#THAT'S IT FOLKS I'M OFFICIALLY TOO FAR GONE

[lil-artist-blog-fandoms-ocs]

DCA venom au

Chapter 1

The one where the reader goes out hiking and stargazing, but things take an unexpected turn.

alien DCA x human Reader (qpr)

Warnings: pessimistic thoughts, thoughts of death(not graphic), thoughts of war(not graphic), description of sickness

This would be just another day of your life. Would be, if you didn't take a few days off to go hiking in the nearest forest. What were you even doing here? The ground is hard, the campfire smells not as good as people say it does, the forest creatures make all sorts of noises.

And the freaking s'more is just a sticky, sugary disappointment.

You lick your fingers, trying to clean up the sticky goo of the burned marshmallow. Your fingers taste gross. You abandon all hope and go for some baby wipes to deal with it.

A good question. What were you doing out here, so far away from civilization and your favorite small grocery shop that has this wild variety of instant noodles? You wouldn't even consider going away from your work, but this coworker wouldn't stop nagging you. Something about "very good thing happening", or how did she say it? Doesn't matter. She shouldn't be so much into those fancy cards.

A small breath left your lips, the night air was crisp and fresh, making your body shiver a bit. You move a bit closer to the campfire.

This whole trip was a big waste of time, the comfortable routine you've carved for yourself was ruined, and now you also had dirt under your nails.

The night wind blew softly, making the trees and bushes rustle. Almost sounds like a whisper. Or steps of an animal. Spooky.

You wondered for a moment if there were wild animals here. That'd be a dumb way to die: perish only because you didn't check if there were bears or wolves or something else in this area. Not that you'd care if you died. Nor would anyone really. You felt bad for the poor soul that would find your b-

You bite on the fried mushroom and burn your tongue. You hiss, snapping from the dark thoughts and covering your mouth with a hand as if it's gonna help you somehow. You really should learn to wait sometimes.

Fried sausage. Fried potatoes. Fried mushrooms. S'mores. What else do you remember hearing other people eat during camping? … You couldn't remember. Oh well. You were full anyway.

The night sky was clear. Some white dots were visible even when you were sitting next to the campfire. After some thinking, you decided that you don't want to skip the stargazing and threw a blanket over yourself.

You settled on the ground a few meters from the fire. Air felt so much colder already.

But the stars? Oh, they were beautiful.

Your eyes had gazed upon this vast nothingness filled with sparks of light. The human frame so tiny and insignificant in comparison. And yet it felt like this nothingness wanted to crash down at you like a tidal wave. To pull you in, to swallow you whole, to have you amongst its tiny dots.

It was breathtaking, to say the least.

You were alone. So, so alone. All these stars were alone. Millions and billions years away from each other. From you. You were far, far away from everyone. So far away for so long.

You wondered if you still had your light.

Another soft sigh left your lips and the world went dark for a few long seconds.

You tried so, so hard to not let your thoughts drift off and spiral. You were alone and there were a lot of ways to do what the voices in your head would tell you. You didn't want to ruin the day of some random ranger.

You opened your eyes, meeting the stars above once more.

Wait, was it just you or one of the stars became brighter? And bigger too. What's-

In a blink of an eye, the flash brightened the sky before disappearing just as fast. The air shook and made you jump when a loud BANG exploded somewhere to your side.

The war had started, you thought. A missile must've misfired and fallen in the forest. In a few moments you'll be covered by the energy wave, or whatever it's called, and you'll be gone. And no one will know you were here and became one of the victims. You closed your eyes once again, waiting for the worst.

One second. Two. … Minute. Two minutes…

Why is it taking so long?

You opened your eyes when you smelled the scent of burned wood.

A faint, barely visible trail of smoke followed from the depths of the woods. You didn't notice how your body moved on its own. You got up to your feet and went where the smoke was coming from.

Earth was soft and a bit creaky under your shoes. Little pebbles clanked softly with each step you took. You went deeper into the woods, led only by the faint smell of burning. Then, you saw it. The tops of the trees ahead were broken. The black tainted the torn branches. You followed the trail of damaged trees until you stumbled upon….a rock.

You blinked.

The rock was neatly sitting in the crevice of its own making. Some grass around it still had some splashes of red in it, you quickly made your way to step on those sparks. You didn't want animals to die in the fire. The ground was warm, you could feel it even through your shoes. In the dim moonlight you could see clouds of steam come off the rock.

That's when it hit you.

That wasn't a missile. That was a meteor. Or a comet. Or an asteroid. You never learned the difference. It didn't matter anyway. There was a freaking space rock right in front of you. A real rock, right from the skies above. As real as can be.

You could hold in a little squeal of happiness that left your throat.

You quickly stepped closer to this big space rock to take a closer look. You couldn't see it too well, since you failed in being logical and didn't bring a flashlight or your phone. The moon light was all you had.

It had a bunch of holes in it, kinda reminded you of a sponge. You hesitated before touching it, just to see what kind of texture-

You, once again, failed as a human being, as you touched the scolding hot space rock that burned grass around it. Good job.

But you still were able to feel some of it. It was weirdly smooth, like pebbles or glass shards that were left in a moving water for long. You weren't sure what it meant, but guess smooth is better than sharp. You'd be burned and cut. How fun it would be...

....

So, you saw something fall from the sky, but it's not like there's any danger or anything. Go back to the camp and enjoy the last few hours of your trip, right?

Wrong.

You wanted that space rock.

That space rock was calling for your weird fascination with cool rocks. And how cool would that be to have a literal space rock in your collection.

There's only one small problem.

This rock is half your size.

You stood there, looking this boulder over and trying to come up with a way to get it home so it could be a part of your collection. You clearly couldn't bring the whole thing, but maybe you'd be able to bring a piece?..

Oh, what if it's one of these cool rocks that people smash open to reveal pretty crystals inside. Geode, was it? You'd probably die from happiness if that was what it was.

You grabbed the nearest branch that looked sturdy enough. First time it hit the rock with a quiet knock. You hit harder. Nothing happens. You hit once again. The branch breaks, almost hitting you in the face.

Okay, so a stick won't work. Maybe another rock will?

You quickly find a rather big rock with sharp edges. You hold it securely with both hands as you take a stand.

Breathe in. Smash. Again, breathe in. Smash. Once more, breathe in. SMASH.

The boulder cracked loudly and you dropped your tool to pry it open, cursing the hot surface. But there were no crystals inside.

It looked as if you tore a sponge apart, the holes you saw on the surface went all the way through the rock. It was black on the inside. Wait, is it wet?-

....

You woke up when the sun was right above your head, effectively blinding you. You sat up, looking around. You were right where you were stargazing at night. All your stuff just as you left it, you even had your blanket on.

What a weird dream. But no time to dwell on it, you didn't like wasting time out here. Touching grass and watching nature wasn't enough to solve all your problems. You need your job and the comfort of your routine.

Stuffing some leftover fried mushrooms and potatoes in yourself as a breakfast, you quickly gather up your belongings and clean up after yourself. The trip back is long, but uneventful, except some dizziness you felt closer to the end. But you never moved so much before, so you figured that was as normal as seeing dark circles when you stand up a bit too quickly.

Surely, when you make it home, take a shower and have a good 18 hour long nap in your bed you'll be fine. And the management would be so happy to know that one of their nameless employees that took a week off would return only after a couple of days.

….

You make it home in a cold sweat. Your limbs feel like they're made out of overcooked pasta, you're dizzy as if you took a few turns of riding on a rollercoaster and you feel so sick that you think all your inner workings want to escape your body and leave you behind as an empty shell. The work can wait, looks like you've got severe food poisoning.

