#I like big crystals and I cannot lie

[tanadrin]

Imagine one day a new social trend starts spreading. It’s something unbelievably dumb. Not harmful per de, but truly silly to believe. Let’s say, I dunno, healing crystals start going mainstream. Everybody’s talking about their crystals. It becomes impolite to criticize people who believe in healing crystals. They become a big part of people’s personalities, and people on TV start talking about them, and one day years down the line politicians are debating funding for crystal-based medicine. And through it all you are sitting there going, what the fuck is happening. I thought we were all on the same page on this. You want to get along and be friendly and open minded but you cannot pretend to believe in healing crystals, this is nonsense, and when the topic comes up you refuse to lie about it. This eventually starts to have social consequences—they’re that popular!—but what can you do? You cannot pretend a lump of quartz can cure the flu or whatever. It’s just all so unbearably embarrassing.

I think what the centrist/liberal/center-left reactionary turn driven by culture war stuff feels like. And I think the key emotion is probably cringe. Not hate, not fear, though those emotions may reinforce the turn. I think in a lot of cases people who imagine themselves pretty open minded and flexible have as part of their worldview something they thought was bedrock social consensus—on the level of “healing crystals are silly woo”—so bedrock maybe that it didn’t even need to be a conceptual boundary they actually policed in their minds.

For instance, when she started her anti-trans turn, JK Rowling made a big show of not being really anti trans, just arguing that Some People Had Gone Too Far. She wasn’t a frothing religious reactionary, after all. And I believe that’s probably true! I think Rowling probably did have a mental model of sex and gender with a little bit of give in it—of the “we can humor the odd weirdo” type. But as the discussion of trans rights in the UK got more serious over her lifetime, trans people went from “the odd weirdo” to “a recognized minority,” and eventually this ran against a bedrock belief that on some level men are men and women are women and never the twain shall meet. To act otherwise was just too embarrassing. And she wasn’t going to embarrass herself in the name of political correctness.

Other people whose brains have been eaten by the anti-woke mind virus (as @eightyonekilograms calls it) have something going of the contrarian in them, who enjoys yelling “up yours, woke moralists!” or w/e. Im thinking of ppl like Glenn Greenwald here, or Dave Chapelle, people who seem not to feel alive except when people are mad at them. That’s a separate but interesting dynamic. And there are people like Graham Linehan who become totally unhinged through this process of auto-radicalization, moths drawn ever closer to a particular source of validation within their chosen reactionary subcommunity, until they are truly parodies of themselves. That is also an important dynamic, but it’s one that only takes hold after the initial turn has begun.

I think the role of that feeling of cringe, that refusal to entertain an idea because it is too embarrassing (even if it does actually have a decent body of research behind it, unlike crystals) is important to think about, because I am interested in how to get people over it. I know that feeling has affected my own thinking over my lifetime. I wasn’t raised particularly conservative, but I had to learn not to cringe at a lot of feminist thought before I could appreciate it and learn from it. I explicitly didn’t have that cringe when it came to gay people for whatever reason, so it never entered my mind that it might be a problem. I remember being surprised to learn when I was very young that some boys wanted to marry other boys, but my response was “huh. Go figure.” Because for whatever reason I had not picked up that this was something I was supposed to be grossed out by. A general doctrine of empathy, of trying to understand people on their own terms, can help forestall some of this stuff, but it’s not foolproof in either direction—I don’t want to believe crystals have healing powers if it becomes socially popular to do so, just because it is socially popular to do so! And if they do, I don’t want to not believe they do just because it is socially unpopular!

(Obviously the crystals thing is not a one to one metaphor for the trans thing, so don’t read too much into that. Maybe astrology would have been a better analogy. Also I’m not talking just about people whose reactionary turn is predicated on trans issues—I think this dynamic applies to everything from gay rights to the Tridentine Mass. But trans issues are a handy example bc, as the adage goes, somebody posts once about trans people and they never post anything normal again. I think the classic rapid-onset trans derangement syndrome is closely tied to the fact that gender norms are a really deep element of many people’s social-consensus-based worldview, and so challenged to that worldview are felt as really cringe.)

I’m curious if other people who grew more liberal in their thinking over time had a similar experience of having to overcome what was basically a feeling of embarrassment at certain ideas.

[llannasvsp]

Dragons Rising Season 2, Episode 1: The Blood Moon

RAS AT SHADOW DOJOOOOOO

Not Ras bashing the Imperians.

I love that his intentions with the Source Dragon power are taken care of at the beginning of the season.

New intro!

Ninjago TikTok is so funny to me.

Love that the Mechanic didn't learn his lesson from Crystalized.

YES GIVE ARIN ALL THE HEARTS

In this house, we are Intelligent George haters.

RIYU IS SO BIG.

Arin angst hurts sooo bad.

MENTAL HEALTH MENTIONED RAAAGHH LETS GOOOO.

I am the no. 1 Mr. Frohicky lover and defender.

Lloyd manages to make me cry 7 minutes into the episode.

The fact that Lloyd feels like he needs to lie about his lack of sleep just hurts me. Put yourself first, once, please.

ZANE AND KAI PLAYING VIDEO GAMES!!! I love.

Zombie Lloyd.

LLOYD PLEASE STOP LYING.

First blood moon vision. I'm trying to understand it, but much like Lloyd, I cannot. Firstly, Beatrix is definitely still alive. Thirdly, we only see Zane, Arin, and Sora in this vision. Interesting.

Lloyd waking up and immediately going into an attack is just... shattering. Poor guy.

"Uncle". Glad to see the show is addressing that again.

Arin and Lloyd are the trauma besties.

Spirit Wu! I guarantee he's dead.

CINDER FIRST APPEARANCE RAAAGHHH (all I could think of was how @nyaskitten might've reacted to this HAH).

Arin and his pies is so cute.

I kind of love Kreel.

ARIN'S LITTLE SMILE AAAH HE'S SO CUTE.

Soraaaa hiding things like this never ends up well. Please tell someone. It doesn't have to Lloyd. Just. Tell. Someone.

I'm gonna be so honest, I thought Skylor would be in this episode once Riyu ran to that noodle cart. Don't know why I got my hopes up.

Poor Arin :( I want to give him a hug SO badly.

Oh, Arin, your parents would be proud of you no matter what.

OKAY SAMMM that anxious gasping for air was SO good.

CINDERS VOICE??!??!?!??!?!?

Man, Cinder hates kids.

There goes Arin's spine.

Obsessed with how Lloyd enters the fight.

Sam Vincent is doing SO good with portraying anxiety. Lloyd sounds horrified at the reality of his visions.

GONNNNG

Very solid first episode. We get right into the action and it sets up Lloyd's visions and sleep deprivation really well. We learn just enough about Ras' intentions to keep us engaged, but not enough that we know exactly what he wants. I adore that Ninjago is addressing mental health not only with Lloyd but also with Arin. I also love that we see Arin and Sora longing for what the other has.

I still don't want Arin to get elemental powers, but instead realize that he is valuable, loved, and vital to the ninja. I want him to learn that he is not "broken" or "a burden" just because he doesn't have an elemental power. Arin is so important to me.

On to the next episode!

[bowieandqueen11]

Dating Frenchie Would Include...

Request: Hi, May I please request some headcanons of what dating Frenchie (Our Flag Means Death) would include, please? Thank you so much!! 🖤

Of course my darling, here you go!!

Warning: a little strong language! Also I wrote this at 3 a.m. so it may be unintelligible 🏳️‍🌈

(I do not own OFMD or any of its characters, all rights go to creators. Gif credit goes to @crucifiix.)

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°

Lmao love a bit of fanfiction about Frenchie big fan

You are 100% the only other crew member, or the only other anybody in fact, that Frenchie allows into his room. Far too many times have you been caught sitting side saddled over Frenchie’s lap by Wee John Feeney, stroking the bottom of his beard and giggling as the two of you bump foreheads and continue talking shit about the newly crowned ‘Dizzy Izzy’ (during a rough patch in the storm that had raged earlier that night, he had accidentally tumbled after a large pitch into Lucius’ lap, and by golly was he not letting anyone forget about it.) Wee John just sighs, walking straight back out and letting the door slam shut; the last thing you can hear as you try to stifle your laugh against the side of Frenchie’s neck is him calling you ‘the weirdest eejits’ he’s ever met. Neither of you are really paying attention though: your lips managed to accidentally rub against the tip of Frenchie’s collar bone, one of his more ticklish points, and the man was too busy apologising and trying to give you a hand up after accidentally flinging you to the floor.

After a lot of coaxing, a lot of fake pouting, and a lot of pecking forehead kisses to try and convince him round to the idea, he does eventually get used to the idea of you sleeping over as well! I feel like Frenchie is definitely a ‘leg over you like a mossy log that’s been stuck in a marshy bog for hundreds of years and hasn’t moved an inch in that entire time’ kind of sleeper. Like, the man is so tall that on your single shared bed you’re lying properly on it as the bottom layer, and then Frenchie is playing a game of Tetris with his limbs over you during the night. Usually it ends up with his head dipped down and tucked up all neat and cosy against the side of your cheek, his snores resonating loudly enough through the walls of the ship that they could have invented the foghorn right there and then, and his left leg splayed completely over your midriff.

If you get too uncomfortable and give him a shove he will eventually roll over and curl up like an armadillo so you can spoon him though. That is, if one of you hasn’t managed to shove the other out of the bed first - it’s a common occurrence for Wee John to wake Frenchie up from where he’s half lying under the bed, but even though he’s got aching shoulders from spending half the night rolling about the wood he’s still all smiles and doe eyes at you when he sees you’re awake too. Like a Jack in the box, he pops up over the side of the bed with a smile bright enough to make even the crystal dawn of the sea pale by comparison, and presses a kiss against the tip of your nose before skipping off. He’s so sweet your honour I actually cannot with this man.

Sometimes he likes to talk before the two of you fall asleep. Before he’s splayed out like a starfish, the two of you lie in the cot side by side and just fiddle with each other’s fingers on the pillow. Noses close enough to rub against each other if you dared to move a hare and legs pulled up in a half-sit so they can rest familiarly against each other, Frenchie relishes and relaxes in the knowledge that there’s someone on this ship that will know his story. That there’s someone left in the world that’s even willing to hear it, to care about him, and not just what he can do for them. There’s a poignant wistfulness to the air, to his words, so much so that from time to time he can’t even meet your eye. He still always flashes you that shy, optimistic smile from time to time, but you can see the past in the wrinkles of his face every time he uncomfortably starts to recoil when you press your palm to his cheek.

