#and the description had a list of links for every member

[pixiemage]

I often forget that the URL for Grian's YouTube channel still says "Xelqua" at the end instead of Grian. Just...interesting.

[jinnie-ret]

FIC RECS

Ok so someone in my asks box asked me for some fic recommendations and I tried to add some gradually but my asks have been so weird recently so I've had to make a new post for them!

First of all ty anonnie you words were really sweet, I hope you stay healthy too!

Also just to preface I will list sfw and nsfw recs so pls if you are a minor, do not explore the nsfw recommendations, these blogs will most likely have a mdni statement so pls respect that and don't go against that :)

Now, enjoy!

SFW

Enough for you - @mixtape-racha (poly ot8 angst comfort)

We love an angst comfort fic and this is one of my faves. Take caution reading this one and read the content warnings at the top just in case! But this one is simply amazing and I wish I wrote it the end.

The Field Trip - @dreamescapeswriting (Seungmin X reader)

Seungmin and reader are teachers in this and if you follow me you may have seen me reblog this one before bc I love it and want this, also this blog has so many imagines you will be fed for days

Warm blankets - @jiniret-writings (3 parts, hurt comfort poly ot8 x reader)

I felt so emotionally invested in this story when I read it, like I felt readers pain 😭 gorgeous

jack-in-the-box -@junicai (angst, ninth member reader)

Set in kingdom. We hate mnet. Skz are very protective and reader gets the comfort she deserves in the end, love this sm!

@hyunjinsbelovedamericano - lots of headcanons and reaction type fics on their MASTERLIST, give it a look!!

Simptober 2023 - @skz-streamer

Fluff for days!!! pookie rly worked hard on this one so go and show some love because you've got so much to read here

Skz text aus - @channiesbakery

These are so so funny I cannot cope. Also explore the other fluff posts too bc they're really cute!

More text aus - @diddybok

Same goes for this blog too, explore their other stuff!

@hannahhbahng has some rly cute fluffy reads on their masterlist

@hanjiquokkaaa check out their skz reactions! My pookie slays every time

Skz fluff fics - @wooahaes

So much fluff to pick from! I fall in love every time!

Warm milk and honey - @horanghoe (poly skz x reader)

One of my fav skz comfort fics of all time, it's so so good, recommending again bc I should

In his arms, unexpectedly yours - @cheesemonky (Hyunjin x reader series)

This is a new series which I'm excited to see my pookie write !!!

@astraysimp for dad skz!!!

Nicholas Ross - @dean-a-mean-tae (skz ninth member male oc)

Love their ninth member writings so definitely check it out if you're looking for male!oc who is the ninth!

In my past, I find you and in the future, I still have you - @yangbbokari (Chan x reader)

Heartbreaking, like so angsty but it's gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous

Princess treatment with SKZ - @j-oneproduces

Each individual member x reader has a drabble and I love it so so much, very accurate imo

@skzoologist read their imagines on their ninth member oc Bae! They also have a fic called unfamiliarity using the same oc :)

I like the view - @mirisss (hybrid ot8 skz X reader)

I rly need to reread this one because I loved what I read so far on it!!!

NSFW

Rabbit hybrid reader - @authorofdanger (hybrid skz x hybrid reader)

I've linked a masterlist, I'd recommend the fic dominance and then the first few fics which are to do with reader as a rabbit hybrid! slight warning that woojin is mentioned

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Red Moon - @lixiepeach (omegaverse series)

this is one of the first skz omegaverse fics I read and it is done so beautifully, as it says in the description of the series, it deals with more adult content than just smut, and the way it is explored is written so well, couldn't recommend highly enough!

Inked Petals and Message Tones - @leviackermanscleaningbuddy (poly smau with real life)

this is an ao3 skz fic which changed my life. I can't explain how much I love this, it had me on an emotional rollercoaster fr fr like it's amazing!

n.h.i.e mini series - @hyungszn (smut ot8 x reader)

damn this one really has me on my toes like the chapters are chefs kiss and it's such a good read!

Bold - @hyunsvngs (American footballer minsung x reader)

Wow wow wee wow. This one made my brain go brrr and evaporate and melt and wow the storyline in it is so so good too. Juno rly has such a good relationship with anonnies and moots and it's so lovely to see. A jupiter stan right here!!

Sanguis Limerence - @jl-micasea-fics (vampire skz x reader)

This is one of the first series I was fully committed to reading on this all and constantly checking. It's insanely amazing, I can't put it into words and now I wanna read it all back again 😭

waiting for us - @kkami-writes (smau poly ot8 X reader)

I'm in love with this!!! Perhaps my fav skz smau like the character development as well is really nice to see and it's an easy read if you find it easier to read it in text messages form

Anger management - @2chopsticks2eyes (minsung x reader)

This is so hot and the way the storyline progresses as well is beautiful

@1-800-shedevil I'm in awe of her and her blog. Gorgeous writer, gorgeous writing. Her posts about body positivity rly are so helpful and her words are so comforting

Sharing = caring - @cbini (ot8 X reader)

This is unbelievably good and if you haven't seen it yet? Do you even Tumblr? Love how ems has such a good relationship with moots and in answering asks too! cbinian for life

Better than revenge - @lixie-phoria (smau Jeongin x reader)

I'm so obsessed with this series so far, putting it here bc there's smut to be added in the future. But I'm in love with it so far wow!!!

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

You know what I love? Flavour text on my items!

So here's some BG3 flavour text I found for Aylin's, Isobel's, and Ketheric's items, many of which are not lootable in-game - and some of which the characters themselves aren't seen wearing. I've had this lying around for a while, but now the toolset has given me a simple way to pluck out some neat "loot" visuals to go with the words. I'm going to list their names as they appear in the files, as well as include the non-unique descriptions some of them have (when they simply inherited from the template of another item of an appropriate type).

Aylin

Nightsong's Armour

Nightsong's armour is evocative of her personality - prickly, hardy, and about as agreeable as a clenched fist.

Nightsong Helmet

The Dame's resentment and anger toward Ketheric cannot be overstated. Still, her dreams rove sweeter corners, beyond the cruel hardwood floors of vengeance, the rooms of pain and discipline. Hers is a complex house, a house of the heart.

Nightsong Boots

Scratched in places, scorched in others, and worn thin at the heel, these boots bear the indelible marks of experience. (Metallic Boots default text)

Nightsong Gloves

Made from steel hammered thin, these gauntlets are a fine investment for any warrior. (Metallic Gloves default text)

Isobel

Moon Devotion Robe

A memory from her childhood: a warm bed. Through the cracked window, she could see the moonlight cupping the plums in the tree as if in silver hands. The name of the goddess Selûne came to her, and never left.

Isobel's Boots

Isobel's boots are haphazardly repaired, and have a humble snug fit for the wearer, snug as strong faith in the chest of a religious devotee.

Jhannyl's Gloves

(Left image is Isobel's actual visible gloves which don't have a "loot" equivalent, right is the visual for the ones that she actually has in her inventory)

Divine runes accentuate the finger pads. While not a religious sect, the Harpers do not demand the occlusion of religion in their members.

Isobel Headwear

She prayed for words and received silence. She prayed for intimacy and slept alone. She prayed for fruit and ate charcoal. She prayed for death and wanted to live. Then she grew older, and received things she'd wanted. Still she prayed.

Isobel's Circlet

Provides its wearer a touch of elegance but no additional protection. (Circlet default text)

Ketheric

Reaper's Embrace

Heavy steel bones and teeth enclose the armour's chest and neck like a grotesque exoskeleton that both swallows and protects the wearer.

Ketheric Circlet

Grants the wearer an austere presence, but no magical benefit. (Circlet default text)

Ketheric Circlet B

In his youth, Ketheric Thorm has the same puzzled, ever-curious brow belonging to any kid. Lamentable, that the brow this circlet adorned warped with tragedy and a sick determination over time.

Ketheric's Boots

Scratched in places, scorched in others, and worn thin at the heel, these boots bear the indelible marks of experience. (Metallic Boots default text)

Ketheric's Gloves

Not linked to any description and no "loot" visual I could find, but they're neat and have more little skeletons on them, so here they are.

Ketheric Cloak

Woven of heavy wool, this cloak is solid of make if somewhat stiff to wear. (Cloak default text)

Ketheric's Shield

In the theatre of dreams, Ketheric killed his wife every night. That wasn't how things happened... but always upon waking, he would glare into the dark, long-faced and solemn, and he would think: 'I keep you alive with my memories, beloved. I kill you with what I've become.'

Ketheric's Warhammer

This hammer's weight is centred on enchanted obsidian at the base of the head. Some nights before bed, Ketheric would sneak a whey-faced glance at the hammer, and think about the stone, and wonder what unknown facet of his heart bore his weight.

[emptystove]

Sparrow - Ch 7

One Piece Fanfic (Drama/Romance/Suspense)

Pairings: E. Kid x Reader, Sabo x Reader, Lucci x Reader (one sided)

Rating: EXPLICIT, 18+ ONLY

Chapter Summary: You are kind of a mess trying to understand these familiar feelings. It's a good thing you have some new friends around to help you out~

CW: trauma, spicy situations

Links to AO3, Wattpad -- Fanfic Master List

Chapter 7: Sensory Memory

Cipher Pol Headquarters, NWC Central District

3 Years and 4 months ago

Lucci crossed one leg over the other as he scanned the room. 

Spandine had called the heads of each Cipher Pol unit to appear in person for a briefing. These types of gatherings were only held when he wanted all units to be aware of the information and when the information was highly sensitive, so much so that they didn't want to risk it being intercepted. 

"Suspect is female. From the state we found the bodies in, she is believed to be skilled in the use of firearms and edged weapons," the suit droned on as Lucci scanned the document detailing the next rising threat under discussion. The whole thing felt so beneath him. He was ready to delegate it to one of the other CP units when the next piece of information gave him pause. 

"There was a witness to the last incident. The bartender couldn't give us much, but he remembered someone fitting the suspect's description asking about some of the gangs who 'allegedly' participate in human trafficking. He apparently hid in a supply closet during the event. He did not see anything of use, but he claims to have heard her use the name Aisa."

Lucci quickly understood why this was a priority case. The person targeting these gangs started with street level thugs but was moving on to higher members of organized crime. They were following a trail of criminals that would inevitably lead to an elite yet elusive group of government officials and politicians who indulged in many illegal activities, one of which being the keeping of slaves. 

"I've seen a woman fitting this description, and I distinctly remember her mentioning that name."

The older man in a white lab coat standing beside Spandine looked up excited at Lucci's statement.

"I was hoping one of you might," his supervisor smirked. "Anyone else know of a potential lead on the suspect?"

The other agents stayed silent.

He nodded to the older man before addressing the room again. "In that case, the rest of you are dismissed."

Lucci remained seated as the remaining CP unit leaders left the room. Before the door closed, two more employees with the same white coats entered, rolling a cart filled with what looked like medical and mechanical equipment.

"Was it recent? Do you remember it well?" the older man had moved to take the seat next to him.

Lucci sent a questioning look to his superior and the man responded with stern indifference. "Lucci, this is Dr. Vegapunk. You are to answer his questions honestly and adhere to any procedures or testing he requests of you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Lucci replied coldly before turning to address the doctor. "It was fairly recent, within the last few months. I remember it well."

"Excellent! Excellent!" The doctor excitedly ushered over what were clearly his own subordinates and pulled several items from the cart.

He pulled out a black box, the size a bit bulkier and wider than that of a laptop, and flipped it open. Inside, he used a small keyboard to start inputting something Lucci didn't catch. The other two extended four wires from the small machine. They attached each wire to Lucci's head at various points using what they claimed were electrode pads. 

"Now, this won't hurt a bit, but you may feel foggy for a few minutes after. We'll be monitoring your vitals, so there's really nothing to worry about. It's definitely probably perfectly safe," Dr. Vegapunk instructed happily.

"I'm not worried. Just get whatever this is over with so I can continue my scheduled duties," Lucci's scowl was audible with every word.

"Right... Well, let's get into it then." He pressed a large button on the machine. A red light began blinking on the side, and a faint whirring sound could be heard. "We'll start with something simple. I want you to think about everything that happened from the beginning of the briefing to now."

Lucci didn't let his opinion of the annoyingly upbeat doctor deter him. No matter how pointless this exercise seemed, he would always follow orders.

As he began thinking back to the beginning of the briefing, he felt his eyelids getting heavy. 

The red light stopped blinking and remained on. 

Lucci's Private Residence, NWC East District 

Lucci woke up gasping for breath. 

He slowly sat up in bed, allowing the sheet to fall to his waist as he let out a long exhale. That was one he didn't dream of very often. 

