#and this isn't to say that those highest peaks are bad

[allpromarlo]

insane how melt my eyez gets better with every listen

[whaleofatjme1920]

Unrequited Love and Other Angst Minis

[Creepypasta, Marble Hornets X GN!Reader]

[Warnings: Emotional manipulation, angst, bunch of sad thoughts MINORS DNI]

[AN: returning to my roots of breaking hearts. Did you see the Bones and All reference? LOVE Bones and All.]

Reblogs are appreciated!

Slenderman

How entirely foolish of you, to think you could ever earn and even think you deserve the special, specific love of a god.

He doesn't even need you to actually say it. He can smell it. It makes him feel an overwhelming disgust for you.

Humans and their pathetic emotions of love, how despicable. He actually takes a moment or so to think about how he wants to handle this. He can't really get rid of you. I mean, he can, but you're still useful to him even though you're so blinded by him and your feelings for him.

If you were a favored proxy of his, consider your emotions now heavily exploited! He will string you along due to your affection and desire for him that crosses far over the 'love' he usually gives his proxies.

He will destroy you from the inside out knowing that you love him and want him like a lover does. Will bring you to the highest peak only to send you plummeting down when he takes his warmth away. It's a vicious cycle, his hatred of you for feeling actual love for him, and his glee in knowing he can exploit you.

Jeff the Killer

Oh isn't this rich? One of Slender's pets is feeling the desire for something other than heavy obedience? He too desires to exploit this kind of love.

You tell him and he cackles at you, damn near berates you for feeling this way towards him. And then, when he realizes you're being entirely serious, it makes him pause. That's something he can use.

Similar to Slender, he will string you along too. But it's not... always bad. He will play around with you like he loves you, but his touch is always empty. His gaze is always cold. He doesn't actually care about you the way you care about him.

But how you feel doesn't really concern him. As long as you do as he asks, the things he doesn't want to do, the tasks he wants to half bake, the things that were meant as punishments for him, he doesn't care as long as you're functional.

In that same light, he won't let you do similar for anyone else. He will keep you trapped under his thumb, his hold suffocating, but all you can think of is how at least he's still in your life.

Eyeless Jack

He too laughs. You're joking, you gotta be. There's no way you're actually serious. He sees you as an ally, not necessarily a friend. He doesn't think he's actually done anything special to earn that attention from you.

It does give him an ego boost, but he doesn't like you back. Straight up tells you that the two of you will never happen. Jack is capable of a romantic relationship, but it wouldn't be with you for whatever reason he's listed off to you right then and there.

The notion of closure from him is far too uncomfortable. He's precise and cutting in the way he explains WHY he doesn't like you or doesn't think the two of you would work out. Still, he'd like to keep your company as a friend.

That's where it hurts the most. That ego boost he felt from knowing that you like him makes him act a bit differently whenever you're out with him. EJ is, at least the way I usually write him, an asshole. It's kind of an experiment for him: how much can he prod until you lash out at him?

And when you do lash out, he only laughs. He's never really taken you as seriously as you do him. Though, a part of him does feel bad seeing you like this. The Slenderman calls you one of his most beloved because you're efficient, powerful, and tactically minded. Gods, it's fascinating how love messes with the human mind.

Masky (Written more like Tim)

One of those rare scenarios where Tim actually DOES love you back. God, does he love you back. He knows how dangerous it is to have an actual relationship, but the more human part of him wants to say 'screw it' and let himself be happy for once.

You watch the light in his eyes die when he realizes what this means after you confess. If the Slenderman finds out, he'll exploit the hell out of the two of you and one of you might end up dying to the other's hand. Usually, proxies being romantically involved together wouldn't be an issue, but you and Tim are so specifically on The Operator's radar.

For one night, the two of you love each other. It's a pure kind of love, the kind two souls who were lost found home in each other kind of love.

But when the morning comes, he's gone, and you're transferring groups. Masky and Tim unanimously agreed to keep you safe that you can no longer keep in contact with one another, and that means switching groups and moving as far away from each other as you can. In that same breath, the two agreed to relinquish and deny all feelings for you.

You find Masky a few years later, just a stupid joint mission your boss wants you to complete and for your team to act as extra muscle. Your heart swells seeing Masky. He barely looks you in the eye, and in that moment, you realize the man who'd loved you died before the Slenderman could get to him first.

Hoodie

How tragic. Hoodie feels at odds with himself, both the human and proxy part of him. They're warring with each other, but both of them unanimously agree that they don't love you back, at least, not like that.

Brian himself is especially in a lot of turmoil over this confession. As his group's right hand and you as a runt, he's not quite sure HOW to process something like this. It's so human to love, so human to speak in tones like this, and so human to touch with just a single glance.

Brian doesn't want to be human anymore, not like this. He allows Hoodie to take full control, and that means icing you out as much as he can to defend himself from any further pain. It's not like Brian OR Hoodie want to, but it's to keep you safe. To keep himself safe.

It doesn't really matter in the end. The Slenderman finds out about your 'much too human' emotions, and decides to punish the right hand for not acting with authority sooner. It breaks his heart to know the Slenderman's plan, and he becomes a shell of himself when he sees it enacted. The Slenderman set you 'free', and after you'd just let your guard down, he sent Hoodie to finish the job. Your heart, the trophy and proof.

Your boss, ever the romantic, wanted it still beating.

Toby

Toby feels a lot of different things when you confess to him on accident. His heart beats just a little faster but an old wound feels like it's been ripped wide open after what the Slenderman did to him and Clockwork for daring to be in love. It honestly makes him panic.

He really considers it. He loves you too. Well, romantic love might not be the right notion. He definitely loves you, but it's a newfound overwhelming desire to take care of you and take you far away from this world. So, that's exactly what he does. He runs away with you.

"You want to be people? Let's be people." "Yeah, let's be them for a while." For a few months, you and Toby are quite happy. Wide open space, the stars, a modest little home to call your own. He knows he shouldn't be doing this, and it's bound to not last. There's no way the two of you won't be tracked down, but Toby only hopes that it's himself being punished, not you.

Of course, it all comes crashing down. Toby tries his hardest to keep you safe, to keep the promise he made to himself kept. But it doesn't really matter. He got his wish: he was being punished. The Slenderman, in all his paternal love and glory, forced Toby's hand.

As he held you while you took your final breaths, dying from wounds his hands had inflicted on you, he sobbed, cursing the day he allowed himself to feel love rather than denying and burying it. He hates that he's the reason people he cares about keep getting hurt.

[randomthefox]

Why do so many Sonic fans hate the developers? Why do they think they are stupid? "Uuuh why is Chaos island here? It takes place in the future! Are they stupid!. Why are they trying to piss me off!?" Dude. These are Japanese people. The second country with the highest IQ in the world. Whatever the reason may be, it was was not done out of stupidity. At first, Sonic x Gen 'saved the franchise' but one week later it sucks because it didn't feature levels or elements that you SPECIFICALLY wanted to see? Wtf is wrong with you???

Oh but when Ian Flynn does something similar to this, it's not his fault. He's peak, and everyone that disagrees is stupid. Because SEGA ARE THE BAD GUYS

Wtf

"They're japanese people, they have a high IQ" is a bit much, but I understand where you're coming from and what you're trying to articulate. People have a bad habit of seeing something they don't like or agree with in a piece of art, and then jumping to the worst possible explanation they can think of for why it was included. Just being as bad faith as they possibly can, imposing malice or ignorance onto someone because of a personal subjective feeling they have to what was included in the artwork.

It's not unique to Sonic but since it's trendy to hate on the Sonic video games and Sonic Team and SEGA, it is amplified through that filter of culty mass hysteria.

I don't normally resort to doyalist explanations but in this case it really is the only one you can use - there weren't levels from Sonic Forces and Sonic Frontiers in the original Sonic Generations because those games hadn't been made yet. It's not like it makes any sense whatsoever to lump Sonic 2006, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic Colors together as if they're a coherent era of Sonic. But that's a retroactive conclusion. Sonic Generations was made in 2011 (probably under a VERY short development time) and they worked with what they had. Shadow Generations was made in 2024 (also probably a short development time) and there were three whole new games worth to pull from in the time inbetween.

The idea of people being upset about its inclusion is so dumb and silly to me x3 For reference, this was my initial reaction to that level

When people ask why was Chaos Island included from Frontiers, they're asking the question wrong. They're asking "Why was a level from Frontiers included?" When the more interesting question is "why was THIS level from Frontiers included?" Why Chaos Island instead of any of the other Islands? There's probably multiple answers to that. I find it very conspicuous that they included the volcano erupting in the background during the level.

Meaning that during Shadow's level, Sonic was playing pinball. So the question of "why didn't Sonic see Shadow on Chaos Island?" is answered because we know where Sonic was during this part of Shadow's game. There's no lingering wonder about it. They didn't just throw Chaos Island into the game willy nilly, they spared the time to think about how they would make it make sense to say that Shadow was running around in that location during the events of Frontiers without causing a time paradox or contradicting what happened during that game. They didn't just throw an erupting volcano in as a set piece for no reason. They were not thoughtless in how they implemented this level.

The idea that Chaos Island being included took away a spot that could have gone to another level from Shadow 2005 or something like that is just silly. It reminds me of when people would get angry at Piranha Plant being added to Smash Bros. "THEY'RE TAKING AWAY A SLOT THAT COULD HAVE GONE TO DANTE!" That's not how it fucking works bro. This isn't the divine lottery. They're MAKING the game. Chaos Island being cut from Shadow Generations wouldn't mean that it would be replaced with a level from Shadow 2005 that you would want to be in the game. It would just mean the game woulda had one less level, lol.

But yeah I predicted people turning on Shadow Generations. I gave them too much time if anything, I predicted it would take at least a couple months. They didn't even make it one. Like I said and have said and will keep saying: these people HATE Sonic. The people who were saying "I've never been this excited for New Sonic stuff before! We are so back!" during the preview hype around Shadow Generations? They HATE Sonic. They are tourists. Scavengers who will pick daintily at the game and then leave it bleeding and gaping, unsatisfied.

And yeah naturally they are blatant hypocrites. More than half the reason they were initially so slavish about the game was because of Ian Flynn's name being in the credits. These people are absolute fucking cultists.

lunatics.

I have no doubt that the reason they're starting to sour on Shadow Generations is because Katie made a tweet which basically said "dude, this game isn't bloom fully formed from the singular mind of Ian Flynn alone" and then ABT had to latch on like a male anglerfish being absorbed into a disembodied pair of gonads saying that Ian Flynn didn't do nuffin and everything bad about the games writing is everyone elses fault and comparing Flynn to Jesus.

As soon as the memo started getting passed around that Shadow Generations isn't Ian Flynn's Sonic game after all, that's when the wave started to turn. It's very transparent.

They are a cult of haters pretending to be fans. Wolves in sheeps clothing. Naturally everything they say and do it insincere and psychotic.

[aeolianblues]

Listening to early XFM era Elis and John podcasts, and what I'm finding is, while it's true that people have been talking about how some of the edge has been taking off the Robins' style of tortured humour over the years and especially since he stopped drinking for good, some of those early podcasts also saw the most unbearable sides of Robins: petty, with no patience at all for Elis, especially where his (Welsh) interests were concerned, whereas all of John's own interests were to be honoured at the highest level, and Elis would always give them time of day. The times when John would get extremely petty on Winner Plays On and throw the game by making Elis' questions impossibly hard or not let him answer, or times when he'd have no patience for some of Elis' topics/general rants on Elis' Welsh interests were sometimes unbearable. To that 2015 Robins, I certainly, certainly prefer the John of 2024.

I suppose he really hit the peak of his craft between 2017 and 2022, the balance between razor-wit, compassion, dark humour and astute comedy was the absolute peak of Robins' powers. Some of the 5 Live shows just after both lockdowns were lifted were some of the funniest I've heard from them.

I love that John's happier and more at peace since he's given up drinking, it does seem to me that John's the sort of person that needs to devote his life to something or other in order to not have his own mind simply consume him. I am surprisingly sympathetic to this notion, even though I don't think personally I've ever felt that the space in my own head was so unbearable that I needed to silence it for extended periods. But then again, I am on Tumblr and listening to a podcast while I'm trying to work through some code. I could've just sat with my thoughts, but no. Nonetheless. I can sort of see how he's ended up a big coffee and gym connoisseur, if it was a choice between those two and more serious vices (that John has dealt with in the past, must point out), it's an easy choice.

Gym chat isn't even really my thing, but the rapport between Elis, John and Dave does still make it pretty interesting chat. It's certainly more 5 Live on-air conversation than scripted comedy chat in the style of standup. But you have to give them that, it's not Radio 4's Comedy Of The Week podcast.

I have faith in the new format, from other non-BBC stuff I've seen John on recently, he and Elis have both certainly still got a very funny streak. I feel like they're in the stages of working out how to make the show retain the urgency (/'seat-of-the-pants' broadcasting) of the live show. Figuring out how not to let it just slip back into a sort of guileless chat you'd get from some broadcasters that have no self-awareness and are too far up their own arses. Once the training wheels come off, I'm sure it'll be great. The current episodes aren't bad, just that you can feel a bit of that patting on the ground, trying to find a footing. Certainly happier to be listening to 2024 Robins than 2015 Robins, he's got some cool stuff to say.

[youssefguedira]

and if we want to stick with the theme of Movies That Were Deeply Personal To Me Specifically we can talk about una questione privata (movie specifically i HAVE read the book i DO know it ends differently and i will not be taking further questions at this time) and its ending and the fact that milton ultimately fails what he's been trying to achieve the whole film but we also see him realise that it almost killed him and most importantly walk away at the end. we don't know what happens to him after that. but there's also "it might be interesting to be alive after" and the idea that again this thing has happened and it was tragic and terrible but life goes on. it almost kills him but it doesn't. and then we can talk about past lives which may not have the same element as the other two but still carries that same ambiguity in its ending. we don't know what happens to nora and hae-sung. maybe they never see each other again maybe they visit each other a year later. the point isn't whether that happens but hae-sung's see you then line, i.e. this specific period of time / story may have ended but life continues anyway even though they might grow apart.

someday i'll write a long and in depth letterboxd review detailing Why, exactly, le otto montagne hit me the way it did but until that day comes. the thing i feel like i keep coming back to with this movie is specifically the ending and the way it COULD show us all ice and snow and winter, i.e. it's over, it's dead. and i think if the movie were more tragic, which it isn't really to me, it would work, but the thing is we see the ice melting, we see new life, we see things growing again. and part of this is to give us the last shot with the birds, but another part to me is the idea that things will still go on, nothing has changed really, spring will come and then summer and then fall and there will be another winter, and the house will fall into ruin again and it will all continue. but at the same time there is the dead tree, which is dead and isn't coming back. there are some mountains you can't return to etc etc

[uniquegamers21]

Supernatural AU

(Genshin Impact Private roleplay one x one)

[ Pantalone ] & [ Childe ] & [Wriothesley]

Wriothesley knows that he is in trouble right now. He saw the Fatui delegation leaving Neuvilette office. When he touched the doorknob, he could feel his murderous intent from inside. "Come in" his cold voice made him take a deep breath before opening the door. He could see the table that was prepared for the meeting. It has wonderful tea scents and matcha slice cake on the table. "What is it?" His indifferent attitude to what happened made him mad. However, he remains calm as he taps the table. "Is that all you can say?" Standing up, Neuvilette grabs the paper from his table and throws it to his face. "I disappoint in you, Wriothesley. I thought at least, you can hold back yourself and do the right thing." Wriothesley picked up the paper, one by one. He read it slowly, per sentence.

