do a lot of plant breeding. Medicine could also be a great source of income for the sect (another reason why QC is one of Shang Qinghua’s favorite peaks). 

(9) Ku Xing Peak - Peak Lord: Wang Qingjie (Canon, minus # and peak lord) 

The peak name is canon, but I can’t remember if they have a canonical number and they don’t have a canonical peak lord. They’re all all-male peak with an ascetic lifestyle, living akin to monks. 

I think I decided that they specialized in talismans and the creation of other spiritual tools, including and as well as ceramics. So, they work closely with many of the other peaks, but especially An Ding in supplying other peaks. I can’t remember why I decided this. I think maybe I decided that Ku Xing might have a philosophy that “to create purifying objects, the maker must also be free from impurities”? Hence the ascetic lifestyle. 

I also thought it would be funny if Ku Xing and Qing Jing had a little bit of a rivalry going on. Shen Qingqiu makes very good talismans and Wang Qingjie is NOT angry about it (in the way of someone trying not to be angry). 

(10) Zui Xian Peak - Peak Lord: Zhang Qingyan (Canon, minus # and peak lord) 

Again, the peak name is canon, but I can’t remember if they have a canonical number and they don’t have a canonical peak lord. This is the peak that apparently specializes in alcohol. 

So, I decided that they might as well be responsible for brewing other potions and solutions. Maybe they have people who specialize in alchemy. Qian Cao and Wan Jian and Xi Jiao (and nearly every other peak) probably do their own brewing of certain things, but it probably helps to have someone else dedicated to brewing on a large scale. Qian Cao grows the plants for a common medicine, then ships them to Zui Xian for mass-production, and the An Ding takes the result and sells it to all the nearby towns and cities. 

Zui Xian probably saves and makes Cang Qiong so much money. 

(11) Long Sheng Peak - Peak Lord: ??? (Non-Canon) 

This is a newer invention and I haven’t come up with a peak lord yet, but they’re named after “The Dragon’s Backbone” and they specialize in plants and agriculture. This is my “this is how the sect gets fed” peak, alongside Xi Jiao. 

Maybe they don’t grow all the sect’s food themselves, but they support and work with the surrounding towns and cities to make sure that the local harvests survive all of PIDW’s horrible plants and monsters. Sometimes you need cultivators who can tell you why this year’s harvest is haunted and what to do about it! Maybe Airplane invented the equivalent of magical locust swarms and didn’t think twice about it, so someone has to deal with that! Maybe they grow the materials for Xian Shu’s textiles work! 

They work closely with Xi Jiao, Qian Cao, Zui Xian, and An Ding. 

(12) ??? 

I haven’t actually named the last peak. I haven’t really seen a need to invent one yet and it’s kind of been a in-joke with myself. It’s fun to imagine people being like, “Cang Qiong has twelve peaks, right? What’s that last one called again? I can never remember what that last peak is called.” 

Notes: 

I imagine that most of the peaks’ specialties overlap in one way or another. An Ding, Zui Xian, Qian Cao, and Long Sheng each do some agricultural stuff, but Qian Cao and Long Sheng (especially LS) do most of it. And so on. 

Cang Qiong Mountain Sect also doesn’t have to do everything in-house. Shang Qinghua also has to make orders from other sects and merchants for stuff that Cang Qiong either can’t make or don’t have the space/time to make. I just like the idea that CQ is so powerful partly because they’re so independent. 

If I keep the details loose, I can get a lot of fun humor out of it. 

[hazel-writes]

Summary: After a brief encounter with the mysterious Kylo Ren, you find yourself caught in a moral dilemma - one that gets you in trouble with a certain notorious General onboard the Finalizer. As you find out more about your internship and its conditions, you start to regret your decision to leave home more and more.

Word Count: 1,900

Warnings: minor canon-typical violence, blood

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Images of broken light

Which dance before me like a million eyes

They call me on and on

Across the universe

• Across the Universe - The Beatles •

He was tall, really tall, and wore an all-black ensemble of expertly-fitted linens. His robes, like an ebony waterfall, fell down below his feet. His cape billowed behind him dramatically, almost like a prince. Your eyes drifted up to his face, or rather where his face should’ve been, as he was wearing a mask. You recognized his visor; you would be surprised if there was a single soul in the galaxy who didn’t.

You immediately knew the face that lied behind it:

Commander Kylo Ren.

As if you had said his name out loud, the Commander, who had previously been reprimanding a stormtrooper, snapped his head to the side to meet your eyes.