His thoughts were muddled as he lazily stood. He was in nothing but a pair of silk boxers, but he didn't bother to even grab a shirt as he made his way out of his room. His next actions had become a standard morning routine, though it wasn't his intention. 

First, he checked his messages. There were no leads on your whereabouts from Cipher Pol, and there was nothing from Trafalgar. 

How disappointing. 

He then checked each room in the house. Your bedroom, the basement, the dining room, the kitchen, and lastly the den. He sighed softly as he confirmed what he already knew. He was awake. This was all real. And you were not there. 

Finally, he made his way to his home office, pressing a button under his desk to reveal a hidden safe in the wall. He input the code and opened the metal door. He brushed aside the other items and pulled out a black metal box labeled "EMR."

----------

Kid's Body Shop, NWC South District

You were restless.

It was a week after your visit with Law, and the adrenaline and excitement that came with your escape and prospects moving forward were starting to dull. 

Kid was kind enough to give you his room, but you were trapped there each day until the shop closed, unwilling to risk any clients or passersby recognizing you. At least he let you sleep in the bed. He insisted on taking the couch even though you pointed out he was starting to rub his stiff neck on a fairly consistent basis because of it. More than anything though, you appreciated that he seemed not to notice the times that you woke up in the middle of the night startled and wheezing. 

Still, you were grateful. His was twice the size of Killer's room with an en suite to match. You fell into a sort of routine, though you didn't intend to. Each morning, Killer would bring you something different for breakfast along with that day's newspaper. You would then get in a lengthy workout before showering and changing into the least baggy set of clothing they had offered you. The rest of the time you spent waiting for closing proved more difficult for you. You would have loved to keep yourself from overthinking everything, and you did your best to keep busy. Heat gifted you a notebook, which was something, and Wire promised to drop off some books by the end of the week. By now, you were struggling to find things to keep your mind busy. Hell, you even deep cleaned the bathroom. You were questioning whether Kid would be annoyed if you reorganized his closet when you felt something slip out of your pocket. 

You reached for the item and held it carefully between your fingers.

A heaviness filled your chest as your looked down at the picture Sabo gave you. You wanted to see him. You wanted to talk to him, ask him questions, learn things from him. You whined grumpily when the rational side of your brain reminded you that until you meet with Law's friend, it would be too risky. He was one of the more recognizable members of the RA, and anyone noticing a connection between them and Kid's group could put unnecessary attention on them.

You sighed dramatically and sat by the window in Kid's room, looking out at all of the carefree people walking through the streets. As long as Lucci was looking for you, you would never really be free. You wanted your memories back, but you also wanted your freedom. Freedom to live your life and freedom from the man who took it from you.

You wanted to ignore his obsession at the time or write it off as being overprotective after your amnesia, but you couldn't deny it. You knew how he looked at you when he thought you weren't paying attention or how his eyes would roam your body after he had a few drinks. Even looking back at it now, you wanted to believe his tight hold on you was only because he was deceiving you. But the things he said to you before he kissed you the night you ran and the way he begged you rather than killing you at the train station just confirmed what you didn't want to be true.

Even if CP9 stopped looking for you, Lucci wouldn't. And anyone who helped you stay away from him wasn't safe from his wrath. If you were honest with yourself, you weren't sure if you held onto that thought because it was true or because it was a justification for the one thing you wanted almost as much as getting your memories back. 

You wanted to kill him.

As you continued to gaze out the window, certain things started to take your attention. 

A digital billboard in the distance switched to an advertisement for athleticwear, and you found that you couldn't take your eyes off of it. The color was just so damn blue. Your head started to get a bit fuzzy, and you weren't sure what you were feeling. Shortly after, it faded into a different advertisement and your gaze fell back to the street below. You could faintly hear high pitched laughter as your eyes landed on the source. 

You saw a little girl with short brown hair. Instantly, your heart twisted as you were overtaken with fear and grief.

She was facing the other direction, but you could tell she wasn't laughing anymore. She had just been surrounded by a group of similar aged kids, but now she was alone. You felt your heart start beating faster and you parted your lips. 

Was she crying?

You couldn't pull your eyes away. She was looking around franticly for someone. You felt the urge to call out to her, but you also felt like you couldn't breathe. 

You were so lost in the feeling that you didn't notice someone behind you calling out to you until you heard the one word that cut through your trance. 

"Sparrow."

----------

When you finally turned to face him, the look on your face made him pause.

Kid assumed you were so enthralled with your view out the window because you caught a glimpse of what was about to arrive for you. When you finally took notice of him, you weren't excited or even uplifted in the least. No, you looked confused and scared. The way you looked down at yourself, your eyes traveling over your one hand on the glass of the window and the other on your heart, made it look like you didn't realize what you had been doing. Fuck, was that a tear rolling down your cheek?

He stormed toward you in an instant, yanking you away from the window and looking out at the street below. Nothing within view caught his eye. No criminals or police were anywhere in sight, no one suspicious, no one even loitering nearby. No out of place vehicles parked on the street, and by the look of the few pedestrians casually walking about, nothing of significance had happened. 

He swiftly shut the blinds with a yank of the cord before pulling out his phone. No missed calls, and flipping through his messages again confirmed everything was on schedule. 

"What happened? What were you looking at?" Kid asked as he turned back to you.

"Uh...," you faltered a reply. 

At least you seemed to know he was there this time. 

He was frustrated with your slow response, but he forced himself to wait for you to gather your words. You had moved away from the window, arbitrarily standing in the middle of the room. Your brows remained furrowed as your eyes flit between your hands and some random spot on the carpet. You shook your head briefly and swiped the wetness from your face. "It was just some little girl. I- I don't really know what I was looking at... just felt familiar I guess," your words trailed off at the end, and Kid felt his frown deepen.

He shot Killer a quick text to check the perimeter just in case. 

When he glanced back at you again, you were still looking away from him. You look smaller in a way, afraid and unsure of yourself. You probably needed someone to talk you through whatever emotional shit was knocking around in your fucked up brain. He ought to just text Killer to come up and set you straight while Kid did the sweep himself, but he pocketed his phone instead. 

Kid would normally be the last person to try to deal with this type of thing, but seeing you like that was pissing him off. 

He still had a bit before he showed up, and Kid didn't feel like waiting until after you were done to see you stare him down again. It couldn't be that hard to bring you back to your senses, right?

He walked up to you with appraising eyes. As he moved closer, you kept your gaze low, irritating him further. He opened his mouth to speak but found he had no idea what to say. He gaped at you in silence, his own sudden awkwardness in the situation angering him further until he did the only he knew to do and shoved your shoulder with what might have been more force than necessary. 

You stumbled a few steps back upon the impact, catching yourself before you fell into anything. Your eyes shot up to the redhead, widening in surprise before shifting to a more annoyed expression. 

"What the hell was that for?" You snapped. 

"Quick acting weird."

"I'm not," you denied. 

Kid blew a raspberry into the air at your obviously false claim. "Cryin' over seeing a random kid outside is normal for you?"

"Fuck you. I wasn't crying. My eyes were watering from being stuck in your musty room all day."

"You cleaned this room about every damn day since you got here, so if it's musty, it's your fault." Kid bit his cheek as he tried to suppress a smug grin. You were staring him down hard, no longer meek or afraid. 

That was easier than he thought it would be.

"Hey, I can clean up dust and grime, but there isn't much I can do about the mountain of hair products you spray into the air every morning," you replied coolly.

"Oi! That's not- Quit blaming me for your own shit, woman." Kid growled, suppressing a chuckle when he noticed you pursing your lips to hide your cheeky fucking grin. A cheeky fucking grin that seemed to spread after he stayed quiet too long without hitting you with a comeback. 

Exhaling loudly, Kid changed the subject, satisfied that he got what he wanted but not quite ready to leave you yet, "Anyway, you been asking about a way to help us out for letting you crash. Well, we got something coming up, and we're short a few guys." 

It was almost the truth. It was less about needing more guys and more about keeping a close eye on you. He doubted you'd be half as excited once you found out how little you would really be involved. 

"I can do that," you perked up significantly at the suggestion. "Yeah, you need guys. I can be your guy, -er whatever." You nodded and cracked your knuckles. Kid watched the little remaining unease melt off your features at the thought of anything potentially dangerous or exciting, the exact opposite of how any sane person should react. 

Damn, you were kinda cute when you were getting yourself all fired up. 

"Got something else I think you'll like even more than that. Not sure you deserve it after being an ungrateful brat," Kid teased.

"You literally tried to shove me on the ground," you dismissed quickly. "What is it?" 

"Your friend's coming by to see ya."

"Heat or Wire? It isn't even movie night," you mused happily.

"Heat and Wire are my friends," he corrected.

"Yeah, ok," you chuckled sarcastically. "Who is it then?"

"If you ain't figured it out yet, you're more brain damaged than I thought. You've got him for two hours. Don't make me regret it."

----------

You could have cried when Sabo handed you a suitcase filled with clothes and shoes in your own size. As thoughtful as that was, having this time alone with Sabo was a much better gift. You agreed to limit your contact with the RA until the heat died down a little. The only reason he was here now was because he already had a scheduled exchange with Kid. You didn't bother asking what they were buying from him or why. Frankly, you couldn't care less. 

Your plans were stalled on getting back your memories until Law's friend was ready to meet. Although you would have preferred remembering your past on your own, you were happy to hear his own memories of your past. 

"So you walked into the conference room wearing an exact replica of Inazuma's outfit - the custom coat, the sunglasses, everything. He just rolled his eyes and tried to keep everyone focused. When Koala walked in a few minutes later to drop off some documents to Dragon, wearing another exact copy of his outfit and acting like nothing was strange about it, he still somehow kept it together. But not one person in the room could keep a straight face when Hack and Karasu walked in, completely straight faced, wearing the same exact getup," Sabo laughed.

"Sounds like they all have an excellent sense of humor," you giggled with him. 

"Yeah, some of us more than others. Those two are definitely the opposite of pranksters. You never did tell me how you got them to agree to it," he sighed as the last of his chuckling died out. 

"Eh, it probably had more to do with them than me. Any attempts at fun at Cipher Pol were swiftly stamped out," you replied casually. 

"What was it like, working as an agent for them?" He asked almost hesitantly. 

You tilted your head, frowning slightly at a spot on the wall. "I don't know. It's weird to think about how I felt then when I know the truth now. Back then, I thought it was the life I chose, but even then I knew it sucked." You gave a half-hearted chuckle, "Most of the other agents wouldn't even give me the time of day outside of missions or training. I never understood why, though I guess at the time, I figured it was because of Lucci. Seems pretty obvious now that it was because I was really just a brainwashed enemy to them."

You ignored the guilty yet concerned look Sabo was giving you as you tried to turn the conversation a bit in another direction. 

"Oh, right. I almost forgot." You walked to the bed and opened the top drawer to the bedside table. You made your way back to Sabo and perched yourself on the armrest of the opposite end of the couch as you handed him a small notebook. "I thought this was the least I could do for you rescuing me or whatever."

Sabo's brows raised slightly as he thumbed through the pages upon pages of information. You tried to write down what you knew, but once you began, you realized that they withheld a lot from you. Still, there were some roughly hand-drawn maps of the levels within headquarters, notes on the types of missions you were privy to, and finally what you knew about the individual members of CP9. 

"Why would they ignore you because of Lucci?" He was trying his best to seem casual, but you could tell he was listening intently for your answer.

"I guess you could say he kept me on a pretty short leash," you began. Sabo watched you patiently, silently urging you to continue. There wasn't really a point in hiding the truth, but it still made you uncomfortable to talk about for some reason. "He was my sensei, in charge of my rehabilitation after I woke up. He kept me on a strict schedule, slept in the room next to mine, trained me everyday. At first, I would only see him once a day. By the end, leaving me alone in my room for a few hours was considered a gift. He would flip if I got banged up after training with another agent." You rolled your eyes and sighed. "He was always watching me. I woke up everyday with him standing in my room, and the way he looked at me when he would drink... The day you saw me on that train was the first time I had ever been outside headquarters without him with me. And that night, he tried to.. Well, he was drinking then too, and..." 

You were starting to get frustrated with yourself now. Why was it so difficult to say this out loud? It's not like you were the one who did anything wrong. It's not like you had anything to be embarrassed about. You didn't want to think about Lucci or about why something as seemingly small as an unwanted kiss was so upsetting to you. What you wanted to do was beat his face in until he had to eat through a straw. The thought gave you enough courage to steel your nerves and force out the words. 

"He trapped me against a wall, whispered bird facts to me, told me I belonged to him, and kissed me," the words left you all in the same breath. "That's when I ran," you added in a much softer voice.

