#you never see the guy moving around

[two-calicos-in-a-trenchcoat]

I really want a buddy comedy of muzu and king dorephan going around hyrule together

[even-disco-baby]

YOU — “No. There is still a chance.”

DOLORES DEI — “You think so?” Her voice is weary.

EMPATHY — Everything about her is weary. She is the Innocence of weariness, of heroically borne suffering.

CONCEPTUALIZATION — That is the picture you have painted for yourself, at any rate.

YOU — “You looked back. That’s the memory, the moment, that I can’t stop returning to. You looked back. I had a chance, for just that moment…”

DOLORES DEI — She meets your eye, gaze still forever cast back over her shoulder. Time stops. The stars are stilled, the ocean silent. There is *nothing* beyond this memory. Nothing at all. All of infinity is contained in this single moment when anything and everything was possible.

“Oh, Harry…” She sighs, soft as eiderdown. “We never had any chance.”

And just like that, the wave of time collapses under its own weight, obliterating everything. This moment was six years ago. She is gone from here. Gone, gone…

PAIN THRESHOLD — You cannot leave. There was nothing outside of this moment, and now there is nothing at all. It’s all gone. There is no point. I’m sorry. I can’t do this any longer.

VOLITION — Please, don’t say that…

“Okay. Well, fuck me, then.”

“How would *you* know?! You gave up! You didn’t even try!”

“We *must* have had a chance, at some point… Doesn’t everyone get a chance, if nothing more?”

“How could you say that…?”

DOLORES DEI — “Because it’s true,” she says, matter-of-fact. “There is no moment in time that you can turn back to, no branching paths, no infinity. There is only what happened. I looked back… and then away.” She closes her eyes, turning her back to you.

“The moment ended. *We* ended. That is all.”

SHIVERS — A wave crashes against an unseen shore, ocean spray tickling the back of your neck. You shiver, but no one shivers with you. You are alone in this intersection. Why are you here?

“Why can’t *I* end?! Why can’t this all just stop? Please, make it stop…”

“Ended? I’ve barely even started! I got a chance to start completely over as somebody new! I don’t need you anymore! You’re just dead weight to me now.”

“No. That wasn’t the real ending. We’re a part of something so much bigger than this intersection, telling a story that encapsulates all of history! There’s *more* to this, it *means* something.”

“Then… What am I supposed to do now…?”

DOLORES DEI — “No, Harry.” She turns back to you again now, and she looks… sad.

“We were not metaphors. We were people. Our narrative was not intelligently designed. It simply followed the patterns of history, because those are the only patterns we *know.* We tried to create something new, but we failed. There is no narrative reward for our failure, no satisfactory ending. There is only the immutable past and the unknowable future.”

RHETORIC — There is no assurance of what is good or deserved or what may bring relief. There is no assurance of punishment, either. There is no assurance of anything. Not even of a future. I don’t know what to say to make this bearable.

VOLITION — Even so… As long as you live, *something* is promised. Can you live with that?

I can’t, I just can’t do this anymore…

I can. It’s enough.

I don’t know. I just don’t know.

I can at least try for a little longer…

VOLITION — That’s all I ask. That’s enough.

[claitea]

would they ever let lear or any of the rest of the pokemas originals appear in other games. the chances are so low but they're too fun to just leave in the mobile gacha game :(

[waywardsalt]

with my phantom hourglass replay, there are two things i noticed;

a possible theme you could glean from the game is action vs inaction, and i think it's especially prevalent before you even leave mercay the first time, with oshus frequently urging link to not go after the ghost ship, then to just wait until the broken bridge is fixed, and seems reluctant at every turn while link and ciela are more than eager to go and do something about this problem, and the people of mercay in general talking about things and their problems but never seeming to act on their fears or desires, as well as the mention that due to the ghost ship, very very few people are still sailing around, while linebeck is one of the only people we see in the game actively going after the ghost ship and still sailing around. i might make a longer post just talking more about the action vs inaction in phantom hourglass but i just noticed it a bit and thought it was a bit of an interesting sort of theme you could find in the game.

linebeck moves so fucking much. i think he moves more than any npc in the rest of the game. not just in his intro cutscene where he is very animated, just in how much he moves when just standing in his little idle post, it's damn near distracting when the camera is focused on him, he moves a lot. i don't think i've really acknowledged how much he moves, and it really gives the impression that he's antsy or eager to get going, both of which fit him pretty well with how he acts.

[hollywoodsargeant]

forever fascinated by the way this guy walks

[carcarrot]

OLD MEN WERE TEMPTING ME...........

