#Iridescence Fictional Universe

[chaoticgeminate]

HI YES HELLO I AM LOSING MY MIND OVER THESE TAGS

AAAAAAAAAA

"Come here, Nerys."

In response to the command a bark of defiance sounded from the pool, making you giggle behind your hand as Adelia sat beside you in the lounger with Oscar in her arms. The pair of werewolves had put you on bed rest following the birth of the twins, your mate and his daughter -and his pack- tending to nearly everything so you could recover.

It had been pretty damn traumatic, and you were still going through therapy because post partum depression was an ugly reality, but you had the support you needed to keep going and that was what mattered.

"Just pick her up, it's a kiddie pool."

"That's her territory, amor, I won't enter it without her express permission. Just like the big pool is yours. Werewolf thing."

"I'll get her then."

"You will not, I can do this, she needs to learn pack hierarchy."

"I don't take my seal skin off for three weeks, Frankie, my mother had to Change to feed me."

His brows shot up at the mention, it wasn't often you discussed your parents and even less after everything that happened once you'd learned your own history. But you knew it was important since this was your daughter, and he had no idea how to raise a selkie.

"Nerys, mija, come here please."

Another bark and the sound of claws scraping at plastic made you roll your eyes skyward, it was honestly just too cute. But you got up anyway, walking over to the pool, and crouched down beside your mate.

Your little one was rolling around the dry portion of the pool, trying to get to one of her toys, and her big eyes honed in on you the moment you waved.

"Nerys, do you want to swim with Mama?"

You extended your hands and smiled as she scrambled to come closer, the kiddie pool was shallow and barely let her swim properly per Frankie's paranoia. But she was a selkie, your little one, and you knew she could handle the pool.

Frankie shot you a jealous look but you knew that Nerys would bond with you more, just like Oscar would bond with his papa and half sister more since he was a werewolf. Frankie kissed your cheek and took your place on the lounger but his eyes were alert, trained on you and Nerys.

Your little pack was going to be fine.

[rabbit-flaying]

Humanity's Collector

Genres: Fantasy and Science Fiction

Content Warnings: Dehumanization, Kidnapping, Casual Violence, Claustrophobia, Mild Cosmic Horror

Note: I want to get back to positing my writing on Tumblr. Maybe someone will recognize this. Probably not.

"Gosh you're pretty," Glade cooed, its voice sounding a bit like Harlow's mother, a bit like a brook, and a bit like paper being crumpled up and cast aside.

Harlow looked around desperately. For he had to find escape from the strange realm he had woken in. All manner of miscellany took up space in the void around him. It looked like a storage closet, if every storage closet in the world were connected together, and the possessions of kings and paupers alike were granted permission to socialize.

He ignored Glade and stood from his wicker chair, quickly overwhelmed by the sheer size of the realm and number of objects held within it.

Above him the color white stretched out into infinitum. True white, not the dirty kind found in snow and house paint. It hurt his head, making his temples throb and blood vessels contract, so he looked away from it.

"Where am I?" Harlow demanded. "Who are you?"

"My name is Glade," it answered. "You're in my home."

Harlow made the mistake of eye contact. Glade's eyes shone with the light of galaxies, a dazzling rainbow of nebulae, planets, and suns. The entirety of the universe, and many more beyond it, seemed tucked away within the perfectly spherical marbles buried in the putty-like flesh of its glowing face.

He finally broke away from the hypnotic sight, his puny brain unable to handle the visions within. How much time had passed, every one of his neurons firing at once in an attempt to process the cosmos of Glade's eyes? Seconds? Minutes? Hours, even?

He needed answers, yet he did not know the right questions. Glade didn't seem human, instead a creature from a story book. And this monolithic hoard couldn't possibly be real.

"Your home?" he asked in a strangled sort of voice, staring pointedly at the patch of ebony wood ground he stood upon.

"I'm a collector," Glade explained, running their sharp nails, painted with glitter and adorned with scraps of emeralds, through Harlow's silky hair.

"What do you collect, exactly?"

Harlow watched a glittering blue beetle crawl across the ground, finding a hiding spot underneath a red and purple feathered ball gown displayed on a copper mannequin.

"All sorts of things," Glade said, flapping its hands wildly in a mimicry of human excitement. "Your world is fascinating. I remember when your kind learned how to create fire and tame animals. You have grown so much since then. I needed to have one of you for my own. Your creations are not enough any more."

Harlow carefully took in Glade's appearance, avoiding its hypnotic eyes. Despite its alien nature- as clear to Harlow as it would have been to his ancestors as they huddled around campfires concocting stories to explain their world- it chose to appear humanoid, though not precisely human.

Glade was the kind of thing that would hide in a child's closet, and speak to them in a parental fashion, loathing the knowledge that the child would never be believed no matter how loudly they spoke of its existence.

Its iridescent skin glimmered, changing colors with every movement, no matter how slight, as stunning light produced by the void poured over its body. Its proportions sat beyond the human view of normal, uncanny like an airbrushed model, but far more monstrous. Behind its smiling lips were two rows of porcelain and copper teeth, slicing perfectly through its pale gray gums.

Delicate jewelry of book pressed flowers and dragonfly wings adorned its warped elven ears. It was clad in a fur cape, the stitched together pelts of numerous small animals, fur colors clashing and asymmetrical. Its heels, as thin as sewing needles and seemingly impossible to walk on, granted half a foot of height to their seven-foot frame.

"Don't worry," Glade continued. "I'll take care of you. I've been collecting humanity's creations for millenia. You may use what you find around you to its fullest extent."

"I want to go home," Harlow said, finally realizing that this was not a dream that could be banished away by opening his eyes and pouring himself a cup of black coffee mixed with salt. "Please let me go. I'm sure there's someone who would love to be here. But I like my life on earth."

"But I wanted you."

Glade hugged Harlow tightly, mimicking how it had observed humans comforting one another. Its skin had none of Harlow's warmth, and he found this hug as uncomfortable as cuddling with a marble statue would have been, if he had ever been bold enough to break the omnipresent rule of not touching museum exhibits.

Harlow closed his eyes. "I have to be dreaming," he said, his lie cloaked in a defeated sort of tone. "This can't be real."

"Of course this isn't real," Glade said, holding its newest acquisition out at arm's length. "But it isn't a dream either. You are within my home, far outside of your universe."

"Please send me back. I don't know why I'm here, or how, but I can't do this."

"Yes you can," Glade said. "It's easy. I will take care of you, and you will be my plaything. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Harlow broke away from Glade, and took off walking. There had to be an exit. Everything had an exit, whether it be a school or a church or a corner shop. The exits were always there, saddened as they were that so many people were afraid to break the rules and only took advantage of their ability to leave at certain appointed hours.

The void still seemed to stretch on into infinity, swelling larger and larger the farther and farther Harlow walked. But everything had an end if you traveled far enough to find it. Even the deserts that passed past any human line of sight and the mountains that seemed too high to ever climb over.

But now Harlow was applying rules from his original plane of existence to the alien one he had been so rudely whisked away to. And that was very foolish indeed.

"No, that doesn't sound nice," he said angrily, as Glade easily matched his pace, wearing a concerned expression it had stolen from a grandparent not too long ago. "I'm leaving."

"You can't leave. Because I didn't steal you. The original Harlow Finch Echowood is still in his home, playing solitaire and chatting away to his cat. You belong here with me."

Harlow stopped in his tracks, sitting down on an ancient jeweled throne. It had held countless kings before him, but he respected them not, only using their seat to keep from collapsing in shock.

Glade smiled. "We are going to have so much fun, and no one will ever know you to be here. Come now, I have food prepared for you."

"I can't eat your food," Harlow argued, remembering what he had learned from a book that lived in his elementary school library. It had worn a shiny green cover, and the name Susan Macintosh was written inside the front cover before his own. "I'd never be able to leave if I did that."

"I'm afraid you've mistaken me for some of my cousins," Glade said. "You will eat, or you will starve. And you're never leaving because you belong to me. It doesn't matter what you choose to do."

Harlow stood up, his dizziness replaced with a red-hot temper. "I hate you! Let me go! You can't keep me here!"

Glade looked deeply wounded, but Harlow knew within the depths of his very soul, that it was only mimicry of human emotion.

