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nellasbookplanet · 11 months ago

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Book recs: possession, bodysnatching and bodysharing

Demons, ghosts, aliens, sentient bacteria, artificial intelligences - isn't there something fascinating about the idea of sharing a body with another being like a giant get-along t-shirt? No? Too bad, because I'm going to tell you about books featuring this trope anyway.

A note: multiple of these books are sequels where the bodysnatching/possession aspect plays little to no part in the first book. In all these cases, I still recommend starting with book one. I also in one case chose not to include a certain sequel that I loved as even mentioning it in this context would be a huge spoiler, so, uh, sorry about that.

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!

Brain Plague by Joan Slonczewski*

Chrys, a struggling artist, agrees to become a carrier for a sentient strain of microbes. With their help, Chrys breathes new life into her career and becomes a success. But every microbe society is different - some function as friends and brain enhancers to their carrier, while others become a literal brain plague, a living addiction taking over the life of their carrier. And like every society, the microbe community is in constant flux - including the one inside Chrys's head.

Children of Ruin (Children of Time series) by Adrian Tchaikovsky*

Sequel to Children of Time. Millenia and generation spanning scifi. After the collapse of the Earthen empire, a project to terraform various planets and use them to uplift other species to sentience in left unfinished. However, both species and planets continue evolving on their own, and when what remains of humanity flees the dying Earth millenia later, these planets might be their only hope of survival. But the uplifted species aren't the only intelligent life out there, and are far from the most dangerous as the survivors encounter something capable of terraforming the human body itself.

Leech by Hiron Ennes*

Unbeknownst to humanity, a sentient hive mind has taken over the entire medical profession to ensure the health of their host species. One of their doctors is sent off to an isolated location where they’re cut off from the rest of the hive mind, only to realize they’re faced with a rivaling parasitic entity. Leech hands you only just enough information to get by, and whether its historical fantasy, an alternate timeline, or futuristic post apocalypse is hard to determine. It’s spooky and a bit weird and wildly creative.

A Memory Called Empire (Texicalaan duology) by Arkady Martine

Mahit Dzmare is an ambassador sent to the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire, where she discovers that her predecessor has died. Trying to protect her home, a small independent mining station, from being taken over by the empire, Mahit struggles to find out the truth of her predecessor's death while carrying the voice of his ghost in her head, guiding her as best he can. Features a sapphic relationship but focuses more on world-building than romance.

Ninefox Gambit (Machineries of Empire trilogy) by Yoon Ha Lee*

Military space opera where belief and culture shape the laws of reality, causing all kinds of atrocities as empires do everything in their power to force as many people as possible to conform to their way of life to strengthen their technology and weapons. It’s also very queer, with gay, lesbian and trans major characters, albeit little to no romance. Disgraced Captain Kel Cheris is given a second chance by allying with the undead Commander Shous Jedao, who in life never lost a battle, but also went mad and massacred his own army. Now, Cheris must decide just how far she can trust him, with her forces as well as with her sense of self.

My Heart is Human by Reese Hogan

Nine years ago, all complex technology was made illegal. This complicates life for Joel, young transgender single father, as a bionic just uploaded itself into his brain without consent. Scared of losing his daughter, Joel tries to keep the bionic secret while using it to fix his life, but things quickly get more complicated as the bionic gains more and more control of his body. A bit simplistic in writing style but makes a lot of cool parallels of bodily autonomy to Joel’s experiences as a transman.

Bonus rec: if you like the general concept of struggling for physical control over one’s body with an AI, may I also suggest the (much grittier and gory) movie Upgrade.

The Host by Stehpenie Meyer*

The Host follows Wanderer, an alien part of an invading force on Earth. Humans have been defeated and are being used as host bodies, but Wanderer's host Melanie is being difficult and refuses to fade away. Instead she fills Wanderer's mind with images of Jared, the man she loves and who's still in hiding. With Melanie's feelings bleeding into Wanderer's the two reluctantly ally to find and keep safe the man they both love. While The Host does feature Meyer's trademark romance - of which I'm not the biggest fan - the more interesting and arguably more central relationship is that between Wanderer and her human host.

Needle by Hal Clement

1950s classic. A small island in the pacific ocean and a fourteen-year-old boy have just become the center of an interstellar chase between an alien Hunter and the criminal he’s pursuing. Robert is a regular boy, but he has a very special passenger: an alien symbiont hiding inside his body. The alien became stranded on Earth as he pursued a criminal of his own species, and now they are both trapped on the same island, playing a game of cat and mouse as Robert and the Hunter struggle to find their prey before it finds them.

Malevolent by Harlan Guthrie*

Lovecraftian horror mystery. Private detective Arthur Lester wakes up in his office, his partner dead, memories fuzzy, vision gone, and the voice of a malevolent entity in his mind. Unable to see, Arthur is forced to rely on guidance from the entity as he attempts to solve the mystery of what it is and where it came from. Is this a book? No. But as someone who reads mostly audiobooks, the difference between a book and a fiction podcast is negligible, and also I love this story and its characters and want all of you to do so too.

Goddess of Filth by V. Castro

Novella. What starts as a drunken seance between friends ends with one of them chanting in Nahuatl, the language of their Aztec ancestors. Following that night, the formerly shy Fernanda has changed. While her family calls for priests, claiming her possessed by a demon, Fernanda's friends believe what has taken up residence in her is something decidedly older. A quick read featuring female rage, desire and empowerment, this is a different twist on the typical possession story.

This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman

Space opera in which humanity found a way to faster than light travel and began establishing colonies all over the galaxy, only to belatedly realize the method of FTL caused irreversible mutations and disabilities and leaving their nascent colonies to die. Much later, many of the colonies have survived and thrived, and one has found a new method of FTL travel, allowing an interconnected space society to grow. However, Earth is on the hunt for their method and is prepared to do anything to steal it. Trapped in the middle of all this and forced on the run is young Jamisia, who is little by little coming to realize that not only might she be the very solution Earth is after, she's also not alone in her own mind and body.

Touch by Claire North*

Kepler should have died long ago, beaten to death in an alley. Instead, a switch happened as Kepler leapt into and took control of the body of the killer. Since then, Kepler has lived in body after body, having gained the ability to inhabit anyone with a touch and stay for anything from a few minutes to an entire lifetime. Kepler cares much for the host bodies, and when one of them is brutally assassinated, Kepler must find the killer, avenge the host's death, and stop it from happening again. You want a fucked up main character with fucked up morals who still genuinely cares for people? Then boy do I have the book for you!

The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

Fantasy romance. Beatrice Clayborn is a sorceress, but if her family gets its way she won't remain so for long. Married women are forbidden from practicing magic, and Beatrice's father is intent on marrying her off to save them from destitution. Beatrice has a different plan: become so powerful a sorceress that she can herself save her father's business and becomes too valuable to marry off. To achieve this, she strikes a bargain with a minor spirit of fortune. In return, the spirit demands to be present in Beatrice's body as she experiences her first kiss... a kiss with a man who might jeopardize all her plans.

Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory

Del Perce's world is almost indistinguishable from ours, the only difference being the presence of possessing entities that can strike with little to no warning. When he was young, Del was possessed by one of these demons, which was eventually exorcised. But now he’s experiencing a resurgence of symptoms, a voice in his head demanding to be freed. To save himself, Del races to find out the truth behind the possessions.

The Thousand Eyes (The Serpent Gates duology) by A.K. Larkwood*

Sequel to The Unspoken Name (please read that first, I promise this duology is very worth it). These books have a lot going on: portals, flying ships, orcs, elves, creepy snake gods, possessions, cults, immortal evil mages who traumatize teens as their hobby, gay and lesbian frenemies, the works. Csorwe, born and raised in a cult and meant as a sacrifice, escapes her intended death with a mage who becomes her mentor. But he has dangerous motives of his own, and Csorwe must decide where her loyalties lie.

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge

Young adult, historical. All her life, Makepeace's mother has been teaching her how to defend herself from the possession of ghosts, until one day her guard drops and a wild and fierce spirit slips in. When Makepeace's mother dies and she is sent to live with her father's family, this spirit might be her only defence. Because her family is harboring dark secrets, and they have plans for Makepeace... plans which do not care for her well-being. Unlike most other YA I've read in terms of vibes and plot, A Skinful of Shadows is a unique and intriguing read.

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson*

Young adult fantasy. Artemisia prefers the dead to the living, and is training to become a Gray Sister, a nun who helps the souls of the deceased pass on to the afterlife rather than remain as dangerous spirits. To defend her convent, Artemisia accepts the help of a dangerous revenant, a powerful spirit which grants her great power but also could possess her the moment her guard is lowered. As evil threatens her homeland, Artemisia and the revenant must find a way to work together.

A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne A. Brown

Young adult fantasy. Sequel to A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. To save his family, Malik has made a deal with a dangerous spirit with equally dangerous demands - the death of the princess. Meanwhile, princess Karina is seeking her own power, meaning to resurrect her assassinated sister no matter what the prize. As their paths intertwine, the consequences of their pursuits keep getting higher, both for them, their nation, and the entire world.

Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor trilogy) by Mark Lawrence

Sequel to Red Sister. Fantasy with sci-fi flavor. Nona is being raised to become a killer at the Convent of Sweet Mercy. But dangerous classes aren’t Nona's only problem: her planet is slowly dying, and her own inner demons whisper in her mind. As the sun grows weaker and ice creeps ever closer, Nona and her allies race to save themselves from extinction.

Fifth Quarter (Quarters series) by Tanya Huff*

Sequel to Sing the Four Quarters. Fifth Quarter is only loosely connected to the first book in the series so you could read it as a standalone, however I still recommend starting with Sing the Four Quarters as it is very good. Bannon and Vree are siblings and highly skilled assassins, but they are put to the test when a failed assassination finds them sharing a body, their intended victim having stolen Bannon's. Now, they must choose between remaining loyal to their Empire, or helping their supposed victim find a new body to steal - and he doesn't want just any body, he wants the royal prince.

The Nein Eyes of Lucien by Madeline Roux*

Recommended with the caveat that you're unlikely to get the full experience unless you have also watched Critical Role Campaign 2 (which is quite the time investment, but very worth it). It follows the antagonist Lucien, first owner of the body we know as Mollymauk Tealeaf, both before Lucien lost his body and after he regains it in the ultimate struggle against Mollymauk's old friends, the Mighty Nein.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

The Scratch Daughters (The Scapegracers trilogy) by H.A. Clarke

Sequel to The Scrapegracers. Sideways Pike used to be able to perform only party tricks, but in finding new friends and starting a coven, the four become powerful witches. But not everyone wants witches around. After having gotten her spectre stolen and losing her ability to perform magic, Sideways is forced to rely on Mr. Scratch, a book demon taking the place of her spectre to keep her alive. Now she must struggle to get her magic back before it’s too late.

Riding the Odds by Lynda K. Scott

Sci-fi romance. Tara Rowan is a spaceship captain with secrets - a past she wants to leave behind, and Zie, an organic symbiote which grants her greater strengths and reflexes. But when sexy Holy Knight Trace Munroe blackmails her in an attempt to rescue a missing princess, Tara's secrets are in danger of being revealed.

What Doesn't Break by Cassandra Khaw

Like The Nine Eyes of Lucien, you're unlikely to get the full experience of What Doesn't Break unless you're also a viewer of Critical Role. It follows the backstory of Laudna, undead sorceress and warlock with the ghostly presence of the necromancer who once murdered her keeping residence in her mind and tugging at her strings.

Every Day (Every Day trilogy) by David Levithan

Every day, A wakes up with a new body and a new life. A has rules on how to deal with this existence - don't get attached, don't get noticed, and don't interfere. But when A finds themself falling in love, all their established rules no longer apply. This one has also been adapted as a movie!

This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero

A. and Z. Kimrean are twin siblings and private eyes - they also share the same body, calling themselves A.Z. When someone starts murdering the sons and heirs of a ruthless crime boss, it falls on A.Z. Kimrean to solve the case and find the killer before all out gang war breaks out.

