#Torches of Existence

[fresa-schnee]

Day 25: Deep in Thought

Sorry for this one- Was going through a bad spot when writing.

A woman sat alone in her private study, staring solemnly at the fire that was burning in front of her. It had dwindled down to just a small bout of flames, and it dawned on her she’d been here so long pondering one thing: “Am I doing the right thing?”

She grimaced and moved her hand she was resting on to cover her face. Her pale skin was stained with tears from where her thoughts had lead her. To every single mistake, and how many people she had hurt. 

One of her sons had corrupted himself in a fit of jealousy. Another sacrificing himself to save his dying world she gifted him. And his sister doing all she could to prevent him, believing the methods barbaric. 

Her firstborn son now rarely shows his face to the outside world, out of petrifying fear of both mortal and man alike. Finally, in her attempt to redeem herself.. She had caused a war that nearly destroyed a realm an old friend had created with her sorrow and grief.

She could feel the tears swelling up again, and she tried to suppress them. She tried to think back on the words her own mother had told her.. “You are a beacon to all those around you. Shine, and it will guide them on the right path.”

She had always tried to live her life to those words, but anytime she tried to help anyone.. It only ended in failure. She had done so much harm, and caused so much death even if it wasn’t her directly interfering. Somehow, every tragedy linked back to her in some way.

A war of siblings, seeking different ways of salvation. A son blinded by jealousy, and a war caused by her own hands because she felt sympathy. She was meant to be a beacon of life for mortals. To create, and love those who lived. Yet her actions had done the opposite.. And her counterpart, the beacon of void and destruction, had done her own job so well.

At that, Teralin started to recall the words she was told alongside her counterpart. “The Torch of Life.. is a power that dwells along with that of Void. One creates, and blooms.. The other withers, and destroys. But they can’t exist without one another.. You two will have these gifts, and protect the worlds as you see fit.”

“...As I see fit…” She whispered, and looked over at the fire. It’s flames had now completely vanished.. The wood in the fireplace having given all it could. The calming warmth of the fire now slowly being replaced with the chill of the rest of the world. 

She sighed and stood up from her seat.. She used to love exploring different worlds. Different peoples views.. Yet now, she dreaded it. She had made herself a hermit, scared to interact with any being out of fear.. Fear that she’d just cause another disaster.

Was this what her mother expected of her? To see her so beaten down, that she couldn’t even make herself visit the worlds she promised to protect? To give them joy, and make them bloom with new life?

“If only I could talk to you now..” Teralin sighed, and stepped out of her personal study.. How much she wished she could go back to the days before all the tragedy. Before disaster after disaster. Yet there was no going back, as even she couldn’t control the sands of time.

Yet… Despite her fears, she still forced herself to see the worlds. Sometimes it was hard, yes. Terrifying to talk to individuals that weren’t of her family. Yet even now, in moments where the past stayed stuck in her mind like a knife, she tried to recall fond moments.

When she was able to guide those onto better paths. When she succeeded in making others smile, and creating a new form of life wholly by her own hand. 

She had done much damage yes, but she had slowly started to recover from it. In this moment, she forced herself to recall something close to her heart.

She had given the hope to continue on to her granddaughter. A woman who needed that push to keep herself to the path, and only to look back to see what she had lost.. And what she had managed to save.

Teralin smiled at that memory, as she picked up a small staff. It was an old, ancient thing. From when she herself was just a little girl.. A gift to her from grandfather, to guide her in every step. She tapped it gently on the ground, and the crystal at the head of it changed from an abyssal black, to a pearly white. 

She sighed and stared out of one of the windows in her home. Seeing the landscape covered in nothing but snow.. Mayhap she should go on another journey.. It had been quite some time since she had just traveled.. Seeing the world for what it was. 

“..Shouldn’t let the mistakes of past hold me down I suppose..” She chuckled, and tapped the the staff on the ground.. The woman of Life disappearing in a flash of light.

[torchiiko]

anytime i watch any sort of video abt like reading dating app messages im unfortunately reminded how common it is for women to be into tall men & how basic that makes me

like Sorry im 5'1" & im into size differences if i could date my unreasonably tall fictional characters i Would

[thatgingerloser]

Tomorrow... I MIGHT be going on TESTOSTERONE!!!!!!

depending on how my appointment goes that is

[bones-n-bookles]

Torch sends his boops as well

[philosophybitmaps]

[randomtheidiot]

You know, I’ve been mulling it over, and most “woke-ified” redesigns of popular characters could actually be good as an AU if you think about how X character would be affected by being in Y group, as well as the effects on the story they’re in. So long as you’re not claiming to “fix” the character, it’s harmless fun and it’s a neat thought experiment. People are just too easily offended these days.

