#anyway I just think theres a lot of meat there

[simonsaysletsgo]

Comics fandom whenever something weird or off or unsatisying happens and bad things happen to their faves: Ugh so glad I didn't touch this, going to pretend it never happened

Me; Yes this I can work with this.

[lemongogo]

why do i love the conflict more than anything else . the misery . the incompatibility that spreads like oil slick . wanting so desperately for resolution that never comes . hmmm

[bunnyb34r]

I need life to slow the fuck down bc my skin is starting to hurt real bad from all this picking :/

[girlcockholmes]

started yellowjackets with my family awesomeee……. lez out and kill in the woods ladies!!!!!!!!!

[snekdood]

I mean. I do think its weird that some ppl are so eager and willing to switch their old make up out with "cruelty free" make up but then. Not consider doing that with food in any capacity. And its hard not to feel like some ppl have been convicned vegan food is cringe and that since vegans are cringe all around that everything we do and eat is also cringe. Like yall reaaaallly want to divorce animal rights from veganism and thats an impossible task. Vegans will always be part of animal welfare one way or another. Who do you think fights for cruelty free make up in the first place? Ig if you divorce them in your mind you get to pretend the two movements are entirely seperate and you're not like those Loud Cringe Vegans or whatever lmao. Like. Okay cassandra. I kinda have a feeling a good majority of the people involved in pushing cruelty free make up are vegan. Idk why substituting your meat every now and then is so fuckin hard (if you can do it) if not for how ppl react to vegan food as if its cringe. And taste to me isnt a good enough excuse bc theres a lot of vegan food that tastes good. It feels like you just like the taste of something familiar.

[echidnana]

had vegan ramen today that was so good

[dr-gaytorius]

Have you ever been so angry you can't sleep bc you're thinking about murder and revenge. This is worse than being too horny to sleep. Shaking and crying because how can I make him suffer without it tracing back to me. Things that are normal and regular

[uh-oh-its-bird]

There are so many naruto time travel fics out there but what I need SPECIFICALLY is an ANBU era team of Kakashi, Tenzo, Itachi, and Shisui getting flung into the founders era.

Like. Ok just looking from the political side of it that's;

A) 2 very young and VERY powerful Uchiha's (one of which is the future clan head!! Politics!!)

B) A very fucked up baby mokuton user who's still in the middle of being deprogrammed and can totally pass for Senju

C) The free wild card that is Hatake clan lore on top of having a stolen sharingan. On top of *that* him being the team leader of a team of kids who, in the time period context, should both be at eachothers throats and probably not be expected to obey the commands of someone not only from another clan but a way smaller one

Theres SO much potential there!! So many political implications in virtually ALL of the directions!!!!

Yk what as I'm typing this out I'm having ✨️ideas✨️ so let's make some story points to sort those out:

• I think itd be neat to have this happen like. A year? Ish? Before the massacre? So age wise, and full disclaimer I'm referencing Google and Wikipedia rn so I could totally be wrong, I think that's :

Kakashi (18)

Tenzo (17)

Itachi (12)

Shisui (15)

Could be wrong about the ages but honestly it's my world you're just living in it, so.

Then me going totally purely off of my own headcannons, were going to say they came in a about a year before Izuna died and place the founders ages as:

Madara (23)

Hashirama (23)

Izuna (19)

Tobirama (18)

Big fan of Tobirama being the youngest between the 4 but projecting the aura of someone as old as like. Idk, however old Madara is. Very funny to me, 10/10

• I'm personally a big fan of dogteeth kakashi so we're running with that all the way home. Also a huge fan of the "Hatake's are a distant, more feral cousin of Inuzuka clan" hc along with some sprinklings of "back in the day they had a bit of a Reputation(tm) for being a 'lill wild, and everyone generally tries to avoid them. Which isn't too much of a problem because theyre a very small out of the way clan from Iron, they just have a big reputation in contrast to their size.

