#which is always a plus : )

[macadam]

If I ever made a tf comic or fanfic or au of any kind I think it would focus entirely on a transformer exploring completely alien worlds

[blackjackkent]

OK, I believe Rakha has fully explored Moonrise's first floor, which means it's time to go upstairs and talk to Z'rell.

[gets popcorn]

(BEEP. This post has recommended pre-reading regarding my headcanons about Rakha and Z'rell's history. TLDR in Rakha's worldstate, Z'rell is also memory-wiped in addition to being brainwashed by the Absolutists, and is actually Rakha's twin sister.)

"General Thorm's prayers and preparations must not be disturbed," the Absolutist Disciple is saying as Rakha crests the stairs. "The rooftop is off-limits to everyone."

"Even you, Disciple Z'rell?" asks one of the guards.

"Everyone," Z'rell answers crisply. "Keep watch and ensure that nobody passes." She turns her head sharply, fixing her gaze on Rakha. "Excellent timing, True Soul."

She takes a sharp step forward and stares Rakha down. Her expression is hard to read; her lip has curled with disdain, but her eyes are lit with sudden eagerness. And there is that unsettling familiarity to her face that Rakha cannot place, something that reaches back into the shrouded blank places in her memory.

"The goblins," Z'rell hisses. "Tell me how they suffered. No-- better yet. Show me."

Narrator: Her mind enters yours abruptly, flickering across your memories in a blaze of excitement. Tongues of psychic flame lap at the memory of the goblins dying by your hand.

Z'rell smirks. "I see you like to handle underlings physically," she says, a slow drawl - mocking, playful. It might seem like flirtation if it wasn't so obviously a threat. "So do I."

(A/N: It's a good thing I already decided Z'rell also doesn't remember Rakha, or some of these lines would be WAY creepier than they already are. >.< )

Rakha groans softly as the other woman's mind withdraws from hers. She has already learned something important in climbing up here - Ketheric is behind the giant doors these people are guarding. When she is ready to kill him, this is where she will come. But this knowledge came at the cost of having her mind played with like a toy by this woman who looks at her with casual animosity - and with glee at the images of the goblins she slaughtered.

On the other hand, perhaps she is lucky that those images are all that Z'rell was interested in. She is trying to pretend to be a loyal follower, and there are many memories Z'rell could have picked which would shatter that illusion apart in an instant.

"A waste of my time," she says coolly, hoping to evade as much of this conversation as possible. "I didn't come here to clean up other people's mistakes."

Z'rell answers her with a cold smirk, unimpressed by the attempt at bravado. "Your confidence is delicious," she says sardonically. "I can see why the Absolute might be hungry to dig deeper into that mind of yours. I certainly am."

(A/N: In the general run of things these lines are definitely intended to be villain-flirtatious; the next narrator line in particular is full of innuendo. But for the purposes of Rakha's story specifically, I'm choosing to interpret all of this as dripping with sarcasm.

I decided in the aforementioned headcanon post that prior to their respective memory wipes, Rakha was absolutely the dominant one of the two of them and Z'rell got stuck in her shadow and hated it. Still waiting to figure out exactly how they both ended up mindwiped and Z'rell ended up working for Ketheric while Rakha was packed off into a nautiloid. But it's certain that Z'rell doesn't like Rakha, without even know why she feels that way so instinctively. And all of this is, in this case, just a deliberate power play - Z'rell wants Rakha to know right off the bat that she is in charge.)

Narrator: She parts the folds of your mind again, touching your wants and hopes. Tasting them. Every emotion soaks into her mind's palate, but there is purpose to her exploration - she is searching for proof of your faith.

Rakha shudders uncomfortably. Z'rell pushes through the fragile stability of her mind, laying claim to it. But the faith she looks for is nowhere to be found; Rakha follows no god, least of all the Absolute.

