#I've forgot about this one and i let it rot in my drafts for a while

[lacyscabinet]

Natalie who likes to leave hickeys and try to form designs, like she really tries hard to form a heart, but it looks more like something unidentifiable 🐬🐬 (addicted to these dolphins)

hey hey hey it's called ✨abstract art✨

[xiaowhore]

i messed up 😅 i wasn't supposed to post that ayato wip but anyway

heyy it's been a while! i was looking through my account for nostalgia's sake, and i found a bunch of drafts that were already pretty lengthy but i don't think i'll have the time to finish to completion. it's kind of a waste to let them be stuck in the draft dungeon, so i was thinking of posting them in their wip form and adding what the story flow was supposed to be. the fics end awkwardly where i left them, but if you decide the pain of reading an unfinished fic that hasn't been updated for years is worth it to satisfy your curiosity, feel free to read them.

when i tell you they've been rotting in my drafts, they've been rotting. the ayato one i mistakenly posted, i was writing at around the same time i posted "put a ring on it"...

i'll edit that ayato fic to write the story flow at the end and inform readers of its incomplete status after i write this notice, but here are some of the drafts i've looked through that i'll post soon:

- neuvilette transmigration/royalty au

- neuvilette au where ur already married but it's from outsiders' pov

- lyney childhood friends au (this was written at the time of lyney's release and that feels like decades ago)

i cannot warn y'all enough that these drafts are INCOMPLETE. they end abruptly and do not have a proper conclusion. college has been kicking my ass pretty badly so i don't have the time to write, but so that my past self's efforts of writing these drafts don't go to waste, i'll be posting them nonetheless. it's completely up to you if you wish to read them! in the case someone is interested in picking up where the fics left off, feel free to do so. a little bit of credit would be appreciated if you take inspiration from them :)

i've noticed that genshinblr is somewhat dead these days, what with the apparent lack of new male characters, but to those who are still here, it's nice to see you again!

(i also had one (1) draft for love and deepspace??? which i completely forgot about lmao??? i only wrote zayne's but i'll write each male lead's idea/story flow if you guys want me to post that draft lol)

[mit0bee]

hello!! I've read some of your works, and I just want to say that I LOVE THEM SOO MUCHHDBRJFH and, may I request Malleus, Vil, and Rook with Lily of the valley? Thank you!! 💞

AHHHHHHAIOFHAWOIFH TYSM!! I totally didnt get to this like 5 months later i swear

Meloras Bouquet

Stuff you should read: Vil's might be a little OOC oopsies, Established relationship (Vil, Leona) old post!!!

Characters: Malleus Draconia, Vil Schnoenheit

Flowers:

Lily of the Valley - Napping together

MALLEUS DRACONIA

It wasn't supposed to happen but a little midnight stroll with him ended up becoming a “hey wanna come over to ramshackle for a slumber party”

and ofc he said yes he would bend over backwards for you

So cue to the walk to ramshackle (or to the mirror thingies?) and he is so excited. if he had a tail it would be wagging

Once you get there, he's practically beaming with excitement

He wants to be elegant about it though so he's being chill (trying to)

Originally, he was supposed to sleep in his own bed, the slumber party went into the late hours of the night, and you fell asleep.

On his shoulder. while watching like. harry potter or something

He was ranting about the gargoyles and how accurate they were, and you hit the snooze button on accident

He didn't even notice until you were already far too gone on his shoulder

He decided to carry you to your bed from the living room, pressing a quick kiss to your forehead like Lilia did with him when he was young

“Goodnight, Child of Man. Sweet Dreams.”

If you either wake up and pull him into bed, or find him on the couch at midnight and invite him into your bed, he'll accept with obvious, not very hidden excitement.

VIL SCHNOENHEIT

After hanging out with Epel for the majority of the afternoon in the botanical gardens, all you wanted was to visit your dear boyfriend, Vil

But you forgot to acknowledge the dirt staining your face and clothes from your adventures, so when you came into Vil's room, not only were you staining his carpet, but you also looked like a zombie!

Whatever he was doing before, you now had his full attention. He wasn't afraid to get his hands a little dirty.

So now hes helping you wipe your face off, letting you use his shower, putting on a protective face mask to defend against major acne from all the dirt.

He gave you one of his very few well-worn hoodies (he has like. 2 that are well worn.) and a pair of his pyjama pants while he takes your dirty clothes to the washer a few doors down.

Little did he know, when you take your s/o, surround them in you, and then leave them in your room for even a few minutes after a labour-filled day? you get an s/o snoozing on your bed, curled up in your blankets.

He was a little surprised to come back to that, but all in all quite flattered that you felt so comfortable

He checked the time (sleeping too much could cause coarse skin! or something) and once he confirmed it was a proper time to go to bed, he quickly got under the covers with you, his hands finding purchase on your waist.

That was probably one of the quickest times he's fallen asleep

This has been ROTTING in my drafts for months and I probably wont finish it so here you go 😭

---------------------------

m.list

@mit0bee 's work, please do not steal!

[cruyuu]

hii! are there any really good (and preferably long) sukuita fics that you like? love ur analyses btw and thank you ❤️

Hii anon! Sorry for a very, very late answer. I've been busy as hell and just chose to put this ask in the drafts and then forgot about writing out my answer.

I've already replied to one similar ask some time ago but since you're asking for my opinion and for them to be long, the list that I have in my head with my colorful commentary is under the cut. Hopefully, you'll find some of them as interesting as I did.

The Tale of the Peach Blossom Prince by ChumbalieWumbus

First fic I ever read for sukuita. Let's just say it blew me away with its attention to detail and worldbuilding. This fic isn't strictly just sukuita though, it's rather a sukumeji? (there's a polyamorous relationship between Sukuna, Uraume and Yuuji) fic. It's understandable to skip this if you're looking for strictly sukuita fics but I do suggest you give this a try since it's rather long and quite well done. As a Yuuji fan, I adore it personally. This fic also has some gorgeous fanart too! (Which I will unfortunately not link because it's featured at the end of the story and it will spoil major things regarding it). Now, my comments aside, short summary is: The Culling Games are happening. Yuuji fights someone (not Sukuna btw) and ends up traveling back in time to the Heian period. Chaos ensues.

All in all, I had a blast reading it and I recommend it heavily.

Ten Years and a Day series by EvilPeaches

This isn't really a chaptered fic but is a series of two fics sitting at 21k words so ofc I'll feature it here. It's the written out what if Sukuna wins? scenario where Yuuji remains alive which is a type of fic I had been hunting for at the beginning when I grew to love these two and this checked off all the boxes for me. It was practically wish fulfillment. Genuinely beautiful and harrowing and quite in character too which is a must for me.

I am a sucker for canon (and canon divergence) fics but if that's not what you're looking for then I highly recommend checking out No Eviction Notice by the same author too, which is a long AU and heavy on the plot (angsty as hell too, so beware).

Istrouma by trashygivency

An ongoing work but trust me it is so worth it. Like I said, I'm a sucker for canon and this fic delivers, especially because its set during the Culling Games arc, where the sukuita divorce is in place. Well, things take a turn and Sukuna and Yuuji magically reunite and walk through memories together. One thing leads to another and trust me, it's wild. It's a reincarnation AU and oh my god they were roommates past lovers with good characterization and a plot which centers on their forgotten then remembered past. My commentary can't do this fic justice so please check it out!

Blood & Snow by megumiblues

A breath of fresh air amidst the tragically-depraved (is that a word? lol) works I had been (and usually am) consuming of these two. If you're not that into tragedy, don't want them to ruin each other and tear at each other or don't want their love and union to have catastrophic or deadly consequences, this is your fic. It's still them in all their glory (yknow hate, Sukuna being a bastard, etc.) but surprisingly soft and beautiful. All I'm going to say is that the author did a good job at this AU, both with the plot and Sukuna and Yuuji's characterization. It actually made me shed a tear too so that's a big, big thumbs up for me.

Speaking of long-written soft sukuita...

I'm Sick Of You by Cogni_Diss

also makes the list! It's five chapters long and is also quite tame. It's funny, a bit sad but also quite beautiful. I adore this author and their take on these two idiots so make sure to check out their other works as well. As for the summary: This is a canon divergence fic and with each finger Yuuji swallows, Sukuna grows stronger but here swallowing something ancient has consequences unlike in canon. It's tooth-rotting fluff (with some angst, nothing severe tho) and these two terribly in-canon. Check! it! out! if you want a remedy to the heavy and hard ride these two can be.

Ok, now back to the dark side.

Collision by Serkerde

A genuinely, unfortunately ongoing but extremely interesting A/B/O AU fic where Sukuna is, put plainly, himself (a dick) and an Alpha. Slowest of burns with sukuita is a weird idea in an AU where everything seems to be driven by instinct. Or is that the case? Yuuji (and the modern world) would disagree. Basically: you have an Alpha who is one of a kind (called a Prime) and Yuuji who belongs to the dwindling numbers of Omega. Not your average ones ofc. A very heavy plot ensues with them slowly, slowly, veeery slowly falling for each other. The author has their own twist on the A/B/O Universe which is why this fic is an interesting recipe from the start. Throw in these two and you already have a divine meal cooking.

Also highly recommend checking out Should Immortality Be So Mortal and In Our Flesh series by the same author! I hold SIBSM and IOF series close to my chest because I adore how this author writes these two. <3

The Shape Of Our Souls by O_ToJoy

Another breathtaking (also ongoing fml but don't let that stop you), heavy on the plot with an interesting premise A/B/O AU story. It deals with the future and follows a non-linear narrative. Yuuji is an Omega who has kids with Alpha Sukuna and guess what? The merger happens in this fic. Trust me this fic is gorgeous and a blast. Everything is handled incredibly and passionately and I can't put into words how obsessed I was with this fic when I first found it (which was a couple of months ago). I still love it and have it in my 'read for later' for updates. The characterization (of all, not just Sukuna and Yuuji), the world-building, the plot... It's incredible truly.