When your eyes moved back to Sabo, his mouth was drawn out in a thin line. His head hung down slightly, allowing his bangs to cover his eyes. It was tough to read his expression, but you could tell that his jaw clenched as much as his fists by his sides. 

It probably should have made you happy, right? To have someone care enough about you to be upset by how you were treated, but you found it hard to keep your eyes on him. Mixed in with his anger was a clearly painful layer of guilt that you found difficult to bare witness to. 

You turned where you sat on the armrest of the couch so your back was to Sabo, then let yourself fall onto your back, bouncing lightly on the cushions. Your eyes wandered over the ceiling, letting him have whatever moment he needed to while your thoughts drifted elsewhere.

After a few minutes, you finally broke the silence. 

"What were... we... to each other?" You asked carefully as you peeked at him from behind a few strands of your hair. 

You didn't even notice just how tensed he was until his shoulders visibly loosened. He lifted his head and let out a deep breath. A small smile graced his face, and you had to push down the fluttering in your stomach when you noticed how handsome he was when he let himself relax. "It was... complicated," he began slowly. His gaze moved aimlessly around the floor until he finally glanced down to gage your reaction.

Ok, you were kind of hoping for more there. 

You wanted to push him, but you could tell he was just trying to find the right words, so despite your instincts, you kept your mouth shut and waited for him to continue.

"We were...," he swallowed hard. "The way I feel about you...," he trailed off again, furrowing his brows in quiet frustration. He finally shook his head and met you head on with a hard gaze. "Living the kind of life we did, we agreed it would be a bad idea to try to carry on with anything serious."

"Oh," was all you could manage to reply. So, there was something but you both stopped it before it could go too far. That made sense. 

"What made you ask that?" A warm hand lightly brushed a few stray hairs from your face as you resist the urge to lean into his touch.

"Uh," you feigned a nonchalant tone as you reply. "I guess I just get these familiar feelings when I look at you."

Sabo let out of breath and even without speaking you could hear his smile. His fingers moved through your hair again, then fell to trace lightly against your cheek, his touch prompting a nervous fluttering in your stomach. 

You tilted your head slightly to look up and him, and when your eyes connected, something shifted.

All of the sudden, you were starting to feel fuzzy. 

Your muscles relaxed, and you felt your hand glide against his as he caressed your face.

Yes, that felt right. That felt familiar.

You held his gaze as you started to sit up, all the while inching closer to where he was seated. You couldn't look away from him if you wanted to. Those blue orbs connected with yours and you could feel yourself being pulled further into him. Closer to him. A tiny voice in the back of your mind was telling you not to let go.

"Is this..." you asked, not fully understanding your own question but also desperate to hear the answer. 

"Ok? yeah," Sabo offered a breathy reply. 

That wasn't quite right. You had no idea what you expected to hear, but you knew he was supposed to say something different. 

This is your chance. The tiny voice grew a bit louder. 

And then your body was moving on it's own. You shifted toward him, never leaving his eyes as you slowly climbed into his lap. You heard a muffled sound. He was telling you something but you couldn't quite hear him. It almost sounded like he was underwater. He was right in front of you, but he felt so far away. Everything did.

His hands found your hips as you reached out to him. His eyes were shining that brilliant blue and it was all you could see.

You felt your hands move to cup his cheeks, and you heard that tiny voice again telling you that this was your chance, only this time with unsettling urgency. But it was difficult to read into what that might mean when the man between your thighs was so beautiful. 

You hummed as you noted the smooth, soft skin in your left hand while tracing the rougher, darkened skin around his scar under your right.

"Is this real... or is this just a..." you heard yourself whisper.

"This is real," a low voice replied, and Sabo smiled softly before giving your hips a reassuring squeeze.

You smiled. 

Yes, that felt right. That's what he was supposed to say.

You leaned forward slowly, only willing to close your eyes as your lips pressed softly into his. This is real, that little voice in your head emphasized, although you still weren't sure why that was so important to you right now. 

It should have surprised you, when you finally pulled back and opened your eyes. Somewhere deep down, you knew this. But your brain was so cloudy now. Your fingers grazed the sides of his face, smooth olive skin under each one of your fingertips. 

This is what you needed.

Your hands fell gently onto his shoulders as you took in the sight of him, the blue you so blindly gravitated towards fading into a greyish black. 

This is what he wanted.

You leaned back in more quickly this time, capturing his lips with renewed fervor and working hard not to smile against him as you heard him let out a small whine. 

This is real.

You kissed him mercilessly, ignoring the scruff of his facial hair that tickled your chin as you tugged at his wavy black hair. His hands started to roam over you as he pulled you flush against his chest. You let your hips shift against him as you felt him growing harder beneath you. 

You refused to let your mind wander to all of the vile, unforgivable things he did to you. That didn't matter right now. The only thing that mattered now was moving forward, getting out of the cycle you were trapped in. 

You moaned into his lips as you continued grinding. You were ashamed of how wet you were getting from pushing your clit against this monster's clothed cock. You began to undo his belt buckle, but he moved a hand to stop you.

You pouted and heard him chuckle softly into your ear. 

That wasn't what was supposed to happen. 

He leaned his head onto your neck while he tried to collect himself, and you shifted so his face was on your left side. You could hear someone speaking again, but everything still sounded so foggy. You ignored the far away voice, and took a few light nips under his ear. You allowed his hands tightening around you to still the movement of your hips, instead focusing on weaving your left hand through his hair and reaching out as far as you could to the side with your right.

Just a few seconds more and you were sure you could reach it...

The next thing you knew, you were on the floor, looking up at a baffled and disheveled Sabo. He was standing over you panting, belt half-way undone, with a look of confusion and worry on his face that only increased as you brought a hand up to candle your pounding head. 

…What the FUCK just happened!?

He opened his mouth to speak but was cut short by a swift knock and opening of the bedroom door.

----------

No one that knew him would characterize Killer as someone who was easily surprised. Yet somehow, you had been leaving him in such a state on a fairly regular basis since you arrived.  

The blond stopped dead in his tracks upon entering. His eyes darted from you to Sabo and back before shutting the door tightly behind him.

"It's not what it looks like," Sabo began.

Killer crossed his arms over his chest and gave you a long, penetrating look. He watched your expression morph from surprised and confused, to pained and confused, then finally to embarrassed and annoyed. 

"I'm fine. Thanks for dropping that stuff off, Sabo," you finally reassured both men as you hopped up from the floor, a newfound confident and aloof mask covering your features. "He's right. It isn't what it looked like. Just a little misunderstanding. Anyway, I'm gonna go take a shower for totally unrelated reasons."

Sabo called your name pleadingly as you moved toward the bathroom. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm perfectly fine," you assured him again, subtly glancing toward Killer before facing Sabo again. "Can we talk about this later?"

Killer didn't like that. 

They promised to keep you hidden and keep you safe. Ever since Kid filled him in on what you found out from Law, he had been watching you closely. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until this very moment. You were not fine, and it was painfully obvious. What bothered him more though is that you were trying to hide it from him.

Once you finally left the room, Killer cleared his throat to get Sabo's attention. 

"You gonna tell me what happened?" Killer asked.

"I think it's pretty obvious," Sabo sighed in frustration.

"It really isn't."

"We were... reconnecting I guess, but she was pushing too far. I asked her to stop, and then she..." Sabo swallowed looking down at the floor where she had been when Killer walked in, hesitating slightly before finishing his thought. "She kind of threw herself onto the floor."

It made sense. Well, the part about reconnecting did anyway. Anyone with eyes could tell by the way Sabo looked at you that there had been something between you two. You throwing yourself off of the couch seemingly without reason was less believable, though it was exactly how he had found you. 

Killer knew he was holding something back, but the way the gears seemed to be turning in Sabo's head made him fairly certain that it wasn't out of ill intent. It seemed like Sabo himself wasn't sure what to make of it all. 

"You know, you're lucky it was me coming to get you and not Kid. He probably would have killed you before you could explain what happened."

Sabo furrowed his brows. "I didn't hurt her. I would never hurt her."

"I know," Killer said honestly, moving a bit closer. "That's why I didn't kill you."

Sabo gave Killer a hard look, then tilted his head in amused intrigue.

"I'm the one who asked you to take her in, you've only known her a week, and already you would actually kill me if you thought I hurt her?" he mused.

Killer shrugged, "Yep."

Sabo hummed shortly. "The other two that know about her, Heat and Wire, would they do the same?"

"In a heartbeat."

Sabo seemed to think on Killer's words for a few moments before a genuine smile stretched across his cheeks. "I'm glad."

Killer wasn't sure why that would be surprising. You were under their protection, and they took that seriously. If anyone hurt you while you were with them, retaliation was inevitable. They would do that for anyone in your position. That should have been obvious. Sure, they hadn't actually harbored anyone outside of people they were already close with in the past. And sure, they also rearranged a few appointments to make sure all four of them could be at the next movie night with you. Maybe he even went out of his way to buy puff pastry to cook with after you mentioned it. But nothing about that was unusual, right? 

"I should get going," Sabo sighed. It was the agreed upon time he planned to leave, and waiting would only increase his chances of being spotted there. 

"Right, better fix that first though," Killer stated while motioned to the other man's open belt.

Sabo cursed under his breath as he quickly fumbled to make himself presentable.

"Is that what you were doing on the train?" Killer deadpanned.

"I didn't do anything on the train!" Sabo whisper-shouted, mumbling curses again as Killer led him out of the room. "And stop asking my subordinates about it. I don't even know how you got Koala's number, but quit texting her."

Killer's lips pulled up into a slight smile. He would figure it out eventually. 

----------

Author's Note:

Killer: *sharpens his blades grumpily in the corner.* Author: Killer, you can't be serious. You had your own POV section in this one! Killer: If I'm so important, why haven't you added me to the relationship tags yet? Author: *sinks lower behind computer screen* Sabo: He's not the only one upset, author. Author: Wha- You got your own spicy scene with her though! Sabo: *pulls out a metal pipe.* My own scene? Author: Uhh, well… Sabo: We waited months for this chapter, and you let that overgrown house cat take over half way through? Kid: *adjusts his metal arm menacingly* I'm burning that couch to ash. Author: Ok, wait wait wait. You guys just need to trust me. It's all part of the plan! Lucci: I think it's the best thing you've ever written. Killer/Sabo/Kid: Shut up!

Previous Chapter | Fanfic Master List | Next Chapter

[roo-bastmoon]

Suspicious Treatment of Jimin: What am I forgetting?

I have serious medication-induced brain fog so my memory is swiss cheese these days. I am trying to map out something so I can understand what is happening with our Jimin....

So far:

Hanteo deleted hundreds of thousands in sales; company did not comment.

YouTube froze and deleted millions of streams every day; company did not comment.

Jimin's Spotify profile was not properly listed. It still has no description or link to merch.

Jimin's works are not added to the company's playlist for days and sometimes weeks while other members' works and collabs are added immediately.

Spotify froze and filtered millions of his streams; company did not comment.

His title track was deliberately split, despite qualifying to count as one unit.

His in-ear devices failed to work during a live performance.

He was allowed only 9 days of promotion.

He was denied when he requested more than 2 music videos.

His historic Hot 100 #1 was not acknowledged by the company except for one single retweet the day-of.

He had no celebrations, no formal acknowledgement by company leadership of his achievement or of the resulting huge increase in stock prices.

Billboard changed their charting rules in Week 2; company did not comment until it was time for a different album to sell.

His albums did not ship to China and have not been restocked on WeVerse for weeks (whereas other artists' albums have).

His instagram was shadow banned. His videos on TikTok are also soft-blocked from being boosted.

All other members' YouTube focused views for Take Two auto-generate a preview photo; his does not (this must be deliberately selected not to generate an image). *Apparently they have fixed this issue after enough fans called it out on Twitter.

Some have observed that since Hybe took over, Jimin has been given fewer lines in group songs and less time dancing center as well.

A recent WeVerse article about Morgan Wallen downplayed both Yoongi's tour and Jimin's album as achieving "some partial success in breaking up [Wallen's] domination of the Hot 100."

Add to this the company "omitting" his bills four times, which lead to late payments on insurance premiums, which led to his apartment being "seized," which led to a smear campaign in the press the very same day his OST With You dropped... followed by his personal address and national identity number being doxxed online... and this honestly looks suspicious as hell.

What am I forgetting?

I'm not a manti but if I don't get reasonable explanations I'm gonna become one.

How can it look like anything other that deliberate sabotage so that one member does not outshine the rest?

How is this good business sense?

Jimin is a humble, hardworking team-player with no ambitions to go solo and leave his members. Why would anyone have it out for him?

It's possible there's prejudice and bigotry at play, but deep enough to span multiple departments and cut into the company's bottom line?

And yet how can it not be deliberate? How can any company be THIS incompetent for just ONE member?