"Trial?! How can the news reach this fast? I will go back to that place, I can't let them have her-" SLAP!! There's a red mark on his right cheek, Neuvilette slapped him hard, his expression wasn't like usual his emotionless self. He felt angry because no one he could trust to handle such a trivial trouble and let Fatui get what they wanted. The situation there was so intense that even Melusine didn't dare to walk in. "This isn't too late, we can still arrange the trial. After all, he made his mark on her. We still can save one of them. Though, I can't say for another one, we still can save her from Fatui's grasp" A soft yet stern voice made two of them turn their head. It was no other than chlorinde. The duelist champion, the vampire was known for her agility and precision. 

"we should go now" her expression showed nothing, sometimes wriothesley had a hard time talking with her. Their relationship goes to the tea buddy and nothing more. After all, she often breaks his door whenever she comes in. 

----------

In front of the new apartment building, Alhaitham met someone he recognized. After all, he used to stay in Sumeru before. How come he is here now? "You are that...Hat guy?" Said Alhaitham with his stoic expression. "I should have been the one who asked you. Why are you here and what are you doing here? I never thought the reason you moved from Sumeru was to stay in Fontaine." He crossed his arm with a small frown on his flawless face. He wondered why is he near this building. Is he after Demetra too? He had been told by Kaveh before about the awakening. Today should be the day when they unleash their potential and it is also the highest peak of their blood. Their blood is rare enough, that no supernatural creatures would want to miss them. However, during this day, it was holding much more power than before. "Don't tell me...are you after her too?" There is one reason why would she worried about his soon-to-be partner more than Kaveh's relative. That is because of her origin. Those who were marked by bravery will burn everything once the power is unleashed from her body. It might even burn the entire city and have a bad after-effect on her body. He didn't feel any of her presence around her. There's only one human and one vampire in that apartment building. Since he is half-human, his abilities are quite limited. Suddenly, the water pipe in that building lost control, and water leaking out in everywhere. That must be Rayne. "Crap, I'm too late! Where's the secret alleway?! Take me there and I will-" Before he finished a loud explosion could be heard from afar, a huge fire swirling around the building that is not far from there. No, he is too late to find her. Alhaitham ran in the fire direction, as fast as he could, hoping that is not too late. 

[A few minutes before the accident]

Childe and Pantalone enjoyed their time, devouring her, sinking their fangs into her soft, delicate skin, and drinking her blood. The rich taste of her blood made their body grow even stronger than before. Childe can feel it, if this keeps up, he will be able to master the foul legacy in no time. As Pantalone, he never thought he would feel such a power like this in his veins. His sense of smell, his sights, and hearing had been shaper than before. Such a magnificent power, yet a fragile host. It is a shame that she knows nothing about it. Taking his time admiring her, Pantalone's hand slowly caressed her cheeks gently. "You should blame Diluc for this. After all, he is the one who hides the truth from you" Crawling on top before positioning himself above her, Pantalone leans forward as his lips embrace hers passionately. Enjoying this sinful moment between them. Pulling away, he left a trail of kisses down to her chin, running across her jawline until he reached her neck. His lips pressed gently against her skin, so gentle like a lover. 

Flashing his fangs to brush them against the tender area he wished to scar. Wasting no time, he sinks his fangs deeply into her neck.  The sweetness of her blood filled his mouth, a soft moan escaping his lips, as expected of the legendary hunter lineages.

Continuing what he did, Pantalone slithered off the bed and made his way in between her thighs. Positioning his tip near her entrance, his body trembling with excitement. With both hands gripping each side of her hips, in one thrust he pushed his entire length inside of her. He didn't even give hera chance to take a break. He positioned his hands just under the back of her knee. Lifting her thighs, repositioning her legs just enough to have them hover in the air. He won't give her a chance to take a breath and keep pushing his length till it hits her spot. with one final thrust forward, he finally reached his climax. If it wasn't because of protection, his thick, hot loads of liquid would fill her to the brim of her entrance. Groaning softly, Pantalone slowly pulled away from her, watching her expression as she slowly slipped away into the dreamland. "I think that is enough for the night" Pantalone grabbed the blanket and covered her body. This room is quite a mess now. He didn't even remember how long they played, but the time to enjoy this will end soon. "Hey, what do you mean by 'it's enough'? Are you f****ng kidding me?!" Pantalone eyes colour glowed for a moment, making him pause his action. "You know what? Screw this, why don't we finish it by fighting outside. The winner shall take her" However, this won't make him cower in fear. Tartaglia loves battle and the feeling of adrenaline, no matter how strong he is. Though he only drank her blood a little, he could always do a quick test with his foul legacy. Instead of fighting, Pantalone threw his phone at him, it was showing the location of Wriothesley who seemed to head back there. "With the current me, I will welcome you anytime. However, he won't be back here alone. You know what this means don't you?" Childe hated to admit it, but he couldn't fight the entire Fontaine alone. Besides, it will make their nation's relationship worse. "Tch. Fine" both of them quickly clean themselves and wear their clothes. What they didn't know is, the fire mark on her body glowed a little. As it glowed, the fire started to appear near the drawer. "Hey, I smell something- wait, fire?" Childe used his water element, unfortunately, it wasn't the end. One by one, the fire started to appear around them. "This..." Pantalone saw how the fire started to expand yet not a single flame touched her body. Is this her awakened power? He wanted to grab her but as soon as his hand touched her body, it burned his skin. "Gah! " Pantalone stared at the wound, his healing process was too slow. Is this because of the hunter's power? The fire swirling around her. "She might burn the entire building at this point, no, with this power she might even try to burn the entire city" 

Pantalone saw the fire swirling around her body as if forming into armor with wings of fire on her back. Slowly the fire lifted her body and broke the rooftop. Pantalone and Childe rush outside, everyone scrambles to leave this place. 

As the chaos erupted, the water formed around her like a tornado, swirling against her fire, slowly putting it out of the way.

"I'm glad we arrived on time. Wriothesley, Clorinde."  Neuvilette stands there, in his usual formal attire. Everyone was surprised to see Monsieur Neuvilette there. 

"Yes, sir" Wriothesley ran towards her as the fire slowly devoured her fire, but being careful not to drown her. He used his water and carve a path for him and Clorinde to get her. Once he closed enough, he grabbed her body. His mark on her body glowed and the fire reduced a little bit. "Ah, I get it now. So, I need to take down the fire and touch her at the same time" Wriothesley grinned, knowing he had a massive chance to get her. "Still thinking about that?" As if reading her mind, Clorinde touched the mark of fire on her and whispered something in other languages before everything turned to normal. Before Wriothesley caught her, Clorinde kicked him away and carried her in her arms, covering her body with her jacket. She made eye contact with Neuvilette who nodded at her and left that place in an instant. Heading towards her apartment. However, on the way there, she met someone. His clothes showed that he was from Sumeru. Half humans and Half Vampire. 

"Wait, I'm Alhaitham from Sumeru. I'm here for her. I've been looking for her everywhere. Thankyou for taking care of her"

"You should have protected her better," said Clorinde with coldness in her tone. "Show me, where is her place?" Alhaitham shook her head, knowing that apartment was...in a mess right now. "I don't think we can take her there. Another one awakens just like her. Water is flooding in everywhere. its better to take her to my place." Clorinde thought for a while before she shook her head. "My place. You come with me"

In the end, they took her to Clorinde's personal house, a large house that has a good aesthetic in it. She placed her in her guest room and covered her with a blanket before she closed the door. "Now, Alhaitham. Tell me what you know" Alhaitham seemed hesitant, but he had no choice. It is for her own good. 

​​​​​​In her dream, she was in the middle of a strange place. Filled with cracked ground, magma around her and a strange floating red stone in front of her. The stone has the prism shape, floating in front of her. The moment she set her eyes on that stone, the images of her past appeared around her. 

'why?' A male voice spoke within her head.

'Why can't you feel my presence, Demetra?'

'Why?' The stone glowed as if signalling that it was indeed the stone that talked to her. However, the moment she was about to touch it, someone grabbed her hand and choked her neck. "I got ya...Princess" The man was full of black liquid around his body, slowly that liquid fell from her body, revealing a handsome man with red eyes. "I won't let you get away again, Demetra!" The prism shone brighter this time, it made the man release his grip on her and send her back to her own world. She can hear the man's voice screaming in anger when he no longer gets his hand on her. 

[ Rayne ]

Everything seemed like a dream to her, a pleasant dream that she never had before. Everything he had done, pushed her to the edge. Every time, he sinks his fang, her body reacts differently. It's like her body is on fire, it's too much for him to handle. It's like his touch is her water. He is the only one who can take these feelings away from her. "W-wait Dottore...slow down-" a soft moan escaped her lips, in normal situations, she would probably lash out like a female lion. However, she couldn't think straight. Never in a million times that she would spend her first time like this. Her heart beating so fast, her lewd voice filled the room. She could feel her legs tremble, her body losing all its strength every time he drank her blood. The way he kept hitting her sensitive spot, made her wrap her legs around him, not wanting to let go. She wanted more of him. "D-dottore, I wanna come..." Reaching climax, she moaned in pleasure calling his name. The moment, Rayne reached a climax, she became quiet. Her breathing turned to be more stable unlike before. Everything turns hazy, maybe his venom is too much for her for the first time. She stared at Dottore's face for one last time before she fell unconscious. Unknown to her, her hydro mark was slowly visible on her neck. It glows slightly, as a sign that she will awaken her power soon. It all started from the water pipe on the first floor, the water from the sink, and the bathroom started to come up. It flooded the apartment and even started to make their way to the street. The second floor, the third floor and next is the fourth floor, the place where she stayed.

"What the hell is this?! The water pipe is out of control!" A loud voice was heard from outside. Then suddenly, the water pipe in her room also did the same. It's like the water turned to life and even tried to nearly drown everyone. The water slowly surrounds the person's body and goes into their head, blocking their sources of oxygen. However, the water didn't even touch her. Instead, it goes around her. "Someone please save me!" Many people scream outside asking for help while Rayne falls unconscious.

Meanwhile, Rayne had a strange dream. She opens her eyes to see the fallen city. Everything is drowned by water, she wants to come out when she realized that she is in the water. However, someone pulled her back. "You can breathe in here, don't worry" a male voice made her turn her head. She never saw him before. "Who are you?" The man didn't say anything and pointed at the strange prism floating behind her. It has a hydro symbol in it. "What is this? Who are you? What is happening here?!" Since the man kept silent, she decided to touch the prism and in an instant the memories of her past flooded her mind. "I...don't want to remember"

the man shook his head as he turned his back against her. "You had to....after all, you are a hunter. Not a prey. You shouldn't let them leave their mark on you, otherwise...they might have control over your power soon.." This makes her confused even more. What kind of power? Suddenly, the man in front of her, choked her with such strength. "Wake...up"

Rayne jolts awake, she can feel the sensation on her neck. Why the hell is he doing that?! "Geez...what a bad dream- wait, what the hell are you two doing here?!" She is surprised to see Dottore and Scara in her room, they look like about to start a war with each other. Her eyes landed on her belongings, only to see her room condition in chaos. everything is wet, her book, her clothes, and even her blue bandage. She even doubted that she had something to wear tonight- wait, something to wear? She took a peek at her blanket and realized that she didn't wear anything. "Both of you...OUT!" She throws anything at them, whether a pillow or anything she can find in her room. At least, when they were out of her room, she quickly closed the door and looked for any dried clothes to wear. Her face still turns red from embarrassment.  "Remember, none of you leave this place! We still had something to talk about!"

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Introducing David Xanatos. We've faded out of the time we were in and to closer to the present day, and here is Xanatos, just thrilled. I very much enjoy that we see him all on his own here. He approaches the castle, runs inside of it, vaults up the tower stairs, then slowly crosses to the stone gargoyle at the highest peak.

We're about to learn that Xanatos has a lot of money, which means really, he does nothing alone. But he sets himself apart, and he is eager about a venture which we will learn, he is really unsure of. But he doesn't care.

It's one of the most remarkable personality traits of the whole show, to the point that he has a TV Tropes trope named after him. No matter how things play out, Xanatos uses it as an opportunity to learn and find success in that learning. He's always ready to be open to a chance opportunity and seize it with the same enthusiasm he has here, running into an old and decrepit castle known for being haunted. And we learn that he isn't even the type of person to disbelieve in hauntings.

But hey, if he runs into ghosts, then he finds out they're real! That's not so bad. And that's just who he is and who he has shaped himself into being.

We don't know it yet, but we learn much later on that he comes from poverty and sees himself as a self-made man. I really don't think this 90's kids show was really attempting to make much commentary on the super rich and how they gain their wealth, so I'll probably not try to put too much into that here, but they are definitely I think saying something about being open to failure and the inherent humiliations that come with that in order to achieve higher than those who must always have their way. It's his greatest strength. So really they had to open with him in some way being brash and bold and open to risk.

[akmu-archives]

[140410] ['Raise Your Voice High!'] Collected Photos + Excerpts (Part 1)

Collected Photos from the Internet

Photos by 하루 (+ Book Excerpts)

"A pitch-black night without a single light. For some reason, the lights in our house had been off for a while now. Desperate to turn the lights back on but unsure of what to do, I sat in the darkened room and gazed up at the stars in the night sky.

Mongolia has so many stars. Watching the stars twinkling from afar, I felt a sense of loneliness and a surge of emotions. The stars shine brightly, pierce the darkness from high above. This alone draws me to stare at them continuously.

Why do people come to think of stars as "hope"? How much hardship must a star endure? Because it cannot turn away from those who gaze upon it, it must constantly watch over the dark abyss. It must be incredibly difficult to keep an eye on the pitch-black darkness. When I think and look at it that way, I feel even more grateful for the existence of the stars.

Around that time, after I started homeschooling, I barely spoke to Dad. No, it would be more accurate to say that I was avoiding him. Unable to bear my behavior any longer, Dad eventually yelled out,

"This is all your fault!"