[ittybittybumblebee]

unspoken dispute to settle

[accidentalcookies]

Whumperless Whump Event Day 11

stuffy nose / hate to be sick / "I'm fine, I can work."

caretaker: celestinus

whumpee: shaoyuan (intro post here!)

this is the follow-up to this! enjoy :D

“Alright, sit.”

Celestinus gave Shaoyuan a gentle push towards the chair, before he headed towards their very well-stocked medicine cabinet to start pulling out what he needed.

“I’m going to give you a local anesthetic—and no, you’re not going to refuse,” he added, seeing Shaoyuan open his mouth to protest. “I don’t know what asshole taught you that you don’t need it, but I’m not having it.”

“This really isn’t that bad,” Shaoyuan replied, like Celestinus knew he would. “Even without stitches, it’ll heal within a week.”

“Didn’t ask, don’t care,” he said. “We’re doing this my way, not the masochistic idiot way.”

“It’s a waste of your supplies.”

“Supplies can be replenished.”

“They’re an unnecessary expense.”

Celestinus turned to glare at him. “Keep arguing and I’ll use hot pink thread, don’t test me,” he said.

Shaoyuan gave him a odd look. “You’re just going to bandage it afterwards,” he pointed out. “You won’t even be able to see the thread.”

“It’s the principle of the matter,” he said. “Now, shirt.”

“I’m wearing one, yes,” Shaoyuan deadpanned, but moved to pull his button-up off overhead–

“Stop!” he said hastily, rushing forward to grab the arm on his injured side. “What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to gun for the exsanguination olympics?”

“It’s the most expeditious method, isn’t it?” he asked.

“You have a gash halfway into your abdominal cavity, can you at least try to pretend to have a sense of self-preservation?” he retorted exasperatedly. “Unbutton that, don’t just yoink it off, jesus.”

Shaoyuan rolled his eyes, but began to fiddle with the buttons.

Celestinus gave him a stern stare, one that promised retribution if Shaoyuan ignored his order, then turned back to his tray.

It wasn’t exactly an outlandish expectation to think that Shaoyuan would have his shirt unbuttoned by the time he had finished preparing the local anesthetic, but somehow, defying expectation, only half of the buttons had been undone, with the man fumbling at the next.

His concern abruptly grew. “How much blood did you lose?” he asked.

“Do you want that in metric or imperial?” Shaoyuan asked dryly.

“Don’t be a smartass.”

“No idea. Enough to ruin my suit jacket, I think.”

Celestinus glanced over at the discarded jacket sitting on a second chair. “Incredibly helpful,” he deadpanned, staring at the black fabric, which could be hiding anywhere from a small splash of blood to a whole goddamn flood. “You could probably wear that without washing it and nobody would even see the stain.”

“Black is good like that,” he agreed, and finally pried another button open.

His gaze drifted down to Shaoyuan's hands, then.

His hands, which had a minute, but most definite, tremor.

“Give me that,” he finally said, and undermined his own exasperation by kneeling down by Shaoyuan’s side and gently unbuttoning the rest of the buttons. “You’re shaking.”

Pointedly pulling his shirt off, Shaoyuan replied, “It’s cold in here.”

He let out a long sigh, and went to retrieve his tray. “Fine,” he said, kneeling at his side again. “We’ll do this the hard way. Move your arm.”

They were both quiet as Celestinus injected the local anesthetic—Celestinus out of concentration, and Shaoyuan no doubt out of stubbornness. But Celestinus had been at this for decades, now. Shaoyuan wasn’t the first patient he’d had to outstubborn, and he certainly wasn’t about to start failing now.

“Are you bleeding out from somewhere else that I can’t see?” he finally asked, putting the first hot pink suture in.

“No.”

“Are you lying?”

“No.”

“Is there something else that I should be aware of?”

A minute pause. “No,” Shaoyuan said, and to his credit, almost sounded like he wasn’t lying. But by this point in their acquaintanceship, as well as this point in Celestinus’ experience with handling a recalcitrant Shaoyuan, he knew how to read him nearly as well as Aristides.

“Then there is,” he concluded.

A thin, frustrated huff escaped Shaoyuan. “I have it handled,” he only said.

“That’s not an answer. What is it?”

“Not a concern, and not something you can do anything about. It’ll run its course in a few hours.”

“Still not an answer.”

“I’m entitled to my little mysteries.”

Celestinus hadn’t wanted to play this card, but god knew they always ended up here eventually. “Not if they affect your performance, they don’t,” he said. “I can tell Aristides what I’ve observed.”

Shaoyuan sighed again—not making Celestinus’ stitching job down here any easier, thanks—and said, “After.”