Damn mushrooms, you knew you shouldn't have trusted them.

The next day comes and goes in a haze. Time doesn't exist as you fall asleep and wake up a dozen times.

You tried eating, but anything that entered your mouth was pushed out by your raging stomach, so you were hanging only on water and bread. You cursed the mushrooms you ate on your trip for a hundredth time as you stood on your knees in front of the toilet bowl.

You'll never accept any food from the coworker that is into taro cards.

You're barely able to stand up to wash your face and mouth, hoping to get rid of the bitter taste. You splash some cold water on your face and then-

"How long is it gonna last?"

You jumped, startled by the sudden voice that came seemingly out of nowhere. You glanced around, paranoid that someone was in the bathroom with you, but you were alone.

"We can't eat, I'm hungry."

You jumped again as a slightly different voice whined in your ear. You were still alone. There was a long pause, before you sighed and whispered. "I guess I finally lost it. I have hallucinations now..."

"Hey, we aren't hallucinations! How rude." The voice calls.

"That's what a hallucination would say." You answer into nothingness. Well, if you were loosing it, might as well make the best of it.

Your left hand moves on its own and lightly slaps you on the face.

"Real enough?" A slightly huskier voice chuckles in your head. Pain feels real. That freaks you out a bit.

"That's my hand." You protest.

"Our hand." Both voices respond.

"Am I possessed by the ghosts of the soviets?"

No answer. For an alarmingly long time.

"No." Was all they answered.

"What are you then?" You ask, wondering what your hallucinations are gonna say.

"We're yours. And you're ours."

You were too sick to deal with it, so you went to lay down in bed and continue being miserable.

"What does it even mean?" You grunt, plopping yourself onto the bed.

"That means you're stuck with us, human." The higher voice called out suspiciously cheerfully.

You just groan. "Great, I'm having food poisoning and a bad trip."

The voice in your head grumbles, as if offended that you didn't stop thinking it was just a hallucination.

"That's not actually food poisoning." The huskier one says. "That might be because of us."

"Yup, your body doesn't want us here!"

"Too bad we can't leave."

"It can't get rid of us! We're bound now!"

You groaned once again, their chirping just making your headache worse. "Can you shut up for a minute?"

"Oh, do you still feel sick?" The chirpier voice asks.

You grunt in response, rubbing your eyes.

"Hm, maybe we can help with it…"

....

You don't remember anything after that.

The only thing you knew when you opened your eyes was that your body wasn't trying to get rid of your organs anymore. When you came back into this world and checked your phone, you noticed that a day was erased from your memory. It takes you some time to process everything, but you guessed that everything was just a weird fever dream.

You turn in your bed and take the phone in other hand to scroll through the news, just to see what you missed while fighting with the sickness. You thought how odd it was that you started hearing voices. It's been a long time since you had auditory hallucinations.

Anyway, you're just glad it's over now-

"Do you feel better now?" The voice in your head calls out cheerfully.

You drop the phone on your face.

[genderqueerpositivity]

TW: medical/surgery talk and dysphoria

I am officially one step closer to my hysterectomy.

After nearly 10 months of effort, I have the support of my primary care doctor, my therapist, my psychiatrist, and the doctor who will be doing the procedure.

I've also gone through the pelvic exam and the transvaginal ultrasound that my doctor requires of patients seeking a hysterectomy; and to be absolutely clear, I would not have agreed to the ultrasound if it weren't a requirement for the surgery.

In spite of all of this, of course, there is still my health insurance company to convince of the necessity of the surgery. I should hopefully know more in the next week or two.

Every step of my medical transition has been blocked by some barrier at one time or another. I'm lucky to have even made it as far as I have.

This is why I want to laugh and cry when certain folks try to claim that it is too easy to medically transition. Every single step of my medical transition has been undertaken as an adult well over the age of 25, paid for with my own insurance or out of my own pocket, with the support of multiple mental health professionals along the way. And still, each step has been difficult.

I've been required to do everything from talk explicitly about my sexual experiences and physical dysphoria for my initial GID diagnosis to having a cold ultrasound wand poked and shoved around inside of my body until I bled. And still I have to do more, still it is not enough.

I want to be excited right now. And on some levels I am! I've been hoping for and looking forward to this for so long! But I am also so fucking tired, I've been so afraid all year of hitting some unnecessary roadblock and having to start this process over. And I am still so so so afraid, because I know now that this probably isn't going to get done before January 20th, and after that who knows if I'll be able to have it done at all.

Also, also? We do a massive fucking disservice to part of our community by not highlighting how difficult it is to medically transition as an AFAB person.

My hormone therapy is a controlled substance that I cannot legally stockpile in anticipation of gender affirming care bans. I was only able to begin hormone therapy in the first place because the requirement of an in person appointment for an initial prescription of a controlled substance was still waived in 2021 due to the pandemic, so I was able to see a telehealth provider. Only this year have I able to begin seeing a primary care doctor willing to take over managing my HRT.

My barriers to a hysterectomy exist both because the procedure is gender affirming care AND because of my sex assigned at birth. Having to repeatedly reassure everyone else involved in this process that I am certain that I do not want to ever experience pregnancy or childbirth is exhausting.

I think I'll be excited and extremely relieved when this is finally done. And then, then, I can finally start thinking about next steps, potentially top surgery...but that will be next, in whatever reality I find myself living in after January 20th.

It's ironically fitting that today is New Year's Eve; it's been a long year and all of this has been a long time in the works. I can only hope that I'll get to start next year off by finally getting this hysterectomy done.

[sublimecatgalaxy]

hi, can u do a request where maddy got jealous of something and ended up shouting at the reader (soft) which made them cry.

I love this just because this is how she would truly react in a situation like this. She's not exactly the most calm or the most rational lol.

"She was looking at you like she wanted to swallow you whole." Maddy hisses the minute we step out of the store and I feel the once happy expression fall from my face the minute her sassy attitude fills my ears.

"Really? I thought she was just being nice?" I feign stupidity, not wanting to get into a big blow out on our one date night of the week and have my whole night ruined and dignity crushed in a public place.

"Are you that fucking dense? She wanted to fuck you." Maddy scoffs with a bitter smile, eyes turning to slits as she glares at me.

"Maddy, you were right there with me, holding my hand. She obviously knew I was taken." I pause, spinning around on my heels to look at her, fed up with her trailing behind and pissy attitude. She just shakes her head and looks down at her phone, prepared to give me the silent treatment until I apologize.

"And she obviously didn't care."

"I think you're overreacting, babe." I say suddenly, taking Maddy completely off guard as her eyes lift to glare at me, cheeks reddening at my accusation.

"Oh so now I'm crazy?"

"What? I didn't say that." I huff, burying my face in my hands with a loud groan, hating that we keep going back and forth and back and forth- obviously out of and abandoning anything resembling a honeymoon period.

"Tell me how you really feel! You think I'm this jealous, raging bitch, right?" She steps up to me, officially throwing me off my confident game as a tear trickles down my cheek and I desperately hold a hand out to her to get her to stop.

"Maddy, stop." I beg, reaching up to bat my tears away as a look of realization passes across her face that she's indeed gone too far once again. "If she was looking at me, that's out of my control. You know me, you know I want to be with you, what more do you need."

"I need women to stop looking at my girlfriend."

"Then get mad at her next time!" I laugh through tears and Maddy rolls her eyes, reaching out to me to tug me into her arms, firmly hugging me as a silent apology.

