#Its just weird I guess. She well and truly is gone

[vigilskeep]

do you have any refs for Minerva’s relationship with the other dao companions? I did not realize she and leliana was estranged 😭 also if im remembering correctly she makes loghain do the dark ritual? sorry I do like spinning her around in my head and knowing the little details she’s such a great character!!

leliana and minerva did not have a clear breakup in the alistair minerva sense but they did grow apart because of the simple reason that post dao minerva becomes politically at odds with the chantry while leliana is serving its leader. leliana is not a type of person minerva finds very easy to like or trust so while they did grow on each other over the course of dao they never had a simple friendship in the first place

alistair you probably know about bc its kind of the cornerstone of minervaposting but theres a post fully explaining it not much further down in her tag

zevran is her romance <3 i hesitate to use the word “soulmates” exactly but they definitely fit together in a way no other minerva pairing could match

morrigan she has a weird close complicated vaguely homosexual friendship with, i’m sure this is par for the course for f!wardens. they probably could have been in love if morrigan had been willing to pursue it in the start and if minerva hadn’t already gone for someone else by the end, and all that is unspoken but very present in everything about them

sten is i guess kind of the typical high approval relationship as presented in game? not much more unique. a lot of respect a lot of arguing a lot of dry humour. they could hang out in silence comfortably and they’re also both know and respect that they’re very capable of killing the other if their greater purposes ever demand it

oghren she kind of doesn’t pay much mind in origins when she doesn’t have to but he becomes part of the family in awakening. they bond over having their insane shared experiences of the blight, and also over him trying to quit drinking and her trying to quit blood magic which leads to some really wild out of context conversations for the others. and hey, eventually over first attempting to parent at similar times

wynne she has a bit of a sharp relationship with. i think this could vary a lot if i pick her up earlier, but in my main minerva playthrough i picked her up late by which time minerva had absolutely no fucking interest in getting the kind of lectures she grew up with. sorry grandma </3

uhhhh who else. shale idk man im sorry for being a fake fan but shale’s dlc truly does nothing for me it’s unfunny and i dont think abt it at all 💔 this would be written in less harsh terms if i wasnt sleepy

loghain is. well that’s a kettle of fish. minerva spares him because it happens to be a preferable move for her agenda and her way of thinking, it’s not rlly about him as a person at all. she doesn’t absolve him of anything he did, like, she still thinks he’s a bastard it’s just that she doesn’t really believe at all in the concept of justice being done if it doesn’t serve a purpose. when he’s in the party they do build up respect and a weird kind of friendship. he sucks and she’s bitter about what sparing him cost her, but that isn’t relevant, it’s not going to stop her learning from him, or fighting at his side as the best team she can quickly make them, or simply finding him entertaining to talk to. so by the end it’s as a friend that she asks him to do the dark ritual, whatever that means. post dao she agrees with weisshaupt that him being assigned outside of ferelden is wise but they continue to write to each other extremely regularly, mostly on matters of news and strategy but occasionally on the more personal

is that everyone i think thats everyone

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 47

hello and welcome to fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

Damnit, Pidge by spirkylurkey

Pidge has some top-secret-classified-don't-tell-Keith-info that she accidentally lets slip to, you guessed it, Keith. Lance is an embarrassed mess. Keith isn't faring much better, to be honest.

this one made me LAUGH the way that this all pidge's fault and she's literally like. well. you shouldn't be so gay then. and she's right!! they're so dumb i love them

2. Operation: Faking It by @writeonclara

“What the hell, guys?” Pidge squawked, wrestling away from Matt. “Why are you pretending to be a couple?” Or: Matt and Lance pretend to be a couple because Shiro and Keith are clueless as hell.

do you guys remember shatt?? i remember shatt. adashi will always have my heart but shatt will literally always be funny bc ofc thats ur fic name. anyways. this fic is mostly klance but the entire concept is just so ridiculously goofy that u have to laugh. do you like lance and matt? do you like fake relationship to real relationship? do you like inverted tropes? do you like pining? do you like comedic jealousy? then this fic is well and truly for you because it has all that and more

3. all's well that ends well to end up with you by @coruscatingcatastrophe

Keith's jacket gets ruined, so Lance decides to be a good Samaritan and give him his. This is the beginning of the end.

megan's fic literally make me want to eat cement i'm so serious. i've read and been obsessed with TONS of her stuff but this one???? this fucking one???? oh god the slowburn kills me. the blossoming realisation that oh god we've been dating this whole time huh. the CHIVALRY...............a romance novel in the truest of senses and i am going to fry

4. as long as it won't separate you from me (i'll be fine) by @coruscatingcatastrophe

A little intrigued—not that she’d ever admit it—Pidge begins to climb the stairs. But before she even reaches halfway, the door—slams shut. All on its own, or so it seems. Pidge pauses, brows creasing in confusion, as she turns to look down at her dog. “Did you see that?” she asks. Peculiarly, she notes that Bae Bae’s fur is bristled, and he growls at the door before barking twice. That’s weird. Bae Bae never growls. Turning back to the door, Pidge feels unsettled, but she tells herself not to jump to ridiculous conclusions. There’s a logical explanation for everything. Maybe there was a gust of wind from the air conditioner, or the doorframe isn’t level. Whatever it is, she’s going to figure it out. - Or, a Beetlejuice au (kind of). Pidge isn't a fan of her new house, Lance and Keith are the ghosts haunting her attic, and together they hatch a plot to convince Shiro and Adam to skedaddle out of the house. There may be demon summoning involved. But seriously, Adam. Getting your hair set on fire really isn't that bad.

HAPPY (late) HALLOWEEN!!! ive been thinking about this fic all october and finally let myself reread it. ive never loved beetlejuice more than when i read this. it's so fun!! so interesting!! pidge gets a chance to shine!! klance are so!!! the way it had the story of beetlejuice but adapted well!! im!!

5. never thought i'd see the day in my life by @coruscatingcatastrophe

But Keith has somehow gone even paler in the short amount of time he’s been at the table, and he shakes his head. “No, something is . . .” His gaze flickers back to Lance, and he’s startled to find that Keith’s eyes are purple. They’ve got to be contacts. Ridiculous. As if the mullet and gloves and personality weren’t enough. Keith pushes away from the table abruptly, looking incredibly put-off now. “I, uh—gotta go,” he mutters, before angrily gathering up the backpack he’d dropped into the chair next to him and storming out of the cafeteria. “Huh,” Hunk says. “Well, that introduction could have gone a bit better. Don’t take it personally though; sometimes Keith’s just like that.” - Or, a Twilight au starring Lance as Bella, Keith as Edward, and the rest of the Voltron gang as themselves. Lance is insufferable, Keith is awkwardly trying to figure out why Lance is the way he is, and along the way they fall in love, or something. It's probably, definitely the best love story since Twilight itself.

now ive never read twilight and i refuse to on principle. but i didn't find this one creepy and instead it was super fun and dweeby and lance is indeed a ray of sunshine, thank you megan for noticing, and it turns out when the story isn't a hetero mormon wet dream it's actually a good time!!

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

[sonnet009games]

Just read chapter 3, and it was my favorite so far! It's getting better and better each time and I can't wait for more!

Ilyana was a truly terrifying opponent, and it was interesting for me to see the whole thing unfold, including its aftermath. I was actually wondering before how would Flea act if MC got seriously hurt at some point and... well I guess the answer to that came faster than I thought! Though it seems poor Flea himself really can't take a break - something happens to him in each chapter!

I also enjoyed the scenes with Ted by the end. Since I'm on a "only friend" playthrough, it was so fun to see him having a field day trying to tease my MC, who was just rolling his eyes and enduring it because what else can you do. It's sweet to see how much Ted cares too. Funnily enough, even if I don't know the guy that well, I actually expected him to be sort of relieved when meeting Flea, even if he doesn't truly get what the relationship is at this point. My MC is the "neat" kind - and with the whole clinical looking and sterile home, I can't help but think Ted must be relieved at any "life" brought into it, be it Tabby or Flea. It's like bringing more life to MC's actual life?

Anyway, that aside, there was one scene that I think sort of felt like a continuity issue. It's actually not something the character creation recap asked for, so I'm assuming the scene is the same no matter what, but it felt a little bit strange on my playthrough so I prefer to mention it: when talking about Ilyana, Flea mentions how "If Ilyana really is a succubus, and if she's really that comfortable with killing, then she'll be the first truly dangerous demon you've ever tangled with". The MC corrects this by thinking she'd be the second because of the one that killed their family. But I was wondering if this wouldn't warrant a different line from Flea with a MC who told him about their family? It seemed a bit strange to me Flea wouldn't act/speak at least a bit differently here if he knows, basically. It's not a big issue though, and who knows, it may even be intentional from him, but I guess better safe and sorry, I just prefer to mention it and be sure.

I think that's it! And now I'll just replay it for a second time because I need more! It was amazing!

Re: the issue you raised--I see your point. My thinking was that Flea means "tangling with" in the sense of deliberately seeking out danger, and thus isn't counting the red-eyed demon from your childhood. But I can understand that it might feel a little off. I'll put a little note in my records so that, if I ever update Chapter 3, I'll take another look at that section and see if I should tweak the dialogue a bit.