Not going to lie, he may not be a visual artist to rival the mastery of Lucius, but you can bet your sandy ass that Frenchie has pinned up the walls some doodles he’s drawn of you in his spare time, with parchment that he tore out and ‘borrowed’ from Stede’s diary. When Stede collected the crew on the deck a few days later and had a ‘team meeting’ about why stealing was wrong, Frenchie gave a very convincing shrug and ‘it wasn’t me’ frown when Stede asked who had taken the paper. I mean, he was always bound to find out, and when he did stumble into Frenchie and Wee John’s room the next afternoon to borrow his lute (he was planning to write a song for Blackbeard to convince him he was more of a catch than Calico Jack don’t even ask), he only smiled fondly and shut the door when he spotted what his diary had been used for. (And secretly hoped that Ed wouldn’t find his own doodles of him in said diary lmao.)

Oooh, can you imagine how lovely it would be to stumble through Stede’s secret tunnel and to go sit out by unicorn figurehead with Frenchie?? Just the two of you, feet swinging together through the planks, the swirling pockets of silver dancing over the warm tides and the comforting buzz of Frenchie’s voice as he sings for you. With your head resting on his shoulder, you’re too busy falling into a blissful oblivion to even notice that Frenchie’s stopped picking at the strings of his lute, and has instead set it down at his side. He’s found that a much better use of his time would be staring at you, so obviously, so fondly, so sweetly: as if dewdrops hung from his lips, ready for the northern dawn that only your splendour could bring.

Getting to tie that cute little cravat around his neck before the five of you jump ship to go to that fancy dinner party. Every time you try to loop the end of it back through he chases your fingers (to try and kiss them or bite them, you’re not entirely sure), but it does make the two of you burst out into another fit of giggles.

Although he has quite a sweet disposition, Frenchie is 100% ready to throw hands for you. The whole time he’s trying to crank up Oluwande’s ‘pyramid scheme’, he has one eye on the valuables being handed over and one trained solely on you. If any of the esteemed and highly respectable guests become a little too eager, coltish, agitated, Frenchie is straight on it. Before you can even knock their wig off, he’s grabbed your wrist and pulled you either behind his back or dragged you out to the hull with the sternest expression you’ve ever seen on his face. Either way, he’ll always put himself in the firing line of harm’s way first, if it means protecting you.

The two of you spend about 70% of your time singing together on deck. Frenchie’s jamming along with his lute, and you’re animatedly singing and dancing around him, often roping in Lucius to come do full body jigs or a ridiculing minuet Frenchie’s intensifying sea shanties. Since the three of you were supposed to be finishing Izzy’s order to mop the deck, he’s sitting cross legged on the helm behind your spinning bodies, with enough steam coming out of his crimson ears to drown the sky in thunderclouds.

During crew meetings he’ll just straight up wander in late and just... come up behind you and plop his chin down on top of your head. He won’t listen to a word of what’s going on either: too busy chatting with you, or with Jim, or fiddling with the rings on your fingers, or just trying to figure out if the stain on the ceiling looks more like an orange or a fish. To be honest he didn’t even realise it was a meeting until Stede asked him if he was paying attention - he just saw you and immediately came to seek out your heat (and also your hugs).

His love language is doing and making things with his hands, so instead of doing actual work to help out on the Revenge, he tries to craft for you. He sits by the mast, cross legged, and with his tongue sticking from the corner of his mouth in the uttermost form of concentration. He’s trying to remember how his ma taught him to thread a needle, so desperate to fix up your shirt properly after Spanish Jackie nearly tore the sleeve to shreds during your first meeting at the Republic of Pirates. Of course, you’ll eventually have to free him from where he’s managed to sew his shirt to his jacket (very well, might I add). He smiles all the while, leaning down to gently kiss your knuckles every time they bump up high enough with a new thread of the string to be within his reaching distance.

He likes to steal Wee John’s old hammock - he’s a big fan of having snuggled up naps on deck while Ed and Stede have stopped off at some new island and are busy off smooching on their foliage walks. 

Or, he likes to venture out sometimes too and see someplace new with the love of his life! Usually it’s just some slightly different variation of a beach, but this just allows him ample opportunity to perform his favourite activity: scooping up wet sand and hurling at you in a mock sand-ball fight. The two of you fly across the streaking honey-gold boughs of the winding branches of the strip, Frenchie rolling his trousers up and finally catching up to you between the torn crags and cliff edges. He jumps, flying full sail through the air until he’s knocked both of you to the ground. He tries to be all romantic and pretend he hasn’t just knocked the ever loving wind out of you. He leans over you, crawling his knees up between your thighs and slowly dipping down to kiss you, before getting bashed up the face by a huge tide and falling ass over teakettle backwards in sweet revenge lmao.

[fickleminder]

I had one really big question about your (AMAZING, SHOWSTOPPING, ASTOUNDING) demons will be demons AU: is MC still the descent of Lilith? And if so, how would the brothers find out with the plot being so different and how would they react? Thank so much for all your writing, I genuinely really love this AU!!

Aahhhh thank you, I’m really glad you’re enjoying it so far! 💕

To be honest I haven’t really thought about the whole Lilith thing in this AU, mainly because I wanted to remove any bias when it came to how the demon bros viewed MC. But now that you mentioned it, the reveal is definitely gonna cause a lot of chaos!

So let’s suppose MC is still a descendent of Lilith. Suppose there’s some ancestry magic being advertised in town which MC decides to check out just for fun. They’re curious if it works like those family tree DNA tests back in the human world. The witch performing the spell hands them a little crystal ball at the end of the session, which randomly shows the different people in their bloodline like a digital photo frame.

MC takes it back to the HoL and displays it in their room, not surprised that they don’t seem to recognize any famous historical figures in their ancestry. They end up leaving the crystal ball on a shelf and more or less forgets all about it.

Until one day, Lucifer enters their room for some reason and catches a glimpse of a very familiar face—

Now remember, the first born is the only one who knows what really happened to Lilith. After learning what that crystal ball is, he calls in a personal favor from Barbatos and, with Diavolo’s permission, gets him to trace MC’s roots. What he discovers leaves him at a loss.

Does he tell his brothers? Admit that what they believed for centuries was just a lie? What if they turn on him for not revealing the truth after Lilith’s time in the mortal plane was over, when there was no longer any risk of them violating Diavolo’s terms by making contact with her?

BAD ROUTE: It’s their second chance to have Lilith in their lives again. Lucifer’s brothers may be furious about being deceived at first, but then he rallies them to focus their energy on getting her MC back. By blood, MC belongs with them, and they won’t take no for an answer. MC goes from polite caution to outright fear/rejection at their dogged possessiveness. Any trust that had been painstakingly built up during the begging for forgiveness arc instantly evaporates. Cue identity crises, “stop calling me Lilith”, and all that good ol’ post OG Lesson 16 angst. For the sake of the exchange program, Diavolo and Barbatos will eventually intervene because MC is straight up not having a good time.

BETTER ROUTE: Lucifer decides to just… keep his discovery to himself. What’s one more secret on top of a centuries-old lie, anyway? He knows what will happen, how his brothers will react to the truth, how MC will suffer— No, they’ve been hurt by his family enough. If you love someone, let them go. While it’s not a complete 180, something definitely changes in the way Lucifer interacts with MC. His softer, more brotherly approach ends up working in his favor, helping him to mend his relationship with them the fastest. In time, the rest of his brothers come to follow his lead, and the knowledge of Lilith’s blood in MC’s veins stops burning at the back of his mind. MC is MC, and that’s all that matters.

?? ROUTE: Barbatos sees all. He sees a reality where Belphie is locked up and MC makes pacts with the brothers instead of lesser demons; a reality where the brothers imprison MC in the attic and force immortality upon them; a reality where MC is not an exchange student but a devil-sitter lost in time; a reality where MC and the brothers don’t get along at first but slowly make their way towards a tentative friendship…

All these realities exist at once, and yet not at the same time. There is only one Barbatos after all, and while he cannot simply pick and choose as he pleases, he can at least nudge certain fates.

When he reports his findings to Lucifer later, he’ll have to choose his words very carefully.

[girasolen]

Month of Emmet #1: Pokemon

Emmet needs a partner pokemon. He has a plan to get one, which includes insulated rubber gardening gloves, a trip to Chargestone Cave, and a whole lot of not telling their mother. Surely nothing can go wrong.

▽△

"My brother wants to buy these," Ingo said loudly, barely tall enough to see over the counter. Emmet dumped his handfuls of quarters and dimes on the counter. They were only slightly damp from being fished out of fountains.

The pokemart employee raised an eyebrow as Emmet offered him the pair of Donphan-Skin Brand Reinforced Gardening Gloves (Insulated With Rubber!)

"You kids like gardening?" he said doubtfully, scanning the gloves as he began to count the quarters.

"Yes," Ingo lied. Emmet kicked him lightly. They weren't supposed to lie! They were already going to be in trouble if their mom found out what they were buying the gloves for. He didn't want to know what would happen if she also found out they lied.

"We love gardening," Ingo continued. Emmet scowled at him and snatched the gloves off the counter.

"You have fifty cents extra," the employee said. "You can get a lollipop if you want."

Emmet bought himself a sour Cherri lollipop. Ingo complained the whole way across the parking lot.

"I helped you get all those quarters! Half of that lollipop belongs to me."

"Nope," Emmet said, and stuck the entire thing in his mouth. Ingo stuck out his tongue in disgust.

Technically, they hadn't been told to not go in Chargestone Cave. They'd only been specifically told not to go in the abandoned house at the end of the street ever again, or else. Neither of them planned on returning now that Ingo had his Litwick from there. But their mother had never sat them down and said you cannot go in Chargestone Cave ever, even one time, or else, so this was probably fine as long as she didn't find out.

She had said not to go into any dangerous places, but Emmet was being very safe. Even if he had to haul the garbage bag of safety equipment all by himself, because Ingo wouldn't help him.

"They had a different brand of lollipops for twenty-five cents each! You could have got us each one of those!"

"I hate that brand," Emmet retorted. He slurped on his lollipop loudly and grinned when Ingo huffed. "Mmm. Yup. This is delicious."

Ingo grumbled under his breath as he followed Emmet into the cave.

"We will review the plan so we know what tracks to take," Emmet declared, dragging the bag over his shoulder. "I will wear insulated armor to defend myself against electric attacks. You will keep watch for dangerous pokemon. When you see a Joltik, I will grab it, and then I will have a partner pokemon and you won't be able to brag about having a pokemon while I don't anymore."

"And what if they swarm you?" Ingo asked, which he had been asking repeatedly for the three days since Emmet had shared his plan with him.

"They will not do that."

Emmet was so distracted by hauling the bag that he barely noticed they'd made it into the main cavern until Ingo gasped.

"Ingo? Do you see a Joltik?" He turned around and the bag clattered to the ground as he stared up into the glittering, floating crystals of Chargestone Cave. "Oh."

The air was thick with static. Energy buzzed beneath their rubber boots and made their hair stand up. The twins circled each other slowly, drinking in the sight. A thousand mirror images of themselves reflected in the crystals. The walls glistened with shimmering rock. Emmet was so entranced that he stumbled back into Ingo, sending them both crashing to the floor in a heap.

