#Web Aligner Machine

[sparklywitchpainter]

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[gallusrostromegalus]

Move To A Darker Place

This is a story of Man Vs. Machine.

---

Last March, my father attempted to file his Taxes.

My beloved father is a Boomer. Unlike most Boomers, my father is rather handy with technology because he was one of the people that had a not-insignificant hand in Developing a hell of a lot of it. He was studying Computer Science at Cal Poly before the computer science degree existed. I have many fond childhood memories of skipping through the aisles of various electronic and computer part warehouses while Dad described something that either terrified the staff or made them worship him as a God.  He taught himself how to use his smartphone.  Internationally.

So when he saw the option to file digitally with the IRS through the “ID.me” program, he leapt at the chance to celebrate the Federal Government finally entering the Digital Age.

It was all going swimmingly for about six hours, until he was ready to file and the system told him that it needed to verify his identity. 

“Very Well.” said my father, a man unafraid of talking to himself and getting something out of the conversation. “It wouldn’t do for me to get someone else’s return.”

The System told him that it needed him to take a “Digital Image ID”.

a.k.a: A Selfie.

“A-ha!” Dad beams. Dad is very good at taking selfies. He immediately pulled out his phone, snapped one, and tried to upload it.

Please log into your Id.me Account and use the provided app to submit your Digital Image ID. The System clarified.

“Oh. You should have said so.”  Dad pouted, but used his phone to log onto the ID.me account, do the six security verification steps and double-checked that the filing looked the same as it did on the desktop, gave the IRS like nine permissions on his phone, and held up the camera to take his Federal Privacy Invasion Selfie.

Please align your face to the indicated grid. Said The System, pulling up a futuristic green-web-of-polygons approximation.

“Ooh, very Star Trek. Gene Roddenberry would HATE this!” Dad said cheerfully, aligning his face to the grid.  My father is a bit… cavalier, when it comes to matters of personal information and federal government, because he’s been on FBI watchlists since the late 60’s when he was protesting The Vietnam War and Ronald Regan before he’d broken containment. Alas.

Anyway, there is very little information the federal government does not have on him already, but he’s as good at stalking the FBI as they are at stalking him, and had worked out a solution:  He has something approaching a friendship with the local Federal Agent (Some guy named “Larry”. Allegedly), and got Larry hooked on Alternative Histories and Dad’s collection of carefully-researched “there is very likely buried treasure here” stories, and Larry is loath to bother his favorite Historical Fanfiction author too much.

But I digress.

After thinking for a minute, The System came back with an Error Message. Please remove glasses or other facial obstructions.

And here is where the real trouble began.

See, my father wears glasses that do substantially warp the appearance of his face, because he is so nearsighted that he is legally blind without them. His natural focal point is about 4 inches in front of his nose.  While Dad can still take a selfie because he (approximately) knows where his phone is if it’s in his hand, he cannot see the alignment grid.

He should ask someone to take it for him! I hear the audience say. Yes, that would be the sane and reasonable thing to do, but Dad was attempting to do taxes at his residence in Fort Collins, while his immediate family was respectively in Denver, Texas and Canada.  He tried calling our neighbors, who turned out to be in Uganda.

He looked down at the dog, Arwen, and her little criminal paws that can open doorknobs, but not operate cell phones.

She looked back at him, and farted.

“Well, I’ll give it a try, but if it gives me too much trouble, I’ll call Larry, and Larry can call the IRS about it.” Dad told her. 

She continued to watch him. Arwen is an Australian Kelpie (a type of cattle-herding dog), going on 14 years old, deaf as a post and suffering from canine dementia now, but she still retains her natural instinct to Micromanage. She was also trained as a therapy dog, and even if she can’t hear my dad, still recognizes the body language of a man setting himself up for catastrophe.

So, squinting in the late afternoon light next to the back door, Dad attempted to line his face up with a grid he could only sort-of see, and took A Federal Selfie.

The System thought about it for a few moments.

Image Capture Failed: Insufficient Contrast. The System replied. Please move to a darker place.

“...Huh.” Dad frowned. “Alright.”

He moved to the middle of his office, away from the back door, lit only by the house lighting and indirect sunlight, and tried again.

Image Capture Failed. Please move to a darker place.

“What?” Dad asked the universe in general.

“Whuff.” Arwen warned him against sunk costs.

Dad ignored her and went into the bathroom, the natural habitat of the selfie. Surely, only being lit by a light fixture that hadn’t been changed since Dad was attempting to warn everyone about Regan would be suitably insufficient lighting for The System.  It took some negotiating, because that bathroom is “Standing Room Only” not “Standing And Holding Your Arms Out In Front Of You Room”.  He ended up taking the selfie in the shower stall.

As The System mulled over the latest attempt, Arwen shuffled over and kicked open the door to watch.

Image Capture Failed. Please Move to a Darker Place.

“Do you mean Spiritually?” Dad demanded.

“Whuff.” Arwen cautioned him again.

Determined to succeed, or at least get a different error message that may give him more information, Dad entered The Downstairs Guest Room.  It is the darkest room in the house, as it is in the basement, and only has one legally-mandated-fire-escape window, which has blinds.  Dad drew those blinds, turned off the lights and tried AGAIN.

Image Capture Failed. Please Move To A Darker Place.

“DO YOU WANT ME TO PHOTOGRAPH MYSELF INSIDE OF A CAVE??” Dad howled. 

“WHUFF!” Arwen reprimanded him from under the pull-out bed in the room. It’s where she attempts to herd everyone when it’s thundering outside, so the space is called her ‘Safety Cave’.

Dad frowned at the large blurry shape that was The Safety Cave.

“Why not?” he asked, the prelude to many a Terrible Plan.  With no small amount of spiteful and manic glee, Dad got down onto the floor, and army-crawled under the bed with Arwen to try One Last Time. Now in near-total darkness, he rolled on his side to be able to stretch his arms out, Arwen slobber-panting in his ear, and waited for the vague green blob of the Facial grid to appear.

This time, when he tapped the button, the flash cctivated.

“GOD DAMN IT!” Dad shouted, dropping the phone and rubbing his eyes and cursing to alleviate the pain of accidentally flash-banging himself. Arwen shuffled away from him under the bed, huffing sarcastically at him.

Image Capture Failed. Please move to a darker place.

“MOTHERFU- hang on.” Dad squinted.  The System sounded strange. Distant and slightly muffled.

Dad squinted really hard, and saw the movement of Arwen crawling out from under the bed along the phone’s last known trajectory.

“ARWEN!” Dad shouted, awkwardly reverse-army crawling out from under the bed, using it to get to his feet and searching for his glasses, which had fallen out of his pocket under the bed, so by the time he was sighted again, Arwen had had ample time to remove The Offending Device.

He found her out in the middle of the back yard, the satisfied look of a Job Well Done on her face. She did not have the phone. 

“Arwen.” Dad glared. It’s a very good glare. Dad was a teacher for many years and used it to keep his class in order with sheer telepathically induced embarrassment, and his father once glared a peach tree into fecundity.  

Arwen regarded him with the casual interest a hurricane might regard a sailboat tumbling out of its wake. She is a force of nature unto herself and not about to be intimidated by a half-blind house ape.  She also has cataracts and might not be able to make out the glare.

“I GIVE UP!” Dad shouted, throwing his hands in the air and returning to the office to write to the IRS that their selfie software sucks ass. Pleased that she had gotten her desired result, Arwen followed him in.

To Dad’s immense surprise, the computer cheerfully informed him that his Federally Secure Selfie had been accepted, and that they had received and were now processing his return!

“What the FUCK?” Dad glared. “Oh well. If I’ve screwed it up, Larry can call me.”

---

I bring this up because recently, Dad received an interesting piece of mail.

It was a letter from the IRS, addressed to him, a nerve-wracking thing to recessive at the best of times.  Instead of a complaint about Dad’s Selfie Skills, it was a letter congratulating him on using the new ID.me System.  It thanked him for his help and expressed hopes he would use it again next year, and included the selfie that The System had finally decided to accept.

“You know, my dad used to complain about automation.” Dad sighed, staring at the image. “Incidentals my boy!  My secretary saves the state of California millions of dollars a year catching small errors before they become massive ones! He’d say. Fought the human resources board about her pay every year.  I used to think he was overestimating how bad machines were and underestimating human error, but you know? He was right.”

He handed me the image.

My father was, technically, in the image.  A significant amount of the bottom right corner is taken up by the top of his forehead and silver hair.  Most of the image, the part with the facial-recognition markers on it, was composed of Arwen’s Alarmed and Disgusted Doggy face.

“Oh no!” I cackled. “Crap, does this mean you have to call the IRS and tell them you’re not a dog?”

“Probably.” Dad sighed. “I know who I’m gonna bother first though.” he said, taking out his phone (Dad did find his phone a few hours after Arwen absconded with it when mom called and the early spinach started ringing). 

“Hey Larry!” Dad announced to the local federal agent. “You’re never gonna believe this. My dog filed my taxes!”

Larry considered this for a moment. “Is this the dog that stole my sandwich? Out of my locked  car?” he asked suspiciously.

“The very same.” Dad grinned.