A Madness of Angels (Matthew Swift series) by Kate Griffin

Two years ago, sorcerer Matthew Swift was killed. Today, he woke back up. And he isn't alone in his body... Now, he seeks vengeance not only against the one who killed him, but also against the one who brought him back.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: Bone Rider by J. Fally, The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu, What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang, Hunter of Demons by Jordan L. Hawk, Odder Still by D.N. Bryn

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shizukateal · 4 months ago

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Grimm Variations - Episode Three Review: Hansel and Gretel

(Buckle up, everyone, this is the call-back episode.)

Hansel and Gretel live a pretty routine, gray life at their orphanage/boarding school, with their fellow classmates and their mama and papa- wait a fucking second, that's Sakura's great-grandfather from Card Captor Sakura!

Jesus Christ, CLAMP, I know designing old men isn't your wheelhouse, but that's no excuse to be lazy! Anyways, their life is pretty boring and restricted, so Gretel usually acts out and Hansel gets swept up until they're both grounded. Finally, one time after too many antics, their "parents" decide to spice up the punishment by leaving them to sleep outside in the forest. They're warned that they can sleep near the fence if they want to, but of course that's too boring for Gretel, so they go on a walk until they find a small wooden cottage, although it does have two ca- Yuuko.

...

I never really finished XxxHolic. I only watched the two seasons of the anime, so I didn't really experience Yuuko's death, I just spoiled myself. Still, it gets me unexpectedly emotional. To see a version of her blessed with the ability to age.

So the Dimensional Witch and the kids get to talking around some cocoa, and Yuuko incites the kids to find out about The End of the World. Her words, not mine. That's silly! reply Hansel and Gretel, the world doesn't have an end, it's spherical! They would know, they've been taught a lot of suspiciously advanced scientific stuff in school. So Yuuko proposes them to do a little empirical research to settle the debate. Next time someone loses a ball during a game they should go pick it up themselves, instead of letting their "parents" get to it first. Hansel does that at the first opportunity he gets and indeed, he finds a forcefield, proving Yuuko correct.

This discovery sparks a fire in Hansel, so he gets himself deliberately sent out to the forest again and Gretel does the same to accompany him. He reaches a bargain with Yuuko: she'll help him discover what's real and in return he will help her grant her own unspoken wish. She tells him to look for unusual things in his school and gifts him a tube filled with what could be candies or gems, saying that they'll help guide the way, but to not eat them or they'll run out of it.

Hansel and Gretel start paying attention to their surroundings and finally the weirdness of their situation starts to stand out to them, like how their classmates keep disappearing out of nowhere and nobody bats an eye, especially when there's photographic evidence about their numbers dwindling in the school group pictu- Syaoran.

And 2/3 of the Clamp School Detectives!

I find it hilarious that Nokoru and Akira are here, but Suoh had to be deleted from existence because his blue hair would've stood out too much. RIP, lmao.

Anyways, Hansel decides to try to see if he can find a way out through the forest and obviously his sister goes along with him. Before they can properly set out, however, one of the candies acts up and opens up a portal. The siblings go through it and they find themselves in a mysterious space station of all things, with data of all of their classmates. Soon enough their "mother" finds them sneaking around and they run away from her, using up the candies to open doors. But when Hansel almost gets squished by a closing door, Mother sacrifices herself to save him, confirming to everyone that she is, in fact, a robot.

Naturally, this leaves Hansel with more questions than answers, so after coming back to the school he and his sister straight to Yuuko, who gives him the Matrix choice of taking a pill to forget everything or learning the truth. Hansel chooses the latter and Yuuko takes them back to the space station, explaining that the earth has long since become inhabitable and that the school is teaching the children how to restore it until they deem them fit to go there. Her previously mentioned "wish" is to send them all safely there. Hansel is apparently fit to travel already, but he starts dithering about the choice, especially because the space shuttle only has one seat, so where is Gretel to fit?

That's when the curtain is lifted: Gretel doesn't exist. She's a mental projection for cowardly, dithering Hansel to act out decisively on his own impulses while mentally excusing himself for following along, but now that he has come this far on his own accord he doesn't need her anymore. Hansel, with Gretel's encouragement, chooses to leave, but he still cries tears of bitter regret at loosing his "sister" to the truth instead of taking Yuuko's offer to forget.

Alas, however, he arrives at earth, where his lost classmates have grown up and welcome him with open arms. Yuuko eulogizes the mom-bot, congratulating her for raising the kids and then welcomes Syaoran to her hut...

Oh boy, ok, this one's a doozy, let's see where to start.

Ok, I'm gonna start with the blatant Revolutionary Girl Utena references and work up from there, because if I don't it's gonna drive me insane. Here's the thing people, it's not a sin to reference RGU; in fact I'd encourage it, but if you're gonna pull iconography from there of all places, then you'd better be really fucking conscientious about The Themes™️ and what you say with them.

So this episode presents us with a school in which time is apparently bubbled, constricted by The End of The World it represents, supervised by two figures emulating the heteronormative family structure, contrasted by a witch who at first seems like an outcast but is actually essentially powering the whole thing (maybe), and where students disappear without anyone properly remembering them because if they dare to figure out what lies behind the curtain of the system, just like Ohtori Academy. So far so good... kind of.

The implication is that the school is deliberately set up as this secret test of character thing so, like Hansel, the students learn to be independent. There's even some clever hints that disobedience and figuring out the mystery gives them the passing mark before we watch our protagonist. But then like... why do the students forget whenever one of them leaves? In Utena that's implied to be the magic of whatever time bubble Ohtori is in keeping everyone ignorant to perpetuate itself without objections, but more important that the explanation itself is the metaphor it's in service of. Ohtori students forget because the system wants to present a narrative about itself without any blemishes, so tragedies get trivialized into gossip, victims swept under the rug. Even if you assume that this schools timeloop or whatever is also passively mindfucking with the children, why is there so much focus on the dadbot and especially the mombot keeping things like the forcefield hidden? What is the purpose of that? What commentary is it making? What does breaking the cycle of apathy and blind obedience mean in this setting?

It might sound like I'm doing a pointless nitpick here, but trust me when I say that the viewing experience is already too confusing because of the tone and its use of the imagery. The school really is portrayed like if Othori met the orphanage from The Promised Neverland met an oscarbait period flick about world war II. Like, you genuinely expect that the twist is that the school is farming the children for their brains or something. It took me until I was writing this review to actually put the pieces together as to what the robo-parents motivations are, because their secrecy and strictness is completely antithetical to them wanting the children to grow independent!!!

The truth of the matter is just too soft for the themes its exploring and the imagery is presenting. Hansel created Gretel because he's afraid of taking responsibility for his actions, the same way a character in Utena projected a Rose Bride to not acknowledge the fact that he killed like a 100 people in a fire on purpose. So one would assume, based on how fucking creepy the school and the parents are, that he has some real good fucking reason to reach that extreme of cognitive dissonance, but no!!!!! Even the parents sending them out to sleep in the forest lands like mere chiding!!!!

But going back to Gretel, the usual initial portion of the episode is about how Charlotte doesn't seem to like her character in the original fairytale. How she thinks Gretel should be punished for getting Hansel into trouble which... istg I have NO idea how this show is trying to engage with its source material at all, because that is NOT a conclusion anyone would reach after reading the fucking fairytale, but whatever. It's fine. Or rather it WOULD be fine if there was a smidge of actual feminist commentary in this script which goes OUT OF ITS WAY TO REFERENCE ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL FEMINIST PIECES IN ANIME, but noooooooooooo it's all so bittersweet. On the one hand I'm glad he chose to grow up, and since I don't believe in punitive justice I don't think he needs to be punished to get there, but I'm still upset the character of Gretel gets reduced to this when she was an active heroine in her own story. Guess Charlotte succeeded in her purpose then, although it is curious that she casts herself as the twins.

Like, am I evil for expecting Hansel to straight up die in that oven-shuttle? In her original universe, Yuuko was an agent of karma. If she was scary it wasn't because she was evil, but because she would give you exactly what you want and not shield you from the consequences. It would feel weird to me if she were to endanger children the way she does some of her customers, but it would not have been completely out of place in this "grimm variation" that is about our protagonist literally deluding himself to avoid taking responsibility for his choices to end up with those consequences catching up to him in a terrible fashion.

Guess I shouldn't have expected all that much better. Although I am surprised that they didn't just straight up turn Subaru and Hokuto from Tokyo Babylon into Hansel and Gretel. Alas, to be a CLAMP fan is to suffer, and it seems that these past 20 years have not taught them much about theming. This is why I'm still terrified of reading Clear Card Arc, even though I should.

#grimm variations #grimm kumikyoku #hansel and gretel #xxxholic #card captor sakura #tsubasa reservoir chronicle #clamp school detectives #clamp #clamp manga #revolutionary girl utena #rgu #anime review #ccs #yuuko ichihara #yūko ichihara #syaoran li #tokyo babylon #nokoru imonoyama #akira ijuin

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zeb-z · 2 years ago

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I dunno, and I haven't read the Ascendency novels to be clear, so I can’t speak of who he was before his exile - but maybe Thrawn accepting Grand Admiral for that shitshow on Batonn sealed his fate. Maybe he wasn't the one to pull the trigger, maybe he was appalled by the needless death - he still took the promotion, even if he didn't want it. The moment he took the rank plate was the moment the blood on his hands became insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The moment where all his intentions begin to be buried by his actions.

Everyone is all about how Thrawn isn't that bad of a guy - and honestly I do agree that his character is misunderstood more often than not - but he still did terrible things with the Empire. Turned a blind eye and condoned much more with silence.

Because the fall of Nightswan and Batonn may not have been his fault - but he accepted the stain when he took his promotion.

For all you try to keep things fair, it doesn't matter if you're working in a system that is instituted to be cruel. And while Thrawn had never claimed to be a good man, and had only joined ultimately for the protection of his own people, there's something to be said of this deterioration of morality. How he doesn't understand politics, but is still shaped by the dangerous and vindictive workings of Imperial political scene, forgoing honesty for station.

Pirates and smugglers turn to insurgents and rebels. Capture turns to execute. He kills to prove a point.

He develops for the worse. For all he shapes the Imperial Navy, it shapes him all the same. I dunno. Complex character and all o that. He’s no scum of the earth true evil, but he’s no shining star either.

#I have not watched rebels I have not read the ascendency novels yet I am in the middle of alliances right now #so bear with me. baby’s first analysis #*flips off sky* for Arihnda Pryce and her hand in all of this (who’s truly to blame for Batonn)#like listen. he’s a bad guy! but he’s not a bad guy #like yeah. my man is almost court martialed for when he saves innocents over imperial resources #but also he climbs the rank by doing good for the empire. like that’s a net negative #true he may hold loyalty to his people and not the empire. but it’s not about loyalty it’s about morality #you can commit treason to the empire and still not have been a good guy. yknow #i dunno. Thrawn is better than he could be but worse than apologists say I guess is the point.#and maybe there’s something to be said about how this happens once Eli Vanto leaves. his one true friend. i think that’s significant #I’m just thinking ok #like. a good imperial is still an imperial!!!! that’s all #ahsoka better do this motherfucker justice I swear to god #Thrawn #thrawn trilogy #grand admiral thrawn #Star Wars rebels #sw #Star Wars #z speaks

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heirbane · 2 months ago

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Okay, since I'm afoot, here's a tl;dr of Gaius's journey post ARR:

- HW: recuperating for the majority of Heavensward. if you want a specific time frame, I'd say his recovery took him close to a year with the spotty medical treatment he received. Unbeknownst to him, he was barely out of Eorzea, let alone far removed from the rubble of Praetorium for many of those weeks until he was stable enough to move around.

After that, Valdeaulin took him to the outskirts of Ala Mhigo, holing him up within one of the territories that Valdeaulin believed Gaius had released Black Rose upon. He fully intended to make the man suffer and rot there, to make him see the results of his actions, but soon found out that Gaius had not been the one to unleash the Black Rose - and had actually fought the Empire's use of it.

STB: from the edges of Ala Mhigo, Gaius and Valdeaulin meandered to Werlyt. They picked up Severa along the way, fleeing a platoon of soldiers that were stationed in Terncliff. Valdeaulin catches Gaius skulking about one night and threatens to disembowel him, as he thinks Gaius is attempting to escape his shackles. It is only then that Valdeaulin - and, as an extension, Severa - learn of the man's many children, all of them native to Terncliff. He had hoped to gather information about the occupation and the state of his children, as he assumed they were still stationed within Werlyt.