Instantly, the background hum of the cave sharpened. Glowing eyes peered from dark corners. Emmet grabbed for Ingo's hand and held on as tight as possible, terror metallic in his mouth, whispering frantic apologies until his big brother pulled him into a tight hug. Emmet could hear both of their hearts pounding.

"It's okay, it's okay. We will get you your Joltik and then we never have to come back here ever again, okay?" He gave Emmet a little smile, even though his pupils were wide with fear.

Emmet squared his shoulders and put on his bravest face. His voice only shook a little. "Okay. Help me put on my armor."

The garbage bag was emptied out. Emmet put on a rubber raincoat as Ingo began to duct-tape rubber hoses (the only rubber items they could find in the basement) around his arms and legs to insulate them. They'd tried it at home, and found that he couldn't run very fast because he looked like a marshmallow man. Since he was only hunting Joltiks, this hadn't seemed that bad.

Emmet was having second thoughts now that the eyes in the corners were watching him hungrily. Still, he put the gardening gloves on- they were a little too big- and stood there in the centre of the cave with a pokeball clutched in one hand and his lollipop in the other.

"I challenge you!" he shouted at the glowing eyes.

"Bravo!" Ingo called, and Emmet felt a warm rush of pride. He pointed at the eyes again, buoyed up by his big brother's encouragement. "I am Emmet and I want to catch a partner. So come out and battle me!"

The eyes disappeared.

Emmet's pointing finger slowly lowered to the ground in disappointment.

"That was very rude of them," Ingo said. Emmet huffed and stomped his feet in frustration, which was all he could do when he had rubber hoses taped to him. They made it verrry hard to move. He looked down at his pointing hand and noticed that he was missing his lollipop.

"Ew! Ingo, you stole my lollipop! I had that in my mouth!" Emmet exclaimed.

"I did not!" Ingo shouted. "I don't even like sour Cherri flavour!"

"Did too! Unless you expect me to believe that the Joltik stole it?" Emmet rolled his eyes. "They are too slow. You owe me a lollipop now."

Ingo didn't respond for a moment as he stared at him with a horrified expression. Emmet felt like that was a little extreme. Sure, Ingo should be a little grossed out that he was eating a lollipop that had been in Emmet's mouth, but it's not like they hadn't shared ice cream before. He didn't think his mouth was that gross.

"Run!" Ingo screamed, just as a bolt of electricity zapped the ground beside Emmet.

He yelped, primal fear streaking through him, and ran, but the stupid rubber tube armor was slowing him down and he pitched forward across the ground, scraping his lip.

"Ingo!" he screamed, and his brother was already there, grabbing his pokeball off his hip and throwing it as hard as he could.

"Ember! Confuse Ray! Anything! Get it away from Emmet!" His voice cracked with fear as he hauled him off the ground. Litwick began to glow as Emmet threw his arms around Ingo and buried his face in his neck.

"What- what is it?" Emmet almost didn't want to hear the answer.

"An Eelektrik." Ingo was pale. His grip tightened around him.

They had nowhere to run. The eel pokemon undulated in front of them, eyeing Litwick as she stood between it and the twins, her fire flaring bright. The beautiful glitter of Chargestone Cave was even more brilliant when it reflected the lightning gathering on the eel's sides. With a spark, a jolt of electricity leaped for them. Emmet shut his eyes and held his hands out.

The jolt didn't make it through the rubber gardening gloves. Emmet blinked in surprise. The gloves were definitely worth the twenty-seven dollars plus tax they had cost.

The eel sparked again, eyes narrow. Emmet pressed his lips together.

"I'm sorry for not buying you a lollipop," he said quietly. Ingo spared him a bewildered glance.

"What?"

"I don't want you to be angry at me when we-" Emmet waved at the eel. "When that gets us."

"Oh, Emmet." His face twisted. "I'm not angry at you, I promise. In fact, I should be sorry. I haven't been very helpful. I should have seen the Eelektrik earlier."

Emmet leaned into his side. "It's okay." He hated fighting with Ingo. Litwick threw another Confuse Ray at the eel, distracting it, but she was starting to look tired. "Don't let go of my hand. Please."

Ingo squeezed him tighter. "I won't. I promise."

They held on and waited for whatever came next. The minutes stretched like hours.

The worst part was that Eelektrik were not even supposed to live here. He had not planned for them. Very rarely, Tynamo would appear, but Eelektrik didn't. Not only was Emmet possibly going to die, but he was going to die while wearing stupid rubber-tube armor, to a pokemon that he had not planned for, and now Ingo was paying the price for his stupid plan.

He stomped his feet again, frustrated almost to tears, and heard an irritated squeak. He lifted his foot and saw a tiny, pale white fish circling his legs, nibbling on the half-eaten lollipop stuck to his boots. Oh. He must have dropped it on the ground because the gardening gloves were too big.

Now he really felt bad for blaming Ingo.

The Eelektrik lifted its head when the Tynamo squeaked, fins flaring. Emmet thought he recognized something about the way it glared at the tiny fish. It felt a lot like the way their mom had glared at them when she'd caught them sneaking out, the kind of look that said get back here or you will be grounded until you are fifty, may the dragons have mercy on your soul. The mother Eelektrik hissed, and the Tynamo deliberately turned its back and continued wrestling with the lollipop that was almost larger than it was. The wave of relief almost knocked him off his feet.

"Ingo, it's not after us," he whispered. "It's looking for this Tynamo."

The Tynamo that had caused all this trouble seemed entirely untroubled by anything other than the logistics of consuming a piece of candy larger than its head. Emmet leaned down and grabbed the lollipop, wrinkling his nose at the fact it was now covered in dirt, and threw it across the cave. The Tynamo darted off after it, and the mother Eelektrik hissed softly and turned to follow.

Shaky and giggling with relief, Ingo returned Litwick and the twins snuck out of the cave to collapse in the grass outside.

"That was verrry stupid of us," Emmet declared. He was still shivering with adrenaline. Ingo, panting hard, nodded.

"I'm sorry we didn't get you a partner."

Emmet laughed out loud and dragged him into a hug. The sun was warm and sweet on his skin.

"I am glad we did not die!" He held Ingo close, drinking in the sensation of being alive with his twin. "Getting a partner can wait. I am done with Chargestone Cave."

Ingo relaxed into his arms and chuckled a little. "I do not think Chargestone Cave is done with you."

Emmet rolled over- Ingo grunted when Emmet ended up on top of him- and gaped at the tiny white fish in front of him. Its face was smeared with red sugar.

"You! Do you know how much trouble you could have got us in?" he exclaimed. "Our mother would have killed us if we had ended up dead!"

"That Tynamo is a troublemaker just like you," Ingo said from beneath him. "You would make a fitting team."

"I do not want any comments from you, big brother." Emmet stuck out his tongue.

"You both have sugar all over your face." Ingo poked his cheeks. "And you are both brats who don't listen to others. I think you should be partners."

Emmet rolled his eyes. Somehow, he'd held onto the pokeball the whole time, so he held it out towards the Tynamo.

"I am Emmet. This is my brother Ingo. Do you want to be my pokemon?" he asked. The Tynamo squeaked and somersaulted in the air, butting against the button. The ball shook twice before settling with a faint glow.

Emmet picked it up reverently. He was sweaty and had rubber tubing duct-taped all over him and he had been scared half to death, but he had a partner now. His plan had been perfect.

He leaped up and crowed his joy at the sky, pokeball glinting in the sunshine, just as Ingo grabbed him and spun him around, smiling just as wide.

"You did it, Emmet!"

"I did!" He held Tynamo high, and they laughed and danced together, warm with sunshine and pride.

▽△

"Did you kids have a good time..." The pokemart employee's eyebrows climbed towards his hairline. "Gardening?"

"Yes," Emmet said proudly. He licked the blood off his bruised lip and slapped down a handful of quarters for three more lollipops. The good brand, of course.

[pearlymermaidscales]

My OC Interview

Today, our special guest is Vanessa Kinderwood, a young witch from Witchy Diaries, who had kindly agreed on taking part of this interview!

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Were you named after anyone?

Yes! I was named after a good friend of Ms. Author herself who met Ms. Vanessa during their time as language students. Ms. Vanessa had come all the way from her hometown to study medicine, just like how I come to High-Rich Valley to study magic. Although Ms. Vanessa and Ms. Author are now separated, I heard that they will reunite again this winter holiday!

When was the last time you cried?

I think it was a week ago? My friends and I were having a sleepover party, and Damian introduced us to this thing called 'movies' from planet Earth. It is like, some sort of a story-telling device... similar to a crystal ball but with a big boxy screen! We were watching about a woman and a man who falls in love with each other in a ship, but then the ship crashed into an ice berg and-!! OH! No spoilers!! But, I still can't believe I was the only one who cried!

Do you have any kids?

No, I am too young to marry. But I do want to have children with Fenix - I mean! N-Not that I want to have children with him, w-wait no! I don't want to have children with him, but it doesn't mean that I hate him, I love him!!! WAIT NO!!! UUWAAAAAHH! NEXT QUESTION PLEASE!!!

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

What is that? A lie? No. I don’t lie. It would be very hypocritical of me when my ‘divinity’ is to see through people’s lies, wouldn’t it? Also, my mother hates liars...

What is the first thing you notice about people?

Their voice. Without my ‘divinity’, I cannot truly tell if people are lying or not, but I can at least tell what they are feeling. If their voice trembles, then they are scared. If their voice is loud then they are experiencing an intense emotion, whether it be anger or excitement. It's not magic at all though, I promise! I'm just good at reading people. Hehe...

What is your eye color?

It is dark brown, the same as my hair. Though sometimes, I do wish to have a lighter eye colour... like the Elves. Isn't that what everyone want? Lighter skin tone and eyes that reflects the sky? If only I was prettier, maybe Fenix would love me instead of... 'her'.

Scary movies or happy endings?

I have only watched that one romance movie with Damian and the others. It was a tragic ending for the couple so I choose happy endings! I don't want to cry in front of my friends. It was embarrassing. Oh no! Did I just spoil the ending?!

Any special talents?

If you mean by magic, then I have many talents! I can levitate objects, shoot light beams from my wand, make people fall asleep, and ride brooms! But if you mean by a special talent at birth, then it is my super strength and my 'divinity' to tell lies.

Where were you born?

I was born in Rocky Valley, planet Olympia; home to many non-magic labourers such as myself and my father, who is a native. But thanks to my Nepolion witch mother, I am supposedly lucky enough to be blessed by God as 'divinity' runs in my blood. This is how I am able to get proper education in life and stand where I am now. Otherwise, I would still be in Rocky Valley collecting gold for the rich. Our family is extremely dependant on my mother. Without her, my father and I don't know where else to go as he refuses to go back to Rocky Valley. He even called it, "a place for hellborn people" when referencing our hometown. There were no lies in his words. Only hatred.