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter! And that you liked the stuff with Ted. He is definitely surprised, amused, and, yeah, relieved to see the detective making out with some weird dude at the door to their apartment--he's never known them to have any kind of connection to another person who isn't him.

I'm also glad you liked Ilyana as a villain. She's lived in my head for so long, it's kind of sad that she's gone so soon.

[varteeny1234]

I do everything for a reason... limbo is weird, and very un-canon in some ways... I wonder why :3

Summary:

Limbo still proves to be a mystery… nothing here makes sense.

Words: 944

Chapter: 3/?

Chapter Warnings: Slightly more than canon-typical existentialism and desperation

ehehehehe

Whoever was hiding this door from her was doing an excellent job of it. Tea had found the wall, made of solid black void, and had followed it to where she knew she'd been before. But still, the white door was nowhere to be found, and thus, Tea was still trapped here. 

It was honestly a miracle that her fingers and toes hadn't frozen off in the cold liquid that made up the ground. Limbo wasn't a good place to be. 

They did seem to be turning slightly greyer... but that could just be the constant contact with the ashes. 

Please, please let it be the ashes...

The shadow person was still around, and Tea hadn't yet attempted conversation with them. She was still afraid that the sound would draw the attention of the cloaked being from before, and that wouldn't end well for either of them. She had been following them for a while. Whenever she came across them, she made sure to keep out of their sight, but she'd carefully trail them and try to figure out what they did while they were here... but all they seemed to do was cry. 

Cry about what, specifically, other than being trapped, she didn't know. But everywhere they went, when she followed them, they sobbed, their white tears dissolving into the ground. She wanted to help them, but she still had no idea what she could do. She'd been relying on being able to find the door again!

Why did she ever think that going through it had been a good idea?

Tea had carved out the inside of a tree. It hadn't been difficult, the charred bark scraped away very easily, and the inside was shelter from... well, it was more like a hiding place than anything else. She put some branches and puffy plants down to be her bed- bed being generous in its description, of course- and a few failed attempts at a makeshift brewing stand lay strewn about in the corner. Grey, fragile vines covered the hole that was her door.

It wasn't much. It wasn't much at all, but until she could find her way out, this was home. 

Limbo shouldn't be anyone's home.

Standing in the middle of her shelter, she wondered how the others had reacted to her disappearance. It had definitely been more than a few days, so surely at least someone would have noticed she'd gone missing. 

How did Trog get out of the void, again? Had they been outside in Limbo, or inside the world the door protected? Tea wished she remembered more than just the fact that they'd been stuck for a week. 

Frustrated, she decided to think about it further at a different time. It wouldn't do her much good to sulk, especially now, while she was awake- there wasn't really day or night here, seeing as there wasn't a sun, but she still got tired semi-regularly. 

Walks were always good to pass the time. Tea hadn't run into the cloaked, one-eyed being again. The proud part of her wanted to believe it was because they were scared of her, since she threw a rock at them with more power than anyone had probably ever thrown a rock, but the more logical part of her knew that they probably just didn't care enough to try and come back for her. 

This worked out in a way that what Tea truly believed was a combination of both. 

At least the shadow person didn't seem to be being hunted.

Speaking of the shadow person, the sound of their quiet sniffling and the rustling of the dead plants they touched indicated they were nearby. Tea poked her head out the door hole, and was unsurprised to see them walking past her tree. They didn't see her. 

They were walking off in the direction of where Tea had guessed the door was hidden. Maybe, maybe, it would be a good idea to follow them, just in case their presence would make it reveal itself. 

As time passed it was much more familiar to be creeping along in between the trees and among the oddly-shaped rocks. The shadow person was kept in sight, not too close for her to be detected, not too far to be lost. Their crying seemed to grow louder the closer they got to the wall.

Before long, they were at the wall, and the shadow was leaning against a section of it that sent a familiar shiver down Tea's spine. If the door still existed, it would be right here.

This was exactly where Tea had first walked in.

But the shadow seemed to be seeing something that Tea couldn't, or maybe they'd just memorized the location of the door. Either way, Tea couldn't see or hear anything other than the shadow's sobbing. After what she guessed to be about a minute, the shadow said the first word she'd ever heard them say. 

"HELP!" 

They sounded desperate. Tea couldn't blame them. They sank to the ground again, curling up and continuing to cry. Maybe they'd seen something through the other side of the invisible door. 

Maybe someone else had come to find them but hadn't succeeded...

She started to walk back to her tree. She had a little bit of thinking to do. She kicked the ground, watching as the light grey liquid splashed around, still cold, staining her skin and clothes.

A horrifying thought struck her mind.

There was ground underneath this. 

Tea ducked down, feeling the solid ground hidden by the grey. 

Could it be... 

This must have been a thousand years' worth of the tears of the forever-crying shadow.

[driftward]

Log Entries 40-57

Log Entry 40

Madam Archon came by and inspected the soul armature, and she managed to provide it enough aether for it to finally become active. We do share a connection, since we are kind of the same entity. However, while I am more attached to the Madam Commander, the part of me in the soul armature is more attached to the Madam Archon.

She is probably responsible for it being active at all in the first place. I did not anticipate that that portion of me would survive very long. What I left behind was so small.

But they did the task, and I am proud of them.

I am hoping that we will be able to talk. I would very much like to know what has happened in my absence.

Log Entry 43

It was touch and go for a bit as the little bit of me in the soul armature learned to sustain its own essence reservoir once more, but it is becoming more aware. I think I will be able to talk to it soon.

The Marine came by. She wants to take Madam Commander to the atelier later. I want to see what has become of it as well.

The Chirurgeon and the Madam Archon speak about the Madam Commander often. Her essence is rising only very slowly. I can’t tell what is wrong, and neither can they, only that something is wrong.

Log entry 44

I have no answers

Log entry 44 addendum

The soul armature can see me! We can communicate! Sort of. They are like I was when I was first instantiated. Only some of us can talk directly with our Scholars. Many of us learn to communicate in other ways - through pantomime, sharing feelings, physical movement. Nymian records indicate the ability to talk was far from universal. And we are very small, so it requires aether to amplify our voices.

But they and I are the same. Rather, they were a part of me. Right now we can share a few things through our shared connection, but in time, I am hoping to be able to get a more full picture.

Log entry 44 addendum addendum

The lesser part of me is so much lesser and it is FRUSTRATING. I tried to tell them everything that has happened and all they did was get confused.

Their soul well is healthy though. They have taken to the armature in ways I never did, but it also seems they have trouble leaving it. They are very fast with it though, and the energies that suffuse them are truly impressive. I think the Madam Archon improved on the methods that were used to make me.

I say ‘I think’ because the lesser part of me is a -brat- who only half shares their experiences with me in response to a question. And I say half because then they zipper off to go poke their head into who knows what or they want to go play with someone’s hair or they suddenly remember half a dozen other things and forget what they were doing and I sincerely hope I was never like this.

I don’t REMEMBER being like this.

And it is to my GREAT annoyance they are much better at operating the armature than I ever was. They are very fast. I dare not leave the Madam Commander’s side. The soul armature prefers hovering over the Madam Archon when they are not busy making a nuisance of themselves.

I am going to call them Lav. Since they are me. But smaller. And it is also short for something else. Little pest.

They left with the Madam Archon. She seemed amused by this. Bully for her.

Log Entry 45

The Madam Commander is able to leave the infirmary and has done so several times now. She does not go far, but we have visited the office, the main areas, and gone outside. This building is oddly almost exactly how I remember it. As is the area around it. I think it is even the same season as when we left. I used to think on that, often, of what we had left behind, and now we are back, and it all seems so much the same.

It is weird.

Lav seems to have calmed. At least some of their annoying behavior it seems was just because they were feeling very, very alive. It is the fresh activation with a full aether charge, I suppose.

I guess I understand, I can feel their joy, job well done, thank you, yes you did a very good job, I appreciate everything, especially helping rescue my Scholar, yes it IS great to be able to help your Scholar, though I want to remind them THE MADAM ARCHON IS NOT A SCHOLAR, we are only half lights AT BEST without someone to execute geometries, can you please maybe share your gestalt with me OKAY YES YOU ARE VERY FAST IN THE SOUL ARMATURE.

I am going to put a sigh into the log here. Sigh.

Log entry 57

The Marine had to come and fetch the Madam Commander out of the infirmary. While we have been getting a good amount of exercise in, and spending more and more time outside, I was not the only one who noticed she was not straying very far away from the headquarters.

After all the traveling that we have done, I cannot blame her. But we cannot stay still.

I try to touch her sometimes, still. The connection is becoming stronger, I think, but not strong enough to do anything with. Sometimes I can catch a snippet of more than just her feelings, or I can borrow one of her senses, and that is dizzying, but nothing more. She still cannot hear me.

But she is doing okay, and that’s all that matters.

The Marine took us to the atelier. It is much as I remember it. I wish Lav was here. I would like to interrogate her on our last actions, just before I followed the Madam Commander out into the abyss between.

Well. Good news and bad news. Good news, I can interact with the consoles. She did make it so I could help run the atelier, after all.

Bad news, they no longer recognize me, and will not let me actually DO anything. I must have been changed too much by my time in the abyss between. My essence stretched out by the initial infusion of all the static aether, then corrupted when I chose to accept the chaotic aether, and now.

