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ironunderstands · 7 months ago

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How this singular Gold and Gears occurrence might change everything we know about Dr. Ratio

…He might be thousands of years old, oh boy.

Ok, where to begin? Well probably with the occurrence that started it all:

Mechanical City, “Cogito Hair Salon”- Intellgencia Guild

This is where things get complicated.

You see, the Mechanical City is old as hell

This took place around the time of the First Mechanical Emperor’s war, who created the machine empire, which included the Mechanical City, something which occurred soon after the Borderstar Trade War.

Then, the Rupert 1 (the leader of this empire) sleeps, and this caused his empire to crumble, presumably the city alongside it:

Which according to these Xianzhou records, happened at this time

Then Polka Kakamond fought Rubert for a few more Amber Eras until she eventually succeeded in killing him, marking the end of the First Mechanical War.

Which resulted in the collapse of its empire, and presumably, the Mechanical City alongside it, Nanook, the youngest aeon, also ascended during this time due to the mess of the Emperor’s War and the remnants of the swarm.

Now, for the sake of my sanity, and this first scenario, I am going to assume that the Mechanical City fell alongside Rubert I when their empire collapsed about years ago, as although it’s likely Rubert II could have revived it, as you will see, it’s not necessarily relevant to this discussion (there are actually only two possible paths this situation could lead to).

If Amber Eras are on average this long

And the current year we are in is

Which is about this in Xianzhou years

Meaning that disaster in the Xianzhou happened around 3500 years ago (if Xianzhou years are the same length as Trailblaze ones, if they aren’t I’m not gonna think about that <3). Then, Polka Kakamond was alive around this time, and it took her several Amber Eras to finally kill Rubert, which I’m going to interpret several as ~5 and the length of these Amber Eras to be averaged out to be around 158 years long each, meaning Rubert died about 2700 years ago, give or take A LOT OF TIME because of the inconsistency of Amber Era lengths, the amount of Amber Eras, the fact that we don’t know when exactly Polka Kakamond decided to start trying to kill Rubert, or even when she was alive, etc.

SO, when you put it all together Dr. Ratio must be at least 1000 years old if he were to be able to be alive during this period of time to attend the Mechanical City within this occurrence.

Which changes everything, because presumably Dr. Ratio is a normal human and he should not be that old.

Oh dear.

However, before I ponder the implications of THAT, let’s explore the other possibilities.

This never actually happened.

This is by far both the most boring and most likely one for a lot of reasons.

a) There is an occurrence that definitely takes place in the preset exactly like it

This is Mechanical City, Cogito Hair Salon: Genius Society

And based on its description, it was clearly put in here to help the trailblazer navigate the Simulated Universe through the Intra-Cognition function, and the 4 Genius Society members depicted (Ruan Mei, Herta, Stephen Lloyd and Screwllum) absolutely did not travel back in time for this to happen, rather they seem to habe implemented it themselves.

Therefore, the occurrence with Dr. Ratio could be something similar: an event made up for the sake of navigating the Sim Uni, and not something that ever actually took place, I believe this and another solution I will introduce later are the most likely explanations for this situation.

b) The occurrence with Dr. Ratio is uh, weird

For lack of a better explanation in this, Dr. No5 is uh, tweaking. Meaning, the events taking place around him might not even be what’s happening in reality.

Or, the Trailblazer is in the Mechanical City, but Dr. No5 isn’t and the sim uni kinda just meshed the two together.

What also complicates things is that it seems like after he killed himself, No5 turned into a mechanical spinning top, meaning the Anti-Organic equation might have been the cause of his death? And I’m not sure if it’s still active in modern times.

Either way, the sheer levels of delusion radiating off of Dr. No5 leave to believe this scene isn’t entirely real, however I don’t think this explanation is all good honestly, it’s just something I wished to point out before moving on.

That’s not our Dr. Ratio

Apparently in the original Chinese, the characters used to denote Dr. Ratio are different to the way he is typically referred to, meaning that whoever this Dr. Ratio is, it might not actually BE him.

Now, I know absolutely nothing about how Chinese works, but based off the discussions I’ve seen around this particular detail, I think the general consensus is that the Ratio in this is more of a surname, and our Dr. Ratio either named himself after/is a descendant of this one.

Which would be interesting, and would mean we (I) would now have to scour future updates for his mention, but for now I’ll leave this option at that because like I said, I don’t know how any dialect of Chinese works at all, much less the original used in the game.

If someone reading this does, I would really appreciate clarification/confirmation/your opinion on this, so thanks in advance.

Finally, for my favorite explanation (and the one I think is what really happened), that being:

The Mechanical City still exists, and Ratio is in fact, some dude with a normal lifespan.

Let me cook.

So, based on what I showed you earlier, it’s heavily implied that the Mechanical City fell with Rubert during the First Emperor’s War around 2000 ish years ago alongside him.

However, what if I told you that isn’t necessarily true:

The IPC took it over.

Although this passage doesn’t mention the Mechanical City or even allude to it, it does mention thin how the IPC, with the aid of the Intellgencia Guild, began taking over areas across the universe, especially areas of inorganic life, following Nous’s prophecy, with the methodology of “Colonization Under the facade of development,” (the game straight up calls them colonizers LMAOOO).

Anyways, the IPC HATES inorganic life due to the Emperor’s Wars, and were about to pass an order to eradicate all inorganic life when Screwllum gained Nous’ approval and joined the Genius Society, and as we saw in the screenshot, they were, well, colonizing those areas and making it into their own.

So- who’s to say they didn’t do it to the Mechanical City? Why wouldn’t one of the most defining features of the Mechanical Empire now be under IPC control, even to this day?

Besides, inorganic life forms have no need for hair salons- they don’t have growing hair! But in a Mechanical City repurposed for people, yeah, a hair salon would make sense.

Thereofore, Ratio isn’t some thousand year old entity, rather he’s just in a location run by the IPC and Intellgencia Guild that happens to have thousands of years of history behind it.

Moreover, it just wouldn’t make sense for Ratio to be that old.

He has plenty of media about him documenting his life, and based on how recent those media are and how this passage is worded, I’m led to believe that Ratio aged like a normal person, and his middle school years didn’t somehow last an exponential amount of time.