And yet if we raise hell, we look like victimizing solos. Yet look at this laundry list!! And it just keeps happening. What can be done??

Can we not organize a quiet mass-email campaign? Can someone not write up a well-researched UCC article to share in English and Korean and keep tagging Hybe? Would it not be possible to comment respectfully about this in WeVerse?

Or would acknowledging it at all make it worse for Jimin?

I don't understand all the politics at play here.

I have no real idea what is happening but part of me is quietly terrified they have it out for him during contract negotiations for some reason.

What is BTS without all our beloved seven?

I'm genuinely very deeply upset.

[manonamora-if]

The Interactive Fiction DataBase - IFDB

What is the IFDB?

The IFDB, or Interactive Fiction DataBase, is a game catalogue, recommendation engine, and a platform to play games requiring an interpreter (to run the code).

As a catalogue, the IFDB is meant as a place to create a bibliography of IF games created throughout the years (over 12 thousands!), to leave a trace that these existed. It is maintained by its members. Anyone can join and add a listing or fix a mistake. You can also find listing for past IF competitions!

As a recommendation engine, the IFDB provides not only lists of the best-rated entries, but will show you games that you may enjoy based on the ones you've played/rated or what other members have played/rated. Entries are also categorised by tags, which are all searchable. Members are also able to create lists to recommende games they've enjoyed! Or leave reviews of those games too!

Finally, some games may require an interpreting engine to run. Those interpreters can be sometimes difficult to track down or to set up, especially for new players. The IFDB has a system that will allow you to play those games directly in your browser by clicking the button : Play Online (only available if the game has been uploaded through the IF Archive).

Why is the IFDB important?

The internet is a rapidly changing place. Preserving information is not only important for future generations, but can help current generations find information about what is happening now. Archiving creates a historical record of what the IF landscape looked like.

Along with the IF Archive (which archives IF games), the IFDB makes viewing the history of IF much easier to browse.

However, the IFDB lacks in many aspects. Not every IF community is aware of the database, which means many projects do not appear in this catalogue. While the IFDB has currently over 12k listings, the VNDB (the Visual Novel DataBase) has over 40k! The IFDB is also lacking in entries in languages other than English...

The IFDB accepts any listing for games, made in any program, as long as said game is an Interactive Fiction game and has had a playable version available somewhere at some point (so it accepts WIPs with demo). /!\ Do not create a page for announced project without a release ! /!\

Why create an IFDB page for your game?

Aside from being part of preserving the history of IF (which is the big thing), and be able to share your work to a different part of the community, the IFDB is a great place to get and leave long-form reviews for entries.

If your project was coded in a program that requires an interpreter, it is a great place to host your game without worrying about newer players having to find and set up an interpreter.

If you have been part of an IF competition, or received accolades for your project, this is also a good way to showcase those achievements.

Finally, the IFDB is also a point of reference for IF Awards like the XYZZY and the IFDB Awards.

How do you create an IFDB page?

/!\ Please check that the game listing you want to add has not been added first! /!\

To create an IFDB page, you need to set up an account and be logged in.

Then click on Add a Game Listing, on the right menu in the main page. You will get the following page:

(You should read through the Guidelines the first time you add a listing, they are located at the top of the page)

Though it looks long, there are only very few information required to create a page:

The title

The name(s) of the author(s)

It is recommended to fill in the date of first publication, development system (program used to code), language, IFID (if available) description of the game, and genre.

As for being able to play the game, you have two (non-exclusive) options:

list the URL of the website where the game is hosted

list the download URL of the game (can be done through the IF Archive, only if you are the author of the game!)

Note sure what something is? A description (or a link towards explanations) of what is expected is included for almost all items. You can also include information that is not listed in the drop-down case (like the System or language).

When you are happy with it, click Save changes.

You can also fix, edit, or delete information at any moment. You just need to click on the link Edit This Page at the bottom of the game page.

How do you add Ratings, Reviews and Game Suggestions ?

Logged in with your account, you have the possibility of leaving ratings and reviews on a game page. You can also help the IFDB algorithm by suggesting similar games to an entry.

The process is fairly straight-forward (clicking on the stars for the rating, clicking Review it for the review, and clicking Suggest similar games, for the suggestions). Thought you can find further explanations here, if you follow what the website is asking, you should not have any difficulty to complete the task !

If you review enough games, your name can end up on the main page!

How do I create a Competition Page?

Have you participated or organised an IF competition? Or are you cataloguing previous editions?

You can create a separate page for a Competition by clicking on Add a Competition Page on the right menu of the main page. You will then get the following page:

Then it is a matter of filling the different relevant items.

The Competition Page allows for divisions within competitions (e.g. : the EctoComp had 2 categories, made under 4h and over 4h) and, if needs be, ranking.

Important Note: the competition entries need to already be listed in the IFDB to be added to a competition page.

What are Lists and Polls?

Lists and Polls are two other tools that interact with game entries.

Lists, also called Recommendation Lists, are lists a member will curate with games they are recommending to other members or viewers of the IFDB. Some are general (like best game ever) while others are more specific (like games with an AI that is nice). They are akin to public collections on Itch.io.

Polls are... polls.