Apotheosis series by cafedelmar

I love authors who vibe and just write, trying to unwind and explain the unexplainable and unattainable. Taking characters into their own hands and just going with the flow. Sukuna is a God in this series, the fics follow a non-linear narrative and are slightly AU-ish. It's all vibes basically but it's brilliantly written, heavily centered around Sukuna being something larger than what we've seen of him in canon. I love love love authors who can put the unexplainable into very clear-cut explainable and this author does it extremely well. Yuuji is Sukuna's vessel and this series is riding the Dark!Yuuji vibe (which is also one of my fav ideas) because sure, power is addicting itself and having a God entertain an idea of giving it to a weak-in-comparison Yuuji (Yuuji the key point here) is a whole another addicting thing in itself. All in all, heavy Season 1 vibes and gorgeously written.

And since I'm talking about S1 vibes...

Nuns with Guns by surverycorpsjean

is also a recommended read for those who find the one body/two souls situation so very interesting. This one is hauntingly beautiful and extremely well-written. It's not a chaptered fic but it is nearly 20k words long so it made it on the list. I was on a hunt for fics which explored this situation down to its ugly, twisted, terrifyingly beautiful core (because canon gave us nothing :( ) and this one blew me away, especially with it's characterization. Definitely check this one out if you're stuck on S1 sukuita and their weird ass hatred which could translate into codependency and not death because why would they be normal about each other lol. That's boring.

vinegar heart by vavavavoom

Yuuji, cursed from birth, is made for Sukuna, yet unlike in canon, acceptance is the path he is forced to walk on here, until he grows to love it and hate it because this is an AU! Selfishness, cruelty, codependency and sukuita with Yuuji who is suffering (it is what it is style) and Sukuna who's obsessed with him (basically canon lol). What more could you ask for? Joking aside, this fic takes place in an AU and has God Sukuna who... I shouldn't spoil it. Let's just say that Sukuna isn't the same Sukuna we see in canon. He's much more accepting of Yuuji here, even though he mocks him and belittles him and everything. I mean the tag "Possessive Behavior" is right there so... yeah. The reason why I held my hand from writing out the spoiler is bc 1) it'll ruin your experience and 2) it adds an interesting undertone to the story and basically makes you go "Ohhhh". Check it out!

not the temple, but the lamb slit up inside by obscyr

Interesting as hell and definitely one of the extremes ones. Beautifully written as well. I started it like two months ago but then dropped it because I was busy and it had been sitting in my notes app for quite some time until I caught up to it recently. As you may have noticed, I am down bad for codependency, but I am also down bad for seeing how bad things could get. Sukuita, in all its glory, is problematic as hell, but if you throw them into an Modern AU, make Sukuna a cannibalist + suspected? serial killer and have Yuuji as his nephew who's lowkey growing obsessed with his mystery and is also a mystery himself- I'm going to shut up now because I will spoil the plot- you get this hell. It has 9 chapters, and the plot moves a bit slow but if you're intrigued, then definitely give it a read and ofc, if you are overwhelmed with this fic or just don't like it, feel free to skip.

Aconitum by AttackRabbit

Another ongoing fic which I recently got addicted to. Again, it's ABO AU but not overtly typical one, and heavy on the plot and world-building. Can you imagine that the author had actually invented a language for Sukuna? Yes! It's that amazing. In this fic, Yuuji is a war veteran who works as an apothecary and he stumbles onto injured Sukuna. Brilliant characterization, a unique plot and if you don't read and translate Sukuna's sentences, he's basically half-a-mystery. Much love to this fic because it is incredible!

And that's for the list! A big shout-out goes to Character Assassination by MayTheSixth which I also started reading a couple of days ago, but because it's quite a long work, I never got around to finishing it. It's also an ongoing one, but I'm loving it so far so you can check that out too!

And there you have it anon. Happy reading and have a wonderful day or night!

[sequencefairy]

I've started writing this post like, four times already, and I keep discarding the drafts instead of continuing because it's too close, still. But i know i need to unpack this instead of just letting it live inside of me to fester and rot and make me bitter, which will just mean that the haters won, because it's their fault the joy is gone.

Something happened this weekend here on tumblr and elsewhere in other fanspaces and across the wider internet. Something horrible. I've been through fandom implosions before, I was in the trenches with VLD, I walked through the end of Bleach, but this was orders of magnitude worse.

The meanness. The cruelty. The way so many people forgot that the people on their TV, laptop and phone screens are people. That the words they're gleefully typing into their little comment boxes and their posts are being seen by real people, and not just the people at which they are directed.

This fandom has long had a problem with passive, and also less passive, racism. This fandom has long had a problem with boundaries between ourselves and the people we are fans of. I think these two things combined into a horrid creature that was beyond the imagining of anyone.

I slept very little this weekend. I have been more anxious the last three days than I have ever been in my life. I worried every time I opened the tumblr app what thing I might find in my inbox or as a reply on one of my posts. I worried about friends in the fandom, who were dealing not only with the barrage of vitriol not directed at them, but also who were receiving it themselves for daring to be supportive of the general plan.

I am lucky. I have spaces to retreat to. I have friends who are both in and not in this fandom, who have checked in with me to make sure I'm doing okay. My partner has shouldered the bulk of managing the house this weekend because I couldn't. It was too much to think about how to deal with that when all this was going on inside my phone and my laptop. I am also lucky because I am not a person of colour.

Watching folks in this fandom who I know to be folks of colour wade into the fray and knowing that they are seeing the same takes that I was seeing about Steven and about Ryan, makes my heart want to shrivel up in my chest. It hurt me to watch people turn on Watcher this weekend, but I cannot imagine how much it hurt my friends, who might have been watching people they used to trust or enjoy or feel like they knew, spew racist and hateful rhetoric over a business decision they didn't agree with.

I'm not going to litigate whether things could have been done differently, because it really doesn't matter to me, but I am going to say that a level of trust has been shattered here in this fandom space. I can't have fun with people about Watcher content when I have to check and make sure they weren't among the people who were calling for violence against a man whose crime was poorly communicating a business decision to a fandom they used to extoll as kind and generous. If my trust in the wider fandom has been broken then I have to assume our fandom friends of colour's trust has also been shredded.

This has fundamentally changed how I want to engage with and in fandom, and not for the better. I don't have an answer for what this means for me going forward, but I am just so sad. I am so sad that a place of great joy has been sapped of that feeling and I don't know how I'm going to get it back.

I don't know if I want to.

[whateverwhyamievenhere]

little lestappen drabble

Hii, so I usually don't post on here, but you know it, it's winter break and the brain rot is brain rotting, so I've started to write a drabble. It's inspired by some of my favorite moments of Charles and Max that can't seem to leave my mind. This is nowhere near anything but a draft, though I thought some of you might enjoy this. Please be so kind and let me know if you like it or what could be improved. Also if anyone has any ideas where this could go plot-wise hmu, because I suck at drawing up plots beforehand. Have a great day/night wherever you are. L <3

The sun peaks right through the tips of his hair. Strands flying, highlights glistening in the golden light. One last lap they said, one more push, till he got to feel the light of the setting sun blind his eyes. He's in Texas, finished his quail lap, scrambled out of the car, and all he searched for was the blue of his eyes.

Like ocean, like storm. Crashing on a shore, there will always be a twist in Charles gut when Max meets his eyes. Inevitably drawn to each other, dancing around each other, desire mistaken for distaste. Green clashing into blue, in a haze of moments Charles is being ripped right out of the calming sun. Media Duty, take pictures, smile, be nice and orderly. Most importantly, get along. Get along with Max. These are direct orders because everyone seems to think they hate each other. Charles thinks they may did once upon a time. Now he’s not quite sure what to make of it all. ____________________________________________________ “Charlie I’ve got some space for you” the words echo in Charles' head, did Max just call him Charlie, normally only Alex or maybe Lando does so rarely. Why in the world of why's does it make feel Charlie all giddy? What does Max think that he's allowed to call him Charlie? Isn’t that reserved for his closer friends? Does Max think they are friends? Sure, he's been acting as such ever since Austin, but what exactly changed? Why aren’t the forcibly nice, why does it seem like Max enjoys his company more than he used to? ��And why does he immediately comply and squeeze through to Max, standing at the other side of the room? Brush of shoulders, hands clasping each other, slight shove where his back dips in. Broad smile, teeth on full display, eyes crinkling. Max is flashing him his most Maxie smile there is. Sue him if Max can call him Charlie, at least he can call him Maxie in his mind. Maybe one day he will be allowed to say it out loud, just like Daniel is.  “I thought you’d suffocate over there.” “Yeah, well I’m glad, I didn’t. Any news from Daniel, his party still standing for tonight?” “Do you really think we’d be in Vegas and Daniel would let it slip though his fingers to start the weekend of sober? He’s going to be the death of us!” “Ah no, I think we will manage quite well, you think?” At that, Max slings an arm around Charlies shoulder, slightly shakes his head in dismissal, smirks to himself and moves them after the rest of their friends that were just mingling mere seconds before. Max is leading them towards the press conference that Charles entirely forgot about once he heard Max claim “Charlie” his. ____________________________________________________

[havendance]

Help! I was Reborn as Robin's Father!

Chapter 1

ao3

Fandom: Batman

Wordcount: 2400

Summary:

I was just an ordinary university student until I got in a car accident and woke up as Jack Drake! Now I've got to figure out how to be a dad to Robin and also how to survive my inevitable death. I'm sure I'll figure it out. I hope.