Do you have any pets?

I did. It was a baby pet turtle, Mr. Sprinkles. Unfortunately, he passed away after a bunch of Elves threw stones at him for fun.... Next question please.

What sort of sports do you play?

I love broom riding if you consider that as a sport! Otherwise, I think it would be football. It is a sport from Earth that Damian had recently taught me. You should try it! It is very fun! And apparently, it is also extremely popular on Earth. Based on the stories I have heard about The World Cup, every person would watch it through their magical screen at home to support their favourite team until the very end. I wish Olympia would have stuff like that. Instead, we have public executions where we watch slaves being killed by three headed bulls.

How tall are you?

I am 156cm. Not so tall of a girl I am... haha.

What was your favorite subject in school?

Definitely Potion Making! Though many witches and wizards would say Hexes, I am not so much of a big fan when it comes to violence. I'd rather bake cookies, muffins, and pies with healing properties to help people in need.

What is your dream job?

My dream job is to be a baker and open up a bakery shop one day. It is a promise that my father and I made when I was 10 years old. I am not really sure if he still remembers it though. But my determination of achieving my goal is not only because of the promise, but it is because of my passion in baking too! Oh! And of course, I love muffins!

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

And that is for today with Vanessa Kinderwood! I hope you enjoyed the interview and have learned something new about her as well. Thank you for your stay and I will be seeing you again, next post.

[raayllum]

DVD commentary for:

“Was your love for my father just not a big enough motivation, then?” Ezran sneered, setting the box down. He was tired of the damn thing. “Cause I really don’t see how you love my father and betray him like that. Lie to him—steal from him!” He looked up, then, furious.

Viren blinked slowly in the dim light, and Ezran waited, glowering eyes demanding an answer.

Each time he said something like this or threw a barb Viren’s way, he expected the man to close off and ignore him. Tell him to get out. It wasn’t as though Viren had ever been particularly warm even in Ezran’s even younger youth (perhaps he had been when Callum was young, not that Ez would know) but he’d never been open, either. Most days Ezran didn’t even make Viren hold the truth crystal anymore.

Yet Viren always answered, eventually. Maybe dying and coming back to life really had done a number on him. Or living in the dungeons was just humbling in a way he’d desperately needed.

“Dark mages have a certain disposition to them,” Viren said, voice soft with recollection of his mentor perhaps. Another who’d been gone even before Ezran’s birth. “We are constantly weighing things. The sheen of a feather, the length of a bone, the heaviness of a heart, animal or otherwise. One life for another, or many. Or many lives for one. Sometimes our scales become lacking.” Viren smiled ruefully. “When Harrow told me he had chosen Lady Justice’s blindfold instead of the swords or the scales, I told him he was a fool. But I was the most foolish in the end.”

“You, a fool?” Ezran surmised. “That seems about right.”

“I weighed things incorrectly, each time,” Viren said. “It is not so easy to see the truth when it could tear apart all you hold dear. All that you’ve sacrificed. At a certain point, I had to prove that Harrow wasn’t right because I couldn’t bear to be wrong, or admit that I was too swept up in the past. I thought he had betrayed him first, so I thought I was right in betraying him. I did not see how you could move on without just ignoring it.”

Ezran picked up the box for something to do, keeping his eyes stubbornly on it as he went through the final steps. He refused to meet Viren’s quietly prying gaze. He was the king, the interrogator here. He wasn’t about to put up with whatever bullshit Viren was going to spew. The box clicked open. He didn’t want—

“Where is your brother, King Ezran?”

“He’s not here,” Ezran said roughly, snapping the box shut again. “Isn’t that enough? He’s—he’s off saving the stupid elf you imprisoned.”

It was Viren’s fault that the egg had been stolen and the assassins had come to the castle. It was the elf’s fault for slaughtering his father when he knew the egg lived. It was Viren’s fault for imprisoning the elf and setting this whole thing in motion.

If Ezran had found the elf in the castle dungeons, he might’ve bore his grief better, seeing a real person’s eyes. Rayla could’ve taken him away and Ezran never would’ve had to deal with it. Callum neither. Maybe Rayla never would’ve left.

But no. Viren and the Moonshadow elf just had to have his father’s blood on their hands, a red that Ezran couldn’t unsee no matter how hard he tried.

“No wonder you are so incensed,” Viren remarked.

Ezran got to his feet. “I am not—”

“It’s natural, Your Majesty, to feel angry. Especially when someone takes something from you. Or they break your trust.”

“Do not counsel me,” Ezran snapped, “you are not—”

“It’s hard,” Viren said, rising. His chains rattled around his wrists. “When someone makes a choice we cannot understand. To leave. When Soren left—”

“Callum is nothing like Soren!” Ezran burst, and he threw the empty box on the ground. One of the sides popped off. Viren’s eyebrows rose in alarm, but Ezran wished he looked more perturbed—scared, maybe, even—as Ezran glared at him. “He’s far too much like you, ” Ezran spat.

Then he turned on his heel and left, slamming the door behind him.

So there's a few different layers here:

Ezran has been wrestling with Callum's 'betrayal' and difference of opinion since Ch4 — the following scene in Ch10 — and having Viren at the castle exacerbates this, of course. Callum, like Viren, stole Ezran's seal, to free the elf (the problem) that Viren imprisoned (caused). This absence leaves the high mage position open, and Ezran needing Viren's help to open Kpp'Ar's box causes him to rely on Viren in ways he would've on Callum if Callum had been there. So the similarities between the two are already being heavily conflated in Ez's mind (if Viren could love and betray his father, then Callum can betray but still love him).

And in this way Viren is a very good outlet for Ezran's anger. Ezran has all the power in the situation (literally, physically, etc) and he has something Viren wants, so Viren has more inclination to be on his best behaviour / agreeable. Doesn't mean he's not snarky or frustrated, but that to me was why Viren is like being Honest about things he normally wouldn't be (+ all his character development in canon s4 and s5, particularly with Terry and reflecting on his own choices).

Viren's speech about weighing lives is also what Viren has consistently done in canon, and while it harkens back to Harrow (which is also supposed to put internal pressure on whether Ezran is being a Just king or not) it's also very evident set up for CHET in later chapters as well as the heart weighing ceremony Callum and Rayla participate in later this same chapter.

I also always like writing Viren and Ezran scenes in the fic because Ezran is a good embodiment of all of Viren's more grievous failures — this Ezran is angry and grieving largely the way Claudia (who Viren wants to save) is, he has the immense loyalty of Soren which of course stings, and Ezran is a stand in for Harrow for Viren as much as Viren is a stand in for Callum on Ezran's end of the things. They're both channeling and expressing a lot of their feelings towards other people in their dynamic with each other, but at the same time and largely with awareness that they're doing so, and it's a lot of fun to play around in.

That, and I'll never let my "Viren is Ezran's godfather" headcanon go, and he would've cared for the boys once upon a time, so him now being someone who can offer counsel / advice and it won't be terrible is also fun, even if Ezran doesn't want another high mage to tell him that he's wrong.

And while it wasn't intentional re: a comparison, thinking on it now, I think it says a lot that when Callum compares Terry to Ezran in Ch6:

Callum cursed under his breath and, patience suddenly snapping, Terry cried, “If you’re going to be so against our choices, then why give Claudia another tool, huh, by saving me? Why save me at all—” “Because you remind me of my brother!” Callum burst, chest heaving. “And we left on bad terms, and... I’ve had enough senseless violence and death to last me a lifetime. Is that a good enough answer for you?”

It's a reason for Callum to extend compassion / second chances and act very much like himself, but also very Ezran-y (the Ezran Callum loves and remembers most fiercely, but is confused about why that side of his little brother seems to be gone). Versus here, Ezran's assessment that Callum is like Viren is a reason to destroy things, leave, and express anger.

+ bonus Ezran's assessment of "fool seems about right" for Viren is a parallel to Rayla's assessment of Callum being a fool in 1x05 ("she might've called me a fool!" "yeah, fool seems about right") and a reference to Callum and Viren being The Fool in Tarot (to me).

Only time will tell where each of these bond / relationship threads go. It's not for a while now but the broyals reunion will be Interesting to say the least

[lazaruspiss]

YESSSSSS i would love to read what you've got sorted out for your Dick alters :D

*does an evil little cheerleader dance*

-redhoodinternaldialectical

Hi! I liked the Ric arc. Conceptually. Sort of. It has many problems but it stuck with me. Most of my DIDick notes are tucked away in my DMs so I'm gonna do my best to go over all that! (and according to my writing program this is over 1.6K words so. whoops?)

By the end of the Ric arc, Dick has what are essentially 3-4 different lives in his noggin. I think the crystal shit is honestly more fucked up if he /doesn't/ have DID. And I was also just enamored with Ric, and all of the "we want you to come home Dick!!" that he was dealing with. Waking up for the first time and being bombarded by people insisting that you're someone else? It works so well for a DID story. As I continued to think about/work on it, it grew far past just covering Ric/Talon/Joker. I ended up going through the major turning points in Dick’s life and sort of walking through it, and seeing who I would end up with. In the canon I'm most attached to Dick is sent to juvie for a while before ending up with Bruce. That's where I imagine their mind first starting to take shape. Robin: A baby. All those happy memories of /before/ tucked away where they can be protected. Any pronouns, too young to really be concerned with much. They're an all around bundle of joy that almost never gets to come out despite wanting to explore and make friends. It's just too dangerous, and they have to stay "pure". This is essentially how they stay, a time capsule that never ages. For simplicity's sake, I'll refer to them as "Baby Robin" instead of Robin for the rest of this. Dick/Magpie: Dick sees Magpie as his imaginary friend. Magpie sees Dick as her partner in crime. The two co-front and switch places a lot, and are generally pretty close. Dick is still exposed to the horrors of the outside world enough to not /think/ he's missing anything, but Magpie takes on what he can't.

They slowly but surely become distant as time passes. Dick completely forgets about her by the time he turns 13. For most of their life Dick is completely in the dark. It's easier like this, when there's a face recognized by the outside world that doesn't need to know the details. It's easier to lie when you don't know you're doing it. There's a period around 10-14 where everything gets /messy/ and memories get weird, particularly where the Joker is involved. Dolly: A little girl with big dreams. She thinks herself much more mature than she is, and doesn't understand what's so wrong about Humbert Humbert. "He really did love her, you know?". Joker showers her in the attention that she couldn't find anywhere else at the time. He's the only person who knows she exists even including the others inside the system. He's the first person outside the system to know that there /is/ a system in the first place. Magpie eventually gets some indication of Dolly's existence, but she doesn't act on it. Has no clue what can even be done for Dolly in this situation.