Note: If a game is included in a poll and/or a list, these will appear on the game's page.

~~~~

TLDR: create an account, help preserve the IF landscape by recording its history, review games too :P

If I missed something, or something is unclear, let me know so I can edit it!

[canmom]

The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere 049-064 (pt. 1)

Previously: 000-012, spinoff post about entropy, 013-032, 033-048 [all Flower posts]

Hoo boy this is a bunch of chapters. It's time for more Flower.

All together now: no, not that flower.

...yeah, I'm having to reach for flower-related videos to keep up this running gag at this point. But hey, look, hear me out here: Kanae Nozawa is really fucking good at playing the erhu. And it's called 'Flower Dance'. I think that's flowery enough.

...yeah, I will take suggestions for the next one. Send me your favourite flower-related videos. Especially if they're anime and kinda dark.

Anyway, welcome back to my liveblog of The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere, an ongoing serial web novel by @lurinatftbn. Our arc titles today are The Die Falls and Cut-Out Face.

And this time around, Umineko intensifies. I won't say too much more than that above the fold this time, because we're starting to get some mysteries answered (opening more mysteries, naturally). But if you don't mind spoilers, the space elevator awaits.

So where we left off last time, Su had discovered the body of (probably) Neferuaten. It's time to get into that part of Umineko where people are dropping like flies and everyone is desperately trying to figure out who's doing it before it's their turn. However, in this case, everyone involved is a wizard, so this makes things a little more complicated.

There was one important mystery missing from my list of mysteries, incidentally - the pantry with the signs of aging and the tally marks.

Someone on the Flower discord helpfully pointed out that I'd misremembered the rule on red text. I edited the previous post, but just in case: the rule is that if you get a description of a body in red, it's definitely a dead human (and that person is definitely really dead, it's not a spare body or anything). But which dead person? There's no rule that Su correctly identifies the deceased. So while Su definitely found a body, there's no guarantee that it's Neferuaten's body. It's not even guaranteed to be a member of the known cast, since we don't know how many people were already on the island.

Indeed, in this pair of arcs, we start to see characters question the identity of a corpse. So it's definitely intended that you keep that kind of question in mind whenever Su finds a body.

To broadly outline the events in this arc (as much to keep it straight in my head as anything):

Su finds Neferatuen's body and reports it to Linos and Lilith.

They link up with the rest of Su's class and break the news. Everyone freaks out a bit.

A broadcast is made to every computer on the island in which we get an Umineko-style challenge, declaring that everyone on the island will soon be killed by 'heavenly beasts', but it is - sportingly - possible to escape the security system and get off the island. Everyone freaks out a lot.

Fang, who apparently put all of their points into 'chill', takes charge of the situation. Linos explains how the lockdown works.

Linos sends Su and a few others up to get a map. While they're up there, Su bungles her way into confessing the body that she and Kamrusepa discovered earlier. The characters start to compare notes.

Moving as a group, they all set out to shut down the lockdown at the admin centre, covered by various types of magic shield. They blunder into a trap which involved Linos's gun being rigged to fire to cause a distraction, and then Bardiya is murdered while the party is split. According to Theo, the only witness, he was attacked by something which dragged him into the window.

The party share various recriminations and perform some diagnostic magic. Theo and Linos are declared Intensely Sussy, but Fang points out a narrow possibility that an external culprit could have dunnit while Linos's shield had briefly been disabled.

Mehit flips out and grabs Linos's gun. She takes Lilith away from the group of arcanists, intending to wait out the crisis in one of the areas where the Power is suppressed.

The gang moves out. Ran challenges Linos on some of his claims about the nature of the lockdown. It turns out he's been telling some fibs.

They travel through a tunnel that runs from the womens' entrance hall into the research dome. There, they discover a big bloody hole in the ground, and also Anna and Zeno are there.

Zeno's back in girlmode and is trying to transport a bunch of boxes. It turns out their actual 'main body' is a kind of a Made in Abyss 'cartridge' situation - surgically minimised, in this case to slow down aging as much as possible, and hidden. All their bodies are (according to them!) puppet bodies. I'm behind 7 proxy bodies or whatever.

Anna, it turns out, has age regwessied! We get a flashback narrated by Ran (notably not marked reliable) in which we find out what happened during Su's amnesiac episode - more on that later, but the upshot is that Fang brought a spike of true iron that they finished on behalf of Su's grandfather, which allows the Order to operate a giant machine built by Su's grandfather to interact with entropy. The Great Work is successful, and Anna was age regwiessed down to a young adult again.

Su has started to suspect Balthazar knows something time loop shaped. She and Ran and Linos go to confront him. Bal pretty much says yes: we are in fact in a time loop, we've already had thousands of iterations, and I get to remember it, and you should remember it too Su. Every single time, everyone dies and someone makes a tally mark in the pantry, which is for some reason not getting reset. Bal intends to wait out the timeloop where he is with a magazine and won't budge. He also says this is supposed to be the last loop. Ran and Su are dismissive. We the readers know better. Although somehow I suspect this isn't the last loop.

Anna hands out tracking bands.

A flashback sequence shows what happened when Ran found out about Su's situation. More on that later.

The gang go downstairs to find the admin console. On the way down, they discover a bloody magic circle with Durvasa's name written in it.

The three present Order members (Linos, Zeno, and Anna) are able to log into the admin console. They discover that it's not a standard lockdown, but a secret time-triggered protocol installed 20 years ago, around when Su's grandfather was fiddling with the computers. This means it can't easily be reset. Also, in a couple hours the security golems will turn on. Wuh oh.

They hatch a plan B. Everyone goes upstairs to 1. get masks from the mask room to bypass the golems (idk if I mentioned the mask room, there's a mask room) and 2. hopefully rewire re-rune the inputs to the security centre to spoof its inputs and activate the exit.

In the mask room, they discover Durvasa has probably been murdered, but the corpse is too severely mutilated to permit positive identification.

All the students are given masks in order to pass as members of the order. Su anticipates that these masks are going to create a situation where it's harder to identify who's who.

I think that's all the main points. Lots of moving around.

Having done what I promised not to do and write a plot summary, let's get on to the actual substance...

Mystery solution unlocked (somewhat): who is Su?

I feel like I should have been able to predict this one, in retrospect.

In logical terms, maybe not deduce it. But with this reveal, the narrative purpose of a lot of earlier scenes falls into place.

So, Su's unnamed childhood friend - the nerdy academic one who she met on the beach and encouraged her. Well, that friend is in fact Utsushikome of Fusai, or Shiko to her friends!

Wuh? Isn't that our dear protagonist? No - the character we're calling 'Su' is the mind of the other girl, our POV in that flashback. Or maybe it's the other way round, I'm a still little unclear on which POV was which in those flashbacks. I'm fairly sure though that POV girl is Su, and the other girl is Shiko. It's confusing because multiple flashbacks are narrated in the first person - the memories of the beach probably belong to Su, while the memories of the doctor's office where she learned about ascension probably belong to Shiko.

Anyway, we're told in chapter 55 a bit more about the mechanics of how arcanists work. Basically, the Tower of Asphodel, in addition to a few hundred thousand human bodies, also has billions of backup minds in the form of 'pneuma', a semi-biological element that interacts with the higher planes and basically amounts to a soul. The pneuma encodes memories (redundantly it seems), as well as preferences and habits - it's something akin to what Seth Dickinson calls the 'inner law'. In modern times, egomancy - the kind of magic that fucks with pneuma - is highly forbidden.

When humans are born in this world (perhaps more accurately 'instantiated'), stage 1 is to block the pneuma in the clone and permit a new one to form. Unfortunately this breaks the Power.

It was found that the new generation, the children born from this process, had no capacity to use the Power. Even though it had no visible effect on consciousness or intellect, this alteration to the nature of their pneumas damaged the ability of their minds to take on an Index, meaning that using the Power was impossible. There were cases where this didn't happen - where the 'trauma' healed just so - but they were one in a million. So rare as to be useless.

So, to set someone up as an arcanist, you download one of these backed up pneumas from the Tower, and install it over the existing pneuma. But the downloaded pneuma is deliberately weakened so that usually the downloaded personality dissolves quickly and reverts back to the identity of the person who became an arcanist. This process is apparently destructive to the backed up pneuma in the Tower.

So when Lilith said that all arcanists are murderers, what she means is that in a 'proper' initiation, you devour the soul of someone from a dead universe in order to steal their admin password.

In Shiko's case, something different happened. Instead of downloading the soul of someone from a dead universe, she's got the soul of a regular living girl from her own universe.

Here's how Su recalls the situation:

"One day, I got a letter. It offered me a whole bunch of stuff... My own house, shares in a bunch of local businesses that'd get me a stream of luxury credit.. If I agreed to go along with something for a couple weeks. That was what it said-- A couple of weeks." Under the table, I was having trouble keeping my legs still. "I thought it was some strange prank at first, but when we met, they seemed really serious. They said it would be best if it was someone who knew her." "Knew who?" "Oh..." I shifted reluctantly in my seat, my voice getting even quieter. "U-Utsushikome, I mean. I'd known her when we were kids... But we hadn't spoken in years." I cleared my throat. I felt so anxious about what was happening that I was shivering. "Anyway. They told me that her grandfather was dying, and there was something he'd been trying to do for years and years, but it was too late for it t-to work out. But they wanted to-- I dunno, do the next best thing, give him some peace--"

So, agents of Shiko's grandfather - who was evidently up to his fucking follicles in conspiracies - approached the girl we're now calling Su (her original name is not given, for reasons we'll see), operating under false pretenses. It's not clear how much they told her, just that it would involve Shiko. She agreed. They extracted the soul from her body and implanted it in Shiko at Shiko's induction. It seems likely that Shiko's grandfather intended to do this with his own soul, but could not for some reason? Why they did this with some random girl remains unknown. It's also not clear why Su of all people should have chmod +x for the Power.

Su was presumably supposed to dissolve back into Shiko's identity, but probably because the induction was far from normal, she retained her previous identity and Shiko was the one suppressed. Su did her best to try and figure out how to pretend to be Shiko, but Ran - not yet an arcanist herself - noticed her sudden personality change and confronted her. Su came clean, and Ran was all 'kill yourself, bitch' over it.

Seriously she does not let up. Here's some quotes:

This time, she did glance at me, a scowl forming on her face. "Don't try to act compassionate, you perverted fucking body-snatcher. You're not my friend." (...) She grunted. "Just be late next time. I don't want you messing with how she looks on your own impulse." (...) It was strange, us investigating it together like this. Even though I went along with it, acted repentantly, and had explained to her that the way things were weren't exactly my fault - that I'd been deceived at the premise of what I'd agreed to do - she wasn't willing to afford me much charity, but in a way, that was comforting. She was like a beacon of sharp reality in the dreamlike, dissociated existence I was now living.

And so on. Even when Su reveals that her original body is now months dead, and there is no body to go back to, Ran will not cut her a break:

"...this isn't you getting cold feet about trying to save her, is it?" she asked, suddenly suspicious. "Because you can't--" (...) Ran must have realized the absurdity of the statement, because a few moments later she spoke up again-- Disgust having crept back into her tone, even if that hint of conflict still remained. "Don't act sorry for yourself," she said. "It's your own fault for going along with something so perverse for your own gain. Blame her grandfather for being such a fucking lunatic, if you want, but don't act like a victim. No one gives a shit about you."

People in the comments start pulling out the word 'abuser' over this kind of thing and yeah, *sucks in air through teeth* they're not wrong. No wonder Su has such a complex nowadays.

It's notable how much Su's fantastical scenario here has in common with the experience of plurality/DID. Certain friends who are plural talk about how they may be able to recall alters' memories, but with difficulty, and it feels like they belong to someone else. And of course there's the process of forming new alters. Manifesting suddenly in a body full of memories of another person seems like a pretty distressing experience all told, but it's also something that the other people you're sharing with can make easier.

I talked a bit more about this in the Baru article on brains, so I won't reprise it all here. Broadly speaking, if someone is plural, their mind supports different 'alters', which are states of being which typically express distinct senses of identity, access to memory, preferences, stream of consciousness etc. Whether you think of them as distinct 'people' or distinct states of 'one person' seems like a matter of philosophical speculation, but 'co-consciousness' of alters is not an unusual thing, and sometimes I've witnessed externalised disagreements between alters. Since we don't have any ability to prove the existence of other minds in general, the only surefire way to know what it's like to be plural is to be plural already. Unfortunately the main way to inculcate plurality seems to be 'go through severe child abuse', so it's not easy to find out. But maybe tulpamancy is real?

Su's situation is not so different from the recent recurring 'lesbians and imperialism' subgenre device of having someone's mind inserted into a protagonist's body through some kind of scifi means. In modern 'plural system' terms, the word used is 'introject': in brief, an alter derived from another person, who often (but not always) understands themselves to be that person even in another body.

The big difference for Su of course is that the other alter she'd hypothetically be sharing this body with has just disappeared. Su can't talk to Shiko, Shiko's gone. It's not actually uncommon for alters to disappear like that, I've known people who very rapidly generate and discard identities in an intense traumatic situation, but the timeline doesn't really fit that here, and it's pretty much nonexistent I think for all alters but one to disappear and leave someone a singleton again.

I admit I'm not familiar with all the modern taxonomy of what psychiatry terms 'dissociative disorders', so perhaps there are other related categories, that are closer to Su's situation. Of course, even ignoring all the flaws and limitations of the DSM approach, this is a sci-fantasy world in which souls are real and manifest in a specific organ (ironic given how I declared they definitely aren't real and 'the body is all that is' in the first post on this book), so different rules apply!

What's not clear to me at this point is whether Samium the egomancer is going to be capable of restoring Shiko's soul in any meaningful way. It seems like when you shove two pneumas into a body, only one survives.

Anyway, as for Ran, she's clearly backed off on the 'perverted fucking body-snatcher' talk, having spent many years building up a friendship with Su and losing sight of her original zeal to save Shiko. Despite this, she really hasn't owned up to the fact that she's a big part of the reason Su is so determined to do a special magic suicide.

We could only suppose that if Shiko was brought back at this point, she would be in the exact same situation Su was - suddenly inhabiting a body filled with memories that are not her own, surrounded by people she does not know, and forced to carry on pretending to be the previous occupant. None of Su's present classmates know Shiko. Shiko's context was the school, and that is now in the distant past.

Su, however, is carrying The Mega Traumas and has spent however many years defining her life's purpose as dying to bring back Shiko. She has fully internalised the idea that she's a monster and doesn't deserve to live, that it's somehow her moral responsibility for the twisted experiment that Su's grandfather performed on these two girls.

