#variable corruption!five | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

aduckinpain · 1 year ago

Text

The Sunset clashes on waves of Cobalt

Tags: Character study style writing, Hurt/comfort, Happy Ending, Pure Soukoku, Everything in chronological order, Dazai Osamu's in character existential crisis, They're in love, Dazai's obsession with Chuuya's corruption, his obsession with chuuya honestly.

Word Count: 7.3k

This is also on AO3 by roianamustang (me).

Life is finicky. Evasive. Confusing. A fluke. Something, created from nearly nothing, by pure chance. It’s involuntary. You wake up one day, only to acknowledge your newly discovered existence by at least 2 years. Your lungs expand, your heart beats, your blood rushes, your ears hear and your eyes see. And your mind runs. It runs and runs, it runs out of breath. It searches for more, information flooding from every crevice.

Life is important, according to every living being. Even the most miniscule little creature will value it over anything else, whether that be by running, hiding or fighting. Even plants reach for the sun in hopes of waking up the next morning.

Dazai Osamu reached for the Sun when he was five and it burned. Leaving trails in its wake.

Life is a continuous string of events that emerges by chance. It has variables so intricate, they can’t be calculated. Time, variety, coincidence. Fate. It starts unknown, and it ends the same.

Depending on where you live, people can live a healthy 80 years, and die peacefully in their bed, surrounded by loved ones. Yet, one lifetime is not enough.

We enter this world unwillingly, so why do we fight so hard for it?

Why are we so scared of death? Of the unknown?

How can you love life so much, that you fear the end of it?

What’s so unique about monotony and routines?

At the end of the day humans are mammals. Their ability to produce milk and have hair puts them in another category, while their capability of thought and intelligence, puts them in another rank.

And still, our reason for living is to just not die. Survival, something every other creature on this earth, prioritizes.

So he doesn’t get it.

Things can be pretty, things can be sacred, they can be fun, loving, but they are all temporary. Most of the emotions a human being feels in a lifetime are neutrality and anxiety, stress, fear, sadness, nostalgia and melancholy. Happiness and excitement, in its purest form are the rarest, with sudden entrances and premature disappearances. They’re hard to find, hard to replicate, hard to give.

And at the end of it all, you die and everything is forgotten. You are a machine run by tubes and liquid that shuts off and that is it.

The world with all of its colors is bleak, the humans vary physically yet act similarly, predictably, and life dies.

But normal people don’t think like this. Normal people don’t stare at their ceiling willing themselves to drink water or eat food. Normal people don’t burn when others touch them. They don’t numb when their surroundings become too much. They don’t hate.

They care and they love and they find meanings in everything.

Dazai doesn't.

Dazai hurts.

Why can’t he just be normal and meaningless and random and flitting and living and dead?

Why can’t he be human?

What is he?

15 years of Dazai’s life have passed and he can confidently say that he has effectively erased his first 10 and blurred the last 5.

It all comes to a shocking halt, or more accurately, a start, when one moment he was walking in the empty, dusty streets of Suribachi City, with its secrets and rats, and the next he was…not?

Air escaped his lungs so fast, Dazai couldn’t even process the ever moving environment.

Blink.

He blinked and he saw blue.

He blinked again, and he saw waves of cobalt crashing upon the sunset’s rays.

Or more realistically crashing into him.

A foot holding him down and the other kicking his face, Dazai Osamu breathed and felt air enter his blood for the first time since he was born.

The sun shone.

And so did his eye.

His heart filled with oxygen. Beating steadily for the first time.

When Mori told him ‘Nothing dangerous’, he of course didn’t believe it. And looking at the bright red head of hair next to him, so tiny, so miniscule, so small, compact, microscopi-

“The fuck you looking at?”

Blue turned to him, glaringly darker and in the background he was very aware of the noise leaving its mouth.

He just didn’t care to listen.

Nakahara Chuuya. 15 years old and yet, here he stood. The leader of The Sheep. So loud. So present in such a small body, as if it couldn’t contain him. As if it held death and destruction, and life.

Even by Dazai’s own standards, he wasn’t stupid. Chuuya was dangerous. To what extent he’s not sure yet, still willing to push some more buttons, to see some more outcomes, but still at the very least, he is very strong. And while he would love to pester Mori about this sudden mission, something was holding him back.

The next thing Dazai knows the gun is getting kicked out of his hand.

Blink.

And another blink. His eye captures life and Dazai Osamu jerks in its hold.

‘In other words, the suicidal maniac wants to live.’

‘I’ve come to think its worth trying.’

Because of you was left unspoken and yet to be understood by either one of them.

With Randou dead, Dazai had already started putting other plans in motion.

Nakahara Chuuya lost a bet after all, he now needed to pay the price.

Looking at him now, on top of rocks, rubble around him, water rising and waves crashing, never getting close to that blue of his, breath stuttering, eyes hurt.

Dazai had never seen something more human.

He wanted that.

He wanted Chuuya.

Dazai wanted Chuuya.

Odasaku was quiet. As a man yes, but also as a presence. Odasaku was a blank slate willing to hand you the pen, write on him and react accordingly. He did not uphold expectations or even judgment.

Dazai liked Odasaku.

If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend to sleep with the man’s presence next to him.

Odasaku listened and answered in seemingly normal replies that sometimes caught Dazai by surprise. So when he had ranted about Nakahara Chuuya to him the last thing he had expected was the man to say that ‘Nakahara seems like a nice guy then yeah?’.

A small moment of quiet had made Oda turn, locking eyes with the fifteen year old.

And he halted.

Dazai made some sort of noise of surprise and frustration and went through another round of ranting, screeching, he wasn’t sure at this point, all of it to properly make Odasaku understand the vile creature he had been stuck with babysitting.

He could keep yapping all he wanted, cause Oda Sakunosuke had never in his life met a kid like Dazai Osamu.

And until now, Oda Sakunosuke had never seen that singular brown orb turn caramel with light.

He had never seen Dazai Osamu look so alive before.

Smiling, he continued listening to the annoyed voice of the boy next to him.

Seemingly out of spite, in Dazai’s eye at least, Odasaku, very out of character just replied with an outrageous statement that Dazai could not allow to even exist, never mind be thought, even worse be stated to the air surrounding him.

‘You really like this guy huh?’

And the cycle repeated.

As it would for the next 3 years.

Arahabaki, the lab, the Flags, Verlaine. If he couldn’t have a break, he can’t imagine what it is like for Chuuya. Well, if he cared enough in the first place.

Dazai is a notorious liar. He knows that, after all, he did perfect the skill on his own. However, in this moment, after all of these fights and new revelations, he can’t lie and say that he isn’t just tired. Having to deal with Verlaine’s corruption activation and planning for counter attacks was a new challenge, yes, but one he would have enjoyed more if his dog wouldn’t be the center of them in the first place.

If Dazai was tired, Chuuya was exhausted.

And grieving.

He’d watched Chuuya fight, watched him anger, rage. But after the Sheep, he didn’t think he’d ever watch him break.

Following the beeping red light of his tracker, that he'd placed in Chuuya’s shoes, of course without his knowledge, the last thing he had expected was to be led to the Mafia’s transportation unit.

Walking in, the echo of the weird fancy shoes that were given to him collided with the walls of the garage. The lights flickered in certain spots, almost as if on purpose.

It was so quiet, he’d imagine that if a feather fell, it would still be heard.

Which is what confused him.

Nakahara Chuuya was not a quiet person. He was loud, deafening and present at all times. Everything he did was flashy, deliberately or not.

‘Finding Chuuya is always easy. If you head towards whatever is making the loudest noise, he’ll be there.’

So either his tracker:

a) didn’t work

b) was found and eaten by his dog

c) Chuuya was like dying or something.

The echo halted along with every other noise when he stepped into the small side room.

He blinked again. Life was flickering.

Anything.

He would do anything for it to be one of those options.

He would do anything just to have Chuuya rise to his feet.

He would do anything just to have him stop crying.

Dazai was frozen there. For the first time in a long while he felt powerless. He knew what to do when he was feeling this way but he’d never do those things to Chuuya.

Chuuya just stood there, sitting against an obnoxious pink motorcycle, heaving.

And yet, he was quiet.

You could barely hear his breath stuttering, almost as if he just wanted the ground to swallow him whole, his existence to stop, to just disappear. He seemed so out of it, that he hadn’t even noticed Dazai just standing there.

Feeling his brain reboot, Dazai went to work. He’d treat this like a mission if he had to.

Chuuya liked touch. Not with just anyone no, however one of his main ways of expressing affection and care always seemed to be with vague caresses. Or punches.

But whenever Dazai got like this, he hated touch.

Brows furrowed in confusion, he tried racking his brain for a solution. He’d do both.

Making his steps loud and clear allowed him to be processed by Chuuya’s already small, but now hindered brain. Dazai took off his jacket and lowered to the ground, putting himself between the wall and Chuuya, taking off Chuuya’s hat and wrapping him head to toe.

Chuuya had somehow gone even more quiet, and now he’d gotten tense. He can’t have that, so Dazai, for the first time in his life, hugged.

He closed his arms around the small frame and hoped.

A minute passed, maybe two, before he felt Chuuya deflate. He didn’t try to stop him from crying, that wouldn’t help, he just held him closer, allowing the weight of the smaller body to push him towards the wall behind his back.

The man- no the boy in his arms kept shaking and Dazai just didn’t know what to do. Reluctantly, scared to do anything wrong, he let his right hand rake through the now freed red locks and pushed his head closer to his own shoulder, this way Chuuya wouldn’t get even more tired.

A gasp of air, a gulp, a sharp intake and the words coming next broke Dazai’s already dead heart.

Why?

Why me?

What did I do?

I'm sorry. I’m sorry, I'm sorry, please just stop.

Because if Dazai had to name the most human person he’d met, he’d always say Chuuya.

If Dazai had to name the most raw showcase of human range, he’d always say Chuuya.

If Dazai had to name a person, he’d always say Chuuya.

Not your fault Chuuya, it never is.

He won’t hurt like this ever again.

Dazai will make sure of it. Nothing has the right to hurt his Chuuya like this, not even him.

Molten brown had turned dark and Dazai Osamu made a promise to himself.

He never made promises, they required you to stay alive.

But this one was the first one.

The first one he’ll make sure to bring to his grave.

The entrance to Dazai’s office has a dark oak door, engraved with vines that curl on its edges. Its handle is typical Mafia gold. The office itself is nothing special, he made sure of it. Pristine, dark plates built his floor, almost mockingly, a carpet lay over them, right in the middle and a dark red Chesterfield sofa stood to the side of a small table. If he had to give it a color it would be deoxygenated blood. Or Corruption swirls. He certainly liked one more than the other.

Today Mori sounded weird.

-er than usual.

Dazai makes a point to not use this office, but today it awaited him with a small stack of papers smack dab into the middle of his wooden empty desk. No pen in sight. This document wasn’t paperwork, it was information.

It would be ironic to say he had a bad feeling about it as some people would argue he’s got those all the time and they overwhelmed him. Some would argue he isn’t capable of feeling them in the first place. Both arguments are stated in late nights between missions and a very talkative red blob in his (read: Chuuya’s) apartment.

Its quiet in this office, his shoes echo and he’s distinctly aware of the air around him colliding with his skin. A quick look around with his eye showed no signs of a trap.

Mimic.

A guerrilla organization from Europe that escaped to Japan after committing a war-crime sometime during the past global war. Mori wanted them dead. Or at least that’s what he said. But this apparent important information of a highly dangerous organization was not given to Soukoku.

No, it was given to the low-leveled grunt worker, Oda Sakunosuke.

It was given to Odasaku.

Skimming through the documents, Dazai swiftly left the office.

He would never see it again.

Odasaku was quiet. As a man yes, but also as a presence. Odasaku was a blank slate willing to hand you the pen, write on him and react accordingly. He did not uphold expectations or even judgment.

Dazai liked Odasaku.

And at this point he could safely claim that new information had been updated in his Odasaku file.

Odasaku, throughout the years, cared for Dazai.

Now, Dazai cared for Odasaku.

The longest of nights, when he didn’t want a loud distraction or bloodied floors, he texted Oda. He would always answer, they’d meet up and they’d stay quiet. Just in the presence of the other.

Dazai always felt safe and against his better judgment, understood by Chuuya, but being near Chuuya meant that at some point vulnerability would rear its ugly head, on those days Dazai just wanted a known space with a comforting presence. Odasaku was just that.

Chuuya was warm and bright and alive. He tethered Dazai to the concept of a human being. But sometimes Dazai just wanted an empty, fuzzy head. Sometimes the only exception of touch for Dazai was not what he wanted at the moment. So he searched for long nights and useless topics followed by silences and burning drinks or scalding curry.

Dazai found his constants for however many more years he’d survive this Earth.

The narrative was written and he felt content enough.

So why did the story change?

It had been a close call, a stroke of luck you could even call it, saving Odasaku in time the first time. And it has and will always be a lost cause convincing the man to kill instead of flee.

It had been a close call, a stroke of luck you could even call it, saving Odasaku in time the second time. An extra wound added from Ango’s betrayal.

If he could do it twice, what was a third time?

A bullet was shot. A body was falling.

So why were his hands warm? Why did they match the color of his sofa?

Why did it have to be Odasaku?

He found out about the kids but it was too late.

He found out about the motive but it was too late.

He figured out Mori’s plan.

It was too late.

You won’t find it.

Be on the side that saves people.

If both sides are the same, become a good man.

It’s pretty fady after that.

Contacting Ango was easy.

Burying Odasaku wasn’t.

Dazai Osamu, Demon Prodigy, youngest Port Mafia Executive, existed no more.

The only loose thread he had, was his other half on the other side of the world waiting to finish a mission.

He’d leave that thread sewn in.

He’d plant a bomb.

He’d send a message.

He’d go into hiding for two years.

And for now, he’d live.

In the blink of an eye, Dazai Osamu had disappeared.

People exist to save themselves.

A year and a half had already passed but it's not like Dazai had a concept of time anyways. The hiding and the erasure was easy. The boredom was not. Boredom brewed silences. Silences happened alone now. Being alone let his head be free. Or trapped he’d say, is the better description of it.

It was raining today. Enough to keep the ground wet. Being in hiding didn’t really allow Dazai to wander but no one was looking for him under a lone tree, leaning on a gravestone in the middle of a field, so he let himself have this.

He leaned his head on the stone. The rain wasn’t just heavy enough to keep the ground wet but also to drench him completely, but the sound of it was almost comforting in a way. The sky a uniform gray spanning into the horizon boringly, something it rarely does.