His words hurt not only me but also Mom, Suhyun, and most importantly, Dad himself. The strong and dependable Dad fell ill. For two months, he lay bedridden, barely eating, suffering from what was diagnosed as gastritis. But could it have been a physical ailment alone?

On top of that, it was a financially difficult time for our family. Was it just a coincidence that good and bad things came together at once? Dad felt a heavy burden to lead the family as the patriarch. He apologized to us and struggled with his guilt.

At the peak of my adolescence, as a true sophomore in middle school, I felt like it was all my fault. The atmosphere created by the late-rising sun and early-setting moon suffocated me. Though faintly visible in the city, the stars of Mongolia seemed so close.

Like the little stars unable to sleep, I kept tossing and turning in my bed. And so, one day passed, followed by another gloomy one. It seemed like the days were merely there to fade away. Perhaps Mom, Dad, and Soohyun looked at it that way that night too. A faint star shines beyond the bleak darkness and beyond.

"The faint little star that came out to play in the city, why can’t you sleep again?" I wanted to ask that.."

-p.060~062 "A Night Without a Single Light - Chanhyuk"

---

The teacher complimented my voice, suggesting that I should polish it and aim for Berkeley. From then on, the goal of Berkeley grew inside me like a tree.

A few years later, someone left a comment in the guestbook of my mini-homepage. Upon seeing my dream of Berkeley, they advised me to face reality.

"Berkeley isn't a place you can go just because you want to!"

"No matter how much you practice, you won't make it!"

Is there really a place you can't go just because you want to? Even if Berkeley seemed like a difficult place to reach, I didn't waver. I believed that you should aim high for college and dreams. Berkeley was the highest goal I could set. Once I set a goal, my mind painted a clear picture.

"I will definitely pursue music and definitely attend Berkeley. Even if I can't go right away, I will go someday."

With such a clear picture of Berkeley in my mind, I hung it up high.

However, unlike me who was always dreaming, my older brother faced reality. He said bluntly,

"How are you going to Berkeley? There are so many people better than you!"

"No, I can make it starting from now!"

"What about the tuition?"

"I'll get a scholarship and go!"

I thought so simply. There are countless reasons why I can't go, but there was only one reason why I could go: my earnest desire. My brother told me to stop dreaming, but that's not just dreaming. I only think of my dreams.

Why do people get more complicated when they think of their dreams? If you think of your dream simply, a complex reality will straighten out into one…

-p. 064-066 'Berkeley? Let's go! - Suhyun'

What is a dream, exactly? When we talk about dreams, shouldn't it be something like this?

"Doing that would be enjoyable."

Even if it couldn't provide a nice house or a nice car, I thought that doing something I loved was what a dream was. But even that definition seemed too far removed from reality.

Why do we have to decide on our dreams during adolescence? During such a complex and difficult time!

According to my friends, many kids my age were grappling with similar worries. My parents became anxious when I didn't decide on a dream and didn't show efforts to find one. They wanted to have many conversations with me about dreams.

Unlike me, Suhyun discovered her dream early. Whether singing or healing people's hearts through song, singing was an unchanging fact for her. Since elementary school, Suyun had written on her desk, "Let's go to Berkeley!"

However, even when Dad earnestly asked about my dream, I couldn't give a proper answer. Dad must have been frustrated, but I was frustrated too. I flipped through my list of past dreams and found my potential there. I used to love dancing and drawing, so I answered that I wanted to be a worship dancer or a cartoonist.

"If you're just doing dance and drawing as hobbies, that's okay, but isn't it too late to make them your profession?"

Discouraged by Dad's words, I ended up saying, "How about I become a dancing pastor?" by mixing my parents' profession as missionaries with my love of dancing. I thought it was a fresh and revolutionary idea.

But Dad didn't say a word.

After that, Dad spared no advice to help me find my dream and hope. His actions felt like nudging me. Dad and I became more and more at odds.

In Dad's eyes, I seemed to have no dream, and even to myself, being a dancing pastor or painter seemed unconvincing. Knowing Dad looked at me with pitying eyes, I didn't know what to do. Since I didn't know what I wanted to do, I naturally didn't know what to prepare for. I didn't even want to make dancing or drawing my "job." I felt like there must be something more wonderful and suitable for me. I just couldn't find that thing.

If Dad had said, like other dads, "If you want to go to college, you have to study. Stop complaining and study," maybe it would have been easier. However, Dad was the kind of person who said that if you want to do what you want, there's a way even without going to college.

"Can I discover my talent before it's too late?"

It was a problem too difficult to solve on my own.

-p. 067-069 'Too Late for Anything! - Chanhyuk'

---

As a 2nd year student in middle school who had declared "No Entry Allowed for Dad" and was digging endlessly into a cave of my own creation, I started uploading pictures of myself to the internet one day. In those photos, I sported exaggerated expressions and poses full of bravado. I was so satisfied with my exaggerated appearance. People laughed and enjoyed seeing me like that.

No one can stop a middle schooler's bravado. I think we might be the most pretentious beings on Earth. Isn't there even a term called "Chuunibyou" (middle school second-year syndrome)? It's that awkward phase between childhood and adulthood, pretending to be grown-up, pretending to be cool.

But in reality, we might just be a bunch of idiots who know nothing. We just take everything personally, so we get upset for no reason, stubbornly persist, and despite regrets, they never apologize. We're afraid of getting hurt, but we hurt others without hesitation. Most of all, we feel so lonely, like we're all alone in the universe. So maybe that's why we each create our own "dark history."

Just having someone see my dark history makes me feel connected to others, and the more comments and views I get, the more I feel like they understand me. I know I'll be embarrassed when I look back on it later, but it was really important to me at the time.

After <K-Pop Star> ended, I typed my name on the Internet and the related search terms included 'Lee Chanhyuk's dark history' and 'Lee Chanhyuk's Chuunibyou.'

Were there any bizarre pictures of me I didn't know about? I was worried, but when I searched, it was thankfully just my bravado pictures. Showing off is like writing lyrics. I'm still taking pictures these days, and they're even more intense, but I don't want to stop. No, I enjoy the embarrassment. Maybe bravado has wheels? Because it doesn't stop and just keeps speeding up.

I don't upload these pictures to get attention or popularity. Sometimes, it's just a case of pretending that I'm a second-year middle school student with empty delusions and bravado.

Of course, sometimes I get goosebumps all over my body and run out to the living room because I'm embarrassed when I upload pictures. But this is one of the few hobbies I enjoy regularly and quite like. I'll keep doing it even if I get goosebumps from embarrassment looking at my dark history that's uploaded to the internet.

It's pointless to try to find meaning in it or analyze my mental state through it. Embarrassing history is just that—a record of those boring days. Seeing people trying to dig out meaning from it makes me laugh embarrassingly. Yet, why can't I stop? Is this an homage to that difficult mental world of middle school second-year that will last forever?

-p.078~080 'Knight of Darkness – Chanhyuk’

To adults, the worship dance club looked like a strange group with no rules. There were always a few members who missed meetings. But that's just how it is with any group or activity, isn't it? You can't expect 100% participation all the time. Yet, adults consider that 100% very important. They say to value the process, but they still prioritize the outcome.

I had a friend who didn't particularly attend dance club. He was a friend who had severe emotional ups and downs.

"If you come pick me up, I'll go."

That's what my friend would say when I called him.

"Okay, just wait a bit."

So I would turn around and go back to pick up my friend, even though it meant taking a longer route to church. My parents would ask me why I did that. My friend was just saying that because he knew I would do it for him. If I didn't pick him up, he would be hurt. I didn't like it when I got hurt, and I didn't like it when my friends got hurt either.

"You're too soft. You should make them come with you. Why can't you speak up?"

"Why don't you just ask confidently as a leader, instead of going to pick him up?"

I don't think everyone should follow the leader's orders like soldiers. If you get angry because not everyone follows along, you're only going to hurt yourself. I'm not soft at all. If I were really soft, I wouldn't be able to be a leader, and I wouldn't be able to stand up on stage and dance.

'Let's just ignore what other people think or say. I can just do it my way.'

I decided to take it easy that way. The dance club might have looked disorganized to adults, but they always put on amazing shows.

'What's going on in those kids' heads?'

That's what the adults must have been thinking. When we were alone, it was dark, but when we were together, we glowed with passion!

-p.083~084 'If Aliens Gather – Chanhyuk'

---

Through my parents' trip to Mongolia, I finally gained the freedom and independence I had long desired. With my parents away, Suhyun can only look at me.

"Oppa, what should we do?"

"What can we do? We'll have to figure it out on our own."

And that's exactly what we did. Until then, whatever we did, we did it together as a family. Mom sang and danced with us, and we discussed webtoons and novels together. Mom was by my side as I breathed, and Dad was the same.

But now, no matter what, it was just Suhyun and me. Making decisions meant taking responsibility. Bearing responsibility alone felt like carrying a heavy burden. Suhyun asked me about trivial things like what to have for lunch or how to wrap a gift for our grandfather's birthday. Even when we took the express bus to visit our grandfather in Daejeon, she couldn't stay still.

"Oppa, what time is the bus?"

"Can I go to the restroom?"

She asked questions that she could easily answer on his own. Not because she didn't know, but because she couldn't decide on her own! I found myself getting irritated without realizing it and snapped at her abruptly.

"You too, try to use your brain. Can't you think about it yourself? Think?"

"I don't know, Oppa, you decide."

At that moment, hearing Suhyun's simple and clear answer, I knew I had to hold back. Now, there was no one to mediate when we wrestled or fought. So we often ended up silent after a few exchanges, with no one to mediate our fights.

The day my Dad, who was in Mongolia, came to see us, I burst into tears. They say a man should cry only three times in his life, and yet...

"Dad, I miss you."

It was different from when I kissed my dad on the cheek in front of my friends as a joke. At the age of 18, I genuinely missed Dad. Until then, I thought I was a completely independent entity. I found it easier to live outside the house than at home, with friends than with family. But after spending three months without Dad, I realized what it meant to hold the position of "the head of the family." Maybe I would have asked Dad and Mom as many questions as Suhyun did.

From then on, the way I looked at Dad, and the way Dad looked at me, changed. Dad treated me as a confident, independent individual. Whereas before he tried to teach me something, this time he listened to my words first and then asked for my opinion. Above all, he began to "gaze at me lovingly."

-p.156-158 'Our Hopeful Gaze - Chanhyuk'

Now I no longer have a diary. Even if I did, it wouldn't be the same as my old diary anymore. My diary is now in a glass case. Because it could be shattered by someone's attack, I can no longer make it public.

I still want to write in my diary, share stories with friends, and exchange comments. Instead, these days, I sometimes draw pictures and send them, cautiously, to my friends. I'm sad that I can't have a diary because I'm afraid of the sharp words that might be added one by one. I still want to "communicate" with my friends and people.

-p.178 'Glass Case Diary - Suhyun'

---

The greatest privilege of being a teenager is having an open growth plate, where you can do anything. While your growth plates are open, you should grow freely in height, body, and mind. That way, you can embrace your twenties and thirties even more splendidly. Soon enough, you'll become an adult, and the time spent as an adult is much longer. At that point, no matter how much you want to go back to being a teenager, you can't. So why not enjoy this short period of being a teenager to the fullest with teenage-like thoughts and actions?

-p.221 'Open Growth Plate - Chanhyuk'

Source: [목소리를 높여 high!] - 악동뮤지션 : 열정과 성장의 아이콘 악동뮤지션의 음악 에세이

[chargetheintruder]

A pointless gift, and no one will see it.

Fair warning: cringe and/or wrassle gibberish incoming (it is all very oblique and such, though).

Meditate for a few minutes on these words. Why yes, I DO know who needs to see this, but she most likely won't. Because first impressions are a thing and I'm bad at them lately, thanks to my bad health. But take some time and imagine what I'm saying below.

Broken things. Broken promises. Abandoned places. Remembered places.

These are the wages of the times we live in. This is the 21st century for you--this is the literal future we once dreamed of. Well sure, but nobody said this would be the century where it all ends, right.

Malls, stores, libraries, playgrounds, neighborhoods, post offices, diners, movie theaters, swimming pools and ice cream places only open for the summer. Everything ends.

But it doesn't just end. It all gets taken away. And the world becomes less, thanks to those who show up and do the least.

This isn't about them though. Too much is about them as it is.

This is about the memory, the memory of the Earth. How lost places become familiar and liminal. How any abandoned place becomes EVERY remembered place.

This is what Lore is made of. This is where you go to find your own lore. Some are rich in it but everyone who makes it to the stage, who is in the arena of life, everyone has something that can be lore.

The ancients once said, in a fit of sarcasm, "Sure, the vertex is the vortex, I guess." Meaning the highest peak is the lowest of the void. But, here is what the ancients of Rome couldn't have guessed: The highest mountains literally DO grow from the bottom of the ocean, to form islands.

What I am saying is? You have your own Great Mountain within you. It is simply harder to see because you aren't in the lowest point where it grows from yet. You've been there without understanding it. You've been in the Uncanny Valley without understanding it as a place, not just a description.

Find your understudy, and then find your liminal, remembered place. Find the place that stands for the abandoned heart of you, that signifies it. I could point you at some things, but they would be MY ideas, not yours.

*lol* =)) Okay, that was geeky and oblique. Maybe a bit condescending too, my apologies. Here's the short version: If you made a stable tomorrow and called it "the Uncanny Valley" and had regular glittery tea parties in a creepy but well-lit abandoned mall somewhere nearby in Florida? I wouldn't be mad. :) I'd get what you were doing--making some damned lore, even if it looks superficially like you're rehashing The Judgement Day Backwards and Upside Down. I covered the upside down part, but the backwards bit? You start with 1 or 2 others--Gigi Dolin and Valentina Feroz, for example--and at first it's just Twisted Bliss and Friends, versus Auntie Angry and Her Nexus Nieces. It starts casual and only gets spooky once you realize Uncle Howdy is a Short Bitch, and that you and yours can kick his ass directly, with or without the spooky shit. =))

[thatiranianphantom]

People don’t want to admit that Riverdale isn’t doing well and that season 5 was their kill shot because it benefits them. It’s undeniable that Riverdale isn’t doing well anymore and it doesn’t have the audience power as it used to have. They used to dominate in the TCAs, PCAs and MTV TV & Movie Awards. I remember when Madelaide won Scene Stealer in 2018 against pretty well known actors so it really proved the voting power the show had. In 2019, the most awarded at TCAs were Avengers Endgame and Riverdale with them taking best show and Lili/Cole for actor/actress respectively. BAs like to argue "Riverdale started losing viewership on season 3 when those couples existed" like, of course it did, that’s the natural professing of shows when they get to the 3-4 seasons like any normal show but the drop was minimal and the public was there making noise and selling out Paley Fest. The drop was normal specially when Riverdale's highest peak was season 2 both in audience and public relevance, it doesn’t say anything about VA or BH likability with the public because BH was a big reason why season 2 because so successful. The last nominations for Riverdale were in late 2020 for Best Drama TV Show and Cole/Lili.