"Fine, fuck."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- Taglist: @bubblebuttwade @rafelover2405 @leslienjazzy @sorceresss @grxnde-dwt @alex–awesome–22 @bunnietoof @niyamar1e @serialghost @plantlungs @geniusohn @akaliltimmytim @lilaalouuxx @xshariex @elliotsbeigeguitar @elle4404 @lelieja @srhxpci @joselyn001 @taysirene @spinkspanther @thedivineuphoria @peter-maximoffs @tsukishimawhore @poohkie90 @szlaco @distantsighs @nstyles4299 @wolflover384 @givemefoodandlovesstuff @vane28282 @yeswhatever33 @amirrahfranson @vvaalleennttiinna @f-mu @yaspillz @jeyramarie @skylievin@abbybarnes17 @jointherebellion215 @visiondaddy @steezysimfinds @its-ya-gay-boi-luigi @crunchytoenailsyum@glizzymcguirex @beth123lg @melovesmut @rafecameronswhore @ariianelle @write-from-the heart @vampviolets@haylee-e @honee-chai-tea @lokiandbuckywife

@officiallyunofficialperson@heyaitsklaudia@rosepetalsparks @bluetreecloud20 @scenesofobx @double-shot-of-tequila @1dluver13xx @colbysbrocks @iamasimpingh0e @loveshineslikethesky @id-3-kbro @diorsitgirl @errorfound101-allideasburnedout @neverwillknowme18 @ellyskey @taylors-folk @loversjoy @myaloveee @thyris-is @lagataprrr @aaaaslaaaan @witxhy-lexx @minjix @luvroseee @tee-swizzle @savageneversaw @admiringlove @hysteriahall @piceous21 @starlightandfairies @igotmajordaddyissues @drewstarkey-wife1 @manyfandomsfanvergent @revesephemeres

[mjrtaurus]

I'm confused, is he trans or no? Because you say he had Luffy but also refer to him as male in the childhood posts. I'm sorry if i seem disrespectful, i'm still learning about trans stuff.

No problem! It's good to learn!

So the whole Sir Crocodile is Trans thing isn't canon, but it's a very common theory with quite a bit if evidence to back it up. The Crocomom/Crocodad Theory typically goes hand in hand with the Trans Crocodile theory, too. It also isn't canon.

So, officially, as far as we know, canon Crocodile is a cisgender man- meaning he identifies with the gender he was assigned at birth- until further notice.

I headcanon Crocodile as a trans man and as the one who gave birth to Luffy. It's safe to assume that whenever I am talking about Crocodile in a post, he is trans and Luffy's parent.

Now as for referring to him as male in his childhood, I headcanon that he knew he was a boy by the time he was four, which is not outside the realm of possibility in the real world. Kids have a sense of identity all their own, and not all identify as the gender they were assigned at birth. What they do with that information is between them and their parents/guardians. A trans child is not put on HRT- hormone replacement therapy. A trans child is not given sex reassignment surgery. A trans child- if they are fortunate enough to recieve any treatment at all- is put on puberty blockers. This has no detrimental longterm effects, and allows the child to feel at least a bit more comfortable in their body until they are old enough to actually recieve HRT. Again IF they are fortunate enough.

As for the pregnancy. Trans men can get pregnant. They can get pregnant even when undergoing HRT. The only time a trans man 100% can't get pregnant is if they were infertile to begin with, have been totally abstinent, or have had a hysterectomy.

Crocodile was out as a trans man by the time he got pregnant, but he still had a functioning uterus and ovaries. Typically the chances for pregnancy during HRT are pretty low, but they aren't impossible. And typically HRT is put on hold if the recipient is pregnant. Crocodile did not know he was, due to Luffy being a cryptic pregnancy. Iva not following medical protocol to test for pregnancy beforehand is a testament to the broken system in One Piece that mirrors our own in the real world. Trans folks often can't get the help they need safely and legally due to a lot of fearmongering against them from people in power who want to demonize them simply for being "different". Iva is not a medically licensed doctor, therefore protocol isn't exactly a thing to stand on. However, if they knew Crocodile was pregnant, they would not have gone through with the HRT until further notice.

But back to one of the original talking points, being pregnant doesn't mean a trans man is no longer a man. Pregnancy does not effect the identity of a trans man. There are trans men out there right now, many even on this site, who have given birth and still are men.

It can all seem a little confusing when you're still learning, so be gentle with yourself. And most of all, thank you so much for being willing to learn.

I would also like to be clear that I am not trans myself, so if anyone reading this is, and I have failed to relay certain information in a respectful way, or have left some crucial information out entirely, please correct me on that in a reblog, an ask, or a reply. I am still learning, too, and I want to treat this topic with the respect it's due.

[doberbutts]

Do you do/train for/compete in any dog sports with your dobermann? Would you recommend a dobermann for a beginner sport dog? Thank you!

Yes, Fenris and I are currently training in a protection dog sport called mondioring, or just mondio for short, and we'll probably pick up a few obedience-only titles in IGP (used to be called IPO, which used to be called schutzhund, another protection dog sport) along the way to support the United Doberman Club (which is mostly IGP-based tbh). I debated AKC obedience and rally but honestly right now my focus is mondio because I like it more and he seems to be doing really well in it. If we hit a wall we may switch tracks. But so far he's got nothing but compliments, so I'm not really worried about it.

As for whether I'd recommend dobes for a beginner sport dog, it sort of depends what you mean by that and what sport. I have had 4 dobermans total thus far. Only two have done anything in sport due to temperament of the other two, and of those two neither has actually accomplished anything in competitive sport. Creed had a mock BH under his belt (preliminary title to begin competing in IGP), but it wasn't an official trial so it doesn't count, and he's been gone for the past 2.5 years. Fenris just turned 13 months and being a young puppy I'm honestly in no hurry to put any titles on him- he passed his puppy temperament test and that's all I've done with him thus far because I am deliberately taking things slow with him. (and I didn't even enter him in the temperament test, his breeder did because she was showing her keepers at the same event!)

So... I mean... it's not like I'm a seasoned competitor. To the folks at training club, I'm a beginner too. And to my knowledge, Fen's breeder's foundation bitch was her beginner sport dog- his grandmother. Far be it from me to discourage you if you feel it's the right fit.

However, I will say that if you are wanting a doberman you should be committed to the doberman, vs if you want the sport you should be committed to the sport. What I mean by that is- if you are looking to really excel and have a nice dog right off the bat for your introduction to a sport, you may want to consider breeds more suited to the sport you are thinking about playing in. There's nothing wrong with getting a border collie for agility, or a golden for obedience, or a shepherd for IGP, or a malinois for mondio. But if you want to get a doberman, then commit knowing that your journey will likely look very different from those who chose more in line with the breeds that do well in their sport of choice.

The doberman was never intended to be a sport dog. It was intended to be a personal protection dog. That doesn't mean dobermans can't do well at various sports- in fact many dobermans excel at many sports! But it does mean that you're probably going to experience different challenges in your training than your fellow competitors, and you should keep that in mind instead of feeling discouraged.

[iniziare]

This'll be a shorter one, but I'm touching on this in an ask, which has me want to note it down officially elsewhere: why is Solas so passionate? Firstly, as Bellara makes note of following the second memory that depicts Solas and Mythal, we know that the ancient elves felt all things very strongly to a point that seems to necessitate an explanation of 'difference' (but as Bellara is Dalish, her knowledge of the ancient Elves needs to be taken with a grain of salt), now this can be logically traced back to their spirit origins. Now, perhaps this is me looking a bit too firmly into the concept of manifested emotions, virtues and/or motivations (which is what the spirits are said to be)— but to be presented as the manifestation of something that is the purest and strongest, it would make sense to me that it requires to be driven by the deepest of faith, which then ultimately returns to the concept of passion. Part of me even wonders if that then would play into a spirit's power level, but I digress, that's not the part of this post (though I mean, it does a little.)