"I couldn't send you back, even if I wanted to. Then there would be two Harlow Finch Echowoods trying to live your singular and unique life."

"I don't believe you. I'm still me. I still remember my life."

"You are an exact duplication of the original Harlow Finch Echowood. You have the same soul and the same mind and the same DNA. Of course you still remember."

With every passing moment, Harlow's belief in Glade's words only grew. Any attempt to fight against them was snuffed out by diluted logic and the omnipresent knowledge that he was still alive. He breathed. Blood rushed through his veins. More importantly, his mind continued to produce thoughts and feelings to process the outside world.

"Just combine us again or something," Harlow begged. "I want to go home. I never asked to be brought here."

"I cannot combine nor reconstruct nor mend. I can only make copies of beautiful things, and things not quite so beautiful."

Glade spread its arms, gesturing to its hoard of human objects collected in centuries long past. The treasures of every empire ever risen and fallen was present, both the spectacular and the mundane side by side in a discordant visual melody.

"Why me?" Harlow asked. "I didn't do anything."

"You speak as though this is a punishment. I have simply added you to my collection." It flicked the tears from his face, scratching him with its nail. "Now come, I have made you good food."

Glade gripped Harlow's arm and dragged him far away, weaving throughout its collection at a brisk and even pace, avoiding falling into the gaps between pieces of floor, which only infinitum laid below.

Soon enough, they came upon a small 1950s era kitchen. Two marble counters, a dirty stove, and a teacup filled sink formed a corner tucked away between a row of unplugged televisions and a huge crooked stalagmite growing from the polished tile floor.

Glade opened the oven and pulled out a pan of fresh bread. Its hands were bare, but unburnt by the hot metal dish. It grabbed a knife from one of the many drawers and cut through the bread without displacing a single crumb, before laying the slice out on a neon green plate.

"Eat while it's still hot," Glade said with a bright smile. It was a well used expression by those of Harlow's time who prepared meals for other humans, and it planned to repeat it often.

In its time spent with Harlow, its teeth had dulled significantly, and its gums had taken on a pale shade of pink. Why it had not mimicked a perfect human before meeting Harlow was beyond him, and it seemed perfectly capable of warping its appearance to become more like him.

He reluctantly tried the seed filled bread, finding it to be heavenly and soft. Faerie food or not, he scarfed it down, suddenly famished beyond all reason.

"Thank you," he said automatically.

"I have much food. It is scattered about my home, and easy to find if you look. It never spoils, so you may feast on it as you please."

Harlow sighed, and clambered up to sit on the counter. An act of rebellion his twelve year old self would have been proud of, even if Glade didn't give him the smallest sliver of annoyance, having no understand of manners itself.

"I'm really never leaving…" he said, his voice like a half-deflated party balloon still adored by a kid who refused point blank to throw it in the trash. "If that's it then, what happens when you get bored of me?"

"I never get bored of my playthings."

"How big is this place? Is it a universe, or a realm, or a room in some alien mansion?" Harlow thought these reasonable enough questions, considering his circumstances.

"An infinite pocket dimension," Glade replied. "If you travel far enough, my collection begins to grow thin. There is a boundary of where my possessions lie, and after that is the abyss. It is nearly impossible to find one's way back from nothingness."

"I hate it here," Harlow said, as though he had not made this feeling quite clear before. "I want to be around other people. Not you."

"I will bring you some," Glade promised. "Allow me a few minutes to collect them. You shall have a companion, as all humans crave, or more than one if it suits your fancy."

Harlow froze, debating his own morality versus the loneliness soon to bloom from this isolation. How could he allow more people to be stuck in this horrible purgatory of preserved humanity, just so he could have someone to talk to? The truth? He couldn't bear it. At least, not yet.

"No," he begged, the first tears ever created in this pocket dimension blooming in his eyes. "Please, don't put anyone else through this. I'll be good. I won't complain. I promise."

"Oh, how you confuse me." Something odd bloomed over Glade's face, a poor mimicry of a half-understood human emotion. "I see… Come along then."

Harlow hopped off the counter and followed Glade as it walked under a vast canopy of safety pinned together curtains fashioned from every familiar fabric and exotic cloth created by the hands of humanity.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Glade called in a sing-song voice. "I've brought a new trinket. This one can talk, so I'm sure you'll like it."

People approached Glade and Harlow from the shadows. Well, not people, exactly. They were like Glade, monstrous and wonderful, stepping straight from a story book and into Harlow's waking nightmare. There stood more figures than Harlow could keep track of, intent on viewing the treasure Glade had discovered.

"I finally brought a human home," Glade said proudly, if such a being were capable of pride. "Isn't it just a doll?"

Harlow flinched as numerous hands and insect-like feelers crept over his body, Glade's companions examining him all too closely. He felt as though he had jumped into those foam pits he had so loved as a young child, touched in all directions yet floating in oddly empty space.

"Get off of me," he demanded, forgetting his promise not to complain as he shoved the nearest figure away. "Stop it. I said stop!"

Harlow tried to break free of them, pushing and shoving, even striking at them with closed fists and elbows. But he was pulled back, the creatures murmuring in appreciation on how bizarrely Glade's newest acquisition behaved.

"Stop touching me," Harlow cried. "Please. I hate being crowded. What are you doing?"

"What is it doing?" the specter asked. It brought its freezing yet intangible hand to Harlow's face, as though to seize his tears.

"That is so weird," another remarked, clicking its pincers in an oddly specific pattern.

The different figures murmured to each other, formulating explanations.

"Is it because we're touching it?"

"It's water… I think."

"He's crying," Glade explained, flapping its hands in mimicry of human excitement. "It means it's upset. Isn't it the most delightful thing?"

"I hate you," Harlow said thickly, as tears continued to stream down his reddened cheeks. "I want to go home."

"You are so repetitive," Glade remarked, before perfectly imitating Harlow's voice. "I want to go home. I want to go home. I want to go home."

Harlow finally relented. As the nightmarish figures poked and prodded him, discussing him amongst each other, he only hoped that they would soon grow bored and move on to newer shinier pursuits.

How could he stand to do this for the rest of eternity?

[tinylongwing]

I'm here to play the ask game you reblogged!!! 3, 5, 11, and 17 please!!!! the people want to know <3

Hello hello thanks for the questions!

3. What are your favorite subjects to draw? (OCs, your fan faves, etc.)

Birds?? Hahaha okay I won't just leave it at that though. Personal favorites among them are birds of prey, and birds that have any sort of iridescence. I just love that stuff so much. I also *really* love to do insects - and thankfully sometimes I even get asked to do so. It's fun to see that tortoise beetle making the rounds, and there's a paper that's been submitted recently that has some bees and butterflies in it that I illustrated.

And of course all my fandom stuff. I have so much fun drawing fanart, you guys, I wish that the Lord Huron universe fandom was bigger so you guys would have context for all the stuff I draw. Johnnie is very close to my heart, as are his brothers.

5. What piece of art are you still proud of to this day? (Show or describe)

A persistent personal favorite is this illustration of California Condors for Siegel and Wilkerson 2022 in The Wildlife Professional:

(Unfortunately apparently the journal doesn't understand image formats so the online version of the article uses the CMYK image, so the colors are all messed up!! argh!)

That condor piece I think has some of my best feather rendering and I'm really happy with the wood texture too!

11. Have you ever drawn a meme with your OCs or canon characters from a fictional media?

I mean, oh perfect Friday is a very small meme within the LH fandom? lmao I think that's all I've got for this

17. Your personal favorite works of art (not made by you) are...?

Jeez, I don't even know, honestly! Go pick anything from the folks I named as inspiration from the last ask, haha. Here, I'll show one from Szabolcs Kókay and one from John Conway, but their portfolios are linked at those names and you should click and enjoy all their stuff.

Top: Brown Sicklebill, Szabolcs Kokay

Look, I'm telling you, I'm obsessed with this guy's work! What the hell! How does a human being paint like that! Obviously with decades of study but man I am so impressed with the sheer amount of detail he can capture. I would love to know how long it takes him to do his paintings.

Bottom: Brachiosaurus altithorax, John Conway

John Conway is one of my favorite paleoartists in how he presents these animals artistically rather than purely scientifically. He plays a lot with surrealism, pattern, and unusual compositions, and it's such a treat to see what his mind can come up with.