[akkivee]

since the stage has a 2nd gen in cast it made me revisit who i think could be leaders of a 2nd gen hypmic cast based on connections to current leaders lol

[mostly-tame]

Grey sunset 🩶

Had a longer walk with Torch last night; didn't take many photos since dog boy joined us for most of it. Wasn't super paying attention to our route but it was largely along our 6 mile route.

[lanternlightss]

having loop and nameless bard interacting thoughts again. the rot

[nat-of-personifs]

Human Torch AU: General Power Logistics

I don’t plan on creating anything resembling a further plot in this AU, so I’ll post what I have and let all of you run wild. Everything here is just a suggestion.

Going through each of the powers in a single post would take way too much time, so have this instead for now. I’ll be elaborating on the individuals shortly.

First of all, the strength of a statespirit’s power is dependent on their ranking on this list:

The top three just HAPPEN to be Texas, California, and Oklahoma, which I think is a sign that Nature’s fucking with us. While California ranks highest on this list, pretty much every other site I checked had Texas as top. It’s your discretion.

Strength overall is measured by stamina, not intensity; individual powers will vary in their metrics, but while Vermont, for example, could as the strongest snowstorm user create a blizzard outmatching anyone else’s, he would only be able to sustain it for a few minutes since he’s so low on the overall scoreboard. Sphere of influence also falls under the individual powers.

Users can go beyond their stamina, but it’ll lead to temporary loss of consciousness and more disasters the next year or so in their state. The edge of safe casting is called the baseline.

Most abilities have some collaborative capacity, or temporary mind-meld, that allows the users to pool their power. They require someone leading and guiding, either the one drawing the others in or the strongest (scoreboard or power, depending on the circumstances) of the group. A notable exception to this is fire.

Statespirits must be granted permission to cast outside themselves by whoever they’re casting in, though this can be waived if metaphors take precedence. Peacetime external casting automatically ensures a mind meld between the two parties, and the host can stop the cast at any time. Internal castings (a statespirit casting within their boundaries) gone awry, most common with fire users, will always remain within state borders.

Each major power generally has fifteen or so practitioners, except for hurricanes and earthquakes; only around five users for them each. On the other hand, the entirety of the West has fire capabilities because of the association, which is also what keeps California as the strongest of the bunch.

Some states have special abilities; these don’t fall under the ranking system. Florida has sinkholes, California and Wisconsin have fire tornadoes, Hawai’i has magma. Alaska’s ability to hide fire castings under snow counts as a special ability and a subpower of fire, as it emulates ‘zombie fires’—fires that burn underground through all of frozen winter and resurface in the spring.

To cast, users draw upon memories of the disasters that have already occurred, and their power is augmented if the disaster they’re trying to cast is actively taking place in their state. In that case, they can transfer some (negligible amounts—statespirit conceptual power alone won’t replicate the scope of Nature’s disasters, all abilities that can truly reproduce the scale rely on outside sources of power or power pooling) of the energy from that disaster into their casting. This only works when casting inside their state, at least fifteen miles away from the edge of the disaster; users can’t take control of disasters they didn’t cast themselves.

The memory factor and stamina requirements stops users from casting constantly.

Powers lock when the user is panicked, though this can also be waived if metaphor/the narrative takes precedence.

Major cities and those with a strong enough association to a particular disaster also have abilities.

Questions in comments or reblogs?

[waugh-bao]

I noticed they changed their Spotify profile pic to just the three of them. I get that Charlie isn’t in the band anymore, but it just feels wrong on so many levels.

And you made a good point about that physical gap between Mick and Keith in the photo and how they would probably end up calling it quits if something happened to Mick or Keith. I honestly think they would continue on without Ronnie if it came to that, sadly. I just have so many feelings about this.

The picture that they use in their description:

Used to be their profile photo, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see that change in the next couple days either.

I don’t even know anymore…

[bluecookiesabi]

MOTHERFUCKER KICKED ME FROM THE MINECRAFT SERVER WTF

[laura-de-milf]

this show CANNOT just end with everyone trapped in Orqwith for no reason im sorry but it just CANNOT

[bones-n-bookles]

People are being so nice to me the past few days and I am so happy <3

[starlitfunkster]

I think I only remembered what Marty was supposed to look like, and then went from there. Which resulted in these 6 being made! Shockingly I think trying to be style accurate is what makes some of them a little eerie.

Michaela, Perdita, and Marty look like they'd fit right into the show. Maybe not Marty for uh... obvious reasons.

Go check out everyone's bios here!: https://www.deviantart.com/lonelyrollinggal/art/My-Triviatopia-OCs-Redesigned-995721719

[chelseahotel2004]

if your first phone didn’t look like this don’t talk to me