After Gaius's honesty, Severa is more forthcoming herself, and explains her own platoon had just come to replace those who had been ferried back to Garlemald to continue the Weapons project. Gaius's children, likely. While his loyalty to the Empire had been shaken by Ascian involvement, he still had hope that his brethren - when not under mind control or having their bodies puppeteered - would treat his family with respect.

In the mean time, he learned from Severa that the Garleans had furthered their expansion into Doma, and that she believed another shadow worked behind the scenes. They traveled abroad, visiting villages and townships while avoiding Kugane all together, given the presence of the Garlean Embassy. It is on the Steppe, in the desert lands that ripped away from their grasslands after the fall of Dalamud, that they track down an of Ascians and kill them.

SHB: the Ascian let slip their intent, as is their common folly: to rid the world of it's aether, in the hope that it would be a sizable offering for their God on the moon. They had another area they had been investigating, dubbed the Burn, and a second shadow remained there. Gaius and co traversed to the Burn, taking in it's horrific lack of anything living, and from there, ran into Alphinaud and the Scions once again. He learns of Zenos's death, of the liberation of Ala Mhigo and Doma.

It is during his confrontation with the Scions and the Alliance that he gets further information about the reality of the Weapons project. Maxima, a Garlean who had defected, spoke of the man now at the helm of the issue: Valens van Varro. Furthermore, steps were being taken to reignite the Black Rose, and whispers among the highest ranking soldiers said that Zenos's body had been puppeteered by another Ascian. He pairs up with Estinien to infiltrate the Capitol of Garlemald, lay waste to their Black Rose reserves, and find out the fate of his godson after all.

After they laid waste in the Capitol and Gaius hears the horror that Estinien had faced, Gaius is more certain than ever that his children are in danger under the Weapons project. However, Valdeaulin has only proffered him time away with Estinien: should the dragoon return to him without the Garlean, Valdeaulin would follow him to the ends of the earth until he is able to kill the man. It is with great trepidation that he returns, holding his worry and fears close to his vest... until the Warrior of Light returns to the Source, and he rallies his pride to ask of them a favor.

#hw spoilers #stb spoilers #shb spoilers #wounds tw #trauma tw #ⅹⅳ tertius oculus ( hcs. )#kidnapping tw #torture tw #emeto tw #murder tw #uh.#massacres tw #my timeline may be off. ive not replayed anything but h.w lately so pls forgive m3

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silverwings22 · 3 months ago

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Take Me To Church Chapter 5: Spirit

Series warning: 18+, flashbacks, smut, major injury, torture, death, experimentation, canon typical violence, Hozier lyrics

Previous Chapter: Earth

***No Masters or Kings***

A stolen Imperial shuttle was the best they could do on short notice, but Kya and the twins landed on Bora Vio to find Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair waiting with Admiral Rampart of all people. “I don’t trust him.” Echo muttered.

“Why would you? He’s a viper, just like the rest of the Empire.” Kya leaned against Fives’ side. Omega had been captured off Pabu, the Havoc Marauder was destroyed, and it was up to her and five clones to save the little girl from a monstrous fate in a base no one knew how to find. Except Rampart, the slimy bastard.

“I can hear you!” The scruffy, miserable looking former Admiral huffed, looking dejected and worse for wear in his prison uniform.

“I wasn’t whispering.” She joined the twins to check on Hunter and the others. “You alright? This can’t be easy for you.”

Hunter shook his head. “We have to find her.”

Kya nodded, gesturing to the shuttle. “We don’t have long before this is reported stolen, but it should do. Tell us the plan on the ship.”

Wrecker marched Rampart up while Crosshair brought up the rear, holding his trembling right hand with his left. Kya worried about the three clones, they all looked like they were ready to snap. This had to work, or they’d never survive the guilt of something happening to Omega.

“Go over the plan again.” Hunter ordered, nudging Rampart with his boot.

He sighed, looking at Kya like she might be his saving grace. “Tantiss was designed not to be found. The only way to get the coordinates is a stopover at Imperial Station 003 over Coruscant. They’re transmitted to a ship’s navicomputer directly, so there's’ no chance of interference.”

Echo and Fives exchanged looks. “So we’ll have to infiltrate.” Echo sighed.

Fives nodded. “This is going to be tricky. We can’t just walk on board the station and copy the data.”

Kya smirked and looked at Rampart thoughtfully. “Not necessarily.” She reached behind her and pulled up an Imperial uniform they’d stolen with the ship, throwing it at him. “Get dressed, Edmon. We can’t walk right onto the station… but you can, with a security detail.”

“You’re insane.” Rampart sneered at her. “Who the hell do you even think you are?”

Kya’s expression darkened and she pulled out a white, owl like mask with red lines painted across the eyes. She placed it over her face and took a threatening step towards him. “I said get dressed.” The vocoder rasped.

“Darth Caedes?!” He yelped.

“Or Countess Dooku of Serenno, if you’d prefer.” She twirled her lightsaber in her hand before taking the mask back off and tucking them both away. “Will there be any further objections?”

“I-I can’t wear this uniform. It’s a captain’s… I was an admiral.” He stammered, looking like he was about to piss his pants.

“So you’ve been demoted.” Echo fixed him with a look that might have cracked rock.

Pride won out over fear and Rampart sneered. “I hate clones.”

Kya looked at Fives and smiled quietly, leaning up to kiss his cheek. The ARC trooper smiled, looping an arm around her waist and fixing Rampart with a gleefully smug look. “We outnumber you on this ship, so best shut up. Besides, she doesn’t hate clones. Do you, cyar’ika?”

Kya snuggled a little more comfortably against his side. “I intend to make a clone into a Count of Serenno, Admiral.” She smirked. “It’ll bring some grace back to the name and title.”

Rampart’s eye twitched. “You’re going to marry a clone?”

She just leaned back Fives’ chest. “If he’ll have me. And we survive.” Her voice softened. There was a chance they wouldn’t make it. Tantiss was a death sentence, they’d known it the minute Echo received the desperate transmission from Hunter that Pabu had been found and Omega kidnapped. They’d looked at each other when he’d walked into their bunkroom in the cramped Rafa twins’ hangar on Coruscant, and had a silent conversation. Fives wouldn’t let his twin face possible death alone, not again. And for Kya, there wasn’t a life worth living without Fives.

Fives pressed his lips to the tattoo on her forehead. “C’mere. Echo, you’re an officer now right? Let Hunter fly, you come here.”

Curious, the cyborg twin handed over the controls to the stressed but capable sergeant and followed them to the back of the stolen ship. Crosshair and Wrecker had Rampart in check, the sniper itching for a chance to pay him back for months of abuse.

When they got to the back hold, Fives turned around with a grin. “Echo, marry us.”

Echo looked like he had whiplash. “What?!”

“You’re an officer. You can marry us. If I’m about to get killed breaking into some evil scientist’s lair to rescue our kid sister, you gotta give Kya a chance to make an honest woman out of me.” Fives’ grin stretched wider. “She did just technically propose, and I’m not letting this opportunity pass up.”

Echo facepalmed with his scomp, the metal attachment leaving a red mark on his forehead. “Are you serious right now? Kya?”

She gave her darling trooper a fond smile. “You’re ridiculous. You know that?”

“You love me.” He smirked.

“I do. And you’re right. I can’t think of a more fitting honeymoon for the two of us than breaking into a place like Tantiss.”

Fives nodded, reaching for her hands. “Please, Echo? Hunter can’t concentrate, Cross got demoted, and I’m not asking Rampart.”

Echo laughed, shaking his head at the sheer insanity of the situation. “Okay, okay. I’ll do it. I don’t know shit about weddings, this was not in the reg manuals. You sure you wanna do it in the back of a stolen Imperial ship on our way to possible death, Countess?”

“It’s the marriage, not the wedding, that matters to me.” She looked at Fives, voice quiet. “Especially if it might be the end.”

Echo nodded, understanding. “Alright, lovebirds. Promise you’re gonna love each other until you die, not be assholes to each other when you’re mad, and won’t regret this in the morning?”

“I promise.” Fives grinned.

“I do.” Kya nodded.

“Then, by the power vested in my by my rank as Corporal despite the Republic no longer existing, I now pronounce you clone and wife. Fives, I think this makes you a Count. Kya, I think this makes you the bravest person I’ve ever met.” Echo smiled. “Now kiss.”

“With pleasure.” Kya wrapped her arms around Fives’ neck and pulled him to her. His arms wrapped around her waist, dipping her backwards the way he had the first time she played music for him. The kiss tasted like a promise when their lips met.

I give you everything I am. Just survive long enough to have it.

Echo smiled. “Congratulations. I’m gonna go take back the controls before Hunter drives us through the station control tower.”

Kya and Fives nodded, letting him go. Fives smiled once he was out of earshot, kissing the tip of her nose. “You scaring the shit out of Rampart was hot. If there were less brothers here, I’d have you in my lap by now.”

She squeezed his hands. “Stay alive and I’ll show you a proper honeymoon.”

“I’ll do my best. I don’t mean to leave you a widow.” He hugged her a little tighter, like he could shield her from the somber reality of the situation.

“I won’t be a widow, Fives. I’ll be right there beside you.” She breathed into his shoulder. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

***When the ritual begins***

They’d made it to Tantiss. Omega had set a Zillo beast loose and given them an opening inside, but the shadow troopers had been more than even the five of them could handle. Echo had been on the other ship, the one they’d clamped onto for a ride here, and none of them knew if he was alive or dead. Kya wanted to worry more about her newly wedded husband’s twin, but she couldn’t think about Echo right now.

Not strapped into a chair, agony coursing through her as the clones screamed in pain. She wasn’t screaming, because she’d been here before. Not strapped down, but tormented in training since she was barely more than a toddler. She knew the answer; obey. Shut down, pull her shattering heart so far down inside herself that nothing could touch it. Do what they told her, go blank, stop existing as anything but a weapon and they’d stop hurting her. Father would stop hurting her, if she just did what she was told-

Father was wrong, and he died for it.

Kya unclenched her jaw and opened her eyes, fixing them dead ahead on Hemlock as he grinned wickedly at them. The blacked out assassins, the ones that had captured them with sheer ferocity, stood at his sides like faithful hounds. Soulless, empty in the Force, except for one. The one who’d cut Crosshair’s hand off while she’d been pinned under explosion debris and unable to get to her saber before it was taken. That one… it was the one from Teth. There was something still in him, fighting desperately despite what he’d done. She could sense it, see it in the way he rolled her saber from side to side in his hand behind his back. Out of Rampart’s sight, like he didn’t want his master to see it.

She cast her senses wider, despite how it opened her up to more torture. Somewhere below her, she sensed Echo and Omega. They were with a group, other prisoners from this hell they’d unleashed. Help was coming, she just needed to give them a diversion. And lucky for her, Rampart hadn’t known who she was or that she was Force sensitive. Her wrists strained against the straps, fingers outstretched, and the saber snatched from the CX trooper to her hand. She pressed the activator and twisted it back, slicing through one of her restraints as Hemlock started yelling. Before anyone could stop her, she had one arm fully freed and was dangerously swinging the lightsaber at anyone who came near. In the chaos, Wrecker ripped an arm free as well, then yanked himself out of his restraints with brute force alone. Kya spotted Omega climb up and free Hunter, Crosshair, and Fives as chaos exploded below. Echo was leading other clones in to fight as well, overwhelming the CX troopers with numbers and raw desperation.

Kya finished cutting herself free as the trooper that was hesitating had a control panel ripped of his shoulder and Hemlock handcuffed himself to Omega. “I’ve got you now.”

Omega smirked, confident despite the circumstances as she was dragged off. “I’ve got them.”

Kya looked at Hunter and Crosshair, both barely able to stay on their feet themselves. “Go. We’ll take care of this.” She nodded, flipping her saber around and covering their exit. They grabbed their weapons and took of after the little sister they loved so much. Kya stood her ground, Fives and Echo clearing up the arena across from her, and faced down the CX trooper walking towards her.