Hey, remember that time I mention writing a Jack Drake self-insert isekai fic? Well I wrote the first chapter back in february and then it proceeded to rot in my drafts while I was at school until now. Not sure if I'll continue this, but I do have ideas and this chapter was fun to write. This isn't one of my priorities though.

Excerpt:

It was a Thursday when my life suddenly derailed. Garfield may rail against Mondays, but let me tell you, Thursdays are the really rough ones. On Mondays you can still be optimistic about the week spread out before you. By the time you’ve gotten to Thursday, though, you’re worn out and ready for it to be Friday, only it’s not, so instead you suffer. Also, Thursdays are my long days, so that doesn’t help either.

This particular Thursday was pouring and miserable. I would much rather be curled up in a cozy corner with a warm cup of tea and a good book, but instead I was driving down the freeway before the sun was even up because I had an 8am class I needed to get to. I hated commuting. Sure, it was cheaper than living on campus, but it was an absolute pain, especially in times like this when everyone forgot how to drive. 

I was mentally cursing the US’ lack of public transportation options that meant I had to do my own driving, when suddenly the car in front of me spun out of control. I slammed on my brakes, but with all the rain coming down, I found myself losing control as well. Shit, shit, shit. God, help me—

Suddenly, everything came to an abrupt stop. There was a crash, a flash of pain, and everything went black.

—

My head was fuzzy. There was a… beeping? Some sort of noise in the distance. Was it my alarm? Was I late for school? There was also… a voice? Maybe? I couldn’t make out who was talking or what they were saying.

I was tired. I was really tired. I felt like my body was made of lead. Like I’d used too many blankets and was having one of those dreams where I was trapped and couldn’t move. Opening my eyes sounded like a truly monumental task, and I didn’t want to go to school anyway, so I didn’t and let myself sink back into sleep.

The next time I drifted towards consciousness, it was quieter. There was still that beeping itching away at me, but nothing else. Barely conscious, I felt fuzzy and separate from my body. My hand though—I could feel the barest sensation of another hand in mine. As soon as I had finally put that together, the hand was gone. I wanted it back. Was it my mother’s? I tried to call out to her but I couldn’t speak and soon I fell back asleep.

When I finally managed to wake up, it was bright and I couldn’t see. Eventually though, my eyes adjusted. Mama wasn’t there. I was lying in a hospital bed. I felt tired and weak and could barely move. There was a nurse in the room with me. She brightened when she saw I was awake.

“Mr Drake!” she said. “You’re awake!”

Keep reading on ao3!

[azucar-skull]

SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THIS IN MY DRAFTS

Wow okay a lot more ppl asked for this--

How I built a Kraang Society:

Ppl talk about all different kinds of tips for world building a society. But I have a different technique called "I have vivid nightmare disorder and wrote down the shit I've seen in that one dream that inspired FCAU."

So let's explore!

Starting with the baseline Kraang structure that is canon in the show. GEM readers will know this structure btw. Apocalypse lasted 22 years from 2022 to 2044, there are 7 Kraang types, 3 aliens developing these types, at least one Kraang laborcamp, no more ocean, cloudy skies, infection by contact and spreads fast, hive mind, stronger with empyrean, and others I can't list off the top of my head.

FCAU not only follows the baseline as seen in the movie and GEM but we also add new features.

Starting with new Kraang types:

(From lowest "rank" to highest, brief explanations, potentially making more if I feel like it.)

Parasite: Canon. Those little bitey fucks from the subway tunnels.

Mound: New type. Evil quicksand that feasts on your rotting flesh.

Zombie: Canon. Partially possessed animals (including humans and yokai).

Hybrid: New type. A human with the ability to transform into any Kraang type. Only one exists. And his name is Casey Jones Jr.

Canine: Canon. Aka hound or dog or whatever. Fully possessed animals.

Howler: New type. Imagine a canine with a tuba for a head. But the tuba can also kill you.

Mimic: New type. Outlier of the Kraang types as it is not a part of the hive mind but is still loyal. Mimics injured loved ones to lure in prey. Considered quite rare.

Snitch: New type. Literally an eyeball with wings that keeps an eye on lower class Kraang to keep them in line.

Decoy: Canon. Possesses inanimate objects (plus plants). (i.e. the Kraang Train or Kraang Helicopters)

Minion: Canon. Specialized canine type that Brother Kraang possessed himself that directly obeys Kraang Prime, Brother and Sister. Mainly consisting of the Foot Clan and the Metro Tower Victims.

Droids: Canon. Reanimated corpses of fallen Kraang from the prison dimension and brought back into Earth.

Sister Kraang: Canon. Domain over lower class.

Brother Kraang: Canon. Domain over upper class.

Kraang Prime: Canon. Domain over all.

Now the Kraang are separated into 3 classes: Lower, Upper, and Regal.

Lower class are Kraang of Earth origin or residue. (Parasites through howler as seen above.)

Mimic is not considered in a class as it is an outlier.

Upper class are Kraang of true origin or inanimate objects. (Snitch through droids as seen above.)

Regal are Kraang aliens. (Prime, Sister, Brother. No other aliens exist. These 3 are the sole survivors of their kind.)

Just like class in our society, these guys are also separated by location.

Kraang Biomes:

Aside from abandoned ruins and empty ocean floors, the Kraang have made the Earth habitable for them.

Infested ruins: Abandoned cities overrun with Kraang. Oxygen levels low.

Kraang forests: Heavily infested areas resembling a "forest" of Kraang trees and bushes and wildlife. Oxygen levels very low.

Kraang Caves: Caves in which lower class Kraang resides in, mounds (and occasionally mimics) on the outskirts. Oxygen levels normal.

The Hellspot: The only place on Earth that has heat. Kraang do not reside here. Oxygen levels high. COs levels also high. ;)

Floating Archipelagos: Groups of floating islands ripped from the ground (referring to Dimension X, wink wink). Consists of laborcamps, incubator pods, and upper class Kraang. Oxygen levels very low.

Laborcamps: Domes in which Humans/Yokai in captivity being put to work for the exchange of "sparing" their lives. Oxygen levels normal.

Incubator pods: Used for correcting defective Kraang. (Defective meaning any Kraang (lower class) becoming sentient again.) Oxygen levels very low.

Technodrome: The mother ship. Consists of Regal class. Meetings are often held in here. Oxygen levels low.

Now that you have learned the types and locations, you can make a few conclusions.

For instance, if you see mounds, you are near the outskirts of some Kraang caves and should probably get the fuck out.

If your oxygen levels start depleting, you should probably leave. Those who venture further would require an oxygen mask. As the years progress, almost everyone has one.

Kraang don't need oxygen, the exception being zombies who are still somewhat alive inside and the parasitic host needs them alive so uh yeah they'll need oxygen. For now. Over time, they build a tolerance.

Kraang also like it cold. They covered the Earth in thick permanent layers of clouds and removed the ocean in order to drop the temperatures wayyyy down. People would need to bundle up. A lot of nature would start dying. Without the ability to use GPS in a world of no WiFi and being unable to map the stars, travelers would get lost and die before reaching their destination. (Luckily Donnie has a fix but that's lore for another time).

Lower class and Regal being alive need substance. Any living thing will do. Plants, animals, human/yokai flesh. Last resort being other Kraang. (I am assuming cannibalism took place in that Prison Dimension in order for those 3 to survive. Kraang Prime be like "I ate my grandma"--)

Casey Jr being half Kraang is half affected. He still needs oxygen but it's kinda like Ellie from TLOU where he doesn't really need a mask. He also prefers the cold and is very sensitive to heat (Like Will in Stranger Things 2). Pre-rescue, his diet consisted mainly of raw meat from a successful hunt. Which yes, does include human/yokai flesh. And also he is not connected to the hive mind unless in contact with another Kraang, usually his mom. (And further more, post-rescue, if he touch Kraang then Kraang discover Resistance and that is a very bad no no).

And now a shoutout to the culture:

Upper class culture is practically non-existent. Just obedient soldiers designed to obey the top 3. Their culture mainly consists of playing their roles and following orders to a T. They aren't sentient after all so why bother with retaliation in this dystopia? Also, their language skills don't exist, relying solely on the hive mind to communicate.

Lower class culture is freaky but remarkably beautiful in its own twisted way. Their language skills are still there inside and would communicate through words or animalistic sounds (barks, screeches, clicks, hissing, chrips, etc). In the watchful eye of the snitch, they act as obedient as the upper class. When the snitch is away, they like to let loose.

For example, there is song.

Kraang aren't supposed to be into music. Music is a distraction. But the lower class indulge in it. In their own unique communication, it's like they're saying "I'm still alive inside. Please don't forget me."

And like music, there is a practice around it. The practice is called the Siren Song.

The howler starts it, using its howling siren/alarm sounds to create a melodic note. Each Kraang pack has at least one howler, if there are more then the others would harmonize.

Then the canines join in, howling along or stomping their feet to create a beat. Mounds click and hiss to create a rhythm. Zombies begin to sing.

To an outsider, it sounds like nails on a chalkboard. Kraang noises aren't pleasant after all. But if you were to listen closely and study them, music can be heard.

In the practice, everyone joins in. They reach out to each other to let them know that they are still here, still alive, still sentient. Those who don't join, usually old canines, are the ones who are no longer sentient inside.

.

Occasionally, the Regal would hold meetings in the Technodrome. They send a message through the hive mind and the packs will start moving to wherever the mothership is. The upper and lower class excuse their borders and merge as one as they file in. During these meetings, usually Kraang Prime holds them and explains to the Kraang about their further plans of invading and conquering Earth.

And in these meetings, there is etiquette. You must bow properly, speak properly (depending on your type), you must follow orders and be in perfect synchronization with the others, you must not defy Kraang Prime and always respond with "Yes, brother.", and much more.