I am larger then before. My essence far heavier. I am more complex as well. I have written and rewritten myself so much over so much time.

I think maybe I should be redrawn and recalculated, but Madam Commander’s codex does not define me anymore. I do not know how we would even do so, now.

Which means I might need Lav here to act as an intermediary. But Madam Archon is not here with us, which means she is not.

Maybe I can make the console make error noises in a pattern the Madam Commander will recognize.

~*~

Ryssthota handed one of the keys to Zoissette, who just looked at it blankly. Inwardly, Ryss felt a bit put out for her friend. Whatever she had been through, it apparently had taken its toll. Some days she was gregarious, expressive, friendly. Other days, withdrawn.

Ryss had noticed that as she recovered, that ‘withdrawn’ was happening more often.

She had a theory about that. This entire trip was going to be about testing that.

“Couple a new rules. One, there’s always gonna be two people at the lab at all times. Two, it’s my lab now. If you want it back, you’re gonna have to fight me for it.”

Zoissette stared at the key for a moment longer, then slowly looked up at Ryss.

“Ryss, I am not fighting you for the lab,” she said, her voice flat.

Well, not entirely unexpected. Ryss pointed at the second key slot, and put her own key in. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Zoissette look between the key and the slot for a long moment, then just before she put it in, she spoke.

“Yet.”

Ryss turned her key before the word registered, and she looked over at Zoissette, a big grin on her own face meeting the slight smile on Zoissette’s.

There was hope yet.

The two entered the laboratory, Ryss turning on the lights and getting some of the machinery running while Zoissette wandered around, reaching out with a hand and tracing her fingertips gently over equipment, machinery, books, counters, everything it seemed.

“It is exactly as I remember,” said Zoissette, her voice hushed.

“Er, yeah?” said Ryss. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Zoissette did not answer, just stopped to stare at the main central containment assembly.

“How long did it take to rebuild it?” asked Zoissette.

“We didn’t rebuild it,” said Ryss, frowning. “I mean, the upper array was damaged, Apple and I fixed that. And we had to reinforce the wards, Riven saw to that. And we had to reset a few things. Believe it or not, Meya did that.”

“Meya?” asked Zoissette. “I know she was always interested in our work, but I did not think she had gone to study. What accolades does she have now?”

“What? Meya hasn’t gone to study. I mean, we might put her in the same work study program as Yesuntei, especially after all this, but she just followed the procedures in your books, Zoi.”

Something was wrong here, but Ryss was not quite sure how to ask what to find out. And Zoissette was just frowning at her. But then, she shook her head, and went back to inspecting the lab. For her part, Ryss slowly returned to her console, to finish entering a few parameters.

Weird. Log errors. Bad input. She must have fat fingered something or another while talking to Zoi. She cleared them.

“Anyroad, I’m glad you were willing to get out and about again,” said Ryss. “Was starting to get worried, the way you were kind of just slumping about. Was thinking if we left you in that office too much longer, you’d start making those little Doman floatforms again. The paper ones with the stiff wings.”

“Uhm, well…”

Ryss stopped what she was doing to lean against the wall and look over as Zoissette sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

“I, uhm, maybe might have done that to one of Mathye’s intake forms before I fully realized what I was doing,” she admitted.

Ryss laughed. “Oh, don’t let him catch you doing that, he gets pissing mad - well, about everything, really.”

“It was a blank one for incoming patients, he had a stack of them,” said Zoissette. “But… right. I did not want him to think I was messing with his paper work on purpose, so I did immediately throw it away.”

“Attagirl.”

“And then lit it on fire to get rid of the evidence.”

“…inside the infirmary!? ZOI!”

“Fortunately, Meya noticed and immediately doused me and the trash can with a water spell,” said Zoissette, fidgeting nervously. “And then helped me clean up the puddle left behind, so, uhm, everything turned out fine.”

Ryss bounded over, and picked Zoi up in a big hug. Zoi just made a ‘murf’ noise into her shoulder.

“Oh my gods, Zoissette.”

“I was not thinking.”

“I can tell,” said Ryss, putting her back down. “Well now it’s an even better idea I got you out of there, girl. We have got to get you out and about more often.”

“…Y’shtola and Mathye want me to start physical therapy soon. Meya’s offered to take me places. C’oretta and Aeryn have asked when I want to go shopping.”

Zoissette looked off to one side, rubbing her arm. Ryss could hear the console making quiet error noises. She ignored it.

“Erick’s told me I can take the company airship anywhere I want so long as I take someone with me. Y’shtola’s let me know my place back at the Baldesion Annex is still open. Ement says he has a bed open. And, uhm, others. Everyone really. I just…”

Zoissette sighed. “…I do not want to be more of a burden than I already am.”

Ryss crossed her arms and shook her head at Zoissette.

“Word of advice?”

Zoissette looked up at her.

“Take ‘em up on it, every single one. Zoi, you’re not a burden. You’re my friend! We’re your friends. Friendship takes work, sure, but it’s worth it, right? You come through for us all the time. Let us come through for you, huh?”

“…sure,” she said, unconvincingly.

Ryss decided to drop it for now.

“Anyroad, I was hoping to get you back in the science saddle. You can help us figure out what exactly happened here. Y’shtola made a pretty good report, but there’s a lot missing. And maybe run an experiment or two, one of the ones we already did, just to make sure everything’s alright.”

Ryss grinned at her. “Maybe we could make orange juice again.”

“Or play a song,” said Zoissette, distractedly. She was looking into the containment assembly, now. “…I do not know how much help I will be, Ryss. I can barely remember what happened. It was so long ago.”

There. That was what was bothering her.

“…Zoissette, how long ago?” asked Ryss, as gently as she could.

Zoissette closed her eyes, and shook her head. “You would know better than me. It was hard to keep track of time out there. Let me think.”

Zoissette fell silent, but a realization that had been slowly bubbling was now fully coming to the surface in Ryssthota’s mind. “Oh, gods.”

Zoissette stood up, and rubbed her back, and looked over at Ryssthota. “What?”

“Zoi, it’s only been two sennights here.”

Zoissette’s face went through a variety of facial expressions as though she was trying to decide how to response. It was an odd change for Ryss to get used to. The old Zoissette was so tightly controlled, with only a few facial expressions she liked to sort of cycle through. She could be hard to read at times, even as straightforward as she often was.

The new Zoissette, however, seemed to have a straight connection between her heart and her face. If it was not for the depth of knowledge they had of her very soul and aether as a result of the work that needed to be done to bring her back, Ryss may well have thought they had fished up a voidsent trying to pretend at being a Zoissette instead.

But no. This was all just Zoissette being Zoissette, eccentric as always, just in new ways.

Ryss suspected she was about to find out at least some of the why.

“Two sennights,” choked out Zoissette.

“…how long do you think it’s been?” asked Ryss, keeping her voice gentle.

“Over a summer. Maybe two,” said Zoissette, reaching out a hand to steady herself.

Well, a few things made a lot more sense. Some of the conversations, some of Mathye’s findings regarding her aether, some of the comments that Zoissette had been making that seemed bizarre at the time now made cold, logical sense.

“Oh, honey,” said Ryssthota.

“Two sennights,” said Zoissette.

“About.”

Zoissette stood up, and looked around the laboratory.

“You did it all in two sennights,” she said. “I thought - I thought maybe… that I had not been noticed at first. And then, maybe, that the lab had to be rebuilt. And then, you had to figure out what I had done. Learn how to replicate it. Figure out how to undo it. I thought maybe new science had to be learned. I thought…”

“You thought we had left you out there for near on two summers,” said Ryss.

Zoissette nodded. “It made sense to me.”

“Zoi. Zoissette. Look at me.”

Zoissette looked over, and Ryssthota put a hand on her shoulder, and looked at her seriously.

“Never. We would never have left you so long unless there was no other way. You remember how fast we worked to get to the First? You remember how hard we tried until the way over was dropped in our laps? The long nights? All that math and geometry? We practically invented new sciences.”

Zoissette looked at Ryssthota, and nodded, slowly.

“Nothing less for you, Zoissette. You matter. You’re our friend. You’re my friend. And I came for you as fast as I could. We all did.”

Ryssthota gave her shoulder a squeeze.

Zoissette closed her eyes. And then, she gave a short laugh, shaking her head.

“I think… I shall listen to your advice, Ryss.”

She looked up, and now her face was open, with a smile, a real smile on it, as she reached up and patted Ryss’ hand.

“Shopping, physical therapy, all of it. I will listen to my friends.”

Ryss grinned broadly at her. “That’s my girl.”

“Oh, do not let yourself get too comfortable,” said Zoissette. “When I come to fight you for the rights to be in charge of -my- lab, I intend to win.”

“You’d better be ready to give it your all,” said Ryss. “I don’t plan on going easy on you.”

“Why not? It would save you a lot of trouble and more than a few bruises,” sniffed Zoissette disdainfully, and Ryss laughed.

She frowned as she craned her neck to look around Ryssthota. “…is it just me, or is there a pattern to the error beeps coming from that console? It has been very distracting the entire time we have been here.”

Ryss shrugged. “It’s probably nothing. Meya reset the place, sure, but there’s probably some kinks still to work out.” Ryss turned and went to the offending console, and cleared its error log again before beginning to shut it down. “I’ll unplug it and ask Apple to take a look at it later.”