Also, I feel like if he WAS that old we would have some actual clue pointing to it beyond a singular occurrence that would only ever point to that once you do all this digging.

Therefore, I conclude Ratio is not in fact immortal, and the IPC likely just colonized the Mechanical City, which is why it is still around today.

Finally, I sincerely hope you enjoy me going insane over this one stupid occurrence, and I would like to disclaim that I am no lore expert when it comes to the simulated universe, so if something I said in here was misinformation, please tell me! It seems as though Dr. Ratio is never beating the “just some guy” allegations lmao.

#honkai star rail #hsr #dr ratio #dr ratio hsr #dr ratio honkai star rail #I need some hardcore lore enthusiasts to fact check this though #I did my best to scour the wiki 😭#I wonder if we will see the Mechanical City though #Maybe when Screwllum releases?#We’ll probably get more lore for it then in his character stories maybe?#Also this helped me learn a lot about Gold and Gears lore #I should probably look over Swarm Disaster then

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daz4i · 3 months ago

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could dr. ratio originally be from the laurel wreath galaxy?

this is a repost of a theory i posted yesterday, now slightly more clean and properly tagged 🙏

in case you don't know, the laurel wreath galaxy (possibly a mistranlsation of "star system", if that changes anything) was supposedly destroyed during the emperor's wars. information about it is scattered throughout the game in very scarce ways. later i elaborate on how it went down in a more detailed way!

1. so let's get the most obvious detail out of the way first: he wears a laurel wreath 👍 at least a partial one (one leaf for every phd. maybe one day he'll reach a full head 😩)

these were common in ancient greece and ancient rome, cultures that his design, abilities, and eidolons are inspired by (both in aesthetic and language)

2. the laurel wreath galaxy was ruled by scholars - the philosopher union, until inorganic life took over during the emperor's wars. to give a very short tldr, civil war between organic and inorganic life, robots killed the head of the philosopher union, due to having no leaders the organic life of the galaxy was defeated

here we already have another obvious connection - philosophy, one of ratio's phds, that he even discusses with the trailblazer in one of his daily messages

3. one of the in-game sources about this place is the curio "rationality's fall". here is the first part of story attached to it for you to consider:

What is truth? No one truly knows. Supposing that "stupidity" is an incurable disease in this world, then disseminating knowledge counts as a treatment for the universe.

hm. we got a) truth (aka. ratio's name) b) a description of stupidity as a disease, which is something he claims repeatedly and thus seeks to cure it, in part by distributing knowledge (which is why he joined the guild, and why he's a teacher).

3.5. only other somewhat relevant part of this description is its mention of books ("Through such absurd means, books cleansed a world of its impurities once more") but that's not necessarily related to him obviously. however it's worth pointing out that one of his interactions on the express is literally all about how much he loves books and implying that they are relatively rare these days ("The touch of a paper book is a sensation I frequently find myself missing"). just a little something to think about

4. in gold and gears, there is an occurrence - cogito hair salon: intelligentsia guild - that implies that ratio is 2000ish years old. afaik these occurrences all happen around the same time as the emperor wars, aka when all the shit went down in laurel wreath

now. if you've read literally any of my other ratio theories. you know i don't quite like this, bc i find that ratio being 2000+ years old kinda defeats his whole Thing as a character. but we can't deny that it's there (tho possibly a mistranslation from what i gathered, but i can't say for sure) so i'm gonna use it for this theory 👍

5. here's where i'm gonna become full-on conspiracy brain. don't say i didn't warn you

after the whole defeat of the union, there were followers of aha who rose against the inorganic lifeforms and infected them with what's described as a "troll virus" called Philosopher's poison. i can't quite tell you if it's poison *to* philosophers (bc from what i gathered the inorganic life of laurel wreath were also philosophers) or caused *by* philosophers (implying these followers of aha were themselves philosophers as well. i like this interpretation more tbh)

what you're supposed to get from all that^ is that there was a large number of followers of aha in this galaxy, and they were wise enough to stand against robots that tried to wipe out their people, and even overthrow their army.

it's a pretty common theory by now that ratio has connections to the elation (beyond just the worm theory :P tho a lot of relevant info that i bring up here was gathered by @/b1adie in said theory which is very helpful, please go check it out 🙏) which, if he is indeed from laurel wreath, may add another layer to his past

some connections between ratio and aha, off the top of my head:

a. has an owl mask on his right shoulder, close to where aha has an owl mask located as well + his eyes fit aha's color scheme

b. refers to himself as a "side character" in the sticker book - sampo and sparkle, our known fools, do as well

c. can basically instantly disappear when characters aren't looking at him - as seen in his conversations with aventurine - which i can say for sure sampo does as well (like in the museum mission chain), possibly sparkle too tho i can't recall a specific instance to back this up

d. bows to the audience at the end of his quest, same as sampo does at the end of the belobog storyline

e. known to work from the shadows and pull the strings to make things happen or for his observation, which is how aha is described too at times, as well as their followers (sparkle is literally shown pulling strings of puppets in the "it's showtime" light cone, also sampo *gestures at literally everything he does during the belobog arc* Yeah)

f. in the herta space station, he creates a bit of a panic and theoretically puts people in danger, but in the end they all turn out okay. a similar instance can be seen in the "bestial ferocity" mission, where zhongshan, another masked fool, creates chaos for her own entertainment, which does end up hurting the people involved but absolutely not in major ways. in a way, at least in her view, she solved their problems too. while ratio probably doesn't cause chaos just for entertainment, but rather for information, you can argue these cases are similar, especially when at the end of the day they do end up helping these people in their own way. you can also claim that sparkle and sampo do similar things in their own respective arcs for their own reasons (sparkle with. the bombs. and sampo with dragging tb & bronya to the underworld. i'd argue neither of them do these for entertainment but that's an analysis for another time) aka this is a pretty common behavior for masked fools!