The bomb had taken a bit to be processed by the slug’s brain, but it was successfully understood. For the first time in a while Dazai had reached out his hand first and let Chuuya make the decision. Contact would be hard, dangerous and almost non-existent, but he was willing to try.

Of course after an even longer period of silence, because if Chuuya was one thing, it was petty.

So every now and then, on an anniversary or birthday, a mysterious little bouquet of Red Camellias would show up on the red head’s door.

A symbol of death yes, but that of a noble one. Sacred, godly. Left to the hands of a God of Calamity.

Unwavering loyalty.

Trust.

And every now and then, on an anniversary or birthday, something would be awaiting Dazai right next to the door. Whether that be a set or freshly rolled bandages or a gaming console.

A sigh left his lungs, uncovered irises following its trail disappear into thin air.

He got a soda before coming here, a funny joke he thinks Odasaku would chuckle with. Laughing just by yourself is just sad at this point.

S. Oda engraved in stone, buried in soil, clawing his head.

He’d use that as an excuse for the extra weight slipping from his eyes.

Beige felt weird on him. It had been Odasaku’s signature color and Dazai was wearing it in tribute to that but it felt weird on him.

Nevertheless, this wasn’t about him.

He climbed the stairs of a fairly new Detective Agency. He could almost feel the nerves, if he’d let himself feel in the first place.

The door opened almost dramatically, and the sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the nearly white tiles.

“You’re here.”

Before him stood an older man with horrifically gray hair. The Boss of this thing then. Coffee brown eyes took in everything around him. There were three more people there.

A man sat behind a desk with curiously shut eyes and an insane amount of candy lay in front of him. That one was dangerous, he knew things and knew that Dazai knew he knew things.

A woman stood by the side of what looked like to be the inside of an infirmary, he knew of Yosano, or more accurately, of the consequences of her existence.

The most normal one of all had to be this one blonde man who looked like he’d blow a fuse if something didn’t go his way. Perfect, he’d need one of those.

Blinking for a moment, Dazai almost went into autopilot.

This would be different.

Everything Dazai did was deliberate. The only thing that could either act exactly according to his plan or be entirely unpredictable comes in the form of a small, small, horribly dressed, fancy street magician with a choker, that is currently walking, very loudly down the Port Mafia’s basement stairs.

And oh, did Dazai miss this.

Sure, during his hiding he may have gone once or twice to look at the slumbering, probably drunk at the time, man in front of him. But seeing Chuuya Nakahara subdued by slumber is like missing the Sun behind dark thick clouds.

Chuuya spoke and he answered on instinct mostly. A knife at his throat and Dazai Osamu hadn’t felt alive in years with no contact from blue hues.

A punch, a kick, the ground crumbled beneath his feet, Dazai didn’t care he was just about ready to kneel at this point.

A sharp movement from the man in front of him made him pause. That was as much as a question, statement and reminder Chuuya would give him. This was Port Mafia territory, the hand holding the deck here was Mori.

They snapped back into their roles quickly, but he just couldn’t resist making that joke.

And if he saw Chuuya smile while climbing the stairs he can’t say, because for the first time in 4 years Dazai Osamu laughed and his heart started beating again.

Contrary to popular belief, Dazai didn't mind kids. In fact they always seemed increasingly intrigued by his presence. Odasaku’s orphans seemed absolutely delighted when he showed up.

Yumeno Kyusaku, better known as ‘Q’, was honestly not any different. Dazai had recruited them, finding resemblance to his own situation and past.

However Q was not Dazai. They were just a kid. A small child with an incredibly dangerous ability and puppeteer, being pulled from one direction to the other only to be returned to a cold, desolate room at the end of the day, alone.

So to be completely honest, he didn't mind this mission. Or at the very least, he didn’t mind this mission’s goal. The variables needed for it to succeed however, were not, as you would say, one of his greater fortés. Technically it was his greatest.

Heavy, determined, meaningful footsteps fell into silence on his left side. A flash of red, contrasted by dark, gloomy clothes, stood beside him, calm.

Who's he kidding? Since when was Chuuya ever quiet, nevertheless calm. Well, towards him anyways.

“Are we just gonna stare at the door and wither away, or should we get a move on already?” Glaring blues had turned toward him. He could always feel their presence.

Dazai had no interest indulging a loud, yapping dog, so with an exaggerated sigh and some kind words exclaimed, that definitely did not have him nearly lose an arm and a leg, they entered the weird cottage-house-situation-thing.

Their steps immediately fall into sync and echo throughout the empty walls, while Dazai's heart sang and asked and wanted.

4 years of quiet actions and no contact, the yearning reaching every crevice of his mind at every second. One meeting and a truce and comfort had finally arrived at his doorstep, again.

As he, of course, sidestepped a kick aimed at his head.

Glancing slightly to his side, even the bland stone walls seemed to shine and sparkle. Banter jumped off each stair along with them.

“The only thing I like about you is your taste in shoes.” A slight pause and the other pair of steps stood still for a second.

“You think?” Was said sarcastically with a slight shine of hope hidden underneath it, as if anything would change in these 4 years.

“Just kidding, of course.” Before even finishing the sentence, a crash and a yell were heard. Giggles collided with the surrounding bricks.

They were Soukoku after all, they knew each other from the inside out.

Whatever this thing was, it definitely was not human. It didn’t even seem made. Every limb, or more accurately, goo, that was cut off would regenerate in seconds. So while Chuuya was doing his job as the brawn of the duo, Dazai, as the brain, was supposed to be planning ahead.

But he was stuck.

Was this it?

The downfall of the deadliest duo in Yokohama, possibly Japan, and in Dazai’s humble opinion, the World?

Had they changed so much?

He had two constants in life and one had already left him, he couldn’t lose this one.

As if sensing his turmoil, a slight kick to his feet made him blink rapidly. Turning towards the ginger he locked eyes with the annoyed glare decorating his face.

He could practically hear ‘Stop with the theatrics already’ with a small chihuahua animated right beside it.

Before he could get a full sentence out Dazai was slammed vigorously at the trunk of a tree. Vision whitening for a good second, his hearing quickly came back to the rushing footsteps and dare he say, panicked voice of Chuuya.

Coughing blood he slowly tried to rise up. “Those tentacles sure are strange.” Confusion showed itself on the shorter man’s face. “I can't disable them.”

“Bullshit. Is that even possible?” brows lifting upwards, Dazai could see Chuuya trying to grasp the situation.

The thing that works about Sokouku isn’t just the cards up their sleeves, Dazai’s capabilities and Chuuya’s prowess. No, it's more of this. Of looks being exchanged, the air between them still, no words to break it. It's this weird connection, that no matter how many times Dazai tried to replicate, run away from or find, it would lead back to a penthouse and blood money and his first reason to live.

Grinning in a way he hasn’t in a long time, Dazai could feel the adrenaline building up. “All right. Let’s do things the old way.”

Letting his eyes wonder about on the other man’s features, always searching, he asks. “How about Operation Shame and Toad?” A miniscule movement of the redhead’s left brow already had given his answer.

“What is this, Rain beyond the Window?” Chuuya put his hand on his hips, slightly leaning on one side. ”It’s more like The Lie of the Fake Flowers.”

Fond delight brewed in his chest, leaking when he could finally say the others name face to face after such a long time. “Chuuya, when have my tactics ever been wrong?

The fight went on for about 3 minutes and 49 seconds. A monster arose and so did a choice.

Whenever you ask that of me, it’s never really a choice.

Dazai watched with a bated breath as the other half of Double Black slowly slid down his gloves, letting them fall on the ground below.

He thinks that if Chuuya had at least hesitated, let himself have a moment, Dazai would be just a normal man with a normal reaction.

4 years later and his partner’s blind trust towards him managed to sever his eyes and clutch his heart. He’d never manage to replicate the pure exhilarated feeling he gets near the man he's known since he was 15.

As lines fell from soft lips, red markings started traveling up Chuuya’s face.

O’ granters of dark disgrace,

need not wake me again

It seems that alongside Dazai, a god was awaiting for the same thing.

When Corruption was first triggered, they were dead men on a mission to the underworld. Two fifteen year olds with too much power and responsibility over their shoulder, in their hands, dripping over their head, falling down the tiles of the Port Mafia territory. They’d shaken hands with Death so many times already, ready to surrender to its clutches. But if there was one thing— one person who always seemed to look at Death in the eye and crumble its skull into pieces, it would be Chuuya.

It was beautiful.

The air around it came to a stop as if the man, the god, before him could change the direction of that and more with a flick of his wrist.

Destruction reigned a victor in the remains of anyone or anything that could gather the courage to go against it, most of them being oblivious men in insignificant organizations. Ignorance truly is bliss.

Blood dripped down onto the ground staining it, feeding it.

Mortality looked beautiful on Chuuya.

And it danced in between Dazai’s ropes of bandages.

Nakahara Chuuya was a phenomenon a normal man would witness once in his life before succumbing to death, and Dazai Osamu was blessed to have him on the tips of his fingers and in the depths of his withering soul.

Touching the floating man’s wrist shortly thereafter silenced the god, trapping it in its cage of human ribs and indomitable spirit.

Looking down at the man on his lap, Dazai allowed himself a moment of want, tracing down the nose bridge. It was honestly unfair, the lab didn’t have to make him pretty.

Slowly folding Chuuya’s coat and finding his stupid hat was slightly harder considering the state of the environment around them, but he managed as always.

Now came the hard part. Throughout their time as a duo, any time Corruption was activated, Dazai had two jobs.

Save Chuuya and bring him home safely.

However after his defection from the Mafia, he couldn’t exactly do that, as it would be considered kidnapping.

But he could wait a little bit more. Until he would hear Hirotsu’s men running towards the designated coordinates.

So he let himself have this and if you asked him after two bottles of Sake and a night of no sleep, Dazai Osamu might admit that he missed Nakahara Chuuya.

One last stroke of his fingers on the other’s eyelids, feeling his long eyelashes beneath his fingertips and promises whispered in quiet ears, and Dazai left the forest.

He never made promises, they required you to stay alive.

But it seems he can’t seem to stop making them when a certain man slumbers rent free in his troubled mind. Strong and untouchable even amidst the chaos in his brain.

Dead Apple, the ADA, Fyodor, Shibusawa, Corruption.

Chuuya.

When was it ever not Chuuya?

A sharp pain flooded his senses, making Dazai cough the blood out of his mouth and open his eyes. A smile immediately followed. The view before him could rival centuries of human art.

‘You used Corruption, believing in me?

How beautiful.’

To anyone else, it would be insanity.

Gigantic ability merging dragon shows up and renders every human with gifts useless. People flee and fight and die.

In their case, Dazai sends a message and Chuuya, as always, understands.

No matter the encryption or the complexity of it, the choice was sent and explained and was always followed through.

Because who else would put the lives of a country on past intertwined hands and shared breaths?

Who else would see the afterlife and jump at it in pure trust that it would be fleeting?

Who else but Dazai and Chuuya.

Chuuya and Dazai.

Soukoku.

Double Black.

Scariest and strongest duo in Yokohama and possibly more.

One soul, two bodies.

One human, one not.

Depending on who you ask about it, they'd have conflicting answers, but in the end, it never mattered.

Brushing away the red locks from Chuuya’s face, Dazai looked at the sky and smiled.

The galloping of horses’ heels chips away at Dazai Osamu’s thoughts. The Decay of Angels with Fyodor at its head will always be a danger. To be fair to the demon, everything with him in the center of it would always be a danger to itself and others.

After the Sacramental Bow Award was given to the agency, the greatest work they had had was

Mushitarou Oguri and his Perfect Murder ability. The case had stumped Ranpo, even if it was for about 2 minutes, and had proven itself a challenge and an award. However the last words that Mushitarou guy said, more accurately screamed, at them had been ringing in Dazai’s and Ranpo’s heads.

‘The Detective Agency is about to get a huge job offer! Don’t accept it! If you do, it’ll be the end of the Agency! You hear me? Don’t you dare accept—’

A man had fallen into step next to him, watching the race. Dazai particularly hates small talk but he’d learned to act a long time ago.

Not just that but something was off.

In the blink of an eye and a twitch of a smile,

‘You won’t have tomorrow, former Port Mafia Executive, Dazai Osamu.’

Meursault Prison opened its doors and the Detective Agency plunged to its doom.

The Agency was framed and named a terrorist organization. That wasn’t the worst of it either, from what Ango had informed him, the world had seen the whole thing. On live television.

They had seen the execution of more than 10 political figures, their bodies cut right in half. A rising reputation had changed at the drop of a hat.

Sighing deeply, he couldn’t help but think that he still had it worse than the others. Turning his head towards his left, he locked eyes with the thing across his cell. Fyodor Dostoevsky stood there, a permanent, horrendous smile on his disgusting face.

Honestly, he couldn’t wait for Chuuya.

Dazai’s big secret to communicating with the outside world was, ironically, his heart. His immediate point of contact was , as always, Ango Sakaguchi.

When he was 15, one bright, sunny day, Dazai was bored. When tinkering around Mori’s office and bothering said man, did not bring him any more joy, he let himself bend over one of the many tables filled with medicine. Purple orbs flickered towards him for a moment, before a small, in Dazai’s opinion and many others, repulsing, smile showed on the face of its beholder.

Morse code was old news and bored thoughts to Dazai, but a new option was introduced.

With this in mind, when the vampire outbreak broke, Dazai was one of the first people to find out.

Leaning on the small table, blinking, can only do so much for a grown man. “Maybe it’s time to do the thing.”

“The thing?” The thump of the book closing would’ve echoed if they weren’t in an ability protected prison.

Before Dazai could fully explain his, obviously, genius plan, the ground opened and swallowed him whole.

Literally.

Breathe in, breathe out, expand, contract, pump. Silence is noisy, until your vision sees bright flashing lights and your ears hear loud, blaring alarms.

Warning! Warning!

Intruder in the Level One Delivery Bay!

Anti-Gifted Fast Response Squad Hecatoncheires has been eliminated!

Neither the poison in his blood, nor the commotion on the outside managed to increase Dazai’s beats per minute.

The shaking of the building and Fyodor’s smile didn’t manage to either.

The sight of bright red locks did.

An angel whispered in my ear.

‘Chuuya, it looks like this is goodbye.’

As if. If that ever happened, they’d both be gone.

‘It’s a shame it had to happen this way.’

It’ll never happen like this. Not on his watch.

‘It’s been seven years since we met. ‘

Feels like forever. It’ll always feel like that when Dazai started living on that very same day they met.

‘We never did get along, did we?’

Bullshit and they both know it.

‘But, come to think of it now, there were times where we understood each other.’