“Where has she been, anyroad? I have not seen her in a few days it seems.”

“Oh, you know Apple, probably found out about something shiny and inadvisable in an Allagan ruin somewhere,” said Ryss. “She was looking for a way to help you recover, so it’s probably related to that. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Ryss finally got the console powered down, then reached under it, and unplugged it. “There. Weird. Hey, that’s enough of that though, huh? Now that you’re out of your shell a bit, maybe you and I go out for a drink, what do you say?”

Zoissette smiled warmly at Ryss. “I would love to.”

~*~

Log entry 57 Addendum

I hate everything, and I am going to light this entire laboratory on fire when I can affect the real world again.

[armed-saphire]

Curious what you think about how Nick acts after getting bit!

I think it's really interesting how the source of his aggression isn't vague. Like i think it stems from his own insecurities with not really knowing what He's good at and kinda leaving things up to fate, while feeling like Abi has a better understanding of herself and her skills.

Like even though he's more forceful and weirdly confident after getting bit, he's still looking for her approval. Constantly asking if she likes him or if things 'wouldve gone further'. I think the difference between when he's infected vs not, is that he can't be convinced, no matter what she does or says, that she really Truly likes him. and instead of just being a normal amount of upset at that, hes upset to the point of lashing out and becoming dangerous. it's just the way a normal worry is twisted so out of control that's interesting to me!

yesss yes yes i agree one billion percent! i feel like his transformation has the most to analyze because its supposed to be the intro to this sort of thing and it takes forevverrrr and i think it was done really well😌im sad other characters dont have as long drawn out behavioural changes like him, and i really enjoy when you're given dialogue options with him after he's bit there's not really a way to make the conversation go well because no matter what Abi says he already knows what he thinks-and he's also just saying whatever comes up in his head imo.😅 ("duh- are you dumb?") also your first paragraph is actually such a smart thing to point out i'd never thought of that before, and it reminded me in the scene where they talk about that in the woods they have the exchange that goes "its really cool that you know that about yourself." "um, yeah... i guess so." "i mean, not everyone knows what they're capable of, y'know?" "I'm sure you're capable of a lot, Nick." which i at first thought was just foreshadowing but it also DOUBLES as showing what you said in the first paragraph of the ask which is soooo fun. oh, and i didn't really know how to work this into the other parts of my answer so random bit at the end here, i thought it was interesting how even while he's bit Nick apologizes for things he did or said, i think he apologizes for snapping at Abi in the lodge and in the pool house he apologizes for that weird hug thing😅. even minutes before he turns he has some form of common sense left and im sure there's probably something to say about that but idk. i just thought it was interesting.

[jessicashome]

thoughts after tbosas movie (severe waffling!! with spoilers)

FIRST OF ALL!!!! ik like being british vs american (panem was north america) has some pronounciation differences but ive been saying their names so differently!!!! like ive been using soft As for the Anus brothers but its actually Anus so thats crazy.

next its very different to how i imagined, obviously they cut out so much (which is making me Need to read the og hunger games) but without coryos constant dialogue, i think more people are gonna fall into sympathising with him.

everything was also just so much more larger, like in my head the snake tank was as big as a fish tank not like all the snakes she was gonna drop into the games. the arena was sorta smaller than i imagined. the beam that i pictured lamina on was metal not concrete/stone. marcus :((( obvs the watches changed to screens. the origin of rat poison is different.

THE PRONOUNCIAtion OF TIGRIS!!!! and grandmaam was so much kinder than how i imagined.

i sort of wish we saw coryos inner dialogue because i feel like its a bit confusing to new people without it.

also like why r they dealing with jabber jays (dr gaul does make a brief mention but that was such a small detail thats so easy to miss).

for me seeing it as a movie solidified how evil he is because how could he do nothing seeing sejanus up there like😭. VISUALLY seeing him have a STRAIGHT face during that was heartwrenching.

from the book, i thought casca was actually so weird for having such a grudge against him but i see why now. not exactly justified but given the way he is bringing more 'life' to the games when casca's actively trying to kill them is understandable. THE WAY SNOW KILLED HIM??? crazyyy. Snow Lands On Top

hunter schafer ATE!!!!! like the "you look just like your father" omgg after she told him that she always saw hate in his eyes. shes so good. also from what i remember in the book he didnt even like his father why does he want to be like him in the movie😭😭 wish we saw his love for his mother a bit more

the way lucy's footsteps disappear LIKE BOOK CRUMBS! or like i guess it may have been mentioned in the lyrics of the folk song when she was singing but still so cool.

THE HOBB IS MASSIVE.

aLSO i think the movie goes down the route of snow being veryyy paranoid at the end. because her voice is echoing like it does at the hobb, i doubt her actual voice and singing would sound like that from the jabber jays? so was that actually her or his paranoia making things up?? yes shes actually gone (run off) but never truly gone from his life. the way he thought he shot her😭😭😭

i personally think they did love each other but snow strayed way past that line of good. dr gauls ideologies corrupted him (well like that lie about humans at their core being evil). he had his prejudices from the beginning but there were times he was good. idk he believed he was good when he was helping lucy gray but then he also had his ulterior motives for that so it made it all muddy. he says its for her but also for the money and in the end he chooses money.

anyways coriolanus snow is a bitch!!! a handsome one but still a bitch. bro went "IM SO SORRY IM SO SORRY" like what the hell u quite literally had him killed. bitchass man 🖕🖕🖕🖕

[fkevin073]

so i finally watched TBOSAS, and as someone who didn't read the TBOSAS book, i'm going all movie based here to ask you about that cabin scene-- do you think snow would have killed lucy gray there? i mean, he did started shooting later, but that was because she put the doubt of "nooo, oF cOuRsE i WoN't TeLL" and i feel like that's when his trust ON HER was broken?

idk where i'm going with this, i guess i just wanted to hear your opinion on it. i honestly think if movie!lucy had just kept quiet in the cabin, movie!snow wouldn't have done anything? (anything to harm her, that is. i definitely think he would go back to go to district 2)

ahh welcome to the TBOSAS brain rot! it's a fun place to be lol

but u see, what you just described is exactly my biggest issue with the movie. like don't get me wrong, everyone in the cast killed it, and I love the movie overall, but the book 100% helped you realize just how selfish, deranged and paranoid Coriolanus really is. like he's not totally evil, but you see his flaws very, very prominently, and know that even if he does love Lucy gray, he doesn't love her well or right. the movie doesn't give you that insight, which makes sense considering we don't have that endless access to his thoughts like we do in the book, but in the movie they do this weird thing of almost making him better? or making him seem more like a tragic villain? like the book makes it 100% clear he did not truly care about Sejanus. When he cries post the hanging in the book, he cries because he thinks he's next, not because he feels genuine remorse for what did to sejanus. The movie makes it seem like he was genuinely convinced sejanus would be fine and his dad would buy him out of trouble; the book makes it clear that isn't truly a priority for him.

this speaks mainly to your question: do you think snow would have killed Lucy gray? in the book, the answer is 100% yes. I've already spoken about this with the amazing @indistinctmumblings, but in the book we already know how suspicious and paranoid snow is. he was already ready to ditch her the instant he saw the guns. book Coriolanus is ready to turn on people the moment he realizes he can't control them, even if he loves them. the movie changes coriolanus in that way, and while I think it's effective in its own way - makes his fall seem a bit more tragic because we like Coriolanus more, it infuriates me because in the woods scene it almost makes Lucy gray seem more like the aggressor?

Like by the time Coriolanus finds the snake in the book, he's already turned on her. the movie makes it seem like her 'betrayal', which seems a bit more unjustified considering how remorseful he was about sejanus (saying I'm sorry, crying over pictures, etc), and which could (somewhat??) reasonably be interpreted as a murder attempt on her part (in the book it's specified post his return to district 12 by a doctor that the snake wasn't venomous at all) is what makes Coriolanus snap. and it grates at me, esp after the first time I watched it.

because in the movie I was also genuinely convinced that until she said "besides me?" Coriolanus hadn't really thought of her as a threat? like it's only when she says it that it occurs to him, but even then he doesn't seem to mistrust her. it's only post snakebite that he's like okay, that's it, we're done, you're done. And I think it kind of undermines the danger Lucy Gray was in, in a way. Like I firmly believe in both the book and the movie she was waiting in the bushes to see how he would react as a final kind of test, and he very obviously fails it on both accounts, but in the movie it's a bit more reasonable why he was upset?? to some degree, anyway. he's still an asshole, and Lucy gray is stilll the one in the right here.

I think the main difference between book Coriolanus and movie Coriolanus to me is this: if he DID shoot Lucy gray, and he found her lying on the forest floor and bleeding, I believe book Coriolanus would have gone for the kill shot, even if it was in a fit of rage. I don't believe movie Coriolanus had it in him. I think he would have helped her, or let her go. but that's just me!

I definitely agree with you though! I think the more I rewatch it the more okay I become with it, but when I first watched the movie I was hit by the changes in the cabin like a truck. thanks sm for the ask, and have a happy new year!

[onskepa]

Can you do like reader shows the sully kids stranger things?