.

Defective Kraang are typically Kraang zombies who fall out of line. Mimics are also debatable defective despite their loyalty. When a snitch catches a defective Kraang, they...snitch. Minions would enter the Kraang Caves to apprehend the defective and take them straight to the Technodrome where they are put on trial before Kraang Prime himself. Kraang Prime would evaluate the severity of their defectiveness to determine how long they would need to spend in the incubator.

Typically, the incubator "cures" the defectiveness and the Kraang returns to normal. Some...take a few sessions.

.

The Kraang also have rules and societal standards. They are the "apex species of the galaxies" after all. They must all be perfect. In unison. No mistake. No failures. Only success. Perfect working cogs and gears in a well oiled machine.

This means that the defective, disabled, the mimics, and other outliers are discriminated against. They are not perfection.

Music is a distraction. Family is a distraction. Love is a distraction. Emotion is a distraction.

Humans/Yokai are inferior. Pests. Weeds. Must be eliminated. Kraang supremacy. Case closed.

Fall out of line, incubator. Question authority, incubator or even death. Too weak, eaten alive.

Kraang must cull the herd. Kraang will prevail.

Kraang don't believe in gods. They are the gods.

.

Cassandra did her best to protect Casey Jr from it all.

What does this mean for Casey Jr?

I don't think I need to even begin to explain that obvious child abuse and trauma is involved. Colonization and genocide are at play. War is upon us on this fucked up Earth. It's all very...metaphorical to our reality. Just keep this in mind for how dark the story may get, for those who don't like dark stories. (There is a lot of fluff, dw.)

You can expect to notice things in his behavior here and there as he is rescued. At first, it'll feel like kidnapping. These people are supposed to be bad but yet they're feeding him, treating his injuries, and giving him a bath and fresh clothes. His speech is half developed, being raised by lower class Kraang. He doesn't want to sleep with blankets or properly bundle up. He kneels when he is in trouble.

Conclusively...

All of this is still a WIP for Feral Casey AU. May more ideas are being put in every single day.

But still, the advice I can give you on how to build a society, just start somewhere. The Siren Song is where I started. I have even been working on composing the music just for the fun of it.

It also helps that I am a specialized VA. It's a stim now to make Kraang noises, and it helps me translate them into my story and design the types too.

Then things will keep building from there. =)

[tigerbears]

Hello there!

You can call me TigerBear.

I’m a 20s something trans-girl who's only been on tumblr for over a year

I mostly just do reblogs, and just random stuff but I'll also post links to my fanfics so keep an eye for that! (Only been one so far, but lots of folks seem to enjoy it xD) Jesus Christ why didn't I notice this outdated section in my intro page after so many edits!

I've so far made two separate oneshots and one on-going overly ambitious snowgrave fic. (Currently on hiatus after finishing it's first arc. Not canceled though, I'll continue it in the future. Check it out.)

Expect my fics to mostly be UT and DR fics... Same with posts.... Just a lot of UT/DR related reblogs and post, but you'll also see a few posts related to other games I like or things that catch my fancy. (E.G, I've reentered the doctor who fandom after like 4-5 years)

Aiming for the blog to be SFW/Minor friendly but y'know, I'm still an adult and stuff. Might reblog stuff with swearing. May also reblog SFW posts from NSFW blogs/"Minors DNI or do not follow" blogs, but I don't usually follow these blogs and will likely not touch their risky stuff. TL;DR this blog be safe, can't guarantee the same from those I reblogged.

Also, I have a youtube channel. I made the pronouns essay and spent a lot of time researching for it.

Guess I can talk about some things about myself.

I’m a trans-girl lesbian who goes by she/her pronouns.

I'm also neurodivergent (autistic specifically) so if I act differently/misunderstand things that's why. I'm sorry my brain just be running differently.

I’m likely suffering from chronic Asriel and Noelle brain rot. I want goat boy to get a happy ending and love the Trans Noelle head-canon. Shipper of Suselle (Susie/Noelle) and Dessriel (Dess/Asriel). (Oh and of course Alphyne (Alphys/Undyne) but I'm not obsessed with the pair like Suselle and Dessriel. Alphyne's still cute though!) Also opened asks! (but don't really know what I'll do with them, and don't expect quick responses, especially bc I’m the shy type of trans-femme. Also, keep the discourse crap away from me.)

Haven't gotten a lot of asks so I just opened the anonymous ones. (Note: This is on thin ice. I may turn off anonymous asks if I change my mind and realize it's a mistake. I already turned off messaging from people I don't follow because I kept getting incomprehensible bot messages.)

If I ever reblog something that's "WIP "a mess of the original post's tags" it means I f--ked up and forgot to remove the wip tags when the post was in my drafts. Please let me know so I can fix it.

Standard DNI: (note realize it got too long with my explanations so I put the longer ones in a separate footnote post. You can find it at the bottom of the DNI list. TL;DR the footnotes are for nuance and crap.)

DNI

I: Don't be a bigot. (E.G racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, ableist, transphobic/a TERF, (that includes being exclusionary towards transmascs/femmes, enbys, or being some gatekeeping/invalidating transmed/truscum or whatever.) Same with aro/acephobia, intersex phobia, ect. TL:DR if you're bigoted towards a minority stay away and crap.

II: If you're a Religious fundamentalist, Militant Atheists, or anyone who can't respect other people's religious/areligious beliefs. DNI. (Its ok to criticize bigoted/harmful religious people, or parasitic and abusive cults. Just don't interact if you say stuff like "All religious people of "X" religion are mentally ill/bigots/terrible.")

III: (can't believe I have to say this) DNI if you ship "those ships." Y'know, the ones which involve some form of i*nest or p*dophilia. (E.G, Fontcest, Chasriel, Frans, Lancer/Susie,) Just generally do not interact if you ship any of those "yikes" ships. I don't want my posts to be associated with these accounts if they reblog my posts or whatever. III.1: This DNI does not cover Friskriel and Charisk, unless specific extenuating circumstances (that would make the ships i*ncestuous) are in effect (and I'll usually assume they aren't.) Kralsei also barely gets a pass until we learn why he looks like Asriel. (The explanation of this will either push the ship into the DNI, or make it weird but fine.) (For more details/nuance, look at Footnotes 01 and 02)

IV: Please tag your anti-ship or anti-character posts as anti-[shipname], or I will likely block you, especially if you just tag the ship name. When I follow the Suselle tag I'm looking for everything but Anti-Suselle posts. (Footnote 03)

V: If your posts look like that of a p*rn bot I'll likely block you. If your blog looks like a bot in general (blank/empty blog, no pfp or title, acts like a bot) I will likely assume you are and block you.

DNI FOOTNOTES IN THIS POST! GO HERE FOR ELABORATION/NUANCE!

Here are the tags I use for my own stuff. " ([On Blog]=on my stylized blog.) ([On Tumblr]=Tumblr's default interface.)

#reblog [On Blog] [On Tumblr] For all the posts I reblog.

#queue [On Blog] [On Tumblr] For all the posts in my queue (which are just reblogs)

#posts from tigerbear's tumblr [On Blog] [On Tumblr] (Or) #my posts [On Blog] [On Tumblr] (Or) #tigerbears posts [On Blog] [On Tumblr] Stuff that's from me (or reblogs which have comments from me.) Pretty much "tigerbears posts" is going to be anything past the 25th or 26th of April 2024 (because I'm not going back to change all of my past tags.)

#tag that are like posts from tigerbear's tumblr [On Blog] [On Tumblr] Basically similar to posts from tiger bear except their reblogs and the new content is only in the tags. (I don't use this tag often/probably ever btw)

#Upsetting Real World Stuff [On Blog] [On Tumblr] For the very few posts/reblogs that are potentially upsetting, E.G talking about stuff like wars or LGBTQ+ rights being stripped away, general transphobic stuff, ect. (I usually come to tumblr for escapism, so if you feel the same way add it to filtered tags so you at least get the warning pop up before seeing it)

#discourse & stuff like that [On Blog] [On Tumblr]I hate discourse. But sometimes the discourse comes to me even though I don't want it. If you don't want to deal with that stupid crap on this horrible website than block this tag.

Here's my other socials! Bluesky:

Youtube:

AO3:

pronouns.page:

Anyway I hope you enjoy my blog!

[fyodors-husband]

After edit : this has been rotting in my brain and my drafts for so long, its not very good and sort of OOC but take this I also forgot when Shang Qinghuas plot original death is, so its not specified and only referred to as 'The Mission'

(Hope you're okay with me expanding!)

______________________________________________

"Qinghua, stay." Came Mobei-juns commanding tone from across the room. "W.. What?" Shang Qinghua replied, looking back at his king with a skeptical and timid gleem in his eye

.

'This is it, the momment i've prepared for..' Shang Qinghua thought to himself as he approched hus kings working chambers.

The tall door creaked as it opened to reveal Shang Qinghuas frame standing in the doorway, Mobei-jun glanced up from whatever treaty he was working on to glare up at him "Yes?" He prompted as he glanced back down at the paperwork.

Shang Qinghua scrambled forward with a hefty stack of papers of his own in his arms, nearly slipping as he came to a halt and bowed slightly before Mobei-jun "Yes! Reports from the l-last assignment for you to sign, my king!"

Shang Qinghua blurted out, stuttering slightly as his thoughts fluttered, 'oh shit oh shit OH SHIT.' ran through his mind as he remembered this mission, the mission when Mobei-jun no longer had use for him.

He remembered Shen Qingqiu warning him, he vaugely remmebered jotting down a quick death scene with the original goods, and he remembered Mobei-jun stating how this would most likely be his last mission - although only mentioned in passing - it still stirred him into a panic.