g. a smaller thing, but, the main part of his kit is follow-up attacks, which is aha's thing in the simulated universe

h. is his headpiece considered a mask? in his first conversation with tb on the astral express, he ends by saying "With this mask on, I intend to keep the world at bay". this is in reply to tb saying "i hope you are swayed by the express", and given ratio's main uses for his headpiece (dull his senses and block out stupid people), it makes most sense that he's referring to that here. we see him wearing it in-game precisely when he is about to cause chaos, too

also he has a mask on his shoulder. as already pointed out. so. not beating the masked fool allegations

^all this was actually to make you fall for the fool ratio theory. sorry. but i swear it's related to this post's main theory

so to connect this back to laurel wreath. the followers of aha used a virus. one of ratio's phds is in engineering, so he could've used that to create the virus. it might even be one of the achievements attributed to him that caused him to be recognized by the university as eligible for teaching in the first place, who knows

combining everything laid out here, you can probably see where i'm going with this - was ratio one of the followers of aha who took down the inorganic lifeforms of laurel wreath using this virus?

also, just for extra spice - this could add another layer to ratio's disdain towards the genius society, given that the one who incited the emperor's wars was a member of it

that's all i have for you for now 🙏 idk if this was intended, but i love speculating about ratio's origin and backstory, and i think this is a pretty cool option for it!

#honkai star rail #dr ratio #veritas ratio #hsr theory #yyyyeah that's enough tags 🤔#if there's anything that may debunk this. lmk but be nice about it i'm sensitive 🥺#also apologies for any weird phrasing. english is hard 👍#dan rambles #i have decided. to make a tag for my ratioposting ->#that doctor makes me ill

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mango-dolphin · 2 years ago

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playing a game with myself called "inventing a man and scaring myself with it"

Note: Not all of these predictions are meant to be taken literally, more figuratively/metaphorically/so on. You get it. Note 2: lighter the text, the more likely i think it is to be (in part or in full) true

ALSO. thank you @maxknightleyunofficial for the yuri box.

bingo transcribed below [with additional Author's notes!]:

Limbus Company Predictions

Row 1:

Sinner Number correlates to recruitment order. (Which, yes, would imply Dante joined LCB before Sinclair, Outis, and Gregor. No points)

Another character based on a poet (or philosopher) is introduced. HM: Ovid SWEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meursault's source material is his backstory: he works for the LCB because they saved him from the death penalty

The E.G.O gear the Sinners are attuned to all corrode because the gear or their attunements are imperfect. As in: your LC nuggets got that good shit [because the LCB doesn't have Cogito & can't manufacture E.G.O gear: the Sinners have to "connect" to the Abnormality instead, however that works] / are better [than the LCB Sinners]

The psychosis warning is for multiple Cantos and/or side stories, but one of the Cantos needing that warning is Meursault's.

Row 2:

Sinclair goes tree mode. I will not explain any further.

Limbus Company wants to be the new L Corp, or at least be continually influencial to whoever takes the spot.

The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; [it will be] a constant theme. Dante cannot "eat" (the apple), and thus is not "doomed to die" like the Sinners.** **The Sinners are named thus because they "partook" in the fruit: these moments, from blissful yet tormentous naivete to a sudden sinful upheaval, are highlighted in their Cantos. Gregor's was cutting the apple (crossing the boundary from child to war machine); Rodion's was killing the tax collector (her desire to be a hero completely upended by her actions leading to the deaths of all her neighbors); Sinclair's was following Kromer / letting her into his life (specifically allowing Kromer into his basement and witnessing The Horrors)... **This could imply LCB as the serpent in the garden, but more than anything, Dante is Eve. [Iori could also be the serpent she's got the range. swagever. It'd be funny.] HM: Or even worse, the opposite is true.

Sinners will get upgraded versions of their base E.G.Os; These versions have relation to the shadows cast in their E.G.O portrait.

Ishmael's white whale is a Library of Ruina character.

Row 3:

Faust's Faustian Bargain is classically straightforward: she "sold her soul" for knowledge. HM: The Devil in this exchange is the LCB.

Outis is in the middle of her years-long Odyssey as we speak. HM: It's why she's one of the last Sinners

Purgatorio & Paradiso

Outis, Don Quixote, and Hong Lu are using fake names

Dante (prior to the events of the game) has been on the Outskirts of the City, or even left City limits. HM: They're from outside the city

Row 4:

Gregor is an abnormality / abnormality-like; Hermann's "gift" to him is that. [Honestly he'd be one in the same way Tomerry is, but further than that? He's more than just a genetically modified soldier is what I'm trying to get at.]

Iori

^ HM: Lion, Panther, and Wolf were sent to Dante as a test. [Idk what kind of test it'd be. Trust me.]

At least one Sinner will Distort, and possibly multiple Likely Hong Lu, Ryoshu, Rodion, Heathcliff, Faust, or Meursault. Don seems obvious.* *Colors are likelihoods, not pairs. Though I don't see it likely that they all will distort UNLESS SOMETHING FUCKING HAPPENS *ADDITIONAL hard mode (so hard it's mode): Meursault Distorted before joining Limbus

the golden boughs are the remnants of Carmen's body or essence / the byproduct of the Seed of Light. [That's NERVOUS SYSTEM, baybee!]

Dante goes to Paradiso alone / with only Vergilius (I forgot how it went :( idr if Dante Dante's Inferno went up there alone)

Row 5:

Something bad happened to Gregor's sister :( HM: She's still alive. This is a bad thing. [Leaving my wording vague here on purpose.]

Marie (L'Étranger) is in the Blue Team (with Demian); Gretchen (Faust) is in the Red Team (with Hermann). Gretchen switches teams? [Honestly likely Faust hasn't encountered Gretchen either!]

There is yuri moments and maybe even yaoi moments (not Yuri) SINCLAIR. Yi Sang, Outis, Ishmael, Meursault, Outis again, Hong Lu, HM: Outis Wife Penelope

Angela.

Dante knew Carmen

#mango japery #limbus company #projmoon #bingo #oh god transcribing that took forever. WOE #i'll stand by my golden bough theory it feels way too obvious #carmen LOVES haunting the fucking narrative have you guys taken a look at the decals & graphics in the UI lately #she's in the ID cards she's in the title cards are you fucking kidding me #could've sworn she's in more but my man..... my guy.......... *breathes heavily

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imonthemoonitsmadeofcheese · 6 days ago

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Arc Logic

"The Hive live by sword logic. Teach them another way." —Eris Morn

Empress Caiatl has requested assistance from Eris Morn and the Vanguard regarding a Lucent Hive ritual discovered in progress on the Leviathan. Featuring @savyir-genesizz-the-wizard's OC, Cogito-4!