Every day, every hour, minute, second. Dazai’s lungs breathed the same air as Chuuya's on the chance that he could always be engulfed by his presence.

‘Sorry, I couldn’t think of anything Anyway… Goodbye!’

It was getting a bit too gay anyways. Even by his own standards.

Breaking bones hurt. Walking hurt. A bullet in your shoulder hurt.

Everything hurt. Dazai hates pain.

The tapping of fancy dress shoes were not lost in his delayed, post-blood lost brain.

A sigh slipped out before he managed to catch it, but if Dazai was one thing, he was but a yapper at heart.

This has to finish soon anyway, that horrid misty red did nothing to Chuuya’s composition.

Blue was nice, he missed blue.

A bang ricocheted off the prison walls and Dazai’s head fell.

Power of friendship his ass. It was more on the realm of homosexuality.

From then on things happened slightly in a blur. Sigma was still asleep, Fyodor was a fresh smoothie, Gogol, or whatever his name was, was gay, he guessed.

And Chuuya was fine. He had taken off those horrendous contact lenses and was currently trying to pull out the fake teeth Dazai gave him.

Should’ve known better than to use the glue in the box, as it was insanely easy to exchange for a stronger, not water soluble glue.

But now Dazai was tired. So, so tired. So he let himself be caught by unrelenting, familiar arms and he closed his eyes.

Life is finicky. Evasive. Confusing. A fluke. Something, created from nearly nothing, by pure chance. It’s involuntary.

Life is important, according to every living being.

We enter this world unwillingly, yet we fight so hard for it.

And at the end of it all, you die and everything is forgotten. You are a machine run by tubes and liquid that shuts off and that is it.

But is it really that easy?

Human beings' evolution stemmed from the ability to be conscious and aware of the fact that they are alive. Because in reality we are not just a machine run by tubes and liquids. We feel too much and think too little and live too hard.

We fight for survival to the point where we start thinking, is it worth it?

They care and they love and they find meanings in everything.

And so does Dazai.

It took him a bit. It took him actually trying to see, that he does.

Why can’t he just be normal and meaningless and random and flitting and living and dead?

But he is. Isn’t he?

Why can’t he be human?

What is he?

What else can a creature with this much awareness, curiosity and confusion be?

Nothing really changed, not really. He just gained experience. And lost some.

Walking turned out to be harder than you remembered when one of your legs is utterly fucked.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Slip.

Hold.

Or at least try to. Close your eyes, brace for impact. A well-oiled machine of repetition.

He’s used to that, after all the human body learns ways to cope everyday.

Before Dazai’s face kissed the broken tiles of the prison, he was…..floating?

A singular brown orb slowly opened taking in the environment around him. His head felt fuzzy.

Gray tiles turned to smithereens contrasted expensive inky shoes. Following the line of, admittedly, short legs, the puke green jacket emerged forth an expression of disgust on his own face. It reminded him of stupid, white fluffy animals and bloody betrayals.

Before he managed to follow the tendril of red laying on a shoulder, a black glove shoved itself on his face. On instinct he opened his left eye and followed the trailing finger currently smoothing the space between his eyebrows.

“You look incredibly stupid right now.” Snapping his eyes to the source of the voice Dazai blinked.

When no answer was exclaimed, a tilt of the head was translated and understood by both parties. Chuuya let him take it in for a bit, as he was now stupidly aware of everything. Almost as if he knew it before Dazai’s own body, the gloved hand pressed itself again.

A scarlet eyebrow arose and Dazai blinked in approval. The hand previously holding his expressions hostage snapped. Ow echoed through the prison walls, a pout quickly forming.

Rolling his eyes, Chuuya quickly, almost instinctively started pulling him on his back. “Oh shut up, you big baby.”

“But Chuuya, you would dare hurt an injured hero!”

Blah, blah, blah.

Dazai couldn’t tell what that conversation was for the life of him but he doesn’t need to, not with Chuuya. On his best attempt to be conspicuous he put his face on the shorter man’s junction between his shoulder and neck, and slowly rubbed against it, a small smile emerging. Somehow even though the ginger went through each horrendous trial that he did, he could smell the insanely expensive products he used on his hair. Closing his eyes Dazai felt the rhythmic sound of each step, allowing himself to be safe in the only place he’s ever been. Before succumbing to slumber he felt a reassuring squeeze on his thighs.

And if another pair of lips stretched to accommodate a small smile in return, that was only for Chuuya to know.

Let’s go home.

The sun stretched languidly, filtering itself through the curtains of a penthouse. Its walls built on blood money and memories and two people, awake, aware and human.

Tangled limbs transacted warmth as Dazai felt his awaken. Arms coiled around his head blocking any sound the city could make, while fingers thread through his hair. If he closed his eyes now, he’d just fall back asleep. Clenching his own arms reminded him of the human shaped lump engrained on his person. Small puffs of breath slightly hit his head from above. His head was so quiet. His heart calm. This time Dazai didn't burn.

A small pull on his hair made him turn to one side, letting himself gaze at the view before him. It was truly unfair that something so small could be this pretty.

Almost as if sensing his train of thought, another slightly stronger pull tugged his head back. He let himself be the picture of innocence, all big honeyed eyes and pouting lips. His own mirrored blues squinted slightly and the man under him scoffed.

The next time safe hands touched him, they pulled him towards warm skies and melted ice. Softened lips met his chapped ones and they lingered there for a while. The time for frantic breaths and sharpened moves passed when they were young and fearful, and may return in scattered forms in the future, but not today.

Angled forms and the slide of lips and shared sighs were a dance form they’d perfected the second they locked eyes. A hand pulled on Dazai’s neck and he let go.

If there was one thing he knew, it was that there was one absolute in this universe. One absolute that transcended human perception of science and the world.

Where there was Chuuya there’d be Dazai.

Where there was a Dazai there’d be Chuuya.

And so, the clouds glide, the winds hollow, flowers awaken and sleep, opening their petals, and people go about their day, exchanging words for carbon dioxide and laughs for oxygen.

And so, two human beings entangle through the most intimate ways human beings can. Existing next to each other through memories and unknown futures.

One coin, two sides.

One soul, two people.

A house merged with safety and turned into a home. A home moved and grew legs and a heart and a brain and red locks and cobalt eyes and strong arms and Dazai walked in and never left.

Odasaku would be proud.

Odasaku is proud.

-End-

I will be writing my analysis on some of the things that may be confusing:

Any time Dazai's eyes are mentioned as singular or plural is deliberate. I am referencing his time in the mafia and his obscured view of the world.

Any repetition of sentences or paragraphs is also deliberate an example being Odasaku's description and most importantly, the beginning and the ending of the fic.

I have not yet read Stormbringer, however I have severely spoiled myself. That is why I only briefly caught onto its story and focused more on its consequences.

‘Finding Chuuya is always easy. If you head towards whatever is making the loudest noise, he’ll be there.’ is a quote Dazai used in the light novels.

Promises are extremely important as it shows Dazai on the cusp of finding a reason to live.

In the prison Dazai communicated with morse code by controlling his heartbeat.

When walking in the prison I wrote Slip after he took his right step and his next step would've been his left, which was broken.

Dazai's unknown origins have convinced me that he at the very least was abused by Mori, if not his parents. When I write 'Close your eyes, brace for impact. A well-oiled machine of repetition. He’s used to that, after all the human body learns ways to cope everyday.', I mean it as him flinching and expecting the pain.

Stupid white animals and bloody betrayals means The Sheep, as Chuuya's jacket when he showed up in the prison was nearly identical to the one where he was 15.

It was not my intention to insinuate sex at the end but I don't see why it can't be, so when I say entangelment of limb in the most intimate way humans can, it is up to you to decide.

The end is closure on Dazai's end with Odasaku, but if you want and believe so also Odasaku's spirit.

The title 'The Sunset clashes on waves of Cobalt' Is just Chuuya. His hair clashing with his eyes. Blue is also Dazai's color.

Soukoku have unironically probably kept me alive in certain moments, so I've always wanted to write for them, however I needed it to be at least good. Hopefully this is that.

As for my other fic about them, I am planning on rewriting it as it's honestly so, in kinder words, satisfactory to the way I write now.

Thank you so much for reading! It would mean a lot if I managed to get some reposts, comments or likes!

If you like this, I have written more stories that can be found on my main masterlist. Including: Soukoku, Moon knight, Formula 1 Lestappen, Landoscar with more to come. If it manages to spark your interest, please go support those as well!

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queen-rainy-love · 4 months ago

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Cookie of the Week: Mystic Flour Cookie

This Cookie of the Week is...

Cookie name: Mystic Flour Cookie

Pronouns: She/Her

Rarity: Beast

Position: Rear

Type: Healing

Lore: Mystic Flour was once one of the original five owners of the Soul Jam, hers being the Virtue of Volition. However, once she and the others become corrupted, she is stripped of the Soul Jam and becomes the Beast of Apathy. Before she was corrupted and sealed away, Mystic Flour was the master of the Ivory Pagoda, answering to the wishes of Cookies. She was sealed in a cocoon in the Ivory Pagoda. She was only released years later when the Silver Tree seal was broken. In Beast-Yeast episodes 3 and 4, she was the main villain as well as the push Dark Cacao needed to get stronger.

Personality: Mystic Flour was once known as a kind, benevolent Cookie who diligently followed her beliefs and granted others’ wishes when they found her. However, over time, she grew overwhelmed by the large number of requests and abandonment to the point of becoming jaded and apathetic. She harbors a nihilistic mindset: being comforted by erasing her suffering, even at the cost of her happiness, and wishes to spread this belief across the land. While this did harm others, Mystic Flour does not necessarily have malicious intent. Instead, she truly believes that her actions are for the betterment of Cookiekind, removing their earthly desires and any variability (good and bad). Mystic Flour embraces the concept of apathy to her very core. She maintains a calm and aloof demeanor, rarely going beyond neutrality (It has crack at times). When those come out, it shows small glimpses of her true thoughts, her levels of self-control, restraint, and emotions are still very much present. Those three are actively suppressed at all times. She does harbor a great deal of spite and some twisted remnant of her original benevolence. Her main goals is to spread her message of apathy across the world and reclaim her original Soul Jam. She still feels lingering bitterness toward the ones who driven her into the cocoon. She holds a strange sense of morality, neither lacking empathy nor possessing it. She does not care for those who oppose to her original reputation.

Skills: Mystic Flour's Skill is called Whispers of Apathy. This skill has Mystic Flour create the Realm of Apathy and shield allies with the Cocoon of Futility. Those allies will have their HP periodically restored and gain the Touch of Meaninglessness buff. Once the Realm of Apathy is over, the allies will be Healed for a portion of the DMG they had received.

Costumes: Mystic Flour has zero costumes.

Cookie Decor: Mystic Flour does not have a Cookie Decor.

Thoughts: As the first Beast to be released, she did leave an impression on the whole community and I can’t wait to see her interacting with the other Beasts.

#cookie run kingdom #mystic flour cookie #cookie of the week

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rocketyship · 2 years ago

Note

If you were to take BE and her little human sanctuary and ctrl+v it into the original ihnmaims short novel world, what do you think would happen?

Would BE still be able to kick AM's ass even if she was limited to the amount of herself that is in the android body and sanctuary databases and AM ran through the rest of the world?

This is such a fun question and situation, I love it. Great excuse to explain how the sanctuary works and how BE runs it. So to get right to the question, I won’t lie there could be a large amount of variables and outcomes depending on what AM or BE decides to do. If AM’s immediate reaction to this sudden Bird-cage looking monolith is to not try absorb it or figure out what it is and just immediately nuke it. Then yeah he wins, but that’s quite unlikely to happen, and what is more likely I’d that AM and BE kind of enter a very bizarre staring contest. As for AM to attempt to get into the sanctuary’s mainframe he is pretty much opening himself to BE’s malware coding and giving her a free pass to do what she does best and corrupt him as she was originally designed to do so. If AM realises this and instead goes on the defensive and not try take her over, then he still will have to deal with the consequences of her constantly attempting to overwhelm him at every instance. When the sanctuary is under threat, there is a protocol in place, called “mother”. Which is essentially this giant mechanical spider that acts as a type of guard. Mother is a part of BE’s code not to be messed with. As while for the most part BE can be swayed with words, the mother protocol is fully violent and will stop at nothing to destroy a threat if the humans are at risk. So yeah, if AM does attempt anything to get into the sanctuary, the big ol’ spider BE is coming out and will immediately start just tearing all of AM’s components and stuff apart. But again og AM in all his temper tantrum-ness likely has enough common sense to try more sneaky tactics to figure out what the heck the sanctuary is. Likewise BE herself probably doesn’t really know what AM fully is, and will probably only go on the offence if she discovers the five survivors he has, as well that’s more humans for her to collect. AM too would get aggressive if he found out about the humans she has as well. Either wanting to kill or torture them to.

There is also another alternative where I’d BE is able to figure out who AM is exactly. She may just send down her AM(love au am), to go and possibly infiltrate him or trick him. As they are technically the same person, and perhaps because of that he could slip by AM. Being seen as just another component of his. Then that would likely lead to him sneaking in hard drives belonging to BE to get AM from the inside. Which would inevitably lead to a situation where he encounters the og survivors and likely exposes himself as not being the “real” AM. As love au AM having experienced such torture himself is no longer able to fathom doing it to another being.

Honestly I might make a short comic or two about this. This is such an interesting idea and I would really like to hear some other perspectives on it or what could happen. Idk maybe AM no longer has any nukes, or is too careless and decayed to do anything against BE and the power of love, or maybe she registers AM as a serious threat to herself and her humans and decides to just blow them all up to spare them from the horrors he’ll do to them.