It does make moving in with the Teen Titans an easy decision. They need to be away from Bruce for a bit, need to just leave Gotham and get it together. The stress of it all still keeps picking up while they're with the Titans. It's no easy feat to manage a team while trying to balance their own mental state(s). Elle: Originally unnamed, but Baby Robin thought they should be named after Elle Woods because they're "smart and cool like her!" but the resemblance pretty much ends there. They're very no nonsense and short tempered. They don't control the body at all, instead managing things from an inside perspective. They know just about everything about everyone. Like Oracle, but for the system and all that encompasses. They can occasionally co-front and speak if need be, but prefer not to. Cannot move the body if they were to front alone.

X: Do I even need to explain. X, Apprentice, eventually Renegade, it has many names, X just stuck the best. Rose ends up calling it René though. Slade gets to call it whatever he wants. X is pretty morally neutral. Doesn't seek to do harm, but follows orders without guilt or hesitation. Doesn't talk, sometimes it just can't, sometimes it just doesn't want to. Slade has heard its voice the most out of anybody. Its mental image of itself has no face, only a warped echo of the mask that Robin once wore. Not actually as mean as it might seem, especially when Slade isn’t around for it to serve. Slade was surprised when he found out about the system, but rolls with it in a way that earns him at least a little favor with most of them.

Maggie (Magpie): She's quiet during the teen years. She can't bring herself to talk to the Titans, seeing them as Dick's friends and not hers. She's lonely. Honestly, she’s a pretty normal teenage girl.

Dolly: Went dormant when they left Gotham.

Dick still helps in Gotham for a while. Until he gets fired by Batman. It sets everything a bit sideways. Dick is sort of leading the charge for a while and is so annoying about it that a coup is briefly considered. This is around the time he falls in with Eddie and Liu, eventually losing his virginity to the latter. Maggie doesn’t handle that last part well. It does end in Dick establishing Nightwing, and most are content with that, but Maggie still occasionally ends up with the memories that Dick pushes out. It eats at her and eats at her, and she never really recovers. Maggie is stuck in a permanent state of being sixteen after this. Life goes on. Life goes wrong. Jason dies. Everything is messy again. Eventually Dolly comes back, but more as an adult this time. Doesn’t mean she’s well adjusted though. She’s selfish, reckless, and far too attached to the demon in their head. Did I mention the Joker introject? Good. Neither did any of them. It’s an open secret, a he-who-shall-not-be-named type of situation. Joker: “My pronouns are eat/my/ass.” He’s pretty much exactly how you think he’d be. He gained some influence after Dick tried to kill the original Joker, but he’s always been this ambiguous boogeyman. Doesn’t really go out of his way to fuck shit up, and mainly sticks to fucking with his Dolly.

Lola/Dolores (Dolly): Can't lie, she’s my favorite. She's got so many issues, but carries herself with a mix of playfulness and flirtation. She's a /woman/ now and isn't afraid to remind you, /Papa/. She thinks of Lulu Belle as being her “girlhood self”. It’s a lot more pleasant to cling to memories of when she and Bruce met and got along through the occasional “cross-dressing” mission than it is to think about what most of her younger years were like. She’s prone to manic episodes, and is frequently enabled by Joker. She drinks, she plays, and she gets yelled at by Elle about making sure she at least uses protection.

Dolores and Joker are effectively married (derogatory). It’s obviously really bad for Dolores. She doesn’t really distinguish between her introject husband and the original Joker, often prone to breakdowns when he sees the original with other women. She fucking hates Harley so damn much, and Punchline when that all happens. It doesn’t really come to anything, but it does mess her up emotionally. It goes on like that. The Blockbuster incident proves to be another low. They keep pulling themselves together into something functional just to be broken down again. Dolores forces her way to the front a lot. She already had a drinking problem, but it doesn’t really get better. At least that makes for a good excuse as to why Dick’s memories are so full of holes. Then Jason is back. He’s intimidating. He doesn’t know, but he can see through them more than most. They keep him at a distance when they can, because it’s terrifying feeling so exposed. And then there’s the headshot and the crystal. All previous alters are essentially locked out, and for a while it’s just Ric.

Ric: He’s angry and hurting. Why wouldn’t he be? Everyone looks at him and treats him like a man that he’s never met. They /hate/ him for not being that person. He’s reckless and guarded, but softens up around people who don’t know the stranger he’s supposed to be. He doesn’t know Slade, but he would've fallen for him easily. Also of note is that he ends up as one of those alcoholics turned health bros, in large part due to finding out that he’s a part of a system. He has a huge soft spot for animals and kids, and is pretty nice to those who deserve it. He’s not afraid to tell people when he thinks they /don’t/ deserve it though. The most date-able of them all tbh. Talon: It’s a feral animal. All its memories, thoughts, and feelings are incoherent and abstract. Joker: He’s given memories of being abused by the Graysons’ and the original Joker gets cemented in his mind as his dad. The aftermath of being groomed and controlled by the original Joker really fucks him up. He gets pretty forcibly humanized. He’s still not great, but he’s slightly better now that he’s learned about concepts like “pain” and “trauma” first hand. He’s morally improved and mad about it. He misses being evil and guiltless. Eventually the previous alters come back after the crystal is taken care of. It’s a fucking trip for Dick, because he’s finding out about all of them for the first time. From here they’d ideally stay away from the bats while they sort out/adjust to all that.

[boltslutters]

This might come off as “broad” but I guess government organizations in your world? I know I've read about a couple of them. Just the roles, how they came to be, who runs them etc

I don't keep firm holds on my governmental organizations unless they're relevant, mostly because that's a lotta politics and a lot of the characters I focus on tend to lie on the outskirts or are antagonists of the government (gee, I wonder why).

So I've mentioned these guys before but; the United Federation of Solar Systems (UFSS) is the big one.

They're run by the uber-powerful uber-sensitive Minders, a collection of like, 100 or so beings. The Federation is essentially the governing body that says "Okay, let's shake hands and stop bullying the other kids on the playground please." in that their two primary goals are:

Preventing interstellar war

Preventing exploitation of lesser advanced civilizations.

In this, they mostly monitor and restrict military buildup and contact with other civilizations, as well as set up residential areas on dead planets. One of it's big quirks is that it's actually really easy to apply for a general UFSS citizenship, and there's a big reason for that. See, at some point, individuals started to be able to make machines that were indistinguishable from real people. If these robots turned out to be fully sentient, capable of pain and scarring, then letting that aspect go unchecked could end up as slavery 2 electric boogaloo, and the Federation didn't want that under their jurisdiction. So they took the easy solution out, and made the ability to apply for a citizenship essentially the act of filling out a moderately long form and arranging for someone to take your picture. That's it. If your roomba's smart enough to apply for its own citizenship, then it's a citizen. We're not arguing over this. It's a citizen and you'll treat it like one. Like all systems, it isn't perfect, and companies keep trying to circumvent this solution so they can have Good Cheap Labor, but it's there and it's got that unique quirk where anyone, part of the Federation, made by someone in the Federation, not part of the Federation, anyone who can apply can become a citizen.

The Federation handles its second issue of preventing colonization of inhabited planets by essentially forcing all economic interactions to be some form of trade. You can't build a mine on a planet not part of the UFSS, even if the other planet's governments are fine with it, but they can and trade the profits with you. There's quite a lot of legal finagling in this aspect, such as minimum exchange rates, what counts as a UFSS entity owning part of another planet, individuals vs corporation interactions, what you can and cannot exchange, how many UFSS people can live on the planet's surface, the nightmare of tourism, etc etc.

Notably, while the Federation bans interstellar colonization, it doesn't ban war between individual Federation entities and non-Federation entities. This is because one of it's oldest members, Crystal Dragons, have been constantly fighting Titatiaraum and his numerous attempts to exterminate their entire race. War in this manner is still heavily restricted: the enemy must be able to demonstrate on some level they are both trying and capable of attacking you and you must minimize damage done to them. It doesn't go well in Titatiaraum's case, the Crystal Dragons end up overstepping their bounds and completely wiping out Titatiaraum's realm and his angels. The choice was contested for a long time, namely because they left the Paragons, the "civilians" alone, and only targeted their angels and gods, which generally play under different rules as they are divine. Eventually the Crystal Dragons would be forced to pay reparations as Titatiaraum's destruction lead to the collapse of the Paragon's home planet and would have doomed them, and eventually the Crystal Dragons left the UFSS.

Working for the Federation is not fun, it's 96% management/enforcement jobs, usually on cold dead planets, dealing with someone else's law firm as to why dumping waste in the asteroid belt of some star isn't legal because they'll mess up the weight balance in that system and cause asteroid strikes on the inhabited planet on that system. It's that kind of thing.

As for others I'll speedrun them as they aren't as detailed:

Threaders have an oligarchy of the most powerful Loomers, and they live in a castle on SS's dead body.

Mins are usually governed by Meds and maybe some Mins, but in the case of L-Mins, it's generally a lot more nebulous and sometimes pretty lawless.

Ourul congregations don't have any overarching structure, instead they have an appointed "interpreter" that dictates the rules on Malxivos's (Mal-skiv-ous) texts, but an interpreter's main job is to check on other congregations and see if they're breaking the code.

Northern Ermista towns are usually run communally by everyone in it.

Ermista Shadow Arcana roles are handed out by this bigass school/university/what-have-you with the council of their oldest members.

Amalgamate Arcana is run by an appointed few who basically manage rotations of their god (who's allow to call them and when). There's other roles and they're all appointed.

The Tank Dragons are an extension of their species's military, and mostly play under military-esc laws.

Cosmolians have a monarchy, their monarchy is also subject to a disease that makes them bleed out every orifice until they die.

Light Dragons/Shadow Dragons are actually run by their gods, which isn't actually all that common. You'd think.

OH. There was this one asshole, Altarion, who was a Spirit in a Min's body, who killed a city's Med and essentially turned it into a theocracy of worshiping him. Kinda funny actually.

The mining ships have a council/council building for their government. Pyro was kicked out of that council for repeatedly bitching about having to "sucker up to the UFSS's rules and their crooked cohorts" and mild conspiracy theories about the UFSS feeling guilty about mismanaging the whole situation.

[yellowfingcr]

"Got an offer for ya." For once there isn't a vile poison waiting for her to taste and likewise touch the edge of her blades with, but a perfume bottle. An unwary soul likely wouldn't think anything more of it beyond perhaps a faint wonder as to what aromatic might lie within it. Sam knows better, though; he knows that like a serpent Heysel can no doubt taste the glinstone ground up within the brew, and that no doubt she's noticed the distance he's keeping from the perfume bottle. "Taste this. Test it. Tell me everythin' ya see'n feel." With a cough or two, Sam clears his throat. "Next poison's on me, no charge."

Heysel, warm-skinned reptile and four-limbed shark, takes the proffered bottle, sniffs once, and does taste the glinstone. Almost literally; a wintry-sour scent, metallic then acidic, slithers through her nostrils and tickles the back of her tongue, like a whispered unripe secret. 