You froze, panic starting to build in your gut. He cocked his head to the side. You were finding it difficult to avert your eyes from the metallic twilight of his mask. After a moment, you realized that you were still staring and quickly turned your head back to the map.

You continued to feel his piercing gaze for a few more seconds as you attempted to slow your breathing back to a semi-normal rate. After what seemed like an eternity, he focused his attention back onto the anxiety-ridden stormtrooper who stood before him. With a casual flick of his hand, the Commander threw him against the nearest wall, where he crumpled down to the floor, unmoving.

Oh stars. Oh stars. Oh stars.

You bore your eyes into the piece of paper in your hands with an extreme ferocity, not daring to look up. You released a breath you hadn't realized you were holding when he finally turned on his heel and walked away, leaving the unfortunate trooper unconscious on the floor.

Now you faced a dire moral dilemma: help the injured trooper and risk being late to your meeting, or walk away and arrive on time. After going over the options in your head, you started to realize how selfish and inconsiderate you sounded. Is this what working on the Finalizer did to people, scare them into a self-preservational mindset, prioritizing duty over empathy?

You remembered something your dad used to tell you: Nothing bad can ever come from helping those in need.

Though you were aware the same may not be true for life on the Finalizer, you hadn’t lost your Lothalian morality.

Not yet.

With a newfound confidence, you made your way over to the fallen stormtrooper, proud of yourself for honoring your father’s advice. You bent down until you were on your knees in front of him. Everyone else in the hallway continued to go about their business as if nothing had happened. After carefully removing his helmet, you found he was seemingly unscathed and breathing steadily. The man who lied before you looked young, maybe only a little older than you were.

He looks so… normal.

You gently shifted his head so that he would be more comfortable, and after doing so, found your hand covered in blood. Your eyebrows furrowed in concern and you peered down to view the source of the fluid, finding a large gash at the back of his scalp.

Oh stars.

You were saying that a lot today.

You looked around frantically, hoping that someone else would see the predicament you were in and offer their help.

No one did.

You started to become angry; angry at the normalization of violence within the First Order. But you weren’t naive — you understood that violence was always going to be present, no matter where you were. You were more frustrated by the reactions, or lack thereof, to that violence. You found yourself becoming more and more uncomfortable with the idea of working on the Finalizer, surrounded by people who seemed to lack every empathetic bone in their bodies.

You decided to channel that anger and frustration into making sure the stormtrooper would be okay — a fate you knew wasn’t shared by other victims of Kylo Ren and the First Order.

I need to stop the bleeding.

After one more desperate look around the hallway, which was still crowded with troopers, various lieutenants, and droids, you spotted a man wearing a long coat that could definitely help stem some of the bleeding. You heard yourself calling out to him:

“Sir! Excuse me, sir!”

He glanced down at you as he approached, seemingly confused and irritated at the sight before him.

“I’m sorry, but I- I need to borrow this!” You gestured towards his long overcoat.

His mouth opened in protest but before he knew what was happening, you had grabbed the coat off of his shoulders and placed it at the back of the stormtrooper’s head. The man’s startled expression evolved to one of anger as he roughly grabbed your arm, bringing you up to a standing position. Not letting go of your arm, he snarled in your face.

“What is the meaning of this?” He growled.

Is he serious right now? you thought, incredulous to the man's behavior.

“I was just trying to save his life!” You pleaded, before adding, “Sir”.

“General,” he seethed.

“Right, sorry, General,” you repeated.

The unnamed General loosened his grip on your arm slightly. You stood there in a silent panic, not knowing what was coming next.

“Who are you? Where are you stationed?” the General spat.

Great, you thought, I'm gonna get fired and I haven't even started working. Mother will be real happy about that.

“Uhh… I’m a - an intern. In the Office of Imperial Promotion, Galactic Truth, and Fact Correction.” You shrugged nervously and gave a sheepish smile. “It’s my first day.”

“Obviously,” the General frustratedly sighed. He slowly looked you up and down, considering something. “You don’t happen to be from that dreaded planet Lothal, are you?”

Surprised at his knowledge of this, you replied with a twinge of shock and confusion in your voice.

“Yeah, yeah I am. How did you-”

“It seems you are late for our meeting.”

Kriff.

“You’re General Hux?” you asked, already knowing the answer.

“That is correct,” he replied slowly through clenched teeth.

“Oh.” You didn’t know what else to say. There was no way this was going to end well.