“Hm. Clever Girl.” Federal Agent Larry sighed. “I figured it was only a matter of time before she got into tax fraud.”

---

I'm a disabled artist making my living writing these stories. If you enjoy my stories, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or Pre-ordering my Family Lore Book on Patreon. Thank you!

[slut4daviii]

character(s): d.kaminari

pt: 02/02

cw: fingering, cum/anal eating, edging, praise kink(?), daddy kink, brat taming, caught, post-shower sex, mind-fucking, slight degradation, belly bulge, size kink, thigh-fucking (kinda)

your step-brother thought he had a few more minutes before you got out of the shower. he learns the hard way what happens when you’re caught masturbating.

a/n: i hate this shit sooo fucking much. | i gave up halfway through (thats what took it so long to come out. | minors and fem-aligned DO NOT INTERACT

title: whatcha up to, sparky?

wc: idefk (prolly 2000-2500)

────────────────────────

────────────────────────

he only had another minute or two.

steam rose from the crevices of your locked bathroom; music blaring from the other side.

“[n—name]! ng—ngmh! nhg!….fu—fugk! right there!” the words left his mouth in an unceremonious fashion, sounding more like a broken record; he said it again, and again, repeating himself almost indulgently. a hand ghosted his twitching erection, blazing forth a sleuth of high-pitched moans.

your hands reached for the knobs, twisting it off in one swift movement.

“just a little longer baby.”

I—I can’t…! pl—please [name]! I need to— nghm! cum!” the machinery within his body continued to spear his insides, impaling the deepest depths of his mind. with a steady flow of electrons— curtesy of his quirk, the speed of his ‘toy’ increased drastically, now entailing itself into his stomach.

“mmhg! [na—name]! I—I’m gon—gonna cum!”

he listened intently, already having memorized the audio’s contents. your voice spoke to him, shooting daggers into his body.

“does my good boy wanna cum?”

Denki nodded— phonetically speaking through gritted teeth. “tes! [name] le—lemme cuhm!”

“no.”

his body retreated away from the sound, his head snapping backwards at the edging.

sweat trickled from his forehead, exhaustion clawing at his hips. he pressed your shirt— sweat-ridden and freshly used— further against his nose, inhaling deep breaths of your musky scent, the smell sending him overflowing with lust.

he squirmed against your sheets, moving his hands to slam your pillow over his face. “nmfgh…! [n—name]! mfg—ghm!” he pulled the pillow away— vision still slightly obscured by your shirt.

“aww, I’m hurt… comparing me to something as small as that.”

Denki shot up, his quirk mushing more elegant arcs of electrical surges into the machine— it picking up enough speed to make him lurch to his side. “uhng! wa—wait! wait [n—na]! wait, it—it’s not what—what it looks like!”

your body coupled into his vision, the tranquil curves of your muscles blurring behind the liquid wall of lust coaxing Denki’s body. beads of water rolled over your smoothing skin— the moisture from your shower still sticking to the surface of your body.

“oh? is it not? then what’s goin’ on, …zappy?” the nickname fell from your lips like a satin blanket, dully dressed in the glorious afterglow of pleasure.

the toy inside of Denki was still moving, strongly striking his nerves in mind-blurring fashion. “nnguh! it—it’s because of—of your v—oice! the video you made!”

you smirked, a dark chuckle leaving you. “so you watch my videos? that makes you a perv, y’know.”

Denki fumbled, his facade falter alongside the coiling strings of semen erupting from his slit. “unug—ha!” his moan was spun on the web of a gasp, snatching his body’s actions away from him. “I— uhg! …n—no! that’s n—not what I—nghm! meant!” he gulped back his shame, sitting up against your wall. “I— was j—just…” his eyes traveled everywhere, looking for a plausible explanation as to what he was very obviously doing.

you pushed off the frame of your door, dragging your tongue along the ridge of your teeth. “so what did you mean…Denk?’”

the way the nickname burrowed yourself into his skin make him quiver with anticipation. though he didn’t know what to expect. “anything you wanna say?” the question was laced with greed— almost as if you were teetering on the idea of turning him into a, your slut.

your knee connected with the edge of your bed, your weight dipping the mattress intolerably. the water from your hair dripped down your body, running circles on your torso before making way to your v-line. “I—nghm! I was, just… just trying to…” his eyes lowered. “uh! uhm, well… I guess you— we…!”

“eyes up here, Denk’.”

you brought your hand to his chin— almost in a cliché sense, your eyes locking in a one-sided battle. “so, Denk… what were you doing?”

you were hovering over him, your height difference clouding, if not completely obscuring his perspective. your bulge pressed into the cusp of his thighs.

a shallow gasp escaped you, your head dropping to look at him. his legs were shaking slightly, the skin of his body smooth and perfectly poised. “god, your so beautiful.”

Denki flushed; his eyes darting around articulately. his body was cleansed of its own blood, now replaced and replenished by the torrents of your own; he was bound to you. bound in your spell.

“is this my shirt?” his eyes finally focused, the grey material momentarily filling his vision before you took it from him. “is this where my clothes have been going? on your pervy little curves? helping you masturbate?”

“n—no! I haven’t been d—doing anything, man! I’ve ju—just been low on—NGHM!” Denki’s hands came up to your shoulders: gripping and scratching along the skin. “[n—name]! I—I just said that— ngh! I didn’t st—steal your cloths!”

your fingers intersected themselves in the innermost nerves of Denki’s body. he reflected the feeling of arousal in his eyes— the sensation causing the irises of his eyes to gloss over with tears.

“this isn’t about my clothes, Denk’” you groaned, feeling Denki’s legs press on the head of your cock. “its about you. and what you’re doing in my room. with my shirt over your face, and a fuck machine in your ass.”

you displaced your fingers, rubbing them along his prostate. “so, what exactly are you doing?”

Denki threw his head back— a sound erupting from his mouth in a dysphoric rage of moans. “mmgh! I— I w—was low on—ahgn!” a sharp thrust of your fingers stopped his sentence, his cock twitching with precum.

“stop lying Denk’ you know mom hates that shit.”

your cock throbbed painfully, the towel around your waist falling to your thighs— your cock rubbing against your step-brother’s abdomen. “c’mon Denk’” you almost whined, desperation washing over you in arcs of painful crescent moons. “I’m so… fuckin’ horny.”

your fingers glistened within him— a grandeur sound resonating within him. he audibly gasped at it, trying to move away from you but your sudden grip on his thigh altered his movements, making him slide under you instead.

he gulped, finding himself floundering around at the feeling of your cock against his stomach. it aligned with the skin just above his belly button. his movements were spastic, a jumble of jerks and twist sending molten plasma down your shaft.

“Denk…” your words were cold— rigid with seething but controlled gasp. “if you keep movin’ like that, I’ll cum.”

Denki blushed, a liquid crimson band covering his entirety. his movements momentarily halted, the surges of lust nestling into his stomach, coiling into a warm feeling that tightened with each move of your fingers

however, they left his body in a sickly masochistic way. you brought your fingers to your mouth and slid your tongue along the skin, maintaining a dysphasic tone of eye contact. the look in your eyes heating Denki’s body to an all time high.

your fingers, now covered in a flowing sea of spit and lube reached for Denki’s lips— breaking the surface of his mouth. his heartbeat was in his throat, yet, he still took your fingers into the depths of his mouth.

you played with his tongue, using your index and middle to balance the pink muscle in a titillating, slightly uncomfortable fashion.

you moved once more, shoving yourself into his throat. he choked and gagged, spitting around your knuckles but made no attempt to stop your brutality.

after a few seconds, you took your fingers away from him, letting him breathe.

“what were you doing in my room, Denk?” you asked once more.

“hnah! mng—h! I—I wasn’t doin’ anything, ma—man!”

you chuckled, moving your hand to your cock— stroking from base to tip. with your other hand, you wrapped his torso in your forearm, lifting him to your v-line. “tsk, tsk. mom would be disappointed.” your tip grazed his hole, “first, you have the shameless idea to masturbate in my room, then you lie about it.”

you pushed inward— also grabbing your shirt and shoving it into Denki’s mouth. he moaned around the fabric, his eyes crossing when you had yourself fully excavated within him. “I guess you’ve always needed a little more time to learn things…”

your hips fell away from him, dragging your tip down the ridge of his spine. the afterimage of your shaft was still intact; exhibiting through his pelvic muscles. it was filthy. utterly disgraceful to witness. “but… it’s a good thing you’ve got me.”

not a second later, his catalyst was filled once more, your cock reaching intolerably deep into his physique. his arms slid down your chest— leaving scarlet marks on your abdominal walls.

a hiss left your lips, the sound similar to a snake. you grabbed his wrist with one of your hands, using the other to snatch your shirt from his mouth. “haah! [n—name]! de—deep! c—cock too deep’n me…!”

you wrapped his wrist in your shirt, taking the edges of the bindings and crossing them into his drooling lips— the knot forming a gag. “my what?” you mocked, laughter soon filling your white-walls. “too deep? you were just using a fuck machine, jerking your dick to the smell of my clothes! now it’s too deep?”

you began thrusting shallowly, moving his thighs to your chest and pulling his legs to fall down your back. a swift motion of your hips shook Denki’s body, pushing him into his second orgasm.

he tightened around you, a convulsive throbbing in his cock and rapidly clenching hole gave way to the white twine and muffled moans of your step-brother. he thrashed his hands around— vigorously trying to grip onto anything.

you grinned at this, continuously thrusting into him. Denki felt his consciousness leaving him, his eyes falling lidded and heavy.

you, stuttering over the feeling of your own body, groaned profusely— your hips stinging with exhaustion. “you— mgh! you can’t handle my dick? if you wanna tap out, just tell me what you were doing in here.”