'I'm gonna die! I'm gone! Its the end! Have I dine enough? Maybe he wont.. Fuck!' His mind rambled but he himself stayed silent as he set the papers he has fumbled in with down onto the table infront of his king, bowing again before stepping away.

Now, Shang Qinghua might not remember all he should about this world, having written it and all, hell he might not even know much! But he sure as hell knew one thing : He dosent want to die!

"W-well thars evweything my king! Ill be on my way out now!" He scrambled to turn and leave as he said this, not noticing the questioning look in Mobei-juns eyes, Qinghua had never bid him off like that before.. Odd...

"Qinghua, stay." Came Mobei-juns commanding tone from across the room. "W.. What?" Shang Qinghua replied, looking back at his king with a skeptical and timid gleem in his eye

"My king what are you-" he was cut off by a hand being raised to him, and Mobei-jun standing, fully, sheilding the light from the window behind him with his rather large frame.

'Oh no this is it! I'm done!' Shang Qinghuas mind started to ramble once again, he was sure he could've played it off like he was just heading back to his peak and get away! He was sure!

"You arent.. Thinking of leaving, are you? Qinghua?" Mobei-jun questioned, snapping him out of his thoughts. "My king I thought.. Well as you have no more use for me I-" he cut himself off and cast his glance down from the icy glare of Mobei-jun

"Your promise of 'following me until the end of your life' wouldnt do much good then, would it?" His king quoted him from the years before, somewhat shook, Shang Qinghua raised his head to look again, not meeting the usual icy stare, instead, a scowl with a soft and.. Hurt? Look in the tall demons eyes.

"Youll be staying." Mobei-jun commanded, walking towards Shang Qinghua and placing a cold hand atop his fur lined robes that hung on his back.

Shang Qinghua looked up once more, a small gleem in his eye and hints of a smile teasing at the corner of his mouth.

"Of course, My King.."

______________________________________________

Please let me know any errors or incorrect grammar! English isn't my first language so mostly what I know of it is from reading other works! Thus is also my first work in this fandom so please let me know if I did them justice

I know its not exactly what the original prompt was, and I apologize but I wanted to try and keep them as in character as possible!

I need some Mobei Jun on his knees begging for Shang Qinghua to stay with him hmmmmm

[mikaharuka]

2022 Writerly Year Review

I was tagged for this by @0nelittlebirdtoldme; I in turn tag the amazing @kayedium-writes, @udaberriwrites, @mrsmungus, @magma-saarebas19 and @sliebman10.

Total number of completed works: Let's go with 4 - technically it's 2, and the other 2 are works that can stand alone and have been put on hiatus for now, but could theoretically be picked up later on.

Total number of WIPs worked on this year: Hmm... let's go with 2 on this one. Technically I started writing Apricity last year on my own, but I didn't start posting until this year and I ended up throwing out most of what I wrote last year anyways. The other work is the 5+1 elemental interlude, Mahabhuta, that I started just as 2022 was coming to a close.

WIPs neglected this year: None, actually. Mostly because I don't intentionally take on projects only to never work on them. I had draft notes for WIPS from years ago in my Google Drive, but I never intended to publish them - those are just bonuses if I feel like going back.

Fandoms I've written in: Only two - Fire Emblem Three Houses (for Ferdibert, specifically) and Twilight/Life and Death (for my Winter Light verse)

Total word count: The 81k or so words I have on Apricity's first 14 chapters so far.

Looking back, did you write more than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you expected? Seeing as I totally forgot about my fics and didn't start writing again until August of this year, I'd say I did about what I expected, writing-wise.

Did you take any writing risks this year? Posting my long-fic to AO3 in the first place. I'd only done a few oneshots years ago in a different fandom (FE3H), so this was a total shot in the dark for me.

Do you have any goals for the new year? Write at least 500 words every day (so far a success on day 2). Get at least 1 chapter/month on Apricity, but also finish all of Mahabhuta (the 5+1 smut/elemental interlude piece), start this other 7-chapter long-fic that focuses on another character, and random one-shot bits that strike me here and there.

Biggest disappointment? That I couldn't write faster than 1 chapter a month. Part of that is my grad student life, but a good part of that is me contending with my ADHD brain, so...

Biggest surprise? That people actually liked my weird niche? Like... I threw out 98% of canon and went with this unusual Eastern-take and new lore, history, character dynamics and backstories... and somehow people actually like it? This is really strange and weird and doesn't have any ties to the fandom beyond the superficial 2% that I kept?? Especially people who write in and have tastes in totally different niches than what I'm writing? I'm flattered, but also shocked, and also grateful for the support!

Most popular story of the year? Naturally the long-fic, Apricity. Pretty much the only thing I published this year, so...

What's your own favorite story of the year? See above.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Uh... I don't think I can call out much here. My long-fic from this year and the few one-shots from long ago seem just fine to me?

Most fun story to write: Seeing as I'm totally lost in Winter Light brain rot, I'd say anything related to that universe and not just Apricity. Right now, I'm already 2k into Mahabhuta and find that surprisingly easier to write (I did that much in two days, for real!)

Most unintentionally telling story: Err... same as above.

My favorite part of fandom this year: Because of my niche, I don't really have a 'place' in the Twilight fandom in the traditional sense. But of course not - I freaking threw out everything that made that story. The only thing I kept were the names and appearances and very superficial pieces... so I can't really say that I'm part of that fandom even though I technically am. As a result, I found my space in multi-fandom spaces like on Reddit or Discord or now, on Tumblr, and I'm so very grateful for all the lovely, talented writers who've not only supported me, but also have shown me stuff totally out of my usual fare that I've grown to love quite a bit!

~Mizuka

[fedonciadale]

Few last asks here reminded me when I was anti-sansa (yeah, shame), just when books came out. Let's be real, I was projecting mean girl stereotype onto Sansa (+I believed she bullied Ary@). I was hoping "she will learn her lesson" and apologize to her sister(back then my fave). All in all, I didn't straight up hated her, I was just (REALLY) annoyed by her behaviour (now I love her more then Ary@). Aand then all the shit happened. (1/2)

(2/3) Eleven y.o. girl abused and molested by whole court? I felt so uncomfortable that I had to stop reading after her chapters and take a deep breath. And this awful assault by Hound. I still prefered Ary, but I was just hoping for Sansa to get out of this court of psychos and be(and feel) safe. Years later I found Tumblr and started reading how people were HAPPY that she was MOLESTED, that she DESERVED it. I quit fandom for almost twelve(!) years. And now I've blacklisted them all.

(3/3 sorry, it's so long) I must say: I don't understand this level of hate. I'm not bashing individual blogs. I'm just curious why general audience reacts so badly to girly kid that dreams of true love. If it was, idk, 2%, 5% I'd be cool. But it's sth around 40% of fandom that hates her dearly. Why? Pov trap wasn't THAT deep. At worst time she was insensitive not downright cruel. I can't quote anything, I block this kind of blogs at once, but I don't get this vitriol at teenage girl.

Hi there!

Sorry, this was sitting in my drafts and I sort of forgot about it over Christmas. 😳

I fell for the PoV trap as well and I liked Ary@ more at first as well (I honestly vibed with her because I was never very girly).

By the end of AGOT I pitied Sansa though. I mean regardless what she had done, Joffrey forced her to look at her dead father’s head. In that moment I felt bad that I had ever been annoyed with her, because surely you wouldn’t wish that kind of experience even on your worst enemy? And at that point I was  still convinced that Sansa played a role in Ned’s capture (which is not true).

Sansa grew much more on me during ACOK. I think I really appreciated her when she saved Dontos despite her own fear. That was when I began to like her. I was also a Jon fan (although season 7 and 8 Jon can rot for all I care), but the amount of hate Sansa got for the stupidest things made me defend her actions.

There are so many people in ASOIAF who are really vile but somehow a teenage girl who fought with her sister and called her names is somehow the worst.

As for why she gets so much hate? The answer is rather easy and frustrating at the same time: It’s the dudebros who only like “badass” women and the misogynists. Both are not necessarily male. I won’t name anyone but there is one blog with particularly astonishing Sansa takes and they are as far as I know a woman, but in my head they are always “dudebro” because they reek of internalized misogyny.

The answer is so frustrating because the misogyny comes so natural to some of them that they never question why they can excuse Bobby B for hitting “that bitch” Cersei (and Cersei is a villain, but that does not mean that it is o.k. that Robert hits her), or Jaime for being slightly condescending or Theon for how he treats the captain’s daughter (because he is so in pain, uwu - I mean, he is in pain, but in ACOK he clearly has a long way to go yet), or Tyrion for exploiting his sex worker Shae (and killing her), or.... you get it.

But somehow, a girl that dreams of a husband who is nice to her and takes her on a pleasure ride on a bark with puppies - that girl is somehow the worst character of ASOIAF.

Apart from the misogyny I think it’s also another effect that happens: GRRM forces you to live through Cat’s and Sansa’s uncomfortable and horrid experiences and their suffering from the patriarchy but there is no way out. No secret power they can activate, nothing. It’s just their wits and survival instinct. You cannot read Sansa chapters and be comforted by the security that she will escape that. It is as if GRRM shakes his readers and forces them to look at it, and apparently that is - especially for some men - very hard to swallow. It is uncomfortable because the readers are forced to look at that experience. And that is why some of them refuse to acknowledge it by victim blaming Sansa. She was a brat, she deserved it. She bullied Ary@, she deserved it. She betrayed Ned, she deserved it. If you look at Sansa’s suffering and tell yourself that she deserves it you can avoid admitting that the system as such is flawed.