Gently extricating yourself from his grasp, you knelt again by the stormtrooper, checking on his wound. It was still bleeding, but much less than before. Your eyes drifted to his face, a deep brown color, accentuated by kind features and lips that were downturned in a slight frown.

He looks sad. You sighed.

“Is there anyone who we can take him to?” You asked helplessly, gesturing to the body next to you.

“I do not concern myself with the business of trivial trooper mishaps,” Hux spat back, irritated.

You chuckled humorously. “This was hardly a misha-”

Hux cut you off. “I know a mere intern wouldn’t dare speak back to a commanding General on their first day of work, now would they?”

If you wanted to keep your job, and probably your life, you knew you had to comply with his orders. Resisting at this point wouldn’t do you, or the trooper, any good.

“No General, they wouldn’t,” you replied solemnly, eyes downcast.

“Good. I will let the fact that you ruined my irreplaceable coat on the account of a replaceable trooper slide for now. But any more trouble of this sort, and I will see to it myself that you are executed.” His eyes narrowed and nose scrunched in a threatening glare.

“Yes, General,” you replied.

“Follow me, and don’t fall behind,” he gestured in the direction of the hallway he initially came from.

With one last look at the trooper, you stood and followed him, thoughts spinning through your head.

You remembered his words: replaceable trooper.

Surely that meant you, a young intern, were far below the status of replaceable.

Yes, that’s right.

You were executional.

———————————

You followed Hux to a medium-sized office. There was a large, sleek desk in the center of the room. On one side of the desk was an uncomfortable-looking chair with a tall, rectangular back. On the other side was another chair, this one smaller, but just as uncomfortable-looking. The lighting in the room was dark, making it difficult to see Hux’s face. His ginger hair, however, stuck out like a sore thumb, and you found yourself wondering if he was ever made fun of for it as a kid.

“Sit,” he demanded.

You did as he told, bringing your hands to your lap to fiddle with your fingers: a nervous habit.

“So…” you started.

Silence.

“Umm…” More silence.

You sighed. “This… chair. It’s nice, ya know. Sturdy. Real sturdy.”

Your nervous babbling was met by yet another bout of silence.

“And those curtains are-”

“You’re an artist,” the General interrupted. Though it was meant as a question, it came out as more of a statement. Maybe a questioning tone was too polite of a gesture for his 'intimidating' persona.

“Yes,” you replied. “Well, mostly. Kind of.” You stumbled over your words, trying to find the best answer.

He rolled his eyes. “Well, which is it? Yes, mostly, or kind of?”

“Yes, General.”

“Were you briefed on your internship duties here on the Finalizer prior to your arrival?”

“A little, General.”

“And?” he questioned impatiently.

“And I am supposed to help in the creation of propaganda posters and flyers in support of the First Order.”

“That is correct,” he replied blandly. “They will then be mass produced and distributed on planets that we are attempting to apprehend. These will hopefully lead neutral parties away from the grasp of the Resistance and into the hands of the First Order.”

“Will I have others working with me?” you asked hesitantly.

“We have assembled a small team to assist you — but should the work produced disappoint us, it will be your head in the trash compactor.”

You shuttered at his words because you knew that what he was saying was true. Thinking back to the fate of the poor stormtrooper you came across earlier, you couldn’t help but imagine what your own fate could be.

Twirling the end of your bracelet, you thought of home. You’d been doing that a lot lately too. Images flashed before your eyes: your mother, an old song whistling through her cracked lips, spiralling hair flying behind her as light whirled and danced over her body. Your father, painting in his makeshift studio, an organized chaos of antiques — rusted paint tins, bristled brushes, and half-finished canvases surrounding him. Your brother, perched on the raggedy wood fence that surrounded your home with one arm rested on his beloved speeder, eyes staring longingly at the marshy horizon, almost as if he was begging it to come just a little closer. And you. Watching everyone else as if it were the last time you would be able to do so…

You blinked and suddenly you were back in the present, however something was now clouding your vision. You hadn’t noticed when the tears had started to fall.

Hux just stared at you, and you stared right back, not knowing what to say.

Finally breaking the tense silence, the General abruptly stood. “I believe that this will be enough information for today. You will start work tomorrow. Directions to your workspace will be posted to your door.” He paused. “That is all, you are dismissed.” He gestured to the door.

Breathing a shaky sigh of relief, you stood and made your way into the hallway, not saying another word.

——————

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