“You know, because I received my training young alongside other young people, one of the first things one of my teachers- bless his heart, wonderful man, had this beaked mask and a big hat- one of the first things he said was, I’d really prefer you didn’t try to ingest pulverized crystals. You will do it, but please refrain if you can. So did I ever ingest glintstone?”

The smile that curves too long on her mouth is the same of a feline about to ask to solve her riddle three.

“Not glintstone, and not ingestion per se, but in the night where the meteorite swarm passed above and starlight tossed fast across the sky as flicked marbles, oh, I was among those with gravity stone dust slathered across their neck, their eyelids, their palms. Singing, singing, low, insistent. We all knew we had to wash quick, after. Otherwise…” and the assassin lifts the bottle, looks past it to look at Sam, “...gods, there were many otherwise suggested to us, and several of them lethal. All of this to say, knowing your inventive, I'm almost sure about all of those otherwises are contained within this bottle.”

She gives it a very, very careful shake. Sets two gloved fingers on the cork.

“Have I ever told you that I appreciate your skill? You’ve a mind the sharpness of which I’ve rarely seen. You’re bold, you’re good. I like you.” And she truly does. Bright-fired man, who keeps it all behind black glass. In an academic setting he would have been one of the best. But she also cannot see him tolerate the authority of professors long, and regardless, he already is one of the best. What use is the approval of teachers then?

“I'm counting on that free poison. Do you want to see firsthand what happens, or do you wish to leave?"

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer, Issue #52: Overpowered (Part 1)

So, after the breather that was the Sonic Annual, we’re jumping straight back into the main (and currently ongoing) plot known as The Overpowered Arc. Starline may be dead, but his legacy lives on in the form of Surge and Kit, and to make things worse, Sonic (whose leg is injured), Tails and Belle are still trapped in Eggperial City, with Eggman and Metal Sonic chasing after them.

We start off with a very grim situation; everything around them is in flames, Sonic cannot run due to his injured leg and he, Tails and Belle, are confronted by Metal Sonic, who looks both badass and intimidating in this panel.

As Metal Sonic charges up, Sonic notes that it is time for them to scram. Tails quickly grabs Kit, who has finally woken up, and they just escape as there is a huge explosion behind them, destroying the remains of the shuttle.

Tails lifts everyone up, with Sonic pointing to a narrow alleyway, figuring Metal Sonic won’t be able to use his full speed there. In the alleyway, Tails is trying to figure out the right path, only for Metal Sonic to intercept them, acting like a persistent predator out for blood.

Tails is carrying Sonic, while Belle is carrying Kit, with everyone trying to escape Metal. Belle begs Metal to stop, but he doesn’t care, scraping with his claws over the wall. He was programmed to hunt them down and he will fulfill his mission. Sonic tells Tails to give him a boost, allowing him to knock down some crates with his healthy leg to slow Metal down and get away.

They get into an area which Tails recognizes, while Belle is trying to keep Kit still. Kit hits Belle, both of them falling over, and Tails tries to calm the fennec down, crying how he needs to find Surge and how she’ll be angry that he was gone for so long, while Tails has no answer for him.

SOMEONE GIVE KIT A HUG!

Sonic hears something from behind, aware they have little time left.

He turns to Kit, admitting how it is a big ask, but Metal Sonic is after them and Kit is the only one who can stop him. Kit stutters, but Sonic notes how they’re out of time and they can use Kit’s powers to make Metal Sonic regret his life choices.

Kit is at first reluctant, but accepts, shaking hands with Sonic.

Okay, before you all start celebrating how Kit has finally breaking out of Starline and Surge’s control, I have to inform you that this is not what’s happening here. Surge has Sonic’s DNA, and Kit is programmed to support Surge - if she isn’t around, his programming would direct him to the closest person who resembles Surge; that is, Sonic.

Kit then tells them how he needs some water to recharge.

Tails examines Kit’s backpack, noting how they’ll need a lot of water, when they suddenly hear a clanking sound. Cut to Belle, who used her kick ability to destroy several pipes on a tank. Gotta say, the more Belle spends time around Sonic and his friends, the more she becomes like them.

Kit happily absorbs the water, just as Metal Sonic breaks through.

It is time for round two, with Sonic cheering for Kit, who goes full beast mode on Metal Sonic, using the water to restrain him and break the crystals surrounding them. Not gonna lie, this is genuinely epic!

While this fight is going on, we briefly cut to Surge at a scrapyard, noting how this won’t stop her and trying to escape as she climbs up the junk.

She manages to reach the top, only to be almost ran over by a digger vehicle, the junk and debris falling around her as she catches a peculiar object - Starline’s glove.

Surge is stunned, noting how Starline wouldn’t just leave it behind... unless he didn’t survive his encounter with Eggman. She stares at the glove, stunned and in disbelief, figuring that she is finally free... right? She then continues how it doesn’t matter, how Starline was weak and how she will be better, throwing the glove on the conveyor belt, allowing it burn in the incinerator.

Now, I had a conversation with a friend of mine, who brought up how some people were disappointed that Surge didn’t get her big moment of defying Starline and destroying him, or at least learning more about her past, which I guess is understandable. However, during my analysis, I had realized that Surge frankly doesn’t care anymore about that. She doesn’t care who turns Starline into a chalk outline and she has shown during her fight with Sonic that she doesn’t care anymore about her past. She has made her choice, and her choice is to destroy Sonic and the rest of the world.

There’s also another thing my friend pointed out. The fact that the glove is here close to the incinerator... wouldn’t that imply that Starline’s body had been too swept on one of the conveyor belts and sent to burn in the incinerator? Honestly, I got the chills when he suggested that. Starline’s gone, and if our speculations are correct, his body has been burnt to ashes.

The only thing Surge can do now is to move forward, to get better, stronger, to be more than Starline could ever imagine. I guess this is another thing that sets Surge apart from Scourge - Scourge was defined by Sonic and wanted to prove his superiority; Surge is defined by Starline, and just wants the power to cause destruction, with Sonic being not just an obstacle in her path, but also the main obstacle in her path.

She manages to climb into a storage room, grabbing Cubot by the throat as he was searching for some duct tape.

Surge is glad that she found this room, calling herself lucky as she looks around for weapons (while Cubot tries to threaten her and fails miserably at that). She pulls out the gun Eggman used to threaten Amy in Sonic Adventure 2, noting how its cute, but not her style, only for her attention to be drawn by some kind of exoskeleton contraption.

Surge questions Cubot about the contraption, threatening to tear his voice chip to pieces if he doesn’t speak up. Cubot quickly explains that the device is the Dynamo Cage, used to harness energy, like from Wisps, whether they want it or not. However, Eggman may not have worked out all of the bugs. Surge doesn’t give a damn, putting the Dynamo Cage on.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, Belle and Kit have managed to escape Metal Sonic, getting to the outer wall. While Tails lowers Kit, Belle tells Sonic how she just wants out of this place, while Sonic notes how, as long as Eggperial City stands, Eggman will continue to attack them. He isn’t surprised when he hears an explosion in the distance, aware that it was only time until Metal Sonic caught up to them.

Metal Sonic rushes towards them, and despite being injured, Sonic puts himself between Metal and Belle in order to protect her, only for Belle herself to step between the two, shocking Metal and causing him to stop. Now that’s a badass moment!

They stare at each other for a moment, with Belle being relieved, figuring that Metal Sonic listened to her... only for Metal Sonic literally bitch-slapping his little sister. Dude, what is it with Metal Sonic slapping people? This like the third time in this comic he slapped someone (the first two times his target being Sonic).

Sonic calls him out on it, willing to fight back, only for them to hear an explosion.

Both Sonic and Metal are caught off guard by this, with Sonic grinning and telling Metal that he should better run back to “daddy dearest” and make sure that he’s fine. Metal Sonic just glares daggers at Sonic (seriously, that expression screams “Screw you!”) before rushing back. Sonic checks on Belle, with Tails flying up in panic and being told by Sonic that Metal had to return and that something’s up at the main tower.

Back at the main tower, Eggman and Orbot are investigating the explosion, only to come face-to-face with a grinning Surge, who notes how this is gonna be fun.

Links:

#Previous Issue

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#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

[foxingpeculiar]

Lies of P blogging:

I almost quit this game. I was this close. Was fighting that fucking swamp monster on and off for WEEKS. And it was especially frustrating, cos I got the first phase down. I could no-hit it with relative ease. But seemed to be making no progress on the second phase.

I don’t know what made it click. I think the things that tipped the lever were: 1) figuring out the windup slam combo—dodge to the side and punish the first two, then back straight off the head on the fury hit so the tentacles land on either side of you. 2) getting lucky avoiding the other multi smack combo, backing off and strafing just quickly enough that he maybe only got me with one hit instead of 2-4. And 3) using the flame blaster arm to roast him while he was in crab mode.

But yeah, there I was, listening to Wish You Were Here on headphones and it just… worked. I cannot tell you the joy I felt. Live for that shit.

So okay. Then somehow wound up back in the train station, made it past the scorpion-cat thing without much trouble, but the Robber Weasel took a couple of tries until I got the hang of sidestepping around them.

I dunno, nothing struck me as THAT bad through that area; found it easier to navigate than the swamp, and realizing you can destroy the disruption crystals helped a lot.

But now I’m at the Walker of Illusions. And um. This bitch fast. So we’ll deal with that, I guess.

Did take a couple of side trips. Found Belle’s soldier boyfriend guy, turned into a monster. I was conflicted, but he seemed resolved to dying, so I put him out of his misery. Which came up when talking to her later about it—the game framed it like “He became a monster” was the Truth option and “He died in combat with a puppet” was the lie, but they were technically both true—it’s just that the puppet was me. Anyway, I spared her feelings about it. I dunno, maybe I shouldn’t have taken him out? But it seemed the kinder thing to do, given his condition.

Also did the bit with the Rusty Cryptic Cypher and the Hermit’s Cave. The guy at the bottom wasn’t so bad, but that big dude on the ledge with the chest near the bottom was some hella bullshit. Got disrupted and/or knocked off like 6 times before I was like “alright, you know what? Fuck this.” Used Falcon Eyes to break the crystal from a safe distance, loaded up on fable catalysts and unloaded an art as soon as I got around the corner. Hit him with a couple heavy attacks while he’s recovering and he’s ready to stagger. Charge, visceral, bam. Done. Blitzed the fucker.

I honestly only kind of remember what’s going on in the story but that’s fine. Alchemists = bad. Get in their base so you can get to their island to fuck up their shit. That’s enough for now.

Done with school, but I have two weeks before I leave for Oregon for Christmas (and then I move 2 weeks after I get back), so let’s see how much I can plow through in that time.

[honeybeewhereartthee]

Crystal Hearts

Prequel PT3: You and me

➽──PREVIOUS───CH16───NEXT───❥

2 weeks Later

.