[mostdontknowit]

Books Read in May 2025

The Empyrean Series (3) Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros | Rate: 9.5/10

Out of the first three novels, this one is my least favorite, I still enjoyed it. I will admit it feels like I read it a long time ago. It starts of rather confusing. There are plot points that seem unnecessary in the beginning other than to [ R E D A C T E D __ S P O I L E R ]. It picks up around half way where you kind of get an idea of what this book is about. There are kind of two stories/plots going on and the title seems to have more to do with the romantic conflict than the aspect I found more interesting regarding Andarna's story.

The Midnight Library - Matt Haig | Rate: 8.5/10

I enjoyed this book. I kind of compare it to "Hotel Silence" which I read earlier in the year but they're still different. The Midnight Library I would say is Magic Realism. It's about a girl on the brink of a suicide attempt, she is suddenly in a library that allows her to take a look at other lives she could have lived. It's kind of like butterfly affect, but I wouldn't say it's a dark book at all despite the topic it's about; which is why I compare it to Hotel Silence. Takes a dark topic but doesn't read like a dark book. There's a certain light and charm to it throughout the novel.

Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy | Rate: 6/10

This book was very beautiful yet it was not for me. I recognize that this book is going to be very well received and I absolutely agree that it should. It has an interesting writing on nature, specifically about life in some of the most southern regions of the planet. It's about a family that discovers a washed up woman on the shore. Most of the book is from the woman's perspective but it rotates between each of the main characters. I've read books about nature before, which is kind of a sub-genre within literary fiction, in my opinion. I just found this book to be a little bit of a slow build. From a literary perspective, I think this book is higher than a 6/10. From my perspective that's about where I sit at. I got it from BOTM. It asked me how I felt about the book and I was honest, they gave me a free credit as a result, which I was NOT expecting. I felt kind of bad, but also appreciated they wanted to help me find a book that is for me.

Trials of Apollo (5) The Tower of Nero - Rick Riordan | Rate 8/10

How do I talk about this book? How do I talk about this series? I LOVED Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I enjoyed Trials of Apollo. But I didn't love the series. The final book was probably my second or third favorite in this series. However in all of the Percy Jackson Universe it was towards the bottom. I am happy I read it, I am rating it an 8 mostly because of my love for this universe. It was enjoyable. It was predictable which is good in the Percy Jackson books. But this one it just kind of was like "ok I'm ready to move on from this series."

Dallergut Dream Department Store - Miye Lee | Rate 9.5/10

I loved this book. It was another magic realism book I read this month. It's really just a cozy book. Most of the chapters could probably be switched around as the plot is just simply "cozy." It's about an employee in a fictional land that sales dreams (like yes, sleeping dreams) to peoples consciousness. I don't know if this was the authors intention, but I kind of pictured everyone as if they were the different characters from Inside Out. Just assorted colored marshmallow people that glow or are iridescent.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (6) Chalice of the Gods - Rick Riordan | Rate 9.75/10

It was so refreshing to get a new Percy Jackson book. I laughed a lot during this book. It was fun to read. It brought me back to when I first read Percy Jackson. I actually think there's more humor in this book. It's also a little bit lighter than past Percy Jackson books but there's still adventure. Percy Jackson needs to get recommendations from Gods in order to go to college. That's basically what starts this book and probably the rest of Percy Jackson Senior Year of High School.

A Court of Thorns and Roses (3.5) A Court of Frost and Starlight - Sarah J. Maas | Rate: 5.5/10

This book for my understanding is filler. I am curious if you need to read it for the next book in the series because if that's the case, I think this is a very skippable book. Nothing really happens, honestly. The main thing going on is the estrangement of Feyre's oldest sister and everyone wanting her to be at what is essentially this Universes version of Christmas. There's a couple more things that kind of just add on to the world. Semantics between people, the culture of the people. I think people put this book into the cozy category, which I love, normally But I think we needed to see a book like this as a collection of stories in the in between times during the books for it to work.

[real-justice-for-beforus]

i think you're qefinitely just wrong anq being "in a different universe" has nothing to do with it, put now i want to know which barts you think aren't real.

=> I will be answering this on Mod Remele's behalf since I don't feel it would be particularly beneficial for her to deal with further provoking on this matter => However, I think it's quite clear that she would have been referring to this quote; "[...] as cusps, brights, dulls, pigment shifts, and other color related mutations result in a rejection from most lusii," (Eel, Beforus-Cringe-Collector, '23)

=> 'Cusps' are extraordinarily well known to be a fictional type of troll invented for the popular book series In Which A Seadweller Is Born Also A Highblood And Unites The Two Castes In An Ultimate Form Of Water Based Clownery Etc (4675 AE) => In the sweeps since this book was released, the rare and fictional spliced troll caste appearance (commonly referred to as 'Cusps') has grown in popularity online => However, it has never been recorded in any living troll and is consequently not based in any reality => The idea of using this term in an academic context is honestly quite laughable

=> "Brights" and "Dulls", in a similar manner, are words that to my knowledge find their source in the theory first published by docterrorist Anrwir Belshr (5200), who proposed that there may be variations in the set blood colors of the existing caste system => Particularly 'Saturation Shifts', which in his hypothesis were unique to most trolls and could be drawn in scale => However this was later proved unfounded by Arioch Temter in a responsive study (5220) => Who was able to demonstrate through multiple test subjects that variations in 'Saturation' across trolls of the same caste was only found in anecdotal evidence => These were discovered to be caused by oxygenation levels, and occasionally dissimilarities in the individuals' diet, fitness, and overall health => The idea that blood within the same caste of individuals can be different is really nothing more than pseudoscience at this point => And continuing to spread this kind of information as fact or without at least warning of its existence as anecdotal is misleading and quite inappropriate for a scientist

=> "Pigment Shifts" is a term that can refer to multiple different conditions => Some of which (e.g. the "Iridescent blood" had by magic users in popular fantasy television show In Which Occultist Ritual Holders Attempt To Summon Spirits Without Psionics Etc (5525)) is purely fictional => Others (such as non-caste blood colors) are real and have been recorded for millennia, though it is inappropriate to speak about in detail => They are more commonly referred to simply as blood-color mutations

=> Grouping all of these terms together is something I would consider unfounded and even astounding in academics => Rather it is something you see by young fandom enthusiasts on online forums much like Grumblr => It was entirely appropriate for Mod Remele to regard these statements with suspicion => As more than half of them were completely non-scientific in nature

=> Really, she was actually being quite generous to assume the troll in question was from an "Alternate Dimension" => Due to the extremely unprofessional taunting she's received since responding to that, I think it's much more likely that these trolls do not take their science seriously whatsoever => Which is a shame => But not our fucking problem

[dustedmagazine]

La Luz — News of the Universe (Sub Pop)

La Luz takes a big day-glo colored leap in News of the Universe, expanding a spooky, surf-rocking, girl-group sound into psychedelic overload. This is a full-on, trippy symphony, evoking baroque late Beatles, Os Mutantes and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd.

La Luz bandleader Shana Cleveland has been through a lot lately, becoming a first-time mom and a cancer survivor in a relatively short period of time. On a smaller scale, she has also slightly reconfigured her band, adding drummer Audrey Johnson to the long-time line-up of Lena Simon on bass and Alice Sandahl on keys. Johnson is a fiery presence here, pummeling the toms in the intro to fuzz-guitared “Strange World” and executing wild, full-body fills in the title track, and a key factor in the band’s sweet but more explosive sound.

The disc opens with angelic female voices, recorded a capella, in twining, shifting harmonies. The brief lovely “Reaching up to the Sun,” set a standard; dizzying harmonies buzz throughout this shape shifting disc. They emerge, for instance, from “Strange World”’s frenetic 1960s Nuggets swagger and wreathe the chorus of surf-rock “Poppies” in iridescent euphoria. The sweet swirl of vocals infuses even the rocking-est of tunes with baroque pop tunefulness.

Sandahl’s keyboards shift these cuts in a psychedelic direction, whether circling in three-time in “Blue Moth Cloud Shadow” or vibrating with 1960s energy in “Strange World.” The bass is a big factor as well, bouncing insistently in “Dandelions,” for instance, to give this space-y, ethereal cut a bit of physicality. But these elements play around Cleveland, framing her airy, surreally pretty vocals and sharp, buzzing guitar lines to make them pop.