If this would propel the purity of the spirit, then let me take a look at Solas once more— look at the intensity of each 'purpose' that he sets himself on the path of. Yes, he's originally a spirit of Wisdom that slowly gets twisted over the course of a long time, but a lot of it stems from very intense emotions he holds: he leaves the fade for Mythal out of loyalty to her ('I will always follow where you go'), he rebels against the other Evanuris (including Mythal herself when she 'sides' with Elgar'nan, and through that 'rebels against' Solas) out of a firm belief that Elgar'nan's rule and the choices made therein, will bring about the destruction of the Elves and the world— he enacts vengeance on the Evanuris when they killed Mythal despite her also having gone against him prior (again: loyalty), he goes on a journey of wanting to undo his mistakes out of regret and guilt (and even in this: a loyalty to his people which plays into his pride for/of the Elves). Dragon Age: Veilguard shows us how far 'pride' can go, and Inquisition was made to showcase what it looks like what you're around a spirit of Wisdom, the excitement it can show when approached from a perspective of curiosity, and the rebuke of pride you can face when approaching it from a place of arrogance or even malice. All in all, I think it's easy evidence to say that spirits are beings of intense passion for their purpose, or virtue— and in that, lies the explanation behind Solas' enduring passion that may seem like a little bit too us 'common folk'.

[notsocheezy]

V-Day - Under Transition Indefinitely

That's what UTI stands for, right?

Oops, guess not, and I've probably got one. So now I'm swallowing red dye pills three times a day to kill the bladder pain and pissing popcorn butter for the bargain. Not to worry, folks, I've already dribbled into a cup and the lab specialists are growing a culture to figure out what's going on.

Frankly, though, I'm even more concerned about if it's not a UTI. Because then... What do I even do? Without the bladder painkillers - which aren't meant for long-term use - I literally won't be able to sleep. After peeing, I felt like I had to pee worse!

In other news, the stitches continue to be a pain in my crotch. One of them is just dangling there, an inch-and-a-half out, easily pulled by mistake. It's horrible. And it's been a struggle to dilate with the second size, too. It feels like I'm jamming into bone, no matter how far apart I spread my legs. I'm doing my best and it's just not enough.

I also haven't slept very well lately, for obvious reasons. Constant pinching and pulling and burning and swelling will do that. I'm exhausted and relatively hopeless. Maybe if I set a goal of sorts, I'll feel better when I reach it, so let's make it official and say, "I will be happier when my UTI is cured and all these unending ramen-looking stitches are gone."

Yesterday marked a whole month since surgery and I've seen my friends maybe five times since then. I miss having a life.

[obigem]

"Are you sure all of those tricks will work?"

"Of course they will. DeShawn folds every time after just one. My guess is Jai will melt like puddy in your hands just as fast."

The girls quickly wrapped their boys 101 cram class as the start of dinner approached.

"Now remember, stay confident, coy, but not too coy, coquetish, but not overtly sexual, and laugh at all his jokes, but with a giggle, not too over the top. And for the love of Watcher do not snort. It's not cute"

"Oh gee, I'm never going to remember all that." Cordie moaned.

"If all else fails, bat your eyelashes. It doesn't work with every girl, but you got those big disney princess eyes. Any guy would fold over those."

"Wait, you never told me my eyes were huge. Oh no, what if I look like an alien?"

"Cordie, babes, dial up the chill. You're fine"

"You look super cute, Jai's going to fall all over himself for you, and you'll officially have your very first kiss."

"You think so?"

"I know so! Now give me a hug, I'm meeting D at his place for a study date while his mom works and the rest of his folks are here tonight."

"Since when do you study outside of school?" Cordie looked at her BFF suspicously.

"Since I got a new stick of fruity delicious lip gloss I really want to test drive. Now no more questions. Hugs, hugs now!"

"OK." Cordie giggled as she gave her best friend the biggest hug ever.

"Now my mother believes I'm studying at the library with a tutoring group, so—"

"I'll text you 10 minutes before the Reynolds are about to head out so you can make your way home without getting caught."

"Thanks, bestie!" Jordie gave Cordie an extra squeeze.

"But Jord, don't do anything I wouldn't do, and if you decide to anyway, please use protection."

"First of all, the list of things you wouldn't do is far too long. Second of all, D and I haven't gone all the way yet."

"Really?"

"I have very specific plans worth waiting for."

[fallloverfic]

TGCF donghua Season 2, Episode 10 thoughts

This episode T-T T-T T-T T-T. Spoilers for the show and the book below. CW reference to suicide.

The dude being racist to An Le looks vaguely like a love child of Feng Xin and Nie Mingjue (the donghua version) roflmao. Animators have made little references to The Scum Villain's Self Saving System this season so I would not be surprised if someone snuck in a reference to the Mo Dao Zu Shi donghua, too lol And this is similar enough to at least one Meng Yao + Nie Mingjue scene that I can see why they'd do it here.

So the Xianle goons licking their lips is because, I imagine, whatever was in that pouch Qi Rong brought An Le infected them or maybe it was these actual soldiers or something. Makes it less mmm... Strange. Having seen recordings of an attempted assault on a principal government building with government officials inside and what bloodthirsty folks bent on literal murder of said officials get up to around that, I mean I guess it's not that..... strange......

Someone here let me know that the servant/friend is the same official from S02E01 who ran past Xie Lian to help Lang Qianqiu, which makes sense! I totally forgot he showed up then and wondered after S02E07 if he was An Le acting funny (though by the end of S02E09 he is clearly not). He does show up in the novel in that S02E01 scene, but he's not named so far as I can tell, and I don't think we see him in Yong'an flashbacks like we do here. It's neat to see the development of this side character, and how some officials reward people who support them in life (besides Xie Lian and Yin Yu).

Xie Lian seeing the guy nervously looking for Lang Qianqiu and then being like: -sigh- young love is such a trial. You should spend more time studying the blade!

Oh shit, we get a preview of Xie Lian's parents' suicide. Wow. Will we get the donghua that far please T-T

I'm just in love with Fangxin's cape. It's so beautiful trailing behind him.

I'm sorry but An Le screaming in the same way Nakahara Chuuya does whenever he's mid-Corruption in Bungo Stray Dogs made me laugh so hard roflmao Unexpected (and likely unintentional) cameo lol

Imma keep saying it, the animation in this episode is really good. The fight scene is wonderful. When they go back to Qi Rong cackling is good. The show is just pretty.

Qi Rong: "Why is everyone here so fond of crying!"

This man is tired. Can't you do a little mass murder and gloating in peace? Honestly. Hard times.

Qi Rong: "You want your parents? I haven't gone asking for mine yet!"

Aw Qi Rong, babe...

Qi Rong got anime slashed. Who could have foreseen??? /end sarcasm

Xie Lian having a sad moment about Qi Rong, thinking he died. I'm wondering what the crying scene is from, or if that's something new. Qi Rong did cry I think in one flashback (I think where he's complaining about something) but this looked sadder? And less "spoiled".

Xie Lian sadly reaching out for Lang Qianqiu T-T

Xie Lian: "Is the truth so important? . . . What's the use of him knowing that? If I killed a few less people, would that make my reasons more justified?"