Denki mumbled, not knowing how to form correct words. “I—nguhm! ne— never anyth’ng! do th’ng!” he consulted his eyes, the orange pupils glass-like and heart-shaped. “nghu! FUGKH! m—man! ca—can’t think!”

a skeletal architecture altered into his body, forming a permanent semicircular shape— an arch lifted his body off the bed, rubbing your slit into his prostate.

both of your came— your cock trembling with painful arcs of melancholy emission staining the onslaught of Denki’s organs. his body spasmed with crude pleasure— his eyes rolling into emptiness.

his body went limp in your arms: mouth slack, eyes closed, and breathing shallow.

he’d passed out.

your body heaved, heavily burned from your orgasm. your cock was still deep within him, your semen creating a barrier between the two of you— however his warmth was still surrounding you in surreal relief. it begged you to keep going, begged for you to unload your balls and every drop of cum you had into him.

a gulp traveled intermittently across your tongue, cascading into your throat. you casually slipped your finger onto his waist— gripping the skin in a gentle embrace.

you pushed your pelvis further into him, your tip ramming against the bottom of his enclosure. your head tilted back, eyes closed with plenty more pleasure.

you pulled from him, slamming back against his skin in a single breathless moment. his body rippled through with waves of light. sweat enchanted his body like a giant cloud, puddling on his stomach— entrancing the skin alongside the pool of his cum.

you again thrusted into him— this time harsher. you were transported to another world, blissfully unaware of Denki’s stirring body. he was waking back up, his cock sleek with pre-cum.

his vision was still obscured, the feeling of fabric still plastered over his tongue. he whined, more pre-cum falling from his slit. “mghph— phuhk muh! [nuhmhe]! chaut c—can’t cuhm! n’more!”

you couldn’t hear him. you were completely lost in your own thoughts: the same words repeated throughout the entire time, “fuck him! fuck him until he can’t walk! fuck him! fuck him! fuck him fuck him fuckhimfuckhimFUCKHIMFUCKHIM!”

your thoughts mushed together, a singular statement that dug deeper and deeper into your mind. it burned into your brain, forcing your hips to move internally deeper, milking a third orgasm from Denki. he couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, he was racked with tears— crying out in ecstay

you were panting heavily, biting down on your lip to keep your sounds of elation. your orgasm was slowly steeping upon you, the feeling setting off a buzzing sensation all over your body.

“fuuhk… Denki, I’m gonna— Imma cum.”

Denki’s legs shook with excitement, another orgasm rumbling through his body. he screamed around your shirt, pressing his hips against yours. spit dripped from his chin, running down his abdomen and onto his maroon shaded tip.

overwhelming coils of heat knotted within you, pushing your hips into an uneven pace

you weren’t aiming at anything, just hitting Denki’s body over and over again. you were chasing after an orgasm that was mere inches away.

sloppy thrust turned to harsh, animalistic tactics— erratically fucking Denki into the soft cloth rubbing against your balls. you were going crazy, the heat from your abdomen shooting into your tip, choking you in a panicked rage.

you leaned down to Denki, ripping your shirt from his lips, quickly replacing the cloth with the chapped skin of your lips. you messily kissed along his face, moving sloppily to his neck. “who’s your daddy?”

Denki moaned— the sound hoarse and cracking. “y—[name]! m’daddy! m’yer slut!”

the words only continued to edge you, your tip twitching inside him, “say it again— fuck… I’m so close to giving you my kids…!” your shaft throbbed at his mindlessness, the moans bouncing like embers from a raging river of fire. “please, say it again…! what’s my name, Denk?”

“daddy! da—duaddy! mngh!… ma’cuhm! cuhm n’daddy’s cock!” again Denki clench around you, his swollen hole screaming at you to keep going— keep abusing him until your name was spelled into his organs.

“fu—“ you couldn’t finish your sentence, a powerful surge of pleasure rushing through every blood cell in your body, energetically jerking your lower body around. like an angry explosion your cum clawed its way through you, pushing out any and everything you had within you, transferring it into Denki.

Denki’s cum was clear— thin and falling onto his pecs, dripping like water onto his face. he shivered at the feeling, not having the energy to move or even breathe correctly.

you sighed, head falling painfully to your pillow, the feeling of Denki’s hair right beside your face annoying the nerve endings of your skin.

you pushed his head away, closing your eyes and drifting into a deep sleep.

until…

“[NAME]! DENKI! WHAT IS GOING ON?! WHAT ARE THE TWO OF YOU DOING?!!”

you gulped.

shit.

[faeriefire-7]

Since I got into both The Magnus Archives and Vampire: the Masquerade, I found an interesting connection

Vampires in vtm are meant to be terrifying monsters that are the opposite of humanity, and there are 14 Clans, so it makes sense that the each could reflect a different primal fear that humans have, sorted into the 14 Entities (plus Thin-Bloods and the Extinction for fun)

Banu Haqim: The Hunt - The Banu Haqim are known as “the Clan of the Hunt” and are known for being assassins, which mirrors the idea of chasing and hunting that this fear focuses on. The Blood Addition Bane also fits well with the addiction to the Hunt that its avatars often experience. The Hunt is also attached to law enforcement and often uses justice to motivate its avatars, which is a core focus of the Banu Haqim

Gangrel: The Slaughter - The Gangrel originate as a warrior clan from Ennoia, which relates to the Slaughter’s attachment with the fear of war. The Gangrel’s Feral Impulses also matches well with the blood lust and raw aggression that the Slaughter induces and feeds upon.

Hecata: The End - The Hecata’s obsession with Death makes them a clear connection with the fear of the finality of death and all things morbid and dead. The Hecata’s necromancy can be related to the items of cheating death such as the Catalogue of Trapped Dead and the animated cadaver

Malkavians: The Spiral - The Malkavians loose attachment to sanity and their visions that cause them to lose grip on what is real ties in very well with the Spiral’s themes of insanity and lose of reasoning. Their compulsion of Delusion aligns almost exactly with the Spiral’s twisting of perception and warping of what is real. Malkavians also have a symbolic attachment to mirrors and distorted reflections, which is also common with the Spiral

Nosferatu: The Eye - The Nosferatu’s habit for being silent observers and spies aligns itself to the passive, watching nature of the Eye and the fear of anyone being able to see you at any time. Their compulsion towards collecting secrets also fits with the Eye since it revolves around secrets known and uncovered, something the Nos specialize in. They themselves also experience a fear of being seen because their horrid appearances can often break the masquerade or lead to ridicule

Ravnos: The Vast - The Ravnos are travelers and wanderers that countless move across the world, which fits with the Vast and the idea of infinite possibles and expanse. Ravnos being dare devils also fits with the fear of heights the Vast induces since they will preform dangerous stunts and acrobatic tricks.

Toreador: The Stranger - The Toreador are often the most human looking out of all vampires save for their extreme beauty which is almost outside of what is humanly possibles, which is very similar to the Uncanny Valley and the “almost-human” quality of the Stranger. Toreador are also tied closely with music, dance and theater, which are all symbols used by the Stranger.

Tzimisce: The Flesh - The Tzimisce are the legendary Fleshcrafters, inspiring fear of horrible monstrosities of sinew and betrayal of the body, which is basically the definition of the Flesh. Taking a piece of someone’s body can also be used as an anchor or a grounding object (Jon’s rib), which aligns with the Tzimisce and their Possessiveness.

Venture: The Web - The Venture’s need for control and their constant politicking makes them a perfect fit for the Hidden Machinations, which deals with the fear of being controlled or manipulated. Them being (supposedly) at the top of vampire society also fits with the fact the Web always had the upper hand and was behind most of the events in TMA.

Brujah: The Desolation: The Bruja’s strong passion and Violent Temper align well with the fiery devotion of the Desolation and its avatar’s general disposition. Their compulsion of Rebellion and desire to “burn down” systems of control also fits with the destructive nature of this fear.

Tremere: The Buried -

(This one is the one I like the least and was a hard fit, so I may move stuff around in the future). The Treme’s pyramid smothers the people inside of it with hierarchy and leaves them trapped in the system, aligning with the metaphorical suffocation and entrapment of the Buried. Their Bane of Perfectionism also presents as a “crushing” expectation, which would fit with the Buried on a more conceptual level.

Lasombra: The Dark - This one feels pretty self explanatory but the Lasombra’s cold nature fits the descriptions of the Dark and its icy waters. The Dark also has a cult and ties to religious beliefs as it uses ignorance to control people, which is something the Lasombra have strong ties to. Their Bane of Ruthlessness mirrors how coldly cruel many Dark avatars can be such as Rayner trying to kill and posses a child.