The title track brings every together, a fury of drumming subsiding into gentle melody, the stab of psychedelic keyboards and thump of bass putting flesh on Cleveland’s lullaby soft melodies. “News of the universe states it clearly/change is the only law,” she croons, giving a nod to the science fiction author Octavia E. Butler in the most fetching voice imaginable. The song changes around her, precise and modulated then wild and ecstatic, expanding into a universe of possibilities as she goes.  

Jennifer Kelly

[silverstormsxx]

Amore!Happstablook (Or simply Amore) - My Out!Code OC

They're a Happstablook from an Underswap copy who phased through a save point one day and accidentally phased through the code. They ended up in a sort of center point between worlds, from which they could watch other AUs through their savepoints.

Alone, and with nothing but their diary to keep them company, they eventually succumbed to their boredom and took a peek into other AU's - Outertale, Underfell, Storyshift, etc - despite their refusal to do so at first due to the fact that they saw it as an invasion of privacy.

Fascinated by the alternate worlds they saw, worlds that were so familiar yet so different, they began to see these AU's as plays, and themselves as the audience. They began to obsess over and even write stories about the characters they saw, to the point where the line between real and fictional blurred.

When they're not observing the daily lives of the actors on the stage, they like to write info sheets about them in their diary. This includes their physical appearance, personality, likes and dislikes, hobbies, secrets... etc. Amore basically knows everything about everyone due to their constant viewing of various AU's, so they have dirt on everybody. They jokingly refer to their diary as their "Burn Book" for this reason.

Their favorite 'character' is OG Mettaton. They see him as being a representation of their ideal life. A famous star, shining ever so brightly on the surface, unburdened by fear or insecurity.. and with their cousins at their side.

Their least favorite 'character' is Negativetale Mettaton. They don't like acknowledging the fact that there is a universe where everything is so.. hopeless. They also don't like thinking about how she met her end.

Oh well. Stars burn the brightest when they're on the verge of death. The show must go on.

They still have a love for romance, and watch AU's in the same vein as Act to Flirt religiously. They consider Underlust a guilty pleasure.

They have a playful and giddy personality, and are much less shy than they used to be. Since they haven't interacted with a living being in a long time, they come off as weird and overly cheerful. They do still put on a bashful and coy front, however.

They also have a tendency to treat other people like well.. characters. They obsess over tiny facets of their personality, put them into uncomfortable situations to see how they'd react, and doesn't take their feelings seriously most of the time.

They're also very knowledgeable and surprisingly perceptive. Guess doing nothing else but watching other people in their day to day life for a long time makes you pick up a thing or two about how people think.

They look largely the same as they did before, with some small changes. For one, instead of being pure pink, they are iridescent. They have eyes shaped like save points (which spin the same way as well.) They also carry their diary with them wherever they go.

[themarginalthinker]

@hypocriticaltypwriter *laughs manically as we slide into your dashboard*

Since you asked, who are we to deny?

This is all co-created with my writing and irl partner @berd-alert.

So, this is a collection of headcanons that, broadly, apply to just about anything we write within the Lost Boy's universe, but also some of it spills out into other vampire fiction we write, and some of it is SPECIFICALLY to do with our planned longfic You Can't Catch Me (and Make Me a Man), YCCM for short, which is in production right now and will be posted when it's closer to completion.

If you have any specific questions about THAT, feel free to ask or look through the, admittedly, small tag we have for it.

But! Here we go! Some vamp headcanons that we use as our baseline worldbuilding!

-Vampire bones opalize as they age! This extends to the blood, and by the time a vampire is about a hundred or so, their blood can appear white when spilled! Live long enough, and their teeth will flash rainbow iridescence.

-Vampire mate for life! We played with the idea of soulmates for a while, because we don't generally Vibe with the 'bound by fate, unable to fight it, you just Have to be with this other person, no choice' that most soulmate aus tend to have incidentally, but we found a little work around.

Vampires mate for life, but who they end up with is a bit of a range. There will be people a vampire will have Resonance with, people they just click with, drift compatible if you will, and they can 'date' around, but...once one is chosen, that's It. That is the mate for the rest of their unlives. It IS entirely possible that if a mate dies, the remaining of the pair COULD find another...but it would take hundreds of years to make enough mental distance to allow that to happen.

To give something of an example from our own story: David and Paul had Resonance, but so did Paul and Marko - Paul chose Marko, because they had it more. David and Star had Resonance, but so did David and Michael, and David chose Michael.

-Clans! You were given the other two vampire social groups in the previous post, but there is technically a third!

Clans are a group of vampires that are in no way related - don't share a sire, aren't born of another vampire in that group, literally just a collection of people living and working together. Clans are...the largest, but most unstable of any vampire social unit, unbound by packbond or blood. They can hold pretty big territories, but that power tends to be tenuous and prone to collapse and scattering. Occasionally you get a matepair gathering nomads and singletons to try and form something like an adopted pack, but they don't tend to stick together nearly as long as an actual pack or coven. This doesn't mean that clans are inherently violent or anything, it just means it's a much more open and loose, but less secure social arrangement for all involved.

-Nomads: singleton or matepair vampires who hold no territory and wander instead. (Fun fact, Alan Frog almost ends up like this in our offshoot story Flight Feathers because of Reasons ;) )

Magic and vampiric Banes/Boons

This gets its own little section because it's a little..long.

Banes/Boons: Just like in Twilight (yes! I know! I thought SOME of the vampire worldbuilding was a little cool! SMeyer is still,,..sus tho for a number of reasons) vampires all have a special little ability they get when they turn! A boon. Sometimes it can even manifest in their fledglinghood, but usually it takes fully turning for it to appear.

And just like getting a special ability, they also get a weakness that's particularly bad. A bane.

David: Boon - inducing hallucinations, false visions and even some tactile sensation (ie, making them feel heat, wind, the crawling of insect feet when it's not real). Bane - he is REALLY sensitive to sunlight. The others would take a few minutes of blistering and smoking to get to burning in the light, but David IMMEDIATLY goes up in flames. He can't even take sunsets/sunrises. It's bad.

Dwayne: Boon - animal communication/command. He can make animals do whatever he wants, and understand their thoughts and intentions. Bane - arithmomania. The old vampire folklore compulsion to count large groups of small items, like bowls of sesame or poppy seeds, beans, beads, that kinds of thing.

Paul: Boon - mist transformation (also called incorporeality or 'vaporous transmogrification' if you wanna be fancy). Bane - affected by holy/blessed/consecrated objects and ground. Now, this one can apply to a number of things, not JUST Christian/Catholic religion. It depends wholey on the intent of the blessing and object. If someone were to sincerely cast a pentagram for healing and life, Paul would still be hurt by touching or being around it.

Marko: Boon - mockingbird/doppleganger. Marko has this neat little ability where as long as he's heard it enough, he can mimic a person's exact voice and certain sounds, and cast a false image of himself into reality. Like a mirror illusion. (Paul and Marko are literally 'smoke and mirrors' lol.) So don't go wandering out into a dark woods at night if you THINK you hear a baby crying, or your friend crying for help, especially if you don't KNOW it's them. Bane - He's affected the most by herbal wards against vampiric energy, ie, wild rose, garlic blossom, mountain ash, and such.

Michael: Bane - extra sensitivity to running water. The others can at least stand to take a shower, but Michael can barely even do that. He can't swim in a river, or the ocean. Full body burns as if he's stepped into the sun. Now, we go more into detail with this in the story, but Michael's Boon is a little odd, and makes more sense in the narrative. Memory visions. If he spends enough time around you, he will eventually start getting visions of your memories.

Also, as something else to look over as background for how the world works, here is a post detailing magic and what...vampires even are. Short answer: they're a kind of fae. The old kind. Spooky, dangerous, scary, powerful. It goes more into detail than needs be here.

But uh. Yeah. Headcanons for the worldbuilding of the world the Lost Boys inhabit. There's a lot more, but that ties a bit more firmly into the story of You Can't Cath Me. Again, any questions you might have, feel free to ask us! You can also find more little tidbits collected under my Lost Boys Masterlist in my pinned blog post.