I really do love this so much. Just... sometimes the truth isn't important. Sometimes the truth is more painful/results in a worse outcome. Being bluntly honest isn't always the answer. You could argue that Xie Lian sacrificing himself isn't the answer either, and it's better overall that Lang Qianqiu knows things, but I love how this story brings up this idea, that maybe ignorance was better. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and Xie Lian did still intentionally murder two people, as part of a cover-up.

Also, "You'd rather be right than be loved," is something I think about a lot from personal experience. It's not Hua Cheng's intention, but this kind of thinking can lead down that path so easily.

Hua Cheng really feeling that "fucked around and found out" part of this whole thing. Like I don't necessarily disagree with his goal here, and Xie Lian's plan is kind of well... imperfect (to put it lightly). But I do think this is a nice moment of Hua Cheng realizing that yes, he is Xie Lian's #1 fan, he is Xie Lian's strongest believer, and Xie Lian clearly cares deeply for him in return, but this does not mean that Hua Cheng understands Xie Lian perfectly, or knows all his thoughts (does Hua Cheng know a lot about him? Yes. But Xie Lian hides a lot of what he thinks, and has done so throughout his life). When thinking about Hua Cheng, I often think of Sosuke Aizen's line in Bleach chapter 170: "Admiration is the state furthest from understanding."

Unlike other people, Hua Cheng sets himself apart by not forcing his views on Xie Lian or trying to get Xie Lian to change to suit him, and he's realizing, "Oh shit, I fucked up with that here, didn't I," because in his quest for justice, to protect Xie Lian, he did just what he hates other people doing (to an extent, it's not nearly as bad as other folks). One thing I love so much about their relationship is how much they listen to each other, and learn from each other, and how Hua Cheng tries to see Xie Lian in ways other people don't. Even here, he's seeing Xie Lian (I really love that they focused so much on Hua Cheng's expressions here, even if he's not visually doing as much as Xie Lian, it's the little clear signs of upset that mean so much). He's not interrupting Xie Lian, he's not arguing his case (though to be fair, he already mostly has). He's trying to learn and be better. They recover from this because of that. And I love that about them.

Xie Lian: "I deserve whatever punishment I get and I can't die anyway. So why not put all the blame on me?"

T-T Crying in the club, folks. This man...

Xie Lian realizing he's being mean to Hua Cheng and apologizing got me T-T He's so scared of himself and what he's capable of - and incapable of, given all his work to try and save lives and mend old anger has come to naught, and he can't fix it. He always doubts himself before others. The scars of Bai Wuxiang are all over this episode, and Xie Lian himself, figuratively and literally. All this episode I cry T-T

Xie Lian's Chinese voice actor has done such a good job. Everyone is amazing (Qi Rong's VA doing amazing), but dang, he is phenomenal this episode. You can really feel Xie Lian's desperation and sorrow.

All in all the subs were also better this episode! They still call Qi Rong the "Green Immor" for some reason, but outside maybe one slightly awkward sentence, I think it was okay! But that doesn't necessarily mean anything cause they've been good and then got worse again lol

An excellent episode. Truly phenomenal. I think one of my favorites, particularly for this ending bit with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng talking to each other.

Other episode thoughts for season 2 (didn't start till episode 3):

S02E03

S02E04

S02E05

S02E06

S02E07

S02E08

S02E09

S02E10 (you are here)

S02E11

S02E12

[sonicasura]

Okay... What the absolute fuck happened with Tales of Arcadia-Trollhunters section while I wasn't active in the fandom?

After ROTT debacle, I sorta drifted away partly cause other fandoms had snag my interest and Netflix was being an unplayable ass. So today I get a Troll!Jim sketch popping up in my feed while scrolling through Resident Evil, Welcome Home and Linked Universe posts. I liked it then check out the tag only to see a huge clusterfuck of other stuff.

Another tie in series? And the ugly bomb that is Beast Jim. Whoever came up with this design, no offense, but it looks like an offbrand male troll version of the Tinkatink line from Pokemon. Now I'm all for monsters as they interest me more than human characters. Especially if written well. Hell, I'm a monster hugger of the monster loving spectrum.

Half Troll Jim is a fine beastie fella in design although the premise... it's a mixed bag as a whole. Beast Jim, absolutely not. With the half troll, you can see the resemblance to his original human form. Anytime a transformation is unrecognizable it's for the purpose of a mystery or to tell that they are too far gone.

You aren't supposed to see the man behind the 'monster' until its too late. A dear companion is now a threat, one you might have to put down. The mystique and realization delves into horror or sorrow. Beast!Jim's design does not have anything good going for it except as a example of what not to do. Just look! 👇

This 'Beast' doesn't feel Jim to me in general. His design is awkward and pisses off my artistic side as I seen way better troll designs for characters. Whether it be official artwork from the series, a different series or by passionate artists. Beast!Jim just feels like he been made with no care and love, a STAND IN for something better that never came.

I am definitely catching up on the series then redesigning Beast Jim. This is a travesty that will not be forgiven. I got enough aqua green color pencils as the color scheme is going first for obvious reasons.

That's all I have for now. Until next time folks, I'll see you back at Arcadia. Here's my reaction to Beast!Jim summed up by Nightmare Luffy.

[kchasm]

Ryu Number: Risto Mejide

Risto Mejide is a Spanish music producer, known also for his appearance as a judge on a number of reality talent shows. He's known for his harsh and caustic criticism, making him something like a Spanish Simon Cowell—

Okay, listen. I'm going to cop to this: I didn't know who Risto Mejide was a week ago and I still mostly have no idea. Everything in that last paragraph I got off a couple of Wikipedia pages. No, the reason you're seeing this Ryu Number post is because I played History Warriors, and by gum, I am going to wring this utterly minuscule drop of value out of that arid desert stone. I can't have suffered for nothing, right?

History Warriors is not a good game.

History Warriors is a fighting game in the sense that I Spy is a competitive activity—yes, that's true, but if it's the highlight of your local tourney it's a sign that something has gone terribly wrong.

The plot of the game is as follows: After the fall of Nazi Germany, Hitler was secretly tucked away into some sort of suspended storage. Now he's awake, and he's gotten access to time travel technology, which he's used to pull a number of famous historical characters (William Shakespeare, Cleopatra, Abraham Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Che Guevara, Shaka, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Napoleon) to the present day with the end goal of irreversibly mucking up the timeline. Not exactly high lit, but as far as an excuse to get a bunch of disparate characters at each other's throats, it's at least more creative than another martial arts tournament.

Unfortunately, History Warriors—and I've said this already but it bears repeating—is not a good game. It's a bunch of free-to-low-cost assets compressed into a weeping mass by a developer, "Clipstories, Inc.," which is almost certainly just a handful of folks in Spain who know each other. Characters all have the same standard attacks—a high punch, a low punch, a high kick, and a low kick. There are special projectile moves but attempting to view the manual from the Steam page redirects to the game's official site (as much as anything about this game can be called "official"), which... doesn't exist anymore.

The computer-controlled characters do know how to use the projectiles, of course. The projectiles are, incidentally, completely unavoidable, too large to jump and too low to duck. Can you block? You can block. The input for blocking is also the input for backing up, which is a fighting game norm, except that in History Warriors when your character is moving backward they aren't automatically blocking, as far as I can tell, so effectively what happens when you press back is that your characters blocks for a second and then starts walking backward defenselessly.

(I freely admit I might be slightly wrong there, but like hell I'm going to go back and analyze the mechanics.)

When two characters' attacks meet—two characters hit each other at the same time, in other words—rather than the attacks canceling each other out, they both go through. This means that the victor of the round is essentially decided by which character has the longest limbs (balance is a thing that happens to other fighting games). A further hampering comes in the form of hitboxes that have been placed, to put it charitably, unpredictably. Often floating an appreciatable length off from the end of a fighter's limb, in fact.