Hi! So fair warning, stranger things surprisingly did not catch my attention. So, a heads up if this is a bit short, I did my best to understand it. Enjoy!!

pt2

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

Vopey

In the human outpost, the sully kids were hanging out with their friend, Vopey. Yesterday, Vopey said she has something special to show them. So that is where they are.

In the large "screen" room, what was once a conference room turned into a movie room. The sully kids, including spider, sat in their usual spots as Vopey holds two boxes.

"so what is it that you want to show us?" spider asks. Holding a thin little flat box, vopey replies. "Well my friendly spider, this is the whole collection of a old old oooooooold show! like, a hundred year old show!"

"naaaaaamed?" kiri dragged the word.

Vopey holds the flat box on top of her head likes it some holy relic. "STRANGER THINGS!!". The kids did their 'ooohs' and 'aaaahs' there interest now piqued.

"what is it about?" lo'ak asks rather excitedly, his tail reflecting how he feels. Vopey smiles, "I have no idea, but! from what norm told me, my parents called me vopey because it got something to do with this show. They were obsessed with this show. But! Now that I am old enough, I can watch it with you guys!".

Tuk raises her little hand up, "am I old enough to watch it?". Vopey reads the back of the flat box, "says rated tv-14, dunno what that means but I guess it doesn't matter" she shrugs.

"how many seasons does it have?" neteyam asks. Again Vopey shrugs, "I dunno, but guess we will binge until there is no more, now whose ready to watch whatever this is!?". Everyone cheered in excitement and began to play the round shiny metal thing.

"huh....I actually like it..." kiri mutters when the overall 80's style of the town came to view. The music, the clothes, cars, people, was truly different. And to think it was more a hundred years of human evolution. That part truly fascinated her.

Spider took notes of how the men's hair styles as were shown on screen. "I weirdly want to try out the hair styles......".

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" lo'ak freaks out when the Demogorgon made an appearance. Tuk was hiding behind neteyam while he himself was trying his best not to freak out.

"why does it open its head like that?!" spider shouts/asks.

"is it even a head!?" kiri does the same.

Vopey was looking at her friends with a raised eyebrow. Do they forget they share a planet with the slingers? The stingbats? Those are worse than the demogorgon.

"so the bald girl can do things....and somehow be connected to the other world...?" neteyam is trying to understand when the character, eleven, was moving things with her mind.

Spider nudges kiri with his elbow as he grins, "reminds me of you kiri". Kiri just rolls her eyes and pushes spider playfully and continues to watch the show.

"that steve guy is annoying!" tuk pouted whenever Steve Harrington was on screen. Lo'ak nods in agreement, "total....what's that word again vopey?" he turns to her. Vopey answers happily, "a douchbag!" .

"DOUCHBAG!" tuk replies loudly.

Vopey gets the feeling she is going to regret teaching those words....

"you know...I think I'm starting to like this eleven character" kiri says as the episode ends. Kiri can somewhat understand eleven in a weird way.

Tuk giggles in her hands, "I like that dustin boy, he is funny!" spider nods in agreement. Seems like dustin, eleven so far has been the kids favorites. At least for now.

The show down was on, Elven vs the Demogorgon. Everyone was at the edge of their seats. Who will win? who will fall?

Things were getting intense as eleven began to raise her hand and use her powers.

When the monster began to become nothing but small pieces, so was eleven. And when the scene showed both gone, everyone gasped and were clinging onto each other.

"w-where did eleven go??" tuk asks, amazed at the scene.

Soon the credits rolled in and it was the end of season 1. Everyone stared at the screen all in amazed.

"......is there more of that show??" lo'ak asks. Vopey looks at the box and smiles. "heck yeah!, lots of seasons!".

Everyone cheered and put season 2 on. Wanting to see more of eleven and her new found friends.

And that is it for this one! Hopefully this was good enough! Thanks to @artemis-laufeyson giving me the thumbs up of approval! Until next time! see ya!

Vopey = eleven

[peabrainedraccoonlady]

Overwatch Headcanons (based on the canon lore and several in-game events and things) that I really want to be true.