Thanks for showing interest! We adore talking about this stuff. :>

[archupnet]

The University of Shiz: Where Neo-Gothic Meets Sustainable Fantasy The University of Shiz, the film’s central architectural icon, blends 19th-century Neo-Gothic grandeur with futuristic ecological design. Production designer Nathan Crowley (known for Interstellar) reimagined Oxford-style academia through a fantastical lens: - Façade & Structure: - Soaring limestone spires (reaching 200 ft digitally) echo Westminster Abbey, while stained-glass domes (inspired by Paris’ Sainte-Chapelle) filter light into prismatic hues. - A 120-ft-wide glass atrium with suspended floral installations (3,000+ silk orchids) symbolizes the merging of nature and magic. - Sustainable Illusions: - 80% of set materials were recycled or repurposed, including LED-backlit "stained glass" made from reclaimed resin. - The library’s floating bookshelves (a nod to M.C. Escher) used lightweight aerogel composites, reducing structural load by 40%. Wicked architecture Glinda’s Chamber: Baroque Opulence Meets Biophilic Design Ariana Grande’s Glinda inhabits a space that mirrors her duality — ethereal yet calculated. The 2,500-sq-ft chamber, designed by Emmy-winner Gemma Jackson, features: - Ceiling: A frescoed dome (60 ft diameter) depicting cloud motifs, painted with luminescent algae-based pigments that glow under UV lighting. - Walls: Boiserie panels gilded in 24-karat gold leaf, juxtaposed with vertical hydroponic gardens growing iridescent fictional flora. - Centerpiece: A swirling marble staircase (material: Calacatta Viola) leading to a levitating vanity, suspended via magnetic fields — a technical feat developed with MIT engineers. Color Theory as Structural Language The film’s palette, curated by Oscar-winning cinematographer Linus Sandgren, acts as a spatial narrative tool: LocationColor SchemeArchitectural ImpactElphaba’s TowerDeep emerald (Pantone 19-5230 TCX)Angled brutalist arches cast shadows that deepen the green’s intensity, mirroring her isolation.Emerald CityChromatic gold (RGB 212,175,55)Gilded geodesic domes reflect light to create a “halo effect,” symbolizing manipulated perfection. The Grand Hall of Unity: A Lesson in Scale & Symbolism The climactic ballroom scene’s set (shortlisted for the 2025 ADEX Design Award) redefines opulence: - Dimensions: 400 ft long, with a 100-ft vaulted ceiling supported by 12 twisted columns resembling enchanted vines. - Flooring: A tessellated mosaic of 750,000 hand-cut glass tiles, arranged in Fibonacci spirals to guide viewers’ sightlines. - Acoustics: Collaboration with Buro Happold engineers ensured the hall’s curvature amplified vocals naturally, avoiding post-production edits. Architectural Critique: Fantasy or Feasibility? While Wicked’s designs dazzle, they spark debates: - Pros: The biophilic integration (e.g., living walls in council chambers) offers a blueprint for sustainable civic architecture. - Cons: The reliance on CGI backdrops (60% of exterior shots) risks diluting tactile authenticity — a challenge for real-world architectural visualization. Awards & Recognition - 2025 Oscar Nominations: Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects. - Sustainable Art Direction Award: Art Directors Guild, 2024. Image Credits: - Emerald City Concept Art: Nathan Crowley Studio. - Glinda’s Chamber Blueprints: Gemma Jackson Archives. https://archup.net/modern-trends-in-building-materials-for-interior-design/ Read the full article

[o0-iris-0o]

Luminous | Xiao x [F] Reader

Description: After months of isolation and endless work, your friend insists on taking you out for a night of music and escape. But a stranger at the bar has an offer that might take your life in an unexpected direction.

Warnings: Dark Themes | NSFW | 18+

Chapter: 29/29

V AO3 Tags Below V

Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Major Character Death | Dead Dove: Do Not Eat | Dark Fiction | Horror Themes | Depression | Anxiety | Angst | Emotional | Crying | Involuntary Medical Procedures | Blood | Needles | Injections | Vomiting | Captivity | Yandere Themes | Physical Altercations | Drugs | Drug Use | Alcohol | Intoxication | Gangs | Guns | Combat | Action | Romance | Enemies to Lovers | Cuddling and Snuggling | Fluff | Smut | Plot with Porn | Vaginal Fingering | Vaginal Sex | Oral Sex | Cunnilingus | Blow Jobs | Sex on Drugs | Bloodplay | Knifeplay | Hair Pulling | Rough Sex | Gentle Sex | Dom Xiao | Alatus (Genshin Impact) | Aftercare | Reader-Insert | Reader is Not Traveler | POV First person | Alternate Universe - Future | Diluc Cameo

< CH. 28 | Iridescent (WIP) CH. 1 >

Chapter 29

A ding rings off the walls of the confined space as the door slides open, revealing an empty suite bathed in early morning light. 

“Hm, the repairs are coming along nicely…” Xiao comments as we step into the spacious room. “But it’s still pretty empty, huh? Guess we’ll be staying in one of the inn rooms for now.”

I nod in agreement as he glances in my direction, and we make our way across the room side by side. Approaching the opposite wall, Xiao pulls at a tarp to reveal solid glass and a more or less completed terrace beyond it. He quickly locates the door a few paces away, its surface gleaming like new. With a gentle push, the door glides open, and Xiao gestures for me to step outside first. 

The cold breeze floats past as I hesitate. “Are you sure we should be going out there? What if it’s dangerous? It might not be finished yet…” 

“Stop worrying so much—it looks fine to me,” he says, peeking his head out the doorway. His hand slips behind my back, nudging me forward as I resist. “Besides,” he adds with a faint smirk, “I’ll catch you if you fall.”

A chill creeps under my sweater as we step onto the terrace. The tiles gleam, polished and pristine, as we walk around the perimeter of the unfilled pool. I glance into its depths before following Xiao to the railing. He leans against it without hesitation, but I hold back, still skeptical of the unfinished construction. 

He sighs, lowers his head, and mutters, “It does feel good to be back, finally…”

Quietly, I take in the familiar cityscape. The towering buildings are just as I remember. The soft wind whistles past, and Xiao’s hushed voice breaks the silence. 

“Hey,” he starts. “I’m sorry for not telling you about any of this… for not telling you a lot of things.” Resting his cheek in his hand, he gazes out at the city, his expression solemn.

My gaze drops to my hands as I tentatively place them on the railing. “You uh… knew I was poisoned,” I mumble, almost inaudibly.

“Yeah…” He sighs. “I wasn’t sure what to do when I found out, and I didn’t want to freak you out. I tried to handle it quietly, but there wasn’t much I could do. Honestly, I knew Lumine was coming—I just didn’t know when.” He presses two fingers briefly to the bridge of his nose. “I was making decisions as they came. I didn’t have a plan, but… the timing couldn’t have been better. The only way to get a cure for you quickly was by getting in the abyss and finding it myself, so I took the opportunity.”

“Well, you definitely had us fooled,” I reply with a small smile. “I’m not sure if Shenhe will forgive you after that.” I add half-jokingly. 

“Oh, don’t remind me…” He groans. “Archons know I don’t want to deal with that mess yet.” He casts a weary glance at the skyline.

Silence descends over the conversation, but before it can settle, I disrupt it. “Was there… really no way we could’ve helped Lumine?”

Xiao’s shoulders drop slightly. “Lumine was too far gone. She’d been in there for hundreds of years. There was no way to restore her mind. The only thing we can hope for now is that she rests peacefully. Maybe—one day—we’ll all get to meet again.” He shrugs lightly, his voice steady. “I’m more certain of that now more than ever.” 

His gaze shifts to me, and mine meets his. For a moment, he studies me thoughtfully before standing upright and stepping closer. “That reminds me,” he says, reaching toward me. Confused, I give him a questioning look as he slips a hand under the collar of my sweater and pulls out the star-shaped pendant clipped around my neck. I’d almost forgotten it was there. 

The pendant rests in his hand before he curls his fingers around it. My eyes widen as he tugs at the chain, snapping it with a faint pop.

“H-hey!” I exclaim, raising my hands to stop him, but he’s too quick. He tosses the necklace over the railing into the city streets below. “What the hell was that?!” I demand, glaring at him in disbelief.

“Don’t worry—that thing was a piece of garbage anyway. You don’t need it. I’ll get you something better, something nicer,” he says nonchalantly, slouching against the railing. 