My main strategy in beating this game was to get in my opponent's space first thing before they could start throwing their impossible-to-avoid projectiles and spam a kicking to the shins. It barely worked, but it worked enough that I could get through each playable characters' lineup of opponents... after a lot of game overs, anyway (you don't have to start from the beginning if you lose—thank goodness for small favors).

The worst offense, though, after all this, is that the game isn't even entertainingly bad. Sure, on the surface—and especially with its awfully silly concept—History Warriors seems like the type of Bad Video Game that'd be perfect for some streamer to make fun of playing for a couple hours. But with every character essentially an identical fighter save for reach and the quickness with which strategy devolves into slurry, the whole damn thing is just a slog.

To wrap up this thesis: History Warriors is a bad game, and I think I've made that as clear as I can. But this is the internet, and the internet is chock full of productions of terrible quality that don't deserve a critical haranguing, stories and games and songs and videos that might accurately be called flawed or even subpar, but which were put together by creators who, for what skill they lacked, worked with sincerity and a motivation sourced from the joy of creation. I firmly believe that that's admirable in its own way—that it's behavior that ought to be encouraged, even through the stinkers.

That said—

There is no universe where this was worth fifteen dollars.

...Oh, right, Ryu Numbers. Uh, when you beat the game with a character it turns out they can't go back to their original time, so you get a still image showing what they're up to in the present day. Lincoln runs for President again, Napoleon streams video games, Che's at Occupy Wall Street—it's all very uninspired. When you beat the game as Mozart, he ends up on a talent show with an MS Paint mic.

Copyright infringement is a thing that happens to other developers, so the judges are clearly identifiable as being from Got Talent España, the Spanish version in the Got Talent franchise. From the fourth season, it seems.

See? Same digs.

Admittedly, my knowledge of the Spanish language begins and ends at "biblioteca," but Wikipedia tells me that this judge lineup consisted of Risto Mejide, Edurne, Eva Isanta, and Paz Padilla, so barring it turning out, I don't know, this particular episode had a guest replacing him and I couldn't tell because I'm garbage at facial recognition or something, Risto Mejide has a Ryu Number of 2, or 3 if you don't like Minecraft.

You know what's worse? This is probably the quickest way to get to Che Guevara, too.

[enbyleighlines]

Leigh plays Tellius prt 9

It's time to get the knight ring from Naesala!

I love Ike's attitude here. That being said, I did make the decision to have Janaff talk to Naesala, because there's no way that I'm going to fight Naesala. I like to imagine that Janaff did it of his own volition.

This map took me waaaay too many tries, because I was determined not to kill any crows. The crows did not make this easy for me. Additionally, drawing Naesala out without him destroying any of my units proved to be... a bit of a challenge. Finally, I just used Tanith's recruitment skill to summon some nameless NPC's to do that job for me. Sorry, random pegasus knight! Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.

A man with a killer axe attempted to attack Nephenee, but I gave her vantage, and she decided to one-shot him with a crit of her own. Oh, Nephenee, you absolute bloodthirsty menace you.

Time for the big reveal! I forgot this happened so soon.

Gosh, such a powerful visual. Poor Elena and Greil. They both deserved so much better.

Some people typecast Titania as the team mom, and I have no objections against it, but I think her sass is terribly underappreciated. I love how often she beefs with Soren, who at this point in the story looks like a literal child.

Two points here:

First, I (ironically) love how Mist's medallion is stolen the morning following Ike and Volke's conversation. If only Nasir had stolen it a little earlier, Ike would have had a very different reaction. Like, yes, family heirloom, it sucks that it's gone, but it's not the end of the world.

Second, I (sincerely) love how Ike is allowed to be a bit of an asshole sometimes. Like, when he gets stressed out, he lashes out at people. He gets cranky and irritable, like in that conversation with Jeorge about battle tactics. And it makes sense. He has a lot to shoulder during PoR, and he never asked to be put into any position of leadership in the first place. He's allowed to be angry and bitter about it.

I always forget that, on top of their prejudice against laguz, Daein is also anti-immigrant. Really, the toxic patriotism of Daein feels so painfully familiar at times. I feel like someone could write an entire essay on this subject. Additionally, I wonder if Jill has experienced anything like this, or is it different because she was born in Daein?

Man, I both do and don't feel for Shiharam. Like, okay, he's a good man. But he's also a man who allowed his daughter to participate in laguz hunts. I know it was all for the purpose of gaining the king's trust, but still. He kind of made this bed for himself. I don't know. It's such a complicated matter, and I like that he's a complicated character. My feelings about him just keep flip-flopping all over the place.

Gotta love Soren's pragmatism! I love how he deeply understands how society functions, while also being critical of the systems in place. I feel like you usually see this sort of pragmatism from characters who are rich and full of themselves, blaming the underclass for their own misfortune. Soren knows why things are the way that they are, knows that, because the people rely on nobility for protection, there is a huge power imbalance between nobility and the common folk. As he says earlier in Begnion: "From the moment of our birth to our final dying gasp, we commoners know we are not allowed to defy the upper classes."

So while Soren's lecture here is extremely brutal, I don't think it comes from a place of bad intentions. In his eyes, Elincia is naive and inexperienced, and has thus far been ignorant of the true horrors that the average Crimean has had to endure. He is angry because he cares. He is angry because he's worried about the future of Crimea.

I'm just... I love Soren. As Ike says, deep down he's a big softie.

And I finally got Mist to second tier! With this, I have officially gotten all of my main units to class up.

The Talrega map was a walk in the park compared to the previous one. I basically had a small group (which included Jill, Ilyana, Rolf, and Astrid) squat by the houses in the upper left section of the map, and their only job was to destroy as many wyvern riders as possible.

Everybody else just rushed towards the boss at top speed.

Next time: time to lay siege to Daein Keep!

[jizzlords]

@madefate asked: ❝ So, hey uh - ❞ Not all of Blitz's confidence is gone - it's just that with reality setting in there's a little more hesitation. Though, of course, that leaves room for the intensity of earnestness - the fear and anticipation that comes with potentially touching something real that you simply don't want to fuck up. ❝ - I mean, I think I've been picking up with Fizz has been putting down - ❞ ( blatantly putting down ) ❝ But would you - actually want to ... uh ... with - y'know. Me ? ❞ / unprompted, always accepting.

The way Asmodeus' stride slows when addressed: looking over his shoulder to find none other than impish assassin seated (looking pretty lonely, if you ask him!). Grinning wide, he's redirected his attention and swiftly joins Blitzø's table. Nevermind the eyes on them throughout the club, it's not important.

❝ Heh, 'bout time you've come around. I was beginning to think you were getting a case of cold feet. ❞ Ozzie was no stranger to dabbling in "dropping hints" with select souls. Nothing more but a quick bang between him and Fizz from time to time. But an old friend of his boyfriend's? To officially join? Ooh baby, the idea has merit! He actually loves watching Fizz drop the hints (it's something to do with watching his baby at work of luring folks in). More the reason he supported Fizz to do the honors of invitation (even if it took a few tries. Nothing wrong with desiring certainty).

❝ Heh heh! We-ll, any friend of Fizz's is definitely a friend of mine! If you're picking up what I'm putting down. ❞ Head cants to the side, obviously checking out Blitzø's demeanor. Yeah, he's real cute. He can envision the three of them getting into some serious shit. ❝ You're pretty bad at this. ♡ But don't worry, I got you. ❞

He's offering one of his hands from over the table, talon tapping his own cheek. Ozzie's barely taken his eyes off of Blitzø but the way his grin widens implies... ❝ You're almost as bad as Fizz is with keeping a low profile over there. ❞

Tail swishes across the floor giving Blitzø time to adjust what's going on (should he actually take the hand Sin offered) and maybe scope the jester not too far from them. Super low-key.