Link to Ao3 if you prefer to read it there

"Master Cogito," Eris Morn intoned. "I am relieved to see you here. Although, I suppose I should not be surprised. Ikora did say she was sending our best."

Cogito-4 leaned on his cane lightly, using it for stability on the uneven Egregore-infested ground of the Leviathan as he approached Eris from the transmat pad. The Cabal honour guard around them stepped aside to let him pass and then stepped back together again behind them both. At Eris' feet was a plain black box with a hinge, several blinking lights, and a button.

"I am unused to my expertise being needed in relation to Hive magic, but Ikora did say it was important and, if it is important to Ikora, then it is important to me." Cogito said.

Eris' Soulfire-wreathed Ahamkara bone hovered over her right hand and she inclined her head, tracking the sound of incoming footsteps.

Just as they had when Cogito had entered the room, two Cabal stepped aside as Lord Saladin strode in and closed ranks behind him.

"Eris, Deputy," Saladin addressed them both. "The Empress has need of you both. I trust you have each been briefed on the situation?"

"The Empress has discovered a Hive ritual within the Leviathan and the use of both Hive magic and the Light within it indicates the work of Savathun." Eris' fingertips slipped gently over the top of her orb as she spoke. "We have been asked to determine the nature of the incursion and, if possible, invert it. I was also asked to bring... the hostage." Her left foot lightly kicked the wooden box.

The box lurched in response. "Hey! Can anyone hear me?" Immaru's voice came from the box. "Is anyone out there? You neon nerds better not leave me in here. I have connections! Anyone? Hello?"

"He cannot hear us," Eris explained. "His containment is... insulated, but we can communicate with him if his... insight... is required."

"Hopefully it won't be," Saladin growled. "But it is good to know where he is at all times."

Eris crouched down next to the box and pressed one of the buttons. It made a loud click.

Several of the Cabal surrounding them shuffled their feet nervously.

"What does that do?" Saladin asked.

"It is... a mute button," Eris said. "The containment is a custom device built by an associate of mine. The mute button, in particular, is something I am fond of. It... brings me joy."

Saladin nodded and directed a Psion to carry the now-silent box.

"The Empress has been reclaiming the Leviathan. As you can see it is a long process and nowhere near finished. The Egregore is persistent and the residual effects of the former Emperor's influence persists despite his recent demise." Saladin explained to them as they walked through the corridors of the once-great Cabal ship.

"This is quite the escort," Cogito noted as they walked. "I'm not used to being accompanied by so many allies."

"The Leviathan is still quite dangerous," Saladin said. "And when you see what we're dealing with, you'll understand the reason for the extra reinforcements."

...

Eris hissed as the hallway they were in ended and they approached a very large area. Egregore dangled from the vaulted ceiling. In the centre of the vast room, four ritual circles surrounded a fifth. In the middle of each one was a pool of inky liquid. Blue-white crystals hung suspended above each one and surrounding it all was a glittering translucent dome radiating magic.

"This is a powerful ritual," Eris muttered. "Had it not been found before completion I shudder to think of what would have been manifested here."

"We attempted to destroy the markings on the edges of the pools," Saladin said. "...but have been unable to make any headway."

"Yes," Eris said, dispassionately, walking up to the edge of the glittering spell barrier and holding her hand inches away from it. "The Witch Queen is clever. Any attempts to disrupt the topography of this spell will suck the interoper into the Ascendant plane where only the most strong willed are able to survive for any length of time without being rent asunder."

"How do we destroy it?" Salain asked.

"You cannot," Eris answered. "Not yet. This much power must be wielded. Someone with sufficient force of will could enter and then use the ritual for something other than its intended purpose."

"Sounds like a trap." Cogito said, behind her.

"It most assuredly is," Eris agreed.

"A trap for you, specifically." Cogito added.

"Yes," Eris said, her voice suddenly soft. "She wants a sister so very badly. They both do. But I am not their sister. And I do not act alone."

Eris turned to Cogito. "These crystals," she pointed to them, "...are created from stolen Light. They are vessels, profane but also finite. While the Hive protections carved into being and made manifest through the vile runes around them form an effective barrier from outside interference, the crystals themselves are vulnerable from within. They cannot be forcibly assaulted, but they are created to absorb Light. If they could be pushed beyond the limits of their capacity, I believe they would rupture like a festering boil."

Cogito nodded slowly. Arc energy began to course through him. The Legionaries nearby stepped back respectfully as the Warlock began to levitate off the ground as sparks crackled along his body.

"Be wary," Eris cautioned, inclining her head toward Saladin. "Action of this type will undoubtedly attract notice."

Saladin grunted and made a hand movement. The Cabal around them all shifted their stances. One of the Psions appeared to be relaying a signal of some sort and then nodded to Saladin.

"You may proceed," Saladin said quietly.

Cogito lifted his cane, placing both hands in the middle of it and then pointed the end of it at the nearest crystal. He focused his Light, using it to feed, rather than attack. The magical barrier shimmered but allowed him through.

Jagged lightning stretched out, joining the tip of Cogito's cane with the blue-white crystalline structure. It began to glow brightly to a near-blinding intensity.

With an almost melodic chime the crystal shattered.

Several things happened at once.

From the other side of the room the loud howl of a Lucent Hive Ogre echoed toward them.

Saladin began shouting orders.

Four Cabal Psions clustered around Eris and Cogito, hovering in the air and forming a protective barrier around them and Saladin.

The ground rumbled and shook.

The five pools within the ritual circles began to boil.

The smell of rotting flesh and sulfur began to fill the room as the hissing and scratching of many limbs scrabbling over the marble stone floors of the Leviathan reached their ears.

All Phalanxes in the honour guard pulled out their shields, becoming living bulwarks against the horde of oncoming Thralls.