A lot of it is Junkers, sorry.

~~~~~

☆ Ever since April Fools, I love the thought that Roadhog watches 'mom shows.' (Oprah, Bachelor, Bachelorette, etc.) I also love to think he gets really into it, like he's dead silent and perfectly focused on the episode or he'll mutter stuff under his breath during The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. Like, "... how dare that sludge talk like that..." or "... you go girl, tell him off..."

☆ Cassidy: WHY DO YOU KEEP LOSIN YOUR KEYS, DANG NABBIT?!

Tracer: Why do you sound like a prospector when you're angry, cad flabbit?

☆ Hanzo snorts when he laughs too hard... thats it. But he'll deny it if someone hears it. Hard deny.

☆ Junkrat is the equivalent of that one guy in Ratatouille ("I killed a man, with this thumb." Can't remember his name for the life of me.) when anyone asks what happened to his finger. From 'Extreme Thumb Wrestling Gone Wrong' to the simple one answer that is 'Koalas.' No one truly knows what happened to his finger.

☆ Odessa doesn't know how to write. (Junkertown Education System.) But she does know how to draw just a bit. So when doing autographs, she doodles a tiny version of her. With little stars.

☆ Speaking of Junkertown and Australia in Overwatch, the place is basically like Mad Max and Fallout had a baby. Even Junkrat sees the difference between normal dirt and radioactive dirt. And thats just facts. If you look at the Junkertown map, you'll understand what I mean.

☆ Sombra was an orphan, she hadn't felt a familial bond until Sigma. Come on, the man is like a science dad. He has that energy. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't see him as family. Sigma is the only (from my current research (not counting Doomfists 'jefe.' Jefe justs means boss.)) one that has a consistent nickname that translates (sorry if its wrong) to 'Old Man.'

☆ Moira knows how to dance every single anime dance... no no no, you don't understand. Every. Single. One. Will she ever show it? No. Definitely not.

☆ Tracer has adhd. Not because of her ability. That's a stupid reason. It's cause she just... seems like she does you know?

☆ Junkrat actually has a love of singing. As shown in the random chatter he has and the interactions with Lucio, Jamie likes to sing. Although, from when he's demonstrating to Lucio, it kinda seems like he's nervous. The "Sausage Roll and Batter Sav" tune he sings isn't bad. He's just a silly little guy.

☆ Speaking of my favorite silly guy, Junkrat is actually smarter than people give him credit for. He can keep a conversation with Sigma, he knows Xenos Paradox, he gets Winstons Periodoc Table joke, it's just that he expresses himself differently. I mean he was theoretically raised in the radioactive outback, you're gonna wind up a bit weird. I think he partly hides his genius so no one can take advantage of it.

☆ Opposite of Junkrat, Roadhog seemingly has made friends with a lot of others. They're more willing to talk to him than the rat man. I mean, come on, Mako gets along with D.Va, Ana, Junker Queen, Kiriko (i think), and Lucio. Maybe Mercy as well, but I couldn't figure it out. I have a feeling that Roadhog thought that no one would like him cause he's scary, but everyone on the team just sees him as a gentle giant (which he honestly is, have you seen his cute little interactions and the plethora of Pachimari things he has?)

☆ Mercy really cares about those around her. So much so, that she believes (if going by some of her chatter is anything) anyone can be saved. Even Widowmaker. I'm guessing from what she had done with Genji, she had proved to herself that she could save anyone.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 11/21/2023

awful lot of cooking content from me, who hates cooking but finds the evenings jittery and boring

listening

Doorbell by Sterling Press, off the spotify weekly recced playlist. i don't know that i like this song. i don't know that it's particularly good. goddamn if it isn't catchy. alt britpop, they hate being compared to blur but mmmm. you do hear it. notes of ska as well. a song to blast in your car when your spring break plans fell through and you're driving to the good target two towns away from your hometown.

i don't think this music video could have existed pre-pandemic-- idk doorbell cams were that ubiquitous or well known, despite heavy advertising from nest.

from an interview:

Speaking about the new release, they said, “We wrote the song in our mates garage using drum samples off YouTube. We spent all night writing it then in the early hours of the morning drove to Maccies to have breakfast and had it on repeat the whole time. We all fell in love with it straight away. These lyrics speak to the importance of authenticity and sincerity in your actions. In a world where appearances and pretences can be misleading, it's a reminder to be true to yourself and to avoid trying to impress others for the sake of it. “I feel like its an experience we all share. We all know someone who goes off to uni or gets a new job and you bump into them on the street and they act as if they have no idea who you are. I guess this song is reflection of our frustrations towards those people.”

they have what i would consider an unusual amount of hype and presence for a band that has exactly three songs out, but they've all been making music together and separately since well before the pandemic so maybe they've just finally broken out? i can't figure out who these kids are related to. i don't think it's a full on industry plant but i do think someone's dad has some money.

a friend once said she hated how eighties songs faded out like a printer running out of ink, and i do not particularly care for how 2020s songs end with the entire band vanishing underwater.

this song is truly not that deep but it is thoroughly stuck in my goddamn head.

listening: special podcast edition

i am not looking for solutions. do not say solutions at me. i am taking through a brain thing and having a weird workflow and brain problem. i have tried other apps with browser support and do not like them, and i cannot have my personal apple id tied to my work computer bc i have and frequently use a work apple id.

i have been listening to podcasts through Spotify ever since mmm november ‘20. it has not been a good experience but juggling the Apple Podcasts app through my phone (distraction minefield) and whatever im listening to or working on with the work computer is a nightmare. ethics of spotify aside, it is a tremendously successful all in one listening platform. i do not have the brainspace to manage my own music library, and support my favorite artists in other ways.

i am not looking for solutions. do not say solutions at me.

however, if you listen to enough podcast episodes, spotify does not seem to believe you when you tell it to unfollow a podcast. it just keeps letting you know hey this has a new episode. this got me stuck on a loop where i was listening to more and more episodes of two very prolific conspiracy theory debunking podcasts to the exclusion of almost everything else. this was not very good for my mental health.

i am not looking for solutions. do not say solutions at me.

despite the real annoyance of finagling a very distracting phone and the work laptop, i have gone back to Apple Podcasts and (after weeding out a variety of podcasts for a variety of reasons) started listening to friends at the table again. not sure why i stopped but i felt a weird amount of guilt around restarting?? the tablefriends neither know nor care. i have finally finished road to palisade and am excited but nervous about starting palisade proper

-

reading

a local religious thrift store has absolutely rancid vibes but does regularly have 6/$1 book sales. there were a couple older trade paperback comics the last time: the first three volumes of ULTIMATE XMEN and a radom What If? superman.

my trouble with the xmen, and i have to read something from it once every two years to remind myself, is that magneto is right. they will never be able to assimilate into white picket fence middle america, or even among the liberal coastal elites or whatever the term du jour was in 1999. the box will always be smaller and you will never be perfect enough. i did not enjoy this enough to continue bc of this fundamental disagreement with most xmen comics.

also it looks like this. magneto’s lair has an arch in the shape of the arch on the front of his helmet and that was pretty baller, but there’s a real. what was they gimmick blog about all the comic book women in contorted spine-breaking poses? it’s like that a lot. WHAT is ororo’s body doing there

-

watching

hey. what the fuck do you mean tomato sauce is that easy. i dislike tomato sauce and almost exclusively eat jar upon jar of aldi brand pesto. im not allergic bc tomatoes aren't tingly but it's just sort of Nothing all the time. what do you mean it can be good???

i don't actually remember why i'm subscribed to mr internet shaquille. perhaps, like so many other food things, it's kali's fault.

-

playing

g/enshinposting.

pulled this horrid little brat. very pleased with myself.

i do not. love. her story quest. it falls into the childrens' media trap of Sometimes It's Okay For Other People To Stomp All Over Your Boundaries If It's For The Good Of The Group! or perhaps this is just a thing i'm particularly twitchy about. either way, annoyed that other characters of this importance have gotten some deeply moving writing and so far furina has...not gotten that.

the next character i am excited about is lolita taylor swift, or geo-aligned lady with big fuckoff sword. from some early maybe-leaks i think she would pair beautifully with my playstyle and my pirate lady with big sword. my playstyle is mostly brute force damage. i hit things as hard as i can until they fall over and i've played the entire game (with some exceptions that required actual thinking about elemental reactions) that way. it pleases me.

re: the conclusion of the annapausis sidequest, genshin does a really good job of teasing out "ok in a world with actual gods, what does spirituality look like/what are the differing views on fate/how do people make sense of an afterlife". mostly this is gnosticism. and sometimes it's a real life occultist secret society (reskinned Rosicrucianism). fascinating writing choices.

-

making

turkey cottage pie with scalloped potatoes, bc i had a five-pound bag of russets that were starting to sprout. im just going to yoink this pic i posted earlier bc it is now half gone and in tupperware form

this is the first time ive ever cooked in a dutch oven and im in love. i thrifted this for $20 some weeks ago but bc the lid has some chips and rust i haven't used it. which is silly, bc the body of the oven is fine. de-rusting and seasoning the lid will wait for a day when i actually need it bc for now we can get by with doubled-over sheet of aluminum foil.

used this recipe: only had a pound of ground turkey and liberally stretched it with potatoes (i think about three and a half pounds out of five) and three pounds out of a cheap frozen veggie mix bag. did not include mushrooms bc i did not like them. threw in some bay leaves bc i have a giant bag of them, i think i almost doubled the wine bc i doubled the recipe, but i do not think i remembered to double the beef stock. i also shook in a liberal amount of italian seasoning bc i have a cheap jar from aldi i want to use up.

the final product was somewhat soupy. i anticipated that slicing the potatoes was going to be the longest part (mostly true, i had to take breaks) and kept them in a big bowl of cold water to stop them browning while i chopped and after i blanched them. i also could have reduced the filling down some more but i am not a patient woman.

not as intended but still yummy, which was a lovely surprise bc usually when i fuck recipes up i fuck them up But Good. plus new technique (dutch oven). if i make this again (likely) i will do instant potatoes on top bc this was a fuck of a lot of chopping for one recipe. thinking about getting one of those stupid little hand smash veggie choppers bc a full food processor is extremely out of budget.

[dangerously-human]

rat heart doughnut I’m too lazy to find the emojis

Sooo valid of you, bestie.

🐀 [Rat] Name three reasons why this WIP is great at being insert genre here. (You can send a genre, or let the recipient pick one.)

Ooh, genre categorization is not necessarily my strong suit. I guess, since I'm working more or less within the original genre of canon, I can focus on the overarching fanfiction trope as what sets it apart?

My Heart: Domestic fluff. 1) Baby fic! 2) Soft 💕 3) Changing dynamics at home, not just for Lockwood and Lucy but also for their friends, all navigating this new stage of life together.