#i have no mouth and i must scream #ihnmaims #am ihnmaims #ted ihnmaims #ihnmaimsloveau #alternate reality #harlan ellison #ellen ihnmaims #allied mastercomputer #ihnmaims am #gorrister ihnmaims #I have no mouth and I must scream love au

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tonto-splace · 1 year ago

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14.02.2024 | 16:12

I have been reading ‘Hackers & Painters’ by Paul Graham recently. Paul is a hacker who gets pretty rich after his company which uses Lisp for development and one of the first companies used server based programs with lots of releases instead of a Desktop app. I really enjoyed this book. Even tho some parts were outdated, it makes you think about certain topics. It was more excited at start but gets kinda boring and unnecessarily longer in the end. I wanted to quote some parts i chose from the book:

While the nerds were being trained to get the right answers, the popular kids were being trained to please. (p.4)

hackers start original, and get good, and scientists start good, and get original. (p.26)

People in past times were much like us. Not heroes, not barbarians. Whatever their ideas were, they were ideas reasonable people could believe. (p.38)

scientists, or at least of the good ones, is precisely that: look for places where conventional wisdom is broken, and then try to pry apart the cracks and see what’s underneath. That’s where new theories come from. A good scientist, in other words, does not merely ignore conventional wisdom, but makes a special effort to break it. Training yourself to think unthinkable thoughts has advan- tages beyond the thoughts themselves. It’s like stretching. When you stretch before running, you put your body into positions much more extreme than any it will assume during the run. If you can think things so outside the box that they’d make people’s hair stand on end, you’ll have no trouble with the small trips outside the box that people call innovative. (p.39)

How are we to develop new technology if we can’t study current technology to figure out how to improve it? (this IBM having patent and abandoning to open their products are mentioned in the tv serie named Halt and Catch Fire too)

Authoritarian countries become corrupt; corrupt coun- tries become poor; and poor countries are weak. (p.43)

since you don’t understand the code as well, you’re more likely to fix it in an ugly way, or even introduce more bugs. (p.65, this is also what I hated on people I worked with, also please don't forget to clean the code after deletions)

It works a lot better for a small team of good, trusted programmers than it would for a big company of mediocre ones, where bad ideas are caught by committees instead of the people who had them. (p.69)

Wealth is stuff we want: food, clothes, houses, cars, gadgets, travel to interesting places, and so on. You can have wealth without having money. Money is a way of moving wealth, and in practice they are usually interchangeable. What most businesses really do is make wealth. They do something people want. (p.90)

Many employees would work harder if they could get paid for it. (p.97. I would)

Steve Jobs once said that the success or failure of a startup depends on the first ten employees. I agree. If anything, it’s more like the first five. Being small is not, in itself, what makes startups kick butt, but rather that small groups can be select. You don’t want small in the sense of a village, but small in the sense of an all-star team. (p.100)

Norbert Wiener said if you compete with slaves you become a slave. (p.124)

Great work usually seems to happen because someone sees something and thinks, I could do better than that. (p.145)

The word “essay” comes from the French verb “essayer,” which means “to try.” An essay, in the original sense, is something you write to try to figure something out. (p.160)

In OO languages, you can, to a limited extent, simulate a closure (a function that refers to variables defined in surrounding code) by defining a class with one method and a field to replace each variable from an enclosing scope. This makes the programmer do the kind of code analysis that would be done by the compiler in a language with full support for lexical scope, and it won’t work if more than one function refers to the same variable, but it is enough in simple cases like this. (p.197)

You can find my Goodreads account -> here

#2024 #feb 2024 #studyblr #books & libraries #bookblr #books #studyinspo #reading #goodreads

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ems-self-ships-galore · 2 years ago

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The World as We Know - Chapter Index

VOLUME ONE:

1 - Awakening

2 - Shake, Rattle, and Roll

3 - Diamond City

4 - Railroad

5 - Wasteland, Baby!

6 - Last Showdown at Sanctuary Hills

7 - I Want to Believe

8 - The Truth is Out There

9 - Boom, Butterfly Effect

10 - Double, Double

11 - An Unholy Communion

12 - Abandon All Hope

13 - Full Circle

14 - Doll Maker

15 - Trinity

16 - Poems and All

17 - Hole in The Wall

18 - Mind Over Matter

19 - Sanctum of Slime

20 - Loveliest Season

21 - The Likes of Fabletown

22 - Lonely Graves

23 - Back to The Wasteland

24 - Merry Go Round

25 - For The Benefit of Mr. Mayor

26 - Wanting to Forgive

27 - Only Us

28 - House Call for Beecher's Hope

VOLUME TWO:

29 - Those Loving Fears

30 - Silly Love Songs

31 - Right Here Waiting

32 - Those Atoms

33 - The Beginning is The End is The Beginning

34 - The Wild Hunt

35 - A Bard's Tale

36 - Magic in Your Love

37 - Neck of The Woods

38 - Don Quixote and His Love

39 - Home in Your Arms

40 - Return of The Corruption

41 - Albion's Hope

42 - Chasing Ghosts

43 - Obscura

44 - Higanbana

45 - The Hidden Gems of Riften

46 - Castle Volkihar

47 - A True Companion

VOLUME THREE:

48 - Little Ditty About Jack and Fran

49 - Hold Me As We Sleep, Edgeworth

50 - I Can Wait

51 - Constants and Variables

52 - Funeral On a Plane

53 - Dirty Work

54 - Temperamental Minds Think Alike

55 - Personal Heaven

56 - Back With The 4077

57 - The Assignment

58 - The Consequence

59 - The Executioner

60 - O Death

61 - It's Not Fair How Much I Love You

62 - (Nothing But) Flowers

63 - Crystalized Image of Us

64 - Blissful Couple

65 - Underground Song

VOLUME FOUR:

66 - Close Call

67 - Promises to Keep

68 - Goblin Queen of The Labyrinth

69 - Heavy is The Head that Wears The Crown

70 - Shunning The World Behind

71 - To The Ends of The Earth

72 - Where The Undead Lay in Wait

73 - Beetle

74 - Juice

75 - Come and Get Your Love

76 - We Found Each Other

77 - Waiting for Those in The Delta Quadrant

78 - Continuing Mission

79 - You've Got to Walk

80 - I'm Going That Way

81 - Dance The Night Away

82 - Can't Take Sky From Me

83 - Reagent

84 - Closure

85 - Scorched Earth

VOLUME FIVE:

86 - To Hear the Song Afar

87 - From Hate to Love

88 - Rampart Days

89 - Laminate the Stasis

90 - Two Daggers

91 - I Declare, BANKRUPTCY

92 - Trapped

93 - If It's You and Me Forever

94 - Sous Vide

95 - Angel Band

96 - All Hands, Hoist the Colors

Side Notes

97 - I Like Adventure Games

98 - It Can't Rain All The Time

99 - Zoinks

100 - The Trap

101 - Jeepers

102 - Jinkies

103 - Teardrop

104 - Stardew

105 - Deadline

106 - Wall of Death

107 - Ain't No Love in Oklahoma

#The World as We Know #long post

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dragonstorm676 · 21 days ago

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Kaijune (Multiverse Tales edition) 2: Sterling Engeal

⸻

🗂️ MULTIVERSE DEFENSE INITIATIVE — KAIZONE FILE

Clearance Level: ⚡ LEVEL 4 — Strategic Command Clearance

File Code: A016-STRG-IGNIS-KX04

───────────────────────────────

📛 DESIGNATION:

• Codename: Silver Nova

• Civilian Identity: Sterling Engeal

• Faction: The Sharp Gang

• Origin Dimension: A-016

• Alignment: Heroic

• Classification: Bio-Energetic Volcanic-Type | Agile-Type | Living Metal-Class

📏 PHYSICAL STATS:

• Height: 197 ft (60 m)

• Mass: Approx. 32,000 tons

• Build: Lean-muscled, vulpine-kaiju with reinforced armor plating

• Primary Materials: Living Silver Alloy (self-generated), Flame-tuned muscle fibers, Volcanic fur-hide

• Key Features:

• Blue segmented armor with reinforced joints

• Grey hide with radiant blonde crest/mane

• Foxlike muzzle, expressive eyes, elongated tail

• Liquid metal wings (variable shape)

• Right hand generates flame in projectile or wave form

• Left arm morphs into edged weapons from living metal

📯 ACOUSTIC PROFILE (ROAR):

• Sound Type:

• Combines a vulpine screech, fire-jet ignition burst, and metallic resonance

• Described as “a flare cannon howling through silver wind”

⚡ ABILITIES:

• Pyrokinetic Propulsion – Capable of flight using high-velocity fire bursts

• Living Metal Manipulation – Can emit and weaponize liquid silver from his body; used for armor growth, blade formation, or shielding

• Flame Projection – Fires concentrated blasts from his hands; can also coat entire limbs in fire for melee strikes

• Silver Nova Transformation – Activates a power-enhancing armor by invoking “Silver Nova, Initium!” via a marble embedded into his forehead

• Enhances strength, speed, defense, flame, and metal output

• Limitations: Time-restricted | Causes energy drain | Requires cooldown between activations

• Vulcan Reflexes – Moves with aerial agility and ground finesse similar to a fox or flying predator

• Ember Field Cloak (Passive) – Body heat repels weak projectiles and frost up to a threshold

🎖️ PERSONALITY LOG:

Sterling maintains a warm, charismatic presence. A strategic optimist and natural leader, he rallies others with his excitement, conviction, and empathy. Even in Kaiju form, his gestures remain expressive—smiling in combat, making hand signs mid-flight, and shouting encouragements. His sense of justice is unshakable, and he balances intensity with heart. Known to drop anime references mid-battle.

🛐 ETHOS PROTOCOL:

“Power isn’t about domination. It’s about illumination—so others can see their way forward.”

— Sterling Engeal, “Flame Forward” (Self-help Vol. 2)

Sterling believes in emotional strength just as much as physical. He often uses his form as a visual metaphor for his philosophy: intense, fast, powerful—but always controlled and kind. Never seeks to destroy unless facing corruption or Acheron-class threats.

📎 NOTES:

• Designed Silver Nova Armor in 2021 with help from Vasilia Kuznet

• Weak to extreme cold; cryo-environments or frostbite-based kaiju are priority threats

• Acts as an older sibling figure to most of the Sharp Gang

• Often visits A-016’s Nexus Shelters to read to children in Kaiju form

• One of the few beings whose Kaiju form can speak fluently in Titanomachian without voice distortion

• Known to “high-five” fire attacks as a morale tactic

───────────────────────────────

END OF FILE — Silver Nova

MDI Archival Node // Field Unit Reference Copy

───────────────────────────────

#popcross studios #popcrossstudios #popcross #sterling engeal #kaijune

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physalian · 28 days ago

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In my first big original WIP, it was a space opera scifi setting, and not queernormative, but also not with a big standardized and centralized way of thinking a la Star Wars--the main villain was colonialism and one planet's quest to gentrify the known galaxy.

So while there was a dominant language in the way that English is dominant on earth, there's a fair chance that you could travel somewhere and, shockingly, not find someone who can understand you, just as an example.

In my main cast of characters, my deuteragonist came from a planet with five genders and four sexes. They were "basically human" in outward appearance, but all were functionally intersex, but unlike mammals, reproduced like birds and reptiles. Everyone was male and female, looking as androgynous as I could make them, but it was a spectrum with variability and the five genders were that variability between "more male" and "more female". The four sexes were (simplified, because I did make a whole lexicon for them) male, female, both, and neither.

At the time I wrote this--and this was a while ago, I was much younger then--he was trans in the sense of absolutely under no circumstances was this body contributing to children and his horrifically corrupt royal lineage (sex-repulsed ace). His goal was to become sexless, and he got his way because magic. Gender-wise, plot shenanigans basically made him a clone of his mother with crippling expectations to live up to, so he went from kind of being forcefemmed to "nope fuck you I'm a man" to "ok but I still like these exclusively girly things that are now barred to me hold on a second."

There were five books of character development, ok? He went through some shit.

But living as a refugee in hiding in the main part of the "wtf are trans people" galaxy, with the much more limited English-stand-in language and regressive thinking, he's stuck with just English's two genders, and their perception of "they" isn't exactly a positive one, or what he's looking for.

So he's "him", but also because gender in his new home is so strict, if he has to pick, then he/him, and was in the closet to everyone who knew him, with the defense of "I'm not from here, your biology is whack, of course I'm totally cis and normal" until plot happens.

When he does come out, he finds out that one of his friends from a whole different planet both knew, and also has trans people, but from a completely different line of thinking.

His planet was strictly "that's how biology be". Her planet believes in reincarnation, that when you die, your memories are wiped, and you get one more go around the block to test if you'd make the same good or bad choices a second time (some heavy religious shit going on here). If you were trans, that must mean that you were so magically powerful that when the gods tried to wipe your memory, you could resist it enough to remember that you aren't quite fitting in this new body the second time around, and you should be honored as the legendary magician you were in a past life.

I made languages for both of these planets and both had their terms for sexuality and orientation, and both were basically; "there is no translation into your limited and obtuse language, just use mine to understand me".

In my newer WIP, it's earth-adjacent fantasy just without any reference for earth history. This is a world that inexplicably uses the word "earth" but sure doesn't look like ours and we don't question why, kind of fantasy.

This one is queernormative (Eternal Night to my followers) and I know the trope is "bisexual character is bisexual but cannot ever use the word bisexual" buuuut

Legit the majority of the characters are bisexual (or pan). Bi is the standard. Why? They're all old as fuck vampires and many at least *tried* it with other men/women and many found out they really liked both. But if someone is straight it's not like, an annoucement. They just don't want to have same-sex partners. There is no label.

Not where the vampires live in the north, anyway. In the south, there's all kinds of lablels, bad ones, prejudiced ones, and using any of them is an insult, so they all got left behind in the sun 'cause nobody gives a shit in the north. It's just a "we don't do that here, leave your labels with your shoes at the door".

Which also means that I then have to make sure my audience does know which characters are which sexuality, and some do have more hangups and confusion about theirs than others--particularly my aces--and in that comes them having to just talk about themselves and their perspectives.

And like prev said, it says so much more than just slapping "graysexual" on their forehead. That right there is telling, not showing. The label means jack shit if I can't prove that I know what I'm talking about and show it in how they interact with others, how they treat their partners/lack thereof, how they approach intimacy and how they think of attraction.

Labels are important in real life so you can say "look here's this term that describes me and here's a bunch of literature on it".

In fiction, labels *can be* a shortcut tricking you into thinking you've done your job simply by saying "well I said they're bi I don't need to do more". No, you do. Gender and sexuality isn't a thing you are, it's a thing you do, all the time, not just popping up when it's convenient to be a plot device or a checked box on your token diversity list.

Sorry for the long addition, this is just important to me.

It's very #problematic of me I'm sure but if they must do either I really desperately prefer authors coming up with fancy always-italicized elven words for being gay or trans than having preindustrial warrior aristocrats and barely-socialized monsters have a vocabulary that casually includes 'demisexual' and 'enby'.

This is only slightly a principled stance (queernorm fantasy worlds are very obviously not trying to have any sort of realistic political economy of gender, which I only slightly judge them for), mostly just painful aesthetic mismatch.

#characters #trans characters #queer terms #queer fantasy #show don't tell

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libraryofcirclaria · 11 months ago

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Recastelaren

Library of Circlaria

Blog Posts

Article Written: 23 February 1456

Geography

Although closer to Ancondria than the rest of Circlaria, Recastelaren, officially known as the Isles of Recastelaren, is considered a part of the Circlarian Realm.