Ministry: The Corruption - The Ministry and the Corruption both deal heavily with temptation, as the Hive sings its song of love, safety, and pleasure to its victims in the same way the Serpents do. One of the nicknames for the Ministry are the Corruptors

Duskborn/Thin-bloods: The Extinction - The Duskborn are the newest of the Kindred clans and the Extinction was said to be a new development as a fear. They both are signs of the end of the world, with the Extinction’s full manifestation being said to destroy humanity and the Thin-bloods connection to Gehenna.

Salubri: The Lonely - The Salubri being isolated due to propaganda and hunted to near extinction makes them a very Lonely clan. They also have ties to being slightly more peaceful, as the Salubri tend towards nonviolent hunting methods and the Lonely very truly killing its victims.

Anyways, once again feel free to critic this or pose any additional supports for any of these categories.

[dateless-bar]

The Great Crusade Café | Concept Design

You can just watch the video which has a detailed description as well as the tour. I used Chinese dubbing with English subtitles, so make sure you have the subtitles turned on while watching.

CAFÉ FOR ASTARTES! | Fan Idle Game: The Great Crusade Café Concept Design

The Great Crusade Café

Productivity Tool& Idle Game Fanart Project (Concept Design Only)

Concept design: Gameplay

[Intro & Setting]

When a user first opens the web page, the name The Great Crusade Café will appear. After clicking, you can start by naming the café owner, which is the role you will play.

Then, as the owner, you will be asked to choose the tasks you want to undertake in reality for today. The default name here is John.

The purpose of this web page is to provide users with a leisurely and comfortable café white noise. It allows you to enjoy such an atmosphere whether you are reading or translating WH novels. Additionally, café-themed white noise has been proven by studies to increase efficiency for people. Therefore, you can also use it while working or painting miniature models.

After setting a task, you can officially enter the management of the café within the game. Don't worry, you can change the current task being undertaken at any time, just below the time displayed in the top right corner. And if you feel that the display of time might make you anxious, you can also turn it off in the settings.

[Coffee System]

After today's business starts, you can choose to make a cup of coffee for yourself first. By clicking on the coffee cup under the coffee machine, you can make a cup of your favorite drink for yourself.

Recaff is precisely the coffee beverage commonly found in the "Siege of Terra" series of novels. And various other drinks also have their unique origins.

After deciding which type of coffee to make, we can choose options like the milk to use based on our personal preference.

This will result in a steaming hot cup of coffee.

After each cup of coffee is made, hovering the mouse over the coffee cup icon will start a 2-hour timer. However, after one hour, the steam on the coffee cup will disappear. And when the timer finally reaches zero, you will know that two hours have passed. Setting a 2-hour timer aligns with the time unit of the Pomodoro Technique. If you want to use the web page as an efficiency tool, you can make good use of this feature.

[Character Visiting]

After making a cup of coffee for yourself, naturally, various characters will be attracted to the café and its aroma. They usually greet you directly and place their orders. But sometimes, you will need to guess their preferences based on the characters' personalities. If you have read many related novels, you will have a unique advantage in this aspect.

For example, people from Caliban would drink black tea. Commanders stationed on Terra, on the other hand, prefer bitter coffee, among other things. Additionally, some special drink recipes need to be purchased or unlocked through gifts from characters.

After fulfilling the characters' needs, their Trust will increase.

Subsequently, they often spend some time in the café, and during this period, you can engage in conversation with them. As the Trust increases, the topics they bring up will also vary.

For instance, Loken might talk to you about Mr. Sindermann's lectures, while Argel Tal could bring up his friend Khârn. Ahriman might mention that the café was recommended to him by his human friend Gaumon.

This often unlocks more characters. After all, the café's reputation is always spread by word of mouth among friends.

And some rarer characters, I mean, like a Primarch, might require the trust of everyone in the legion.

After increasing trust levels, besides more conversations and characters, there will also be an important matter.

Once trust levels reach their peak, characters will give you a variety of gifts, including decorative items. For example, members of the Thousand Sons always like to give you various books, regardless of whether you can understand them or not.

But you can use some of them as decorations inside the café.

This can sometimes be key to unlocking rare characters. Of course, you can also purchase various decorations and drink recipes at any time from the itinerant merchant in the upper left corner of the screen.

And if you complete the current task setting and change the task, most of the characters present will express encouragement and approval towards you.

[Bulletin Board & Character Book]

Each character stays for a different amount of time. Many of them are very busy with numerous affairs. However, you can find clues of their visits on the bulletin board.

Almost every customer who has visited the café leaves something behind on this bulletin board. For example, stickers, messages, or even advertisements.

Hovering the mouse over specific items will display detailed explanations and descriptions.

You can also find information about the visitors in the customer notes, where all guest information is recorded.

However, characters that have not yet been unlocked will be displayed as "unsigned".

[Weather System]

Additionally, some sufficiently important characters, if they are very satisfied with your café, they will grant you access rights.

This privilege allows you to open cafés in different areas, such as on battleships, Terra, the Hive cities, and various other places.

As time passes, the ambient light in the café will also change.

This also means that some special characters will only be unlocked at specific times. If you go from noon to night, you can see the nighttime view of the Hive city outside the window. As time progresses from afternoon to night, you can see the nighttime view of the Hive city from the window. And when midnight arrives, the starry sea above the deck will leave you in awe. In the central area of Terra, mornings always face the unchanging snowy mountains.

[Vinyl Records Player]

While running the café, you can always spin your vinyl records. This allows you to change the background music and even import your own favorite tracks. If you don't like the ambient chatter or the sounds of the coffee machine and cups, you can also turn them off here.

The above is a brief instruction for using "The Great Crusade Café".

The project is a purely conceptual design. As Games Workshop does not allow fanart creators to engage in programming or development. It is currently only presented in this form to everyone. It's worth mentioning that this design was inspired by a series of excellent projects, including VA-11 Hall-A, Coffee Talk, I Miss My Cafe, and Neko Atsume, etc. That's also why I chose to use a pixel art style in the project.

At the same time, I'd like to thank the pixel art artists who collaborated with me. Without you, this demo video wouldn't have been possible.

Finally, thank you for watching. If you enjoy research and artistic creations related to the Warhammer theme, feel free to follow my Youtube channel and X.

May your day always start with a great cup of coffee : )

[miraluscinia]

In a world teetering on the edge of chaos, a team of extraordinary individuals has emerged from the shadows to protect their beloved Nexus City. Each with their own unique abilities, they form an alliance known as the L.I.F.E. Team — a group of heroes and vigilantes that stand against threats both seen and unseen. Come meet the legendary figures that shape the future of this world:

"Mind over matter, wings of steel,

The heart of a leader, the truth concealed."

The Architect

A mind beyond comprehension, shaping the world with thoughts alone. His vision for the future is unmatched, and with him, the impossible becomes reality.

"A silver tongue, a voice that sways,

Peace before battle, in words he plays."

Vex

With a silver tongue and a charm that cannot be resisted, he’s a master of persuasion, leading the unwary wherever he wishes without lifting a finger.

"Technology obeys, his will commands,

Where machines are present, his genius stands."

The Mechanic

A genius who sees the world in circuits and machines, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, his creations are as limitless as his mind.

"A snare unseen, a trap well laid,

Silent but deadly, in shadows he's made."

Trapline

A patient hunter who lays traps unseen, controlling the battlefield with deadly precision. His enemies are caught before they even realize they’ve stepped into his web.

"Gravity bows to her lunar might,

A crescent blade, in scarlet night."

Scarlet Moon

A force as elusive as the night sky, she pulls the world into her orbit, bending the unseen forces that surround her to her will.

"Time bends where flowers bloom,

The clock ticks down to nature's doom."

Timekeeper

Time is his domain, bending at his command, flowing like the petals of a flower in bloom. With him, moments are as fluid as nature itself.

"Fire that burns, a heart ablaze,

Heat and flame, in fury's daze."

Blaze

A walking inferno, he ignites everything in his path, channeling a fierce inner fire that consumes all in its wake.

"Invisible steps, shadows in tow,

A silent strike, from darkness flow."

Phantom

A ghost in the night, unseen and untouchable, he drifts between the visible and invisible, always just out of reach.

"Illusions dance, a show so grand,

Master of disguise, transform the land."

Maestro

Reality bends to his performance, a showman whose illusions blur the line between fantasy and truth. With each act, he changes the very stage of life itself.

"Strong as stone, yet swift to mend,

The walls stand firm, never to bend."

Fortress

A pillar of unyielding strength, she stands unbroken, taking on the weight of the world without faltering.

"Illusions twist, reality bends,

Truth and lies, in havoc descends."

Mirage

A master of deception, nothing is ever as it seems in his presence. He weaves false realities, leaving his enemies questioning what’s real.

"Blood and battle, strength reborn,

A healer's hand, a warrior's scorn."

Sanguine

A warrior fueled by the heat of battle, growing stronger as the fight intensifies. His power feeds on chaos, pushing him to even greater heights.

"Wolves that hunt, a leader's call,

Strength in the pack, yet prone to fall."

Fenrir

Once a beacon of hope, now a lone wolf, he leads a pack that gives him strength, each step he takes followed by the howls of the wild at his command.