In more modern times tho, along with (obviously) having dwindled down to a single depressed teenager, they've become a lot tamer over the years due to village life. Kakashi is a Hatake, 100%, but he is NOT up to the standards of this time. Which becomes a bit funny when people see him, go "oh FUCK it's a Hatake" and then start edging slowly towards the door like he's about to rip their throat out with his teeth. Meanwhile he's standing there like 🧍‍♂️"am I that ugly."

Give me a scene where, finally used to this reaction to him from the general shinobi population, the team starts to use it to their advantage.

"Give us the scroll or we'll let the Hatake off the leash to have his fun with you. He's been awfully hungry latley you know, hasn't had fresh meat in days"

Kakashi, feeling kind of stupid, gave his best growl.

It caused an almost immediate, embaressed flush to rise to his face, but he didn't let up. It sounded more like an almost pathetic puppy growl than anything to his ears, but apparently it was enough to convince the trembling enemy nin because he slowly lifted the scroll up in offering.

Wow. Now he couldn't tell if he was embaressed for himself or for this guy.

Probably both to be honest.

• So like. Itachi is the clan heir. That's big. That's important. Let's do something with that.

First off, I had a great time reading this one fic (tho I don't even remember what the fic itself was about now, oops) where a plot point of it was how Sasuke is just a walking stereotype of main house Uchiha. Like people look at him and they don't just go "oh that's an Uchiha." They go "oh fuck that's an UCHIHA Uchiha." He's so fucking painfully, obviously related to the very tippy top of the clan that anyone not blind can tell. It's in the way he looks, it's in the way he talks and treats those around him, it's in the way he fucking holds himself. You look at him and every other stereotype about the Uchiha clan is there in big, bold letters. (On top of that he's also a dead wringer for Izuna, which I'm such a sucker for and desperatley wish people would do more with)

So like let's give that to Itachi here because it's so fun for several reasons.

First off; Sasuke in this is like. Straight up a doppelganger of Izuna, just a few generations apart. They could be twins. Itachi, as I'm sure you are aware, is Sasuke's big brother. So let's take some liberties and say that Itachi could absoloutley pass as a blood sibling to Izuna and Madara.

He is however 12, so we're also going to say that the only people who get to make this connection is anyone who's seen the siblings when they were also at a similar age.

On top of that however he has the 'walking amalgamation of all the stereotypes of the main Uchiha house' so anyone who isn't blind will look at him and assume he's somewhere in the sphere of 'important main house person' tho who really knows how distant the relation may be exactly. No one !! That's who !!!

Second; He's the fucking clan heir!! What the fuck!! This bit would have the most impact after all the messy time travel reveals when things have settled down a bit, so it'll sit in the back pocket for a bit. Save it for some fun shaking up later down the line so we don't run out of all the fun reveals too fast and bore the readers, yk?

When it is brought up tho it'd be fun to maybe have some fucky Itachi and Madara mutual understandings of the way things work.

• So. Madara is like a bit of a scary bed time story to Uchiha children, right? Like. "Ooo make sure you don't get too obsessive or fall too deep into your grief and always stay loyal to the village or you'll end up just like Madara!!"

Something something Uchiha-Village relationships are tense as hell, something something Madara fucking over a lot of the clan with his whole. Everything., Something something scapegoat and old stories, something something 'people have probably been talking a lot more about how "god dammit this all started with Madara" in recent years.'

Now with that in mind let's take a look of what our time travelers think of Madara:

Itachi is a good Konoha soldier. Itachi (as has been very much fucking proven) would rather beat a possible problem before it even exists with a hammer till it dies an ugly bloody death than even RISK it blossoming into a proper problem. Itachi does not like Madara. Itachi personally, quietly thinks they should maybe wait till the village is formed then carefully arrange a little accident for him before he goes off the rails. He, even more quietly, maybe even thinks it would be a kindness. Allow him to be remembered well by the village instead of scorned.