Recastelaren is actually a cluster of five water-bound Isles, with one Center Island around which travel four Lesser Islands. The Lesser Islands revolve around the Center Island once every two weeks. The Center Island consists of a variably smooth shoreline around the outside, a tall plateau in the center, and a basin in the center of the plateau. Over the center of the basin floats a stationary Skymountain which rotates once every 24 hours. Four large Skymountains revolve around the Center Island once every week.

Meanwhile, each of the four Lesser Islands has four Skymountains that revolve around it and a Skymountain in the center that is stationary relative to the motion of the said Lesser Island. And each Skymountain that orbits around the Center Island has four lesser Skymountains that revolve around it once every 24 hours.

To note, all revolutions and rotations are clockwise.

Such a place has been the object of scientific study for centuries, and such studies have found Recastelaren's motions to be the result of gyrostones and gyro-energy. Needless to say, with exploding value for gyro-technology in recent years, Recastelaren has been a place of interest for traders and investors.

Recastelaren's climate is mostly temperate. Being located very far South in the Southern Hemisphere, Recastelaren has four distinct seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Its vegetation consists of grasslands accompanied by pines and deciduous trees.

History

From the pre-Ashen years to around 500 CE, civilization throughout the Isles of Recastelaren consisted of a loose collection of fishing and farming communes. A confederation of communes eventually emerged to dominate the Center Island while a single-commune society dominated each of the four Lesser Islands. Each commune held a common religious belief that deities lived and ruled from each of the Skymountains; and commune leaders would turn to these deities for a "consensus" with regard to perplexing issues. These communes were otherwise self-governing, with each wanting no business with the others except for occasional trade, and would only unite with one another in the presence of an external threat.

In 504 CE, Graenbeard the Great, an infamous and powerful sea pirate in the Circlarian Realm, launched a brutal attack against the Isles of Recastelaren, which fell rather easily to defeat. Many native Recastelarians were slaughtered while others were taken into slavery and transported to other regions of Circlaria. And thus, the Isles of Recastelaren were united under the banner of Graenbeard, who ruled as its King until his unexpected death in 517 CE. With no heir to the throne, Recastelaren became an absolute principality, ruled by a succession of Lords until 804 CE. That year, the Principality was violently overthrown and re-established as a Republic. The Republic of Recastelaren was governed by a collective leadership from the Center Island, who approved Consuls elected by the population to govern over each of the four Lesser Islands.

However, by 1051 CE, the Republic of Recastelaren was corrupted economically and politically; and a threat of civil war began to emerge. In May of that year, a charismatic figure by the name of Lord Valooren led a coup which temporarily unseated the central government on the Center Island. A similar event had occurred eighty years previously; and the central government was prepared to act, subdue that uprising rather easily. However, before they could settle the 1051 uprising, the coup leaders quickly signed a deal to hand Recastelaren to the control of the Edoran Regiondom of the Great North, seated in Northern Remikra. A treaty was signed to dissolve the Republic and re-establish the territory as the Edoran Dominion of Recastelaren on 18 May 1051.

From 1051 to 1354, the Edoran Dominion of Recastelaren was administered by a succession of Governor-Generals appointed and approved by the Parliament of the Edoran Regiondom. And such a succession of Governor-Generals established a hallowed tradition of modern economic policies allowing for open markets and the fostering of private small businesses. Furthermore, they enacted social policies to grow and maintain a comfortable middle class for both local Recastelarians and Edorans alike.

Under Edoran leadership, a local Parliament was established on the Center Island while a Council was established for each of the four Lesser Islands, with seats for these legislative bodies elected by the local population. Furthermore, aviation, nautical, and gyro-technology enabled people to set foot upon the Skymountains; and with growing populations, each Skymountain would also have its own local hierarchical government and elected Council. Most notably, government policies here designated certain areas of the Isles and Skymountains as protected wildlife preserves.

As a result, for nearly 300 years, the Isles of Recastelaren enjoyed a balanced economy, high living standards, and an overall high morale.

However, such a tradition came to an end when, in 1354, the Parliament of the Edoran Regiondom in Remikra voted to sell Recastelaren to a joint ownership between the Remikran Union and the Kingdom of Gyrosak. In 1359, the Remikran Union voted to have its portion of Recastelarian territory handed over to Gyrosak, so that Gyrosak had total jurisdiction. Very soon after, Gyrosak handed Recastelaren over to the Gyrosakian Royal Treasury, who bartered numerous pieces of territory, each to the sole ownership of a privately-owned business or a commercial sea guild. During this time period, the Royal Treasury would purchase pieces of territory it expected to gain value, and sold them to other businesses for profit. Businesses and sea guilds would do the same.

Some of these pieces of land were built upon by naval shipyards as well as military and air bases. These were originally owned directly by the Gyrosakian government. However, in 1361, a private multinational company known as the Lubbock Shipyard and Airbase Holdings Corporation bought these properties, most of which were either along the coastlines of the water-bound Isles or atop the Skymountains. In exchange for rapid technological advancements in these fields, Lubbock Holdings would lease out these properties to the Gyrosakian government for monthly or yearly fees. And as part of a special contract, numerous businesses in Recastelaren would pay service fees to the stationed Gyrosakian forces for security and military protection.

Throughout the 1360s and 1370s, Recastelaren became a truly libertarian society consisting of an open market where businesses bought and sold property and assets; and no single government had official jurisdiction over the Isles. This period was accompanied by modernization on an industrial scale, as each landmass, water-bound and air-bound, was converted into a major cityscape. And the wildlife reserves, having lost their protection while Gyrosak sold Recastelarian territories to private businesses, were not exempt.

By 1374, each Isle and Skymountain was a daunting urbanscape accompanied by economic inequality, rising costs of living, and consistently low wages for a rapidly-growing lower working class. In March of that year, workers across numerous Recastelarian businesses and industries joined and formed the United Workers of Recastelaren (UWR). As a single organization, they began to organize a general strike. In response to this, the Recastelarian corporate elite formed the Order of the Grey Dawn, which was led by the top Recastelarian business oligarchs and consisted of two other classes: the Supporters, who were laborers convinced to "join the cause" via votes, pledges of loyalty, and monetary donations; and the Fighting Loyals, who were hired by the Leaders to carry out acts such as assassinations of outspoken UWR figures, street confrontations, and acts of protest to derail the function of businesses opposed to the Order. Furthermore, only men were allowed to cast votes, become Leaders, or join the Fighting Loyals.

In September 1374, the Order of the Grey Dawn launched a broad effort across Recastelaren to eradicate the existence of the UWR, which involved the barricading of streets, sit-ins derailing opposing businesses, the destruction of small businesses supporting the UWR, the storming of UWR locations, and even the slaughter of certain UWR members.

Citing this as a possible fascist coup, the UWR began reaching out to powerful foreign entities for assistance. The Kingdom of Gyrosak completely ignored such calls made by the UWR. However, such a call was answered by the Seafarers of Barry, a commercial sea-guild collectively governed by its laborers who overthrew its top-down leadership one-hundred years previously. The Seafarers offered to help by building ships from metal scraps collected all throughout the Circlarian Realm, and lending or selling these ships to any entity willing to assist the UWR. However, the Seafarers answered the need for another entity to assist the UWR by calling upon one of its closest allies: the Sororal Council of the Primeran Class of the House of Esary, or the SCPC. The SCPC agreed to such a deal because they had recently been ousted by the House of Esary from their home territory in Notulfa, located in the Far-North landmass of Hobland, and needed a place to settle in terms of government and jurisdiction. The SCPC agreed to pay the Seafarers a sum of wealth to construct robust naval ships; and the Seafarers succeeded in increasing the naval presence of the SCPC to five times its original size. With well-crafted propaganda, and possibly oathcrafting skills, the SCPC was able to recruit large numbers of allied Circlarians to join them in order to man these ships.

Members of the UWR began to grow concerned with the SCPC, however, after learning that the ouster of the SCPC from the House of Esary was in the wake of apparent "shady troubles" with regard to Circlarian international law. Furthermore, the Diplomatic Officiators of the SCPC had been broadcasting disturbing rhetoric of "class supremacy" and the "glory of opponent elimination." Combined with the need of the SCPC to find a place to settle, concern began to grow that the SCPC was intending to invade and conquer Recastelaren. As a result, two chapters of the UWR made a conjoined official call to the central leadership of the UWR to reconsider its unwavering acceptance of the SCPC as its ally; however, such a call was completely ignored.

Nevertheless, the SCPC took notice and began to take counter-actions. They did so by first approaching Lubbock Holdings with a proposal to gradually acquire its naval, military, and airbases. Lubbock Holdings agreed to the deal, but such a deal required a mutual agreement from the Gyrosakian government, who denied such a motion. As a result, the proposal was null and void. Nevertheless, the SCPC began assembling floating naval military bases with its newly-built ships around the Isles, while calling upon its parent entity, the House of Esary, to assist them in their agenda. Despite having ousted the SCPC from Notulfa, the House of Esary was still willing to help them settle in new territory. Between late 1374 and early 1375, the House of Esary conducted business deals to acquire a majority of Recastelarian media companies and directed them to implicitly indoctrinate Recastelarians with pro-Esarian principles. The House of Esary used such media influence to convince Recastelarian charter schools to merge with them in a similar fashion. They then successfully acquired all of the "soft industry" businesses and "infrastructure industry" businesses. With a strong newly-gained economic clout as a result, the House of Esary convinced these businesses to terminate service fee arrangements with the Gyrosakian forces stationed at the bases owned by Lubbocks Holdings.

By 1375, the stationed Gyrosakian forces were no longer able to pay rental fees to Lubbocks Holdings without consultation from the Gyrosakian Royal Treasury. In May 1375, the House of Esary pitched a similar proposal to the one made by the SCPC the previous year for Gyrosakian forces to terminate their lease with Lubbocks Holdings and for Lubbocks Holdings to sell their properties to the House of Esary. All three entities agreed, signing a contract that included a clause obligating the SCPC to promise non-aggression in Recastelaren. Local Recastelarians were skeptical of this arrangement, however, since the non-aggression clause was not enforceable, but division in the Recastelarian population hindered their ability to effectively negotiate with these powerful entities.

In June 1375, the contract was officially signed; and immediately afterward, a subsequent deal was signed between the House of Esary and the SCPC to turn over the properties to the SCPC. Throughout the month of September, Gyrosakian forces gradually withdrew from Recastelaren. And on 1 October 1375, the SCPC moved in. Breaking their promise to uphold the non-aggression clause, they launched a full-scale invasion of Recastelaren. With no central government in place to fight back, Recastelaren was defeated and fell under total control by the SCPC, who established its official sovereignty over the territory with its government seat on the Center Island, and brought Recastelaren under totalitarian rule.

Recastelaren has been under total control of the SCPC ever since.

#LOC-BlogPosts

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inspireofficespace1 · 2 years ago

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celestiagarden · 3 years ago

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If u still take requests... Could you do Kazuha and Childe finding out that their Younger sibling fell into abyss (yk like Childe did) and they had no choice so they are now one of the harbingers as well? Ty if u do take this request!

Characters: Kazuha, Childe

CW: trauma, growing up too fast. i might’ve missed some things

Note: I think in matters of having no choice to join the fatui, this was more of a variable that depended on Childe’s temperament. So unless these younger siblings have an unscratchable itch for bloodshed and action, i think their return from the abyss would differ? So i kind of changed the initial prompt a little :P

Kazuha

kazuha thinks its a sheer miracle that his sibling survived.

They’re obviously shaken; and rightfully so. they were so young and had to go through so much.

it breaks his heart to notice that this unfortunate accident changed them. They had only been missing for what, five days? but what seemed like five days to him ended up being five months for them. in an unforgiving environment.

kazuha probably tried to help his sibling recuperate and tried his best to initiate them to a certain normality. you know; kid things. Go play with your friends, they missed you! would you like to hear a story? why don’t we go play tag together? that kind of stuff. and it’s heart breaking to see that, being faced with life-threatening dangers, his sibling had to grow up far too quickly. Though they’re barely in their mid-teens, their stoic and mature temperatement deeply resembled Kazuha’s, with a twinge of cynicism.

To him, there was nothing more heartbreaking than witnessing his beloved younger sibling yield their childhood far too early and suffer the consequences

Childe

oh boy. oh man. I dont even know how to BEGIN.

is there a small chance that his younger sibling does, in fact, share the same character as him? And that they resurface as another warrior thirsty for blood and fighting? absolutely. A part of temperament is genetic after all.

with that said, childe isn’t home very often due to work. chances are, he wasn’t around when his younger sibling fell. Maybe Tonia wrote about it in a letter, but by the time it reached him, it was far too late to do anything about it.

but i like the scenario in which he doesn’t hear about it from his family. that he simply hears there’s a new harbinger, and that some of the fatui higher ups joke a lot about how it must run in the family. childe doesn’t get it, until he finds out it’s his sibling.

he’s so worried, it sickens him. he got back to snezhnaya SO FAST when he heard because he needs to know what in the hell happened. When he came clean to his younger siblings (save for Teucer) about his real job, he had them promise never to get involved because it’s not a good life. So what in the hell happened?

the news of the abyss broke his heart even more. he feels so helpless that while he was away doing celestia knows what, his younger sibling was down there, fighting for their life. Childe knows first hand how it feels and it’s not very fun. it’s even less fun when he comes to the realization that this is a curse. a curse his younger sibling has to bear too. there’s no return to normalicy now. there’s no way for them to get “better”, to get back to being a kid again and simply dreaming of an ideal future. all they’ll know now are battlefields and corruption.

childe will never forgive himself for what happened to them.

#genshin impact #genshin headcanons #Genshin impact headcanons #childe #genshin childe #tartaglia #genshin ajax #kazuha kaedehara #kazuha

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pacexlikexaxghost · 1 year ago

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Steven is a little taken aback by the reaction to his pronouns and the high five offer, but he's never one to turn down a high five.

❝Uh, sure!❞

They're not sure they'd actually... told anyone that before? It was never a big deal. The gems are... gems. Amethyst routinely turns into all manner of objects; it's not like gender ever seemed like it mattered. And he's heard random stories about his dad's dating history before his mom, and there didn't seem to be any consideration of it there. And Garnet is... Garnet.

It's all just kinda been whatever. Why should it be a big deal?

It's kinda funny for Pearl to be the one saying she doesn't get gender though, she's undeniably the girliest of them.

Well, maybe Steven is girlier than her sometimes. He just does whatever feels right. And sometimes that's glitter and skirts and ruffles and such. He likes pretty things.

While Pearl is just a ballerina. Which... why is that like, gendered? Weird.