"Stars align, energy pure,

A shield, a blade, a step so sure."

Starstrike

A protector bathed in the light of the stars, his presence radiates an otherworldly power, guarding the world from the darkness that looms.

"Songs of warning, visions unclear,

The first to fall when danger is near."

The Canary

A harbinger of things yet to come, his instincts lead him through danger before it even arrives, always one step ahead of fate.

"A rumble deep, the ground obeys,

The earth itself moves to his ways."

Quake

The ground trembles beneath him, his bond with the earth unshakable. He moves like a force of nature, unrelenting and unstoppable.

"In roots and leaves, life she finds,

Nature's strength, in her entwines."

Flora

Life flourishes wherever she goes, her touch breathing growth and renewal into the world, as if nature itself responds to her call.

"In darkness she dwells with deadly grace,

A hidden blade in shadow's embrace."

Nightshade

A figure of the shadows, slipping through the cracks of reality unnoticed. Where she goes, the darkness follows, but by the time you see her, it’s already too late.

And that's it for the alias reveal! Sorry for the delay, exams melted by brain. Anywyas... feel free to ask me questions about this AU... i'm working on some art for this so stay tuned for that... <3

[mercair]

SHOPKEEPERS

Finally! All of my secret bosses' shopkeeper friends are here!

LOOK AT THEM! LOOK AT THEM NOW!

Now i'll proceed to give quick descriptions of them.

Ms. Mari: Old actress that played the role of Woostern's mother on the "Woostern & Friends" show, however both of them did develop a real mother and daughter-like relationship over time. She locked the shadow crystal on a safe after Woostern's dissapearence and keeps looking for her to this day, even though everyone else thinks that Asriel took Woostern with him when he went to college. Light World Object: Trash Flowers

Zocker (DESIGNED BY CREEPA-BOT !!): Sockling No. 45. Cool sock skater dude that taught Bonslick how to skate, and they used to do all kind of crazy stuff together. They haven't seen each other in some time after Bonslick went insane though. No real connection to the machine in the basement or anything, but he does know how to get the key. Light World Object: Sans' Lone Sock

Tool-Eo: Old technician man that helped the lightners in the creation of the Bunz-E animatronic. After that, he basically was the one who trained Bunz-E's AI. He taught him how to do some magic tricks, how to treat the guests, and who he was supposed to defend. After the incident however, he was forced to dismantle the animatronic and hide his leftover part behind a sealed wall in the basement. Light World Object: Toolbox

The Egglins: A group of rowdy egg childs that just do whatever they want. They used to play with Quiddo all the time, after all, the weird ones gotta' stick together! Until the day that Quiddo suddenly wandered off too far and dissapeared, they tried to look for them to no avail. Also, they found something weird in the trash recently, some strange looking flowers that make a bridge when you align them in the water... They don't know what to do with them. Light World Object: Eggs, they're eggs

Modi-Fi: Mad Alien Scientist that used to work for Space Emperor. She was... Really close to Shikari. They used to run tests together, it's a lot easier when the voluntary test subject is basically indestructible. The day of the incident, she was forced to retain Shikari and exile her to the Dark Webs, as well as to hide the Shifang. That day she almost got killed... it was as if Shikari didn't even recognize her... Light World Object: Mod Installing Program

So yeah, that's it, i hope you like them!

... Hmm? What about Sakriss' friend? Well... Sakriss is still a mistery. For now.

[blockgamepirate]

Bolas Rojas Playlist

And the Hero Will Drown : Story Of The Year

Evil People : Set It Of

Twist : Korn

It's Been So Long : The Living Tombstone

Breaking Me Down : Soil

Rules of Nature - Platinum Mix : Jason Charles Miller

Unsainted : Slipknot

oops! : Yung Gravy

Break Stuff : Limp Bizkit

Friday Night Fire Fight : Aligns, Rubicones

BlastZone (ЗонаПоражения) : BONES

SugarCrash! : ElyOtto

Aerials : System Of A Down

King For A Day : Pierce The Veil, Kellin Quinn

Down with the Sickness : Disturbed

Witness : Mindless Self Indulgence

Throne : Bring Me The Horizon

Numb : Linkin Park

Freak On a Leash : Korn

BREAK LAW : Dog Blood, Skrillex, Boys Noize

When It Cuts : Ill Niño

GAS GAS GAS - EXTENDED MIX : Manuel

Becoming Insane : Infected Mushroom

Bricolen : Copain du web

Duality : Slipknot

Waltz of the Meatball Man : Gooseworx

I'm Not Okay (I Promise) : My Chemical Romance

Ani Mevushal : Infected Mushroom, Bliss

Laid to Rest : Lamb of God

Before I Forget : Slipknot

Renegades Of Funk : Rage Against The Machine

Downfall : TRUSTcompany

Hate Crew Deathroll : Children Of Bodom

Savior : Rise Against

Given Up : Linkin Park

Falling Apart : zebrahead

B.Y.O.B. : System Of A Down

Wait and Bleed : Slipknot

The Hand That Feeds : Nine Inch Nails

Stricken : Disturbed

Toxicity : System Of A Down

People = Shitm : Slipknot

In the End : Linkin Park

The Government Knows : KNOWER

We're Beautiful : ABSRDST, Diveo

Ponyboy : SOPHIE

Dumbest Girl Alive : 100 gecs

GOTTASADAE : BewhY

NIGHTMARES : Alice Glass

Can You Feel My Heart : Bring Me The Horizon

Kingslayer (feat. BABYMETAL) : Bring Me The Horizon, BABYMETAL

Goat Type Beat : harvoYT

Du hast : Rammstein

Zombie : The Cranberries

Squishy Caterpillars Riding On Bullets : Istasha

Captions Are Automatically Generated . Istasha

Rédeas : Project46

Wherever I May Roam : Metallica

For Whom The Bell Tolls - Remastered : Metallica

Path Vol. 2 : Apocalyptica, Sandra Nasic

White Rabbit : Jefferson Airplane

Animals : Architects

Tokyo Drift (Fast & Furious) - From "The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift" Soundtrack : Teriyaki Boyz

Roots Bloody Roots : Sepultura

Tenebre Rosso Sangue (ULTRAKILL Original Game Soundtrack) : Keygen Church

Parasite Eve : Bring Me The Horizon

We Got the Moves . Electric Callboy

EXILADA : NIKKO, Istasha

BRAZILIAN DANÇA PHONK : 6YNTHMANE, RXDXVIL

Flashback : MIYAVI, Ken Ken

Get Got . Death Grips

Controllah (feat. MC Bin Laden) : Gorillaz, MC Bin Laden

Hayloft II : Mother Mother

Automotivo Bibi Fogosa : Bibi Babydoll, Dj Brunin XM, KZA Produções

ワールドイズマイン-初音ミク「マジカルミライ 2021」Live- (feat. 初音ミク) : ryo (supercell), Hatsune Miku

Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) : My Chemical Romance

BxMxC : BABYMETAL

Not Gonna Get Us : t.A.T.u.

Pleasure Model : Noisia, Former

Volcano : Woodkid

Misfit Toys (from the series Arcane League of Legends) : Pusha T, Mako

Snakes (from the series Arcane League of Legends) : PVRIS, MIYAVI

Idiots Are Taking Over : NOFX

Dead Limit : Noisia, The Upbeats

Sober : TOOL

The Pot : TOOL

All Falls Apart : Polyphia

How I Feel : La Dispute

Given Up : Linkin Park

Run : Bring Me The Horizon

Still Waiting : Sum 41

Bodies : Drowning Pool

Side by Side : BewhY

Falling Away from Me . Korn

One Step Closer : Linkin Park

Your Betrayal : Bullet For My Valentine

Tears Don't Fall : Bullet For My Valentine

Vicinity Of Obscenity : System Of A Down

Papercut . Linkin Par

The Diary of Jane - Single Version : Breaking Benjamin

[essektheylyss]

please release the essek thoughts!!!!

Oh I definitely will! I really have had such a busy weekend (which is not changing today, given I've had this ask open on my phone for an hour and a half trying to finish a short answer haha) and I do like to let my thoughts percolate for a bit when I have more in-depth analysis.

I think there's also something to be said for seeing what other people have written! There is really a lot to be said about this episode in terms of the implications for the wider world, both in terms of larger conflicts we haven't caught up with in a while—so, virtually all of the Wildemount wizards outside of Caleb, Trent-exempt considering he's not really a factor in the Assembly's web of political machinations anymore—and also on an individual character level.

I think it's worth noting that we have had virtually no information on Essek's existence since the end of the campaign, seven years ago in universe—even his brief appearance in Rexxentrum raised more questions than it answered. And this appearance already carries a massive amount of implications! I think it's fun to say it in conversation with the rest of the fandom, and other people have definitely expressed great thoughts that align with many of mine, so it's not really necessary to add anything! I also haven't had a chance to keep up with that either, even as much as I've been reblogging things.