It would be easy enough to simply lash out. Leaving aside the beast's bloodthirst, she dislikes this woman on her own terms as well - an instinctive, indignant revolt against Z'rell's authority over her. But she can't, because they need to know what she knows. They can't tear this place apart until they have the secret to Ketheric's invulnerability, so she can complete the kill she wants above all the others.

So she grits her teeth and plays along.

[DECEPTION] Fake it - fill your mind with love for the Absolute.

(A/N: Rakha does not gravitate towards deception checks as a general rule, but every other option here either led to combat or was even less Rakha-ish, particularly the one where she could "distract her with thoughts of [her] sweet moments with Wyll", which Rakha would rather die than deliberately share with this woman.)

She has no experience with faith, no idea how it works. What she conjures instead, in a flood against Z'rell's incursion, is every bit of warmth and calm and safety she felt the night Wyll kissed her. It is the only love she knows.

It's enough. Z'rell sees what she wants to see.

Narrator: There is a tremor of shared ecstasy as she finds a mirror to her own desire.

"Perfect," Z'rell murmurs. "You crave what all True Souls should - to be touched by the Absolute." She steps forward again, closer, arms spread slightly. "I have already been blessed to stand in Her presence. It was bliss..."

She smiles slowly, languorously, mockingly. "She gave me *everything* I wanted."

"Everything?" Rakha rasps. She feels deeply uncomfortable, and deeply relieved that Z'rell seems to have withdrawn back out of her mind, at least for the time being. It is hard to remain focused on her own purpose and maintain control of the beast with the other woman's mocking eyes looking through her, pulling her apart. "What exactly do you want?"

"To take without asking," Z'rell says sharply. "To feel without doubting. And to kill without consequence. In a word - freedom." There is cold, confident satisfaction laced through each word.

"Freedom?" Rakha asks. Her voice has tightened a little as she tries not to show the eagerness with which the beast jumps at the idea of killing without consequence. "Your only purpose is to serve Ketheric and the Absolute."

Z'rell stiffens. "I choose to serve," she snarls, "and I am glad to. Your words are dangerously close to heresy, True Soul." She spits the title like a curse.

Rakha has the odd sense, suddenly, that she is following a script. That this is a conversation, an argument, that she has had with this woman a thousand times before, though she does not remember. "My words were a test of faith," she says icily. "I too am glad to serve." The words emerge smoothly this time, as if in whatever scene she is re-enacting, they were not a lie.

Z'rell relaxes slightly. There is a flicker of confusion in her gaze too, as if she too has recognized something odd about this conversation that she can't place. "As you should be," she says firmly. "And you have an opportunity to impress General Thorm. I have a mission for you."

Rakha goes still. This strange personality clash immediately fades in importance. Yes. This is what she came up here for. Any opportunity that will get her closer to Thorm, or might get him to let his guard down.

"There is a relic that General Thorm requires," Z'rell goes on. "He sent his most trusted advisor, Disciple Balthazar, to retrieve it. The relic is beneath the Thorm family mausoleum; that is where you will find Balthazar. But we have lost contact with him. Go there, aid Balthazar if you can, and bring the relic home."

Balthazar. She heard that name from the Warden downstairs. A man of authority - higher than Z'rell and only just below Thorm. Rakha immediately presses for more information. "What exactly was this relic he was sent to retrieve?"

"It is something that General Thorm requires, and that he has ordered us to retrieve," Z'rell answers crisply. "That is all you need to know."

"What if Balthazar's dead?"

"Death would not silence Balthazar for long. But dead or alive, he is lost. Whatever has become of him, it is the relic that matters."

"You said you lost contact. What do you mean?"

"An eye accompanied him. It was destroyed shortly after he left Moonrise. Hardly a surprise. We are protected here, but outside, the shadows are hungry."

[midnightsun-if]

I love how you have a full cast of romance options, yet people are suddenly foaming at the mouth for the siblings lol

I find it absolutely hilarious, but I’m willing to give people what they want. I am surprised by how many people seem to love Cienna though— as your GIF said it’s a surprise, but a welcome one.