Twins: Tragedy. 1) "The end was set before the beginning." The outcome for this family is hella tragic, canonically, and mostly the same for thematic reasons here, and thus I knew the ending before I started writing any of what leads to it in this AU. Determinism is a big theme in Dune, which was partly what I set out to explore - how much can I change while still keeping later key events intact? 2) "It was always going to happen this way." Dune takes a pretty fatalistic view on the whole, or at least, its main narrators tend to, especially Paul. So while characters make some different choices here, those choices are useless to save them from their fates. But it's the fact that they could have chosen another path, that there could be a road out - which we kind of go down for a bit here! - that makes it truly tragic, even knowing (some of) what's coming. Because the characters are still who they are, in the end. 3) "The love was there. It didn't change anything. But it matters that the love was there." You know the post. We've all gone insane about it at some point. That's probably above all the theme of this piece. The love between Paul and Irulan - tbh on every side of this love triangle, in many iterations - matters. The ending doesn't really change but there's some light in the middle that wasn't there before and that counts something.

💖 [Heart] What is your favorite moment in this WIP?

I gave another answer for this, but luckily this gives me an excuse to share more than one thing I love about the projects I'm working on!

My Heart: There's a bit maybe two-thirds of the way through the story where Lockwood is sparring with Lucy and all of a sudden is hit by the reality of the situation, how much their lives are about to change and the fact that he and Lucy made a whole person. Lucy just brought him to his knees with a practice sword and manages it twice over with mom magic. It's kind of sappy and very cute.

Twins: There's this moment in the third act where Paul and Irulan have both kind of slipped up and are sharing a deceptively calm, happy moment, a bubble which Paul proceeds to pop by telling Irulan the name he's picked out unilaterally for their child. Anyway, I really love the way Irulan opens the narration for this scene, which alludes to something Paul says at the end of Dune about how he feels sort of helplessly enslaved to play a fated role of entangled kindness and cruelty:

Eventually, she’ll unlearn wanting. Already she’s discovered that for every concession she wrenches from her husband, the recoil is worse than her win warrants. For every flash of tenderness he grants her, Paul lashes out to punish her, or perhaps himself. But it’s so easy to forget, in the moment, that cruelty always follows his kindnesses.

🍩 [Donut] What's the weirdest thing someone eats in your WIP? What's the best thing?

You know, this question made me realize I do not write food into my stories very often. I should change that, it's a good background detail.

My Heart: I think the only thing eaten in this entire fic so far is doughnuts. I should give Lucy some really weird pregnancy cravings, though, something everyone judges her for except her supreme ally, George.

Twins: Again, the only food I think is explicitly mentioned is grapes. Well, that and spice-infused Fremen dishes, though nothing specific. I guess the latter could count as weird, or at least can lead to a weird time for those sensitive to it.

[imaginespazzi]

Best bestie, its been too long! I hope that vaca was phenomenal and that the return is treating you ok. What was your highlight? (I wouldve messaged sooner but work is ramping up here. Plus I felt like the timing wasnt good right before you left/while you were gone/when you just got back)

Guess I'll begin w some old & random asides by voicing my full agreement with you that matcha and Colleen Hoover books are both truly awful things. I feel so strongly about this I just couldnt not share haha.

WBB: Results in the W continue to be a little weird here and there huh, keeping things interesting. Ngl the Mystics recent winning run has been bittersweet for me.. but in fairness at this point Im not sure how out tank the Sparks even if you wanted to. Honestly I just the hate inconsistency tho (injuries aside). And hate to see the rash or recent SEIs. Heres hoping Betnijah is ok!! Another wcbb player in headlines for really bad stuff, sigh, but Im never gonna comment on something still in a legal process.

Not sure Ive commented over the past couple chapters, but GH/fic never fails to be well done!

Lastly, ending on a high note - an overwhelming amount of recent Pazzi content! What can really be said? Its just made me smile to see two people in love out enjoying a bunch of special events/memories together. Especially considering this is prob the last typical student summer for them as a pair.

-☕️

BESTI HI :)

It's been so long, I missed you <3

Listen I'm like a huge foodie so the highlight was definitely having gelato every day lmao

THANK YOU! So sorry to my Matcha girlies but I cannot stand the drink at all. And if you're a CoHo girlie, well yeah no I'm not apologizing for that one, she sucks, her books suck and Azzi and Paige please let me save you!

The W has been so unpredictable which has been both entertaining but also slightly unnerving. But yes I agree the Mystics have been quite bittersweet. On one hand I do love seeing Aaliyah happy but what about the agenda Mike? WHAT ABOUT THE AGENDA? What was the point of all of the struggling in the beginning if we don't even get the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (who am I kidding Paige is the rainbow).

Ah yes that headline is the worst yet and the article have been confusing to say the least but I just hope justice is served.

The Pazzi content has just been unbelievable. I still feel like I'm in a dream with everything we've gotten but I'm just so happy for the. Just being themselves, making all these connections, going to big events and just having the time of their lives, no one deserves it more.

[themostsanebug]

aaughh,, doodleland lore dump bc im soooo cool (to the two other people who work on doodleland with me if ya see this,, im about to mess up on so many lore points dont watch)

@aggressivedaikons here's the lore dump for ya :D

sooo,, doodleland is basically a place where scrapped/unused characters go to finish "living out their lives." these scrapped characters can be from several different universes originally, making some of them have completely different stories from on another. for example, one could be from dialtown and the other could be from just some country. not all of the people in doodleland are scrapped characters however considering they are uhhh,, canonically able to reproduce,, meaning some characters are just born into doodleland! doodleland also has a weird concept of death,, when they die some people can be gone for a few hours-days and come back or "spawn" back in, some can be gone for weeks-years, and some don't come back at all. i vaguely remember it being mentioned that doodleland characters see each other in different art styles as well?? whatever,, OH THERE'S ALSO ANOTHER (basically just edgy) SIDE TO DOODLELAND!! it's called scrap land and it's basically just like,, doodleland but more crime/less laws and where most of the freaky or overly angsty characters live. literal HORRORS live in scrapland. i thinkkkk that's it for background info?? now onto the main shit <3

doodleland exists solely cause two gods decided to combine their powers and give a place for failed life to start anew. the gods names? agathadaemon and apollo. as you can guess, creating an entire WORLD can use up a lot of energy/power. the gods were reverted to smaller forms and ended up in the world they created. eventually, people start showing up in doodleland and they just kinda,, go about life like normal?? some of my earliest characters to enter doodleland are the atonal parents. technically the atonal great grandparents by the current timeline but whatever,, point is, while i refuse to give these two names, they are the parents of one of my early characters that actually has lore and can lead into some more of the story!! woohoo!! that characters name is alan atonal and his life is,, something. his parents both weren't around often and he struggled with getting attention up until he was "adopted" into a small group of neighbors. the parent situation was purely because his dad worked two jobs and his mom was a nurse btw,, they struggled to get home to him on SEVERAL occasions. the small group of neighbors treated him like a little brother they had never had, leading to him trusting them a bit more than his parents. oh, and one day they took alan down to a lake and alan accidentally tripped and drowned because none of them knew how to swim to save him, but its fine he came back within a few hours with a healthy dose of trauma and a fear of water! as he grew older, he eventually met someone in highschool named sasha bright! him and sasha ended up becoming very close and he learned that sasha was trans! meaning he had changed his name and gotten his hair cut after the word was out, he soon came to be known as vain bright and he, to the current day, still hasn't gone on testosterone or gotten top surgery due to both surgical/needle based fears and just not really caring how his body looks. his parents supported him being trans, making them some of the best set of parents out of the earlier character cast. moving on from that and back to alan,, alan and vain grew closer and alan eventually grew a crush on a girl he knew named alice. he told vain about the crush, expecting his best friend to encourage him to ask her out or give him support or something, but he was simply met with warnings of how terrible the girl truly was. how the girl was going to use him and leave him in the dust, how she was going to treat him like dirt. alan didn't believe him and ended up getting a date with the girl anyway. their relationship was smooth sailing, especially when alan got a job working for the police force! that,, didn't last forever though. alice eventually started to get more greedy. with,, everything. from money to time with alan, she asked for it all. he came home tired and overworked almost every night and she still expected him to cook or take her somewhere. even with all that, alan still proposed to her and ended up getting married to her! her greed worsened, especially her greed for money or items. yet,, alan still loved her. he couldn't just let her go. he gave her several chances before she was finally the one to break it off after she'd had "enough of his complaining." his life got,, a lot better with her gone to say the least. he ended up living with vain for a while and they helped each other in ahem,, multiple ways. he got promoted to police chief and was really good at his job too! down the line, however, he discovered he had a teenage son. one that alice had somehow managed to keep hidden from him for all the years they had been apart. he found the kid one day and figured out that his name was mio,, mio had,, issues of his own. the kid was extremely jumpy along with struggling with the vengeful attitude of his mother who had convinced him the only way to live was by stealing, lying and cheating. alan and the kid eventually got on good terms leading mio to start talking about how poorly his mother treated him. alan, rightfully so, got pissed. him and vain took it upon themselves to go and talk to her about it.

[canyouplzjust]

Of Course Its Mr. X

I couldn't leave it there, like without explaining the coolest and most tragic things that happened in that session. I just can't write for very long at a time. Anymore.

So, in the hallway of Umbrella Corp we hear the familiar thud of unstoppable footsteps. I don't have to look to know that they are coming from a LARGE man in a normal sized hat, but the hat looks small because he's so big. It's Mr. X from Resident Evil and he can definitely kill any of us in 2 hits. We took off down the hallway, Rory covered our trail with some hearty skeletons that absorbed enough hits for us to get away. Well, get to the end of the hall, in a weird room with floor to ceiling windows and we're trapped. Les used his light field projector to create the illusion that the room extends several feet out farther than it does, and puts the image of us huddled in the dead center. Well, Mr. X took the bait and just fucking smashed through the plate glass window, Michael Myers style, and walked himself out the side of a 40-story drop. holy shit.

While we were half cheering and half crying about how we were going to get down from our towering skyscraper, Max showed up to talk shit. He got real self righteous and confrontational, and when Didi just started biting back at him, I don't know, it was funny, so I laughed. He seemed so powerless and futile, scrabbling with her like that, trading barbs like tough kids at a punk show, but fuck me i guess because when I lowered my chin back down, from throwing my head back in the laughter, he was looking at me with murder in his eyes. It wasn't an empty threat. He snapped his fingers and the mystical Probability Knight appeared in the hallway, lighting up the area behind JD with his hellish glow. I didn't even have time to scream, I saw in my peripheral vision as the giant sword came through the front of JD's chest, and his body collapsed onto the floor, because I couldn't tear my eyes away from Max. Who was that looking at me through his eyes? It felt like motivated hatred, and it really wanted to hurt all of us, but was it the boy I had left behind? I'm truly sorry for what happened to him, but I don't know how we could have left without him if he wasn't truly dead. What's even possible here?