[icannotescape]

The themes of choice in TMA is fascinating. People seem to have latched on to what Elias said about choice to the victim blaming extent that Jon did. He didn’t want this but he absolutely chose it? That’s not a fair statement. It’s not. He was given absolutely none of the information needed to even be able to fathom the consequences of his choices. Sometimes things were even stacked against him. An example being destroying the web table. Well, three different people suggested he do that and he didn’t listen. One of the people that suggested it ended up being replaced by the creature somehow tied to the table. What was the natural conclusion meant to be? Do you think you’d do better? I promise you wouldn’t.

I saw something a while ago essentially accusing Jon of giving the other characters nightmares, when the time in which the statements were taken, he didn’t know the implications of it. He didn’t know what would happen. He took statements as was defined by his office job with no understanding that it would have lasting consequences. He didn’t even understand he was compelling people until late into season 3. The nightmares weren’t figured out until after that. For all he knew the reoccurring nightmares were because people were telling him in great detail about terrible things that happened to them. Both sides were supernaturally tied into a contract they didn’t get to read. It’s miserable for both parties. Lest you forget he was forced to work closely with the cop that tried to give him a laryngectomy with a dull pocket knife.

When season 4 comes about he chooses to live. This doesn’t come because he’s afraid of dying. We know this factually based on his actions. He has very little concern in throwing himself into situations that may or may not kill him according to his knowledge at the time. It’s for the same reason he doesn’t attempt to gauge his eyes out without Martin. People he cares about are on the inside. He won’t leave them. He comes back choosing to trust the people around him. This turns out to be a bad move given what Basira is hiding, but it’s a bad move in the same way everyone’s decisions were bad moves. They don’t have enough information about the situation or other people to make good choices. Elias and the Web carefully orchestrated the situation in which every outcome has the opposite effect of what was intended. This is a tragedy. All roads lead to ruin. Choices aren’t choices when you don’t know you’re making them or your only out is to abandon people you care about and cause yourself significant bodily harm if not death. This is a tragedy.

The idea of a choice in the series is a joke. It’s pushing responsibility of the crimes of those up top to the people down on the bottom. It’s petty to argue who is at fault on that level similarly to how policing individuals on disposable straw usage isn’t going to stop corporations from mass polluting the ocean. But it’s easier to yell at the people at the bottom so we do it. Similarly to how half the characters lash out at Jon. He’s an easier target than Elias, especially if your lashing out on your own. But they didn’t know each other well enough. They were only put into a group together reluctantly and by coercion. They weren’t found family. They didn’t bond. They didn’t even figure out how to work together. And that, my friends, is an easy to manipulate situation. This is a tragedy.

Season 5 is a farce of control and power for Jon. The Web gets exactly what the Web wants. It had all the pieces in play for a deranged Rube Goldberg machine. Just pull in all the right places and the pieces come crashing down. Martin was a very important piece, you see. Jon’s morality wasn’t so movable—I do believe that Jon’s decision for the panopticon was a moral decision. It may not align with your morals, but it was a decision based in morality nevertheless. It was a decision that didn’t align with Martin’s belief. The argument wouldn’t have gotten Jon’s morality to move but they didn’t need to do that. They just needed the process to start and for Martin to be up there as everything was collapsing. Jon wouldn’t change his morals but he couldn’t watch Martin die. He famously does not care about what happens to him but does care very much about what happens to Martin. So, the Web got its way. This is a tragedy.

It’s somewhat natural to over analyze all the pieces and think “if someone did this one thing differently, it would have all been different.” I don’t think the characters were given so much allowance in universe to ruin the Web’s stitch. This was a masterpiece built by the Web for the Eye’s consumption. Choice is an ad lib over forgotten lines, not something that can rewrite the script. This is a tragedy. We bought the tickets.

[valtsv]

Okay hang on. I had a Thought for the TMA/Terror AU. Crozier as an Avatar of the Web. But also. Hickey thinking he's being called to the Web, right? But. Hickey realizes his metaphorical death has to do something with Crozier. Hickey probably thinks of it on terms of like... a spider eating another spider. But when it happens, Hickey is not actually an Avatar of the Web, he's instead the Stranger, which is part of why he gets so focused on Crozier. Because he thinks he should have been part of the Web and thinks Crozier purposefully pulled the strings so he's not

Idk I can just so vividly picture Hickey wanting to be part of the Web so badly, and he'd get so salty if he wasn't

oh for sure i can see there being tension there. although i'm not sure how much any of them would recognize the fears as we understand them, categorized and labelled as the fifteen we see in TMA. Hickey is smart enough that he'd probably be able to figure out the vague shape of what he and others are aligned with, and deduce that he and Crozier are aligned with different entities, but idk if he'd recognize them as "The Web" and "The Stranger".

there'd be conflict regardless, though, because Hickey's manipulations and lies are focused mainly on benefitting him and his personal goals, which is more Stranger (an entity focused on individuality, selfhood and perception of oneself in relation to others, "I Do Not Know You"), whilst Crozier tends to justify his as being for "the greater good"/"the good of the crew", which is more Web (since the Web is canonically a very possessive entity, and perversely protective as a result, hence the nickname "Mother of Puppets"). and because entities aren't rigidly fixed, but tend to bleed into each other, i can see Hickey benefitting from more Web-like machinations, but he's not its favorite and that would bother him. so yeah, he'd definitely be focused on Crozier and bitter that he's not the only one who can successfully assert control over people, or the best at inspiring loyalty and confidence in himself while doing so.

[its-your-mind]

A compilation of things we know:

the OIAR used to work with a security company called Rightforce International, previously called Diligence Security Systems

the Magnus Institute burned down 24 Dec 1999

the OIAR separated from a company called Starkwall Protection Services on 3 Jan 2000

Starkwall had something to do with a “magnus protocol,” and information related to this is above the level of access of the OIAR team members

Gerry Kaey was a Magnus kid

there is no evidence that there were files in the basement of The Magnus Institute when it burned

The basement of The Magnus Institute was the Archives in the TMA World Line

Also in the TMA World Line, Gertrude Robinson was the Archivist for ~40 years, starting in the 80s

She frequently worked with Adelard Decker to thwart the machinations of the Entities and their avatars

Later, she worked with Gerard Kaey, who had intentionally aligned himself with the Eye in order to see when people were being stalked by one of the Powers and help them

He was also a firebug

Also known firebug: Agnes Montague, who had been bonded to Gertrude via a ritual by followers of the Web - a bond Gertrude used to protect herself from the Cult of the Lightless Flame

An unnamed security company saved Dianne Margolis from a shop on Hilltop Road in Oxford that was filled with supernatural shit and subsequently set on fire

FR3-D1 should NOT work like this considering the technology it runs on

FR3-D1 appears to have complete access to any files transmitted via the Internet, no matter how secure or buried they are, for the sole purpose of categorization

there (is? used to be?) some sort of Response Department, that is still enough a part of the OIAR’s operations that Sam gets paperwork on his desk about it after checking a box marked “Response 121” on his onboarding paperwork

Klaus learned things that he believed put him in danger and subsequently disappeared via Lena’s intervention

Colin believes there is Something watching and/or listening via any technology with cameras or microphones

Lena answers to some sort of authority that none of the other workers know about

The Entities exist in this world, just in a different form than we’re used to (in-depth meta on this here)

okay those are all the relevant facts time for:

CRACK THEORY TIME

Gertrude and Decker are co-founders of Starkwall né Rightforce né Diligence

They kept changing the name to keep off the radar of any avatars

Gerry was Youngest Recruit In History

He was recruited while he was a Magnus kid to be their INSIDE OPERATIVE

He got to help set the fire

He swept the archives and stole all the relevant files because he is still an Eye-aligned bitch who wants to figure shit out

Agnes is also in on it

Bc she fuckin DESERVES IT

also look at all the fire shit

She and Gertrude are lovers

Bc I fuckin deserve it

that eldrich bond should be good for something and that something is LESBIANISM

(*speaking in a voice crushed with disappointment but with a Touch of hopefulness* here’s how agnes montague can still win?)

Anyway back to Starkwall

Their whole thing is basically scorched earth policy when it comes to Fears shit (see: MAGP 07 statement of fire at Hilltop Road)

Feeding the Desolation by ^ and the Eye by collecting info on the activities of other fears (whatever slightly warped version of the Fears exist in this world)

Used to work with? under? the OIAR as part of the “Response Department”

FR3-D1 is like EXPLICITLY Eye-based system set up to collect info for Starkwall to go after (Eye is a silly stupid entity who just wants to gobble up the fear and is bad at planning, so doesn’t notice/care how its people use the info gathered)

a significant part of Jon Martin and (probable) Jonah got schlorped up by FR3-D1 when they got here bc their voices reading out Statements for the Eye were the conduits for the Fears to travel, and FR3-D1 had INTENSE EYE GRAVITY that was Specifically Tuned to gulp up supernatural stories from the interwebs

unfortunately the Intense Eye Beams coming off him DOES tend to place FR3-D1’s IT workers directly into a position to get Eyed into intense paranoia and fear of being watched (rip Klaus, stay strong Colin)

this did not happen when Starkwell used to work with them bc they knew how to handle FR3-D1 but alas once the Eye folks all fucked off it left Klaus (and now Colin) open to both paranoia attacks and possible Consequences for asking too many questions

Speaking of which

the Web (or an analog (jonny and alex drop titles for entities in this world if smirke didn’t make up the same ones challenge)) took notice of what was goin on and got operatives into the OIAR

Lena is one, or else she works for one. (Insert here’s how annabelle caine can still win theories here)

Klaus figured out too much and got in the way of Machinations and thus the whole *gestures*

Gertrude and Decker noticed and separated from the OIAR as soon as they were able to bc they realized that shit had gone South but are still out there doin the good work

Alice ALSO done got recruited from out of the Magnus program as a child

The reason she keeps pushing people away from the sus stuff and seems to know more than she claims to is bc she is their PLANT still working for the OIAR

She got Sam hired bc he’s still got eldritch eyes (in general, but maybe also Eyes) on him and she wants him somewhere she can keep an eye on him AND keep him inside a spooky space so it’s less likely an unknown actor would come after him

[themainspoon]

If you are a WoD fan and you aren’t aware of how fucking wild White Wolf’s strategy for marketing Demon: the Fallen was, that changes right fucking now, get ready.