Like, we know by the nominations along that Lili and Cole (BH, by extension) acted as the face of the show in many of those awards so not only was separating them a big mistake but also season 5 was just terrible. You can’t blame the pandemic for it because a lot of shows blow up during pandemic because people were watching anything on streaming services and a lot of old shows went trending because of it. Riverdale barely trends in Netflix or social media, don’t get nominations anymore and the views are under 200K now. The other big show on Riverdale was TVD, the views dropped a lot when Nina Dobrev left but even they didn’t drop this bad when it was almost over – their season FINALE on 2017 was 1.9M views and remained consistently around the 700k-800k mark.

Anons, I hear you and I agree with you, but I also have messages like this in my inbox, should you be wondering if people really do think the show is doing fine:

The thing is, continuing this way, this show won't have a shelf life. The rewatchability is the thing it's not too late to protect now, so it has to be the priority. My recommendation to the show is to give the fans exactly what they want for the last season. The majority of fans, not the crazy antis that invade our inboxes.

And yes, the show is not doing well. This is just a fact. I've long said that some ebb and flow in the ratings is normal, and it is. This isn't ebb and flow. They went from 700k a year ago to not even 200k now. In total, they're down about a million + viewers from their heyday. They get no nominations for anything, sell out no fan conventions, and have disappeared off streaming. That's not normal ebb and flow. The show is dying, and it is absolutely taking everyone's career down with it. You can literally see that in the actors' upcoming projects.

[hermitcraftheadcanons]

Scattered AU Masterpost Part 1

This is a collection of all material associated with the Scattered AU (read about the premise here)!

Join the new Discord server here

AU material under the cut (because this is growing super fast already)

Due to post length limit (which is apparently a thing), find Part 2 of this AU here.

A few ideas to get us started:

- Tango and Zedaph spawned relatively close to each other, but they haven't found each other yet and each think they are alone. They keep just barely missing each other in their exploration of the area. Maybe, with the powers of Zed's perfect sense of direction and Tango's laser-sharp perception skills, they'll finally stop walking circles around each other...maybe.

- Xisuma spawned alone, deep underground in a massive, confusing cave system. He desperately wants to figure out what's going on and how to fix it, but a bad run-in with the Warden damaged his helmet, leaving him unable to use admin commands.

- Mumbo spawned the farthest out of anyone, right next to a woodland mansion. He quickly realized that hoping to stumble across another person this far out is a lost cause, so he's trying to create some form of communication using a combination of redstone and Evoker magic. The Evoker isn't very helpful, and it isn't going well.

- Joe and Vintagebeef were the only ones to successfully spawn at spawn. They aren't really sure what's going on, but they've decided to build a small village as a base of operations while they figure it out (and to signal signs of life to anyone who might successfully find their way back)

- Cleo spawned in a village, and is currently hiding out in a house while trying to convince the villagers to trust her. Let's just say they aren't thrilled to have a zombie in their midst (and the iron golem is even less pleased)

- Impulse had the misfortune to spawn in a guardian temple. Between the guardians and the constant threat of drowning, he's been in a death loop since the world started.

- False and Stress spawned right next to each other. They figured out pretty early that something was wrong with regen, and using their combined strengths, they made it to the Nether to get ingredients for healing potions. They are now on a mission to find the others and distribute the potions to whoever needs them.

- Ren actually managed to travel a good distance back to the world center, before getting pretty badly injured. With no regen, and knowing he'll have to start the journey all over if he dies and respawns, he's decided to pull together a small base and take shelter while he waits to be found.

- Scar spawned on an outer End island, with no idea how to get back to the Overworld. He keeps finding strange glitches in his surroundings, and he swears he can hear soft Vex laughter whenever he turns his back...

- Keralis spawned in the Nether, and he is absolutely terrified.

That's all I have for ideas so far. The location of the others (and what happens next) is up to you!

Contributions so far:

- Bdubs spawns in the void, but he just doesn’t die. Maybe it’s spawn protection, maybe it’s the glitches, but he just keeps falling and falling and falling further from the bedrock, unable to do anything to help himself as he descends further into the void

- @fluffy-papaya

- After wandering around aimlessly for days or maybe weeks, Tango finds an automatic farm for... well... he's not sure, exactly. But he does know who built it- it's got Zedaph's mark all over it. So he stays there, fixing broken Redstone, trying to figure out what it does. And when Zedaph returns to collect melons (so that's what this thing is for), he finds Tango waiting for him.

- @rayveewrites

- Etho spawns in a underwater cave, but there is air in it and for some reason a shipwreck so he can get some wood and tools. But he has to get out to contact anyone because the reception in caves don't happen to be the best, little does he know just outside the cave is the monument where Impulse is, they're so close yet so far from one another

- anonymous

- Maybe Etho ended up spawning at the very top of a mountain, he could see far from up there and has a general idea of where he is, but no idea how to get down as all around him is powderd snow hiding ravines, and cliffs. . . And a few goats that Etho has narowly avoided getting headbutted by. (Etho went to the mountain after escaping the cave)

- @ciaravixen

- Welsknight spawned in the Nether

- (paraphrased) Ren fell down a ravine in the mountains on his journey to the world center, and decided to make a small cabin base rather than try to carry on injured. Doc spawned in those same mountains, and may find him eventually.

- anonymous

- Grian spawns on the tallest peak of the highest mountain. Surrounded by thick fog and almost ever-falling snow, with crevasses and cliffs that drops thousands of blocks to the ground around every corner. No trees, no life, and barely enough air to breath. It's so cold. A thin red sweater isn't nearly enough to keep him warm.... he's likely caught in a death loop for quite awhile as he refreeze over, and over, and over again. And when he does manage to climb down, an ice pillager lies in wait...

- @therainofsweetmelody

- Scar’s End spawn is on a single island- he can see other islands around him, but they’re just out of jump reach- he tried, and fell and died, and respawned back onto his little island with the whispering voices around him a tad louder, and the islands just a bit farther away. He stops trying to jump to them eventually, out of fear they’ll vanish and he won’t have anything to focus on besides the whisper of ice cold hands and wings on his skin

- anonymous

- Oh! Maybe since Xisuma’s admin helmet is broken and he’s unable to run any world commands, that means mob hermits like Cleo, Doc, and Jevin aren’t quite the same. Maybe Cleo locked herself in that house for the villagers protection as much as her own. Maybe Doc eventually joins a lone creeper pack. Who knows! -💧

- anonymous

- Zed and Tango spawned in the same jungle biome, explaining the melon farm and why they could be literally three blocks from each other and still not be aware of each other’s existence. -🟣

- The first thing Scar does once he first spawns in (besides from almost having a panic attack) is take a jump into the void. This of course does nothing. He checks out the rest of the end islands around him, and finds a rather large end city just in render distance. There should be treasure or something that could help him survive, right? -🟣

- Keralis was lucky enough to spawn in a warped forest biome and next to a basalt delta, so he’s got wood and stone. It takes a bit, but he gets full gold armor and finds his way to a nether fortress. He figures with the broken regen that the other hermits will try to go for potions. Maybe he finds Stress and False, maybe not. -🟣

- I apologize if I'm sending too many asks, please feel free to say if so! I'm just already so invested in this idea, and absolutely love where it's all going! Shattered au brainrot go brrrrr - anyways; Cub spawns in a valley within the messa. To one side an abandoned village covers the cliff, and to the other, mines drill deep into the rock. A stream luckily runs through the valley, though it's slowly drying up. He can hear strange sounds in the mines, and feels something in the village watching

- @/therainofsweetmelody

- what if the hermits caught in death loops start gaining scars and marks from all their deaths? like impulse had permanent scars from the guardians and grian’s hands are permanently blue from freezing to death all the time

- anonymous

- X finds some axoloyls in a lush cave and falls in love. He gets some wood from said cave and gets some buckets so he can keep them -🟣

- Cleo gets stuck in a death loop with the iron golem, who is blind to her not attacking the villagers. One of the smarter villagers realizes she’s not fighting back, and calls the golem off. -🟣

- (paraphrased) After the iron golem is called off, Stress and False find Cleo badly hurt in the village house. They make sure she's comfortable and safe before going to the Nether to get potions, where they find a battered Keralis and carry him back. They turn the house into a little hospital while they brew potions and take care of Cleo and Keralis until they're strong enough to move on.

- anonymous

- Stress and False have set up a Nether Portal near a Nether Fortress, for easy escape to the relative safety of the Overworld. Keralis has never been more relieved in his life than when he found that portal.

- @/rayveewrites

- Doc spawned a thousand blocks away from ren, not knowing hos friend was there he happened to go in that direction. He managed to get materials, tools and food for himself before he sees rens little hut

- anonymous

- Jevin was one of the luckier hermits, when it came to where he spawned. He woke up in the shallow green waters of a floral cave, illuminated by glowing rocks and berries. He wasn't... quite alone. Although no other hermits could be seen, he quickly found a small family of axolotl living in the closed-off cave. They became his companions as he tried to assess his situation, and served as comfort when he realised his communicator was almost useless. Being slime, the environment was very welcoming

- @/therainofsweetmelody

- Xb spawns in the middle of a desert, with not even a village in sight. While he's used to being in distant lands with limited resources, he's very much not used to it on the Hermitcraft server with limited contact to the others. As the nights go by and the sands grow more hostile thanks to never-burning husks, he grows more and more lonely.

-@/basaltdragon

- At first, Doc is elated when he spawns on a mountain surrounded by goats. That is, until he discovers that none of his fellow hermits are there with him. After being headbutted down the mountain into the snowy tundra below and left on precariously low health, he hunkers down in a nearby igloo. But it's not exactly easy in a food-scarce biome when his only contacts are two villagers and the horde of strays that gather outside each night...

-@crows-in-space

- in one sense of the word, scar is safe. There's enough chorus fruit on the island to keep him alive, and despite his concerns the enderman don't even bat an eye at him. Theoretically, he could survive for longer than many of the others. But the whispers keep nagging at him, pushing him closer and closer to the edge. Sure, he could survive, but how long could he stay on this deathly quiet piece of land before someone would find him? He can see the faint outline of an End City on one of the fading islands, and every passing moment it haunts him. If he could just give in for a moment, let the powers of the vex harness his body for just a few seconds, maybe he could make it over and gather some gear- maybe even an elytra- and then he'd be set. But fear and logic talk him out of it. He's made deals with the vex before, and that quick trip across the islands could put him in a much more dangerous position than only being stranded...

- @/crows-in-space

- What if after scar gives up, he finds his vex mask lying on the floor with a tag saying ‘do it, it’ll help you get across’ (shade's note: Scar does it)

- anonymous

- For the Scattered AU: Scar gets an elytra, and after much internal struggling he decides to take a chance and leap into the darkness for hope of finding another island. During his terrifying glide he hears a distant scream from the void that is so familiar, but he can't quite place it, and he's in no hurry to risk flying any lower to check it out. - M

- @petrichormeraki

- Iskall and doc's robotic eye glitch out so they don't have any depth vision, so no mater where they spawn, they Are bound to die a few times from missinterprating how far away an Arrow or trident is, and how fast something is coming at them.

- @/ciaravixen

- I initially thought of this for Ren, but since there was already an idea for him, it could probably work for Iskall instead; He spawns in the middle of a scorching desert. Dunes of sand for as far as the eye can see, with barely a cactus or dead Bush in between. No water, no life - only the ever-present heat of the sweltering sun, and the large skeletons everywhere. He manages to find an abandoned temple after days of dragging himself through the sand, and spies a desert village on the horizon

- @/therainofsweetmelody

- Scattered AU! The way the "not killing Bdubs in his own spawn in the void" glitches work is similar to the forgiving void mod works where when you hit the bottom of the void you are teleported to the top instead of taking damage, but since Bdubs can't see anything in the void he doesn't know this (beyond a constant falling) feeling until he manages to "fall forward" enough to find some end islands, he finds scar this way but is so excited to see him he died from fall damage right in front of him

- @theclockworkowl

- (Scattered AU) Piggybacking off the death loop scars ask, when/if Bdubs is rescued from the void, he's in ROUGH shape. His external limbs are blackened and freezing with frostbite from the void (voidbite?), and his bones are permanently weakened from his form being subjected to the cold abyss for so long. Bdubs needs to relearn gravity after falling for so long, and doesn't use elytra anymore. The solid ground under his feet is something he'll never sacrifice for convenience ever again. - M

- @/petrichomeraki

- Wels spawned in a giant crimson forest in the nether. Towering mushroom trees, thick red vines, with piglins and hoglins he constantly has to run away from. But he finds something.... interesting as he's exploring. A house has been built into a wall, a mixture of nether and overworld blocks. Stepping inside, someone clearly lives there - someone who's not a piglin. Imagine his surprise (and relief) when a certain familair knight walks through the door. "Helsknight?"

-@/therainofsweetmelody

- xB wakes up in a dripstone cavern. It's damp and cold and the spikes are very tall, forming a sort of natural cage around him. At the very least, zombies and mobs can't get through, but the longer he stays there, the weirder the sounds get. There... wasn't a new mob for the dripstone caves, right? Right? (i'm trying VERY hard not to do new hermit OR crossover headcanons for scattered au. i swear) ~@betweenlands

- Scattered AU! Everyone Etho dies He spawns in a new place, first it was the underwater cave, then it was the top of a mountain, but it wasn't until he spawned inside an ocean monument and saw impulse trying to escape just as he was dying he realise the importance of the pattern, He was cycling though each of the other hermits spawn locations, which made all the wierd almost hermit made wierdnes make sense, the underwater one was his but the mountain was Grian's spawn spot,

- @/theclockworkowl

- Can the hermits see death messages? (They can) I'm imagining the potential angst of that, where normal world messages (achievements, commands, deaths) go through just fine but the others can't chat. The helplessness of watching their friends' names endlessly filling the chat and having no idea where they are, having no clue how to help, not even being able to offer comfort.

- @/basaltdragon

- Someone had mentioned xisuma also ending up in a floral cavern with axolotl, right? What if this was the same cave Jevin found himself stuck in? After days and days of clawing at stone, xisuma finally breaks into a cavern filled with faint light. After discovering the friendly acolotls, he notices a strange blue mass floating in the water.... and is almost startled to death when he sees the skull faintly showing through the slime, and the familiar wobbly voice coming from it. "Xisuma?"

- Doc and Grian (and later on, ren) spawned on the same mountain. Grian, of course, at the very top: stuck in the endless snowpeak, towering high above the clouds. Doc, meanwhile, ended up at the base, surrounded by snow and goats and giant taiga trees as far as the eye could see. Once Ren got stuck in the ravine, he often heard a familiar scream before a sickening splat every now and again, as the ravine lies almost completely below the highest peak. He's afraid to check his communicator.