One of the Psions began relaying information to Saladin.

A high pitched squeaking sounded in their ears. Several Tomb ships began to materialize in the air above them.

"They seek to prevent further interference!" Eris called out to Cogito. "Do not allow them to stop you!"

Cogito nodded as Eris closed her eyes and began to chant, tilting her head up as she clutched her Ahamkara bone tightly in her hands.

"We will clear the way!" Saladin growled to the Warlock as he reached down and lifted up a huge flaming axe.

Seemingly out of nowhere, hundreds of Hive began to swarm down upon them.

With a shout in Ulurant from the Iron Lord, who was also their Valus, the Cabal unit surrounding them opened fire.

Cogito tossed an Arcbolt grenade, calling down a bolt of lightning to fry the cluster of Hive beside the next crystal he planned on rupturing. The crackling energy made a sizzling sound as the chitinous exoskeletons of the Acolytes and Thralls it hit danced briefly and then collapsed.

Saladin pointed his axe in the direction Cogito had tossed the grenade and the Phalanxes all lifted their shields and began to move as one, stepping slowly but methodically toward the goal that had been set for them.

The discipline of Saladin's Cabal was impressive and Cogito sensed the pride the soldiers around them felt in themselves and each other at being able to demonstrate it for himself and Eris. He floated in the centre of the focused regiment as they marched through the hordes of scrabbling Hive now accosting them.

Eris waved her arms with a guttural shout and raised an empty hand, palm open, toward one of the Tomb ships above them. She closed her fist.

The ship began to crumple from the middle as though something were sucking it through the end of a large invisible straw.

Eris cackled menacingly as the Tomb ship imploded into itself.

The former Hive god of Vengeance had contested the will of the Hive piloting it and disproven the ship's right to exist.

A Void-infused serrated chitin shield whirled through the air. Deflected by one of the Imperial Psions, it narrowly missed Eris and bounced away.

"Guardian," Eris turned to Cogito, "Show them what it means to wield the Light." She pointed at the Lucent Knight charging toward them before turning away and crumpling another Tomb Ship as it screeched into, and then out of, existence above them.

Cogito stowed his cane and pulled out Riskrunner, sending a spark from his fingertips into the weapon. The submachine gun lit up and began to crackle with lightning. The Warlock stopped levitating long enough to touch both feet to the ground and jump up, soaring above the battle toward the Hive Lightbearer, firing in the air as he flew.

Several Imperial Cabal watched in awe as they continued to fight while the Warlock in front of them channeled the fury of the storm.

Arc-infused submachine gun bullets flew rapidly at the chitinous Hive Titan in the middle of the gun battle raging all around them. The Titan dodged and rolled to the side, but Cogito had anticipated this maneuver and kept his opponent within Riskrunner's sights.

The Lucent Lightbearer tossed its second Void-infused shield.

Cogito willed his levitation to cease and he dropped rapidly through the air. The whirling chitinous serrations on the shield whistled in the air as it passed by harmlessly.

The Warlock landed lightly in front of the Lightbearer, sidestepping a punch and letting go of his machine gun. The gun dangled by its strap as Cogito placed both hands, palms flat, against the Lucent Titan.

When performing this particular attack, Cogito could not help but be reminded of an old Earth medical procedure for intervening during a heart attack. It worked on a similar principle. The patient would be electrocuted by a charge built up between two flat panels in order to jolt their heart into a regular rhythm.

Hive had no hearts and Lucent Hive no longer needed to feed the worms within themselves with tithes from the Sword Logic. But they still had worms positioned roughly where a human heart might be located. Cogito placed his palms on either side of the Hive Lightbearer's chest and released the energy within himself. He felt the worm inside jerk and twist as it seized, shuddered and burst. The Lucent Titan, too, jerked, twisted, seized, shuddered, and then collapsed at Cogito's feet, oozing ichor and smoke from between its chitinous plating.

A cheer arose from the Phalanxes and Legionaries surrounding Saladin and Eris as the Hive Lightbearer went down.

The Titan's ghost materialized above it, spinning its spiky shell.

"Guardian!" Eris called out.

Cogito looked over his shoulder.

Eris held out the box containing Immaru. "We have a containment device. Quickly now!"

She opened it, reached in, and pulled out Immaru. He struggled in her fist and sputtered. "Put me down you wanna be half-Hive!" Then he gasped at the firefight going on around him. "What the hell?"

Cogito grabbed the Hive ghost, jumped, and landed next to Eris, thrusting the Lucent Knight's ghost into the box. Eris added Immaru.

"Hey! You can't just-"

She snapped the box lid shut and clicked the mute button with a vicious smile.

"Quickly now!" Eris urged Cogito. "The other crystals! Go! Fill them with your light!"

An Ogre's eye beam began to fire at them. It was cut down by a Cabal Incndior who fired a Magma Launcher straight into its brain.

A Gladiator with two Cabal Severi chopped through two Hive Knights nearby.

An Acolyte shooting at them was bounced into the air by one of the Psions next to Saladin. It landed with a wet splat, its chitin crunching under it in what looked like a very uncomfortable configuration.

Cogito took another running leap and sailed through the air above a clash between about a dozen Thralls and about half as many spike-covered War Beasts snarling and biting at their legs. He landed next to another blue-white crystal and stretched out his hands.

The chime from the shattering crystal resonated through the battlefield, emboldening the Cabal forces and driving the Hive into even more frenetic attack patterns.

"Do you feel it, as I do, Cogito?" Eris called out. "The ritual is shifting! Do not falter! You must persist! Drive them back!"

Another Tomb ship in the air above them crumpled out of existence.

Cogito looked at the mess of Thralls and Acolytes between himself and the next crystal and jumped once more. The shockwave from his Stormtrance erupted down and outward from him as chain lightning spurted from his fingers, vaporizing every Hive he came across as he floated toward his goal.

The third and fourth crystals burst as musically as the first two through the fighting going on around Cogito. Soon there was only the final, central ritual crystal remaining.

As the Warlock approached it, the boiling pools of black ichor which had been lying under the first four crystals all overflowed. Four Hive wizards rose, dripping, from their depths.