“That doesn’t matter. That was a bit unnecessary, don’t you think?”

“If it makes you feel better, we can pick something out together tomorrow.” His hand lands gently on my shoulder, his thumb brushing in a calming gesture. “We still need to bring the other two home later and update Baizhu on everything. He’s probably waiting on my findings to refine the serum’s formula. He’ll probably want to check on you, too, to make sure you’re okay.” Xiao retracts his hand, exhaling heavily. “But we can deal with all that later. Right now, I can barely think straight.”

I watch as Xiao closes his eyes, my thoughts replaying everything that’s happened—the fight, my time with Baizhu and the others, and the terrace when it was still in ruins. It has been draining, hasn’t it? Resting my head on my folded arms, I lean into the railing and quietly gaze at Xiao’s tranquil form. 

“So this was what you were keeping from me, hm?” I mutter, causing Xiao’s eyes to flicker open. “But wait… Shenhe didn’t know? Neither did the others. What’s that about?” 

“Ah, that.” His gaze locks on mine, steady and unreadable. “That’s actually… something entirely different.” He hesitates. “You were right—you deserve to know. But honestly, I’m afraid to tell you.”

“Why?” I ask softly.

“Because I’m nervous you won’t believe me.” Despite his words, his delicate smile tugs at his lips. “How about this?” He straightens slightly. “Why don’t we go ask the front desk to unlock a spare room for us, settle in, and I’ll tell you a nice, long story. It’s about a different time… and a person who holds an exceeding amount of importance to me. Then, after that, you can decide what you think and what to do from there. How does that sound?”

Curiosity flickers in my chest. Unconsciously, I return his smile. “Alright. Lead the way, then.”

< CH. 28 | Iridescent (WIP) CH. 1 >

[kavrillia]

A Pain of Thrones

(Yeah, I went there.)

ARGGGH I'm thisclose to giving up and not naming the throne of the Lanarian Empire, after all. Everything I Google is already taken, sounds stupid, or has connotations I don't want.

"Sapphire Throne" would be perfect but apparently that's a biblical thing.

Azerite is really soft and not suitable to build anything out of, and doesn't age well.

Tri-moon was some social media celeb in the wrestling fandom who died to suicide. Triple Moon brings up all kinds of neopagan stuff.

"Pearl Throne" mostly brings up ads for drum accessories, and obits for old ladies with that as their actual name. A few fictional universes use the term, but not any that seem super well-known. So that's not completely out of the realm of possibility, I guess.

"Triple Pearl Throne" brings no search results (with quotes around it,) but strikes me as too wordy. Ditto for Tri-Pearl Throne. Regardless, those don't work well because Kavrillia basically has the equivalent of Earth's Moon, plus Mars' Phobos and Deimos. Only one resembles a pearl.

Nacre or Nacreous Throne isn't horrible, but doesn't thrill me, either. Pearlescent Throne is okay-ish. But it's not like the whole thing is iridescent, just the trim, so that imagery doesn't really do it for me.

I even entertained the idea of grekk teeth being incorporated into the throne somehow, as they can't be killed by Kavrillians, and a dead one washing up is considered a good omen in Lanarian culture. So Melsar the Conqueror could have found one in his travels and claimed some of the teeth. A grekk's jaw wouldn't even fit in the throne room, but a fang or two would--or they could cut off part of one to make it fit better. But what would that be called? The Grekk Tooth Throne is silly. Grekk's Fang Throne sounds more like an orc thing. Grekk's Bite? Grekk's Edge? Throne of Pearl and Fang? No. Just no.

(I've noticed soooooo many fantasy novels lately with titles in the format of "A ______ of _______ and ______." I don't know if it started with A Song of Ice and Fire, but there are a ton out there. At least my working title is "The _____ of ______." Totally different. Heh.)

Sigh.

I just thought it would be a cool bit of worldbuilding to have the Lanarian throne be named, especially since a major plot thread is the struggle to seize and reclaim said throne.

Maybe it's not that big a deal, since the actual throne is only used for photo ops in modern times, and it's the desk and office chair that hold the power now. I suppose I could follow the example of the White House's Resolute Desk and name that, but it's only a few hundred years old and not nearly as symbolic as The Throne.

And arguably the most famous real-world monarchy still in power is the British one, and their throne doesn't have a name as far as I know.

...

It's a good thing nobody reads this blog because if you were judging my writing based on these stream-of-consciousness brainstorming rambles, you'd never want to read the actual book. LOL

[nyctoelocin]

THE QUANTUM QUEST (SCRIPT)

Catacutan, Nicole C.

San Isidro, Magalang, Pampanga

09674925163

nicolecuabo@gmail.com

CHARACTERS

Dr. Emily Reed: The fearless leader of the expedition and a brilliant physicist with a passion for exploration. Dr. Marcus Chen: A seasoned scientist and Dr. Reed's trusted colleague. Maya Patel: A young and enthusiastic graduate student, eager to prove herself in the field of quantum physics. Professor Daniel Montgomery: A renowned physicist and mentor to Dr. Reed. The Guardian: An enigmatic being who watches over the quantum forest, protecting its secrets from intruders. TIME

2024

SYPNOSIS

"The Quantum Quest" follows the journey of Dr. Emily Reed and her team of scientists as they venture into the mysterious quantum forest, a realm where the laws of physics are upended, and reality is a fluid concept. When anomalous readings are detected emanating from the heart of the forest, Dr. Reed and her team set out on an exhilarating adventure to uncover the secrets hidden within its depths.

As they navigate through the surreal landscape of the quantum forest, they encounter strange phenomena, from trees that communicate through pulsating lights to animals with iridescent fur. Along the way, they must solve mind-bending puzzles, confront their deepest fears, and forge unlikely alliances with enigmatic guardians who dwell within the forest's shimmering depths.

But as they draw closer to the source of the anomalies, they find themselves embroiled in a cosmic struggle for the fate of the universe itself. With the help of newfound allies and the power of science as their guide, Dr. Reed and her team must unravel the mysteries of the quantum forest before it's too late.

"The Quantum Quest" is a thrilling adventure that combines elements of science fiction and fantasy, taking audiences on a journey into the unknown where anything is possible and the boundaries of reality are constantly shifting. It's a tale of discovery, friendship, and the boundless potential of the human spirit to overcome even the greatest of challenges.

……

[Scene 1: The Lab]

In a bustling laboratory filled with whirring machines and buzzing computers, Dr. Emily Reed and her team of scientists are hard at work. Dr. Reed, a passionate physicist with a spark of curiosity in her eyes, is hunched over a computer screen, analyzing data with intense focus.

Dr. Reed: (Excitedly) Hey, everyone! Come take a look at this!

Her team gathers around, their faces reflecting curiosity and anticipation.

Dr. Reed: Our sensors have detected something extraordinary in the quantum forest!

The team leans in, peering at the screen with interest.

Dr. Reed: These readings are unlike anything we've ever seen before. It's as if the forest is pulsating with energy, sending ripples through the fabric of reality!

Cut to a montage of the team preparing for an expedition, donning their gear and packing supplies for the journey ahead.

[Scene 2: The Quantum Forest]

The team enters the quantum forest, a surreal landscape filled with shimmering trees and strange, glowing flora. The air crackles with electricity, and the ground beneath their feet seems to shift with each step they take.

Dr. Reed: (In awe) It's like stepping into a different dimension altogether. Everything here feels alive, vibrating with energy and possibility.

As they venture deeper into the forest, they encounter bizarre phenomena: trees communicating through pulsating lights, animals with iridescent fur darting through the underbrush, and swirling vortexes of energy that seem to defy gravity.

Dr. Reed: (Excitedly) This place is a treasure trove of scientific discovery! We need to document everything we see.

The team sets up their equipment, taking measurements and collecting samples as they go. But as they delve further into the forest, they come across a clearing unlike any they've seen before.

[Scene 3: The Enigmatic Portal]

In the center of the clearing stands a towering structure—a portal crackling with energy, casting an otherworldly glow over the surrounding landscape.

Dr. Reed: (Eyes wide with wonder) That must be the source of the anomaly! But what could it be?

They cautiously approach the portal, marveling at its shimmering surface.

Dr. Reed: This is incredible! It's like staring into the heart of the universe itself.

But before they can investigate further, a voice echoes from the depths of the portal—a voice that seems to resonate with the very essence of the forest.

