#a branch of knowledge

[inexorablyinsecure]

23050230901201201902305050160200809019 "Faggot" 210160230902008020080501805019020

...!?!? M-Mean to me..!?

[inexorablyinsecure]

...Sinclair's mind slows, as he pushes the door to the corridor open. There's... Confusion, in his eyes, as he glances down at Kromer, and does his best to process what she just said. It was garbled, it was... Cluttered. The components that were used for the words were wrong. It was like when his father's voice module had broken, and he needed help replacing it. When he was giving instructions with the whirr from one of the processing units, from one of the bass units...

And then, the words clicked. She... Asked if... 'She was him'.

Everything had happened so fast. She must have been terrified. Of course she was terrified. Of course she was. Everything she had known had been torn away from her, and she had been thrust into something terribly painful. She had even tried to use someone else's ability, and... Just like his Talisman Identity, it had begun to eat at her mind, hadn't it? He had held onto the branch for too long. It had begun to eat away at her...

And it would be so easy to shape her, in this state. To remind her of what was right and wrong. To help make her a better person, to agree, to make her... Like him. To help her, to change her.

The very thought disgusted him.

That would make him no better than him.

...No, I am not. After all, you're... Better, than me,

He did his best to smile, as he walked; stumbling as quick as he could, his legs threatening to give out. He did his best to keep moving, even as the hole in his stomach burned, and the gash on his arm throbbed. He would not let go of her, even until his last breath.

...You... Are a girl, who stood fast to her conviction. A woman who was molded to have ideals, that few could stomach. Who was taught to do abhorrent things, and... Even when you were challenged, you held fast to those convictions.

...His hands ached. She felt heavy, and yet... He knew what was left of her couldn't have been more than a few pounds. He must have been losing blood a bit faster than he thought, but... Even as his smile faltered, for a moment, he shifted her to where she could see his face.

...And when you realized that... Those ideals, weren't what they seemed. You didn't hold onto them, as the only thing that could ever be. You... You realized when enough was enough, and tried to find your way out. And even when people... When they tried to drag you back, you fought. Even when faced with the face of the person you despised the most... You chose to be kind. To tried to be better. You tried to learn, you tried... You tried so hard, to learn and be better.

...His smile faltered, for a moment, as he heard the door open. His footing was unsteady, but he kept walking. He wasn't fast enough, though. He knew that. He knew he wouldn't make it out, before the Hammer caught up to him. But... He kept walking, still. An unsteady gait, as he spoke.

And... And even now, as you've had everything you ever known challenged. Even as someone tried to challenge those scant few beliefs you still had... You didn't fight as hard as you could. You didn't silence them, but rather... You spoke with them, in kind. You challenged their ideals, and they challenged yours. You met them on even ground, and...

He was close now. Sinclair could hear his labored breathing growing closer. He could feel the tears stemming from his cheeks, and... All he could do, was give an unsteady smile, as he tried not to acknowledge their impending deaths.

...You tried to be better. You tried to learn, and think. You tried to find your own answer. You... You're not me,

He closed his eyes. He was crying now. But he had to speak. He had to keep speaking. He couldn't let them focus on the being behind him.

You're... my friend, Franz Kromer.

welcome to the n corp kill list. glad to have you here

H.... Huh??

[Kromer's voice is quiet yet shaky. As if it is trying to make sure that it won't wake Sinclair. However, that consideration quickly vanishes given the following series of events.]

[Kromer's free arm is suddenly attached to another person. Guido. They both sit in silence for a moment, seeming to take a moment for their minds to catch up to the baffling situation.]

...

[Kromer oddly... Doesn't even feel fear at first. Kromer doesn't feel anything. Even as Kromer is roughly thrown off Sinclair, a nail going through its head, there is barely a flicker of emotions.]

[And then comes the resurrection. One much more painful than what is typically done for resurrecting a Sinner. Kromer can feel every fibre of its matter sew back together slowly, only to be interrupted by another stab. The machine's arms violently twitch, as if Kromer is trying to get a moment of reprieve between murders. Eventually, the android manages to redirect the nail to hit the floor beside it. Kromer squirms and catches a hand on its PDA. Kromer needs to open it. Kromer needs to message someone: Yuzu, Dongbaek-- anyone!]

[But... There's a message waiting for Kromer as the android powers on its device.]

[Those words are what strikes that cold stake of fear through Kromer's chest. (though, it takes Kromer a moment to realize that the machine actually DOES have a nail also staked through its chest) Desperation starts to leak through the android's movements. Kromer can't escape. Kromer kicks, claws, tries to get its feet under it to run... Yet nothing works. There's two more people over Kromer, the robot's arms quickly get nailed to the floor and pinned like a moth on display.]