Behind him, Wrecker put one of his fellow’s heads through a wall and sat down hard. Echo took a knife to the back, but electrocuted another. Fives came jumping off the platform Kya was one and put a blaster bolt through another’s chest. That left just Kya and the man from Teth. “You survived.” He rasped through his helmet.

“So did you.” She twirled her saber again, the two of them moving in slow motion. “Hemlock left you to die. But you don’t have to.”

“Live to fight another day.” He sounded thoughtful. He hadn’t drawn his blaster or rifle, just circling. “That’s what you said. But they’ll kill me. Your ARC troopers, when they get back up here.”

“Not if you’re not a threat. You don’t have to die if you don’t try to kill.” She lowered her saber, holding out her left hand. “There’s something in you left to save.”

The man hesitated again, fingers flexing at his side. Below them, Fives was yelling for Kya and climbing his way back up the platform. “... I don’t want to die.” He finally said quietly. “I don’t even know who I am.”

Kya smiled faintly. “I know what that’s like.” She extinguished her saber and clipped it to her hip. “The first step is taking the blinders off.”

Slowly, he released the seals on his blacked out helmet and lifted it off his head to hand it to her. He was dimly aware of Fives dragging himself over the edge of the platform, yelling Kya’s name. She didn’t look away, but held one hand up to let her husband know everything was alright.

“I know who you are.” She tossed the helmet away and offered him a hand, which he took with a wide eyed expression in a pair of brown eyes circled by half-healed scars. “Fives! Look who I found.” She laughed as she led him to the edge, offering her other hand to help Fives to his feet.

Fives blinked, a slow grin starting across his face. “Echo! You’re not gonna believe this!” he called over his shoulder

Down below, the cyborg twin lifted his head. “Yeah?”

“Kya found Tech!”

***There’s no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin***

The sunrise of Salucemi wasn’t as impressive as the one on Pabu, but it was still nice. Kya sat on a couple cushions divorced from the couch from which they’d come, watching the sky turn gold through an upper window as she sat in a barn hayloft. The house and farm had belonged to another clone and his family before the Empire, and Rex said they wouldn’t have minded the little rattling rebellion using it while they figured out their next move. Things were tricky now, months after Tantiss. They had no base, no weapons, and lots of hungry mouths to feed.

Echo was slowing down now that he’d lost his cybernetic interface headpiece. It made his prosthetics harder to control, and no matter how stubborn he was… he couldn’t fight the nature of his own body. Emerie tried to help, his little scientific sidekick now, but she could only do so much when he refused to rest the way he should. Echo wanted to even the score for all the clones killed during his time as a prisoner of the Techno Union, and it never felt like it was enough for him. Kya understood that… all the fighting in the world never felt like she was adding goodness to make up for all the evil she’d had her hands on as a Sith.

She’d left that mask on Weyland, in the shadow of Tantiss somewhere between when they’d jumped out of a ship and Wrecker had been attacked by a dryax. There had been better things to come back to Pabu with her that day, and the look of overjoyed delight and tears on the Bad Batcher’s faces when she’d brought Tech onto the escape shuttle had been worth all the pain it had taken to reunite them. Those five, four brothers and Omega, deserved to live out their lives happily.

Maybe one day they all could.

She turned her ocarina in her hands as she watched the sky. There wasn’t really a place for music here without waking up brothers asleep in the house, bottom of the barn, or pop tents outside in the fields within the nexu fences. She missed it…

“Kya?” Fives’ head popped up from the ladder leading to the loft. No one ever came up here but her, disinterested in hay and the occasional womp rat. It made a perfect little hidey hole for her to get her bearings, still unaccustomed to the crammed-together life of a military operation despite months among them. “You slipped out on me before I woke up.”

“Sorry, honey.” She smiled, scooting over to make space for him on the cushion. “I just… wanted to sit for a little while. Echo’s snoring is getting worse in the room.” They shared with him, Rex, and Howser in squished together bunkbeds. She liked his brothers, but losing the base on Teth had meant losing what little privacy they’d had.

“The cybernetics to his diaphragm are acting up again.” Fives sighed, flopping down beside her. He was worried about his twin, the creases in his brow deeper than ever.

Kya shifted so her head rested on his shoulder. “I know how he feels though. No matter how hard it gets, you never feel like you’ve made amends for what you’ve done. At least Echo didn’t have a choice… I don’t really have an excuse. I was just a bad person.”

Fives caught her by the hips and pulled her astride his waist so he could look her in the eyes. The chill of the morning was chased away by his body heat through his blacks, and he hooked a hand at the nape of her neck to bring her closer to him. “You were a kid who trusted her father. Your father…” He pursed his lips. “Look, you’re allowed to have complicated feelings there. Manda knows I do. He was responsible for thousands of my brothers dying. What he did led to the Empire. But… he made you. And that was something good, something I’m grateful for. You’re not a bad person, even when you did things you regret. You’re a good person because you regret them.”

She smiled weakly and let him pull her down until their chests were flush and her nose brushed his. “You make things feel less daunting.”

“I live to entertain.” He drew her into a kiss, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Kya was happy to return it, stretching herself across his broad chest to hold onto his shoulders and slide her fingers into his hair. When she brought her knee up to adjust herself and her thigh wedged itself between his legs, Fives made a strangled noise. “You keep that up and I swear we’re going to end up having sex in a hay loft.”

Kya considered it a moment before nudging her knee forward slightly. “Good. It’s been months.” Finding time alone was hard won, and at least twice they’d ben interrupted by a brother’s ill timed comm call or knock at the door of whatever structure they’d crawled into.

Fives just smirked a little, hands shifting to squeeze her ass. “Miss me that much?”

“Always.” She cooed.

He kissed her again, sitting upright and letting her slide into his lap. Open mouthed kisses moved from her lips and down her neck, him pushing her hair out of the way to get to her pulse and test it with his teeth gently. Kya giggled, shifting her hips back enough she could slip a hand down the front of his blacks and take him in hand. He groaned against her skin, stifling the noise as best he could so no one came looking for them, and retaliated by pulling her leggings down to her knees. She wasn’t wearing her boots, so he got them off one leg and quit worrying about them once he had unrestricted access to her.

She buried her face in his shoulder when his fingertips slipped between their bodies, tiny breathless whimpers in his ear. He deftly dragged his fingers through the quickly forming slick, tracing a path to the bundle of nerves at her apex and circling it with expert ease. He’d always been more a musician than she was when it came to her body, and when her breath hitched she could hear him smirking. “There you go. Stay quiet for me, cyar’ika. We don’t want anybody else coming up here.”

The very idea of being interrupted when Fives finally had his hands on her made Kya consider sobbing, so she pressed her lips together and kissed his neck and shoulder to keep herself quiet. Fives teased her relentlessly, her own hand stuttering along his length as her hips bucked, until she was slick enough he could slip two fingers into her. “A-ah, Fives…” She gasped.

“Shh.” He crooned. His free hand was holding her hip, keeping her from jerking out of reach. When he pulled his hand from between her legs, she kissed his mouth to stifle a whine and got a half-swallowed chuckle in return. He rubbed her back for a moment, soothing her, before he caught behind both her knees and pulled her down onto his cock.

With her legs extended behind him, she had no leverage and could only muffle a moan as she sank down his length until she was fully seated. Fives wrapped her up tightly in an embrace, both comfortable and a reminder that she could only take what he gave from this angle. He rolled his hips up into her, fingers tangled in her hair, and kept her mouth occupied with his own.

Kya closed her eyes and clung to him, letting herself melt into the muddle-minded bliss that always accompanied making love. She was stretched full, every roll of his pelvis pressing him as far as he could go. Electricity crackled down her spine with each stroke, the raw feeling soothed by the broad palm cradling her head and the other hand tucked against the small of her back that guided her stunted movements against him. His lips stayed against hers, coaxing her mouth open so his tongue could dip against her own. Fives was in and around every part of her, lines blurred into one, until she forgot she’d ever been anything but the woman he loved. It was the most important thing she’d ever been.

Fives broke their kiss with a quick gasp of air and tucked her head against the side of his neck so he could free a hand and return to circling her clit. His own release was building, and he was far from a man to leave his bride unsatisfied. Kya gasped against his throat and clenched around him, dragging a strangled groan from his throat. “Kya…”

He never got out whatever teasing order or plea he’d tried to come up with. The sound of her name spoken like a prayer undid her, and Kya’s legs snapped tight around his waist as she came. Fives’ breathless laugh barely broke the haze as she rode out her high and he chased his own, lifting her a little by the hips and bringing her back down sharply a few times before she felt him twitch and shudder his spend. She didn’t move from her place tucked against his neck, but smiled against his skin as the aftershocks made him twitch. “That’s a better way to wake up than caf.” She giggled.

Fives huffed, but he was smiling. “You can’t be the pretty one and the funny one in this relationship. Don’t steal my jokes, I’ll have nothing left.”

She just giggled again and cuddled to him. “Just… stay for a while? No one will come up here, and I’ve missed you.”

Fives nodded, leaning back against the wall comfortably so he could pepper kisses across her nose. “Hey.”

“Hello.” She looked up immediately.

“I love you.” Fives’ grin was so bright that the rising sun lost its appeal.

“I love you too.”

***In the madness and toil of that sad earthly scene***

“Rex!” Omega was standing on the landing zone in front of the Archium of Pabu when the Remora landed. The captain smiled, standing in the hatch doorway.

“Hey kid.”

Omega frowned. She’d been sitting on the beach, working on her schoolwork by herself, when the ship had come into the atmosphere. Hunter and Wrecker were out on the boat, having become fishermen in the two years since their retirement after Tantiss. Tech had turned into a schoolteacher after a long recovery, and his wedding to Phee was still being discussed around the island for the sheer amount of alcohol the pirate bride had put away. Crosshair had found, after much deliberation, that he liked gardening. What had started as a little quiet vegetable patch in the back of the house he shared with Hunter, Wrecker, and Omega had turned into two large greenhouses that encroached on Phee and Tech’s yard next door, and a patio covered in hanging plants. It kept him occupied throughout the day, and he made a little extra money on the side selling fruit and vegetables at the market. It was a quiet, comfortable life, and Omega knew from experience how fragile that peace could be. “Is everything alright, Rex?” Her voice had an anxious edge, and he held his hands up.

“Easy, Meg. Everything’s fine.”

“No it’s not!” Yelled a voice from inside the ship. “He’s making me retire!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake. Your legs are shot, and I’m dragging you around on a hovercart!” Another voice yelled back. “Who’s the dramatic twin now?!”

“I can still point a blaster, so I can still fight!”

Omega blinked. “Echo and Fives?”

Rex nodded. “Echo’s prosthetics need a lot of work, and Tech’s probably the only person who can sort him out. He doesn’t like it, but he’s done more than enough. He’s earned peace.” He glanced back as Fives appeared on the ramp, dragging a very angry looking Echo on a hover cart. Three limbs down, the cyborg twin was still doing his best to flail and try to snatch the blaster of his brother’s hip.

Omega smiled. “Echo. What are you doing?”

“Being a menace.” Fives chuckled. Behind him, Kya was following with her battered poncho around her shoulders.

Rex rolled his eyes. “You both are menaces. I got one ARC who can’t keep his hands attached, and the other one who can’t keep his hands off his wife.”

“Sorry captain.” Kya smiled sheepishly.

“No you’re not!” He grumbled. “Every time I leave you two alone for five minutes, you’re naked.”

Echo huffed. “Not in front of the kid, Rex.”

“She’s fourteen, Echo. I’m sure by now Tech’s given her more comprehensive education than any of you got on Kamino.” Kya smiled, turning to Omega. “You’re getting so tall. Look at you.”

“Are you and Fives gonna stay for a while?” Omega walked over, taking a look at Echo’s cybernetics curiously. Tech had been teaching her how to work on these, since his fall off the railcar had left him with a missing leg and arm of his own.

Fives grinned. “Actually, if it’s all the same to you, we’d like to make it a little more permanent of a stay…”

“You’re retiring too?” Omega blinked. “Just to stay with Echo or is there something going on.”

“He and I are going to be a little preoccupied for awhile.” Kya smiled, lifting up her poncho. Underneath was a little round bump of her belly, one hand cradling it.