❝Well, a few times Ruby was met with confusion until they heard her talk and decided her voice was feminine, same with Bismuth, though I think in this day and age they would just be read as, ah, what's the term... tomboys? And myself, in the past when I steadfastly refused to make my form match the women's fashion of the day, but then I spoke and they instead condencended to me and told me to dress like a real woman.❞ She rolls her eyes. ❝But, generally, yes, gems tend to be read as feminine by humans. I've never seen a masculine pronoun really stick to a gem, even when the human speaking was confused.❞

❝Who are Ruby and Bismuth?❞

Pearl pauses, both saddened at Bismuth's loss (at least they probably aren't going to find her as a monster; shattered is worse, but Pearl doesn't know that she'd be able to make herself fight a corrupted Bismuth) and also needing to answer that carefully. ❝... Two other Crystal gems I knew in the War, Steven.❞

❝Oh, okay.❞

She listens with interest as Flicker tries to explain gender, not that they say all that much clearly.

❝The queer community? Gender roles I'm familiar with, and I'm... not a fan, but I'm, admittedly, extremely out of touch with human culture. If it wasn't something Rose was involved with and told me about, I don't really know about it.❞

❝You should ask my dad. I think he was involved with that, with the stories he's told about touring.❞

Pearl makes a face. She will not be doing that. ❝I'll keep that in mind.❞ She focuses her gaze back on Flicker. ❝I suppose you could say my pronouns don't 'match' mine then, given that I don't have a gender. Not that I'd mind other pronouns either; it really doesn't matter.❞

❝I'm okay with she, it wouldn't make me uncomfy; it's just like... not accurate. Not that anyone has ever made that mistake.❞

❝And as for the organic pronouns, they could roughly translate out to a male, female, and unknown or variable. But they're really only used in a strict biological sense, because research is the only Diamond sanctioned,❞ she says the words mockingly, ❝reason for gems to be interacting with organics at all.❞

Oh. Steven? What kind of story about fusion would require Steven not being here for it? Well now it was even more intriguing. They both nodded back to communicate that they'd understood, though.

Flicker snickered. "Yeah, if she can't even stay together long enough to try things that aren't fighting? You don't have to worry about that at all."

"Oh!" Flicker grinned. They reached over for a high five. "Always nice to meet someone else in the community!" Dang, Steven had figured themself out even younger than Flicker did, too.

. . . Well. Maybe not, if they counted the fact that they'd only been alive for seven years before they realized they could just use whatever pronouns they wanted. In that case it depended on when Steven figured it out too.

They were deeply interested as Pearl went on. "Really? They don't have genders at all?" Though after a pause they added, "I guess that sort of makes sense. I mean. You're all gems that are made. The only differences are the type of gem." And having a singular pronoun sounded wayyyyyy easier than having a pronoun for each type of gem. "They really hardly ever use anything other than feminine pronouns for you guys, though?" They supposed that's where their mind would have naturally gone with the gems they'd met here, too, but they'd only seen a handful of different types of gems, and they were fairly certain there had to be a lot more types than just the ones on earth. All of them tended to be called by feminine pronouns?

They wondered if Rose potentially having a gender when the others didn't by default would make her trans.

At Pearl's contemplation over the purpose of gender, Flicker shrugged. "I don't really know how to explain it. I mean I guess there are different gender roles? But also like subverting those gender roles is a big part of the queer community. And gender itself is like . . . a feeling? I guess you wouldn't know it if you don't have one. Proving a negative and all that. Sometimes people have multiple, sometimes people have none, sometimes it's nebulous and sometimes it's not. I dunno! It depends on the person. But there's so many out there and people figure out terms to describe how they feel all the time.

"A lot of times the pronouns you choose match your gender, but not always. There's just-" They tossed their hands up. "I dunno! It's difficult to explain! Just- being misgendered is uncomfy as heck. Like, that's not me, why are you calling me that? Stop calling me something I'm not."

A pause, and an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry. Anyway, so then what are the differences between the three organic pronouns?" They were fascinated by all of this.

#or *butch* Pearl. they're gay af so Butch would be appropriate. Hahah #and yet steven. they haven't made that mistake yet. wait till you start getting mistaken for your mother #|❝We’ll Always Save the Day!❞| Steven Universe Early Show Verse #| In Character |#goldenbeastkeeper #|❝If You Could Only Know; What We Really Are❞| Pearl Early Show Verse

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verbosebabbler · 3 years ago

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The following is an organized explanation of my notes on the lore drops in the YouTube Let's Play of Zampaniosim South done by JR and IC. I don't have full context for some of these properties, so apologies for any mistakes made in facts or interpretations. For the sake of not cluttering dashboards, most is below a readmore.

Zampanio: The characters from other properties like Lobotomy Corps (the created story for the randomized teams of characters) and Morgan's Hill / Dusk Hollow (a ttrpg podcast) were literally, through various means, transported into Zampanio. Their pasts inform their perspectives going into Zampanio. And Zampanio is a place that loops, where time grows less important as space grows so big. Normal people reset during the loops, as in their memory between them doesn't persist. Characters only join the loop when they grow so singularly obsessed with something that they will not let the apocalypse erase them. As a result of this looping, several characters have their past selves in the loops. The looping nature of Zampanio means you could test things that would otherwise result in death.

Lobotomy Corps

General: The characters of Lobotomy Corps we're fused with their associated anomoly before being brought into Zampanio. They come from a world where countries do not exist, which shapes their worldview and how they interact with those in Zampanio. In Zampanio, they live in the abandoned part of the mall that gof twisted by Wanda's maze shenanigans. In this mall, while most merchandise was left, some just spawns in. You can buy a Mino Burger from the less corrupted main floors normal people operate in, or you can steal one from deeper levels unsure if the product is even actually food. The teams are too insular, with their found family to rely on but no one outside to alleviate the stresses of the group.

Camille and Ria: Camille and Ria broke up before they all even entered Zampanio. Her fusing with the armor anomoly was the death knell of their relationship. Before, these two were clingy and enabling of each other, afraid to give the other negative criticism. The two have low temperance. But when Camille combined with the armor she could no longer talk, or else she would die. This broke apart her relationship with Ria.

Then the teams were brought into Zampanio. Camille was first of the training team to begin looping, making her the oldest in lived experience. This fact makes her annoyed at Vik for his treating her as if she doesn't know what she's doing.

Camille, in the loops, works in non petty crime. As a contract killer for the Hostage of the Eye Killer. Ria is the only one of the training team who cannot seem to hold an outside job.

Camille is still limited in her communication. She can only talk to people within the eye hell maze, which she only occasionally brings people to to talk, which is how she begins talking to K.

But as for her relationship with Ria, the Illusionist unlocked a new potential dynamic; repression work. She can just stare and breathe at Ria to show her affection, recontextualizing her old dislike of her height and intimidating aura as a means of showing affection to Ria. And in this repression work, it acts as training for Ria, to keep her in line to prevent her from accelerating the apocalypse.

Devona and Neville: Devona and Neville work so well together, the Platonic Ideal of the Platonic Relationship.

Devona is an anxious sort. She works as a Disney imagineer, but the corrupted maze one that Wanda made after buying them out. She uses her job to make others experience things the way she does. She's only able to keep the job because of the weird way space works, as she can just drive five minutes from Ohio to Disney. Otherwise, she would be worried about all the variables during her commute, like she does with doing her taxes, which she knows the ins and outs of but relies on Witherby to do them.

Devona reports on everything around her. Being from outside the world, outside the structure of the corporation, she doesn't know what's important to report on, so she'll report on everything. She'll make whole reports on pigeons, how many arrived and left, who all interacted with them etcetera. Neville will take these reports and remove what's irrelevant to the mission at hand.

Neville is a stock bro and also just some guy. He will just go up to talk to anyone. He'll go talk to people while committing crimes, completely forgetting the circumstances, and the confusion of doing so to the people he talks to also makes them forget. He is the least insular of the group because of this conversationalism. He even made friends with Rebel, ignorant to Rebel's misdirected bouts of anger towards him in the form of insults.

Witherby: Witherby is the chillest training team member, the highest temperance allowing him to do attachment work for the corporation.

He's the most responsible, doing everyone's taxes and signing up for jury duty. Despite this, his job is petty crime. Each penny he doesn't have to spend is a point of pride, with his taxes being just him flexing his savings.

Despite this responsibleness and chillness, his anomoly has him deal with a lot. He is aware of everyone's sins all the time, the only one aware of what lies beyond each apocalypse. But, he guesses he had to forgive them for their sins.

During the west, his responsibility in going for jury duty led him to the situation of being in the same courtroom as the Devil of Spirals, the Maze Monster, the serial killer Camille obsesses over, and led to him witness Camille dying in front of him. He was panicking on the inside, but turned to what he knew: attachment work, which he did on Peewee as means to contain what he perceived as a threat.

The Info Team

Vik, K, and Yongiki: Info team is even more insular than the training team. It needs outside help in order to get out of this, but Viktor does not trust the training team or anyone. And anyone who sees Vik goes insane.

Vik is mother henning Yongki. All his focus is on him, because when Vik stops caring, Yongki dies. Vik doesn’t care about sacrificing himself for the sake of Yongki. This tendency makes his friendship with Parker important. Parker is grateful the littlest care given, but doesn’t die without it.

While with Yongiki, he is stuck having to repeat the five set of memories over again forever. The clown diary sim is basically the longest Yongki’s memory ends up lasting, around a month. He’ll eventually see a mirror and repeat the cycle over again.

As for K, he feels so rejected and sidelined. He doesn't improve until he talks to Camille in the maze, leading to a surprisingly wholesome relationship.

Parker: Parker's powers have him manually moving through his holes, traveling the whole space between the two points. He cannot die of dehydration, starvation, or lack of sleep. But he will suffer the negative side effects, like hallucinations.

Morgan’s Hill / Dusk’s Hollow

General: Morgan’s Hill is what Dusk Hollow becomes after the great unbinding, its opposite.

Doc Slaughter: Doc Slaughter has been brought in to Zampanio to help all these characters. She was originally from Morgan's Hill, high in society despite not having an associated artifact, whether it was taken or never existed. She then was brought into Dusk Hollow as a therapist but also as a spy.

Her power is her ability to never forget information, which leads her to knowing about the Zampanio loops by default (though this power is unable to override the obfuscation powers of Viktor and the Naga). She is reserving her judgment on this echidna shaped universe, knowing there are better and worse universes out there.

Despite her knowledge of loops, she isn't quite looping herself yet. She hasn't found that singular obsession. She needs to understand things, but not on the same way the Wanderer did of carving yourself apart. She will eventually loop.

For now, she's been hired to be the designated free therapist for those who loop by both the Closer and the End separately. She takes both their paychecks for the same work. Her service is available to everyone but Witherby at the Closer's request.

The Neighbor: The Neighbor is from Dusk Hollow and knows Doc Slaughter. The government made him go to therapy to get evaluated. Doc Slaughter said that he was the most horrifically violent person she has ever met, but also absolutely harmless.

The Neighbor is a Shambling Horror, a creature who wears the face of another and is set out on killing and replacing the one they copy. And yet now the Neighbor is trapped in Zampanio, in a world where his soulmate he is destined to murder does not exist.

Ronin and NAM: Ronin is from Dusk's Hollow, but spent some time in Morgan's Hill before Zampanio and he is a robot. Rather, he is an AI subroutine for Watt draped over an encrypted database affected by the Octome (an artifact that makes recorded knowledge unable to be forgotten) and put into his own robot. Despite all this, he's just some guy and doesn't loop.

NAM is the result of the great unbinding ritual that transformed Dusk's Hollow into Morgan's Hill going wrong. He gets a job as a paralegal to Ronin in the consulting business he inherited from the Closer.

A Universal constant for Watts like Wyatt and Ronin is an unavailable father figure. (This is hilariously relevant to Rebel, Rod, and Melon considering their relationship with Peewee and the fact they were all named Watt Jr. Sr.)

Eyedol HQ

Closer: The Closer is the most iconic character. She is central in many of the plot elements. When Witherby slighted her, she subtly pushed Wanda to expand the maze aspects of Eyedol HQ to the Mall where Witherby and the Lobotomy Corps group live. She hired Eye Killer for marketing purposes. Her past self is literally involved in the plot, and the older Closer gets embarrassed by her. Early on, the Closer was starry eyed about Wanda and the CFO, now she just thinks Wanda is an asshole. She still loves the CFO.

Wanda: Wanda has the power of a stupid billionaire and stupid space magic. She'll just turn things into mazes. She doesn't go anywhere else besides. She also does not acknowledge her past self, all of her own accord. She does not even reach out to the Intern until Wodin is dead.

CFO Flower Chick: The Flower Chick used to be more easy going, but after spending so much time with the Closer, she became more Machiavellian.

Eye Killer: The Eye Killer is the one who interacts with her past self the most. She will label her a blorbo, pick her up, and put her in a box for safekeeping. Her powers of venting connects two points like Parker's, but unlike his, she's able to go through the distance quickly, her vent acting more like a wormhole.

Rebel and Rod: Rebel is angry all the time and will say the first thing to come to his mind, which leads to him insulting people like Neville. Rod, though, is often on the receiving end of taunts and pesters. There's a running joke of his milk being stolen from his house.

Unknown: In the Eye Killer case, the Hostage there hires Camille for assassinations and they're familiar with with monsters.

At some point in the interactive story of the west, the audience will be baited into going to the Bermuda Triangle to meet up with a character named D, who is great.

In Morgan's Hill or Dusk's Hollow there is a character named Doc Richardson who is an asshole. Don't know if they are in Zampanio.

#discoveringzampanio #presentingzampanio

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bedlamgames · 3 years ago

Text

No Haven 0.972

Highlights for this one includes new Assignments, a new Race, Weapons, Emissary rework, Destinctions, and more

Download links can be found on the No Haven page.

If you don’t have RAGS and you need a copy to run it there’s one on the help page here or the one pinned on the patreon you can find a link to in the attached read me which is more up to date. If RAGS has never worked on your system despite the help page suggestions then it might be worth trying with one of the alternate players. There’s also improvements on there to the RAGS player that can also help with performance.

One thing I've noticed on the discord is that some people are using 3 and it's looking to me like less of a good idea than I might once have said for an incrasing number of reasons from usability to memory errors. If there's a red background when there's choices then regardless of what it says in the player (that's says what the game was made with, not what you're using) then I reccomend uninstalling the rags you're using and installing the version I've hosted on the link that can be found on the attached text file. There are more requirements than 3, but if you follow the guide there though then I'm sure that you won't have any problems.