At this point, the 'healthiest' outcomes are one of two things. Maybe Samium the egomancer could reactivate Shiko's identity, but without destroying Su, and Su/Shiko can share the body. Being plural doesn't seem to be so bad. (I admit I don't know what it's like, but if there's anything I've observed from knowing people who are plural, it's that once that cat's out of the bag and you recognise that you're plural, you can't really just try and suppress it. Trying to just will yourself into not switching is going to fuck you up much worse than coming to terms with it and developing ways to interact comfortably and share embodiment with your new headmate. Apparently 'integration' or fusion of alters is possible, and was traditionally pursued by therapists, but if it's rushed it just breaks down. And that would be disagreed with by the modern plural identity movement.)

On the other hand, it seems fairly plausible that it won't be possible to bring back Shiko. In this case, both Su and Ran need to finally grieve their friend who was effectively murdered at a young age by Su's grandfather, and move on. Easier said than done, of course. And they're definitely not going to get there if they can't have a very honest discussion about it. Which doesn't seem very likely with all these distracting murders.

Anyway, that resolves a few of my list of mysteries...

what skulduggery happened with Su’s ascension that made it go so badly wrong?: Shiki had the soul of her childhood friend, now known as 'Su', instead of some rando from the Tower of Asphodel. why did Ran react so badly to knowing that Su can’t assimilate?: she was not yet an arcanist and did not know about what initiation entails. she sees Su as culpable, even though Su was deceived. Su is a stranger and she will happily let a stranger die to save Shiki, and rationalises this. what did Su’s grandfather have to do with it?: agents claiming to work on behalf of Shiki's grandfather deceived Su. it seems it was too late to do it with his own mind.

it also opens some brand new mysteries.

why did Shiki's grandfather carry out this sadistic experiment? how is this the 'next-best thing'? is it just to prove the body-hopping technology works?

did Shiki's grandfather and co. anticipate that Shiki's mind would be overwritten by Su, or did they expect Su to be killed, the same as minds from Asphodel?

who are the agents who carried out this weird plot? do they have any relation to the current murder spree?

can the mind of Shiki really be retrieved?

Now I've gone through all the ins and outs of it - this plot is really cool and spicy. So much drama to be had. Now I understand the point of those flashback scenes to Su's childhood, and it fits so neatly that I wonder how I couldn't see it before. Not enough imagination! But if this is the wavelength the story is operating on, I should try and imagine similar payoffs for the other mysteries...

Anyway, now that we've established that body transfers are possible, we might wonder if anyone else had one done.

Let me wrap up this section by saying... body-snatcher is a very specific term! It tickles me to think that Ran might have seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).

The time loop

This was described at the outset as a 'control' scenario, but we have several apparent divergences. And supposedly thousands of iterations of this experiment have already run with slightly different outcomes.

Su's memory is slightly leaking info from the other loops, but for the most part she remains immersed in the scenario. Balthazar, meanwhile, obviously has history with Su from previous runs. This explains Su's inexplicable feelings of animosity towards him, his knowledge of the name 'Shiki', and many of his remarks.

As mentioned up above, the pantry is somehow not getting rolled back after each loop. This explains why it's so old. I had previously been assuming it was some kind of 'hyperbolic time chamber' type scenario, and the tally marks were the time that someone was stuck in the pantry, but this is way more interesting and cool.

We have our equivalent of On the ninth twilight, the witch revives, and none shall be left alive. from Balthazar:

"When I said this is a closed circle, I meant it in every sense," he explained. "In absolutely every instance, for every marking made on that wall... By the time this is over, there isn't a single person here left alive."

Presumably either Balthazar or Su is the mark-maker, and they always end up dead after making this mark. I assume they usually mark the wall fairly early in the loop in order to make sure they don't die too soon before making it!

This actually means I think we have a fairly good suspect for the "who knocked out Yantho" case. If Balthazar came here to mark the wall (although why bother, if it's the final run), and Yantho was about to see him, maybe he'd have panicked and knocked Yantho out? I don't think that would extend as far as killing the cook and faking her suicide though!

Anyway, Balthazar claims this is the final run. One commenter had a little hissy fit about this not fitting the standard time loop story mold, but I'm more inclined to wait and see. Admittedly, I have the unfair knowledge, compared to when this chapter came out, that the story is hundreds of chapters long and still going strong, and given the murders are now going at a rapid pace, I feel like we'll surely see at least one more loop. Hard to say though. Just because it's inspired by Umineko doesn't mean it's got the same structure.

Anyway, let's revisit the very first chapter given what we now know...

They were also a woman, though you wouldn't have been able to tell. Everything beneath the head-area was buried under black fabric, without so much as an inch of flesh visible, and their face was covered with a expressionless, androgynous porcelain mask. Otherwise, the outfit evoked something like a funeral gown, with only subtle frills around the cuffs and hem of the skirt.

We can now recognise this is probably the outfit of a member of the Order, back when they hid their identities. The mask sounds similar to how Neferuaten's mask is described in chapter 31:

It took me a moment to realize which mask she was pointing out, since it was so unremarkable. It was little more than an oval of silver, with holes cut for the two eyes and mouth, and a little dent to accommodate the nose.

Though Nef's mask is described as silver, not porcelain.

We can also get to hear Su's victory condition.

"Understand this: Your role in the scenario has been elevated from that of bystander to that of the heroine, and your victory condition is thus," she continued. "You must ascertain the identity of your opponent, the cause of the bloodshed to follow, and prevent it before it comes to pass. In order to accomplish this goal, you must pay close heed to all which transpires, and use deduction, alongside your skills and past experience of the events to follow. Do you understand your role?" (...) "Should you deviate from your role, the scenario will be compromised, and a grave outcome is forewritten. But should you succeed, then you shall open the path to a brighter future." She paused for a moment. "That is all. Should we begin?"

It's not at all clear why this should be the final loop, given that Su seems nowhere near close to 'winning' at this point. It's hard to know whether 'the scenario will be compromised' applies beyond a single loop though.

Two more mysteries to put on the list: who is Su's interlocutor here? And what was Su's request?

One thing I noticed, incidentally, is that chapter 000 was written some time after chapter 1, released 27 July 2020 - the timestamp places it in between chapters 020 (24 July) and 021 (6 August). I don't think this means anything - the intended version of the story is clearly now the one with the prologue attached - but it's an interesting example of how a serial novel can evolve with time.

Anyway, if the time loop is a challenge for Su to solve, it raises the obvious question of why Balthazar gets to remember the loop. (There's also incidentally a thing where most of the students' clocks are mysteriously stopped, with the exception of Ophelia's and Ran's.)

Anyway, Su (like us) has to solve whodunnit and whydunnit. Though howdunnit is probably also relevant.

I'm going to wildly speculate that Su's identity stuff is somehow connected to the timeloop scenario, just because narrative efficiency. Here are some possibilities to consider:

the woman in the mask is Shiko

the woman in the mask is Su. the POV of the first chapter is that of Shiko, and her request is that a scenario could be created where Su has to take on the scenario.

the culprit of all the murders and shit is Shiko. she was not overwritten, but evicted into a different body again.

the culprit of all the murders and shit is Shiki, from Tsukihime.

Ran's chapters and the Great Work

Ran recounts some of the stuff that happened while Su was out of it. This is later shown to be a diegetic conversation.

These chapters are super cool and intriguing. That said, while it starts out fairly believable - Ran's summaries with her voice - there is something a bit weird about how Ran can quote long conversations verbatim. Admittedly, if Su is telling the story, she is also able to remember everything in incredible detail. But Su has been established to have something like an eidetic memory, at least as far as figures are concerned, so I can sorta handwave that part.

Though that said, it's just a minor stylistic quibble. Putting it in Ran's mouth is an interesting device. Ran's inner voice is quite sarcastic, way more so than Su, who is honestly painfully sincere?

More importantly, these chapters are not marked with a first purple letter to confirm they are reliable. This is a narrative that Ran is telling Su. We can probably assume the broad details are accurate-ish, but it's entirely possible that Ran is lying or omitting things according to the rules of the game.

Anyway, the students are all taken down to a huge chamber underneath the Everblossom that's full of fractal cables and complicated magic runes that use a city's worth of eris to interface with the Ironworker entropy machine. So far it lets them essentially perfectly recover information from the past, allowing them to do stuff like de-age Anna.

It's a little bit handwavey how it all works. Anna's memories appear to be intact, so her entire body can't have been rolled back. We could raise all sorts of questions about motion and the interface between brain and body but it's a nitpicking.

What we know is that after Fang brings out a piece of iron and it's integrated into the machine... Anna goes offscreen with the other members of the Order, and then comes back appearing much younger, and they claim the machine worked as intended. Not much time to celebrate though because shortly after, the murders start.

There remains the possibility that the younger individual we're being told is Anna is... not Anna, but someone else acting as her (perhaps even Neferatuen). Though why the Order would deceive the students in such a way I couldn't guess, so it's a pretty dubious theory.

The murders

The murder of Bardiya is fairly extensively discussed by the characters. The two scenarios raised are: Theo attacked Bardiya, then lied about it, or, an unknown party ducked in while the shield was lowered very briefly, then attacked Bardiya through the window.

Given the specifity of the window stuff, I'm inclined to believe the second story. Theo definitely has something going on with him (he's been super cagey about some personal business), but he doesn't have a murderer vibe, unless he's an improbably good actor. The capabilities of the adversary remain unclear.

It's also possible that the death somehow involved an adverse interaction with Linos's shield. This possibility was raised by a commentator.

...actually, fine, let me go into Linos's shield.

Linos's shield (or the inevitable nitpicking)

The main group of characters rely on Linos's high level casting of a shielding spell called energy-nullifying-projecting. This takes incoming energy and redirects it back out. We get more details later:

"The base component terminates all motion in anything that comes into contact with it and essentially acts as a brick wall on top of blocking incoming incantations, while the additional one conjures an electromagnetic repelling force, physically damaging any matter that tries to pass through it."

"Wait, uh, I'm kind of confused," Ptolema said, scratching her head. "If it works like that, wouldn't just moving it around damage stuff? Like, when you expanded it to cover the kitchen, shouldn't it have smashed the wall to bits?" "Mm, well, the energy nullification doesn't actually apply when I move the barrier, so as long as everything I'm expanding it through is motionless already, then it'll just pass through harmlessly. I do have to disable the repulsive component for those times, though--- There's an element of the incantation to give me dynamic control over it."

My nitpicks are two: firstly, Ran mentioned special relativity applies to this universe in an earlier chapter. 'Motionless' is relative, and in Newtonian physics and relativity, you don't have a 'preferred' reference frame in which things can be 'absolutely' at rest. So I wonder how the spell is able to distinguish between 'thing moving towards Linos' (block) vs 'Linos moving towards thing' (don't block).

My second nitpick is thermal motion. Even a solid object is constantly full of random lattice vibrations corresponding to temperature. Negating all motion that touches the barrier would amount to flash-freezing anything that comes into contact. Though perhaps you can 'code' it to identify macro-scale objects in motion and block them.

Neither of these are like important.

Anyway here's how Bardiya's death is described by Theo...

"I... Bardiya was right up near the window at the far side of the room, when I turned. I only saw him clearly for a moment before the lamp fell over... But the window was open, and he was staring out of-- No, rather, it almost looked like he was being pulled by something. One of his arms reached out to try and grab hold of something, but there was nothing." He shook his head. "When the light was gone, I tried to call out, but I couldn't hear a sound from my own mouth... Or from anywhere at all. And then, I... I..." He ran his hands urgently through his hair, as if trying to wipe something off them, and gasped urgently. Mehit, who was sitting next to him, stared wide-eyed. "I couldn't see well, but it looked like something was... Was feeding on him," he went on. "He kept being pulled out through the window over and over again, and every time, there was more and more blood when he pulled back. I could even feel some of it splatter on my face, see the light reflecting off the puddle... And more than anything, I could smell it. It was like a butcher's shop, but sickly sweet." He shuddered. "E-Eventually, whatever it was let him go, and he slumped down. I'd been too shocked to move up until that point, but realized I needed to help him, so... I tried to step forward. I still couldn't hear my own voice, so I tried to turn his body around. That's when I... That close, I could see..."

Getting pulled out of the window by an unseen force and torn to bits definitely sounds kinda like getting caught in a repulsive barrier, right? Then again, there's no reason Bard would stick his hand out the window unless forced.

It's a shame, I liked Bardiya. Had a good head on his shoulders. But hey, I guess that's the point! You always kill the fan appeal character first for maximum tragedy points. (By the same token, I expect Ezekiel will last a long time.)

Durvasa we have less information to go on, since the corpse was arranged decoratively post killing. As we've observed, it might not even be Durvasa.

I'm too tired now to try to solve this one, but I might do a followup, to comment on any other stuff that stands out, later.

Great story, anyway. I'm so intrigued by all that's going on. I accidentally posted this instead of sending it to drafts, so I'm gonna unprivate it now, see you next time for more on these chapters or maybe just advancing straight to the next batch!

Thanks for reading my liveblog! And if you read this Lurina, great work, this book kicks ass, so many intriguing ideas and moving parts, I have no idea how you keep track of it all lol.

Umineko liveblog to pick up after sleep hopefully. We'll see though.

[princess-of-the-corner]

So I decided to try and see if someone had made a suitable replacement for that RWBY Team Name Generator you mentioned, see if I could share it here for whatever reason.

I could not. Searching it on DuckDuckGo simply gave the following:

This generator on fantasygenerators.com, which did not take names and simply gave random team names based around colors.

A generator that gave randomly generated RWBY team names, including members and basic descriptions of said members, with some alterable options but none for specific names. It seemed intended for D&D npcs or something. Kinda like it though, honestly. Probably one of the best ones here.

This one takes names, but is apparently using them for some sort of pseudo-random generation or something that doesn’t actually account for the name itself. Repeating the same name gives the same result, like how ‘Kevin’ gave me “CDAR (Cedar Chest)” every time. So I wouldn’t use it.

This one is kinda like the first one, but uses a weird font for the results for some reason. Also, I think it may just be pulling from a list. A not very long list. That can be easily found by just scrolling down.

This is the worst one, a generator that doesn’t realize that it is supposed to stick to less that 4 characters. In one case, as many as four characters over the limit. Specifically, AMETHYST. Just, AMETHYST. As in the entire word. Awful.

This one does the same 'pull from a short list’ trick, but doesn’t even bother scrambling the results. It just does the same ones every time. Someone clearly did something wrong here. And I just hit it again and it’s doing a different excerpt every time now. So now I’m really wondering how they messed this up.