A frozen-over orb whipped through the air. It hit the first wizard, bounced off of it diagonally to another, pinged off of that one to the third and then bounced off of the fourth. Each wizard froze solid in mid-air. The orb returned to Eris' hand.

"Now!" she shouted.

Cogito opened fire. Riskrunner spat electrified bullets, lightning arcing from them to jolt and shatter the frozen wizards as though they had been made of glass.

Shards of the Hive wizards fell, splashing when they fell into the liquid in the pools and tinkling softly when they fell on the ground between them.

Before they had finished hitting the ground, Cogito reached out and with one last burst of Arc energy, he overloaded the central crystal. The tone it made as it burst reverberated through everything in a wave of sound.

Suddenly everything, the battle, the fighting, the weapons firing, the screaming, all fell silent. The Hive withdrew, disappearing or dying. Everything became still.

A low chortling laugh came from the central pool.

Eris stepped next to where Cogito was hovering and growled low in the back of her throat, pulling out her Night Terror sword.

"Eris, you overachiever," Savathun's voice emanated from within the central pool. "You never do cease to impress." The liquid shuddered with each syllable, its waves making patterns to match the vocalizations coming from it.

"And you?" The black liquid swirled up into the shape of a clawed hand and pointed at Cogito. "Oh I like you. I'm going to remember you. You're going to be so much fun later. I can't wait."

Eris walked up to the liquid-formed hand and sliced it off at the wrist with her sword. It fell back into the pool with a wet splash.

"Your incursion is done here," Eris pronounced.

"Oh fine, fine. You can keep that rotten husk of a ship. I didn't really want it anyway," Savathun's voice crooned from within the pool. "And watching you all scurry around to deal with this lovely reminder of my affection really was entertaining. I missed you, dear sister. Do give Xivu my love when she shows up later, I know how much fun you'll have when you do."

The black ichor formed into another clawed hand that waved and then disappeared before Eris could chop it off.

The pools were still. Nothing further attacked. The Lucent Hive, previously so numerous, were all gone.

Saladin stood next to Eris and Cogito and surveyed the area.

"I will inform the Empress and dispatch a unit to clean up anything else still here. These pools will be drained and their contents incinerated."

"Yes," Eris said firmly. "This is good." She looked at the Warlock. "Thank you again, Master Cogito. Your assistance here, as always, has been invaluable. Please inform Ikora that I shall be submitting my report as soon as I have had time to interrogate our new prisoner."

She took the box from the Psion carrying it, then muttered briefly and created a Hive portal in front of herself.

Eris paused for a moment, holding the box in her hands as she stood in front of the portal. Her three eyes from behind her bandage regarded first Saladin and then Cogito.

She clicked the mute button. Then she shook the box twice, vigorously.

"Ow! Ow! What the hell is your problem you-" She clicked the mute button again.

Eris' mouth quirked into a small smile before she turned away from them both and walked through the portal, box in hand. The malachite-coloured oval disappeared behind her.

Saladin sighed and turned to face Cogito. "My thanks as well, Deputy. The Empress will hear of your work today."

...

Two days later, Cogito-4 received a message regarding packages waiting at the Tower post box.

"Package for Cogito-4, happy Dawning!" Kadi 55-30 handed him a medium-sized box with Cabal Imperial insignia emblazoned on all six sides, as well as a smaller one wrapped in brown cloth with red velvet string and a small metal sigil bearing Eris' symbol.

"Checking... checking... one moment!" Kadi said as Cogito started to move away.

He paused, his arms full, waiting.

Kadi turned away from the counter and then returned. "Package for Cogito-4, happy Dawning!" A third box, completely black without any identifying markings, was added to the stack in Cogito's arms. For some reason it reminded Cogito a bit of the box Eris had used to contain Immaru and the other Hive ghost. He looked down at it in confusion but carried all three away with him.

The Cabal box contained a lush and expensive set of Warlock robes in the Empress' Imperial colours with a formal invitation in gold foil on fine parchment to attend dinner with Caiatl and her retinue. An additional typewritten note on plain paper from Saladin was included detailing some specifics regarding what to expect from an Imperial dinner and some tips on how to avoid making any Cabal-specific social blunders.

The box from Eris contained several burnt, lumpy, and completely unappetizing cookies. A note was within it, in spidery, difficult to read penmanship:

Master Cogito, Thank you again. Happy Dawning. E

Within the unmarked black box a small card lay on top of black tissue paper. It had neat printing in block letters. It was unaddressed and unsigned but it read:

Did you know Cabal War Beasts are actually big fans of burnt Ascendant Oatmeal Raisin cookies? The more hard and burnt the better. They'll eat them right out of your hand and be your friend forever. And those spiky puppies are often hanging out under the table at the Empress' shindigs, just in case you didn't know. Anywho, thanks for helping Eris. Happy Dawning.

Under the tissue paper was a very nice selection of perfectly baked Dawning cookies. They looked delicious.

#destiny 2 #destiny dawning #gift fic #eris morn #ao3 #fanfiction #writing #arc logic #imonthemoonitsmadeofcheese #cs member writing

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callsign-sucker · 20 days ago

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[ECHO.EXE RUNNING]

Hello there, as you seem a rather knowledgeable sort, I would ask your opinion on a potential Nelson/Blackbeard hybrid that I am designing, I'm having some trouble keeping it all inside the Orchis shell I planned on using for it.

Any advice is appreciated,

Marceline

//Sucker\\

seems like a spicy little frankenmech you got going there.

So, sounds like you have at least two license grades in Blackbeard, Nelson, and Black Witch/Orchis respectively.

So I'm going to say that the best baseline is probably the Blackbeard. The three weapon mounts as well as the core systems help with making the whole thing work.

Here's the build I was able to cook up under that restriction.