[The people above Kromer are geering the prosthetic. They repeatedly drive nails into Kromer, they tear at Kromer's prosthetic body-- yet Kromer's body keeps being brought back from the brink of death. If something vital is removed, Kromer's body quickly reattaches it. Yet Kromer is very quickly learning what its like to be on the other side of this torture. The prosthetic's ability to talk has already been removed, Kromer's left leg has been discarded off to the side, and as a nail is driven through Kromer's head for what seems to be the hundredth time, Kromer is finally realizing something.]

[All of those people Kromer hurt. They felt this. Their last remaining cries for help weren't just 'survival instincts'. They weren't 'scared of shutting down'...]

[Kromer hurt actual innocent people.]

[Kromer knows the people above it are talking, likely trying to communicate to Kromer. But the realization of the culmination of Kromer's life seems to have made it impossible to pay attention.]

[This... This is what Kromer gets. Kromer... Deserves this.]

[Another stake is driven through Kromer's head. At this point there is a halo of oil, blood, and other liquids around Kromer. The robot keeps being dragged back to life just as it's ended.]

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 291

You know what? I’m feelin’ a Prompt with the whole halfa family, all the clones and everything. 

See, Danny? He’s grown up, he’s moved out, started looking at colleges himself after spending a few years travelling and learning about himself without the threat of a ghost attack. 

He’s kept in touch with his friends, both living and dead, and ignores Vlad for the most part now that they’ve reached a truce of sorts, and honestly? He’s just living his life. 

But see, it’s kind of hard to figure out what college to pick, with his admittedly not-great choices. Look, he might have a new-ish ID but he’s still visibly not exactly human (though thankfully doesn’t have to worry about the GIW after a… summer activity that ended with several missing buildings) 

And most people he goes to? Finds him ‘too unsettling’ which excuse him?? How is he unsettling? He’s a twenty-five year old with six kids ranging from one to six! How is that “scary” huh? Ancients, and all this is making him use the cash he’s saved up over time. 

And then- as though all of this isn’t stressful enough and he’s not genuinely worried that he won’t have enough money to feed the kids if he goes to school- a hero nearly trips over Jordan and starts freaking out. He is so fucking done. 

[starsstardust]

They asked this question in my undergrad med finals today and all i could think about was how Ronan kept dreaming Gansey epipens and antidotes and armoured skin which he almost killed himself dreaming but was still afraid because he wouldn't know whether they worked until it was too late.

[serpentface]

Do psychotropic drugs and/or ritual play a role in any of the blightseed cultures? A pretty broad question, lol

Yeah that’s a very broad question, the answer is about as much as it tends to play roles in real history. Alcohol is pretty ubiquitous (outside of cultures that abstain from intoxicants) and used for a variety of purposes, opioids are commonly used in some parts for pain relief or recreational purposes, stimulants (usually in mild, natural forms) are used to provide extra energy, and hallucinogens are most commonly used as part of a larger religious framework (rather than for recreational purposes). Any more elaborate answer kinda has to be case by case in a certain culture or part of the setting.

I'll just take this as an opportunity to talk about the one established sect that pretty much REVOLVES around psychoactive use. This is the Scholarly Order of the Root, which is a sort of mystery religion + elite community of scholars who currently occupy the Ur-Tree and its forest in the far southern Lowlands (southeast of Imperial Wardin, on the same land mass).

The Ur-Tree is the obligatory Huge Fucking Fantasy Tree (and its surrounding forest). It’s a mass of vegetation about a mile tall and almost as old as Plant Life Itself, its upper branches are primeval plants, which become more modern the nearer they get to the ground (and each 'level' holds tiny ecosystems, some containing descendants of LONG-extinct arthropods/other small animals). Its lowest branches and the surrounding forest are contemporary plant life, and all is connected and protected by an incomparably MASSIVE fungal mycelium network (which is itself a living god).

A lot of the Scholars' more secretive practices revolve around experimentation with substance use with the goal of expanding the Mind and transcending the body to fully connect to the Dreamlands, and they have a supply chain of traders and mercenaries called Rootrunners who traffic substances into the Lowlands. Most of their psychoactive use is in a very intentional capacity and not just like, for fun, but a LOT of them are just straight up addicted to cocaine (in the form of alchemically refined bruljenum, which is used for practical purposes of its stimulant effect during long hours of work).

All known psychoactives are desirable for experimentation (particularly hallucinogens), with each having properties that either allow expansion of the Mind, transcendence of the body, or outright divine communion. Their effects are logged in great detail and interpreted to form the basis of the Scholars' understanding of the natural world and reality itself.

The most important substance is Ur-Root, which is root matter from subterranean levels of the Ur-Tree that have both their own intrinsic psychoactive substances and a very, very high concentration of living god mycelium. The tree root contains DMT and the mycelium has its own wholly unique effects (being an actual living god). They alchemically refine it into a purer, more potent form, and use it to expand beyond the body and directly commune with the Giants, a group of entities they have identified as the only true gods.