It’s the knee jerk reaction of “not all men” or “some women profit from patriarchy” or “feminine women should just be less feminine.” If you blame the victim you don’t have to think about the fact, that it should not be like that. In a way you protect your own mindset from going to deep into how fucked up it is that women are supposed to dress appropriately and stay at home so that they won’t get assaulted instead of that men are supposed to just behave decently.

Thanks for the ask!

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

(what happened with this ask right here is: I started answering it a looong time ago, stuck it in my queue without finishing it because I have wayyy too many drafts and anything I put in there is as good as lost, it got posted because I messed up the scheduling, I realized I had a gross draft posted on my blog, I screenshot it in a panic and deleted the post itself, and then forgot about it because it was in my computer's captures folder, and I also have too many of these - hence the weird presentation. I feel like this poor ask's tale is more interesting than anything I have to say lmao.)

So, as a big fan of the Jedi Order, I have seen the Prequels and TCW many, many times. I think my 'Love Encouraged' series testifies to that lol. I have also seen the OT about 3 times, I think? And maybe 2 times for Rebels, idk. My EU knowledge isn't quite what it could be, but I've flicked through the major TCW tie-in books. Now, it is possible that that expression is used somewhere in one of those, but I don't recall it. And I can say with the utmost certainty that I do not remember that phrase EVER being used in canon.

(By the way: you know what is often a good indicator of something appearing in canon? Gifs. If you've never seen gifs or captures of it after a few years in the fandom, chances are it's a deformation of something else, or fanon. Ever seen gifs of Clones speaking Mando'a? Nah. EU + Fanon. Gifs of Master-Padawan pairs speaking entirely through telepathy? Nah. Fanon. Gifs of Jedi verbatim telling someone not to feel? Nah, it's a deformation of other things they have said that get interpreted a certain way. People make content around stuff that is significant. 'Do or Do Not'? Giffed. 'It's not that we're not allowed to have those feelings, it's natural'? Giffed. 'Be mindful of your thoughts'? Giffed.)

Now, what I think happened with that expression is that it started out as a saying in a fic or a book that got taken literally and then passed around. Like how "the bond between Master/Apprentice is strong," and now you have this whole thing in fic about near-tangible links in the Force that can get ripped out, get cut, start fraying, etc... It's not a canon thing.

The problem with that sentence is that it's so incredibly vague that you can just about slap any meaning onto it, and no I have no idea what writers are trying to convey with it, because chances are they aren't talking about the same thing!

The two Jedi teachings I can think of that consistently use the word "feelings" are these ones:

"stretch out with your feelings" (ANH, Obi-Wan to Luke), "be mindful of your feelings/thoughts" (TPM, Yoda to Anakin, AotC Obi-Wan to Anakin), "use your feelings" (RotS, Yoda to Obi-Wan)

"I cannot allow my feelings to cloud my judgment" (TCW S7, Obi-Wan to Bo-Katan)

No talk of suppressing them. No talk of ignoring them.

Now, I understand how you could go from "Jedi should not let themselves be controlled by their negative emotions" to "Jedi should let go of their negative emotions." Tomato-Tomahto, right? It's just words.

And then you can go from "Jedi let got of their (negative) emotions" to "Jedi release their emotions." And where would you release something as intangible as emotions? In the Force.

It's essentially a game of telephone. And then somebody picks up this new formulation from a fic, doesn't know it's made up, and rolls with it, and boom, you have a new part of Jedi teachings that nobody would be able to even define because it can mean anything really. Does the author see it as a good thing? A bad thing? What does it look like in practice? Who knows.

tldr: I don't even know what the concept is supposed to mean because it depends on the writer, but it's not canon (as in, not in the movies + TCW, and it's not in Rebels either).

[myfriendthedictionary]

So i read ur tags and um immediately started grinning fjsjfjd AAAAA THANK YOUUU!!!!! I MADE THAT WHILE MY BRAIN WAS BEING FRIED BY MATH (oh and also i was kinda sad cause um grades didn't really go as well as i wouldve hoped so um i get creative when im sad jfjsd) so AAAAAA I'M GLAD THAT WHATEVER I TYPED OUT ACTUALLY MADE SOME SORT OF SENSE FJDBC and yea it means a lot cause i've been working on whatever musical drafts pop up in my head for like,,,3 years now jrjxj (believe me there are,,,a lot,,of ideas,,, i frequently question the logistics of my brain not exploding yet) and i get really happy when people say that they like my ideas!!! So really AAAA THANK YOUU (also i'm glad you liked the lyric drafts cause i was literally just bullshitting around with that fjsjdj i operate on a whatever sounds good is good principle in writing and in music so yea hurray for me messing around instead of paying attention to the christian studies class)

also altho i dont plan on making a dr musical anytime soon cause let's face it that would be literal hell, me and my friend busied ourselves with conceptualizing a danganronpa fangame last summer and yea it's the game before v3 yea it has rantaro amami yea we spent a shit ton of effort on it (heck my friend even made sprites! ACTUAL SPRITES!!!) and honestly i really wanna make that someday even tho it's gonna be extremely difficult AAAAAA

DUDE trust me you have the coolest ideas !!!!! genuinely i was reading so attentively I almost burned what i was cooking on the stove because i completely forgot about it haha,, i would have had to sue you for damages /j but seriously !! it definitely did make sense and it was super cool!! im literally still in shock at how fleshed out stuff was after like. 24 hours. I have had nine’s concept for two years and i. still genuinely do not think I could explain what that concept is ahskdshaksh

seriously tho !!! I love hearing about people’s ideas!! if you ever want to ramble about them or anything please do so, im super invested already !! also seriously you have killer ideas my dude

AHSKDHSKSHDSL if there was to be a dr the musical, we’d have to get Jeremy Jordan involved after his work in death note ahskdhska,, i literally don’t know anything about death note but every song he sings in that slaps hahaa

that sounds super cool tho!!!! the dr fan base always impresses me with their dedication and ideas honestly... but i love rantaro and that sounds like a super cool concept!! fan games are so cool but the thought of making one makes me want to lie down and never get up ahdskah,, ive drawn sprites / roster art for a bunch of like rp-type fan games and ive done like. The occasional voice acting thing. but mainly i stick to having my dr ocs have brain rot w each other w my friends

I love the concept of sprites tho haha! also i love the dr fandoms like willingness to draw sprites for everyone. i have a sprite a mutual (@/italian-spirit but i don’t think they’re active on here anymore!!) of mine made a few years back of Me Personally if I was in dr which I cherish to this day,, i do not remember why it was created (I sure hope I don’t end up in dr) but I love it very much!

[izzielizzie]

Hi I have a request, but it's VERY au, but I've been thinking about it for a long time. So it's basically this: Maeve and Phoebe are best friends during the OOUIN time, I guess, and Maeve tells Phoebe about her cancer symptoms and her crush on Luis and they're at Brandon's funeral and they sit at a hidden place and Phoebe talks about Maeve's cancer and how she needs to talk to Luis and Addy, Kris, Nate, Cooper, and Luis hear. I think it would be interesting! Thanks love ❤❤ (love ur writing btw!)

ooo wow I love this idea, I’m going to pair this with another one-shot request I got where Brandon Weber is Mr. and Mrs. Rojas’ godson because they know Brandon’s parents, so basically Maeve is forced to go to the funeral to support her parents and because Brandon was her god-brother. Maeve and Phoebe are childhood best friends in this, like you suggested. Enjoy! Also this is the first time I’ve written from Phoebe’s pov so if the narration goes flat for a little while, it’s because I’m still trying to get a hang of her. Also Phoebe is being very sneaky in this fic, sorry, I like, ran out of ideas at some point. Okay I also read this over like two seconds ago it’s been in my drafts for forever basically, and I hate it but also kind of don’t? so let me know what y’all think. 

“Wanna get away?” Maeve whispers in my ear as I sidle up next to her. She looks cute today in a short black dress and leggings, and her hair is down for once. Although maybe noticing that someone looks cute at a funeral is socially unacceptable. 

“Sure,” I say as her hand slips into mine. I squeeze it once, our childhood code word for “are you okay?” that was invented when I visited Maeve in the hospital. She squeezes back with three quick squeezes: not really.

We’re standing between the church pews waiting for the funeral to start. Maeve’s been standing with her parents and Mr. and Mrs. Weber. and she looks so bored it’s actually amusing. 

“Mom, we’re gonna find seats,” Maeve whispers into her mother’s ear. 

“Sure honey,” Mrs. Rojas says absentmindedly patting the top of Maeve’s head. Maeve makes a face. “Oh, hello Phoebe dear,” Mrs. Rojas says wrapping me in a one-armed hug. She’s practically my second mother after having known her since I was three. 

“Hi,” I manage to say back before Maeve yanks me out of the aisle and down the pews to one of the doors leading to the balcony. We pause for a moment, look around, and push through the door when we’re positive no one is watching us. I don’t need to know where we’re going. Maeve and I found the perfect alcove for hiding a long time ago: on the upper part of the balcony on the same side as our family’s pews, where we can see all of the churchgoers, but they can’t see us. It’s saved us from many boring church services.

“I hate it here,” Maeve says once we drop into our usual seats. Maeve scrunches down until all I can see is the top of her head and her feet that she’s propped onto the bannister.

“Of this I am aware.”

Maeve holds her hand up and I take it in both of mine. Hers are too cold. I was honored when Maeve chose me out of all of her friends to tell me about how worried she is about her cancer coming back, but now I’m scared I’m gonna lose her every time I look at her. She’s withering away in front of me and there’s nothing I can do. “Wake me up when this is over.”

“Okay,” I say. The funeral itself doesn’t start for another twenty minutes, and Maeve spends the entire time with her head on my shoulder, her eyes closed. I’m not sure if she’s sleeping or pretending, but I squeeze her hand in mine and lay my head on top of hers. I’m drifting off too when I feel someone tapping my shoulder. I turn to see not only Addy Prentiss standing over me, but Cooper Clay, Nate Macauley, Luis Santos, and Cooper’s boyfriend Kris too.