This is not a generator, just a generated blog post meant to bait clicks.

This generator isn’t even trying to be accurate, giving results like “Obsidian Ravens” and “Amethyst Wolves”

And this one was another generated blog post without any actual generators. Which has a link to hbomberguy’s video on RWBY. For some reason. What.

So I could not find one that satisfied the requirements. Oh well.

-

Fucking oof

Yeah I think the Felix/Zoé/Lila/Fei team is going to have to be manual this time around.

[head-of-sea-foam-the-system]

In-System Relationships

Sorry this took so long. We’ve been really excited about this one. Next comic will be about signs that were missed. Bonus points if you can guess the sources of any of our fictives (I think one is pretty obvious if you know the source).

Unrelated to DID: My Very Good Friend @petticoatedmouse made a Discord server for people who like sewing. No particular level of experience required.

Here is the link:

[Image description:

Note: Their identities are listed because they are holding their flags in the comic.

First image, panel 1: A grey background with two people, Jenny (she/her), a fictive, who is demisexual and pansexual, and Omara (ze/zir), who isn’t an introject, but based parts of their appearance on a video game character. Omara is sapphic and has an unlabeled gender. The caption reads “In-system relationships… …quite a complex phenomenon.”

Panel 2: A pink background with the outline of a red heart and the captions, “So complex, in fact, that we can even feel the attraction on the outside. But only if the alter experiencing attraction is fronting or co-conscious.”

Panel 3: A grey background showing Worlds (she/they), a lesbian introject (who is also a vampire), and Kelly (she/her), a bisexual factive, holding hands. The caption says, “Sometimes, there are very much like out-of-system relationships.”

Panel 4: Worlds, whose bat wings are now visible, is flying through space with Kelly on their back. The captions are in white boxes and they read, “Other times, not so much” and “Yeah, I don’t think singlets typically fly through space (our innerworld is in space) on their partner’s back.”

Second image, panel 1: A sea foam green background with the words, “Of course, not every headmate wants this. We just have a lot of in-system relationships.”

Panel 2: A stage with a keyboard, microphone, and part of a drum set visible with a grey background is shown. Two alters are standing on it, Bay (she/her), a fictive who is ambiamorous and omnisexual, is standing by the piano looking at Sodium, and Sodium (she/her), an ambiamorous lesbian, is standing by the mic looking at Bay. The caption says: “They can be just as complex as out of system relationships… (yes, we have a stage in headspace where we perform whatever we’re listening to IRL).”

Panel 3: Captions say, “…and just as full of love.” and “While we have several polyamorous and ambiamorous headmatss, we don’t have any throuples or other with more than two partners. Systems that do have these are absolutely valid though.” Sodium is shown sitting on a grey bench on a grey background with another factive, Radium (she/her), who is demiromantic, demisexual, and trixensexual.

Panel 4: A sea foam green background with the caption, “They are very important in our system. When partners spend time together, it improves our overall mental health.”

Third image, panel 1: A sea foam green background with the caption, “This gets more complicated with introjects. Sodium and Radium are factives from the same source, but they aren’t dating IRL, which is a bit awkward. And yes, it’s valid to have factives who are dating IRL. We just don’t have any.”

Panel 2: Caption: “With fictives, it’s a little different. You may be fan favorites or even canon. Or you may be an unpopular ship or not canon (valid as long as there are no problematic elements) (no, they’re not getting married, this is how they dress in source).” It shows Jules (he/they), a bi demiboy, and Alicia (she/they), a pan girl (both fictives) on a grey background, looking at each other.

Panel 3: Caption: “And yes, it’s also valid to have fictives who aren’t dating their source-partner. Whether that’s because you don’t have an introject of them…” Cristina (she/they), who is pan, is shown on a grey background, saying, “If we had an introject of him, and he asked me out, I’d say yes.”

Panel 4: Caption: “…or because they’re simply not attracted to them (although in this case, we don’t have an introject of him either- thank goodness).” Eugenia (she/any), who is pan, and Mercedes (she/they/he), who is non-binary and straight (we chose to include that because they aren’t cis), are shown on a gray background saying, “Ewwwwww!”

Fourth image, panel 1: A sea foam green background with the caption: “Of course, in-system relationships aren’t for everyone.”

Panel 2: Rhombus (they/them), who is gendervoid, agender, and aroace, is shown on a grey background, with a caption and arrow next to them that reads, “Not interested in any kind of relationship.”

Panel 3: Three alters, Inflexible (they/them) (introject), who is lesbian, oriented aroace, and bellusaroace, Grey (they/he) (introject), who is non-binary and aroace, and Jayde (they/them), who is oriented aroace, pomosexual, and liagender, are shown on a grey background. Caption: “All three are interested in QPRs, and all three have experienced tertiary attraction towards people in the outerworld, but they are not interested in each other.”

Panel 4: A sea foam green background with the caption, “Especially when what you want is on the outside.”

Panel 5: The hosts, Ao (ey/eir) and Ruby (she/her) (captions say to check our first comic for their labels because there are a lot of them)!are shown on a grey background. The caption next to Ao has an arrow and says, “Has feelings for a singlet.” The caption next to Ruby has an arrow and says, “Has feelings for a different singlet.”

End image description]

[kindheart525]

Mobid question here, how do Killer!Iolite's victims die?

Ngl I’m not a very morbid person (hence why I had to do so much research on horror tropes to write this AU because I had no knowledge of my own) but I still thought this was a fascinating question so I had @frostcorpsclub help me come up with the deaths!

I know more characters die than what’s listed here, but I decided to go with the major ones.

Trigger warning for mentions of gore, hanging, choking, eye trauma, decapitation, and generally torturous and horrific deaths

Obsidian: In a chase, her signature pink hair bow is unraveled/caught on something and Iolite uses shadow magic to hang her with it. It looks like an accident until looked into further.

Polished Antique: Iolite pushes him into his own family’s vault where he's crushed by tons of bits (a la Scrooge McDuck)

Brackish: Gets trapped and submerged in a pit of grain*, a fate that’s incredibly dry for somepony who devoted his life to being a swimmer and making mares w-

Saltwater Taffy: Iolite kills her with a curse; every time she says a bad word against another creature, her throat fills up with crystal. She’s killed as she tears into Iolite for killing her family members, choking on crystal shards and her own blood.

Erudite Spell: Having died alongside Taffy, he is afflicted with a similar curse, which also causes fatal crystal growths. It affects his hooves so he can't run for help, and his horn upon which the crystals grow down and slowly blind him, stabbing his eyes and penetrating his brain.

Rainier: Iolite captures him and keeps him around in a secret place (like Summer) because he actually gives good emotional advice and there's a tiny, tiny, tiny glimmer of her true self inside him. She curses him with a fate akin to bamboo torture*, except instead of bamboo it’s an apple tree that’s growing inside of and slowly hilling him. It’s the slowest and most agonizing death of all of them. It also parallels the trees that his grandparents once planted to symbolize their love, but with an extremely horrific and dark twist.

Crash Racket: Iolite decapitated him and put his head on a pike, which she showed to Summer to torture her. “Is this the type of head that was worth breaking my heart over, Summy?”

Summer Beauty: I’ve described it before but I felt it would be fitting to put the description here too. Iolite put a curse on her so that the instant she is killed, Summer will “self-destruct” and turn into a lifeless crystal statue, much like the famed Crystal Empress Amore. Through this, Iolite has ensured that Summer cannot live without her.

Iolite: She tears her wings in a hoof-to-hoof battle with Yngvlid before falling into a crystal pit where her heart is pulled straight from her body.

BONUS Crystal Family: They all die in a very Romanov-like fashion where they’re locked in a basement together and Iolite and (mind-controlled) Aurora fire shots at them. Yes, including the little filly.

*The links are to Wikipedia articles; no videos or graphic photographs.

[powerofmettatonneo]

Hi, i’ve been looking at your post, talking about it, and sharing it with some friends. Honestly i’d even say i’m a fan of you and your work despite how little of it there is right now. I have a couple question.

First, I was wondering if you had any other accounts that I could follow your work on, like twitter and such.

Second, I saw that you took classes in etholgy and talked about advocating for the personhood of animals. I mean, I know they’re smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. Take for example the recent study with scientist communicating with whales with their own language for the first time. But I was hoping to get your insight in what you mean by personhood of animals and thoughts on the topic. (And also table napkin thought on how anthropomorphizing can harm or help our understanding of animals)

Third but a little more obscure, is that you use humanity, personhood, and the being of « more human » a lot. I was hoping if you could expand on the differences of these terms and how they interact with one another.

Sorry for all the questions, just honest to god fascinated with your perspective of things and the topic in general.

Here’s the whale communication study I mentioned: https://globalnews.ca/news/10182116/humpback-whale-conversation-talking-to-aliens/amp/

Oh my gosh thank you so much for your kind words! This, AO3, and YouTube are actually my only accounts online that I post anything on, and I just use my YT account to reupload other people's deleted videos. I used to use Reddit but I'm trying to distance myself from that account since half a decade of hot take type comments starting when I was 15 isn't exactly the best look for anyone.

Your last two questions are linked so I'm going to address them at once. Human is simply the term used to refer to a member of the genus Homo. There's nothing all that special about it philosophically when separated from personhood, which is more or less the description of what beings do and don't fully matter morally. Speculative fiction and philosophy tend to equate it with sapience, which is more or less a meaningless term made up to separate humans (or worse, specific groups of humans) from other animals and make ourselves feel superior. There have been attempts to give it meaning, but nearly every definition uses traits that are found in at least one other species of animal and/or are not universal to every group of humans (with the notable exception of artistry but I frankly find it absurd to discount something's moral worth over that). As such, if we're going to approach the topic logically, then some animals at the very least have traits of personhood.

Language, for example, isn't exactly common in animals, but it isn't unheard of either. Bats, cetaceans (whales and dolphins), pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), elephants, songbirds (a group that contains crows btw), hummingbirds, and of course parrots all learn different "words" that they apply meaning to and then use. Cetaceans, parrots, and some songbirds even use something akin to grammar.

Ritual behavior has been shown in chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants as they grieve for their dead.

Self-awareness, the trait most commonly held up as making humans special, is hard to measure due to the language barrier, but there is still some evidence for it in certain animals. The mirror test isn't perfect when it comes to discounting a given animal's self-awareness, but if an animal can identify itself in a mirror, it's hard to argue with the idea that it has a sense of self. Animals that passed include various dolphins, great apes, elephants, magpies, and even certain fish. Furthermore, an African grey parrot named Alex once asked a question about himself, being the first recorded instance of an animal asking anything, and bottlenose dolphins use names for themselves and others in their pod.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. I don't really have a definitive list of animals that I believe should be considered "people", especially given all the legal implications of that sentiment, but you've probably noticed that same groups of animals showed up again and again. Dolphins were there in all of the different categories, and elephants only failed the grammar category because they largely communicate using vibrations which work so differently from regular sound that they're hard to meaningfully compare to human languages. Parrots, corvids (crows and relatives), and great apes all have stand out members that showed up in two or three of the categories in the African grey, magpie, and chimpanzee respectively, and the other members of those families as well as whales are all intelligent and social enough that I am of the opinion that they all deserve certain philosophical rights and even legal protections. It's so easy for us to see personhood as a black and white thing that something either has or doesn't have, but like most things, it really is more of a spectrum.

To answer your "table napkin thought", while I won't deny that anthropomorphizing real animals can often lead to a lack of true understanding of them, the harm done by people trying to avoid doing so is both more common and so, so much more horrific that I hesitate to critique it too much. I mean, I have straight up seen very influential people say that acknowledging the extremely well supported fact that other animals are capable of feeling pain is "anthropomorphizing" them because one specific area of the brain that is partially responsible for processing pain in humans is only present in primates, and that of course can, and historically has, lead to horrific abuse.

I really don't mind all the questions! I love talking about things I'm passionate about, and this topic is certainly up there among the the things I care most about.

[magentagalaxies]

so basically a few weeks ago paul bellini sent me two signed mouth congress vinyls as a late birthday present slash gift for running the mouth congress social media and i thought i'd post a vinyl tour bc there's so many cool details here! this is gonna be a long post bc the lyric booklet that came with waiting for henry is pretty much a full zine and i really love all the effort they put into it

contents:

waiting for henry double LP (signed by scott and paul!)

ahhhh the pollution 7" (signed by scott and paul!)

Mouth Congress button (did not know this was a thing so it was just a fun little bonus gift he threw in)

first, close up photo of the sticker on the waiting for henry cover:

next pictures of each of the vinyls:

the lighting was a bit off in these pictures but the vinyls are so beautiful it's unreal. ahhhh the pollution is a translucent bright orange, the first half of waiting for henry is beige, and the second half is this beautiful bright blue that looks like blue rasperry candy. i'm always a sucker for colorful vinyls (i just picked up a copy of "take the sadness out of saturday night" by bleachers on a seaglass vinyl the other day) and i wasn't sure if they had any left so the fact that both releases are on such beautiful vinyl is amazing

next we have the zine!! here's the cover:

the first few pages are a short summary of the mouth congress story as told by paul himself, along with a few pictures of the band members from their college days:

after that we have a fictitious profile of the band written by aviva avoovoo (a freelance writer character created by paul bellini) where she visits the mouth congress chalet and discovers the "dark secrets" that lie within. it's so funny and surreal but i didn't want to post every page of it so instead i'll focus on this old vaguely-cursed pic of paul that accompanied the writing:

once we're done with the fictional side of things there's a two-page spread of cassettes mouth congress put together in the 80s/90s that they released in an attempt to promote the band. each cassette description has a list of featured songs, some of which were later put on "ahhhh the pollution" or "waiting for henry" and some of which i'd never heard about previously and am very intrigued by. i took close-up pics of these two specifically since they're the ones i most want to look into from that page

specifically i really wanna learn more about madam alphonsa. who is she. she's mentioned in "me on my off hours" and makes an appearance on "madamifesto" and "let's hear it for show business." they mentioned in the mouth congress documentary that kevin used to play madam alphonsa's husband. several characters scott played in mouth congress were later done on kids in the hall but madam alphonsa is my new lost media obsession.

after that we have a solid six pages of scott and paul interviewing each other. again it's very long so i'm not posting everything but it was a very good interview which makes me love the band even more and it also had this picture with it:

more old pictures (look how young scott and paul look in the bottom right one i'm losing my mind):

centerfold:

then we have at least 10 pages of lyrics for every song on waiting for henry as well as short blurbs about the story behind each song which was really cool and might be its own post someday, but last but not least i wanted to leave you with my favorite part of the mouth congress zine: the word search