An Ur-Root trip starts off with minor visual distortion, which turns into shifting fractals that slowly obscure the vision. Eventually the senses are entirely taken over by a 'tunnel' of rapidly shifting fractals and geometries. In a complete trip, the experiencer gets a sense that they have been pushed through a membrane and entered another realm, finding themselves in a distinct experiential Space.

At this point they may encounter entities which communicate to them in a language impossible to describe but wholly understood. These beings are understood to be the Giants, or at least aspects of the Giants that mortals are capable of comprehending (they often take familiar tutelary forms of the Mantis or the Snake, or appear resembling the same type of sophont that the experiencer is, all composed of ever-shifting geometries). The experiencer often feels a sense of unconditional and endless love from these beings, though the Giants may be more hostile and may appear in the form of the Trickster (usually a cultural figure regarded as malicious, be it an animal or otherwise) in a bad trip.

(^Up until this point, this has mostly just been a DMT 'breakthrough' experience ft. 'machine elves' and the like).

They are then removed from this space and returned to something that feels like the real world, but is nearly unrecognizable. They have a sense of rapidly moving through time, and will usually see 'the spires' towards the beginning, which just so happen to look like this:

(source + some context via Implication- the spires are exactly what this art is depicting)

The experiencer continues to move across an unfathomable amount of time, occasionally 'seeing' other such flashes of unfamiliar landscapes and creatures, and yet also being devoid of all their senses, the 'seeing' is pure, unfiltered experience. There is a sense of interconnectedness with all life, and that one has become the forest (or even Life) itself. The sense of time is wildly distorted, the trip lasts only about 5 minutes but feels like an eternity and is understood as literal hundreds of millions of years.

The experiencer has usually lost any remaining sense of Self and individual consciousness during this phase (in which case this time distortion is usually a neutral or even peaceful experience), but some retain a fraction of their identity, and find themselves trapped and conscious while experiencing what feels like eternity (which can be LIFE-CHANGINGLY distressing, even after the fact).

(^This latter part of the trip is the effects of the Ur-Tree fungus).

The trip ends with a sense of rushing through the ground and back up into one's body, at which point they will abruptly return to their senses and consciousness. The details are then immediately retrieved via interview and recorded in immense detail. The whole experience is understood as having been full comprehension of the Dreamlands, communion with the Giants, and then a tour through the act of creation.

This is done as part of the initiatory practice into the inner mystery-religion of the scholars, and as needed for study by high scholar-priests. It is not taken lightly, both as it is absolute communion with the gods and reality, and in that it can be a very, very difficult experience. People who have gone through this often walk away with a permanently shifted perspective, often in a positive and/or comforting way- a sense of interconnectedness with all life, a peace with the concept of death, seeing less of a point in individual ego and the concept of Self, and comfort in the sense of divine love they (may have) experienced. This heavily influences the philosophy of the Scholars and has had effects by proxy in the religious worldviews of the region.

Details of this experience are closely guarded, and initiates are given absolutely no prior knowledge and expectations for their trip. This is seen as a necessity- their naivety will allow for a true, unfiltered experience, and can be used to gauge whether they should or should not be accepted. Those that have a distinctly bad trip upon initiation may be assumed to have been 'rejected' by the giants and thus denied full priesthood, though this largely depends on How they interpret their distressing trip- those who identify this as a test and harsh lesson in a journey to enlightenment may be accepted (as this is how fully initiated scholar-priests interpret and handle their bad trips).

This inner priesthood is only a small fraction of the Scholarly Order, and its greater function is as a hub of education and repository of knowledge, and Scholar-trained doctors can provide some of the best medical care available in the setting ('best medical care in this setting' only means so much but it's pretty solid, relatively speaking). Only a chosen few Scholars ever get to commune with the Ur-Root, and most of the divine secrets revealed in the process are kept hidden (though they indirectly influence the politics and worldview of the entire order).

[inexorablyinsecure]

Ah...! Then you do know a way? Would you mind showing me? And- Would you be alright coming with me to be an... Impartial judge, of our duel? Ready to step in if either of us starts to, um... Accidentally go too far?

Hey, um... Gregor, I-I know it's a long shot, but, um... I've got a friend who's from a different Mirror World, who wanted to, uh... Spar with me, and I was wondering, if you knew a way to cross over...? I'd ask the others, but I'm afraid they might try to punish me, or make fun of me, so...

~ @inexorablyinsecure

Jeez, as long as neither of you distort I guess it shouldn't be too big a deal...

Just don't tell Outis. Or Ishmael. I don't need an earful from them.

[geekgirles]

Listen, I love Stitch as much as the next gal. Seriously, the only Disney merchandise I give two shits about is the one with Stitch on it.