- @/therainofsweetmelody

- grian’s practically given up since there’s not much for him to do. there’s no food and his hands are too frozen to mine. a little fox stays by his side at least. he’s about to freeze again and his health is low and he hears crumching footsteps approaching. he assumes its the iceologer coming for him but instead he hears “grian?” and he can make out blurry figures before he passes out and wakes up wrapped up in a blanket infromt of a fire. (whoevers managed to find and rescue him is up to you :D) (Shade's notes: the person who found him was Doc, and he took him back to Ren's cabin to warm up)

- anonymous

- Scar isn't the only one changed by the time he reaches spawn. Impulse drags himself up onto land finally, breathing heavily, and there's something different about him. Sharper teeth. The shadow he casts more inconsistent. Always faintly smells like saltwater. And his eyes glow faintly, a pale washed-out non-color like light at the bottom of the ocean. Something suggesting nonhuman geometry. Something sleeping that had to reawaken to escape. ~@betweenlands

- Eventually, Etho spawns in a jungle. By a complete stroke of luck, he sees the smoke of a campfire. Tango and Zedaph are happy to see someone- anyone- else. Especially when it turns out Etho somehow managed to get the coordinates of a certain Ocean Temple. Sure, it's far, but they can make it. After all, there's an 'I' in team ZIT, and they aren't leaving him behind.

- @/rayveewrites

- (summary of a couple different writing peices) After escaping the Guardian Temple, Impulse set out to find any other Hermit he could. He has gained some unnerving qualities and abilities that he doesn't really understand, but he's trying not to think about that right now. After defeating several mobs he should not have been able to defeat with his level of progress, he now possesses one Totem of Undying. He met up with Zedaph, Tango, and Etho on their way to find him. They are now hosting him at their campsite and are glad he is safe, but Etho is unnerved and suspicious of his more unsettling attributes.

- I had sent this idea right after the inbox closed, rip. But anyways - what if mumbo ended up befriending the evokers and pilligers in the woodland mansion? Of course, it wouldnt be like that at first- the constant death to the axes and swords and magic, the growls and yelling and cursed glares. But he always came back to work on the redstone and evoker magic in a desperate attempt to contact the others. Eventually, the evoker stops sending their vex, and the pilligers stop swinging their weapons

- @/therainofsweetmelody

- (Scattered AU) After Scar gives in to the Vex. Bdubs is barely conscious to begin with; dying to the void so many times really took it out of him in every way possible. But when he is awake, what he sees makes him scared. Scar with faded, cold eyes. Scar with transparent wings, gone in a blink. Scar being able to do things he shouldn't. Scar says it's to get them out of there, but every day he gets a little paler, a little colder, and Bdubs grows more worried. - M

- @/petrichomeraki

- Perhaps xb and Iskall are on opposite ends of the same desert? On one side, high sand dunes covering miles, with a single desert temple and isolated desert village hidden amongst the cliffs and hills. On the other, the deep flatt valley next to a Mesa mountain, flat nothingness stretching far past the horizon. It would still take quite a long time for them to find each other, but at least there's a change they could meet... and, perhaps, over that mountain, cub could be somewhere in the mesa

-@/therainofsweetmelody

- Iskall and Xb eventually find each other in the desert. Sunburned, dehydrated, and sand-blasted, they hug when they first meet despite not knowing each other well. And they try their best not to die, because what are the chances they'll ever find each other again? Two heads are better than one for finding their way to the rest of the hermits.

-@/basaltdragon

- Its probably a week or so of falling before bdubs managed to move enough to finally see the end islands just barely rendering in the distance. As someone had mentioned, perhaps he became so hopeful that he missed his mark, hitting the ground with a sickening splat just blocks beside scar. It took bdubs almost another week to get forward enough to see the islands again. This time, he landed right on scar... sending the vex back to his spawn several islands away, and leaving bdubs alone for days

-@/therainofsweetmelody

- While Bdubs and Scar are more than happy to have found each other again, their moments together are tense and filled with gaps of uncomfortable silence. There's an unspoken agreement hanging over them: Scar doesn't question Bdubs' frozen and frail state, and Bdubs pretends not to notice how Scar's skin has gotten pale and ghost-like, or how he glances behind him often, like he's being followed by a shadow only he can see. Though of course, Bdubs does notice. The whole server does. Grian wakes up in a cold sweat from a dream of Scar's ruthless attempts to destroy the mycelium resistance. Cub feels his own ties to the vex magic acting up once again, now worrying more than ever what Scar may have encountered in this broken world. Even Mumbo's evoker friend begins acting different, though Mumbo can't seem to determine whether it's out of excitement or fear...

-@/crows-in-space

- Scattered AU After the Wels meeting Hels Headcanon I imagine maybe Hels offers a deal to insure his safety on the Hermitcraft Server in exchange for Wels safety in the Nether. Wels very reluctantly agrees adding to the deal that Hels won’t hurt anyone. To bad he didn’t notice his Evil counterpart cross his fingers while shaking on it.

- anonymous

- Scattered AU:  TFC spawns on the main end island, dragon and all. With out proper preparation he’s been stuck in a death loop since the world’s start. Sometimes, right before he dies, he wishes that the janky respon would de-age his body; he’s not the agile young man who could take down the dragon solo anymore.

- @liagrace-b

- Scattered!Grian can’t fly. His normal down-featherly wings look like every feather has been plucked off, leaving the very sensitive skin open to the elements. But the world’s code itself has altered the physics of the wings themselfs. Grian can feel how much heavier the wing structure sits on his back, meaning that they couldn’t let him glide even if fully feathered. Poor Grian hasn’t survived the freezing cold long enough to know if his feathers would grow back with enough time.

- anonymous

- EX somehow gets into the scattered mix. Spawning in the Deep Dark, the exiled admin is terrified, and will stop at nothing to find his brother. 🌙

- (Scattered AU) Scar and Bdubs, after months(?) of travel, make it to the Ender Dragon's island. Bdubs is scared for both of their lives; he is in no condition to fight, he can't even STAND, and he's so, so afraid to die and be condemned to falling forever in the void once again. Scar says nothing, only gently setting his friend down behind an obsidian pillar before his skin goes completely translucent, his eyes clouding white. (Paraphrased: Scar defeats the dragon, him and Bdubs meet up with TFC)

- @/petrichormeraki

- the plugins do not work, so singleplayer sleep is out. Beds do reset spawn point, so the Hermits who spawned in a place where they can get them would do well to make several and use them as checkpoints along their journey (and hope that they don't get broken, especially for those who had to escape death loops....)

- (my answer to some questions)

- Those trapped in death loops change, adapting until they aren't harmed anymore or till they escape. After all, what are players if not adaptable?

- @permafrost782

- Xisuma blames his broken helmet for being unable to admin, as some sort of comfort. But there is no comfort there. The truth is, not even Joe, Tango, Cub, or Hypno can access the chat, can even begin to run commands to fix what has gone wrong. If they could, they would have teleported everyone to 0,0 and reset the worldspawn. Those partnered with any of the admins feel a certain kind of hopelessness. Those without feel a different kind of hopeless.

- @/basaltdragon

- To add to the scattered AU: Though i had seen someone explain the void connecting to the end so Bdubs gets out of that fall, i had the thought of this; What if eventually the void loops around with the overworld's sky, so he's basically in a continuous loop if falling to his death and respawning in the void until he finally is lucky enough in his falls to get over water and live. After that he just has to stay alive otherwise he returns to the void..

-@aetosofvalla

- Somewhere, in the back of Scar’s vex-addled mind, there’s the worry of Jellie. Where is she? Is she with another hermit? Did she spawn in with another village again and will he have to find her again? -🟣

- (Scattered AU) Cub and Scar have been linked by the Vex ever since their deal. One day, Cub's iron armor burns against his skin all at once, and through the searing pain is a horrifying realization that Scar has given in. - M

-@/petrichormeraki

- After a while Cub gets the resources to build a nether portal, but then he finds his portal has connected with someone else's. He finds himself lost again, without access to the farms he's built or the resources he's gathered, but at least he knows a friend is close.

- anonymous

- The End duo come across another end city. There’s a boat at the far end. Scar flies up on delicate vex wings to get the spare elytra and other loot. They’ve been walking for far too long. He floats down (as if he had the slow-falling effect. There’s only health in the brewing stand. Bdubs’ worry for Scar increases) with an extra set of trousers, boots, an elytra, the potions and a pic. Scar offers the elytra to Bdubs. He refuses. It’ll take longer to walk, but he never wants to fall again🟣

- Mumbo gets caught up in redstone work and doesn't bother trying to find anyone else. So when another hermit finally finds him, he has to stop his evoker friend from attacking. Whether or not he's successful is another thing.

- Anonymous

- (Scattered AU) Consider. When Doc finds Grian on the mountain peak while exploring the terrain, a message sends through everyone's communicators. <Grian was blown up by a Creeper>. Doc doesn't get a death message that time, despite both of them suffering the consequences of a surprised Doc in a server where mob-oriented hermits are more volatile than they should be. Doc doesn't go looking for other hermits again after that, and Grian is shocked into numbness at the dawning realization that his monster friends might be so much worse off than he thought. - M

- @/petrichormeraki

A summary of where things stand so far

- scattered au pog!!! hypno is in a seemingly endless flowery field. it was nice at first, but there's no trees, no food, and hardly any water. the sun is so hot. flowers aren't filling. hypno thought he liked being alone.

- Anonymous

- Mumbo doesn’t succumb to the magic of the mansion like perhaps Cub and Scar have, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t entirely unaffected- his skin becomes a little more washed out, instincts a little more violent- he certainly can’t go into villages anymore, otherwise the iron golem will smash him to bits

- @/fluffy-papaya

- With Scar using Vex magic, the Vex turn their attention to Cub, trying to tempt him at every turn. More then once he's found his mask in one of his chests, staring up at him, or awoken in a cold sweat from a dream full of vex. So far, he's resisted the temptation. Wether that lasts is another question entirely.

-@/bat-connoisseur

- Maybe eventualy hypno realises Even flowers would need water to grow, or that the bees must have a bee hive somewhere around here, and the bee hive is always connected to a tree(I think thats the case in Minecraft). So he tries to find where the buzzing comes from and follow the bees around.

- @/ciaravixen

- cleo bases a lot of her identity around being a zombie, right? she probably isnt too happy to be cured. she probably cries all the time it takes her to heal. it had to be done, but that doesnt mean she has to like it. and she doesnt, not one little bit.

- Anonymous

- that ask about Mumbo not bothering to look for anyone got me thinking.... Mumbo getting too caught up in his work with the evokers to look for the others. Mumbo making friends with the illagers. Mumbo knowing that it's completely reasonable that nobody has found him yet, but still getting the creeping feeling that no one is coming for him. Mumbo spending all his time with his new friends because, after all, they're here, and the hermits aren't... All this to say that, when the hermits eventually do find him, he might not be very inclined to leave...

- @/crows-in-space

- At one point, Mumbo's new friends are just...watching him try to do his stuff, observing. Mumbo's getting increasingly frustrated when ne of the evokers watching him breaks off and hands him something. At first he thinks its a totem of undying, its shaped like one, but its strange. Made out of iron, and its eyes are diamonds instead of emeralds. Then it starts to burn his hands and he passes out from the pain. When he wakes, its gone and he moves on, a bit more wary of his 'friends'. Maybe it was a mean joke, or some kinda of strange inhiation for the mansion maybe Except next time he's frustrated, he thows his hands up annoyed and fangs rise out of the ground around him and snap at the air. He cries out, confused, before looking at his hands which almost look like they've been painted with gray paints. it wont come off. He seems mentally the same but now he starts to experiment with his new found abilities. Maybe they can help with his redstone or even find others.

- Anonymous

- after trying a poisonous flower, hypno respawns back in the field. this time, he tries walking in a different direction. maybe this is the way out.

- Anonymous

- The flowers in Hypno’s area are just so perfect... blooming dandelions don’t lose their seeds when he brushes against them, petals that are crushed underfoot quickly regain their shape- and if his mind wasn’t so affected, he would’ve noticed the flower he picked was quickly replaced by another

- @/fluffy-papaya

- The Moobloom has one unique feature: The ability to leave behind flowers in its path... that is, the ability to alter the world around it simply by walking. These flower plains are not particularly large, maybe eight or so chunks across in each direction, but glitched world generation spawned in a herd of mooblooms, and all they've been doing is walking around causing little distortions, one on top of the other. From the inside, where Hypno is standing, the plains go on forever. The air is thick with buttercup pollen that's slowly dulling his sense of space and time. He has to pull it together, somehow. Force the world to recognise that he's walking forwards in a straight line. Or he'll be wandering in circles forever...

- @/draconic-dreams

- another hermit- maybe beef? sees the edge of a deep, fragrant field. on the horizon, not far away, is hypno, walking in circles. he calls but he cannot hear beef. something tells the man not to go into that field- at least, not without a flint and steel. (Shade note: Beef and Joe saved Hypno and are currently sheltering him (unconscious) in their spawn sanctuary)

- anonymous

- Maybe if they went through the exit portal and it glitched but good. They don't think about the fact it should send them back to their spawns, Scar feels something at the back of his mind that very much isn't him tell him to change his mind, stay in this place becuase they'll just be trapped if they try to leave, but Bdubs grabs his arm and jumps in before Scar can say anything. For a second, blessed silence, Scar's mind feels clear and normal. then they show up at world spawn and scare theother

- anonymous

(Shade note: people at the spawn haven now include Joe, Beef, Hypno, TFC, Scar, and Bdubs)

- Once Keralis and Cleo are healed up, the village gang starts going to 0,0 to try to meet up with others. On the way, they find a flower forest (potentially the same one Hypno’s in). They find some mooblooms and fall in love (this was def not done bc I want some fluff, nope not at all /s) -🟣

- Mumbo receives a set of robes from his evoker friend. He’s loathe to get rid of his suit, but at the same time... well, all the better to fit in, right? This is a glitch and fluke anyway, and he might as well blend in if the illagers ever turn on him. That’s it. That’s the only reason he tosses the suit jacket into the fireplace, don’t be silly. It has nothing to do with the feeling that he just doesn’t want to leave...

- anonymous

- I’m imagining Shattered Impulse looking like the Fishman from Shape of Water + the teeth of an Angler fish and the ability to unhinge his jaw. Poor guy probably gets mistaken for a glitched mob when someone finds him.

- @/fandomrecycling

- Yes hello it's me again. After the pollen spells breaks for Hypno (and whoever else might have tried to save him beforehand...), he notices he's a little different. he can't always control how he moves, he doesn't like eye contact, and he takes an even bigger interest in his, well, interests than before. Basically Tourettic Hypno go brrr (I am tourettic so feel free to ask me clarification!)