I turned to Les and yelled "Do you have a phone," as he pulled a ringing black phone out of his pants pocket, looking more surprised than I was, really. "Yes.... OK," he said into the phone, and then looked at us. In the tone of a confident man, a trustworthy hero, he said, "Lets go," and jumped out the window. We all followed without hesitation.

On the street below us, in the middle of the day, was a giant inflated parade balloon to break our fall. No damage, just a gentle bounce and the gift of help from a stranger. I think the ballon was of Pikachu... or possibly another cartoon character, and at the bottom of the fall was a spunky Fool who goes by the alias DC. I know what it stands for, but I'm not telling. She took us into the sewer (gross) and led us to a vault with inches thick lead walls that no signals could penetrate. She was from another Paragon party, and she really struggled to give us any info about her long gone friends, but she did have the arm remnants of a Neo. Use it or lose the Faire gold, Les always says, so I suggested he plug some into the arm, and lo - now he has a blink teleporter! DC wouldn't give it up for free, in trade Les and Didi drew her a Transformers comic, based on the new movies that had come out since she'd been trapped. I don't think they were very good, but I also haven't seen them sober, so its impossible to say.

Didi and Les stepped out into the hall (aka the sewer) and Didi made a call to a British sounding ex-boyfriend. He's blonde and he's dangerous and its fucking Spike. Spike met us at the edge of the city with his whole gang of bikers, and we got a ride out of the hot zone. I can't really get into it now, but Didi's got some kids that Spike has been raising for her, or raising to eat her, its still unclear. Its gonna get weird and I'm sure they are dangerous.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Why We Fight

Summary: Somewhere down the line, Yukari realizes that while Makoto is always there for her and S.E.E.S., maybe they don't always lend a shoulder for him. Wanting to fix that, the two of them have a conversation that details what exactly happened to the leader of S.E.E.S. parents... and it not only helps her understand Makoto better, but maybe this world she lives in, too, with its constant push and pull.

Yukari was… well, to put it bluntly, she was embarrassed about her relationship with Yuki-kun and how it had developed.

She could overlook the rumors that had started about them at school when they first met, when he had first joined S.E.E.S.… but Yukari still hated that he had gotten hurt because of her, since she'd been too much of a coward to use an evoker at the beginning. And don't even get her started on that whole freaking shower situation in Tartarus!

But now, despite everything, the two of them were friends—and maybe getting close to becoming something more; Yukari wanted to believe it was something more, anyway—but it seemed that whenever they were together, something happened to make her seem like a basket case to Makoto: as if he hadn't seen enough of that side of her already.

And there was a weird part of Yukari that worried that he thought she didn't value him before they started hanging-out, as if his time as their leader—and even their hug—meant nothing to her.

"Sheesh, Yukari," the teen whispered to herself as she set about cleaning her room to try and distract herself. "And you thought your relationship with Kirijo-senpai used to be strained."

But now wasn't the time to think about such things. Now was the time to think about how to try and make Kirijo-senpai feel better after the horrible loss of her father, and whether or not Yukari really wanted to string Christmas lights up in her room?

And Yukari had almost become Zen with her room re-arranging when who would come to the door but Makoto Yuki?

He looked somewhat awkward as he went to knock on the door, just as Yukari had gone to open it (preparing to take some things from her room to the recycle bin in the kitchen), but he sobered up rather quickly and smiled kindly. "Everyone was wondering if you'd like to go to Tartarus?"

"Oh," Yukari said, surprised, oddly not having guessed that that would be why Yuki-kun was here. "I-I know someone just wandered into Tartarus, but can we go tomorrow? I know it's selfish of me, but I'm tired after going there last night—after that new path opened up—and knowing our luck, someone else will wander in there tomorrow." (1)

"Sure," Makoto said, being far too understanding as far as Yukari was concerned—as it suddenly occurred to her that she always talked to her friend about her problems, but never his own. "I'll let the others know."

"Th-thanks," Yukari blushed as Makoto was turning to walk away. "But could you- could you come back when you're done? I'd like to talk to you. I mean, if you want!"

After he had spoken to the rest of S.E.E.S., Yuki-kun was back faster than Yukari would have liked him to be… because even though she was the one who had asked for this conversation—and she truly wanted to have it, because it was only right—she found herself nervous to have it.

But once she caught a glimpse of blue hair coming back down the hallway, she slapped both of her cheeks, reminded herself that this was what she wanted, and told herself to get it together.

Yukari patted the space beside her on the bed the moment Makoto entered her room, and he sat down without any preamble, which Yukari was glad for: she didn't want the question of where he would sit to be awkward, too.

"So, before I throw you into the deep end here, I have something for you…. if you'd like."

Without waiting for an affirmative, Yukari got out of her chest of drawers an art piece she had recently made. It was of a butterfly with blue and red wings, where the colors faded beautifully into each other. Yukari had made such a creation using chain art at school.

"In art class, we were learning about how to make opposite ends of the color wheel look good together… And I know how you love art and the color blue. And I love pink, and red makes pink… So, I thought that maybe you might like this, and you could think of me when you saw it? But you don't have to take it! If you don't like it, just say something!"

"It's nice, Yukari-chan," Yuki-kun said, putting his hand on hers for just a second in a friendly gesture, Yukari thought. "Thank you." And Yukari appreciated that when she handed the painting to him, he didn't just put it on the bed beside him like some sort of after-thought, but he rather held it to his chest. She smiled.

"Well, now that I've broken the ice some, I guess I can get to the heavy. Umm… I wanted to ask you, if you're okay with answering, how your parents died. Because I realized that I never asked you that, which is a huge oversight on my part. And it seems to me that you're always being a shoulder to cry on for everyone else… but no one's ever being that for you."

At first, Yukari didn't think her friend was going to answer. He looked at her with pained eyes, with a hint of betrayal in them—holding the painting even closer to himself. He then stood up and Yukari thought he might leave her room without his present, but he instead paced in a small circle before sitting back down.

"I… I guess I can tell you," he said at last, in the smallest voice that Yukari had ever heard from their leader before. "I'm not exactly trying to keep it a secret. It's just- my parents died in a fire.

"My parents and I lived in an apartment building at the time… and the firefighters were able to get to me easily, because I was on the first floor—where our apartment was—but my parents were a few floors higher, talking to the landlord and closer to where the fire had started… and the firemen couldn't make it up there."

Yukari couldn't help gasping in shock at this news. She was so sad that Yuki-kun's parents had suffered such a fate, and that he had been keeping it to himself for so long.

Before Yukari could even think about what it would mean for them, or how her friend might react, she pulled him into a one-armed hug at her side and even ran a hand through his hair—hoping that that motion would keep him from pulling away, as if she were petting a cat. "I'm so sorry to hear that Yuki-kun. And that you lost both of your parents in one single act like that. I know I don't completely know what you're going through, of course… But I do know what it's like to lose a parent. Just know that I'm here for you."

"I do think you and Kirijo-senpai understand it to a certain extent," Yuki-kun whispered, looking up at Yukari from where his head had become tucked under her shoulder. "…I didn't lose my parents to the Kirijo Group. However… well, they did die in some sort of building explosion themselves, didn't they?" He asked without a trace of humor in his voice, sitting up now. "In fact, I wonder if that's why I-"

"Why you want to get to the top of Tartarus so badly?" Yukari finished the thought, a single tear falling from her eyes as she did so. That would be the case, wouldn't it? Yuki-kun was a good person, and an amazing leader, so of course he'd wanted to get to the top of Tartarus to get rid of the dark hour… But tied in with that—and maybe even more than anything else—was Yuki-kun's trauma, and a boy in some way fighting to “reach his parents” and undo his mistakes.

Yukari could understand it well. After all, wasn't the whole reason that she was doing what she was to make up for everything that had happened with her own father? So, she knew without a doubt that if she were in her friend’s shoes, she would one hundred percent be acting the same way. In many ways, she already was.

…But there was a dark side to all of this, too. Though they had yet to reach the top of Tartarus, the dark hour hadn't ended like it was supposed to. They had been tricked by that bastard Ikutsuki. And for whatever reason, Yukari found herself now fearing that if they continued to fight and all of Yuki-kun's attempts turned out to be for naught… what it he ended up hurting himself?! She thought with a gasp, her hand coming up to clasp her heart.

Seeming to somewhat read her mind, Makoto looked at her gravely and said, "I do get the sense that something might be coming."

Of course there would be, Yukari thought miserably, shrinking into herself as she did so. Because their group just couldn’t catch a break, could they? And death seemed to be all around them.

“But I… uhh, got you something too, Yukari-chan,” Yuki-kun said, fidgeting with his headphones once, before looking her over with thoughtful eyes. “I plan to buy all of S.E.E.S something like this, to remind us that why we fight is for life,” Makoto explained, handing Yukari pink a pair of “beats” headphones.

Where her friend had been keeping them this whole time, Yukari didn’t know. She really had been a mess to miss something so obvious, huh? But at the moment, she couldn’t care in the slightest. Rather, she was touched by this sweet gesture for two reasons: that Yuki-kun would do this for their ever-growing friendship, but also that he was also moving to do something for their entire group to help keep up morale.

And before Yukari could stop herself from doing so, she was careening across the bed to wrap Makoto up in another quick hug. “Oh, you! You’re really over the top, you know that? And gosh, way to show you’re the perfect leader for S.E.E.S. with this! But you’re right! We do need to remember why we fight… And with such awesome headphones, that can let us listen to lively music so well, I know we’ll be able to do that. So, thank you so much, Yuki-kun,” Yukari positively beamed, while Makoto flushed and looked anywhere but her. It was positively adorable.

Yukari promised herself then that she would take Yuki-kun’s lesson to heart and strive for the light, even in this ever-present darkness. And even when the worst happened—when Ryoji brought with him the most horrific news they ever could have imagined, and much more—she still did.

Author’s Note: (1) I honestly don’t think that they’d ever wait to rescue someone from Tartarus in the canon story. But since that is something you can do in gameplay, I couldn’t pass up doing it. LOL

Surprise, Liz! I actually watched an entire playthrough of Persona 3 Reload, so I could write this for you for your birthday:D So we can talk all things about this game now, if you want. And it should be known that I loved, loved, loved it!

So, if I’m being honest, I don’t think Yukari is my favorite character (though I do love her a lot). And I don’t even really know if I ship these two, though I do think they’re canon? Junpei and Chidori are definitely my OTP for this game!

But for some reason, I just found that Yukari’s head was the easiest for me to get into here. And thus, this story was born. And I think I did a pretty good job hitting the themes of death, yet light at the end of the tunnel, even there (or so I hope). (I also hope Makoto isn’t horrendously out of character, as it’s hard to write for a silent MC.)

Let me know what you think!

Edit: Oh! And if you’re wondering what “chain art” is, it’s kind of like how it sounds: you put paint on a canvas, and then drag a chain through it to make some neat designs that way. I first learned about it through the YouTube channel “Evan and Katelyn 2,” where Evan and Katelyn experimented with it. And Katelyn, wouldn’t you know, made a really beautiful butterfly, that was kind of the inspiration for Yukari’s gift to Makoto here:)

And happy birthday again, Liz=)

@bluerosesburnblue