But both as someone who's practically an elder of the Trolls fandom and who knows what she's talking about, I can objectively say Poppy would crush the competition in a dance battle.

Don't y'all know nothing about the franchise? The trolls literally live to sing and dance (and hug, though that's mostly the Pop Trolls). In fact, musical talent is so ingrained in them, other species can try to literally siphon it out of them to become better performers themselves (hello, Velvet and Veneer from Trolls Band Together. How are you doing?).

So, sorry, Stitch, baby. You know I love you, but this time I'm with the hyperactive, overly optimistic ball of pink sunshine.

[eyehunger]

Forgot to do proper layers rip but a Concept

[inexorablyinsecure]

...There was a pause, as, oblivious to anything else going on on the bus, Sinclair was... Pacing, through the center cabin of the bus. Gripped tightly, in his gloved hands, was his PDA; screen locked, of course, as his hands were clasped around it, behind his back. And still, he paced... And paced... And paced, chewing on his lip, until finally, he would pause in front of Ryōshū, where he wiped away a bit of the smoke in front of him, and...

Grabbed her, by the shoulder.

"How- How do I even respond to this?" he asked, voice wavering, giving next to no explanation of what 'this' was. "I just- I literally just got done with---- This can't be related, can it?" he asked, voice growing more worried by the moment.

@hellscreen04

[inexorablyinsecure]

Um... I... I don't think I'm doing that. I- I, uh, already have a fistfight planned, sorry.

Dear Meursault,

Due to having a BL ID, you will be smacked around with the Yaoi Paddle until lunch.

Please spread this message around to all sinners who also have a BL ID.

Glory to yaoiville,

Anon 🌹

Very well then.

@fly-perfect-wings, @donqui-real, @sinnerofwalpurgisnacht, @inexorablyinsecure, and @hadapurpose, please prepare to face the "yaoi paddle" (unsure though I am of what exactly that is) until lunch time.

[picspammer]

Rings of Power Week 2023 Day 3 _ Favourite Original Character: Arondir 🏹

[rudnitskaia]

After finishing working on A Tale of The Crystal Mountains I hoped to put my efforts into two small games (the possibility of that happening depends on some criteria connected to AToTCM and currently tends to zero, but nevertheless). One of them is presumably planned to be a puzzle adventure called l𖦹g.OS about a bunch of funny sugar skeleton folks in the afterlife. I rarely sketch them, and this character line is no exception, I just slowly occasionally draw them, usually to steam off my head. I love them and decided not to keep it to myself as I did with AToTCM. So here they are.

For the history.

P.S.: Speedpaint is under the cut.

[trollsgg]

I have begun my All That I've Overcome AU <|:•)

Reminder warning, content of the first two chapters includes a somewhat explicit scene of sexual assault, and another of not quite unintentional water torture via dunking. Both scenes are relatively short and there is a guide to skip them. Both scenes take place in chapter 2. The first few chapters in general get quite dark, but there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Take care of yourselves and also enjoy my evil machinations! Worry not, the horrors only last so long. There's a lot of life to live going forward, after all!

This is not an incest fic. It does include a few OCs to fill in the important cast.

[inexorablyinsecure]

...Can't be you. Got a Lead?

Shit...

[erazonpo3]

saw ur post the other day about Cynthia being a Lady Gaga fan (very true tbh) - what else do u think her and Luculia would be listening to in a present-day modern au? (and maybe also Diantha/Malva if u have ideas for them too 👀)

Hehe I've tossed ideas back and forth in my head and the reason I posted that was because I think it fits Cynthia's Goth-lite thing that she's going on, where personally I can't see her getting into the really obscure and esoteric stuff but she'll enjoy the stuff that only an elder up in the mountains will consider rebellious.

I don't listen to the genres much myself but I can see her being a little into punk and rock but only the more mainstream palatable stuff, and gravitate more to that Dark Pop kinda vibe. But I do think she's also a classical music enjoyer at the end of the day, and at her point in life is more likely to go out to see an orchestra perform than a band.

Luculia I think is more of a genre chameleon? She likes a little bit of everything, even if her taste within each genre is a little specific. She's hard to pin down for that reason, because her playlists would be all over the place with lots of different music in different languages and in different subcultures, occasionally giving Cynthia psychic damage.

I see Diantha as having pretty vanilla music taste, nothing really wrong with that. Easy listening stuff. Classical music and opera, but also most music that comes out of the musical theatre scene.

Malva's music taste I imagine being very defined by her teenage years, which you never really grow out of taste-wise. In particular I associate her with the techno scene of 1990s Paris, and I see her being pretty into EDM in general, but I can also see her being into all those grunge bands of the 90s too

and special shoutout to Serena the hyperpop princess

[the-vegetarian-artist]

crazy that the song that killed Branch's grandma was originally written for an 80s vampire musical 😔