(ooc: yes, I cooked up a damn build over it)

-- IPS-N Blackbeard @ LL6 -- [ LICENSES ] IPS-N Blackbeard 2, IPS-N Nelson 1, SSC Black Witch 3 [ CORE BONUSES ] Titanomachy Mesh, Full Subjectivity Sync [ TALENTS ] Executioner 3, Brawler 3, Juggernaut 3 [ STATS ] HULL:4 AGI:2 SYS:2 ENGI:0 STRUCTURE:4 HP:25 ARMOR:1 STRESS:4 HEATCAP:4 REPAIR:7 TECH ATK:0 LIMITED:+0 SPD:6 EVA:12 EDEF:8 SENSE:5 SAVE:13 [ WEAPONS ] FLEX MOUNT: Chain Axe MAIN MOUNT: War Pike HEAVY MOUNT: Nanocarbon Sword [ SYSTEMS ] Black ICE Module, Bulwark Mods, Synthetic Muscle Netting, Personalizations, Custom Paint Job, Armament Redundancy

However, if you have higher access than that, I recommend grabbing the Tortuga's Siege ram. That way you can put some hurting on whatever you slam your face into. The Nelson's Armor Lock is also a good way to get out of any grapples you may get into, and the Blackbeard basically trivializes the Ramjet with the grappling system it has. Gygees Frame is also a secondary core bonus you may want from IPS-N once you can get that as well, to compensate for the poor reactor placement.

If you use Blackbeard the Black Ice Module is basically mandatory because IPS-N likes to cheep out on their computer systems. And unfortunately that's the mech that gives you the most out of what you have access to.

(ooc: the Paint Job and Personalizations were to account for making it look like an Orchis. also, this is obviously only a recomendation and you can make whatever changes you/your character may wish)

//For Cogito Ergo Sum\\

#oc rp #lancer rp #lancer oc #oc rp blog #lancer rpg #lancer ktb

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savyir-genesizz-the-wizard · 1 year ago

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(2/2) I've concluded that a lot of my favorite text posts apply to Osiris

#destiny 2 #destiny the game #destiny memes #destiny osiris #commander zavala #emperor calus #saint-14 #destiny drifter #cogito-4

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transaccordionist · 7 months ago

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"Cogito, ergo sum" I think therefore I am

Wren was going to go to sleep and for some reason felt this intense urge to listen to the radio drama of I have no mouth and I must scream, now if that sounds weird for a 4-5 year old child that has intense self esteem issues relating to his "childness" to do and have the urge to do, it's because it is.

Throughout the 30 minute runtime of the radio drama, there were many times where the thought of "I might be someone else" appeared in my mind, just for a fraction of a second. And at the end even though the first thought in my mind when picking up the phone was "oh Mama's gonna be mad" every moment since has proved that I am not Wren.

I keep having thoughts that can't be finished because my mind stops at the word Am

And so I'm left, laying in my bed, doing whatever I want while staring at the surreal and tortured faces in the walls, those same faces Wren fear with his life and the same faces I seem to both hate with every fiber in my being and also be extremely intrigued by.

Whether I Am Wren

Whether I Am Taiko, Melody, Luna, or Eleanor

Whether I Am someone else

Whether I A m

All I know is, the latter, that final sentence;

I AM

#did osdd #did system #did #did alter #osdd system #osdd 1b #actually osdd #osddid #osdd alter #osdd #new alter #alters #i am #cogito ergo sum

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jfelice21 · 30 days ago

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Final Piece #1

Materials: For the title, since my piece is primarily about thought I chose “Cogito Ergo Sum” or “I think, therefore I am”. The materials I used were primarily my sketchbook and magazine cutouts for parts of the collage. I also used some sharpie to emphasize certain things on the right.

Complimentary Color: The complementary color combinations I chose were reds and greens. This can be seen in the green hummingbird heads and the red gems they’re staring at. It also exists for the polka dots on the suit and the foliage of the background.

Inspiration from a classmate: I chose Kenzie’s animal hybrid piece as inspiration for mine. I like how she put a literal dog’s head on Snoop Dogg, and how it looks like he’s staring at the viewer with a shrug. I tried to recreate that feeling in my piece, somewhat.

4.Visual and Conceptual Goals: I wanted to create a piece that felt both focused and distracted at the same time. Part of how I tried to do this was by tearing the page unevenly on the side and adding words to draw the eye.

For a conceptual goal, I wanted a concept about our dwindling attention spans due to constant distractions and social media designed to be as quick as possible like TikTok. The central figure is a human animal hybrid with three heads. The main head is that of an owl, denoting wisdom, while the other two heads are hummingbird heads. The feeling I wanted to evoke is that even though the main head is focused on its goals (staring at the viewer and clenching its fist), it’s being distracted by its other two heads. The hummingbirds representing the dwindling attention spans (due to their speed) as they focus on shiny things.

The words on the right were also part of this idea, as there is a lot of content on social media now that is considered “brain rot”. So the person can either choose to save their attention span or ruin their brain further by indulging in that “brain rot”.

Thank you @kenzieherbst for the inspiration.

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wildegeist-old · 1 year ago

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Hey!

My new EP, "COGITO", is out! You can listen free on YouTube or Bandcamp, and if you want, it's $4 for the album download! (Includes a high res version of the album art and a wallpaper of the skull with some alt versions.)

It's a shorter release with a runtime of about 21 minutes, but I put my all into the tracks that are there, and I'm pretty happy with the results!

Bandcamp page

Full stream on YouTube

#wildemusings #wildesound

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trollblivion-ooc · 4 months ago

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coleop cherie cogito 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

heso! hello! hi! what a tall order!/pos super excited..