Omega did a double take, then looked at Fives. He grinned smugly. “She thinks it’s a girl. We’re gonna call her Quinn.”

The blonde teenager squealed with delight and ran over to hug Kya, practically bouncing. “I’ve gotta call the guys out on the boat. Tech gets home in an hour from school, and Crosshair and Batcher are in the greenhouse. C’mon, we gotta tell them! We’ll find you a house, I’ll get Shep and Lyana. It’ll be great!”

“Slow down, slow down.” Kya laughed. “Echo needs to be looked after first. There’s a man under that metal.”

Omega nodded. “AZI’s at the house. C’mon.”

Rex took the controls for the hovercart and patted Fives on the back. “You get to unload the ship, since Baby on Board over there can’t pick anything heavy up.”

Fives just grinned and saluted. “Kya, cyare, go sit down.”

While Rex dragged a still-complaining Ech up the hill and Fives went to get the other cart and put their things on it, Kya sat down on the retaining wall and looked out over Pabu. The sun hovered over the water, casting silver-gold flickers on the waves like liquid fire. The sky was blue, seabirds calling out as they flew overhead. The weeping maya tree was in bloom, blossoms fragrant and beautiful as they dripped from the branches like jewels.

Kya pulled her ocarina from her pocket and brought it to her lips, putting together a melody on the fly. It was jaunty and hopeful, full of warmth and the joy of a homecoming. This wasn’t Serenno, but this would be their home. Her and Fives, with their brothers and sister. With their child, who could grow up running the beaches and climbing trees while insulated from the war that raged across the galaxy by a family that loved her more than life itself.

She’d wanted to undo all of her sins by fighting the Empire, the same way Echo had. But now, with a new future staring her in the face… the child inside her might be her real chance at redemption. They would only ever know parents who loved them, without question or demand. Raising them with Fives would be the greatest good she ever did, and the greatest reward she could have never hoped to earn on her own.

As her fingers flittered across the instrument in her hands, notes coming to a crescendo, the baby kicked for the first time.

***Only then I am human***

***Only then I am clean***

#original character #explict #fanfic #star wars #eventual smut #ct 5555 #arc trooper fives #tcw fives #oc kyatsa dooku

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honourablejester · 8 months ago

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Some thoughts for an Osh Derrinalina PF2e Conversion

I’m considering how much would need to be tweaked to use PF2e for my Osh Derrinalina setting. And … in a couple of places, it’s actually easier than D&D 5e, in that it has two specific player ancestries that make my life much easier: the Anadi and the Leshi.

The Anadi are not quite what I’ve been picturing for the Ineian Weavers, but you know what? They’ll do the job quite nicely. Their lore, as very communal and diplomatic spider people, fits very nicely, and the bits that don’t I’d be tweaking for a homebrew setting anyway (such as the lifespan, because the Weavers are longer lived than elves). For the Weavers I would have been picturing the hybrid form as the only form initially, but I can roll with the were-spider angle. I’d probably want to do an Anadi heritage that grants darkvision and bioluminescence, call it Deep Weaver, and the rest is pretty much already there. Anadi already get weaving feats, I might add that Deep Weaver silk is also luminous to those.

The other small issue is that human absolutely would not be the standard alternate form for a Deep Anadi, given that humans are fairly vanishingly rare in Osh Derrinalina, but you need a whole other heritage to get a non-human Anadi form. I will probably just politely ignore that and say that the typical non-spider form for Weavers is Starfolk elf. Though … given their roles as diplomats and go-betweens for most of the Lightless Sea, it might actually be a thing to let Weavers outside of Ysea have a form that’s the common one for the area. So Weavers living/stationed in Tchorit would have gnome forms, and ones in Durgenrath would have dwarf forms. This is not a deception, Weavers are up front about who and what they are, and most of them probably stay in spider or hybrid form most of the time anyway. But. If weavers need to do politics and spycraft, their other forms could be handy, and also as a … comforting gesture, when they’re publicly known.

The Leshy, of course, specifically the Fungal Leshy, would be Patient Ones of Lochantu. For the Patient Ones, I might say that they’re Medium, rather than Small, I’m not sure if that would have any knock-on effects through the Leshy feats, but I think it should be fine.

Unfortunately, there’s still no player version of a flumph in PF2e, no more than in D&D 5e, so playing a Joy Singer is still out. Eh, maybe we can work on that.

For both Palerin Goblins and Durgen Dwarves, I’d probably want to do homebrew heritages as well. Call the Durgen the Grower Heritage, and give them some primal innate spellcasting, and maybe do something similar to the Death Warden dwarf heritage for the Palerin goblins? Palerin would also get wonky lifespans, as Rachinilea messes with their mortality. Homebrew ancestry feats for the girrish tattoos are definitely also a must.

For the Starbuilders, the Umbral Gnome heritage might work? I might still want to do a more custom heritage to pull some elements of the crystal/earth partnership in. I could do that with some ancestry feats either, though.

For the Hadali merfolk, the Ancient Scale Azarketi work perfectly. Exactly what I want, darkvision and bioluminescence. Obviously I’d be changing pretty much all of the Azarketi lore, just keeping the mechanics, since Osh Derrinalina is a very different setting and does not include fallen continents, Atlantean empires, and algholthu corruption. Again, might do up a few ancestry feats relating to Derrinalina herself and the protection of the Mother Sea.

(Sidenote: I probably also want to do a deity write-up for Derrinalina. Possibly also Rachinilea as well)

For the Starfolk, Cavern Elf again works pretty perfectly. In Osh Derrinalina, at least if you’re a native, darkvision is pretty much all you need from your heritage (with the possibly exception of Durgen dwarves, because of the suns, but dwarves get darkvision by default anyway). Again, a couple of feats relating to endurance and constitution, as a result of the legacy of the Great Flight, or a couple relating to trade and diplomacy bonuses, could be worth considering. Might give them access to a couple of the PF2e human ancestry feats in that cause.

For the Siinelan Crystalfolk, like the Joy Singers, there still isn’t really a good player option. I’m not sure what stat block I’d use for them as NPCs, either. However … crystal, empathy, luminescence … I am wondering if some reskinned Kashrishi might work? Trogloshi, obviously. I don’t know, I would have to think about that one. The Oread versatile heritage would also be something to consider. That being said, they’re a bit more alien than a lot of player ancestries, again like the Joy Singers, so it might be better to leave them as NPCs.

So the set up here is that, in Osh Derrinalina, the common ancestries are deep anadi, cavern elf, grower dwarf, umbral gnome, ghostly goblin, fungal leshy, and ancient scale azarketi, and everything else is rare and usually only seen on strangers via the Southern Passage or the Durgenroad.

I am wondering if I need to tweak Silrithantus. PF2e Umbral dragons have somewhat different vibes to 5e shadow dragons. But, honestly, I can just use the stat block and change the lore, and Silrithantus was always his own deal anyway.

For Zarathea, I definitely want to tweak a Dragon Turtle statblock for blindness, albinism, faint bioluminescence, and possible deathly influences, but then I’d also have to do all that in 5e too. Heh.

Lochantu’s sacred bats can be either Giant Bats or Albino Giant Bats, possibly a mix of both.

Overall, though? Definitely a doable conversion. And the Anadi … oh, the Anadi make my life so much easier, just by existing. I really love the happy little spider people? Long may they reign!

#ttrpgs #osh derrinalina #pf2e #d&d #5e #pf2e conversion #subterranean settings #fantasy #spider people #i love that pf2e has those #and the psychic rhino people but they're less applicable here

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summerwritesfics · 4 months ago

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🗺️Open Up Your Eyes And Soon We’re All Drop Dead Cynical

Pairing: Hanzo Hasashi/Kuai Liang Length: 2294 Words Rating: Mature Warnings: Alien AU, Alien!Hanzo Hasashi, Alien!Quan Chi, Forensic Pathologist!Kuai Liang, Autopsies, Murder, Alien Invasion, Misunderstandings, Flirting, Hiding In Plain Sight, Hanzo & Quan Chi do not understand human culture of anatomy, Kuai Liang: I’m Not saying it was aliens but it was aliens AU-Gust 2024 Day 15: Secretly Alien

AU-Gust 2024 Masterlist

Notes: Very vaguely inspired by Resident Alien, at least in the way Hanzo and Quan Chi interact and try to integrate into human society. Title is from Drop Dead Cynical by Amaranthe.

Humans were a fascinating species.

Hanzo had what he’d consider very love hate feelings for them. On one hand, they were a surprisingly resilient species, able to adapt to the harshest of conditions, using what little technology they had surprisingly efficiently. For example, how they’d managed to manufacture telecommunications without access to power gems or Netherrealm steel. They had managed to create cures for diseases using plants from their own planet alone. They had explored corners of Earth they had absolutely no right to be able to get to, let alone survive in.

And then on the other hand, they had a habit of doing some of the stupidest actions Hanzo had ever seen. The amount of times Hanzo had conversed with a human and they’d said something that made him want to bash his brain in was in the thousands. Sometimes they happily marched onward to their own deaths. He was honestly amazed they’d managed to make it this far.

It made his task all the more difficult to be honest. Lord Shinnok, Emperor of Netherrealm, was trying to expand his planetary reach. Earth had been on his radar for a while. Hanzo, and his commander Quan Chi, had been sent to do a recon mission, trying to gather information on how best to conquer the planet. Human resourcefulness could benefit the Empire greatly. Human stupidity could bring about its ruin.

Hanzo followed Quan Chi down the corridor of the police station. The pair of them had managed to infiltrate this law enforcement facility, using the position of power to observe and plan. Human morality was also something that confused him. It seemed all over the place, where one person killing another was bad in one context but seen as good in another. Some people committed crimes that humanity as a whole considered horrendous but barely got a slap on the wrist. Then some did things Hanzo would barely bat an eyelid at, but get thrown into prison for the rest of their lives.

He generally just went by what the majority thought in terms of things like that, at least to fit in amongst them and not rouse suspicion.

The case they were currently investigating was one of the bad killings, he supposed. Considered a murder, it was his and Quan Chi’s jobs as detectives to figure out the person who committed the act. But first, they had to figure out how the person died. And to do that, they had to visit the morgue.

As they entered, the man inside looked up at them, smiling as he greeted “good morning, detectives.”

Kuai Liang was a strange being, even for a human, but Hanzo couldn’t help but be slightly fond of him. He was constantly surrounded by death, something most humans seemed to consider unsavoury, yet he constantly seemed to be content. Hanzo did worry for his mental health however, especially given he’d walked in on the man talking to the corpses before.

“Good morning, Kuai Liang,” Hanzo returned, trying to keep neutral. He didn’t need Quan Chi making fun of him again for being soft for the little human. “What do you have for us?”

“Um. Bit of a baffling one, to be honest with you.” He waved the men over, and they shared a look before approaching the body. On the table was an elderly man, and Kuai Liang had clearly already performed a full autopsy, if the fact he was stitched back together was anything to go by. “So, as I was performing the autopsy, mostly everything looked normal for a man of his age… except…” Kuai reached behind him, bringing out two jars and placing them on the table. Both contained a human heart. “He had two hearts. Fully functioning and attached to his system if I’m not mistaken too.”

Wait. Shit. How many hearts do humans normally have? Clearly this was not the average considering Kuai Liang was flagging it as unusual.

“And that is abnormal?” Quan Chi questioned aloud, and honestly Hanzo was glad he’d said it so he didn’t have to.

Kuai looked at them much in the same way they looked at stupid humans before stating “yes? Last I checked the majority of humans only have one.”

Well, that answered that question. Also it probably explained why human life expectancy was so low, if they only had a single heart to fall back on.

“So, what exactly do you think is going on here?” Hanzo questioned, taking a closer look at the man on the table. He looked like a human, but that didn’t mean anything, given that both himself and Quan Chi currently looked human too.

“Well, either this guy is a medical marvel or he’s an alien,” Kuai causally sighed, tapping his finger against the glass of the jars. Hanzo shared a long look with Quan Chi, unsure how to react to that. If Kuai genuinely believed the man on the table was not from Earth, their entire operation could be in danger. Kuai coughed slightly, before muttering “guess that joke didn’t land then.”