“I’m holding you to that,” he said, and sped up as much as he could.

The rest of the stitches were finished in silence—a silence that was broken by Shaoyuan’s half-amused, half-exasperated, “Really?”

“What?” he asked, taping a bandage over the neat line of hot pink stitches.

“You just happen to have hot pink on hand?” he replied.

“It’s not my first time threatening someone with ‘em.”

“It’s not a threat if I don’t feel threatened,” he pointed out, pulling his shirt back on.

“Yeah, yeah,” he replied, picking up his tray. “Now, elabora—whoa!”

The contents of the tray went skittering across the floor as Celestinus hastily grabbed hold of Shaoyuan’s arm, keeping him from tipping over as he dropped heavily back into the chair, blinking rapidly.

“You okay?” he asked, when Shaoyuan’s gaze refocused—and had to push down on his shoulders to keep him from attempting to rise again.

“Head rush,” he offered as explanation. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah, because nearly passing out is such a great indicator of being fine,” Celestinus said sarcastically. “Elaborate.”

“Many minor medical conditions can cause someone to feel light-headed,” Shaoyuan rattled off. “Like, for example, suddenly losing a large amount of blood, or being tall, or–”

“Elaborate or I’m getting Aristides.”

“Alright, fine,” Shaoyuan said, finally, finally folding. “I might be a little bit poisoned.”

At that, Celestinus froze. Then fought the urge to throttle him. “Why didn’t you start with that?” he asked, half-exasperated, half-worried.

“Because there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“I’d still like to be aware, for fuck’s sake! What poison is it?”

Shaoyuan shrugged. “Some sort of neurotoxin. It’s not an issue. I’m synthesizing the antidote right now.”

“Symptoms?”

“Some shakiness,” he said. “Nothing to worry about.”

“That is precisely why I’m worried,” he said, exasperated. And pushed down on Shaoyuan’s shoulders again, as he tried to rise, again. “Can you just stay put? I’m going to need to keep an eye on you.”

“It’s–”

“I swear to god, Shaoyuan, if you say it’s not an issue again, I’m going to tie you to this chair. And don’t,” he said with a glare, as Shaoyuan went to speak, “even start.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” he said mildly. “So how long do you plan to watch me for? Because I still need to give my report to Aristides.”

Celestinus just stared at him for a moment. “You can give your report when you’re not poisoned by a neurotoxin.” 

“I’m fine,” he said. “I can still work. This is my job.”

“Your job now is to relax until your symptoms go away,” Celestinus replied firmly. “All of them. I am not having you kick the bucket on my watch.”

“It’s–”

“Shut your mouth,” he interrupted. “This is very much an issue, and next time, please say something earlier. No matter how much you think you have it handled.”

He leveled him with a firm stare—and maintained eye contact until Shaoyuan looked away.

“Alright,” he muttered.

As much as Celestinus wanted to believe him, he’d be a fool if he thought this was the end of it.

“I’m holding you to that,” he said.

---

tagging: @whumperless-whump-event @whumpbug

[sydmarch]

no interest in any of my hobbies next to no concerts going on all summer feeling abandoned by the majority of the few irls I still have no idea where to meet new people to replace them now that I'm not part of the highly social hard partying sales culture I spent basically all of my post college life in anymore literally what reason is there to keep trying

[weidli]

would be very funny to me to introduce a bunch of americans who are used to the constitution being treated as a gift from god that's very hard to change and is holy Because it's almost never changed and has been in operation in nearly the same form since 1789 to the way the swiss constitution (last total revision in 1999, there have been several hundred direct democratic votes on possible changes to it since 1848, all you need to suggest a change is hundred thousand people with voting power who'll sign the suggestion) works

[amplexadversary]

.

[taeyungie]

😺

[claitea]

finished the dlc! enjoyed it a lot :D

[mediapen]

this is the worst fucking trip of my life. i spent a week in russia having a massive panic attack every fucking day and THIS is the worst trip of my life

[space-ninja-fashion-show]

I'm getting a surprising amount of new followers from One Funny Post, and i know i have a pinned post and all, but...hi?

My main three things around here are:

OC posting (my lore compendium looks like ass and is over half a year out of date, i am So Sorry)

Digging into How Things Work despite having the math prowess of half a dozen ants in a trench coat. So i mostly just sit around and Learn Things and then Do My Best To Apply Them and/or Help Others

Shooting the shit with @riftwalker-limbro

[kyouka-supremacy]

DON'T MANIFEST AKUTAGAWA'S FEELINGS BEING UNREQUITED WAGEHGAHTJSHHAJ

But does it count as manifesting if I'm just stating facts 🤔😔😔