#and through the spaces of the dark

[blackkatmagic]

I am foaming in the mouth with the Fox/Antilles snippet, you're making me hyper at 3 am and honestly, I don't mind so keep it up.

Fox and Mace are literally giving each other knowing looks, so ig its safe to say that Jon definitely won't be seeing Dark Woman anytime soon in his time as the Coruscant Guards Jedi 👀

:D

“Oh,” Thorn says, and there's something startled about it. When Jon slants him a glance, though, he just smiles, thumps back against the lift wall beside Jon with his helmet swinging from his fingertips. “Were you on the front before this, sir? Who’d you serve with?”

Guilt prickles, something close to shame, and Jon looks away. “I was in the Outer Rim. There were people who needed help,” he says. “I didn’t plan to come back.”

There's a pause, and then Thorn makes a soft sound. His smile comes back crooked, and he tips his head back against the wall. “Guess it’s hard to remember that the universe doesn’t just stop because of the war,” he says. “We’re sunk right down in the middle of it, and we always knew it was coming.”

Not anger. Jon breathes out, slow, careful, and tries to shut out the wary trepidation that threads through his veins. “I’ll help how I can,” he offers quietly, and—it’s not enough, likely, but it’s something, hopefully.

“We’re glad to have you,” Fox says, brusque. His attention is on his comm, and he’s frowning as he types out a message. “The Guard’s run ragged trying to plug up all the holes where threats can get through. A Jedi will be able to tell us where to focus.”

That, at least, Jon should be good at. He nods with some relief, and as the doors open with a gust of metallic air, he ducks his head, draws his hood forward as he steps out of the lift.

A hand on his back again makes him flinch, even though he likely should have been expecting it, but Fox doesn’t move it, doesn’t jerk away from his skittishness. He just pauses, letting Jon gather himself, and then steers him lightly towards the waiting speeder.

“Come on,” he says, low, and something about it makes Jon's skin prickle. It’s…not unpleasant. “Have to get our Jedi settled before anything else. Then you can meet the boys.”

Thorn hauls himself into the driver’s seat, leans over to open the passenger door. Fox nudges Jon in ahead of him, and—it’s a small speeder. Jon is pressed right between the two of them, shoulder to shoulder, and he almost wants to twitch away, slide out of the press, but there's nowhere to go. And—

Fox’s fingers curl around his wrist, light. “It will be fine,” he says, gruff. “The Guard’s different. You’ll fit with us.”

Jon wants to swallow, but his throat is dry. The press of Fox’s armor right up against him is…not intimidating. Like those words were permission to relax, a clear order in the way of Dark Woman’s command to find the Sith. He nods, reaching up to tug his hood forward a little more, and Fox squeezes his wrist as Thorn lifts off, and then just—doesn’t withdraw his hand.

No one has ever touched Jon casually, deliberately like this. Not in any moment he can remember, and it’s entirely overwhelming.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 339

So erm, Danny might’ve fallen through a portal. And might have no clue where he is right now. 

He fell into an alleyway! Right into a dumpster! Which isn’t the worst thing he’s fallen into but still. Ew. Well, Dad should be able to find him and bring him back home! …Right? 

He shakes out his itchy fur and scales, already impatient and bored in the single alley despite it only being a few minutes. What’s a realms hatchling to do but explore? Well, besides taking care of his shed, but it’s too dry where he is anyway. Maybe he’ll find a lake! 

Hm. He can’t understand what anyone is shouting or freaking out about. It’s like they’ve never seen a dragon or something, geeze! Oh well, he’s on his way to find water, he’s not built for the desert…

[clonerightsagenda]

I've started noticing content warnings start popping up more frequently in the front of published books, and I'm curious as to people's thoughts on that. So, poll time!

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

TF One D-16

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance - La Cité des Cloches

[vivi-the-sky-kid]

Psst

Ya wanna know my technique for getting around 17.5 candles a day without going Everywhere?

Geyser -> Brook Candle Cake and Light Farm -> Grandma -> Sunset Turtle

Then just do:

Whatever realm has the treasure candles for the day

Basic Vault (focus on the candle cakes)

Village of Dreams and Hermit Valley cakes

And then maybe the bouquets from Performance, the cake in Wind Paths, and then the cake in Starlight Desert (since the path to it is right next to the one in Wind Paths)

Super fast and doesn't take too much effort aside from getting to the timed events on time and dealing with Vault

[aquaregiaart]

Maglor (+ closeup of alternate version,) a gift for dear @samarqqand.

[radrattradish]

Palps x Dumbledoor this is my otp

[kharonion]

I've done my first attempt at a photo story... and of course, it had to be Emotional. 🥴

After Mikoshi, Vikt feels the pangs of guilt gnawing him. He's put the man he loves through some of the most harrowing things imaginable, between going to raid the Tower by himself (very akin to Johnny) and needing to be cared for as he fought for his life. When those feelings hit, he always comes to the safest place he knows: the rooftop of Dark Matter. Where it's quiet, calm, and still. And this is one of those first moments that Kerry finds him there...

𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎.

[heymeowmao]

[blackkatmagic]

that foxjon fic is going to kill me thrice over when you post it and i am absolutely eagerly anticipating its release omg

murder is my goal 98% of the time, so this pleases me

Far down, the corridor bends, and the marching feet come closer. Jon stops halfway down, waiting, and watches carefully as one of the sergeants he met earlier makes the turn, a squad of armored and armed clones behind him. they're moving with a purpose, with that same dark intent that whispers through the air, but—

It’s not their own, Jon thinks, and breathes out. whatever they're being called to do, it’s not of their own will.