“Oh,” Hanzo whispered in relief, letting out a nervous chuckle. “You were joking?”

Kuai Liang’s eyes glanced between Hanzo and Quan Chi before asking “are you two okay? I mean, you’re usually a little strange, but today you’re both acting weirder than normal.”

“Sorry, just, this case is a strange one,” Hanzo tried to excuse, although given Kuai’s reputation as being unusual for a human he had room to talk. Still, he supposed he couldn’t blame him. To a human their behaviour probably had come across as bizarre. “Have you learnt what killed him?”

“No, not exactly.” Kuai pursed his lips, looking the man over. “He had no injuries, external or internal, which led me to believe he may have been poisoned in some way, however his blood work and my other tests came up with nothing.” He turned around again, grabbing what looked like a bag of something. “However when I was performing the autopsy I felt something hard in his stomach, so I opened it up and found this.”

Kuai Liang held the bag up, and sitting inside it was a medium sized red gem. Hanzo’s eyes widened. That was a power gem. Something Earth did not have access to. It seemed more and more unlikely this man was human, but that led to question who the hell he was and what he was doing here? As far as Hanzo knew, only Quan Chi and him were on Earth.

Maybe we aren’t alone after all.

“Other than that, I was advised his ID was fake, so I tried to see if I could find any match for him. Nothing came back from blood tests, fingerprints or dental records.” Kuai sighed rather dramatically, and held the bag with the gem out to them. Quan Chi almost instantly snatched it out of his hand. “Honestly, given the whole two hearts thing, this guy should have been on the medical community's radar. He should have papers written about him, the fact we can’t find any trace of his existence is incredibly suspect.”

“Hanzo will look into it more,” Quan Chi agreed, placing the power gem in his pocket. “I’m going to see what can be found out about this gem. Thank you for your assistance, Kuai Liang.”

“No problem,” Kuai muttered watching as Quan Chi turned and left the room. Once they were alone, he looked at Hanzo with a frown, “are you sure everything is alright Detective? Ever since I showed you the two hearts it’s like you know something that I don’t, and you’re desperate to keep it a secret.”

Kuai Liang was far more perceptive than some of his other peers. Hanzo almost felt bad lying to him, but he couldn’t risk him knowing the truth.

“It’s nothing.” He wondered how much he could bait Kuai Liang by dangling little bits of info in front of him. “What if he really is an alien?”

“I won’t lie, I would love that,” Kuai cheerfully announced as he went to return the hearts to their proper place.

“You would?” Hanzo questioned with an eyebrow raised.

“I mean, the first documented case of an extraterrestrial, and I was the first person to examine him?” Kuai almost did a little happy jump as he spoke, and Hanzo couldn’t help but smile. He really was quite sweet, all things considered. “Talk about an alien autopsy.”

“What if I was an alien too?” Hanzo blurted out, absolutely regretting it. Kuai giggled though, clearly not taking him seriously. Thankfully. He decided he might as well lean into it as a joke. “Here to conquer the Earth in the name of my planet?”

“Oh, honey I am not opposed to being conquered by you,” Kuai purred, leaning to one side with a smirk on his face. Hanzo almost did a double take. He’d done some research into human mating rituals, and if he wasn’t reading Kuai’s actions wrong… he’d almost think he was initiating it with him.

“Are you…” He completely forgot what human’s called this. They had a name for it. Flinging? No. Flighting? No, but it definitely began with a f, he remembered that much.

“Flirting with you?” Kuai asked, with an eyebrow raised. Yes! That was the word he’d been searching for. Flirting. “I mean, I have been for months, but thanks for finally noticing.”

“Wait. What?” Hanzo was dumbfounded, had Kuai Liang really been trying to initiate a relationship with him for that long? How had he not noticed? The documentation he’d seen on such things made it seem like it’d be extremely obvious.

“I couldn’t tell if you hadn’t noticed or just weren’t interested.” Kuai crossed his arms and lent backwards. “Guess you’re just a little dense when it comes to stuff like this, huh?”

“I- I admittedly don’t have much experience,” Hanzo claimed. He’d had what humans would consider a wife at one point in time. Harumi had been his everything. But his method of courtship with her was far different than the methods humans used. “You are really interested in that? With me?”

“I mean, you’re a really weird guy, but to be honest so am I, so I kind of like that about you.” How funny that the thing that attracted Hanzo to Kuai Liang seemed to be the same the other way around.

“Oh.” He pursed his lips. He actually really wanted to attempt this. It would give him a lot of hands-on insight into the workings of humans. But more importantly, he actually liked Kuai Liang, and wanted to know more about him, specifically. From what he’d seen, going for a dinner together seemed an accepted first attempt at courtship between humans. “Would you like to go for dinner sometime? With me?”

Kuai smiled fondly and laughed, “I’d love to go to dinner sometime. With you.”

“Good. I’ll uh, set something up.” He wasn’t entirely sure how to do so. He needed to do research into what was appropriate. Or rather what Kuai Liang would like, he guessed. “Sorry, I should probably get back to work. Do you think you could give me a copy of his blood work and dental records?”

“Of course.” Kuai reached for a pile of papers on his desk, flicking through them and picking out certain pages before turning to hand Hanzo the paper he had left. “I think you’ll find that’s everything.”

“Thank you.” Hanzo took the papers and turned to leave. He paused at the door, looking over his shoulder to say “I’ll let you know when I’ve figured out dinner.”

“You’d better,” Kuai giggled, and Hanzo finally left the room.

He jumped when he realised Quan Chi was standing outside, a scowl on his face as if he’d been waiting for Hanzo. Whoops.

“What the hell have you been doing in there?” He hissed, holding up the bag with the power gem. “We have a problem.”

“I realise,” Hanzo muttered, before he held up the stack of papers himself. “These are the results of his blood and other tests. If I can study them, I might be able to at least figure out what planet this guy is from.”

Quan Chi stared at the papers, before huffing and putting the gem away again.

“Fine,” he spat, eyes narrowing. “But if that little human in there starts to genuinely suspect something is amiss we’re going to be in trouble.”

Hanzo clicked his tongue, knowing what Quan Chi was saying. If Kuai Liang figured out they really were aliens, then they’d have to eliminate him.

“I’ll keep a close eye on him,” Hanzo offered, deciding he’d leave out that he’d do that via his attempts at courting. Hopefully if Kuai ever realised what was really going on, Hanzo could find a way to use this courtship to save him. Kuai Liang felt worth that. “For now, we need to figure out who that corpse is, what planet he’s from and what he’s doing here.”

“Agreed.” Quan Chi’s tone sounded suspicious of something. Likely how Hanzo intended to keep an eye on Kuai Liang. Whatever. Hanzo would figure that out later. “Let’s go.”

Quan Chi stormed off down the corridor. Hanzo let out a sigh before taking a deep breath. He just needed to stay calm, and hope they could come to an answer on what was going on. He followed Quan Chi, trying to keep his mind on the case, but somehow, it kept wandering to Kuai Liang and the dinner he had to arrange.

I’ve seen him eating that sushi stuff before, maybe I can take him to a restaurant that specialises in it.

He smiled. At least he’d be getting something good out of this mission.

#mortal kombat #subscorp #sub zero #kuai liang #scorpion #hanzo hasashi #🗺️au gust 2024

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cielsosinfel · 10 months ago

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I never posted a list of my favorite books I read last year, so here's something brief (with links to posts I made about the books, if I did):

Fiction:

Bloom by Delilah S Dawson: An F/F horror romance that I would describe as "An Eroguro Yuri Yandere Visual Novel Bad End In Western Book Form." A woman coming out of a terrible break-up, and cutting her mother out of her life before uprooting to a town where she knows no one, falls head-over-heels for a beautiful and eccentric woman at the farmer's market. A downward spiral into obsessive love ensues. Short, sweet, perfect build-up, would recommend for an easy fun grotesque read. (Major CW warnings: short but graphic descriptions of past CSA and violent animal death.) Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh: a young human girl growing up on a space station of the remainder of human separatists, waging a fruitless war against the alien empire that decimated humanity years ago, suddenly has to confront the fact her entire upbringing and understanding of the universe and its politics and the foundation upholding her beliefs and ideals was a lie. There's F/F and M/M romance but they're not the focus (and tbh not very satisfying. The story is satisfying.) has one of the most artfully written explorations of the horror of incestuous grooming that I've ever seen written. Major CW: Characters facing racism, Incest and ever-present threats of sexual violence and forced pregnancy.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling: F/F SF horror fiction: a woman lies about her credentials to take on a very dangerous, but lucrative, cave diving job in order to escape her backwater mining planet has the slow realization that her employer and handler does NOT have her best interests at heart. A terrifying visceral psychological horror that spirals out of control into an emotionally and mentally abusive romantic relationship. What's better than this, two women becoming unhealthily and abusively condependent as they face the horrors of deep caves, isolation and family trauma together.

Walking Practice by Dolki Min, tl. Victoria Caudle: A South Korean self-published novel translated into English, about a carnivorous, shapeshifting alien trapped on Earth who uses dating apps to find its prey amongst the lonely citizens of a major city. A very harrowing exploration of social isiolation and ostracization of people who fall outside the majority norms, with a definite focus on disability, sexuality and transgressive gender.

The Wicked and the Willing An F/F Gothic Horror Vampire Novel by Lianyu Tan: What the title says lol. This takes place in colonial-era Singapore, where our heroine Gean Choo takes on a job as working as a live-in housekeeper for wealthy white European Verity Edevane, who she's drawn to and desires despite every single warning flag, and is introduced to Po Lam, Edevane's faithful and most trusted employee. And then Gean Choo realizes her new employer is a vampire and handsome Po Lam, who has been murdering young women for her to feed off for years, is determined to protect her. This novel does not go the way you will think it might go. There is a lot going on it that I LOVED and really recommend it. Major CW: Characters facing Racism throughout and descriptive discussion of past CSA that comes up several times.

Nonfiction & Poetry:

Wanting: Women Writing About Desire: A nonfiction anthology of short memoir pieces where women from a very diverse background and of diverse identities, write about their relationships to sex, their bodies, and the act of desiring. I really, really am glad I read this. There is some of the most thoughtful and truthful, uncensored, writing on the complicated sides of being a CSA survivor, that I've ever read, in this book. Many women also write about the intersections of sexual desire and race and culture, transgender status, non-straight sexuality, disability.

Cartographies of Desire: Male-male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600-1950 by Pflugfelder: A very comprehensive overview of the history of sexual and romantic relationships between men in Japan from the Edo Period through to the post-WW2 period, as well as government efforts to control and repress such relationships. I really appreciate this book because it heavily cites Japanese-language sources to show that the repression of homosexual relationships between men was not purely a part of Meiji-era Japan's process of "modernization" via adopting many Western moral and political concerns- control and repression of male-male sexual relationships has happened all throughout Japanese history, but for more complicated reasons than disgust and moral disapproval of men fucking.

Major CW: A lot of the text is about historical pederasty (that is, sexual relations between men over the age of 18 and boys under the age of 18) and sexual violence is a major element of what is examined.

I'm gonna add to this when I come home but I'll just post this for now since it's pretty long.

#reading log #mine poste

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discet · 2 years ago

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Amphibia - Scorched Earth AU Questions

Got a couple of these so gonna knock them out in one post

In Amphibia, scattered about as the lowest rung on the species ladder.

The premise of the AU is as follows

1. Leif does not manage to touch the box and doesn’t get the vision that sets the events of Amphibia in motion 1000 years ago.

2. Because of this the invasion of Earth goes off as normal, however Andrias is horrified by the destruction and slaughter done to humanity. With his moral compass and support of Barrel and Leif still by his side, he is confident enough to suggest an alternative to his father/the core. The Earth would be mined out as planned, BUT they would treat the humans as another resource to bring back.

3. Humanity is brought back as a new servile class (reforms by Andrias move Frogs up to a more mercantile/skilled labor class of living, on par with the toad warrior class) and have been the labor backbone of the empire ever since.

4,The trio are born into the town of Old Saint which is roughly in the same place as Wartwood is in canon. Sprig and Polly(who as descendents of Leif, are nobles in this AU) end up crashing down into on Sprig’s 13th birthday after testing out one of her inventions.