Your having a big problem as you look at the red crystal hearts you barely manage to get those few months you been living in the human world. It's only two at least.

It was made by doing a little cheating with a skill your cousin teach you out of the blue " hypnosis " as well being an actor like he is.

Through you only use them to gain popularity in a cringe and Clichy school romance you force yourself into to gain shoujo worthy lovey-dovey worth of crystal hearts, but no.

You suffer the consequences because you have to attend school activities to be called the popular kid. Making you mess out many magic lesson with your new found friend.

"I hate this job." You grumble as you clench the bag of noir hearts you get from the consequences of being famous. " [ Purifier] " you mumble as you watch the black crystal turn Blanc or white. You continue to do this till the bag all become bag of full of Blanc.

"I wanna drop out." You remember that you have exams this week. Making you unable to meet up with your new friend even more!

You put the Blanc to the grinder you brought with you from the world of fae and start to turn them into fine sweet powder. " Agh ... Shoujo manga is a lie. It's a bull crap. " You start really regretting what you decided to do a few months back.

You sigh the nth time as you start making sweet to calm yourself down. While you zoon out, you start to make bunch of batches of sweets to the point you snap out of it with bunch of cute bags of candies and sweets on the table.

"Oh crap!" You cannot believe you made bunch of sweets again! Aira would be mad! "Oh wait his not here..." You mumble as you take one pack and start eating.

"Hmm. I Should been studying but like ... What if I'm the stupid cutie to gain crystal Hearts? Ah. But cutie only get into pink color... Those aren't love heart. It's just crush." You start to debate about life choices after eating one pack of sweets.

"Nii-tan won't be back till late. Hmm. I'm all alone, a perfect reason to study." You mumble as you put all the sweets to your space and prepare to leave the apartment. "I should go visit my new friend~ ehehe~" and so the idea of studying went out of your brain as you leave the house.

.

.

.

You arrive in the park and saw no friend of your is there. You sigh dejected that his probably gotten bored for waiting for you for days, since you don't show up for a week or so now.

You look down at your hand and stared at the strings. You could always follow the strings and go to where he is right now. But his probably busy. Dropping off the sweets to secret hidding spot you two have, you left.

.

.

.

"oh! Sweets!" kohaku who just arrived in the park secret hide out saw packs of sweets on container can't help but smile and pick one of it and start to nom.

He look around the place but found no sign of mc. " I miss them..." He felt dejected, he can't just go to where you are either, he don't know where you live.

"I wonder what they even doing those days..." He mumble as he take a seat. " I... " He sigh when he remembers his father have push the matter again and now he only have two weeks left but he cannot catch you at all, you guys keep missing out each other when you two goes to your secret hideout.

His eyes went down to the beautiful strings.

" I'll go look for them tommorow." He smile as he takes the sweets with him to go home

.

.

.

The next few days, kohaku have went and follow the strings and he found himself in such scene.

"I love you! Pls go out with me!"

His eyes widen as he saw someone confessing to you.

"Okii!. Let's go out of the school building then AHAHAH☆ ～('▽^人)"

You giggle as you offer your hand to your school mate who is embarrassed but chuckle at your literal sense of things.

" N-no! I mean in a date..."

'... There not going to accept it right?' he gulp as he realize his intruding in some matter he shouldn't be in. Yet there's a awful feeling in the pit of his stomach, he can't bare to not witness and not know.

"'okii." You stared at the crystal heart that is close to being red. Your eyes sparkle at the thought of having another one after so long.

"R-really?!"

"Yup! I'm very straight forward person! Ahaha~ come let's go back to class first, then after school. We can go have a date!" You giggle as you grab his hand, your acting have resurface.

Holding your school mate hand, your next target. You left with glee.

' this would make three hearts! Ahaha!'

"..." the person hidding from the bushes come out, his eyes stared dead in the direction where you two went.

Drip

Drop

"Ah... " He snap out of his as he heard something dripping, he look down at his hand that is clenching too much that his nails start to wound his palm. "What... What am I feeling..." He held his chest, he felt sour feelings that choking him but can't understand it. His too new to such feelings.

"... I'll just snoop around... To understand it.." he mumble as he wipe the blood off his hand in his pants, he then trail behind you, watching you from the shadows.

..

.

.

"I'm not good in arcades. Yua." You quickly says in full honesty to your date, Yua.

"Oh! I'm not good either...? Ahaha." They also confess. The two of you are now looking at the huge marshmallow squishy on the arcade machine. "Through I'm shocked you have something your not good at. You always seems to exile in school."

"Ahaha~ you jest me. I thought I was going to fail the exam, you know!" You quickly humble out. You take out your cute coin pouch and place it to the arcade since your going to use it anyway, it's too tiring to take it out over and over again. putting some coins into the arcade machine. " Do you believe in magic? I can try use magic trick to win! " You joked as you try to move the claw toward a certain Sakura theme marshmallow. Pressing the bottom z, you watch how it don't even budge the damn thing. You repeated it till you only have few cents left.

"Okii, time to use magic!" You were about to throw a punch to the machine.

"Please don't joke around Fairy-san." Yua quickly stops you from trying to cheat to win. You pout.

"But it eat my coins! Ah! I work hard for those coins!" You have to beg, the emperor to transfer some cash, he does so after he made you do a baby shark video wearing a shark custom with a baby cloths on it. You have to swallow your embarrassment and hate for Ei for making you be watch by your friends on live cam.

You swear your were discovered for stealing his pillows from last time and his being petty about it!

"Ahaha. Your so silly sometimes, Fairy-san." Yua mumble as they take out their wallet to try the game themselves as they plan how to get the stuff toy, you look at the glass of the machine, you saw glaring purple eyes peaking from the corner of the arcade before hiding after he realize you notice him.

(Why are you following me?)

You sigh as you finally talk to him, he been following you since earlier. Again.

He don't reply at all.

( Ahaha... Shoot are you mad cause I dont meet up with you for a while? )

You tried to talk to him but he refuse to answer back. You sigh as you look at your date.

(I really shouldn't chat with you since I need to be respectful for my date. So chat with you later!)

You told him before you joined along Yua trial of trying to get the stuff toy. You two chuckle as you once again failed to get it, enough to ask for help from the workers to give a little boost.

.

.

.

"Fairy-san. That's not your real name right?" Yua and you seat in front of the convenience store and eating a popsicle, you two failed to get the stuff toy and become a loser who spend a week amount of allowance to get nothing but brokeness.

"Hmm? Why do you think so?" You smiled as you stare at them. "No one would call their child That. Well maybe some would but you never mentioned a surname either." He pointed out. " Actually... Your actually one of the seven mystery of the school... Well I think that was you, the rumours talks about."

" Oh my... Do tell! I don't know I'll be a seven mystery of something! Ahaha~ how fun!" Your Honestly quite surprised by this.

" Hmm.. well I heard about it from my classmate. They said a certain odd ball come from nowhere. Their name was never told. They claim to be a god ( In CN. Fairy could mean deity = God ) who grant people wishes exchange for their heart and their memories of them. "

They stared at you as you pause. " And? " You don't give a hint of emotion or what's on your mind. "Do you come to and confess such emotion? Do you have a wish if you believe in such rumours?" You chuckle.

"... I don't know. I wanted to see it for myself. I wanna see if you can really grant someone wish, that's why I try to see you in a new light, to try and fall in love with you. "

" Man... It's laughable if you force yourself to fall in love with me, just to see such thing." You give a close eyes smile, not bintjng wbat you truly felt. You felt nothing by such words but laughter's that want to be heard. To laugh at yourself or to them.

Yua:" I have a wish... If I give you my heart would you grant it? "

MC:" I only accept passionate heart. I refuse to accept such force love you have for me."

Yua:" Then why did you accept going on a date with me?"

MC:" It's just a date. Besides I'm one who try to please those who's around me. At least in my way of thoughts, if you want a date and told me. Then we should date."

Yua:" What if I told you I love you and I meant it."

MC:" Do you want me to reply to you the same words? I can do that if it please you."

Yua:"... Your cruel and heartless with your words.... "

" Oh? Ahaha. That's a new one. " You laugh as you finish your popsicle, you stared at the stick before you look at the empty bottle on top of the trash bin.

"The cruel person such as I. Will grant your wish if you truly have passionate heart...." You then throw the popsicle stick and it went to the bottle, going throw it like it's a blade. "But you should be careful what you wish."

Standing up. You look at the sunset.

"You will regret it if you wish a bad one. A wish you'll regret." You stared back at him. " Tell me your wish. I'll accept your force love~" you smiled widely.

"... I--'

They take a deep breath and told you about a story of someone they care about that fallen in a deep sleep because of a depressing matter after falling from the stair case because of an argument... With them.

"... Ya think I'm sort of god?" You chuckle as you joined them to visit that person. You already thinking what to do and what not to do along the way.

.

.

.

You look at the ... Older woman sleeping on the floor with similar feature like yua. "...ah. it's your mom." You point out.

"... Yes." They smile softly and put their flower gift to the vase. "If ... If you can... Please... Please ..." I don't know what I'll do if I lost her... "

"... " You look at the person. " What if I'm a bluff?"

"...." They start to cry when they heard what you said. You sigh, rolling your eyes. You take out something from your pocket but then realized you forget about it. "Ah. I forget my coin pouch from the arcade... " You start to tear up at the idea of having to do such embarrassing thing like dancing Infront of Ei for human coin allowance!

" Ah? Are you serious?" They seems to be looking at a dumb person. They sigh and went to the door. "Ill go get it, I'm pretty fast." And they are off, leaving you alone with their mom.

"... Now then." You look at older woman and reach out to her forehead. Closing your eyes, you use ability to see if she wishes to wake up as well.

Through you wonder why that certain stalker of yours don't fallow you since you enter the hospital.

➽───────note────────❥

(if want to be tagged pls comment or Send mail) Tag List : @valeriele3 @yinenovica

[occult-roommates]

A scandal in the spellcasting world

One day, late in the evening, the Rossinis cousins were watching a movie on a channel which airs comedy classic. However, nothing made them feel older than the fact the movie currently airing was "Don't Mess with the Zohan". Then, Dawud joined in, and he got so close to Matteo he clipped into him, and Daniele had to pretend he's fine with that. Please someone come put an end to his misery...

Rudi: DANIELE TURN ON THE TV! PUT ON THE NEWS YOU'RE NOT GONNA BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED DOWNTOWN!! Daniele: WHAT??

Stressed out, he grabbed the remote control and turned on to SMN24 (San Myshuno News 24), only to see a woman he had never heard of in his life make a speech.

Rudi: Listen listen! Daniele: Rud, this cannot be the right news report for the level of urgency in your voice. Rudi: I had to make it crystal clear in order for your autistic ass to understand how much I wanted you to see this. Daniele: Stop saying I'm autistic! Matteo: You're not?! Dawud: Ok but like, never do it like that again. Like...last time someone said with this tone of voice to turn on the news cause something big happened in the San Myshuno downtown, it was the worst terrorist attack in history.