❝ To answer your question, babe — ❞ a little more bluntly this time, ❝ I'd love to actually ... y'know. You. Heh-heh. ❞ yeah, he's teasing Blitzø's way of approach but the laugh that follows means this is light-hearted amusement.

❝ So what do you say? Should we give Fizz something to get excited about? ♡ ❞ the way Ozzie subtly leans forward implies something like a kiss. To really seal the deal.

[steel-forged]

Faith and Integrity

I've decided I'm going to post the backstory for a D&D/Pathfinder character I intend to play in the future. Posting it here because it might actually interest people and help spark some motivation to write more of it. Part 1/10.

Small towns often lived and died by the honor and integrity of the people living within them. Their willingness to work, to communicate, to share. To stand up for one another, to invest in the common protection of everything they held dear. To trust that your neighbor had intentions as clear and pure as your own. It didn't always make for an easy life, but it could very easily make for a good one.

Integrity wasn't a town on a main road. Nor was it far from one. Wasn't quite the smallest town, but definitely didn't capture the title of city. It was a place that seemed to occupy a middle ground in several senses of the term, happy to exist as it was. Traders came, goods left, and often times the most exciting news in a week was a birth or someone getting sick. A place most people could recall fondly, but just as easily let slip from their mind once they had moved back onto the road.

If there was anyone within Integrity that held to the ideals of a small town more than anyone else, it was Faith. Faith was a woman who made friends easily, who moved through town with a smile on her face. She had a kind word for her neighbors, a gift for her friends, and a sense of right and wrong that often set everyone back on the correct path when they were near enough astray. Integrity didn't have a judge, not a proper one, but everyone knew you could take a problem to Faith and she'd see it sorted out right proper.

Of course, no woman is an island, and beyond the friends she made, the unofficial arbiter of the town had a husband and a son all to call her family. Moreso than she had called anyone before that family, anyway. See, her folks had done their duty some years back, standing up to the local bandits during a raid on the town. Pa had caught the wrong end of a rusty sword, Ma not far behind when she caught a horse's hoof or two. It was a painful sight all around, but she refused to drop her gaze over it, carrying on in their name as everything they hoped she could be.

When her boy had reached his tenth winter, Integrity happened upon a problem. A significant one, unfortunately. Every week, the counts of the town stores were wrong. Counts too high. Items too few. Everything accounted for going in, things missing coming out. At the rate it was happening, the townsfolk would be left mighty hungry until next harvest without quite a bit of trading. That seemed to be the worst of it, at least for a time.

Once the stores started growing thin, Integrity turned to trading with caravans passing the town by as much as possible, but even that proved difficult in short order. First goods from the town stores, then people began to take notice that their personal valuables were vanishing as well, dramatically reducing their ability to barter. Despite the best efforts of the guards and their captain, none of the missing goods could be found anywhere within the town. No one had them. No thieves had been seen. It was as if a ghost had begun haunting them, intent on bleeding the good folk dry bit by agonizing bit. This might have gone on until Integrity ran dry, if not for the indignation and determination of Faith.

She embarked on a personal journey, a quest to discover the truth about what was plaguing their fair town. Faith spoke to neighbors, she spoke to victims, she spoke to officials. The deeper she dug, the more she found that didn't add up. There were never any signs of break ins. Never any cries of alarm until the morning light. No patrols ever found anyone trying to get in or out, meaning that the thieves had some secret way in or out, or were being helped. Try as she might, there was nothing to be found that would point her in the right direction.

Nothing until the day someone handed her a letter, asking her to give it to the captain of the guard. It had a strange, rolling weight to it, like that of a coin inside. Wasn't unusual in and of itself, but by happenstance, the light managed to slip through to reflect off the brightest coin she'd ever seen. A piece of platinum. Far more than anyone in Integrity had ever seen. Well, to say it raised her suspicions would be an understatement. Something was up, she was sure of it. Once she found a private moment, she opened the letter, planning to apologize later if need be. Turns out, she didn't need to. The letter confirmed fears she hadn't even considered. The captain was the culprit. The shiny coin his payment in exchange for sneaking bandits in and keeping the guards away. It all made sense, of course, who else could pull all that off?

So, as always when she had a problem to solve, she confronted it head on. Faith confronted him, using the letter as proof of his wrong doing. Despite his sins laid bare, her threats to reveal the crimes to the town as a whole, the man seemed calm. Frightfully so. It simply went unnoticed beyond her righteous indignation. This was, in fact, all part of his plan. Once Faith started poking around, it was only a matter of time before he would be caught, so he planned for it. Planned for her.

Faith never had a chance to reveal the truth, even staged as it was. The captain had another letter already made up, but instead of implicating him, it was her that gave these criminals access. Her that kept the guards at bay. And what better cover up than to investigate herself, searching for any loose threads? The only missing piece was the payment. The platinum. With such an admittance in hand, the captain called Faith to his office to discuss things. When presented with her crimes, she became unruly, throwing accusations of bribery and misconduct. Got out of hand.

Or, that's the story Integrity was told, anyway.

With the town's best arbiter being the one standing trial, the captain acted as judge, jury… and executioner. For treason against Integrity, Faith was sentenced to death. Her resistance to arrest led to her falling off of her horse as it ran, dragged by the ropes that connected them much longer than anyone could say through the bumpy paths among the trees around the town.

That's the story that was told, at least.

The captain only stopped his hard ride once her golden hair had been dyed crimson with her own blood. Eyes too swollen to open anymore. Breathing out red as much as air. When all was said and done, she couldn't even form the words required to tell him how much she hated him. Couldn't lift a hand to show him her thoughts. Couldn't swallow her own teeth to cry out. All she could think about was how she had been betrayed. How justice had failed that day. How her friends, family, neighbors would continue suffering the touch of phantom thieves without knowing who caused their anguish.

And that was the last thought she had.

[kariachi]

Fic! I realized that this au I threw out a bit ago would hit even harder in an 'Argit is a Tennyson' au so, I had to combine them, alongside a few other aus because I'm god here.

There is A Lot going on all at once for the cousins.

~~

“You want the annoying news, the more annoying news, the bad news, or the worse news?” Somehow, this immediately topped the list of disconcerting things Ben had said to her, and with the way their lives had gone in the past several years that was a high bar. She was forced to put a bookmark in her textbook and head out into the hall.

“Okay,” she said as soon as she was alone, “just give it to me in order.”

“We have another cousin.” Alright, that one was annoying news. Now shocking anymore, not since they’d gotten old enough to learn about their grandpa’s exploits. Fuck, Uncle Manny and his family were only part of the family because he’d hunted down her dad in search of a connection.

“Does it not end,” she groaned into the phone, rolling her eyes.

“Apparently not. He’s Erinaen and according to Rook they tend to have litters so, probably one of a lot we don’t know about.” Gwendolyn groaned again. “Which is where the more annoying news comes in- he lives in Geilla Bohln, has for years, and Grandpa’s known he was out here. All the higher ups knew he was out here, apparently.”

“Seriously?!” That was taking it a bit far. At least Uncle Manny lived in the Midwest, but to have a relative less than an hour away and Grandpa still keeping it all a secret- Fuck, it wasn’t even like he had the ‘alien’ thing (and she was going to have to look up what an 'Erinaen' was now, joy) as a good excuse, not when they all knew they were hybrids now, and the masquerade had dropped over a year ago. But then, what was their family made of if not secrets. “And this isn’t the bad news?”