‘Scorched Earth‘ is not referring to the military strategy, the Earth itself has been scorched. It is an uninhabitable rock a dimension away. Humanity has survived but Earth did not.

House Plantar is the highest ranking frog noble family in the empire. Descended from Arch Duchess Leif Plantar. In short, the Plantars are a family of means, lords of swaths of southern agricultural land. They generally are known for being affable and their close connection to the royal family,

As for our three favorite frogs specifically,

Arch Duke Hopediah - Patron of the arts, especially the theater, Hopediash is the current head of House Plantar. Had originally passed on the title to his eldest, but after his untimely death, he took up the title once more until his grandchild Sprig can come of age. Tries to be a good lord but is a little disconnected from common life.

Sprig - Age 13 Heir apparent and good natured, if a tad spoiled. Gets into mischief with his sister around the palace and nightmare to Olivia. Has trouble sitting still for his lesson and generally has dreams of going out on adventures and leaving his responsibilities behind.

Polly - Age 8 A child of many talents, has a zeal for robotics and inventing. Close friends with her brother as their station has distanced them from kids their age. While on the surface the two seem to always bicker and fight, they are as thick as thieves.

The music box is sitting in the capital powering the empire. It was never taken to Earth. How I think it happens is that after season 1 the girls convince the Boonchuy’s to allow them to do a road trip back to Newtopia (they would be 15/16 at this point in this AU) to bring Sprig and Polly back home. When they leave they are convinced Sprig and Polly are commoner kids from the capital, so its a big surprise when they arrive only to be accused of kidnapping and then welcomed into the palace.

So I think the big turn is when Sprig sneaks the girls in to see the magic box as a kind of ‘look at this cool thing.’ and the girls touch it and just absorb the power straight out of the gems and shut down the entire civilization. Like imagine if here in modern Earth if all electricity suddenly just shut off? Cause that’s what the second half of season 2 and season 3 would explore.

#Amphibia #Scorched Earth AU #Sprig Plantar #Polly Plantar

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starmeadowsystem · 1 year ago

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Complete Monster Near Miss: Dr. Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog (Mainline series)

Yeah, i was a little surprised too, but it's a welcome one to be sure.

Qualifications

Heinousness Standard: Very Easily!

Eggman is Sonic's main adversary for a reason. He continually threatens Earth and its environment and inhabitants in an effort to establish an empire spanning the entire planet.

He starts out by trapping innocent animals and repurposing them into organic batteries, attempting to destroy Litte Planet's environment, and tricking Knuckles into siding with him while he attempts to steal the Master Emerald for a superweapon.

In Adventure, he awakens the last ancient Chaos and has him wreak havoc in Station Square, then tries to bomb the city when that doesn't work.

In Adventure 2, he awakened Shadow, who had every intention of destroying Earth at the time. He also used the ARK to destroy half of the Moon as a display of power and destroyed Prison Island in an attempt to kill Sonic and his friends. He also used Amy as a hostage and almost successfully killed Sonic using his leverage against him.

He attempts to convince Shadow that he's an android in an attempt to have him serve him in Shadow the Hedgehog.

In Unleashed, he uses Sonic's chaos energy in order to break apart the Earth's continents to unleash Dark Gaia, visibly torturing him in the process.

In Colors, he enslaves an entire alien race of Wisps to power his amusement park.

He attempts to erase all of time along with his past self using the Time Eater in Generations, which would have left all of Sonic's friends frozen forever.

In Forces, he empowers Infinite, an immensely cruel and sadistic individual, and has him act as his second in command, using him to take over the world and imprison Sonic. This make him largely responsible for all of Infinite's atrocities.

Now that the IDW comics are canon to the games, he has also:

Unleashed a horrific plague upon Earth just after separating from his amnesiac state, only subverting this when Zavok took control of said plague.

Kidnapped Omega and attempted to use him as a battery for his mech.

Created a tower by Seaside City which endangered the place with natural disasters.

Created the Eggperial city, which threatened to consume the whole world if it hadn't been stopped.

Caused Dr. Starline's descent into madness and death, despite Starline's genuine loyalty to him.

In Frontiers, he created Sage to help him take control of the Ancients' technology, despite being warned of the cataclysmic consequences. He also openly celebrated Sonic's (temporary) death.

The Heinousness Standard of Sonic the Hedgehog is very high, but he easily passes it with his metaphorical laundry list of atrocities.

Lack of Redeeming Qualities: No.

He has however subverted his standards against world destruction in Generations when he unleashed the Time Eater with his "past" self, and every last time he allied with Sonic was out of pure pragmatism as he admitted to Sage in Frontiers.

Taken Seriously: No(t always)

While he does have his fair share of comedic moments, it's worth noting that after Lost World these have become less and less frequent.

Other Qualifying Factors: Yeah

Disqualifying Factors

He still has some comedic moments under his belt, including several defeats and simple ham factor. He was at his most comedic in the Meta era, and even then he had several moments where he was handled with genuine weight to his actions.

He legitimately cares about a small handful of people, including Sage and Gerald Robotnik. He also silently mourns Sage after her death in Frontiers and works to bring her back.

He has a little insecurity which is played for sympathy in Frontiers.

#complete monster #cm near miss #starmeadowsystem #sonic the hedgehog #dr. eggman

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mrleopard25 · 2 years ago

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Doctor Who Regeneration Series Revisited: The Tenth Regeneration

youtube

Rose: “You’re not making sense.” The Ninth Doctor: “I might never make sense again. I might have two heads, or no head. Imagine me with no head – and don’t say that’s an improvement. It’s a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you’ll end up with." Rose: “Doctor!” The Ninth Doctor: “Stay away!” Rose: “Doctor, tell me what’s going on.” The Ninth Doctor: “I absorbed all the energy of the time vortex and no one’s meant to do that. Every cell in my body’s dying.” Rose: “Can’t you do something?” The Ninth Doctor: “Yeah, I’m doing it now. Time Lords have this little trick; sort of a way of cheating death.”

Story (from “Bad Wolf”, “The Parting of the Ways”, the 2005 Children In Need special, and “The Christmas Invasion”):

The Doctor, Rose, and Captain Jack are kidnapped from the TARDIS and forced to play reality game shows in the far future, where the penalty for losing is death. The Doctor breaks out and discovers that the whole network of game shows are situated in a space station, and that the network controller kidnapped him in the hopes of using him to defeat her masters, who are revealed to be the Daleks.

The Doctor is astounded that the Daleks survived the Time War, and the Emperor Dalek reveals himself. His ship was the lone survivor of a cataclysmic event (The Moment, as stated in the last entry), and fell through time to the outer reaches of Earth’s solar system. Over several hundred years the Emperor harvested humans to slowly rebuild his Dalek army and was driven mad by his isolation, deluding himself to believe he was a god.

The Daleks now intend to invade Earth, totally complacent in its mindless entertainment, and from there build the empire up to conquer the galaxy. The Doctor realizes the only way he can stop them is to build a Delta wave emitter using the transmitter of the station, but there’s not enough time to refine it. As such any Delta wave emitted would not just kill the Daleks but the population of the Earth as well.

The Doctor tricks Rose into staying in the TARDIS, and he remotely sends it back to her own time, locking the controls. Rose is furious and while back in her own time sees the words “Bad Wolf” all around her, which she had seen all through her adventures with the Doctor as if the words were following her through time. She realizes that it is a message and breaks into the TARDIS’ telepathic circuits. The TARDIS console opens and floods her mind with the energy of the time vortex.

The Daleks confront the Doctor and he admits that he can not bring himself to commit genocide (again). Just as the Daleks approach to exterminate him, the TARDIS arrives. Rose steps out, teeming with the energy of the time vortex, now omnipotent. She annihilates the Dalek fleet with a wave of her hand and resurrects Captain Jack, who had been killed earlier. But the Doctor pleads with her that not only is it wrong for her to stay like this but the energies will destroy her. She can not give up the power she now has, so the Doctor kisses her and absorbs all the energy into himself, before quickly breathing it back into the TARDIS.

After setting off into flight Rose awakens with amnesia of the events and the Doctor warns her of his impending regeneration due to the burn out caused by the energies. After a paranoid rambling he regenerates and immediately notices new teeth. Inspecting himself he notices all the changes in the regeneration and wants Rose’s opinion.

She denies that he could be the Doctor, instead suspecting a plot of some kind. He tries to convince her he’s the same man but she’s still suspicious. He asks her if she wants to leave and she’s undecided. The Doctor sets the TARDIS controls back to her home at Christmas time but then succumbs to the effects of post-regeneration trauma, lapsing into a manic craze.

The TARDIS crashes onto the street and the Doctor wishes Rose’s mom Jackie and Mickey a Merry Christmas before collapsing into a coma. While recuperating the Doctor becomes a target for robots dressed in Santa costumes. Meanwhile the invading force of the Sycorax has arrived, and Rose finds she may be Earth’s only hope.

Production:

As stated in the seventh regeneration article the viewing figures for the 1996 Doctor Who tv movie were very high in the UK. While the audio dramas and novels were in full swing it was also apparent the audience for the program never really left. Producer Mel Young approached the then-current BBC One Controller Peter Salmon about relaunching the series and through them writer and Doctor Who enthusiast Russell T Davies was brought on board for contributions. However this fell through and Davies went on to work on a little unknown series called “Queer as Folk”.

By 2003 Davies had attracted enough attention as a writer to be brought back to the new Doctor Who project. By this point the new BBC One Controller Lorraine Heggessey had completely cleared up any rights issues – as remember with the television movie, Universal, Fox, and BBC Worldwide had all been on the production. But by now BBC television had the authority to pursue a series with no difficulty, opting to produce it with BBC Wales and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (the CBC).

Davies was to be not only the head writer but the executive producer as well. Also producing were Phil Collinson and BBC Wales Head of Drama Julie Gardner. Those principal three would be the main creative driving force behind the new series. Casting calls were held for who would play the Doctor and the team settled with Christopher Eccleston, a man who had never been a fan of the series in the past. In fact Eccleston would criticize the old series for its “wobbly sets”, although admitted he found the concept of regeneration fascinating.

No one was sure if the series would even take off, so they settled on making one season before committing any further. However when ratings pulled in 10.5 million viewers for the first episode “Rose” a second season was commissioned, and everyone signed up.

Except Chris Eccleston. He wasn’t too keen on the atmosphere of the set and had fears of being typecast, so he wished to go after the first season. It was originally intended to be a surprise to the audience, since they were announced for another season, but the BBC accidentally released this information early against Eccleston’s contract. Everyone was a little incensed and to this day Eccleston isn’t happy with how the BBC handled his departure. Nevertheless Eccleston still to this day is proud of his time in the role and adores the fans of the series.

Casted to replace him was 30 year old Doctor Who fan David Tennant. Tennant had already done roles in many of the radio dramas and was thrilled at the opportunity to play his childhood hero.

You may have noticed the citing of many episodes for the story. That’s because even though the new series format was to have standalone episodes, unlike the multi-episode story arcs of the past, Davies enjoys having plot points work their way through an entire season. In this case Davies had written in references to the “Bad Wolf” in almost every episode, some of which barely noticeable. The Children In Need special listed above was a seven minute charity piece that was a short dialogue scene as the Doctor feels his new body out before going manic.

As for the regeneration scene, a straight video morph effect with lights and energy were used. Relatively simple but flashy enough to inspire those who had never seen a regeneration before. And by setting it up with dialogue beforehand, the hope was that audiences wouldn’t feel alienated.

Analysis:

First off, I love Eccleston’s portrayal of the Doctor. He’s a quirky guy totally unlike anyone else he’s every played in the past. But he also shows a pain and a rage beneath that humour. And as much as I loved Tennant’s performance I really do wish Eccleston would have hung around for one more season.

Nevertheless I was still pretty psyched at seeing a new regeneration. After the effects of the last series, which were inconsistent, I was eager to see how much better this one would be. The budget was significantly better and we as an audience were far more emotionally invested in the event.