Entity: (Echoing) Who dares to trespass in this sacred realm?

The team freezes, their hearts pounding in their chests as they turn to face the source of the voice.

Dr. Reed: (Nervously) We… we're scientists. We come in peace, seeking to understand the mysteries of this place.

The entity materializes before them—a being of pure energy, its form shifting and shimmering with every passing moment.

Entity: (Intrigued) Scientists, you say? Fascinating. I am the guardian of this realm, tasked with protecting its secrets from those who would seek to exploit them.

Dr. Reed: (Respectfully) We mean no harm, guardian. We only wish to learn.

The guardian regards them for a moment, its glowing eyes flickering with curiosity.

Entity: Very well. If you seek knowledge, then prove yourselves worthy. Solve the riddles of the quantum forest, and the secrets of the universe shall be yours to uncover.

With that, the guardian vanishes into the depths of the portal, leaving the team to ponder its cryptic words.

[Scene 4: The Quest Continues]

Determined to prove themselves, Dr. Reed and her team embark on a journey of discovery, navigating the twists and turns of the quantum forest in search of answers.

Along the way, they encounter myriad challenges: puzzles that test their intellect, obstacles that push their limits, and revelations that challenge their understanding of reality itself.

But with each obstacle they overcome, they grow stronger and more determined, fueled by their insatiable thirst for knowledge and their unwavering belief in the power of science to unlock the mysteries of the universe.

And as they press onward, ever closer to unraveling the secrets of the quantum forest, they can't help but wonder what other wonders lie waiting to be discovered beyond the shimmering veil of the portal.

[Scene 5: Epilogue]

In the end, Dr. Reed and her team emerge from the quantum forest victorious, their minds ablaze with the knowledge they have gained and their hearts filled with a newfound sense of wonder and awe.

Though their journey may have come to an end, their quest for understanding is far from over. For as long as there are mysteries to unravel and secrets to uncover, they will continue to push the boundaries of science, exploring the vast expanse of the cosmos in search of truth and enlightenment.

And who knows what wonders await them on their next adventure? Only time will tell, as they embark on yet another journey into the unknown, ready to face whatever challenges may come their way with courage, determination, and the unshakeable belief that, with science as their guide, anything is possible.

[The screen fades to black as the credits roll, accompanied by the stirring melody of discovery and exploration.]

[henryxburnham]

↪ introduction to henry burnham.

BASICS.

full name: henry james ambrose burnham. nickname(s): sunshine, bucky. age: thirty-four. date of birth: 17 january 1990. zodiac sign: capricorn. place of birth: casper, wyoming, united states. ethnicity: white. nationality: american. gender: genderfluid. they/them & he/him pronouns. he'll use them interchangeably and generally wear a pin on his coat/shirt collar/lapel in public if he's feeling one more than another. sexual orientation: pansexual. romantic orientation: panromantic. religion: roman catholic — as an adult henry doesn’t practice his religion all that firmly. he hasn’t been to mass in years but when he was a child his mother took both him and his little sister frequently. education: bachelors in english, creative writing from the university of southern california. occupation: former lance corporal in the united states marine corps. currently a bestselling novelist. language(s) spoken: english ( primarily ). he knows bits and pieces of pashto but whenever he tries to speak either language it’s clumsy at best. accent: he wouldn't consider himself to have an accent and it's relatively neutral other than the fact that he has a tendency to drawl when he speaks.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE.

face claim: callum turner. hair color: dark brown. eye color: blue. height: 6′2″. weight: 183 lbs. build: slim, lanky. tattoos: an iridescent raven on his left forearm ( here ), a blue gradient snake tattoo on the inside of his right forearm ( here ), ellie's tattoo from the last of us part 2 on his left arm ( here ), his family’s initials on the inside of his right index, pointer and ring fingers respectively. piercings: a helix piercing in his left ear. distinguishing characteristics: the fact that he always seems to be smiling, the cane he uses to help him walk on days when his leg is especially sore, how easygoing he is.

PERSONALITY.

label: the eternal optimist. positive traits: adaptable, adventurous, articulate, charismatic, charming, clever, compassionate, confident, creative, eloquent, intelligent, passionate, resourceful, witty. negative traits: competitive, sarcastic. argumentative, decadent, haughty, hedonistic, impulsive, obsessive, possessive, rowdy, vindictive. goals/desires: to make people happy, to live in a way that makes him feel like he’s more than his trauma, to fall in love, to be happy. fears: athazagoraphobia ( fear of being forgotten ). hobbies: cloud gazing, people watching, doodling when he can remember to bring a sketchbook with him, writing, reading, gardening, going for walks when his leg isn’t bothering him, playing with his cats, meeting new people, hanging out with his sister, listening to music, playing guitar, anything that lets him be creative, baking, working with his hands, flirting with people when he’s in the right mood. quirks: he chews at the skin around his nails when he’s especially stressed out, he tends to hum some song or another he has stuck in his head while he’s working if no one else is around, he tends to go pretty sharply from being a huge flirt to blushing every time someone smiles at him just right, he can talk about almost anything he's into with almost no provocation, he has a habit of making little daisy chains and flower crowns if he’s spending a lot of time alone or he’s manic– just to put his energy into a productive habit. likes: pretty much every baked good he’s ever tried, the feeling of the sun on his skin, fantasy and historical fiction novels, nature documentaries, finding the best places to nap wherever he happens to be spending a lot of time, making people smile, hot chocolate on especially cold days, rpg video games, video games in general, finishing to-do lists, hanging out with his friends, surfing. dislikes: not being taken seriously, bigoted people in general, having to be patient for just about any reason, being referred to as ‘crazy’, intense cold, nightmares, fireworks, the smell of lit matches, the fact that he smokes regularly, being alone for long periods of time.

FAMILY.

father: thomas burnham. mother: mackenzie burnham née carson. sibling(s): adelaide burnham ( younger ). pet(s): he has a one year old maine coon named luna, a nine-month-old russian blue named lucas and a three-year-old burmese cat named lily. financial status: upper middle class.

BIOGRAPHY.

(TW: mentions of bipolar disorder, injury and amputation, mental health rehab)

Henry Burnham was born in Casper, Wyoming to Thomas and Mackenzie Burnham– his father was a US Marine and had been stationed in Germany shortly before Henry was born Stateside. Henry was their oldest child and he would eventually be joined by his younger sister two years later after the family had returned to Wyoming from Camp Pendleton on orders for his father. He was an incredibly easy going person even in childhood– his mother often told him stories about his temperament as a baby and the fact that he rarely cried or fussed or gave them any trouble at all with temper tantrums and things of that nature. He was quick to make friends and often spent weekends with friends when his parents allowed it.

By the time he was eleven he was well aware that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Marines– his father was reluctant if only for the fact that he’d seen war and knew first hand how it could change a person and he worried constantly about something happening to his baby boy. Still, when Henry turned eighteen he enlisted immediately and was sent overseas for his first tour of duty within a year. Military service was something he took to easily though he had a difficult time adjusting to the violence of it all and the deep suffering the people around him ( both those who served with him and the local populations he interacted with ) were experiencing. He’d always been an empathetic person and it tore him apart the slightest bit not to be able to help anyone or feel like he was overseas for anything close to the right reasons. Still, he served faithfully and returned for a second tour of duty without batting an eye.

It was during a patrol on his second tour that his convoy ran into a series of IED’s that had been placed between sweeps of the road between outposts often traveled. Though he was med-evaced and brought to surgery as quickly as possible the accident eventually resulted in Henry's right leg being amputated just above the knee before he was sent to a military hospital in Germany to recover properly. His family was there to greet him when he finally woke and though their presence was comforting to an extent Henry still fell into a deep depression that seemed to last months before it evaporated in an instant only to be replaced by a mania that his parents took notice of immediately. Several conversations with a psychiatrist later and Henry was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder– resulting in medical retirement from the USMC after his case was reviewed.

He was devastated by the turn his life had taken and he lived with his parents for nearly a year once he’d recovered enough to return to the United States. He relapsed several times in the first six months of being treated and wound up in a mental health rehab facility before he began to take his mental health seriously and threw himself into therapy and sticking to a medication regiment and doing everything in his power to take care of himself. During the course of his recovery he decided to pursue a passion he'd had since childhood and earned a degree in creative writing from USC with the intention of becoming a novelist - to share a part of himself that was so important and know that he was capable of putting something positive into the world. It was his his father who suggested he consider relocating to Providence Peak– where Thomas had grown up– to be in a calmer environment that might allow him more stability in terms of his mental health.