- @/fireflower-dusk

- I don't think Keralis has been mentioned except for being in the nether so I would like to contribute that he spawned in that soul sand and skeleton biome that has almost nothing in it.

- anonymous

- Mumbo, being hundreds of thousands of blocks out from spawn, is the last hermit to be found. Even after the glitch was fixed, Mumbo was so caught up in his research and new abilities that he no longer felt it mattered. He'd been apart from the hermits for well over a year now; and a long time ago he gave up hope that they'd come back for him. This was, of course, until he woke up one morning to a disturbance outside. When he goes to check the source of the racket, he's left frozen in place at the sight of Iskall on his mansion's doorstep. And at the end of it all, despite Mumbo telling himself that he was better alone, Iskall's hand on his shoulder, reassuring that "Yes, I'm here, yes, I'm real, and no, I'm not leaving, you spoon." Is enough for Mumbo to break, clinging to Iskall as if he'd disappear at any moment, murmuring "I'm sorry" over and over like a broken record. -🧸

- Maybe after Wels and Hels make their deal, and Wels gets some gold gear and a respawn anchor to click, Hels shows him how to create a portal to Hels the place to which from there, they think they can get into the overworld. The only catch being that to get in to Hels the place you need to focus all of you emotions onto pure hatred and anger, but the question is could Wels do it?

- Anonymous

- Hels taunts Wels about how no one came to get him, and plants ideas about how this was done on purpose, about how he's the only one to spawn in the nether for a reason. He tells him the hermits want him gone. And Wels of course becomes angry but he becomes angry at Hels for trying to tell him his friends didn't care about him. He's also angry at himself though, maybe for thinking he hasn't done enough to make his friends want to keep him around. He is never mad at the hermits though, never them

- TFC's concerned. Even if he thinks it's great he found Bdubs and Scar, the latter shouldn't be able to just kill the ender dragon alone. TFC doesn't know much about Scar but the man can barely fly usually, why did he turn into a vex, anyway? vexes don't exist in the end. TFC need to ask, at least to make sure he's ok, but everytime he tries he stops in his track once the cold, icy blue eyes stare back at him. devoid of the usual warmth his green ones have.

- Anonymous

- (Scatter AU) Saw someone mention the other ops on the server and had a thought: Tango is a programmer with a specialty in game programming. He’s probably sitting at the campfire thinking of every single way the game must have been corrupted to cause this many problems. If he could just get into the code, maybe he could fix some of these problems. I’ll bet he’s driving himself a little crazy thinking of everything that could be done to fix the world and not being able to do anything...

- Anonymous

- Cub was lucky, he thinks. Seeing the many death messages in chat, he's torn between gratitude that he's ended up with what almost looks like a normal spawn, and worry for his friends. After gathering enough resources to stay reasonably safe, he knows what he has to do next. So when he encounters Xb, he eventually suggests he takes some resources and a bed he's salvaged from the abandoned village and heads towards 0,0, hoping there'll be someone there. (1/3)But as for him... well, there's an obvious place to head as far as he can see, for someone with a safe enough spawn point and the ability to gather resources. A place where he knows for sure he'll find someone else, someone who needs help. After all, unless this world is even more messed up that it seems, there's only one place where a player would be killed by the Ender dragon, and he knows exactly how to get there. (2/3) (Shade note: Him and xB were not successful in finding the Hermit who the mystery portal belonged to. They must have died in the Nether and returned to their spawn point. XB resists the idea that they split up, but he sees the logic in it and agrees to start the long journey for 0,0.) (pt. 3 was eaten by the inbox)

- Anonymous

- Maybe one of the reasons Cleo doesn't like being a human as much is because she had chronic pain (particularly in her back) when she was alive, and when she gets cured after meeting up with False, Stress, and Keralis, her back pain comes back (along with all the other pains of being alive)

-@/justme123abz

- Whenever Etho spawns, wherever Etho spawns, he takes it upon himself to tell each and every Hermit he can find to head towards 0,0. He's not sure why, but he believes that if they get everyone together, they can figure out how to fix the broken world.If there aren't any Hermits in sight, he'll make a sign out of whatever's avalible before going searching. It's a complete pain to try and build anything coherent out of sand and cactus, but he has to try. He has to get everyone together. It's their best hope. It's their only hope.Even Evil X. Even Hels. Everyone. He doesn't care about past grievances. They need to get through this. And their only option is to do it together. (Shade note: He doesn't stay with Team ZIT for long. He probably dies trying to protect them from something, knowing that it will only result in him finding another Hermit anyway. Even though he himself isn't making any progress toward the origin, he counts it as a victory every time he can guide one of his friends just a little bit closer.)

- Doc Ren and Grian himself thought that him being found and safe would fix everything right? yea no he has horrible fevor, he struggles to retain warmth depsite 2 feet from a fire, he's tired and has a hard time stay awake becuase on the mt he slept alot, he barley eats cuz he cant hold too much down rn. He cant stand being alone or he'll start to panic, ands he's just trying to ignore the new fox fetures he has desperately when he's aware enough to do. Doc and Ren have a hard time ahead of them.

- Anonymous

- Mumbo was trying to make a machine with redstone and evoker magic to contact the hermits right?so what if he did build the machine ad at first his only way to get the magic was to go annoy the evoker hoping he would try to hit him and instead hit the machine to power it. Plan backfired so many times because of the vex killing him before. So when Mumbo becomes apprentice he wants to try power the machine himself but it breaks because he can't control how much magic he uses yet.time to study magic

-@/artsarasp

- Etho dies with the Zit and ends up back in it. Next he ends up in X's spawn, there's no one around but he finds the bloody tunnel X punched himself, and races down it to see in the distance Xisuma and Jevin in a cave.He calls out to them, only to get overwhelmed by zombies that just spawned, He manages to gurgle out 0,0 before he dies again. (He's now determined to be the messenger of meetings, even willing to die on purpose to find them all). After that? Ren's old spawn, now he has to track ren

- anonymous

- I guess hypno’s been... hypnotizd 👉😎👉

- We need more Jevin and xisuma interaction content, be it fluff or angst, how aware is jevin by the time Xisuma gets there? How many axolotls do they take with them on the way to the surface?

- @/ciaravixen

(Shade comment: We need more Jevin and xisuma interaction content, be it fluff or angst, how aware is jevin by the time Xisuma gets there? How many axolotls do they take with them on the way to the surface? )

- Mumbo having to learn how to use the magic, the evoker will probably also try to teach him how to summon the vex, even if Mumbo really wants to just focus on the magic and not the evocation.What if he's able to summon Scar since he gave his name to the vex? just by accident and Mumbo gets so startled by Scar's new appearance that he immediately interrupts the evocation and makes Scar dissappear. Scar reappears where he was before confused cause for a moment he saw Mumbo?did he allucinante??

- @/artsarasp

- Scattered AU! So what if what happened with EX and Hels happened with old hermits to? Like Biffa, Generikb, Jessassin etc etc. Everyone is concerned as it is but then they see a death message from one of them and realize it's even worse then they thought.

- Anonymous

- Once Wels and Helssknight are in Hels the have to sneak around a lot. Hels isn’t as popular there as he had previously boasted, that’s why he had tried to take over the over world. Cue heart to heart talk before a Hels version of another hermit cuts them off. (Can you pick the Hermit I’m kinda stuck here)

- Anonymous

- Iskall must have not even known the direction he was walking from his desert spawn, so its purely by luck he ended up finding the mansion mumbo resides in- his cybernetic eye is fixed almost instantly upon his arrival by mumbo and iskall feels his hope fades as he realises they’re /so/ far from the hermits. I also guess he must be worried about whats happening to his friend right before him, mumbo wouldnt willingly give into the vex and evoker magic right? 1/2 But he isn’t so sure anymore, the days at the mansion are quiet and uncomfortable as Iskall has to be wary of the illagers that walk the halls, mumbo assures him of his safety, but theres no light in his eyes - he doubts the illagers welcomed mumbo at first- The usual banter isn’t there at all, its dead silence as mumbo keeps on working and Iskall can see how paler his skin becomes and the blue scars that litter his body 2/2

- Anonymous

- Etho died and respawned at the true spawn once. Beef was elated to see him and was afraid if he let him go, he would disappear. He didn’t want to lose his friend again. In the end, he does, he was actually with Etho when he dies, and he never lets the feeling go.

- @/harley-the-pancake

- aww poor etho! At least he's okay with this new role as messenger. Now i can just imagen he ends up at Ren's spawn and manages to track the man, nearly dying but staying alive and- thats a house in the distance! He goes over and nearly runs into Doc, who invites him in surprised and they catch each other up, their spawns and Etho's situation. They're overjoyed to hear about the others and Ethos glad to see them realtivly okay. Grian's condition is worrying however, changed and still weak (1) They agree they need to start heading to 0,0 but Ren is nervous about leaving safety, Doc wants them safe, and with Grian still sick and weak from laying in snow for weeks it'll take a bit until he's stable enough to travel (he'll probs have to be carried anyways). Etho stays for a few days at their insistence for rest, he wants to keep going there is more hermits out there he hasn't found, they are insistent that he take time to recover. Then, he lets himself die. Off to the next hermit! (2)

- Anonymous

- This is for the very very beginning, but maybe before False meets up with Cleo, she spawns in a warm ocean biome. Coral structures fill the water around her, and tropical fish dart between them. It would be almost peaceful, were it not for the fact that False was encased in a cage of coral.It’s a gamble every time. She has to try and smash her way out of her colorful prison before the tide rolls in, slow and steady water rising up her body and over her head. The water makes her movements clumsy and arduous as she tries to free herself, racing against time to escape the awful tide. (Pt 2) OH SORRY I HAD AN IDEA (this is from the coral False anon)What if Stress and False both spawn in that biome and they have to try and help each other out before the tide comes in?? Added angst if one of the times one manages to escape but the other doesn’t

- Anonymous

- (scattered au) Every time that a hermit dies the universe and the world file starts to corrupt, the way that things are going if everything doesn't go back to normal soon, then the world will crumble on itself with the hermits inside.

- Anonymous

- Admins log, day: ⬛⬛⬛ I've finally managed to find my way to the drip stone caves, weirdly I think I may have a good connection down here, I'll try to contact the others, if they haven't forgotten about me yet. (Shade note: Far away in the woodland mansion, Mumbo rubs his eyes and marks down another failure on his latest contraption. How long will it be until he can generate a signal? He has no way of knowing that, for a single moment, it worked. He stopped checking his communicator a long time ago, so he doesn't see the single message until much later: <Xisuma> can anyone hear me?)

- At some point Etho cycles round to Doc's spawn. His friend is long gone but there are five creepers in formation watching him. Waiting for something.It takes a moment for him to recall the trick of unfocusing his ears just right, so that their hisses resolve into words. He hasn't had to do it for years, after all. He hasn't run into General Spaz since he left Chocolate Island.“It'ssss been a while, Esssssho” the General says. “Let'sssss make a wager”The General reaches out for a handshake... it seems the glitch finally gave him a pair of arms.(ancient Etho lore go brrrr)

- Anonymous

- Both the snow and the void are cold, and getting stuck in there means getting frostbite a lot is fairly likely, so Grian and Bdubs would be unlikely to get out with all their fingers...

- @/bat-connoisseur

- Based on a little piece of this ask where it was mentioned that Hypno passed out only three steps outside the flower biome, I start to wonder, how long was he wandering in circles without food? Why did he collapse so immediately? Was the biome itself perhaps sustaining him? Keeping him "healthy" (if you could call it that) and alive? COULD he have starved to death if he hadn't been pulled out? Or would he have just kept walking? And walking. And walking...

-@/asexualbert

- An idea focusing on evil xisuma. He ended up spawning on the nether roof, stuck with nothing but mushrooms and bedrock as far as the eye can see. No communication, no water, no way out. He can probably eat the mushrooms, at the very least.... but there may be some bad side effects from it. It's disheartening and lonely up there, dying from starvation over. And over. And over. At one point, etho may have spawned there as well... but of course, he wouldnt last long. Condemned to endless roof...

-@/therainofsweetmelody

- Okay, hear me out: after Hypno’s been out of his illusion for a while, he starts to get headaches. He doesn’t think anything of it, until he wakes up one day with small horns growing and flowers in his hair. In conclusion: Moobloom!Hypno

- @/harley-the-pancake

Art:

- An Impulse

- A Grian

- A Guardian Impulse

- A Void Bdubs by @/sweetest-honeybee

- This Hypno by @/irys-97

- an Iskall and a Grian

- a fox Grian

- A Guardian Impulse

- a suffering Xisuma

- Mumbo and Evoker doodles

Writing:

Up. He needs to go up. He spawned too deep in the world, and though he'd heard of underground spawns there was no way, no way in the world that being so deep under was normal. Every cave he crawled up either came to a dead end or opened into a massive, mob-filled cavern, and somehow he still hadn't found even half a mineshaft. He could spend hours upon hours painfully clawing his way through the stone, but he keeps convincing himself it'll be faster to find a cave that leads to the surface. The pounding heartbeat of a warden stills rings in his ears, an ever-present reminder of his terrible luck. If only he could get some wood. Just a few planks, some torches. Anything. It's almost as if the stone doesn't want him to leave.

- @basaltdragon

- Buried by @arts-and-drafts

- Cleo grits her teeth and pulls a leather cap low over her head and stays on the outskirts of the taiga village, where the less scrupulous people go. She can't stay here long, if an iron golem catches her she's going to end up social spawning a bunch of less sapient friends and wiping out the village. The air is cold and thin out here, close to the mountains. The strays leave her alone. She's not sure how to feel about that. ~@betweenlands

- "A poem, by Impulse" by @/rayveewrites

- Pulse by @/arts-and-drafts

- Unnamed Impulse fic by @bat-connoisseur

- Another Impulse fic by @/betweenlands

- Don't think about it by me (@shadeswift99 )

- A poetic fic by @irys-97

- this short anon piece

- If I lose myself by @/arts-and-drafts

- Mountainside by @/basaltdragon

- Sleepwalk by @/betweenlands

- This Grian fic by @silverechosandsmileymasks

- A Jevin fic by @/basaltdragon

- This Hypno piece by @/fireflower-dusk

- This Iskall anon

- Alternate Impulse fic by @/rayveewrites

- Short Grian fic by @rk9-mew2

- an alternate headcanon for Mumbo

- This Xisuma fic by @/bat-connoisseur

[four2andnew]

Oh, I can answer this one, because I was Hermione growing up (probably why I'm not particularly fond of her as an adult).