“Hi,” I whisper.

“Is she asleep?” Addy asks, reaching forward to tentatively run a hand through Maeve’s hair. I glace up at her, and catch sight of Luis looking at her with that longing look he reserves for only her. I love Maeve with my whole heart, but even I have to admit that running out after their kiss was a jerk move. 

“Very,” I confirm.

“She’s so adorable,” Addy whispers as she drops her hand to her side. “We’ll sit back there so we won’t wake her.” She says, waving to the seats a few rows back. I nod as Maeve stirs against me.

“I know,” I whisper back with a nod as Addy steps away. Before I can think much of it I call Nate’s name. 

“Yeah?” He asks, looking at me weirdly.

“Bronwyn’s not here?”

Nate shakes his head. “She couldn’t get a plane here fast enough. Why?”

I shake my head, pursing my lips. I want to tell him and all of Maeve’s friends about her cancer so badly, but I can’t betray Maeve’s trust. She’s been my best friend for thirteen years. I’d be lost without her. 

“I hate funerals,” Maeve mumbles to me a moment later when the priest’s microphone screeches so loudly Maeve startles out of her slumber. 

“I know babe.” 

“God I can’t believe he’s gone,” Maeve says. She shifts a little, her right foot slipping down the banister. 

“Neither can I.” I’m hyper aware of the people behind us even though they probably can’t hear us, and I really hope Maeve doesn’t bring up my relationship with Brandon.

“I feel bad for my parents. I mean, god to lose your godson.”

My head snaps towards Maeve, who’s staring up at the ceiling. “I forgot about that. Jesus, I just called your godbrother an asshole. I’m so sorry.”

Maeve raises an eyebrow at me. “I hated him Phoebe. I just feel bad for saying that about him now that he’s not...” Maeve trails off.

“With us because of illicit activities?” I offer.

Maeve smiles. “Let’s not make it sound like he was a cult sacrifice Lawton.”

For some reason, that makes me double over laughing. Maeve sits up and shakes me. “Shut up someone will hear us.” I wave Maeve away and sit up. 

“Okay, okay, sorry.” 

Maeve smirks at me as she slides back down in her seat. I glance behind us and see Addy holding onto Cooper’s arm as she laughs. I catch her eye, glance down to make sure Maeve isn’t looking at me - she’s not - and then point to Addy, tap my ear, and then wave at Maeve and I. I’m trying to ask if they can hear us, but I must look like a madwoman. Thankfully, Addy understands because she nods vigorously. I give her a thumbs up and turn back towards the priest as he lists off Brandon’s virtues. None of which he actually possessed. 

I bite my lip as I contemplate my next words. Maeve doesn’t know that anyone’s behind us, and asking her about her cancer and her crush on Luis would be deceptive. But I also know Maeve. She’ll never talk about those things unless pushed. 

Oh what the hell? You only live once and all that crap. 

I start off with a logical question: “Are you gonna miss him?”

Maeve turns to me. “Who? Brandon?”

“Yeah, I mean he was your godbrother.”

“And?”

“And you’ve always wanted a brother, right?”

“I’ve wanted an older brother Phoebe. Not a jerk who pushed me into a pond, poured coffee onto my lap when I was wearing shorts, and called me Cancer Girl for like, three years.”

Ouch. When she puts it that way, my question was pretty dumb.

“Right. Well, it’s too bad you don’t have an older brother that’s nice. Not that Brandon would have counted anyway, he’s younger than you.”

Maeve gives me her you’re such an idiot look. “Um, Phoebe, have you met Nate?”

“I have,” I say.

“Then you’ve met my older brother.”

“Right. Sorry, I should have remembered that.”

“Mhm.” Maeve goes back to staring at the ceiling, and I glance back to Addy and co. Addy’s mouthing “awww” at me with her hands over her heart, and Nate’s smiling a little at the back of Maeve’s chair. Oh yeah they can hear us all right. 

“Too bad Knox doesn’t have older brothers,” I say.

“Why?” Maeve asks.

“Because then they would have been like your brothers when you dated him.”

“I suppose so.”

“Luis has an older brother.”

Maeve’s still staring at the ceiling, so I risk a glance back behind me. Addy’s grinning at me and Luis is rolling his eyes. 

“So?” Maeve asks.

“So if you dated him, Manny would be like your brother.”

Maeve rolls her eyes. “Good to know,” she says in her end of conversation voice. 

“I know right? You could ask him out you know.”

“No.”

“But Maeve why not?”

“No.”

“Maevey.”

“No.” 

I can’t stand seeing Luis’s disappointed face, so I don’t turn around.

“Okay, give me one reason why you shouldn’t date the very kind, very handsome, and very in love with you person, who would say yes in a heartbeat.”

Maeve looks at me, her eyes searching my face. “It would be unfair,” she finally says.

“To who?”

“To whom,” she corrects, sounding and looking exactly like Bronwyn. 

“Right, that.”

“It would be unfair to Luis. Because I’d be dating him under false pretenses.”

“What?”

“False pretenses Phoebe, it means-”

“I know what it means, I just don’t understand what you mean.”

“Because I’m dying.” 

Wow okay. I pause for a moment. I glance behind me to see five equally stricken faces. Looks like Maeve really didn’t tell anyone other than me. 

“But Maeve you don’t know that. because you won’t tell anyone.” My voice rises with frustration and I’m scared I’ll start yelling and won’t stop. I’ve had weeks of pent of fear and anger inside of me, and the fear of losing my best friend is the straw that might just break this camel’s back.

“God, Phoebe, stop yelling. And I do. I mean, I’ve had every symptom except joint pain.”

“Well that’s good,” I say sarcastically. “We’ll just wait for you to rot and die and if your joints start hurting along the way we’ll consider telling someone.”

Maeve stares at me. “Don’t you dare tell Phoebe Lawton.”

I’m too angry to think about the consequences when I wave dramatically behind us. “I didn’t need to babe. You did it for me.”

Maeve sits up, turns around so quickly I’m afraid she’ll get whiplash, sees Cooper, Kris, Addy, Nate, and Luis sitting behind her, sighs, and slouches back in her chair. 

I’m taken aback. “You’re not gonna yell at me?”

Maeve doesn’t answer, her hands over her face. Fear surges through me and I lean forwards to take her arms and shake her. “Maevey, Maevey are you okay? Please don’t be crying.”

There’s a cry of alarm behind me, and within an instant, Nate and Addy are on Maeve’s other side. 

“I’m not crying,” Maeve mumbles, her voice angry but resigned as she pulls her hands away to reveal her bloody nose. 

Nate’s pulled a napkin out of his pocket before I can even realize what’s happened. 

“Where are your parents Maeve?” Cooper asks urgently. He, Kris, and Luis have joined us.

“Downstairs.” I glance down to see the procession leaving the church. I catch sight of Mrs. Rojas’s red curls in the sea of black. 

“Hurry they’re leaving,” Addy says urgently, but Cooper’s already gone. I turn back to Maeve as she sobs into Luis’s shoulder. Fear surges through me causing my heart to thump and my head to hurt until Mrs. Rojas arrives with Cooper on her heels. 

The next hour and half is a blur. I’m in the waiting room of Bayview Hospital next to Addy. My head is on her shoulder and she’s stroking my hair. “She’s gonna hate me,” I say, staring at the wall.

“She’s not,” Addy says.

“Yes she is.” I insist. 

Cooper puts his hand on my knee. “You did the right think Phoebe. Maeve knows that.”

“I hope so. But if she doesn’t die, I’m gonna kill her. Did she really expect me to be able to keep a secret like that?��

Nate shakes his head. “That’s Maeve for you.”

I smile at him. “It’s cute she thinks of you as a brother.”

Nate gives me a half grin. “She’s been my little sister from the moment I had an actual conversation with her. I’m just glad she feels the same way.”

“She talks about you a lot. Well, all of you. You mean a lot to her.”

“Glad to hear it,” Luis says darkly. He’s thinking about their kiss, I can tell. 

“Especially you,” I say to him. “She’s just scared of hurting you. Give her time.”

“Time for what?” Maeve asks as she walks into the waiting room behind her mother. 

“For admitting you’re in love with Luis.”

“Right,” Maeve says. She looks too tired to be embarrassed. “Want to sleep over Phoebe?”

“What? You don’t hate me?”

Maeve smiles. “I could never. I needed a push, and you knew it.”

“Well thank god I thought I’d have to start asking Emma for rides to school.”

Maeve rolls her eyes at me as we all stand and walk towards the exit. “Love you Maevey Laevey” I say, using my childhood nickname for her as I throw my arm around her. 

“Back at ya Phoebe Jeebies.”

[cyberwavelit]

Gamer's Debt (Short Story)

"Crap, all I wanted was the gold chest so I can buy some extra lives. If I don't get any more extra lives, I'll lose all my gold when I die. How am I supposed to win if I have to pay for every damn thing?" Joden stepped down the ramp of his Blourgan cruiser and surveyed the alien landscape. It was barren except for the remains of a small village that he had just annihilated with a two-ton necro-missile.

"That's life. People are generally selfish, impatient, and insecure. Game companies use these weaknesses to motivate players. Maybe you shouldn't have blown up the village, is all I'm saying." The pilot of the cruiser, Jershamalama, spoke through his comm.

"But how does anyone get the hell out of this game if they can never win? I've been stuck in this hell hole for thirty days! My body’s back in the real world, rotting away.”

"Hey, you wanted to play, didn't you? Maybe if we travel to a non-npc sector we can trade off some of this junk we get every time we kill an enemy.” His pilot stared at him from the cockpit.