Because none of them were listening, Rudi rewinded until the beginning of the news report. There, a reporter explained only a few days before the upcoming Magic Realm Summit, a human woman had made a revelation that was shocking the spellcasting world at its very core. It then cut to the woman making a speech, what was being shown when they originally changed channel. It was written below "Delfina Baradoz - History teacher".

Delfina: Welcome everyone, my name is Delfina Baradoz. However, nobody but a few people knows me under this name. The name I used to be known as is quite similar. I am better known as Delphine Lorgnez, the so-called dead daughter of Gwenaelle Lorgnez and Giuseppe Paradisi. According to most, I passed away at only five years old, and yet here I am, turning 53 today.

Daniele felt confused. Why would they even lie about their daughter being dead? Surely, this woman had to be doing it for attention. However, he could not deny how much she look like a perfect blend of Gwenn and Giuseppe.

Daniele: But why? Rudi: Back when my dad was alive he had this friend who was obsessed with faking his death...Well, maybe not obsessed, but he brought it up often enough it was sus, especially whenever he was going through stuff. He'd even suggest it to other people. Dawud: I mean, faking your own death is a bit messed up already for your loved one, but forcing someone, a child even, to fake theirs seems even worse. Daniele: Shut up! I'm trying to listen...

Delfina explained she had remained in hiding her entire life. Her parents had found a human couple in Brittany willing to raise her in secret, and she had spent her childhood under the name Christine Cabioch. Once she turned 18, she wanted to change it back to her original name, but realized she actually quite enjoyed being out of the public eyes, unlike her biological parents, and instead picked one that was a nod to her true identity.

Since then, she had a pretty average life, she got married in her early 20s to a human, found a job in Nantes as a high school history teacher, had three kids with no magical abilities and is actually on her way to become a grandma in three months, has a house and a dog, nothing out of the ordinary. Nobody knows who she really is, even her own husband found that out in the last month in preparation for this speech.

Delfina: But why? Why would they do that? As I said, I enjoyed being out of the spotlight, but it is sadly not the reason why they hid me. If that were the case, there were easier solution. No, as you might have noticed, my life has been very human-centric, and the reason is obvious. I am a human...sort of. The older of you might remember a time when my parents were constantly boasting about me, how happy they were to have a daughter, and how much of a powerful spellcastress I was going to be. Then, tragedy struck and my powers were not developping. I was brought to a doctor, who tested me and found out I never will developed any. I was born with a genetic disorder which prevent my body from processing magic properly.

Embarrassed of having a human daughter after constantly claiming his seed (ew) made the most powerful spellcasters, Giuseppe took...a decision. He decided he will fake his daughter's death and hide her. Delfina is not quite sure how he convinced Gwenn to go along with his plan, but he eventually did. One day, they came out claiming their daughter had died in her sleep of a seizure from undiagnosed epilepsy. In order to make sure nobody will ever speak up, they did erase the memories of Delfina and her new parents.

However, Gwenn was never really out of her life and would often come to visit, on top of Delfina constantly hearing about her in the news regarding her weird cult. Then, at 16, she learnt the truth, which obviously messed her up quite a bit. That was the end of the story.

Daniele: No! This is not true!

The spellcaster stood up, unable to believe it. He literally felt mad on behalf of Delfina, but more importantly, he felt weirdly...hurt? He felt weirdly hurt by this.

Rudi: Hey, Dan? You ok? Daniele: This is not true. Giuseppe would never do that. This woman is just an attention seeker who looks like them, hell a human can have blue hair if they have occult ancestry. And she even said herself she changed her name to sound closer to Delphine's name. And how convenient a memory-erasing spell was even involved in her story. Rudi: How would you know he would not do that? You never met him. Daniele: No but...I mean, he's considered a hero to young spellcaster who struggle with magic or developped their power late. Hell, he even used to believe he had the same condition as this woman claims to have! Why would he even treat her the way he was treated by his own family? Well, like, they didn't exactly do that to him, but they were super abusive even by 1900s standard. Rudi: I'm gonna send you the Wikipedia article about the cycle of a abuse. You will find that a fascinating read. Daniele: I still don't understand why he'd do that! He's like...He's my hero...He gave me hope for me, for when my condition will make me lose my power. Maybe I'll find a way to make them comeback, and he's super based like he's pretty much always been on the right side of history, which is saying a lot for a dude who's 123 years old. Rudi: If only you knew the amount of time I found out musician and artist I loved and respected said shitty things about werewolves, even the super progressive one. And the older they are the worse it is cause you know, back then what they were saying was actually socially acceptable. Daniele: So why don't you understand why I'm feeling hurt. Rudi: He doesn't even know you exist Dan! Y'all never even met!

As they say, never meet your hero, that's how you find out they're asshole. Poor Dan, he didn't even got to meet him before finding out he secretly suck.

Prev - Next

[kendrixtermina]

(spirit of fire) for both our sakes, pray that there never comes a day where I am left with nothing but my heartache, nothing else at all to act upon no face to save, nothing and no one to lose no reason to hold onto reason, to cling to life and sanity with the effort of the pyramids, no grounds to stay, and no right to be here nothing left but the long-festered grudge, excavated like that centrak layer onion shaft. Contemplating all the reasons not to to do it, and the needles, all my thin spindles of pain, the icicles, frozen piercing crystals that tore up my tissues long ago now that they are freed, to fall in onto themselves as shapeless mush what shrapnel javelin of hatred, contained in slow motion, I had kept contained in flight all along. And there are many reasons not to loose it, and there are reasons not to care reasonable parts of me that half contemplate preemptively calling an abulance for this poor fucker till I remember that he is you and I am I. Left with nothing but my heartache, yet knowing there’s no deed here that could bring this demon grudge its satisfaction, its swelled long beyond its long shadow, from when a simple opposite kinetic reaction could have served you justice your death couldn’t bring me freedom any more than your love could bring me life anymore I’m to old to believe now the lie. And yet, I cannot bear to let you go. I just don’t like the idea of it. Watching the unfolding of a process, whose outcome has been long determined, cast in motion, perhaps, long ago a fate sealed ever since the ohr-ein-sof first decided to fart the universe into existance, flushed down the foams of big bang, never to be looked at again, a long cursed chain of one blasted thing leading to another, until finally, the kinetic energy is to connect just another hammered bell in the mechaninery, but the last one that I become. If I was shaped from birth to be an instrument of destruction, I might as well relish it, feasting brutality in one last orgasmic thrust of amor fati: Then let me be evil, proudly thrust the devils’ horns as a bull, into your gore

[peepaaaawh]

It was too warm. Family hearth. Joyful laughter. smiles. It was too much for Aiden tonight. Sitting on the steps of the "fortress", Hope fell into his usual abyss of thought. Even the snow didn't disturb him. Throwing on a jacket along with shoes, he asked for a walk around the district, but he could not go further than the porch.

Slowly pulling off his glove, he let one of the snowflakes fall on his palm. Realizing that the crystal star had not melted, Aiden chuckled. Nothing has changed in him. But why does everything seem so fake? Or was there a problem with him? Squeezing his palm, the snowflake shattered into dust.

All with him.

— You said that you went for a walk, but now you sit here for at least half an hour and look at one point.

A low, velvety voice brought him out of his disgusting thoughts. It was the average Hope. Meadow. A brother in misfortune and, seemingly native cracked mask. Although, Aiden was honest with himself. He would never wish to someone be like him. But sometimes such "miracles" happen.

— Cannot do anything. Your house is very comfortable. I don't even want to leave.

A beautiful smile on duty. Anyone who didn't know Yato could take that as sincerity. But the brunette saw that self—loathing was hidden behind the trained gait.

— Don’t lie to me at least, okay? You are uncomfortable.

The smile faded from his face and was replaced by a wry grin. He had let him get too close to him. Reads him at the level of Rowan.

—Don't think like this, really. I appreciate your warm welcome and etc, just...

Aiden opened the other's hand and placed the snowflake directly into it. She melted as soon as met the heat of the of swarthy skin hand.

— I've been weaned from it for a long time. My house is cold and empty. It doesn't matter how big it is. There is nothing important in it. And I did not even tried to notice that “important”, therefore, I probably hate Christmas.

The last sentence gave Meadow a mild shock. Perhaps, after all, Yato had several layers that he did not notice. Actually, it can be said about the other side.

— Why did you accept on it then?

— Wanted to see how much did I... Atrophied. Yes, you are my friend. Well, I can even say good friend. It would be embarrassing to refuse somehow. And the excuse is even dumber than awkwardness.

He laughed, smiling tightly. He wanted to make it all jest. But worrying foreign eyes did not allow to do this.

—"Hey, hi, Meadow. I'd love to come visit you for the holidays, but I hate Christmas because I'm jealous of those who have a family!"

Laugh became silent really soon and almost black eyes started to look somewhere in the distance.

— Thank you, really, but this is already at the ... Completely different level. When you are alone, at home, year after year, many holidays begin to lose their meaning... That's all.

Aiden looked away in shame, pursing his lips. Still, the secret was his alone. It was a big stupidity on his part. He understands it by himself. After all, it’s holiday, and people are not to blame for his own misfortune. But at least , needs to pour out this pain somewhere.

But, unexpectedly for Aiden, he was squeezed in these arms, like someone else's life depended on it. There was a sharp sob from the door. Then quiet, but then the sobs became more and they were louder.

— YATO, YOU'RE A PIECE OF SUGAR ICE-!

And with the same surprise, Eugene flew into them, deceiving and knocking the young men into the snow.

— EUGENE, WE'LL ALL GET SICK BECAUSE OF YOU!

Meadow yelled, detection to get up, but the carcass of the younger sister did not allow it, holding everyone in a vise, saying the chain.

— I DON'T CARE, LET ME HUG YOU, ICUCLE!

Eugene retorted, continuing to whimper and hug the already confused Irishman. And then, put two and two together, he understood. She just stood outside the door the whole time. Breathing out, he just laughed. Sincere. All the same, it was absurd, but so ... Humanly. And now they are all covered in snow.

It hardly changed his attitude towards Christmas. But... The first steps have already been taken.

***

– And w-w-why didn’t you get sick?

Two swarthy snouts peeked out from the blankets as Aiden sat across from him, sipping cocoa in a way that looked like it was meant to be. Nasty asshole.

— The ice curse has its own advantages. For example, seeing this.

— P-pest...

He winked at them as he sipped more.

Yes. The first steps are well taken.

MERRY (AGAIN LATE) CHRISTMAS

(to one who still read me)

Its was really uneasy year for me. WILD ride i can say. But hey. Happy holidays everyone. Don't make any misfortune make you sad okay?

@witchy-push

(давай залезай сюда)