If Harry and Ron had never befriended her after the Troll incident, you would see a Hermione who eventually retreated into herself and became very bitter. It's not going to happen immediately, but I'd say by 5th or 6th year, Hermione would be much quieter about her knowledge. She would still be the first to perform and get the highest grades, but she'll stop jumping in her seat to answer, she'll be less of a "teacher's pet" and spend more of her focus on just getting the eff out of there. She's not going to focus on trying to be friends with her peers because she'll be bitter about having to change herself to appease others. She'll latch onto her outsider-ness as a Muggleborn and most likely be large target during the Death Eater regime, but she will suffer in silence and take it all into herself because she has learned her voice isn't valued, even when she knows what she's talking about. She'll think herself stronger for taking the abuse without complaint and soldiering on, succeeding anyway. It will be her comeuppance, getting a job with the Ministry after Voldemort's defeat. Her thumb to her nose to everyone who told her she was "too much" or "too different"

Until you get to about 3 or 4 years out of school, where she's at the peak of her isolation and all she has is a fat cat and a job that she doesn't even enjoy but is good at. And she's going to crash hard. Like, contemplating leaving the magical world altogether, because WTF did it ever do for her anyway?

And then she'll realize changing herself for the sake of making friends isn't necessarily a bad thing. To learn that she can have high expectations for herself but not hold others to those same expectations isn't a bad thing. It's just called growing up.

Who's the Gryffindor that you've always thought Harry should be closer to in canon?

I always thought Harry and Katie would have made really good friends especially once you learn in HBP she's only a year older than Harry.

Also if they never friended Hermione would you see her character change? I personally don't think she would believe Harry post GoF and could see her becoming even worse than Percy.

I think just the Quidditch team in general. I like Harry having a small friend group. It seems very fitting for him. But I wish we would have saw more camaraderie amongst the teammates. So, yeah, I would include Katie in on that.

I think Hermione, already, is very similar to Percy. It seems like she's more loyal than Percy is, but they have very similar personalities. Honestly, I don't know how her character would change, because I don't really think about Hermione in my free time. So I haven't thought about it at all. Probably just more of a loner and such. I'm not quite sure.

[crownin-thestars]

There's a Reason Why

You know who Mega is, right? Everyone knows him as that one mute kid, but they don't know why he's mute and they don't seem to care.

But Mega wasn't always like this

Mega was usually a quiet kid around children his age and older, being quite shy and was always teased for his birthmark location. When he was around those younger, he would usually come off as a bit of a bully because of what he says to them. The only reason he did that was to get rid of stress from both school AND home.

His household was even more stressful, having a single mother and being her only child. His father had filed a divorce agreement but was unable to gain custody over Mega due to his mother presenting false cases. This resulted in, of course, Mega living under his mother's roof.

False cases? His mother sounds like the scummiest scumbag in the world, and I can assure you that that may or may not be true. The reason she wanted custody over Mega was because she was never able to reach her own goals, and with a child, she wanted him to achieve them for her. She never cared about what he wanted to do, all she cares about was that her son absolutely needed to become what she expected him to be.

This woman forced her son to be a perfect child. All A stars in school, always obedient at home and always helped her with housework. (For the record, I don't exactly know how grades work in America, an A star is the highest grade you can get on an exam in my country and a U as the lowest, standing for ungraded so I might go by that)

When Mega had told her he wanted to create content, this set her off. His mother yelled at him, so much that it brought him to tears. He was never yelled at like that for so long, the words that came out her mouth sounded like they were came from another. Mega heard things like 'You were a mistake after all' and 'why can't you let me make you great'. He didn't want to hear anymore of it, running off to his room and locking the door.

Mega's mother thought he had changed his mind, yeah that's how entitled she is, but she soon found out that she was very wrong.

Mega had come home one day on his phone. He wasn't even in the house for a minute when his phone was snatched out of his hands. He was slammed into the wall, causing a few things on the shelf next to him to fall. His mother asked him what he had been doing when he hid in his room.

Nervous, he stuttered out a 'nothing', flinching as his mother raised her arm. She screamed at him for being a lier, and told him that she had been keeping track of who and what he was texting. Mega could feel his blood go cold. Knowing who he was texting would mean her knowing what he was planning, and considering what had happened just a few days ago, he already knew she would not react well.

Mega managed to break free from his mother's vice like grip, snatching his phone back before bolting to his room. The slammed the door shut, locking it. Loud banging and screaming coul be heard behind the door. No matter how much she screamed, he wouldn't break the only barrier he had between him and his mother.

He leaned back on the wall opposite the door, his body sliding down as tears fell from his eyes. He grasped his arms around his head, trying to keep the bad noises out. Mega whispered to himself through the sobs as the banging continued. Why did love feel this painful?

Mega had come home from a long day at school. He entered his home, expecting a greeting from his mother. Nothing was said. He quickly checked the kitchen and her room, no one was in there. Mega smiled to himself. He had the home to himself till she came back! It was still noon, so he had just hoped that his mother would only come back in the evening.

Mega enjoyed the hours he was alone, not having his mother there to tell him off. He had played a few games on his phone and watched many, many videos on YouTube. In the middle of watching another video, he looked up to check his clock. It was already late at night and she hasn't come home yet.

He was confused, getting up from his bed. His mind was interrupted by a wave of pain in his stomach. I haven't had dinner. He thought, making his way to the kitchen. Mega looked in the fridge, no leftovers from the night before. That's fine, leftovers aren't the best of foods to eat. He opened up the shelves, only finding a few cans of soup and some instant cup noodles. Guess the noodles would have to do.

It was the next day, had to be a school day of course. Mega did his usual morning routine, the only thing different was that. . . His mom still wasn't home?

He sighed, going around the house to find some cash to bring along with him. He opened drawers and looked under beds. There wasn't a single penny in the whole place. He looked over at his piggy bank, a sort of last resort. He went to pick it up and shook it, sighing with relief when he heard the sound of coined crashing against the metal casing. This money he saved was meant to be a little bank account for the things that he might have wanted. Removing the little cork at the bottom, he shook the money out, it was just enough for the bus rides to school and back for about two to three days.

He grabbed the money, shoving it in his pocket. Time to get to school.

~Smol timeskip cuz again idk how America schooling systems work~

On the bus ride home, he had attempted to contact his mother, ending with it hanging up immediately. Staying on his own was an intimidating thought, and he wanted to know when she would be coming home.

He entered his home. Mother isn't home again. This time, he wasn't happy. He has never been isolated by himself like this before. That's fine. . . I'm fine. . . He assured himself. His mother was gonna come home at some point. Right?

It had been a few days since Mega had seen his mother, or had an actual interaction with someone. How many days? He had lost track. He wasn't able to go to school anymore because he didn't have money to take the bus. Mega could feel himself losing a bit of his sanity, but it was kept intact with the texting of his online friend. The house was in a bit of a mess, and at this point he didn't bother to take care of it. He couldn't tell if he missed his mother or not, the only feeling inside him being. . . Almost nothing. He kept on reassuring himself, making sure he doesn't do anything stupid.

That's fine. . . Uh oh- A noise was heard from outside the house. He couldn't tell if it was a wild animal, a burglar or his mother. Not taking any chances, he went to hide away. Mega bit his lip, afraid to make any noise whatsoever. Hearing footsteps entering the apartment made his heart beat rapidly. He peaked out of his hiding place to have a look at what was happening. He saw two adults, one woman and one man, possibly a couple, looking at the small mess of a home.

Mega must have peaked out for too long, the woman feeling something watching. She turned to where he was looking out from and saw Mega. Scared, he quickly hid away. He heard soft whispers as the sound of the trespassers footsteps was getting closer. Tears had started to drip down as the footsteps got louder and louder. Mega bit on his lip harder, trying his best to not let the crying overpower him. He knew they've found him, he knew he couldn't do anything. So he just sat there in fear.

They'll hurt you. He thought. That's all people do to you.

Mega looked up, taking in the new faces in front of him. His fear immediately caught up to him as tears burst out. He quickly tried to hide his face, trying not to show weakness. (I mean like he's 7 cut him some slack-)

He heard some sort of packaging open as a small scent of cookies filled the area. He peaked up and saw that the woman was offering him the delicacies. He accepted them with gratitude as he started munching on them. They reminded him of how his father made them when they were still together. . .

The man came to sit down next to the young, scrappy and hungry child, ruffling his hair a little bit as the woman knelt down in front of him with a smile. Mega cherished the company he had around him, softly chewing on the chocolate chip cookies given.

This was the most loved he has felt in so long. . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Word Count: 1621 words

HAHA I'M FINALLY DONE WITH THIS!! Bro I ran out of words to write at the part where the couple came into the house, so the ending might have sucked a bit, but I still quite like that ending.

Also watched Hamilfilm recently, currently obsessing over the songs, hence that Hamilton reference I put in there.

Also yes I made a 7 year old smart as heck because why not? Dream was able to connect his computer to his neighbor's electricity when he was 15 so it's possible to be overly smart at a young age.

Side note that these are the very same people that decided to take care of him and help him grow up.

Side note #2 if you haven't guessed it yet the issue I was wanting to raise awareness about is child abandonment. I don't know how well I did with writing this because I consider myself to be a privelaged child.

[guigz1-coldwar]

'A hand on your heart ': New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"A hand on your heart"

"Don't worry, Yiri, I'm here, I'm protecting you!"

Chapter Summary: The common decision of Park, Zasha & Portnova allowed Yirina to slightly get better despite the bad moments still here but the nightmares aren't going to left her...

Link of the Picrew used !

To read it on AO3, click here!

Words : +3200

Taglist : @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

July 9th, for three days now, I was no longer alone in the apartment with Beans. Park, Zasha & Portnova were now staying with me to make sure that the seizures weren't becoming too much frequent because of the last one & my state wasn't declining. They were making their best to improve on how I was and the only thing, for me, it was...making me smile but also sad too, their kindness could have made me cry the first day they stayed here and I managed to hold back my tears...it was touching me at my highest point...

How I was feeling since they were here? I was getting better but the bad moments were still here: moments of having a panic attack at some time of the day despite that the others were present, moments where I was absent, staying up for minutes without doing anything before something or someone got me out but it was becoming less present over the following days and the third day, nothing bad happened at me when the night came, meaning that my mental breakdown was nearly done and tonight, the four of them were playing some...

"Bullshit!" It was Portnova's voice who spoke up against Park who said that she was having 2 aces in her pack of cards in her hands. Zasha was, of course, the one who wanted to play the game.

"Okay, let me see you," Park taunted her with a clear voice, smirking at her as she took out a card of her pack. "One," She said, showing to her perfectly the card to us and putting on the pile of cards in the middle of the table we were.

"You're lying, I can see..." Zasha scoffed, thinking that Park was lying, joining Portnova before their mouth closed after they saw Park taking another card...another ace out of her pack before putting it on the pile.

"You were saying, Zasha?" Park looked at them with a smile before she put her eyes on me, who was patiently waiting my turn with my pack that was neither little nor too big, just a medium-size compared to the other one. "I think that I wasn't lying," She smirked, her eye moving to Portnova.

"That's a first for you," Portnova told her as in fact, this was the first time that Park managed to fool her in the game. "Maybe the last," She added as she moved her hands without showing any signs of being a bad player, taking the pile of cards and mixing it in her own.

"Things are changing, we'll see about it," I stated, knowing that it was my now my turn and honestly, my cards were a bit of a mix of the deck, a very weird mix: I've almost got everything in between my hands. "Okay, three valets," I started, looking at the three designed cards and peaking my eyes away to look at the other, not saying anything at all.

I thought that they were going to accuse me of 'Bullshit', surely already waiting for Zasha or Portnova to do it but it didn't happen, the trio staying silent at me as I was taking out the designed cards and putting them on the middle of the table, making a new little pile of cards that now was waiting to be filled up again of others cards of the deck.

"No one accused me?" I asked them after I was done, looking surprised.

"You weren't lying, you got those three valets in your pack after I accused you of 'Bullshit'," Zasha replied to me, having analyzed through my pack of cards that I wasn't lying...weird..."And besides, if you were lying, you wouldn't have taken any cards," They scoffed to me.

"And of course, ruining you the fun of seeing the others get more cards while you got less?" I questioned them, looking at them with my head slightly on the side, my eyes a bit wide to them. "You'll see that we can win against you," I asserted that objective to them.

"You can...dream," They smiled at me & Park, knowing well that the two of us were trying to get Zasha down and giving them their first real loss, as friends. "Good, good," They sniffed as their hands were spreading their pack to take a closer look at it even if there weren't any needs to...since their pack was small. "Two knights," They announced and like me, no one spoke up to accuse them, letting them put their two knights in the pile of cards in the middle.

"We're waiting for the good moment, don't worry," Park exclaimed to them after they posed the last knight card on the pile, giving a discreet wink at me.

The game was slowly continuing and the pile of cards was getting bigger as the others were playing their cards and also drinking the coffee that Portnova made for everyone and it was a bit distracting Zasha, knowing their taste for the coffee but they were still staying cautious, me & Park awaiting the perfect moment to caught Zasha off-guard to make their pack bigger and us, smaller.

"My turn, soon to be winner," Zasha joked as the game was looking to reach its end, them having now only 6 cards between their hands as I was having 8, Portnova 10 & Park 7, the situation was looking rather hot. "2 queens," They said but then...

"Bullshit!" I spoke up but at the same time as Park herself, making us look at each other in surprise but exchanging a smile as we thought the same thing at the same time.

"Let me show you this," They protested but I was seeing a little drop of water appearing on their forehead...uh...they were lying..."It's a bit hot in here, did you raise the temperature?" They asked obviously Portnova, even gesturing to adjust the collar of their shirt with their left hand.

"Zed, play!" She ordered in a funny tone, her face realizing that they were trying to avoid the subject.

"Come on, show us your 'two queens'," I demanded, even gesturing to them that I wasn't buying it and now, it was like me, Park & Portnova were looking at them with a serious look, obligating them to show us their pack, and then, they resigned to show it entirely, not having any queen. "Yes, I knew it!" I almost cheered up and going up from my chair, amazed by it. It was looking like a little victory as the game wasn't finished yet but it was meaning a lot, having succeeded in not bought successfully Zasha's lie in a 'Bullshit' and making them lose the advantage.

"Seems that someone is happy now," Zasha mumbled, looking in defeat at the pile of cards in defeat before their eyes went back on me. "That was a first but maybe the last,"

"She isn't the only one, Zasha," Park joined me in to be happy about that but we were meaning it as friends, not making fun of them.

"Same for me," I was surprised when Portnova also joined us, realizing that she was wanting to see Zasha been rightfully accused of 'Bullshit' and she even smiled at them. "Come on, you couldn't be staying undefeated," She reassured them in a good voice, putting her right hand on top of theirs.

"Yeah, for just once, it's not that bad," Park added to Portnova's statement. "I hope that it isn't going to stain our friendship," She hoped for that, putting her cards upside down on the table.

"Zed, it's just a game but at least, we can admit that it's fun," I stated, moving back next to the table and staying up, putting my hands on it as Zasha slowly grinned at us.