legit took this pic just so i could highlight the words digitally and not draw on the actual zine but oh my god i had so much fun doing this. unironically i think every vinyl should come with a thematically linked word search. it really just goes to show how much joy and effort scott and paul put into everything mouth congress does and i'm so honored i get to be part of their story at the level where i can get something like this autographed and sent to me for free (and also might get free admission to an upcoming mouth congress show if i help them set up beforehand and film the show?? like paul you do realize i would pay VIP prices for this but thank you for doing it for free?? also thank you for asking how my own musical went and genuinely caring about the answer???)

anyway this got a little rambly towards the end but my point is. queercore punk is truly the genre of all time and mouth congress is so fucking great nobody is going it like them

[simp-for-enrico-maxwell]

Mental state of Enrico [headcanons]

TW: I will be talking here about some mental disorders, PTSD, coping, alcohol abuse, and SA. So if any of these are triggering for you - please skip this post.

Okay, so... Some of these are more connected to canon Enrico, but some of them are inclining towards Enrico from my fanfics/the way I portray him. Which means that you can have different point of view, and that's valid! After all - these are just headcanons.

• I should start with the fact, that I diagnosed Maxwell with narcissistic personality disorder. I won't list all of the symptoms, just a brief description of this disorder: “mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism.” - Feel like there is no need for further explanation, but if you want to read more, here is a link for the source

• But it would be boring to see him struggle just with this, right??? So of course that I added SA and harassment from a priest/member of Iscariot. Yeah, yeah, I know it's kinda a basic, over-used trope, but I just felt like adding this to his backstory, because I like to dive into psychological stuff and I seriously wanted to write what kind of impact this had on Maxwell.

• In my storyline he had been harassed since like six to thirteen/fourteen, till he started locking the door of his room. (It was during the time, he was already living in Iscariot headquarters because he had been in the training for a while.) And he was mostly molested in his sleep, because the said priest had somnophilia aka “sleeping princess syndrome”.

• I feel like I don't have to explain why Enrico never told anyone. - Because of his pride. He would feel ashamed admitting that someone did this to him, and that he was completely helpless to it. So he rather kept this to himself, “saving” himself from public embarrassment.

• I dare to say that these events gave him some sort of PTSD, which made him scared about sudden physical touch. (Especially if it's in his sleep. - That can trigger a full-on panic attack.) And nightmares are a casual thing for him, even though now they aren't that common. - So that's why he never lets anyone to get too close, and hugging is definitely NOT and option.

• He never opened about this not even to people that were close to him - Yumie and Heinkel - because he was terrified of them wanting to do something about this situation and confronting the said priest. He chose path of a loner - someone who will become the greatest man alive and will look down on all the people that did him wrong.

• Despite all of this Maxwell never thought about self-harm nor suicide. He saw these things as something pathetic and miserable, and he would never let himself to sink so low. In this he was the exact opposite - he started aiming as high as possible, to achieve power that would help him to cope. (If you are actually struggling with this: No, you are NOT pathetic nor miserable. My man is just an idiot with twisted thoughts. If you are thinking about hurting yourself, please, don’t be scared to ask for help. You matter.)

• That's also why he stayed in church/Iscariot. His view on God kinda changed (“He can't be real. If he was real... Why would he let me suffer like this?”), but he became fanatic in his own way. - Twisted man in need of power great enough to help him cope with his trauma.

• But being in charge wasn't his only way of coping. - Through the years Enrico developed another unhealthy habit, which was drinking alcohol in order to cleanse his mind. When he got the position of leader of Iscariot, he started enjoying expensive and luxury wines not only from Italy but also France. He doesn't drink every day, but when he gets in this certain state of mind, he is able to drink two or three bottles all alone.

• Since he was never taught to show his emotions nor talk about his feelings, he started bottling everything up, growing more distant and cold to everyone around him. Yet he made it look like he just grew up very quickly, and that he just became a very wise and disciplined young man.

• The only emotions he is capable of showing up are frustration, anger, and disappointment.

[queennsansa]

Hi *wink wink, nudge nudge* it’s that time of the year — please reveal your truth: Spotify wrapped, number 22 - 69 - 77 👀

Thank you for the ask! Somewhat shockingly considering the state of my top 100 you managed to evade Taylor Swift and Harry Styles.

22. Marionette - Keaton Henson & Julien Baker 69. Die Fun - Kacey Musgraves 77. The Horror and the Wild - The Amazing Devil

Below the cut some characters these songs remind me of, because of course all of them are on multiple fandom playlists of mine.

22. Marionette - Keaton Henson & Julien Baker

I swear you picked one of the most depressing songs on this list lol.

Both the mood and lyrics of this song remind me of Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings. In all fairness, I can link most songs to those books, but I swear it holds up for this one. Cue this essay which will probably be incomprehensible cause I'm limiting my spoilers?? Sorry.

I like to think of this song as a nod to the Last Dance of Chances poem from Fool's Fate (rendered beautifully by Ilum Sîn here as a song--mind for indirect spoilers, if that'll bother you) and the dancing motif as it applies to Fitz and the Fool. I think the Last Dance of Chances is one of Robin Hobb's most beautiful offerings and also worst offences to my heart, so there's that. Anyway, the song:

I am the master of ignoring the past I have the answer to the question that you never asked Teach me the seasons, and let every year be the test But ask me to dance, love, I will fold like a marionette I'm lost on you

Has there ever been a better description of FitzChivalry Farseer than "master of ignoring the past"? Always writing his own history in a way so that he can live with it, catalogue it, engaging yet evading. The lack of communication, a love enduring, but the scene breaks down once a question is asked. I love the imagery of a marionette, so fitting for Fitz who often feels like a puppet in the hands of Fate, the Farseers and also, ultimately, the Fool. And then the layering of Keaton and Julien's voices on "I'm lost on you"... the quietest defeat.

Teach me to write, love, and I'll write you a song for the dead

Truly, what is every Fitz book but a love song for the dead, literal or figurative? What is the Last Dance of Chances but an elegy, an eternal goodbye? That's exactly what this song sounds like.

Okay I'm done having feelings, let's carry on.

69. Die Fun - Kacey Musgraves

Getting more upbeat here, thank god.

I will forever be missing the chaotic energy of the Legends of Tomorrow gang. This song is full of hope and yet it has a wistful tone. Perfect for a show then that has just ended, and that when it was on air, always had team members leaving.

Do we really have to grow up? If we never do then so what So what if I don't wanna, what if I'm just gonna Stay drunk on all the years that I just wish would slow up?

In a show about timetravel, there never seemed to be enough time. It was about being silly, about making the most of love, friendship, life. It was about traveling the universe and the destination not mattering nearly as much as the journey and the people you undertake it with. It was, very often, about saying goodbye. No one is guaranteed a happy ending, and the journey won't last forever for anyone. But no one had more fun on their journey than the Legends did.

Cause we don't know when we're done So let's love hard, live fast, die fun

Nothing encompasses Legends of Tomorrow better than that last line, for me. Love hard, live fast, die fun. They sure did.

((Also I'd like to imagine the Legends would think it hilarious to be picked for number 69.))

77. The Horror and the Wild - The Amazing Devil

As a sidenote, I have like two songs from the Witcher in my top 100 despite only having seen season 1 (a deliberate choice) and then also this one. Joey Batey's voice just hits.

This is a very angry song with a feminist slant, that sounds like it should be in a fantasy show. My first thought was Arya Stark but I haven't thought about Game of Thrones in ages, so different fantasy show it is.

You were raised by wolves and voices Every night I hear them howling deep beneath your bed They said it all comes down to you

A fitting song for a Chosen One, one girl in all the world etc. No, not Buffy, but Faith. A slayer with wolves beneath her bed.

Think of all the horrors that I Promised you I'd bring I promise you, they'll sing of every Time you passed your fingers through my hair and called me child Witness me, old man, I am the Wild

It's a song about taking revenge on the world, and everyone in it who hurt you, especially the ones who pretended to be nice. These lines remind me both of Faith's relationship with the Mayor and with the Watchers Council, old men who want to use her power for their own gain. But Faith cannot be tamed for long. And if she's promised you horrors, you better start running.

[braceletfour]

[Image Description: four screenshots of tweets from user @ catioz on November seventh 2023. It is a numbered list reading:

The ten dumbest things we’re being asked to believe about Gaza:

One. That Israel had no idea what Hamas was up to prior to October 7, but ever since October 7 has known about every hospital, mosque, school, refugee camp and water tower that Hamas is hiding in.

Two. That the blame for all the deaths by Israeli weapons launched by Israel rests solely on Hamas.

Three. That Hamas is using “human shields” - meaning Hamas based are hidden amidst civilian populations - yet Israel is managing to kill thousands of civilians without doing any meaningful damage to Hamas.

Four. That it would be perfectly fine to murder children by the thousands even if they were being used as “human shields” - as though resolving a hostage situation by mowing down thousands of child hostages would be regarded and reasonable and acceptable by the public if it happened in our own country.

Five. That it is only by pure coincidence that Israel bombing “Hamas targets” in civilian infrastructure and residential buildings just so happen to look exactly the same as what you’d expect to see if Israel was simply bombing civilian infrastructure and residential buildings and lying about its reasons for doing so.

Six. That satellite images of entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble in Gaza has been caused by “precision strikes” directed solely at Hamas and have been carries out with the greatest care for human life. Despite Israeli officials openly stating that, “the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy,” in this assault and that, “Gaza will eventually turn into a city of tents; there will be no buildings.”

Seven. That this bombing campaign has anything to do with freeing Israeli hostages - as though the bombing campaign itself has not killed dozens of hostages, and as though anyone believes Israel would stop bombing Gaza after the hostages are returned.

Eight. That the only reason anyone could possibly oppose the detonation of thousands of bombs on an open air prison full of children would be if they had very strong and hateful opinions towards the members of the religion of Judaism.

Nine. That Hamas attacked Israel entirely out of the blue and completely unprovoked, solely because they are evil and hate Jews.

Ten. That Washington is powerless to stop this genocide that it is directly funding and supplying.

The list ends and is followed by a tweet containing a link to an article with supporting links. /End ID]

Here is the link ->

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"In Canada the concept of specified, or targeted, prohibition has a long tradition with regards to controlling liquor access to First Nations people. Several authors have cited this colonial link to the Interdictus List in Canada, leading historian Craig Heron (2003: 135) to suggest, "In many ways these constraints on Aboriginal drinking became models of public policy to which legislators would turn in clamping down on white drinking" - a position also found in the work of Mariana Valverde (2004. 584) and others. Most likely this historical connection led to the popular use of the racialized term "Indian List" as a common way of referring to Ontario's Interdiction List.

The basic concepts of interdiction found their way into legislation in the 1864 Canada Temperance Act. Under the act (c. 18, s.42) a family member could submit a written request to a liquor vendor to discontinue the sale of alcohol to another family member who had the habit of "drinking to excess." If the request was ignored, the applicant could seek damages. By 1890 the concept of family members initiating the blacklisting of individuals in Ontario was expanded to include those under the age of twenty-one. Under the Liquor License Law of 1890 (c.56, s.8(2), if:

any person who allows to be supplied in his licensed premises, by sale or otherwise, any description what [so]ever of liquor to any person under the age of twenty-one years (hereafter called the minor) in respect of whom a notice in writing has been given to any such licensed person, signed by the father, mother, guardian or master of such minor, correctly stating the age of such minor, and forbidding such licensed person to sell or supply such minor with liquor... be liable to pay a penalty of not less than $10 and not exceeding $20.

As these acts show, the focus was on family relations, and during this period many women used listing as a means of exercising economic control over their husbands' drinking (and in 1864, if won, damages would be for the sole benefit of the women seeking them), or as a means of protecting themselves from spousal abuse (Heron 2003: 409). This family focus eventually expanded the net of culpability to include friends. For example, the Royal Commission on the Liquor Traffic of 1896 reported that, in Ontario, "Habitual drunkards may be interdicted as in Quebec, or may be committed to a place licensed by the government, the costs borne by their friends" (cited in Spence 1896: 100).

Before long the number of people on the Interdiction List had grown before the world war compared to the post-prohibition years. In 1908 in London, Ontario, a town of some people 50,000 people, as an example, the list contained seventy names (Heron 2003: 408; Census of 1911).

Alcohol blacklisting of individuals in Ontario after 1927 was formally conducted through the actions of the LCBO and legislated by the Liquor Control Act of 1927 (s. 95(1), (2)). In words similar to the 1883 British act, the Liquor Control Act, section 95(1), stated:

Where it is made to appear to the satisfaction of a judge of the county or district court that any person, resident or sojourning within the Province, by excessive drinking of liquor, misspends, wastes, or lessens his estate, or injures his health, or interrupts the peace and happiness of his family, the judge may make an order of interdiction directing the cancellation of any permit held by that person, and prohibiting the sale of liquor to him until further ordered; and the judge shall cause the order to be forthwith filed with the Board.

The act altered a person's status with regard to purchasing or possessing intoxicating liquor, explaining:

Every interdicted person keeping or having in his possession or under his control any liquor shall be guilty of an offence against this act, and, on summary conviction thereof, the justice making the conviction may in and by the conviction declare the liquor and all packages in which the same is contained to be forfeited to his majesty in the right of the province.

Additionally, section 95(1) of the Liquor Control Act indicated a greater punishment for breaching an interdiction order - making the violation for the seller and drinker "a more serious charge than public drunkenness" (Valverde 2004: 580). 

Individuals who were legally interdicted were sent an Order of Interdiction through registered mail, and their names and addresses were made known to local liquor vendors and authority holders as well as local policing organizations. Although it considered interdiction to be an effective means of curtailing liquor use, given the magnitude of the task at hand the LCBO saw the method as being too cumbersome a tool for wide scale social control. The justice system was simply not fast or subservient enough to process the average of over 3,300 investigations per year. Placing someone on the Interdicted List was a lengthy process; the person needed to be sentenced by a judge in open court, and few judges opted to include interdiction in sentences. Between 1927 and 1976 only sixty-nine judges actually chose to interdict offenders, and of those judges only twenty did so more than twice in their careers. To bypass this time consuming process, the Ontario government designed legislation to give the Board the authority to restrict access "for any cause which it deems sufficient with or without any hearing" (Liquor Control Act 1927, c.70, s. 43(1)).

- Gary Genosko and Scott Thompson, Punched Drunk: Alcohol, Surveillance and the LCBO 1927–1975. Winnipeg and Halifax: Fernwood Press, 2009. p. 92-94