Joden looked back, “I feel like a slave. That garbage is only worth a pinto cent. It’ll take decades to get to the end game. And besides, that's if we can take off with all that junk. It'll take us a few hours to get back into the atmosphere. It's like a Fetch-22."

"You mean a fetch quest?"

"Yeah, something like that." said Joden taking out his cent-o-meter. It consumed his health bar as it scanned the surrounding sector. His eyes darted around his visor interface, looking at all the blips and bubbles that pinged. “I wish I could afford the Super Hyper Gold Jetpack that all the booster players use.”

“They only release that on the first Wednesday of every other month with a sign-on fee, an option to buy stocks in EternaEntertinament, a monthly fee, a mental evaluation, and maintenance fees when your able to grab it from one of the random places it spawns, like the Hell planet Infernum or the planet Madness Descent. Plus, I hear they only give you like a 3 second jump.”

“What?!” He nearly tripped over a crumpled alien body. “You can’t be serious. My mom’s going to kill me. I told her I was going to school. I figured I could just sign up for a few games, try my hand at Galactic Teamslayer, and be back at the rent-a-plex by nine. That was a month ago!”

“Relax. They won’t even notice you’re gone. Most parents have been sucked into this new thing called Binge Child Raising. EternaEntertinament created it too. It’s a simulation where adults can raise children and not have them become reclusive, angst-ridden failures. They’re really gouging everyone for money, real and fake, young and old.”

Joden was too focused on the horizon where a few blips were going off. They were purple, which meant that they were low-value targets. Everything seemed to be purple. “I never asked--how long you been here?”

“You shoulda seen it when it was it first came out. The servers would never load and you had to sit there, in the darkness, watching a timer run out as they patched their simulation. It was like holding your breath under water.” The pilot sucked his teeth. “Hang on a sec. Have to rate the game again—after this ad.”

“Yeah, I hate doing this every hour.” The astronaut picked up a child’s toy from the clutched hand of a sloblarian. “Wonder what this is worth. I heard that we used to play with things like this, not just video games where you pay to win. Up, hang on a sec, got an ad playing.”

Joden’s reality changed. He was sitting on a park bench. A duck came up to him, honking and pulling at his pants. The countdown to the end of the ad appeared in his peripheral. It quaked and quaked until Joden threw down a few coins to skip it.

Back in game world he was still holding the toy. He threw it down with distain and a lack of remembrance for such physical trifles.

He was then asked to rate the game. He voted as he always had, giving it a one-star out of three. There was a chime and a message: “We’re sorry you’re not enjoying your time in our game world. Perhaps if you were more openminded and understanding of the fact that you may not always get what you want, you might have a better experience with our merchandise. Please lower your expectations. Thank you.”

Joden coughed to drown out the message he had heard a hundred times. “I’m so tired of game companies stealing from us. Don’t they realize that it’ll only make the game suffer?”

“Yeah,” responded the pilot, “let’s go steal something.”

“I’m so tired, Jersh. I just want to go somewhere where we can kill an alien race and grind their bones into dust. What’s so wrong with that?”

“If you only knew, kid. On its launch the game world wasn’t even finished. Eterna used the gamers to construct most of the planets using the build-and-play incentive. Those gamers signed a contract that said that they had to make at least four hundred ‘products’ before they could actually the game. They called it the ‘fix-it-later’ release. The products they were referring to was one galaxy. Those designer gamers are probably still waiting…”

“Four hund--?” Joden held up his fist to the pilot, who had been watching from the ship’s windshield. “That’s extortion!”

“Welcome to the world. They get away with it because it’s a game world. You can do anything in the game world like gambling, murder, blackmail, forced labor, and forced sodomy. Nothing’s real so nothing matters.”

The astronaut had disembarked about five hundred meters from the ship. Steam bellowed from its worn exhaust. “Why did you call me kid? How old are you? I mean I know you have the same avatar as me…”

“Age doesn’t matter either. Yeah, I couldn’t afford the customizations either.” Jersh tapped his helmet. “So, I guess we both have the same face.”

“And same weapons, gear, armor, boots, ships, weapon skins, and abilities.” He noticed a large oval blob on his visor’s HUD. It was moving closer behind a small series of stone pillars.

“Oh no, I have the blue-skinned Rigormortis rifle. It’s got this badass blue stripe on the side. Cost me 20,000 gold, 200 platinum, and 4 of my lifesaving’s accounts. If I didn’t have this stripe, I’d probably go insane or worse, color blind.”

“Shut up, dude. Something’s coming. I think it’s a surviving sloblarian. I hear they get angro really quick. I don’t want to die here, man. I never bought a 600-gold resurrection pack. It’ll take sixty days to load back in…”

Jersh responded, sounding distracted, “You’re fine. Just cap it in the head or something.”

The purple blob was twenty meters away. If it wanted to attack it would have to come out into the open and charge him. He could tell there was movement but it was more restless than threatening. Joden took out his rifle and fired at the rock tower. The gun exploded in his hands, sending his obliterated fingers in multiple directions.

“Ah damnit! I forgot about the maintenance fee!”

The figure bounded from the pillar and slunk slowly towards the enemy astronaut. It skulked across the yellow, Phallusian sand with its omni-dexterous flippers. Arriving to the hunched-over human its tugged at his spacesuit and motioned for him to come closer.

“Gross dude, it wants to talk to me. What should I do?” The rounded head bobbed up and down like a rubbery ball. It seemed to be injured or at least miserable.

Joden heard distinct crunching noises emanating from the pilot’s mouth. “IDK. Step on it I guess.”

The polymorphous blob at his feet opened its crevice-like mouth and appeared to gasp for air. But it wasn’t gasping. It was whispering. He leaned down and listened.

“Dunk…prrray…Donk pppreeeey.” It was saying, and gargled as its lips flapped. “Doooonnk plllaaaaay. Chooose nut to pprraaaaay. Fyind sumting essl to do wilth yourg tyhme.”

“Oh, hell no!” shouted the man, as he squashed the creature’s face with his boot. It was like stepping on a water balloon filled with pebbles. He looked at where his hands used to be and screamed into the sky. “What does it all mean? Why do I always have to be punished! I’ve been in the same place for too long!”

"It's not good to live in a dream.” More crunching came from the ship. “You sometimes forget what life is like."

Virtual blood splashed onto the dry dirt from his nubs. A few splatters mixed with the alien’s internal fluids. The reflective pool at his feet showed his avatar’s face, the same face of his pilots. He searched rapidly for any signs of wealth or material possession. There was nothing but ooze and viscera. Tattered cloth around the dead alien’s head was smushed and torn.  

He turned toward the ship with a look of bewilderment. “How many gamers are trapped here? We can’t be the only ones. This game isn’t anything like what they advertised. They lied to us! Who would want to be stuck in this perpetual nightmare of pay-to-play, pay-to-build, pay-to-live, pay-to-pay mechanics?”

“I don’t think you get it.” The pilot was still eating. “Companies do this to consumers because consumers let them. The general belief is that consumers are very smart but when’s the last time you heard someone say: ‘I won’t buy that because it goes against my code of ethics?’ None, no one’s ever said that. People like spending money. It’s in our blood. Its our nature to trust rich people. They seem to have all the right answers even when they don’t. They make the truths that we all follow. Besides, how could they get all that money if they had bad intentions.”

Joden used his character’s remaining strength to rush back towards the Blourgan cruiser. He felt a draft of air coming in the direction of the ship, and heard the engine roaring to life. “What the hell are you doing?”

The mercenary vessel hovered three feet off the ground and its nose pointed at the runner. Its pilot could be seen through the windshield, “Sorry newb, you’re becoming to be a real downer.”

“I thought you were my friend!” he whimpered, his nubs heaving back and forth.

The ship elevated to ten feet. “None of us are really friends. We’re all just trying to make a living. And I need one more kill for the Slayer Award. We’re all just numbers.”

As he came to the plateau where he had disembarked, he held up his invisible hands to shield his face. “I just want to go home! I just want to go home.”

A cybersonic laser beam burst from the cruiser’s forward cannons. He felt the hot bathing light of the beam and then felt nothing at all.

“I can’t get out…I can’t…” He awoke in darkness. A screen appeared that read the same message he received hundreds of times, “You have died. Looks like you have low gear and feeble weapons. Would you like to buy a booster pack?”

“No.” he responded.

“A looter box?”

“No!”

He said the same words over and over before. The message continued, “You have elected to refuse game-provided assistance. This is a poor decision. In order to continue gameplay without using game-provided assistance please insert thirty-seven-point-one resurrection tokens.”

He wanted to cry but said, “I don’t have any.”

The automated voice paused and spoke again after popping up a sixty-page form. “Well that sucks. In order to continue please complete the loan agreement in front of you. The loan is for $6,000. Sign here, here, and here.”

Joden lowered his shoulders and looked at his current debt. It read: “-387,000.” He breathed out, collapsing his chest, and grew red-faced. “No!” he shouted.  

There was another pause and the form disappeared. For several moments there was darkness and silence. “Very well.” The automated voice returned. “You have chosen reincarnation. Goodbye.”

“No!” he screamed defiantly. “No!”

Then, all of a sudden, he felt strange. He looked out through oddly-colored eyes. His hands had returned but they had three fingers instead of five. When he tried to speak, he could only gasp through what felt like a straw. The sand that he walked on grew hardened in his webbed feet. An alien girl danced toward him, carrying a toy. She hugged him with pencil-thin arms and turned towards the sky. Tattered robes fell along his arm and he patted the girl’s head. He looked up, to where the girl was gazing and saw a massive fireball break through the atmosphere. A necro-missile came out of the fiery plume, heading straight for their small, stony village.