"Well, at least, as you said, it was very fun," They told us, putting a smile on everyone's face as they got their pack of cards in the middle. "You know what? We're saying that you win," They affirmed but I shook my head.

"No, the game isn't finished yet," I stated to them, knowing that the game could only finish until someone has no more cards in their hands.

"And me, I'm offering to you the victory, you deserve it," They said, going up from their chair and looking around the table to see the numerous pack of cards and the cups of coffee on it. "And since, it's getting late, we should get to sleep," They advised, making me look at the clock, seeing that it was almost midnight.

"I agree with this," I said and everyone nodded, Portnova moving to gather everyone's cards in a  single pile as Park was taking the cups in her hands to get them in the kitchen.

"I'm hugging Beans, and then, on my way to med," Zasha exclaimed, walking to reach Beans that was asleep on the couch, deciding instead to slowly caress the top of her head while I was watching them. "You should go get to sleep, Yirina, you need it,"  They suggested to me, checking me up from top to bottom.

"Don't worry, I'm..." I was going to continue until I yawned nearly loudly inside the living room, covering my mouth with my right hand. "Well, you're right," I raised my shoulders, that yawn as a sign that I was tired of that even if we didn't do anything big...except that game. "I'm going then, have a good night, Zed, and you too, Beans," I waved at them both, Zasha returning it as Beans responded by meowing at me.

Now looking tired and yawning, I decided to walk out of the living room to join our bedroom, not forgetting to salute Portnova and telling her good night as I told Park that I was going to bed before resuming my walk to get to our bedroom in a slow pace as my brain wouldn't let me walk faster and I think it was all for the better of myself, and then, I was entering the room, closing the door behind me.

I then start to undress, removing only my shoes and my jeans even if today, I didn't get outside as I was still not ready for this, leaving only my blue shirt on my top before I decided to put myself onto the bed, getting under the white sheets and looking up at the ceiling, my hands poised over my chest above the blankets as a few seconds later that I was installed that Park came in without a word.

She wasn't saying anything and me too but the main thing I could perceive on her face was a smile, probably still thinking of our little victory despite that the game never actually ended properly but it was still a victory for us. After taking off her clothes and putting them next to mine on a chair, she walked to her side of the bed before getting on it.

"You're okay, Yiri?" She asked me curiously as she installs herself inside the sheets, feeling her fingers along my right arm.

"Yes, I'm good," I replied to her, removing my eyes from the ceiling to look at her, seeing her face as her right hand was going over my shoulder. "But as you know, I'm still fearing each night about my nightmares," I told her clearly about it.

"I know, you try to not think about it but it's still coming," She suggested to me and I nodded.

"It's...I don't know why there are things that I couldn't remember right when we were both captured by Perseus," I stated, referring to my last nightmare that happened two days ago, reliving a scene where two Perseus doctors were analyzing me as I was under some drugs effects on a stretcher. "As if I did lose what happened those days," I added.

"Me too, I can't remember what happened during those days to me," She joined me into that statement as her hand was slowly caressing my shoulder. "I'm fearing about what they could have done to you & me, I'm just...scared," She admitted to me as her eyes were looking flowed by tears but not crying.

"We're scared, Park, we're both scared," I confessed to her, both having been through hell before her hand moves slowly on my shoulder, arriving gently below my shirt above where my heart was.

"Tell me if it's not okay, I will remove it," She said as my heartbeats were now felt inside the palm of her hands, her fingers crossing along with the scars above my heart. "Do you like it?" She asked me as her fingers were slowly stroking along my scars.

"Yes, can you keep it on me?" I demanded at her as it was like comforting me to have her hand on me and especially above my heart.

"Yes, I will, don't worry," She responded before she moved to get closer to me and keeping her hand above me, making me move my right arm around her. "Good night, love," She whispered, her voice very low and speaking away from me.

"Yes...good night too," I muttered, landing a kiss on top of her head before I looked up again at the ceiling, Park's head above my shoulder and her touching from her right hand on my heart to comfort me as I was now trying to find a moment to get myself to close my eyes and sleep...

...but I was knowing that my sleep wasn't going to be easy for me inside...

My mind was waking up by the sounds of some music inside my ears and when I tried to open my eyes, my vision was still looking black despite seen a little, meaning that I was blindfolded and my body...my arms & legs were tied up with ropes, impossible to move my hands without hurting myself, the ropes feeling very tight around my wrists and the only thing that was disturbing me...was that music, having a headset on my ears.

That music, it was sounding American and it was saying the same thing, over & over again, 'Staying alive, staying alive,' in a sort of bad loop every 20 seconds, and my head wasn't feeling great to hear that particular music, moving it slightly away to make that headset away from my head but no movements could allow me to remove it...Staying alive...staying alive...what I could only hear now...staying alive...

Suddenly, the headset was somehow removed from around my ears, still able to hear the echoes of that music in them before the blindfold that was covering my eyes was also removed, giving me a clear sight of where I was: the interrogation room with a TV at my vision...and in front of it, there was Stitch himself, just him, no one, not even Freya with him....just him...staying alive...

"Enjoying the music,  Grigoriev?" He exclaimed through his mask, looking at the headset he was having in his hands.

"Stitch...fuck...you..." I tried to gather my voice to give my thoughts to him but he moved the headset away to put his hands on my chin.

"Always been in the bitchy attitude, no wonder that you betrayed us," He told me, making me look in his eyes and I wanted to spit on his face but I couldn't. "All these years...just to become the CIA's puppet,"

"I...ain't for the CIA...fuck them," I proclaimed, telling him the truth as he got his hands away from my face to look at me, standing up. "I hate them," I added as he turned around to me, looking at the table nearby.

"The only thing that we got in common, me & you," He said, putting his hands on a knife that was on the table and taking it. "Sixteen years ago, Adler took an eye out of me, fulfilling my hatred against him and the West, he took...my left eye," He looked closely at the knife before turning his head to me. "I would have like to send a message to the others, you know, an eye for an eye, as they said but it's all old-fashioned business," He sighed before getting the knife back at its spot.

"Old-fashioned...talking about that...or your clothes?" I tried to scoff around but I was surprised that he didn't react violently to me, even hitting me, slapping me, or hold me by the jaw.

"Keep getting funny, it will not help you," He asserted, clenching his right fist at me. "It's not because Wraith isn't here that I'm not allowed to hurt you," He added to that warning.

"Where is she? Why are you doing this?" I asked him, not actually waiting for an answer from him.

"She's insisting that you are needed to come back at our side," He responded nonetheless to me, getting at my level. "Honestly, I would have let you die in the Yamantau but now, it's actually better to get inside your head," He added.

"You...stop this," I ordered, trying to move my hands but only hurting me with the ropes, my voice pleading at this max, exhausted, my whole body exhausted. "Let me go...stop this...make it stop," I pleaded.

"You know that ain't going to happen," He admitted, causing some tears to appear in my eyes. "Oh, you can cry, no one is here to save you, not even your British agent," He continued, breaking a little laugh through his mask.

"Park..." I whispered her name, not wanting to have her harmed.

"Quite a story to heard about, you know?" He told me, joining his hands together as my head was trying to slowly shake, feeling a bit dizzy. "It's because of her that you...decide to stay with them, it wasn't Adler, it was her...only her...right?" He demanded at me but my head was looking down before he pulled me back up, looking at him again "Right?" He asked loudly.

"Yes...yes..." I answered in a low voice, causing him to release me again from his hand. "Don't...hurt...her...not her..." I pleaded about that but he wasn't listening that he got something out of his tactical vest... a picture...

"You might know his man, I believe?" He showed me the picture...discovering on it...Lazar...himself, a sort of identity picture, not smiling...."Eleazar Azoulay," He said, knowing his name as my head slowly nodded. "It's your fault that he died, right?"

"No...no..." I muttered, looking at the picture as I heard Stitch lamenting for Lazar's death.

"You could have saved him...but you saved her instead..." He sighed, looking too at the picture. "Looking better here than when we saw the pictures of his dead body...oh, I have them," He revealed to me and I wanted to close my eyes to it but it was too late as he showed below me...pictures of Lazar's dead body...things labeled by the CIA...stolen...

"No...please...stop..." I ordered him but Stitch was insistent on showing me them.

"You left him to die to save her, you're useless, only thinking about the less important things," He exclaimed in a serious voice, putting his left hand behind my head and making me look up to the pictures closely. "You're useless, you can't save your friends...you can't even save yourself," He continued before he got his hands away from me again, and then, he put several pictures of Lazar's body at my feet.

"Remove them, I...it wasn't...please...no..." I spoke up, taking rapid breaths but Stitch was fainting to not hear me at all, moving to grab something on the table. "No...please..."

"I can say that MK-Ultra did make a good work on you, easy for us to repeat the process," He talked to himself as he was holding a syringe in his hands, tapping on it to check its content. "Some magic words, drugs, hypnosis & music and we know how to do it," He said as he looked back at me, getting my head down in defeat.

"Fuck...you...Fuck...you," I cursed, using my remaining strength inside of me to insult him as he put his hands on my shoulder.

"A CIA product...becoming a Perseus one, let's see how it goes," He breathed before he injected the needle into my left shoulder before pulling it out, my body starting to feel weird, wanting to sleep...anesthesias. "Bell, we have a job to do," He raised his voice to say it, making my head to shake away, wanting to stop the echoes in my head before he put the blindfold on my face, along with the headset. "Good sleeping...and enjoy the music,"

This was the last thing I heard from him before his voice was replaced by hearing the music of that torture, my mind alternating between calming itself and freaking out as he said the key-phrase to me as my body was slowly giving up on me, part by part, starting by my legs as it was slowly going up, that music still echoing inside my ears...staying alive...staying alive...staying alive...

I wanted to keep up to fight the effects of MK-Ultra but the drugs that were inside of me, the injection that Stitch did to me in my shoulder, the key-phrase...and the music...staying alive...staying alive...it couldn't help me to fight it and slowly, I could feel my eyes close hardly, my whole body shutting down now but my ears still hearing that music...staying alive...staying alive...

It was impossible to fight the effects...staying alive...impossible...

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I apologize in advance if this ask sounds ignorant. You mentioned the interesting possibility that Louis' team may be saving resources to invest into getting a number 1 album. So, I'm wondering, aren't the singles meant to create buzz for said album thus making people look forward to it? If so isn't it a bad idea to let the singles go unnoticed? Also, what do you make of KMM not being on all access, per some radio stations' claims? Thanks in advance!

Oh anon - I feel like there’s a huge contradiction here between your worry that you’re ignorant and the fact that you’re mentioning some specialised, back-end radio platform that was primarily developed to collect data.  And you’re asking someone from New Zealand, who lives in the West Midlands and has nothing to do with the music industry about it.  Why is this something fans know about, or care about or are invested in?  Why centre so much of fandom on behind the scenes details of radio stations that we have very little information about?  There are always reasons why things happen, but most of them aren’t visible to fans - and that’s OK.

As for the first question - I’m not quite sure what you’re asking.  If you’re asking - is there a point of releasing a single if it doesn’t chart - then the answer to that is quite easy to answer.  All sorts of artists release singles, even those who have no hope of charting, for all sorts of reasons, including as a way of getting publicity (and for that reason I wouldn’t say KMM has gone unoticed).

If you’re worried that top-40 singles are necessary for a number one album - then recent evidence is reassuring (at least in the UK).  Liam Gallagher is currently number one, he released two singles before his album came out and they peaked at 49 and 50 on the singles chart.  Sam Fender was last week’s number one, his highest charting single was 43.  The week before that was Post Malone, whose singles obviously do chart.  And Lana del Rey was number one the week before that.  Two of her singles from that album didn’t chart at all in the UK, and the others were 42 and 99. 

If your question is more abstract - if it boils down to ‘is the money invested in this single a sign that Louis’ career is unsustainable, or will the fact that it hasn’t charted damage his career?’ The answer to both those questions could be yes (although I think the first is much more likely than the second), but it could also be no. There’s so much we don’t know.  

I am interested in what’s going on underneath this fan anxiety that never seems to be fully articulated.  Lets say that this single not charting is a bad sign. Lets say Louis’ album doesn’t go to number one, but you love his album and you love what he says during promo.  Why is that situation so scary?

[duraxxor]

20. If you’re feeling salty right now, this ask gives you a free reign to pour out your frustration.

I'll admit I'm not feeling particularly salty about anything right now buuuuuuut there has been some things that relate to roleplay that I would like to say because it's something I keep bottled up. Why? Because to some degree it makes me feel like a hypocrite. So please, please, please, bear with me.

Ahem...

Throughout the years I have run into various issues and problems in this community. Communication, personal, even toxicity at it's finest. ( And I mean that sarcastically, it's never okay to be toxic. ) Out of everything that has become the most reoccurring, it has to be the one sidedness I always seem to feel when it comes to writing with me. I'm not saying that I am always able to commit to an Rp because let's face it, I have ghosted some Rp sessions because I have gotten busy with real life and then it slips my mind or I just can't find the headspace return. Those particular situations make me feel bad.

It's when I feel like my ideas are at their highest peak and I have something going for me that extends my arms out that I always find myself being the most frustrated because I want to write with other's. There's usually a bare minimum feedback and I just... feel unmotivated to go forward after that initial movement.

" But Dura, why don't you write for yourself, not anyone else? "

Well, Michael Mcdoesn'texist, what's the pointing of writing in a social/public venue if you're not going to interact with other individuals? If I had the time and motivation, I could probably write a great many things in Wordpad. But that's not the reason I began roleplaying/writing in the first place. I came here to seek like-minded individuals for the same reason. Coming to Wyrmrest Accord several years ago allowed me to branch off in an aspect of WoW that combined with the writing aspect that I had no idea I still had at the age of 20 ( I turn 30 this Wednesday ).

" Then find someone that will give you that ? "

First of all, that isn't fair to my friends that I have created over the years. The majority of my friends are just as busy as I am and they completely understand where I am coming from. Has it made it easier? No. But, I care too much about other people before myself. Which brings me to the biggest point about this...

I always feel like no matter how easy I make it, whether it be roleplaying, communication, or even gaming, that I'm the one that has always had to reach out and make the first move. And the majority of the time, it falls on deaf ears. And that's just it, I don't put myself first when it comes to things because I care. Selflessness VS The Desire for Group Creativity. Two completely conflicted factors clashing and it just turns me into a jumbled mess of anxiety. My hands are shaking right now as I finish this entire thing and my heart is weary because I really don't wish to offend anyone no matter how tough I may seem sometimes. I'm a dork until I'm upset.

I just...

I just want one thing to occur more often. I want to feel like I am approached more than myself being the approacher, so to speak. Thank you for letting me vent a little and please, have a splendid day regardless of how salty or whiney I may have sounded.