At the sergeant’s side, his massiff, held tight on her leash, sees Jon and whines, distress clear in her emotions. Jon goes down to one knee, and with a relieved bark she wrenches forward, hauling her leash right out of Hound’s grip. He makes to jerk her back, but she bolts for Jon, slams into him, and he scratches her scales, smooths a hand over her spines.

“It’s all right, Grizzer,” he says quietly. “You’re all right.”

Grizzer whines, and Jon gives her a last pat before he straightens. Hound is watching him, head cocked faintly, but—there's nothing in his mind. Muted reaction and awareness, with someone else in control.

“Sergeant,” Jon says, and lets his hand rest on Grizzer’s back. “You should be asleep.”

“Orders,” Hound says, and—that at least is true, Jon thinks. Someone’s giving them orders, and with this amount of influence…the Sith must have been influencing them for a while.

Who would notice, Jon thinks. They're clones, and they're close at hand, and there hasn’t been a Jedi here to see.

“These orders you shouldn’t be following,” he says, and steps forward. Hound steps back, one hand going to his blaster—

The lights above them go out with a touch of will, and Jon lets space warp around him. he steps out right in front of Hound as he starts to recoil, grabs his wrist, and lets his thoughts curl around Hound’s mind. Black thread, he thinks, tracing it between Hound and his men, like bonds, like tethers that stretch out into the night. The Sith is out there waiting, puppeteering, and just the thought makes rage curl dark in Jon's chest. He closes his eyes, finds the tether where it runs, and then snaps it with one sharp pull.

With a humming buzz, the lights come back on, just as Hound sags in Jon's arms with a ragged sound.

[serenpedac]

“We belong to the Earth and the sea, you belong to the stars.”

— Zhang Beihai (The Dark Forest - Cixin Liu)

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 241

Wing au? Wing Au. With perhaps a bit of a twist. Also a hint of eldritchness perhaps. For fun! 

Ghosts have wings. Sure, they aren’t normally seen, not in the visible spectrum, but they do. Scanners pick them up, and sometimes a ghost might even reveal them, which was hypothesized to be some sort of animalistic intimidation attempt. (Something more than one Amity Parker rolled their eyes at)

Everyone had seen them at least once- the motorcycle-driving ghost’s mass of shadowy feathers, the green-haired girls matching shaggy ones, the rocker’s ones that looked like pages of music before bursting into flame. Even the box ghost’s had been spotted- feathers looking more like sheets of cardboard than anything else. 

It wasn’t until the whole kidnapped to the ghost zone that anyone saw Phantom’s, but that was another tale unto itself really. Honestly the arrival of the GIW would have maybe been seen as positive before, but the fact that many of them had looked in the mirror or gone to the doctors only to find feathers beginning to sprout on their back soured it. 

Especially as the GIW continues to prattle on and on about how all ecto-contaminated scum are less than human, less than bacteria. And well, what does that make them? Them, who have been to the realms of the dead and gods and back, touched by the swirling green energy in ways incomprehensible? Changed by that energy? 

So the people silently brush hidden feathers together, quietly rebuff the white-wearing lunatics from the city as best they can, and hope to anything listening that they can stop anyone else from disappearing. That maybe they can find the few no one noticed had been taken before it’s too late, even if they have to tear down the entire government to do it. 

[perfectly-clear-from-here]

if life was perfect there would be a tranquility base hotel + casino film. send post.

[chronurgy]

I think part of the reason people struggle with act 3 (other than the actual computer load) is because act 3 is very much Durge's act, so if you're not playing as Durge you miss a lot of the impetus to act. Seeking out Orin isn't just tracking down the macguffin, it's finding your old home and position, your sister and usurper all in one. Rivington isn't just an entryway to Baldur’s Gate and a review of the refugee crisis, it's the site of a major revelation about what you are, and Orin's taunts are gloats about what she did to you. The meeting with Gortash isn't just for plot, it's a dark mirror homecoming where you can't remember the home you're coming back to and where you learn exactly what sort of person you used to be and just how much of this situation is your fault. Act 3 is packed with thematic and emotional resonances for Durge, and full of people and locations that will help elucidate Durge's past. That's part of why Orin falls so flat on a Tav (or other origin) run - so much of her story is tied up with Durge's.

I'm not saying that act 3 isn't massive (it is) or that it doesn't drag at all when you're playing Durge (it does), but I think it drags significantly less and feels significantly less disconnected than it does for Tav. I think when the decision to split Tav and Durge was made Larian probably should have reviewed what the third act of the game would feel like from a non-involved character's point of view and made more changes to help better tie them to the main plot. Orin, for example, absolutely could have used way more development generally but especially on a Tav run the game really needed to give the character more connection to her. Her abducting a companion was likely an attempt at that, but there was nothing you could do about it and no time limit on rescuing them so it fell pretty flat.

[cb-writes-stuff]

I’ve been tired and unmedicated for two days so you’re getting a weird post with minimal context.

In an alpha or beta version of AHIT, if you gave a Time Piece to Mu in pity at the end, you’d end up exactly one Time Piece short and have to walk all the way home. Then there’d be a scene with Hat Kid having grown up, thus being Hat Adult, and you’d meet a similarly grown-up Mu, who would give you the Time Piece back.

I just realized within the past hour that if grown-up Hat Kid is called Hat Adult, the adult version of Mustache Girl must, by necessity, be called Mustache Woman.

I find that far funnier than I probably should.