“Are you surprised?” No, not really, just… She heaved a sigh. “So, there’s a good side to all this- you know how the Incursean Invasion just got fucking steamrolled by the folks out there? Apparently, a big part of that was him, so hero stuff runs in the family apparently.” Joy. “Problem is, he’s used that to get political office and now I’m banned from Geilla Bohln.”

Gwendolyn froze. Pulled back her phone to stare at it. Brought it back to her ear.

“What?”

“Yeah.” You could hear the forced grin in Ben’s voice. “Plumbers got all sorts of official paperwork saying I’m not allowed in the town and they’re on thin ice. So Patellidae goes ‘they’re your grandchildren, you handle this’ to Grandpa, suddenly the two of us and Rook are heading to this guy’s office to try to make him see reason.”

“He wouldn’t see reason, I take it.” Clearly got that from Granny Rita’s side of the family.

“He had a powerpoint presentation ready with every reason why I am not allowed to go heroing around ‘his colony’ any longer.” Okay, at least he was organized. She’d thought that came from her mom’s side of the family. But then maybe it came from his non-Tennyson side too.

“So, what happens if you do anyway? I mean, I doubt the Plumbers are going to stop you, and your fans can’t be happy with this.” Ben barked a humorless laugh.

“Oh, that’s where it gets fun,” he said through gritted teeth. “He’s got Kevin 11 on his payroll. Introduced him as his. The guy was stood to the side during the whole meeting, watching like we might cause trouble.”

That, more than anything, was enough to knock the air out of her lungs. Kevin fucking 11, the guy who had tried to murder them way back when? She didn’t know whether it was worse that he lived so close or that he was working for, and potentially influencing, a relative. It would certainly explain Ben getting banned from the town…

“That is an actual nightmare,” she said before any more cohesive thoughts could form in her head.

“Yeah, it is. I spent the whole time half-ready to go for the Omnitrix, and I don’t think it made a good impression.”

“Well, what can he expect when he’s got a known killer stood in the corner?” Running a hand through her hair, she wracked her brain for a way to fix this and found nothing that didn’t involve fighting Kevin again. And she’d thought her relationship with Sunny was bad, this was going to be a whole new branch of antagonism.

“I can’t even tell anybody else,” Ben lamented on the other end of the line, and it hit her with a sourness in her chest he was right. “I mean, can you picture my mom? She’d want to invite him over for dinner so we can all ‘reconcile’ or some shit…” She could picture it, and the idea of letting anybody, even a relative, that associated with Kevin 11 that close to one of the civilians in the family sat wrong in her gut. But if they said anything, that was exactly what would happen. Their only choices were to risk it, or to keep another of their grandpa’s million self-serving secrets… With another groan, longer, more aching, she leaned back against the door to her dorm.

Fuck her life to shit.

[lilflowerpot]

I'm like a bloodhound that seeks worldbuilding fuel and worldbuilding fuel only— one time I was like “...the fuck is a matriarch tree” and then hours later came back out the other end, head buzzing with mycorrhizal fungi and plants that apparently have eyes. Or I'd sink so many hours just listening to YouTube videos about various mythologies (OSP in particular is a favourite haunt of mine)— I just can't help it. No wonder I zeroed in on you from the first post I saw, lol. I still can't remember what that post was about but eh.

I commend you so much for being so meticulous with the science stuff despite it not being your forte! I try sometimes but... I get lost in all the words and it's hard to focus because my brain would much rather be munching on history or something. How do you get yourself to focus??

I absolutely relate to you about thinking too much about your AU and fleshing it out a lot, I think it's impossible to be normal about your passion projects! That's just how creators are.

Fun fact, I was also the person who sent in the ask about whether the Archivist can also be the Imperial Consort! I'm gonna have a field day with LB, I can tell.

A question for you, what would be the procedure if a Galra were to pass away faraway from home in space, faraway from a planet, would their remains be preserved to be brought home and then the traditional procedures can happen? Or would the act of holding off a Galra's reunion with Sa by holding off the funeral be considered rude? Daibazaal (the home planet of the Galra) is gone, right? What are the current practices for the folk that live on the ships?

And oho, a new culture/science post coming up??? 👀👀👀👀👀 I'll definitely be looking forward to that!

— I probably need a signature of some kind, don't I

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anon this is SUCH a mood actually

As to how I get myself to focus, I'm truly flattered that you think I have control over such a thing, but the truth of the matter is I just chase the intense serotonin high of whatever task is presently delivering it until that is no longer the case, and then I move on to the Next Fascinating Thing......... y'know, like a neurotypical person.

((this is a good part of the reason why some asks remain unanswered for a greater period of time than others, because I physically cannot force myself to craft a proper response to anything until my horrible little goblin brain deems it shiny enough))

The archivist/consort post was also you???? Damn, okay, you've really been single-handedly fueling my worldbuilding as of late haven't you asdvsvcdghsvdfk your contributions are all very much appreciated ♡

So as I said in my post on galra funeral rites, the only phenotype that culturally favours burials over cremation are the Dox, due to their major religion—Eiyyka’an—dictating that just as the jungles in which they historically made their home provided for their people in life, so should they, in exchange, provide for those jungles in death. Of course, Daibazaal is no more and the Empire extends far beyond the confines of a single planet besides, but the ultimate site wherein their body will be laid to rest is usually one of three places. The most traditional is Feyiv, as for the modern galra this has been their official homeworld for (according to my calculations regarding galra lifespans) over sixty generations, and this choice is particularly popular for aristocratic families who boast a personal plot of land that has been cultivated with the flesh of their ancestors; the most common is whichever alternative imperial planet they personally grew up on, as that would be considered the planet that they predominantly owe their flesh to as the place that sustained them in life; the least common (but not unheard of) option is one only really taken by those who spent more time in artificial colonies than not, which is to be buried in the greenhouse of said artificial colony to provide nutrients for the fresh produce.

This last one, as I'm sure you can imagine, is controversial in some circles—particularly for the Jaev who believe that the body must be delivered to Sa's embrace whole for the deceased to have any chance of triumphing in what is considered to be their final battle, thereby proving themselves as worthy of being revived as one of Her chosen—so it is of course required for Imperial colonies to make note of whether any given food (be that plant or animal) has been cultivated on galra burial sites.

This brings us neatly on to the Jaevaji Faith as the major Aalk religion, the followers of which embalm their dead by slathering them with a special clay that is then engraved with the deceased's greatest deeds, before traditionally lowering them into one of Daibazaal's great lakes of magma. Again, with Daibazaal being long gone, one could use any volcano in an Imperial territory of their choosing, usually one with some significance or tie to the family, and though this may draw out the death rites of a given individual depending on how far away they are from one of these locations, the embalming process (with a little help from a cryopod if required) does an excellent job of preserving the body for as long as is necessary. The most popular alternative, however, is simply launching the prepared body directly into the closest star, as while it's less traditional, the general feeling is that if their ancestors had this option available to them, they would have thoroughly endorsed it.

Finally, the most widespread method of disposing of the dead as popularised by both the Byal & Kyx: cremation. All imperial territories, artificial or otherwise, will have a crematorium in the vicinity—the profession itself is a highly respectable one—though these can vary from the more traditional funeral pyre, to that with which humanity is more familiar. After the body is reduced to ash, where the family chooses to disperse them is incredibly personal, and while many choose to return to Feyiv, or another Imperial planet if they deem that their home, it is equally common to simply scatter their loved one's remains out amongst the stars.