Okay so in regards to this “Bad Wolf” entity Rose becomes, it’s an interesting plot device and it would have seemed like a cop-out, if not for the how we’ve been seeing its effects through almost the whole season. So I’m okay with it. One might be wondering why Rose didn’t die from absorbing it while the Doctor did. To this I say that it makes sense that while the Doctor was imbued with its energies he reversed any damage to Rose before putting the energy back into the heart of the TARDIS. One wonders about those continents the Daleks fried before they were stopped. Rose brought Captain Jack back, what about all those people? Who knows.

Back to the heart of the TARDIS, this was a concept that has been around a long time. The first reference goes back to the First Doctor in a 1964 story arc that has been retroactively titled “The Edge of Destruction.” The TARDIS is being plunged back to Event One and will be destroyed. However the Doctor and his companions don’t realize this so the TARDIS tries to warn them. From that point on in the series it is explicitly understood that the TARDIS has a degree of sentience.

We even saw the TARDIS use these energies to revive Grace and Chang Lee in the TV movie, based on sentimentality. And then in “Boom Town” when Blaine is trying to commandeer the TARDIS by holding Rose hostage she is exposed to the heart which rejuvenates her until she is an egg, giving her a second chance at life. So undoubtedly when Rose and the TARDIS communicated, it gave her the power it needed to resolve the situation because of compassion for the Doctor.

For most of the Tenth Doctor’s first story “The Christmas Invasion,” the Doctor is near comatose, expressing the regeneration had gone wrong. So no Zero Room this time? I’m actually of the opinion that it’s another example of the post-regeneration trauma manifesting itself as paranoia. I honestly enjoyed how it was the smell of herbal tea that healed his stressed synapses and allowed him to recover. I also enjoyed the scene in which the Sycorax suddenly seem to be speaking English as soon as it’s apparent the Doctor has recuperated. From that point on Tennant owns the episode, silencing those who doubted if he had the character to pull off the role.

No too much to say on this one, other than I really enjoyed Doctor Who coming back and the regeneration was very well done. And with David Tennant taking over the reins, the series would see even greater ratings and an entirely new audience.

And Another Thing...

I really wish they’d go somewhere else besides Earth. They’ve got the whole universe to explore!

The Tenth Doctor: “Now then, what do I look like? No no no no no no no no no – don’t tell me. Let’s see. Two legs, two arms, two hands, slight weakness in the dorsal tendon. Hair! I’m not bald! Ooooh, big hair. Sideburns, I’ve got sideburns! Or really bad skin. Little bit thinner, that’s weird, give me time and I’ll get used to it. I have got a mole. I can feel it. Between the shoulder blades is a mole. That’s all right. Love the mole. Go ahead, tell me, what do you think?” Rose: “Who are you?” The Tenth Doctor: “I’m the Doctor!”

#doctor who #christopher eccleston #david tennant #Regeneration #review #TARDIS #the christmas invasion #the parting of the ways #bad wolf

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synastry-rp · 1 year ago

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SOCIETY & TECHNOLOGY

Though each location in Synastry has subtle variations in culture and the technology making the environment livable, there are some basic assumptions that are constant across all Houses & Stations. GENDER ROLES, SOCIETAL EXPECTATIONS, & ORIENTATION There are no longer defined expectations for gender roles or societal persecution for an individual's orientation or gender expression. For the purposes of gameplay, this means that dynamics like the patriarchy, toxic masculinity, and homophobia do not exist and have been replaced by the considerations below. A character may still experience doubts while they explore their own orientation, but they will not experience persecution on these axes. Bioengineering has advanced to a degree where family structures can take genetic material from two or more parents of any gender. PREJUDICES Various prejudices that may express themselves are aspects of economic class, origin, planetary history, education, or political alignment between the empire and its rebels. We remind writers of our commitment to respecting the stories of the marginalized, so please review the materials articulated in our boundaries page if you wish to explore this kind of content. LANGUAGE All of the original languages of the Solar System still exist and are spoken in pockets; however, translation technology is increasingly common and available in a cochlear clip. Universal Empire is the official spoken language of all Empire locations, but there is cultural interest in preserving language as a way to honor the origin myths of the first house. FACTIONS Like many of us today, most citizens are loyal to the Empire, even if they harbor some disdain for the political machine. The fact of the matter is that the closer you are to the oligarchy, the more benefits you tend to receive — pilots, magicians, and military folks are usually well-looked after, with the result being that ordinary folks are often left to sort through the scraps. The Retrograde movement is a direct result of these imbalances, and characters who select Retrograde in their allegiance should be actively rebelling against the government in some way. Others have chosen a different path — joining criminal groups who skirt the law but who are more interested in near-term survival than political reform.

TIMEKEEPING Time passes differently in all Synastry locations according to the planet's gravity, orbit, and rotational speed, but the Empire marks time in Universal Empire Time, which represents Earth-GMT.

CURRENCY The universal currency of the realm is the Obolos, a reference to the myth of providing coins for the boatman upon one's death. Hard cash is a thing of the past; exchanges are made in electronic credits.

TRAVEL All House locations have high speed travel connecting terrestrial stations, making getting across the planet a matter of a few minutes or a handful of hours. Travel across the empire is accomplished by using either magically-empowered exo to move from place to place or to accompany a magician through the drift. Travel through subspace is a way to fold the universe in on itself; crossing the solar system can happen in just a few hours. Interplanetary travel would not be possible without the power of fuel derived from a substance called TRANSIT, which seems to be a new magical element introduced since the solar system's restart.

COMMUNICATION & TECH All locations are connected via a communication network working as an interplanetary internet. This infrastructure is fundamentally supported by the Empire, leaving some rebels to work on developing alternate modes of communication — a kind of outer rim pirate radio. Access to the internet can include alternate reality spaces. Most Empire locations also have some level of machine or robotic support.

BIOTECH Animus units represent the peak of bio-engineering at the moment, but other medical interventions have been developed to improve and extend human life. Each house has improved access to family planning, including technology which allows for parents of multiple gender expressions to have children. Bionics can be used to offset physical disabilities, but can be expensive, leading to a separation in the market and the proliferation of some black market devices.

DRUGS Various substances, including ordinary marijuana and alcohol, are still available in Empire locations — along with illegal drugs sold by criminal organizations. However, the most notable drug in the entire sol system is the use of TRANSIT, which can confer higher degrees of mental acuity, including temporary clairvoyant or other psychic benefits, to its users. This magical substance is addictive and can result in psychological decline. Distribution of Transit for these purposes outside of official sanctioned use is illegal in the Empire, since it is difficult to find and necessary to power interplanetary travel in most ships.

#synastry rp #jcink premium #sci fi rp #site buzz #lore preview

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mrseeker · 1 year ago

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Seekers journal

Journal Entry 1: The Fall

Date: Unknown

Dear Journal,

My name is Seeker, once a celestial being entrusted to protect and guide humanity. However, I have now become a fallen angel, cast out from the heavens. The reasons behind my fall haunt my thoughts day and night. It all began with my insatiable curiosity and unyielding desire for knowledge. Seeking wisdom beyond my divine station, I delved into forbidden realms and unraveled secrets better left concealed.

As the tendrils of darkness gripped my being, I felt a gradual, irresistible pull away from the light. The allure of forbidden knowledge consumed me, blinding me to the consequences of my actions. And so, I embraced my newfound liberation, shunning the celestial bureaucracy that sought to suffocate my thirst for understanding.

My banishment from the heavens was swift and severe, and as I descended through the ethereal mists, my wings, once shimmering with divine radiance, were tainted with shadows. Falling from the heavens, I landed upon this Earth, now stripped of my celestial duties and plagued by a profound sense of loss.

Journal Entry 2: Experiences in the Mortal Realm

Date: Unknown

Dear Journal,

Since my fall, I have traversed this mortal realm, exploring the depths and heights of human existence. I have watched empires rise and crumble, witnessed the euphoria of birth and the despair of death. As an eternal being burdened with mortality, I gained a depth of understanding I could never have comprehended before.

The human experience is teeming with contradictions — both immense suffering and indescribable joys. I have marvelled at their resilience, in spite of their inherent flaws. Mortals possess a unique capacity for love and a fervent pursuit of happiness. These experiences have ignited a glimmer of hope within my fallen heart, a flicker of redemption I never deemed possible.

Journal Entry 3: Embracing the Unlikely

Date: Unknown

Dear Journal,

Today, I find myself in the company of Sue Kingdom, an unlikely savior adorned in the form of a male penguin. Sue, a once-lonely creature with a heart as vast as the sea, took me in without hesitation. Despite our physical differences, a kinship formed, bound by our shared sense of being outcasts seeking solace in each other's company.

Sue's loyalty to his newfound family is unwavering, and he introduced me to the world of the Kingdom, a sanctuary for those shunned by society. Here, I am seen as more than just a fallen angel; I am valued for the person I have become amidst my trials. Together, Sue and I stand against a common foe, the Chicken Army, a force that seeks chaos and domination.

Journal Entry 4: The Third Strongest Army

Date: Unknown

Dear Journal,

Today marks a significant turning point in my journey. I have joined the OMS, the Kingdom's third strongest army, seeking to protect my newfound family and rid the world of the Chicken Army's tyranny. Led by who cares, whose tactical brilliance is renowned across the mortal realms, the OMS stands as a beacon of hope amidst the encroaching darkness.

Within the ranks of the OMS, I am no longer a fallen angel but merely a comrade, united by a common purpose. Here, my skills are honed, and my former celestial powers are transformed into a formidable force to be reckoned with. The strength I once wielded as a guardian of the heavens has found new purpose on this terrestrial battleground oms was formed by our leader awesome cat I was the first member.

Journal Entry 5: A Glimpse of Redemption

Date: Unknown

Dear Journal,

Today, as I fought alongside my comrades in the OMS, there was a fleeting moment where I felt a semblance of my former self. Embracing the chaos and danger of battle, I tapped into the righteous fury that once fueled my divine powers. For a brief moment, the light within me shone brightly, instilling hope in the hearts of those fighting alongside me.

But as quickly as it came, the flicker of my former glory vanished, leaving me yearning for more. Though I am still a fallen angel, I have started to question whether redemption and forgiveness can truly be attained.

Journal Entry 6: The Suffering of Mortals

Date: Unknown

Dear Journal,

The more time I spend in the mortal realm, the more I bear witness to the immense suffering that plagues humanity. The weight of their pain and struggles is oppressive, often leaving me feeling helpless in the face of such adversity.

Yet, amidst their suffering, I see the indomitable spirit of mortals. They persist, they fight, and they find solace in one another. It is through these valiant acts that I am reminded of the innate goodness that exists within humanity.

Journal Entry 7: A Glimmer of Hope

Date: Unknown

Dear Journal,

Today, we were able to rescue a village from the clutches of the Chicken Army. The joy and gratitude that radiated from the villagers touched my fallen heart. In that moment, I realized that even as a fallen angel, I can still make a difference in this world.

Perhaps my fall from grace was not an act of punishment but rather an opportunity for growth and redemption. In the depths of my despair, a glimmer of hope has emerged, and with it, a renewed determination to fight for what is right.

Journal Entry 8: Struggles Within

Date: Unknown

Dear Journal,

As the days pass, I find myself grappling with an internal struggle. A part of me yearns to be embraced by the heavens once more, to regain the sense of purpose and belonging I once possessed. But another part of me recognizes the beauty and value in the mortal realm, where my experiences have granted me a level of understanding that I could never attain as a celestial being.

I am torn between these two worlds, unsure of where I truly belong. For now, I will continue to walk the path laid before me, trusting that clarity will come in time.

Journal Entry 9: Betrayal and Heartbreak

Date: Unknown

Dear Journal,

Today, a comrade I held dear revealed their allegiance to the Chicken Army. The shock and betrayal cut deep, leaving me questioning the true intentions of those around me. It is a painful reminder that even in the pursuit of righteous causes, darkness can still seep through the cracks.

This betrayal has awakened a dormant anger within me, directing my focus towards eradicating the darkness that plagues this world. I will not allow the actions of one to overshadow the resilience and goodness that still exists within humanity.

Journal Entry 9: losing a brother

Date: Unknown

Dear Journal,

We lost a friend someone close to me forever let necron be missed

End of journals

#oms #loft smp #minecraft #canon #minecraft smp #thatguyseeker

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