Henry moved to Providence Peak two months later– just shy of his twenty-fourth birthday and bought a fixer upper in Bighorn Hills that he spent every moment he wasn't writing fixing up with the help of his father, uncles and cousins. It took him a few months to get settled but once he did he began to write prolifically and ten years later has three bestsellers to his name. He’s doing his best to maintain normalcy and feel like the same person he was before he’d joined the Marines– it’s difficult even on his good days but he’s never been one to shy away from things and he remains open and honest with his struggles while he’s in the pursuit of genuine happiness in his life as a whole.

[xasha777]

In the year 2047, amidst the whispering snowflakes of a brisk winter evening, Dr. Elara Vex stood against the frosted panes of her laboratory overlooking the Bristol Channel. The world outside was a blend of the ancient and the ultramodern; the timeless dance of the tides below harmonized with the blinking lights of the sub-aquatic AI hubs that dotted the channel's depths.

Elara was a vision of the future herself, with her gradient hair mirroring the iridescence of a rainbow and her eyes shining with the latest cybernetic enhancements. She was dressed in a coat spun from bio-fabricated threads that changed color with her mood, a technology born from the fashion revolution of the 2030s.

Her work, much like her style, was bold and unapologetically vibrant. She was a geneticist and an artist, blurring the lines between the two. In her hands, DNA was a canvas, and she painted with the palette of evolution itself. Her latest creation was something beyond the mundane, a living organism designed to thrive in the changing climates—a species that could photosynthesize pollutants, effectively cleansing the air and the waters of the Bristol Channel.

As Elara gazed out at the gently churning water, her creation was taking its first breaths in a controlled environment beneath the waves. Dubbed the "Aquaflora," these beings were part plant, part animal, designed to inhabit the space where the water met the sky. With the Channel as their cradle, they were set to revolutionize the ecosystem.

The first test was tonight. The Aquaflora would be released into the wild, their luminescent cells designed to collect and reflect light, creating a spectacle never before seen on Earth. The bio-luminescent glow would serve as a beacon of a new age, a signal to the universe that Earth was taking a stand against the decay of the past.

Elara, with a remote in hand, initiated the release sequence. The lab hummed with the low thrum of technology as signals were sent through the deep-sea cables. Miles away, in the heart of the Channel, capsules containing the Aquaflora began to open.

The scientist watched with bated breath as, slowly, the dark waters began to twinkle with a constellation of new life. Each Aquaflora, with tendrils unfurling like the arms of a celestial being, began to dance in the currents. They were beautiful, ethereal, and in that moment, Elara knew that she had not only created life but had crafted a hope for a future where technology and nature existed in a harmonious symphony.

And as the Bristol Channel illuminated with the light of her creations, the boundaries between science and fiction blurred. Elara Vex, the architect of the Aquaflora, had turned the pages of a science fiction novel into the annals of history.

[larsonjewelers]

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[ro-botany]

This is a good theory!

I like the idea of epigenetics having an effect on hair colour. It's definitely not necessary if you want to have children with different hair colours from their parents, but it makes the likelihood of a couple's kids having hair colours that aren't genetically dominant more likely, which does make the sheer variety of colours you see in FE casts more sensible.

And magic as a way to introduce funky new colour mutations? Now that is interesting.

But I also want to point out that you don't necessarily need magic to create those wild colours in a mammal like humans. All you need is the right combo of evolutionary pressures and genetic mutation happenstance.

Time for more Unnecessary Fire Emblem Speculative Evolution!

(under the cut though, it got long.)

---

So, irl, mammals have a fairly limited set of tools to work with to make our colours. Most mammals have dichromatic vision, which means their colour contrast vision is less powerful than ours, and I suspect it's partly because of that that we ended up with oranges, blacks, and yellows as our natural pigments. Those were good enough for camoflauge and we didn't have the bird-like colour vision focus for it to matter that much in mating displays.

But it IS possible for weirder colours to exist in animals. Mammals included!

While we mammals tend to use the pigments eumelanin (black, brown, and gray tones) and pheomelanin (red and orange tones) to colour our hair and skin, they're not the only biopigments out there. Parrots use psittacofulvins to create bright reds, oranges, and yellows; other birds like passerines (also flamingos) use carotenoids for a similar range of hues.

And there's other options for creating colours than just pigments. Some animals have structural colour in their skin or feathers! This means that there are microscopic structures on the skin/feather that change how light is reflected off them to make it look a different colour. You see this in the bright blues of many bird feathers, and the blue of mandrill's faces as well.

These two guys don't have blue pigment, they've got tiny fancy mirrors to make those blues!

Structural colour is also the source of iridescence in animals; colours that change as you view an object from different angles. You see this on a lot of birds. And you also see it on exactly one mammal, the golden mole!

In real life we may not have had much reason or opportunity to evolve to use brighter/more varied pigments or do fun shit with structural colour.

But in fiction we can do what we want, baby!

Maybe an earlier primate ancestor of Homo sapiens ignis (great subspecies name btw), with their trichromatic vision, did the mandrill thing and decided wild hair colours are sexy; so genetic mutations that allowed them to use other pigments and create structural colour in their hair were sexually selected for. And because they were already defending each other with social group living, possibly even tool use or very rudimentary magic, it didn't cause enough of an increase in death by predation to stop it.

Basically, fire emblem humans' evolutionary ancestors stole their ideas on what makes someone attractive from birds.

With a combination of more or different pigment types and structural colour possibilities, we basically get the whole rainbow of hair colours available to us!

Chrom's blue hair might come from a combination of eumelanin pigment for darkness and a structural blue. Olivia's bright pink might come from a diluted psittacofulvin red, maybe a dash of yellow. The green hair on characters like Lyn or Byleth could be a combination of psittacofulvin yellow and structural blue, plus or minus eumelanin for darkness.

And if you want to get even wackier with it, it's entirely possible that those structural colours mutated into iridescence at some point. And so long as the evolutionary ancestors of humans thought it was cool, it could have stuck around. Maybe some blondes in the FE universe actually have golden mole iridescence in their hair. Maybe when Chrom turns his head his hair flashes different blues and deep purples.

"Why so much variety though? Mandrills only invented blue! Most bird species stick to one colour pattern!" Humans decided they liked VARIETY. Have you seen us? We have incredibly varied tastes. We spread recessive traits like blue eyes and red hair because we thought they were sexy.

"Well then why do both men and women get wild hair colours? Don't most birds only have colourful males?" PARROTS. Both male AND female parrots advertise how healthy and reproductively fit they are by having bright colours. Also white-throated sparrows, which have a brown morph and a white-and-yellow morph which is not linked to physical sex.

Now if you WANT to add magic into the mix, you can. Maybe magic caused the mutations that led to more pigments or structural colour, idk. But you technically don't have to. You can get fun anime rainbow hair the mundane way.

(Alear's trait of having patches of differently hued hair is exceedingly rare among FE characters. In real life, for example in cats, patchy pigmentation like that is sometimes indicative of chimerism, in which two different embryos merged into one being that has different genetics in different parts of their body. In this essay I will--)

(This sounds like a tangent, but bear with me.) So, trivia: Cat fur color is determined in the womb via gene expression-so even if two cats are genetically identical, they'll still look very different. I bring this up because, even if it's not an exact-one-to-one, I HC that FE Hair Genes operate similarly: Color is determined more from gene expression and epegenetics than just a simple punett square. (I also HC that hair color is so colorful because of the effects on magic on genetics.)

(It's a combination of Punett Square and gene expression: Blue hair is dominant due to the result of magic, but ultimately, the reason why MU/Other Parent children have opposite hair colors is Gene Expression. (For the most part, beyond hair, FE humans are mostly identical to real humans genetically. However. Magic gave a few odd quirks. (Same species, just magically-induced genetic variation giving rise to a new subspecies: Homo Sapiens Ignis (Ignis instead of Magicae to reference Fire Emblem.))

I've never been a biology whiz, but this sounds pretty sensible to me. It's neat to think about the potential interplay between magic and genetics.