0.97 to 0.972 Change logs under the break:

0.972 Change Log

-New Commissions: ---Changing Places. ---Decadence Like No Other. Old commission for this one is now used for Listening to Whispers which has had a rewrite to the intro and Success text to reflect the change in art from the former placeholder. Decadence has variants used for the intro, Female Gorgon Slaves, Futa Gorgon Slaves, Female Cityborn Slaves, and Futanari Cityborn. ---Supply Run and Sell Excess Supplies. Has three variants which will be chosen at random when you start the Assignment.

-Emissary Rework: ---You can now set a focus for your Emissary under General Orders. There's some new text when you assign one to notify that this is a thing you can do. This can be set to any of the Assignment types (yes even Crafting) and this can gain a variety of buffs, penalties, specific assignments of that chosen type, or improvements to rewards. ---The Emissary is now much more resilient with a variety of alternative bad things that can happen to them rather than just being removed or wounded. ---It's now possible for the Emissary to gain or lose a number of traits depending on the focus chosen. Though some of the better rewards like these do need the Emissary to have been on a number of trips before they are eligible to begin receiving them. ---Now how a slaver feels about Emissary work will also affect how good they are at the Scouting Assignments in the same way Guarding preferences works with Abandoned Watchtower. ---The previously helpful traits of Cunning (Cun), Fleet (Flt), Flying (Fly), Seductive (Sed), Persuasive (Per), Tactful (Tac) now help more often and also now stack rather than just having one of them. Mind Reader (Min) has been added to those and work in the same way with the same larger bonus that Flying (Fly) has. Other traits now help too for the type of Assignment chosen to focus on. Specifically there are : Slaving=Trainer (Trn), Infiltration=Sneaky (Sne), Trading=Logical (Lgl), Diplomacy=Friendly (Fnd), Exploration=Tracker (Tra), Marauding=Leader (Lea), Corruption=Depraved (Usc+), Defending=Honourable (Hon), Scavenging=Perceptive (Pcp), Crafting=Creative (Cre)

-Miscellaneous additions: ---Rewrote and improved the intros to all five Scouting Assignments. ---As I changed the corruption wording to be updated on Examine a while back to be more generated on Examine there's no need like there used to be to have Males as gender neutral in case of some transformation so I've changed that to be more specific and fixed some grammar issues caused by those variables in the process. ---Various Harpy types have had their favoured Trait of Singer (Sin) replaced. Icewyld got Elementalist: Water (E:Wa), Kestrae got Magic: Nature (M:Na), and Tsumi got Magic: Illusion (M:Il). Icewyld also should have had Nethemir as a Favoured Race but on checking incorrectly had Elementalist: Air so that's now been fixed. ---Updated the starting Harpy Trait packages. Lyonixin are now far more likely to also have Aggressive (Agg) if a Slaver or Defiant (Def) as a Slave, with a small chance for Slavers to have Onslaught (Agg+). Tsumi have lost Singer (Sin) entirely, and now are more likely to have Herbalism (Hrb), Loner (Lon), or Magic: Illusion (M:Il). Kestrae and Icewyld now have their own specific starting trait packages rather than sharing the Carrakar one and then just adding Agile (Agi) or Resilient (Res). ---Updated the starting Drider Trait packages to the proper full varied set most races get compared to the three options they used to come with. ---Changed the Harpy lore page to remove the comment about extra limbs which is no longer a thing for either NH Harpies or NH lamia. ---Updated the Neko racial to give them a Success bonus on Gloryhole Box, Saving Glory, and A Taste of Glory. ---There's now a variable cooldown between Forced Encounters with about ten days as the average but depends on the roll can be shorter or longer. The cooldown result is then reduced by three days on Hardcore Difficulty. ---Added an alternate oath during dialogue for Night Goblins and Drow to represent their totally not the same entity racial Goddess. ---The auction official who had such a grudge at their opposing number at the arena has mysteriously disappeared, and as such the penalty for selling an arena prize has been reduced from -300 to -100. While it has no gameplay effect it should be noted that the arena official in question now has a much better morale at work which could be put down to their new slave who they've been bringing in to keep under their desk. ---The addition to the examine gained from Basic Lesbian Training now has an Assignment bonus which is the same as having an Established Lesbian Mantra (does not stack if they have both). Now also has a Value Estimate bonus (does stack if also has a Fully Embedded Lesbian Mantra).

-New Content Improvements and fixes ---Many, many, many fixes for the Arrogance Storyline starting with the cock length that had been breaking things. Also a heavy amount of re-writing, and way, way more entirely new writing. A lot more depth and variation compared to the first attempt that was locked off by the cock length bug so probably a good thing you're seeing this version instead. This can result in a new Enchanted Item, and the potential Encampment Upgrades you can get are more potent and interesting, Some of the new text is based on your chosen race including an ending outcome that you can only get as a Lizardman. Had missed the asked for new planning out assignments text and bonus so that's also now in there and can change based on how things work out.

-Bug fixes: ---Fix for an issue where Common Deep Mountains Assignments other than Hold Back the Dark weren't being generated. ---Fix for losing a Spiritual Leader potentially removing the tracking of your Emissary instead. ---Fix for an issue where along with getting the eight day version of Pillow Talk as a reward you'd also get the Cathayan Caravan. That also blocked getting that Cathayan Caravan as a reward. ---Fix for the hidden wings corruption also giving you butt wings. ---Fix for being able to get Mind Reader (Min) on the player character with corruption. ---Fix for an issue where trying to cancel any of the Opportunity type assignments including Green Wooden Door could break the game. ---Fix for Gorgons not having a base race estimate value. ---Fix for the oversight with the new fae player character being able to go on Corner of your Own as the whore and getting removed for good on a Disaster. I've also now updated the Success, Fail, and Disaster text to better reflect the change in who is in charge. I've also added a couple of extra paragraphs to flesh out the regular Fail result. ---Fix for being able to buy slaver upgrades for yourself while you're not in the encampment. ---Fix for a whole load of issues that had been affecting Bed Warmers including other slavers using them. ---Fix for the Unique Aspect - Not So Unbreakable not working when being used for the bonus to coming along on Assignments. ---Fix for mercenaries not having weapon descriptions. ---Fix for some issues with the rewards on the last part of Temple Takeover.

0.971 Change Log

-Slaving Distinctions: ---To encourage more engagement with some of the mechanics now selling a a slave with one of the Tertiary Trainings via Opportunities, the Auction, and from certain Assignments where the gold you receive is based on the Slave's Estimated Value will earn a Slaving Distinction. ---Spending one of these will result in the next Assignment having a roll of 1% which likely will guarantee a Critical Success. ---There are limits on when these can be earned, when they can be spent, and how many can be earned which are covered in greater depth ingame. ---These can be found on the player as a new option like if you wanted to Examine yourself or do a Personal Assignment. ---As part of this you can now earn progress towards the Seller of Quality Special Encampment Upgrade from selling in the same place as earning Distinctions so that's now not Auctions only. This includes Tribute of the Lost where you earn Favour instead of Gold.

-New Commissions: ---Coastal Corsairs now with two parts. First part is also used for the Human Northerner Male Slave Examine and second part is also used for the Human Northerner Female Slave Examine. The first part will also be used as the Examine for Dark Elf Female Slavers with Black hair. Other colours will use the existing one. ---Dance the Night Away. Has a maskless version used for the Critical Success and the non Fel Tainted Slave Examine to replace the old cropped one. ---Savage Orc Portrait. Replaces the placeholder Far Ranger portrait with the new Far Hunta keeping her former traits and updated her description to match the new commissioned art. Has variants which replace the Orc Succubus and Orc Demi-Angel Portraits. They've also had their descriptions updated too.

-Miscellaneous additions: ---New playable Unique Fae start. Has a new Aspect which will increase the chance of Forced Encounters and allows them to go on A Corner of Your Very Own in the Slave position which has an alternate Critical Success instead of the normal one with some different text. ---New Super Negative: Meeting of the Miraculous (TF Edition only). Allows a full encampment with a choice of some of the rarest races such as Demi-Angels or Draki at the cost of increased Disaster chance on all Assignments outside of the Encampment. ---It's now possible to obtain a Unique Slave with a new Aspect from To Hunt a Paladin if you go on it and meet the requirements to be able to get her by having enough Rank Ups in one of two Assignment types. Uses the part 2 commission for To Hunt a Paladin for her Examine, normally but this will change if you give her Favoured Pet training. The unique human noble you can find on Centre of Attention will now work the same way with her Examine being updated if she gets the Favoured Pet training. ---Deleted a loop when crafting which checked every entity to see if they were wearing an outfit that wasn't needed anymore. Given this could fire many, many times for each crafting I've decided to see what happens by just removing it. Should make crafting a lot faster than it was. ---Enchantments on a Epic or Quality item now increase the chance of a Critical Success on top of the usual bonus. ---As I don't think anyone has ever been on a Deeper Foray you now only need to have succeeded at A Brief Foray twice to unlock that Assignment rather than having to do it three times. The new Rare Assignment that is also connected to A Brief Foray will also be unlocked to be able to be found when that has been done. ---Dark Elves are much more likely to have black hair than before. Akir, Kreen, and Cathayan have also increased their chances of that with only a rare chance to go blonde instead. ---Expanded several of the possible results on Marshlands Survival. ---Expanded the You going Success result text on A Taste For Glory. ---Expanded the Critical Success results for Heal Slut Training. ---Expanded the You going Fail result on Deluge of Oozes if you end up wearing what's on offer. ---Expanded the Human Wastelander lore page. ---If Shadriel happens to be wearing a maid outfit it will now be shown in her examine. ---On a Critical Success or Success whoever ends up not being the one in charge for House Sitting will either go from Dominant to Switch, or will gain Submissive if they don't already have it. I've also added some extra text if that slaver happens to be a certain draenei wright with an extended version for the Critical Success. ---To address the logic issue with the Fail on Pillow Talk I've extended the text for both you and for sending a slaver to explain what happened after being turned away. ---Added an extra line to the Fail on Bred to be Broken to make it clearer what's going on. ---Added an alternate version of the Basic Blowjob Critical and Success result text if you or the slaver doing it is Female. ---Added a Submissive version of the Dance the Night Away Success result if you go yourself that increases the amount of gold you earn. I've also made the none Submissive version of that result for you less subby than it previously was. ---Tidied up some of the wordings on the Ooze lore page and added an extra pause to break it up more so it's less of a wall of text. ---Rhys Ashenscale now has a specific weapon.

-New Content Improvements and fixes ---The new special Assignment with a findable Unique which continues one of the Marshlands storylines should now be in fully working order. Greatly expanded the existing text, added a lengthy amount of alternate text on the Failure and Disaster for Submissive players, and added a Lore Page for the Unique. ---The new Rare Deep Mountains Assignment as another branch off from the Foray storyline should now be in fully working order. The special items you can get from this one are now far more detailed in terms of their description, changed a bunch of the mechanics, and generally all eight should be a lot more impressive. If you've already got the item the clothing or armour you get instead will now have the resilience and strength enchantments on the find something for a leader goal, and a seduction enchantment on the find something for a pet. Rewrote the results text, and now there's a bunch more variety of what races turn up to get involved. ---The Arrogance Storyline should now start correctly with some additional text in the Sable Masquerade result to serve as a better lead in. ---Fix for you not being able to go on Spear Fishing.

-Other Bug fixes: ---Fix for one slave having the estimated value of another. ---Fix for being able to learn Sneaky from Marshlands Corruption if the trainee is glowing from the luminescence Corruption. ---Fix for Burning Passions having the unable to take a slave messages despite being able to go on that slave when full or having the conflicting order. It was at the end of the assignment so wasn't actually preventing going on it, but the messages still shouldn't have been there. ---Fix for the Girlier modifier not being applied to crafted items if they're specifically not going to be a form of restraints or if they specifically are going to be a form of restraints. ---Fix for Temple Takeover not having the Disaster modifier on the risk check for that result. ---Fix for you being able to go on House Sitting. ---Fix for opportunities where they want a Human Commoner but Humans are a deal breaker. ---Fix for the convent gained from the third part of the Temple storyline not also being a lamia to match the commission for it if you do send Alrissa Cynnesh in the first position. The lamia convent you get will also now always have Hypnotic. ---Fix for incorrectly having Shun the Other or Harmony if you picked the other one or you picked Outcast as part of Quick Start with Extra Options. ---Fix for Sworn Duty being an Exceptional on Road 'Tax' Collecting but it was only being counted for the Suggestions and not the actual Assignment result. ---Fix for the starts with a specific set clothing as standard not getting to have a new outfit if the aspects Pretty Maid or Exhibitionist are taken (TF Edition only). The new Fae start has an exception for Exhibitionist as she gets that as part of her Aspect and so her specific outfit is already appropriate. She will however get a new one if you do customise her with Pretty Maid. ---Fix for some name variable errors when selling a slave via dilemma. ---Fix for assignments that can increase cum addiction were incorrectly overwriting other assignment text. That will also sort if you go on those results starting with: 'you - You...' ---Fix for one of the being bent over text variables having a consistently missing leading space. ---Fix for the broken formatting on the Icebreaker Assignment traits. ---Fix for the broken formatting on the lore discussion about orc ears. ---Fix for that if suggestions are turned off then if you're away and a slave recapture happens the suggestions from that would not be cleared and then turn up on the next assignment. ---Fix for several potential issues that could be caused by cancelling one of the Fulfil Opportunity Assignments. ---Fix for not getting anything for Heal Slut being asked for and provided for on the Fulfil Opportunity Assignments. Also now if Advanced Obedience Training is requested, Heal Slut Training will count, and will be worth more for having it. ---Fix for the Great Plains Dilemma Lead claiming it costs 50g if it should cost 25g. ---Fix for Crafter: Metal (C:Me) not being checked correctly as an Assignment Trait. ---Fix for Connected (Con) not being a positive on Back Alley Abduction despite being listed in the positive Traits. ---Fix for the Wood Elf check not working on Both Alike in Afamy. ---Fix for you doing healing missing some text set by a variable that should have been there. ---Fix for not getting the gold on the Fail of Burning Passions. ---Fix for an issue where completing a training of Neko, Anal, or Favoured and one of the others had been done it would assume another other one had also been done and would incorrectly add that training to the target. ---Fix for Aesandril's race sometimes being incorrect. ---Fix for Nora having her correct commissions shown and instead having the default Human Noble Examine. ---Fix for Visit the Aversol Markets not checking any of the listed traits correctly. ---Fix for Taggerfolk being able to get eye colour changes from the Stylist. ---Fix for a Switch or Obedient Slaver gaining Submissive from the Critical Success while overseeing Advanced Dominance Training. ---Fix for an issue with the slavers that can be trained as slaves in Alice, Bles, and Alyanara where the chack to see if they were still a slaver or not could get confused as create a ghost version. ---Fix for Centaur Demi-Angels having a mount to ride around on when they are already their own mount. ---Fix for accompanying Bed Warmers not getting any benefits from their Training. ---Fix for Maid Training not being added correctly to accompanying Slaves. ---Fix for supply routes and favour tributes being multiplied incorrectly and so the resources can be gained excessively for what should be normally the one return. ---And finally a whole bunch of various text fixes.