So, the year is 2002, American Culture is still moving past the Satanic Panic, and your job is to market a Table Top Role Playing Game where you play as literal demons who were aligned with the Biblical figure of Lucifer. The book has a big ass pentagram on its cover, and is filled with information on fictional demons and their demonic powers.

How do you market this?

Well, isn’t it obvious?

You satirise Chick Tracks by making a fake one about how the game you’re supposed to be promoting is satanic. I’ve linked it below, it’s only 23 pages long;

But you may be thinking: “Ok, that’s a funny concept, but why is this such a big deal to you?” Well, buckle the fuck up kiddo’s, because I want you to look at that last panel again:

Do you notice anything about it that could prompt further inquiry? What about that URL?

You see, the chick track was only one part of this little marketing stunt.

And so, I ask again, how do you market Demon: the Fallen?

You create an entire fake Evangelical church website called the Eternal Grace Evangelical Church, and write a fake sermon in which you claim that the brand that hired you is producing games that turn children into drug addicts and sexual predators, also claiming that Vampire: the Masquerade was involved in real world murders including the fucking Columbine School Shooting.

Below is a link to the site from the Internet Archives Wayback machine, the main bulk of the interesting stuff is in the sermons section.

Quick note, they used EVERY part of the evangelical bullshit playbook to make this site look legit, they went hard on this. So, the site is satire, but it still feels like it would be a good idea to mention that they satirise everything about Evangelicals, including their homophobic, transphobic, anti-catholic, and anti-pagan beliefs.

https://web.archive.org/web/20031205191032/http://www.father-ramos.com:80/

If you don’t want to read it yourself, here are some actual quotes from this fake Evangelical site that was, and I can’t stress this enough, MADE BY WHITE WOLF TO PROMOTE DEMON: THE FALLEN: (above disclaimer applies here too)

“Eternal Grace Congregation Church is a community of Christians who seek to love, worship and praise Him and to communicate the Word of the Gospel to the world around us while exposing the lifestyles and and recruiting prctices of those deviants who would make this world a place of horrors. Among these are homosexuals, gamblers, drug addicts and role-players.”

“You may find it useful to tell role-players about the Dallas youths who were burned to death in the steam tunnels of Southern Methodist University (of course it was the Methodists) while exploring them for treasure. Tell them about the syphilis-related insanity of Jimmy Cox, a Tennessee teenager who used role-playing games to build around him a coven of homosexuals. Tell them about Michelle Sikes, the Montana role-player who had a sex-change operation. The more perversion you can ascribe to involvement with role-playing the better. You may even wish to fabricate some of your own, to better illustrate the point to your specific at-risk individual.”

“Listening to accounts of the role-players’ games is either the height of tedium (it must be said, pardon my air of judgment) or evinces strong feelings of pity, […] Invitations to participate, if accepted, place the individual in a precarious position himself, and will probably expose him to the scourges of drugs, fornication, homosexuality and Catholicism/paganism in many cases.”

“point out to them that the activity borders on delusion (“You are not an elf, Tommy!”) and heresy (“If God intended for you to act like a demon, he would have made you a demon, Jenny”).”

“In addition, rumors (which is why I relegate this to a side note instead of including it in the main body of my discourse) link the activities of the Columbine high-school “trenchcoat mafia” with Vampires Masquerade.”

“As good Christians, it is obviously our duty to prevent our youth from learning the corrupt ways these books and games teach. Sex, suicide, drug abuse, homosexuality, “golden showers” and many other behaviors proscribed by the Lord and the Good Book come as a result of players taking their games too far. In particular, the moral execration contained with the Demon book takes these aberrations to new levels by openly encouraging players to act in the interests of Satan (or Lucifer, as he is depicted herein).”

“Additionally, role-playing games teach that violence is an acceptable and even admirable way of solving problems. Significant portions of their rules are devoted to combat and weaponry. Demon, for example, also contains systems by which the satanic characters can attack or use magic upon their enemies, with dark arts spawned from Hell itself. These are not unlike the gay community’s reactionary “straight bashing” in response to the more physical efforts of their loving fellows (but loving in the Lord’s intended way) to bring them back into the fold.”

“This Week: Pastor "Father" Ramos discusses the Catholic Church and the 68 Million deaths its evil has caused throughout the world! You won't read this in the history books! Father Ramos also discusses why he has chosen to reclaim the Holy tile"Father" from Catholocism.”

White Wolf was frequently quite edgy, and often wasn’t great at dealing with social issues (you could argue this is still true of the modern World of Darkness in some cases). But honestly I think this is a fun stunt. It mocks evangelicals for all their insane bigoted beliefs, and for basically giving all the stuff they call satanic free advertising. No matter what though this is an unhinged marketing stunt, and it is so wild that they actually did this.

[dasenergi-diary]

Tonight I will be performing my first Reiki session since 2000. Once upon a time I was preparing to perform reiki as a career. I had all the tools I needed, pamphlets made, a web page, the credit card machine, etc. And then Covid happened.

As I am diving back into my notes from 2020 I came across the below. It explains what reiki is and how one of my sessions usually works.

Dave (Das Energi) been a practicing Buddhist, meditating regularly for over 15 years. He has identified as a healer since high school when he would give massages for fun to friends and family. Through his hugs and touch, Dave transmutes negative energy into positive.

Dave had his Kundalini Awakening experience in 2014. Since then he has connected to his global soul family including shamans, witches, healers, and the divine. He is a beacon of light and love, guiding others on their spiritual path. He is a Kundalini Reiki Master and also a Level II Usui Reiki Practitioner.

Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is a combination of two Japanese kanji characters: "Rei" meaning universal spirit and "Ki" meaning life force energy.  During a Reiki session, the Reiki practitioner connects with the universal energy source and places their hands on or above the recipient with the intention to encourage emotional, physical, or spiritual well-being.

Reiki is not a massage but rather a healing technique of "laying hands" which has been used for thousands of years across several cultures and continents. Most people find Reiki to be relaxing, however sensitivity to energy differs from person to person.

No two Reiki sessions are exactly alike. A session will begin by discussing the recipient’s intentions for receiving Reiki and if they are experiencing any discomfort either physically, emotionally, or spiritually. This information will be helpful in guiding the practitioner during the healing.

The recipient and the practitioner will then ground their energies with the Earth, and breathe together so that their energies are in sync and harmonized.

The recipient will then lay down, fully clothed, on a massage table and be encouraged to close their eyes and meditate or notice any bodily sensations that may arise during the session. The Reiki practitioner will then conduct a body scan, feeling if any of the recipient’s chakras are out of alignment or an auric cleansing needs to be done.

The Reiki practitioner will lay their hands on the recipient’s body and follow their intuition laying their hands on several bodily locations. It is important to note that Reiki energy will flow to other parts of the body. For example, if the Reiki practitioner lays hands on the recipient’s feet, the energy may travel to the recipient’s lower-back, or if hands are laid on the stomach, the energy may travel to the neck. The Reiki energy knows where it needs to go, even if neither the recipient nor the practitioner is aware.

During the final moments, the Reiki session will be closed with a brief sound bath. The practitioner will then seal the energy field and ground the recipient back to the Earth with breathwork again.

Everything is energy. The physical body is electrical and so are our thoughts and brain functions. Our thoughts form energy patterns and create emotions that affect our aura/electrical field. Our energy field interacts and influences everything around us including other humans, plants, and animals; even the food we eat is affected by the energy of the person preparing it. We are surrounded by energetic fields and it is common for people to unconsciously draw on the energy of others around them, affecting their emotions and vitality.

When there is an imbalance in the body, it is stuck energy. Energy must always move, and when it cannot, it will find the weakest part of the physical body where it will manifest itself into some type of challenge.

Reiki allows the universal life force to flow through us so that a heart-mind alignment can occur, releasing lower energy vibrations like fear, worry, anxiety, stress, anger, and disappointment. It brings balance to emotions, thoughts, biological processes, energy centers, and helps to reduce pain, inflammation, and stress within the body. 

For Reiki to do the best work you will also need to be a participant in the healing process. You must be open to the healing energy to flow within you. The Reiki practitioner is only a facilitator of healing, and it is the positive intentions of the recipient that affects the outcome most dramatically.