1. What memory would your OC rather just forget?

cherie: “» Ałł ðf Tħem.” honestly, he’d rather forget the time he mauled his beloved boyfriend in front of their lusii

coleop: wants to forget the time where he spent days wondering if cherie was okay out in the barrenlands (this was pre-cherie moving in)

cogito: wants to forget the time he was a stickbug

2. What's something about your OC that people wouldn't expect just from looking at them?

cherie: he likes seashells (shiny blue ones are his favorite)

coleop: loves pecan pie. like concerningly so.

cogito: can work a palmhusk (phone) no problem.. just slaps his legs on the keys until it registers

3. What is your OC's fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

cherie: fatal flaw is that hes such a fucking dickhead to everyone, he is aware of it and likes picking fights (would say his paranoia but that isnt really a flaw)

coleop: forgiving to a fault, hes weirdly religious about his Ether thing, but it causes him to just blatantly forgive people (specifically ones close to him), he is kind of aware? but not enough to stop

cogito: wont stop eating week old cracker crumbs off of the counter, very aware, will not stop

4. When scared, does your OC fight, flee, freeze or fawn?

cherie: fights like a rabid animal (as seen by how he gets so terrified that he mauls), its so sudden that he cant exactly flee or anything else. he just mauls.

coleop: erm, no survival skills in this one honestly. possibly freeze

cogito: flee i think! when he had control of coleop he was dead set on running away, scared

5. How far is your OC willing to go to get what they want?

cherie: to the end of time. if he wants it? he is GETTING it, he will tear and maul and curse and kick. ipad baby.

coleop: not far, if he doesnt need it then he doesnt mind that bad

cogito: <>_<> cogito will steal bodies if he needs one, dont test him

6. How easily could your OC be convinced to do something that goes against their moral compass?

cherie: Not very easily. if at all. hes doing what he wants when he wants

coleop: middle ground, it depends on the situation

cogito: very easily, just give him an animal cracker

7. What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

cherie: hes not as LOUD anymore… he used to yell constantly, but hes partially subdued, especially after the Mauling

coleop: erm, independent

cogito: nothing much, hes a manipulative goofy bug

8. Would your OC ostensibly be able to get away with murder?

cherie: … i think hes too messy with murder to get away with it

coleop: would not murder, cant, or wont.

cogito: yes.

9. Do you have a specific lyric or quote which you associate with your OC?

cherie: “oh and you swear to god… the fuckers out to get you” - The Bug Collector by Haley Heynderickx

that entire song in general.. his paranoia, and the ironicality of it being about bugs when Coleop is the bug guy.

coleop: “Coin operated boy. sitting on the shelf. He is just a toy but I turn him on and he comes to life.” - Coin-Operated Boy (the dresden dolls)

cogito: “I don't wanna be the owner of your fantasy. I just wanna be a part of your family” - anything (Adrianne Lenker)

10. What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC?

cherie: vampire!AU :)

coleop: Zombie!AU :))

cogito: human!AU (or in this case: Troll!AU), itd be interesting to see cogito as a troll, he would either be very old or very young..

11. What is your OC's weapon of choice? Have they ever actually used it?

cherie: uhmm.. he is ChainsawKind. so chainsaws, specifically duo-wield one handed chainsaws. also yes, hes used them

coleop: beetle shaped multi-tool

cogito: biting. and yes.

12. Is your OC self-destructive? In what ways?

cherie: absolutely. hes so fucking self destructive. he breaks off his horns and eats them (auto-osteophagia) its not exactly his fault but still, breaking bones constantly to eat them. also he bashes his head into the wall a lot. headache hivemind

coleop: a little bit? he scratches at his skin sometimes, when hes having bad Bug Days

cogito: nah.

13. If you met your OC, would the two of you get along?

cherie: no. id be actually terrified. hiding in a corner, looking away from this bombastic animal

coleop: maybe? i dont want to talk to him though.

cogito: …. no (id think it looks cool but GOD i dont wanna be possessed by a bug)

14. How does your OC want to be seen by other characters?

cherie: as really cool and uncaring, a cool gamer who is awesome and cool

coleop: sometimes like a bug (horrified), but then he REALLY wants to be seen as a troll, his humanity is DYING inside his mind sometimes, grappling

cogito: as a fellow troll

15. Does your OC have a faceclaim? If so, who?

cherie: no

coleop: no

cogito: 🪲 Hercules Beetle?

16. What is your OC's pain tolerance like?

cherie: very high, he still feels it and sometimes he wants to curl up if he so much as gets a cut but when it comes to his horns he is used to it

coleop: …. his nerves are kind of super damaged in a love of places so his pain tolerance is fairly high

cogito: no pain tolerance :( he is a little guy.. one step and he is history

17. What is the worst thing you have put your OC through story-wise?

cherie: The Mauling

coleop: The Mauling

cogito: The Mauling

18. Is your OC more cold and detached or up close and personal?

cherie: VERY up close and personal, he is IN people’s business

coleop: pretty neutral, but if he gets going about his interests he will be very in-your-space

cogito: so up close that hes in peoples skin

19. How does your OC behave when enraged?

cherie: horrifying. maul, maim, yell, kick. cries too.

coleop: tenses up and just growls to himself, raising his hands and walking off all stompy and pissed off. also hes a crier.

cogito: oh he gets super pissed,and since hes so small hes closer to hell so you KNOW hes horrible. ramming his beetle head into peoples shoes like that one turtle

20. Does your OC have a tendency to get jealous? If so, how does this manifest?

cherie: hmm.. not much.. maybe a little? he doesnt care i think

coleop: little bit, stares. he stares. just big eyes, horrifying.

cogito: VERY JEALOUS ALL OF THE TIME, he wants to be a troll so bad, manifests as stealing bodies

21. Does your OC have any illnesses or disorders? How do they handle it?

cherie: scoliosis, auto-osteophagia (horn eating (his own), unlabeled paranoia thing, EXTREME anxiety disorder that manifests as explosive behavior.

doesnt handle it, leans into it

coleop: dermotillomania (not constant, comes and goes), trichotillomania, amnesia (only for The Mauling..), anxiety (bro is traumatized honestly)

tries to handle first two by wearing wooly gloves

cogito: is a bug. i dont know. maybe Pica, he might eat things that arent food (he is a bug)

22. What character alignment would you consider your OC to be?

cherie: what does that mean

coleop: N/A

cogito: N/A

23. What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

cherie: hard to process self-love, hard to express Love in general

coleop: hard to process hate, hard to express sadness

cogito: hard to process empathy, hard to express as well

24. What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

cherie: wouldve died without coleops shelter

coleop: couldve lived a normal bug-collecting life with no trauma if not for cogito

cogito: burrowing in the soil.

25. What is your favorite thing about your OC?

cherie: abrasive, so-himself, not afraid to be himself

coleop: the white streak in his hair.

cogito: he wants so harshly to just be

thank yew so much for reading!

#grumblr ooc #anon #ask game #oc ask game #ask game answers #cherie #coleop #cogito #rambling #my art

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