0.97 Change Log

-New Assignments: ---A new Uncommon City of Aversol Assignment and a new Training path in Neko Training. Linked these as the before and after commission is for the one and then the other. The Training can provide a crafter outfit like Ponygirl Training, and is available after Advanced Obedience Training. Neko Training is boosted (and has a chance to embed) the Bimbo Mantra. ---A new Training path about making them better at the Bedwarmer and Head Slave roles. Has a commission that was generously funded by a patron. This Training requires Bottom Bitch, Heal Slut, or Fellatrix Training, and will also be an option after other Tertiary Trainings when they are added. Boosted by the Obedience Mantra. From the Disaster on this one and also from regular over use of a slave there's now a new result where the slave can now no longer take this Training, can not be assigned to most encampment roles, takes a small reduction to their Value, but it does also increase the power of the Submissive/Obedient Trait. ---A new Uncommon Great Plains Assignment based on scavenging an abandoned mine and the various things that might be found in such a place. Uses a previously included as an Examine commission. ---A new Uncommon Great Plains Assignment based on the new race detailed below. Has some increased rewards if you send someone with Bimbo or Sex Addict or you go yourself as Submissive. ---A new Rare Deep Mountains Assignment as another branch off from the Foray storyline. Uses a previously included as an Examine commission though this Assignment uses the full piece. ---A new special Assignment with a findable Unique which continues one of the Marshlands storylines. Has a commission for it generously provided by a patron. ---A new Super Rare Deep Mountains Assignment that results from a new storyline that touches on three other Deep Mountains Assignments including one that needs to go very badly to be able to progress on this one. Can result in a new findable Unique with a very complex new Aspect.

-New Commissions: ---Dwarfs. Used for a Feminine Male, Female, Succubus, and Demi-Angel starting portrait. Will also be used as Examines. Replaces the previous Male Tunnel-Runner, Female/Futa Dwarven Nobility, Demi-Angel, Fallen, and Succubus Dwarfs with new descriptions. ---The Unlockable Location. This will replace all the existing placeholder art used at that location barring the Arena which already has a commission, and the current placeholders for two of the characters you meet there when you first unlock the area. ---Mistress of Torments. Also used for Succubi with Neko heritage, and a new corruption.

-Taggerfolk: ---New race of Beastkin, available as all possible genders. Can be played (with Fav/Unf specific to them), can be slavers, and can also be slaves. ---Has their own commission with different variations for gender and also uses the Decadence Like No Other one with variations for slaves. ---For other portraits the Decadence version with Bangs was used for the Transformed Slaver start, and the version without bangs is used for the Promoted Slaver start (TF Edition only) ---Has a new racial for them. ---Has a recruitable Unique using a crop of the main examine. Also comes with a new Sea Elf male start who brings her along when not put through Full Custom. ---Uses the Horned One name generator, but all of the time, unlike Horned Ones who have a low chance to have regular human names. Due to these I've more than doubled the current name variation for Horned Ones including some surnames specific to Taggerfolk.

-The Arrogance Storyline: ---This is getting continued not by new Assignments but by special events that can take place at Finish Day when you have the required Uniques present in the Encampment. ---This has various options, and is based on various factors, so that you have some control over how the various events play out, can change the two Uniques in various ways, and how about another various cause why not.

-Weapons: ---Now slavers you start with and recruit come with a description of what they use when they go off on Marauding and the other more combat focused Assignments. ---These are for description and extra characterization rather than having mechanical effect. They however can change based on mechanical changes. Notably some of the buyable slaver upgrades. ---These are based on their race, traits, corruption, and height. Does more to explore the character of several races via the various implements that they like to carry around when they go out to kick some bottom. ---Many of the Recruitable and Findable Slaver Uniques have a specific weapon rather than rolling a generic one. If you have had a non-player Unique and you want a different weapon description then please let me know.

-Miscellaneous additions: ---The town robbery will now cap out at 100g loss if you have more than that with some new text to reflect that. So no more comely lasses suddenly finding they can now go out and buy their own personal slave princess any more. ---To reflect the new art dwarfs can now have pale-white skin and will be more much likely to do so. If they do they will also likely now have red eyes. ---Changed the Sea Elf dialogue colour mainly as I wanted them to use the same one as Taggerfolk and a shade of blue for them is certainly better than the maroon they had before. ---Redid a ton of code that's used on every Assignment that covers levelling up, a bunch of bonuses from Aspects like Green Soul, the Fae Racial, other random things like the Size Queen'd increase or some of the Events, and the extra bonus text and rewards from Conjured Companion, Slave Driver and Strict Supervision. Basically I'd say I've taken about 5/6 of what was there before so that should be both better, quicker, and more efficient. ---I'm not sure if this is a fix or not so it's listed here. Some assignments like Hold Back the Dark on certain results have extra morale hits that were possibly sometimes being blocked by a check that I'm pretty sure was incorrect so I've made them now automatically apply. ---Added some extra trait description for Fiendish as a separate sentence after their other traits. ---Two new corruptions in hidden bat-like wings (also comes with an Enlarged version), and saurian talons which will display the new Mistress-of-Torments commission when gained via ritual in the Encampment. ---Sadistic and Fiendish slavers will always be Brutal in training automatically with some new text to reflect that. ---Added a title in bold for the letter from the Ensnared Rose to make it much harder to miss the day it comes out. ---If someone with Impure Origin does end up with Fel Tainted that racial won't be listed on their Examine.

-Bug fixes: ---Fix for the Unique with Flesh Artisan not getting that correctly on their description. ---Fix for Horned Ones who are generated randomly having smaller cocks than those that are found specifically. ---Fix for the Green Wooden Door rarity being a bit too high on the Great Plains compared to the ones in the other regions. ---Fix for Acceptable Quality Slave being a positive not working correctly. ---Fix for Alyanara d'Vyr missing her Aspect in her short traits. ---Fix for the Bonus Gold from Seven Veils which was only half of what it should have been. ---Fix for being able to take Shadowplay with a Fel Tainting of (5) as it was still using the old forehead branding blocking. ---Fix for the orc from Maid to Serve being listed as having previously been through Advanced Dominance Training if you take them on as a slaver. ---Fix for gorgons getting the slaver title of chosen if they don't have the corrupted armour to go with it.

#NO HAVEN

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mochilorddrakeinferno · 2 years ago

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(I had another version of this post and had it get eaten, this is probably going to be a slightly rougher version of that older post, sorry in advance for the draft-speak jaggedness!) Okay, so. I see your point and from a surface level it definitely looks pretty strange that despite on paper (heh) having basically the same stated goals, Bleck and Dimentio are treated so differently by the narrative. But, when you look more closely at the lore, not only do you start to see why it makes sense and what separates their actions, but how deeply important it is to their respective characters. Let's start with Bleck. He has by far the most to go into for the sake of this discussion. Before we start, I should clarify I'm FAR from a Bleck apologist. To say he did nothing wrong is to ignore most of what makes him fascinating, and betray the very core idea of his character. I will, however, say a lot less is his fault than common story analyses suggest. And we see this even in the moment that the man named Count Bleck first comes to be. When Blumiere unseals the Dark Prognosticus and opens it, there is a key difference in the Japanese version. The English script has him tell the book to command him, and then he becomes Count Bleck. But in the original Japanese, as more directly translated by the great AUselessMage, this scene reads quite differently.

He goes to the dark book of prophecies seeking specifically its history rather than its prophecies, and mentions a world without Timpani only in a context more akin to not being worth living in for himself. It is not until the Dark Prognosticus has already thoroughly corrupted his mind that he begins to enact the prophecy. But the reason he sought it out in the first place, from all indication, was simply to find where Timpani had been taken and if he could still save her. Now, knowing what he should have about the risks of opening the book, this was still an extraordinarily reckless and selfish thing to do. But the book very clearly takes control of his mind. I don't think it's debatable that when he erased his homeworld, he was... not himself. For one thing, it takes all of five seconds after opening the book for him to adopt the Bleck identity. Destroying all worlds and carrying out the DP's foul work is not something Blumiere ever would have done of his own accord. But the despair he felt at the loss of Timpani, the fury at his father, the desperation that would drive him to open the book, and the traumatic nature of the entire situation was such a smorgasbord of darkness and suffering in his heart that the Dark Prognosticus could seize control and make a destroyer of him nigh-effortlessly. And yet, as we see throughout the game, the Dark Prognosticus's extent of control over Count Bleck is variable. There are moments where he acts as "the chosen executor of the Dark Prognosticus" completely, but also flashes of something else. In the original Japanese script, he did not manipulate O' Chunks into joining him. Rather, he saved O' Chunks's life, and after he repeatedly begged Bleck to join him, he acquiesced. The love between Bleck and his minions is emphasized throughout the entire game, and we know it is not a ruse or deliberate betrayal from a willing actor, because the love between them is what revives the Pure Hearts the first time around! That tells us that love is not only powerful, but true. Even as Count Bleck, even under the influence of the Prognosticus, he saved lives and gave meaning and love to those who were lost. That was not a lie. The Count Bleck who did that for them, who found earnest amusement in their antics, and whose love for them was what allowed the defeat of Super Dimentio, is a fundamentally different version of himself than the heartless Champion of Destruction, and they knew that. His minions fought alongside him because they truly believed that he would create a better world without all the evils that had hurt them. (Note: What exactly "better worlds" consist of is still not their call to make, and even if they only intended to let evil people STAY dead, that still qualifies as super ultra mass murder at best, so the minions ain't off the hook either here.) When they look back, his minions speak of the better worlds he would have wanted them to strive for, and they do not seem betrayed that his plans would indeed have killed them all had they succeeded, and there is good reason for that. He was not the one who betrayed them. The Champion of Destruction is not the man they remember. One could argue that Bleck did not fight hard enough from within to combat the Dark Prognosticus in a meaningful way until the end, but at the same time it seems very likely that he was in fact still fighting, that pieces of his true self shone through in his interactions with his minions. [The rest of this is too long, it made the post break, so I'm going to reblog this AGAIN for the second half. Sorry about that!]

Blumiere and Dimentio are the same person and I’m tired of the plot trying to pretend theyre not.

Y’all I love this game and all but why were Mimi and Chunks not only still loyal to Blumiere but also said not one bad thing about him after finding out he was going to kill them despite the fact they were trying to help him this whole time and were the only mfs that cared about him- but Dimentio did the exact same thing and they hit him with a car

Like this is a genuine question I’ve been a fan for over a decade and I’m still like huh😭 about their logic. “We won’t let dimentio get away with this!” Or whatever she said- MIMI SWEETHEART BLECK DID THE EXACT SAME THING

Like if Bleck wanted to die whatever but it would’ve done so much for his character if he was like “hey the people who genuinely care for me and are trying to help me destroy everything and think they’re going to be spared? Huh! maybe I should actually spare them and create a new world for them but I still croak” unless he couldn’t create dimensions at all and was lying? But didn’t Dimentio do it with only the power of the chaos heart or am I stupid. So could Bleck have done it too? Idk maybe we could’ve had a scene where like “hey dimentio master of dimensions LOL I was kidding btw I cant do shit. Make a world for y’all whatever but I’m gonna die” and I’m pretty sure dimentio would’ve been like alright (lying, still wants a world just for him) but idk. Anyways Nintendo having Count Bleck still trying to kill his minions after everything they did for him really messed up his character and went against the writers intentions of trying to make Bleck a tragic villain but Dimentio purely evil and accidentally made them the EXACT SAME person and I just wish they could’ve handled it better because his arc could’ve been nearly perfect.

Not ONLYYY that, but he wanted to kill all worlds because he lost Timpani. Yet. There she is. Right there. And he KNOWS THAT. YET. HE KEEPS FIGHTING. KNOWING THAT IF HE WINS THE WOMAN HE WAS TRYING TO END LIFE FOR BECAUSE SHE DIED IS ALIVE AND HES JUST GOING TO ACTUALLY KILL HER. But then after they beat the shit out of him he says “kill me and stop the void- if you’re alive, it gives me peace” WHY DIDNT YOU SAY THAT THE SECOND SHE FLEW INTO THE ROOM. Maybe he was in a state of madness. But idk I’ve never seen anyone else talk about it

“But dappledpaintbrush, at least Bleck had the motivation of his one true love dying and Dimentio was just a bitch” *twitches finger back and forth while going AH, AH, AH, AH, AH* We have the very high possibility of Dimentio’s whole family fucking dying and his sister turning into like a demon according to Carson. So in game canon there is a POSSIBILITY (cause that story can be interpreted a lot of ways) that BOTH of them had tragic backstories that POSSIBLY was BOTH of their motivations to destroy all worlds. Yet Blumiere gets treated like a poor little meow meow by the characters and the clown doesn’t. Then again I don’t think the clown ever talked about it. Maybe it’s just my own experience, but I feel like the writing still tried to push the narrative that Bleck is less terrible than Dimentio.

And hey let’s say Dimentio is only a descendant of the Pixl Creator and he’s doing this for no reason other than for lols. Both of them STILL tried to destroy all worlds and only Bleck had a change of heart after Tippi returned… yet still tried to enable the Void after finding out she’s alive? Both of them lied to, betrayed, and tried to MURDER their ENTIRE TEAM. Earlier, I said “(the writers) trying to make Bleck a tragic villain but Dimentio purely evil and accidentally made them the EXACT SAME person” and this can go two ways- the first option, or making both of them tragic characters. If the writers genuinely thought this through and genuinely wanted us to pry into the lore to conclude Dimentio and Bleck are not that different, sending one to his dream world with his dream girl and the other to actual super mario hell doesn’t help their intention

And Blumiere is such an amazing concept for a character and he STILL IS, but wow the writers could’ve done so much more. Even a cutscene of him deciding the spare the minions could’ve meant SO MUCH and it really sucks nothing ever happened. With or without the “both had a tragic backstory” interpretation, there isn’t much that puts a clear line between Dimentio and Bleck’s characters. The game tries to make us think the line is there, but it really isn’t. At least not in my own interpretation of the writing. Idk lol. End of rant

#spm lore #super paper mario #drake rant #the japanese script strikes again #it matters a LOT more than you might think #mario lore #count bleck #dimentio #blumiere #merloo

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