Everything in the universe is made of energy, therefore Reiki can be performed on everything in the universe. Most people use Reiki to clear their own energetic blockages, but it can also be used on our beloved pets when they need a boost of positive energy or as an alternative to using sage to clear our homes of negative energy (ideal for those sensitive to smoke or smells).

[fruitless-vain]

hi!! where do you get yoshi’s vests from?? or do you make them yourself? and if so, literally how? is there a particular pattern you use? they’re honestly gorgeous, and i’ve been looking for something similar for my girl

😭 literally the nicest compliment ever I made it myself!!

I was disappointed with a vest I had purchased from a maker, quickly realized that most makers don't specialize in little dogs and as a result the gear isn't legible/ there's a lot of wasted space which is a big deal when you have limited space to work with on a little dog already! So I made my own to maximize usable space instead.

I'm sure there's patterns you could buy out there but I made mine from scratch (and it's not too complicated to figure out!). What I opted to do was measure her first, get an idea for how large the side panels and centre panel can be. I used a free art program (medibang) and dragged some rulers in there and drew things out to scale relative to the rulers. This way you have an accurate scale to work with to decide what can actually fit in the space. Print out the design (I put each panel in to a word file and printed that way) and check the size on your dog, make adjustments as needed until the paper printout sits how you'd like it to and your designs are legible! Word programs should have a ruler on the top of the page which allow you to see the exact measurement of each of your panels so it's easy to align them/ change the size as needed accurately.

There's lots of ways to make a vest, with or without webbing, multiple panels, one piece of fabric. Take a look at vests online and see what aspects you like and what you don't! I opted for webbing to stiffen the edges to prevent wear but it's not necessary! You can just stick two pieces of fabric together and call it done!

I colourized it on the computer first so I could ensure that the scheme would work and that all the fonts would be legible at their smaller size/ contrast well.

Embroidery will be the first thing you do once you're set on your design and it takes the most time. You CAN do it by hand! but it takes a long time and if you use a thick fabric it'll hurt! If you have a standard sewing machine you can embroider with that as well (which is what I did!). I literally bought my first personal sewing machine for this project, I used machines in middle school and to make a couple plushies like 7 years ago but that's it for my experience. You can absolutely do it if you're limited on experience! It's often referred to as 'free motion embroidery' which there's tutorials online for!

The basics of embroidery are to print out your design, you can sew right over the paper and follow it like tracing but paper will be stuck under the embroidery so if the set gets wet soggy paper will happen eventually! The better alternative is to get 'soluble embroidery stabilizer' which is a see through material that washes away with warm water! You can trace your design on to it with a pen, pin the stabilizer to your fabric, then simply trace the design with your thread!

I used a zigzag stitch (#4 on my machine), think of it like drawing with a thick marker, you want the stitch to be wide enough to fill in the whole shape if possible. your machine will have two settings you can change, the width of your zig zag (thickness of your marker) and the amount of space between each stitch (opacity), so you want the zig zag to be as wide as the shape and the space between stitches to be as small as your machine will go without getting tangled ( I sit at 0.2)

Freemotion embroidery tutorials will tell you to drop the feed dogs down, don't do that. You'll break a lot of needles. Letters are just straight lines so you can leave them up, let the machine help guide the straight line, it'll be a LOT easier for you! Curvy letters like C and S will be hard the first few times but it gets easier, it's helpful to take it as a bunch of short straight lines instead of trying to turn with it. Fills in the shape better.

You'll end up tracing each letter 2-3 times at minimum to ensure it's nicely filled in and the fabric underneath doesn't show through. Don't forget to sew back over your ends to keep them locked in place otherwise it'll just unravel!

Once that's done the rest is EASY in comparison! 😂

When you're happy with your embroidery you can cut out each of your panels, be sure to leave a minimum 1/4 inch gap around the edge for the seam, you can leave more space if you want! if you think you'll be a bit wavy/ struggle to keep the needle near the edge then more seam allowance is better!

Attach the panels together (lay them together with the 'nice sides' together and sew along the edge)

You'll want a second fabric piece to be your underside, this makes the vest more sturdy, protects the embroidery, and makes a soft smooth surface for your dog! Once the top panels are all attached to each other you can cut out one big piece for the underside, a mirror copy of the shape of your top panels all sewn together!

The "best looking" way to leave a seam I would say is by folding the edges in and sewing around the outside, keeps the edges crisp and compressed. I would do it this way if I was leaving the edges of the vest panels exposed.

If you're going to put webbing along the edges anyways then you can do it a quicker way, just lay the two pieces (your top panels and your underside) together with the nice sides facing in and just sew quickly around the edge. Be sure to leave a space unsewn so you can flip it inside out again. This will be easier to do but leaves the piece looking a bit more bubbly and the corners will be a bit puffy/ not as crisp

You can opt to put your buckles/ attachment points in now while you're sewing the top and bottom together or you can wait and attach it with the webbing. If you do it now you'll have to do the webbing as two separate pieces, if you do it later you can fold the webbing over the edge instead. I found two separate pieces (top and underside) to be cleaner and easier to work with on this tiny scale

From there you can seal up the little gap you left to flip it rightside out by hand stitching a 'invisible stitch' and attach your webbing to the edges. I learned the hard way that you should do the side panels first (the outer edges) and the centre panel last. You want the edge webbing to go underneath your centre panel's webbing so that it's a smooth transition when it flops down and bends at that joint! Otherwise the fabric ends up visible underneath when it bends there. So side panels first, centre panel last.

And that's it I think. it's a lot of trial and error as you gradually realize what order to do things in, what works and what doesn't.

If you do try it keep in mind that it's just thread! if you make a mistake it CAN be undone! cutting the threads is tiresome and redoing stuff sucks but it's nice to know that mistakes aren't permanent. If you're really happy with a panel and screw up an icon at the end it can be saved and you can try again without having to redo the whole thing!

Last note is that large fonts are easier than small ones. tiny font showcases every waver in your pathing, making shaky wonky letters: exhibit A my first try vs a few days later

So to avoid frustration I would stick to larger fonts at first. To go along with that try to allow the machine to go quickly, if you move really slow on a straight line it'll show every time you moved and turned it, letting it move fast on straights keeps them smoother and straighter!

For small fonts to limit frustration I would design your vest so they can be detached and you can work on them without having to change the whole panel while you work on your skill. You can make patches!

Same scrap fabric, do your design, and then cut it out right close to the shape and just do that exact same zig zag stitch around the edge. it'll be lined up so that the left of the zig hits the fabric (at whatever thickness you want your outline to be) and the right side of the zag is not hitting the fabric at all. this will cause the thread to wrap around the edge and give a clean look! the more passes you do the cleaner it'll be (above is just two or three quick passes, if I tried harder it could be way smoother). Then you have a patch you can tack on with thread, stick heat n bond on the back for iron-on, or secure velcro or make a little hanger. dealers choice really on that one.

Anyways this is a bit of a mess of information but I hope it gives you somewhere to start. If you want me to demo anything let me know I'm more than happy to help!

oh and feel free to take my pattern up there if you need somewhere to start! I just ask that you change the design up a bit so it's not a carbon copy

[astridvalencia]

How to Learn Programming?

Learning to code can be a rewarding and empowering journey. Here are some steps to help you get started:

Define Your Purpose:

Understand why you want to learn to code. Whether it's for a career change, personal projects, or just for fun, having a clear goal will guide your learning path.

Choose a Programming Language:

Select a language based on your goals. For beginners, languages like Python, JavaScript, or Ruby are often recommended due to their readability and versatility.

Start with the Basics:

Familiarize yourself with fundamental concepts such as variables, data types, loops, and conditional statements. Online platforms like Codecademy, Khan Academy, or freeCodeCamp offer interactive lessons.

Practice Regularly:

Coding is a skill that improves with practice. Set aside dedicated time each day or week to code and reinforce what you've learned.

Build Simple Projects:

Apply your knowledge by working on small projects. This helps you gain hands-on experience and keeps you motivated.

Read Code:

Study existing code, whether it's open-source projects or examples in documentation. This helps you understand different coding styles and best practices.

Ask for Help:

Don't hesitate to ask questions on forums like Stack Overflow or Reddit when you encounter difficulties. Learning from others and getting feedback is crucial.

Join Coding Communities:

Engage with the coding community to stay motivated and learn from others. Platforms like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and coding forums provide opportunities to connect with fellow learners and experienced developers.

Explore Specializations:

As you gain more experience, explore different areas like web development, data science, machine learning, or mobile app development. Specializing can open up more opportunities and align with your interests.

Read Documentation:

Learn to navigate documentation for programming languages and libraries. It's a crucial skill for developers, as it helps you understand how to use different tools and resources effectively.

Stay Updated:

The tech industry evolves rapidly. Follow coding blogs, subscribe to newsletters, and stay informed about new developments and best practices.

Build a Portfolio:

Showcase your projects on platforms like GitHub to create a portfolio. It demonstrates your skills to potential employers or collaborators.

Remember, learning to code is a continuous process, and it's okay to face challenges along the way. Stay persistent, break down complex problems, and celebrate small victories.