I’m just glad people seem to be connecting with my characters. It makes me so happy to see!

[revenantlore]

Sat down to outline for the first time in like six years.

Usually I just wing it and then get stuck or distracted.

I have now outlined the first four chapters of Kiss Me With Your Fist and what began as an intimidating task turned out to be oddly enjoyable and easier than anticipated.

[deeism]

i may have been insanely sleep deprived and losing my mind but god do i miss the peak of my always sunny autism (july 2023)

[nextstopparis]

kinda wanna make my mom watch shadow n bone with me…

[sunshineandviolets]

now this is what i call a matching pair

[kitkatt0430]

Kitkatt0430-PodFics?

Hey, so I made a new pseud over on Ao3 (soon to come to SquidgeWorld too) where I'll be posting up podfics of my own works. Sporadically, since it's time intensive and even a short work like Middle (The Flash - Barry/Eddie/Iris) took several takes before I was satisfied it was decently paced, had good enunciation for everything, etcetera.

It was fun to do, though, so it was a successful little experiment for me and I'll definitely be doing more over time. And no doubt I'll be improving the more of these I do, too.

I don't know that I'll be asking to podfic anyone else's work since I've got so much of my own out there already. But I wouldn't rule it out entirely.

[paintalyx]

finish trigun >:)

you heard the man

[warmmilk-n-honey]

just watched Alias Grace and, what do you mean the 1840s sucked for women and poor people and Irish immigrants??

no but I srrsly enjoyed it, def recommend it to my fellow kuro victorian era nuts if you want something kind of depressing that will make you feel rage for the female characters, oh and if you want a morally ambiguous female lead who is based off of a real woman who may or may not have been a murderer but was definitely an accomplice to murder, also they call her a murderess in the show which is so slay

[bam-monsterhospital]

gonna go ahead and associate some elderscrolls elves with certain arthropods: altmer - wasps, mantids, dragonflies, mayflies, damselflies, cicadas, moths, butterflies, centipedes, beeeeees (social and solitary), lacewings, dunmer -ants, termites, ALL sorts of beetles, millipedes, isopods, fleas, bosmer - crickets, grasshoppers, centipedes, weevils, 'true' bugs, shield bugs, orb weaver spiders, tarantulas, termites, whiptail scorpions, flies, earwigs, orsimer - centipedes, trilobite beetles, scorpions, whiptail scorpions,

maormer - crab, deep sea giant isopods,

[unhelpfulassistant]

[shoesallinaline]

Because apparently I'm a glutton for having no social life, I've decided to do a third musical in a row, that also overlaps with the musical I'm currently in, and will also overlap with the musical I'm directing in the summer.

[a-dope-fiend]

It irritates me alot when people say that making medic more compassionate is ''missing the point of his character'' when he is literally shown to be in the comics.... did you miss the part where he showed concern for both sniper and miss pauling's well being in comic 5 and 6.

His actions are a combination of genuine attachment + clinical interest and these things do not cancel out one another. He is always pushing boundaries and going against the grain and i think this is what led to him losing his license in the first place. He felt stifled by the rules imposed on him.

He is shown to be extremely passionate so it makes sense that he would use his endless fascination with medicine as a way to show his affection. He loves his friends so he will find a way to make them borderline indestructible. Malpractice is his love language.

[softmoonlightmelody]

my brain has pooped out a kotlc mental hospital found family au where a) della vacker dies when fitz is four and biana is two, b) alden takes fitz and alvar takes biana, and c) fitz, biana, and the gang meet at a children's mental hospital

what can i say i'm a slave to my brain

[bisexygf]

i've been back for two days but i already miss being in Greece. It's so weird to be in a completely different country but recognize so much of the culture. Like the sceneries are so similar, the way people act, even old people look the same with the way their skin is wrinkled by spending a lifetime in the sun. As a mediterranean girl it felt so familiar