Shisui I think is cautiously optimistic about him. He's the kind of guy who gives the benefit of the doubt, who weighs the options, risk and reward, but includes things like hope and compassion in his calculations. Yes, Madara was a uhh. Thing. That happened. But in every story his big blow up always come from one specific event; Izuna's death. So if they stop that from happening, wouldn't it secure both a better future for them and Madara? The history books never went into detail about Izuna, he doesn't know what he's like, but maybe his involvement in the future, on Konoha's side, could lead to even more profits for them long term. At the end of the day he's not against killing Madara (though to be clear, they are at first operating on trying to avoid all interactions with historical events and return home without touching things) but it'd be nice, to manage to get a happy ending for everyone. Unrealistic maybe, but nice.

Mmmm hear me out actually, maybe Shisui, after interacting with him a bit, finds that Madara reminds him of Itachi too. They definatley both have that "I would do unspeakable things to even dream of my loved just one more time" energy, if you know what I mean

Anyways; Kakashi and Tenzo are both neutral on Madara. Yes, they learned about how he betrayed the village when young just like everyone else, but they weren't getting the bed time stories and "do this and you'll end up just like him" warnings like the Uchiha's. They're possibly leaning into negative but are detached from the situation enough to just go "well he hasn't done it yet and his brother is still alive so he won't any time soon" and be done with it

• Now, on the the total opposite side of the spectrum you have Hashirama and Tobirama. People are brought up in Konoha to fucking IDOLIZE these guys. You can not tell me our team of time travelers wouldn't be at least a little awed to speak with them.

I think Tenzo would be the most wide eyed about Hashirama, both for the baseline "holy shit that's the Shodai Hokage" and also that fun juicy mokuton user imposter syndrome he has going on for him. That guys DNA is inside his body!!! Holy shit wait does that mean if someone did a blood relation test with them he might read as being related to him?? Fuck were gonna pocket that for now but like. Mmmmm potential.

I'd say Itachi is the most hesitant about Tobirama but again, village loyalist, so.

You know what tho maybe Shisui is the most hesitant about him (though still largely positive) he both def grew up looking up to him but can also see the anti-Uchiha policies people inact now with the implications that Tobirama would have approved of it. He doesn't know if he would, but like, he has to wonder.

Kakashi is probably the most normal about them (and also has experience in being close to a hokage (Minato) to know that at the end of the day they are painfully human) Don't get me wrong, he's still in some sort of awe! He might get a little lightheaded at the thought of seeing the God of Shinobi in proper battle, or the possibility to see the famed genius of Tobirama with all the different jutsu's he's invented. You can't tell me Kakashi didn't spend a little extra time reading about him when he was trying to make Chidori. Honestly I'm gonna roll with that and say he had a bit of a phase as a kid where he was a total fan boy. Maybe sprinkle in the good old HalfHatake!Tobirama hc to add some faint daydreams a lonley babykashi had after his father's death, about getting to meet him as family. Like cmon, little genius idolizing and projecting on some big history figure only to find out they're actually related? Can you say potential?

Anyways he did eventually grow out of the phase, probably got unattached to it all and lost interest after the whole "losing everything he loved" bit of his life. And at the end of the day, he doesn't have any real complex personal hang ups on the founders like the others do. Thus, most normal.

• And then my favorite most special boy, Izuna !! He's for sure the one they're all most neutral about. He's not actually taught about in the academy? There's probably some throw away line about him in some history books somewhere, but he died young and was quickly buried by the looming shadow of Konoha. The only real knowledge had about him in modern times is just a vague "Yeah he got killed by Tobirama which lead to peace being made but also lead to Madara losing his shit"

Poor Izuna he's the linchpin for it all but was left an unremarkable footnote of history. My boy deserves so much better

Tenzo doesn't actually even know who he is, that boy got bare minimum education under Danzo and Izuna was NOT included.

Itachi and Shisui mmmaybe have some small little fun fact here or there buried in stories from the older members of the clans but like. It's gonna amount to just "yeah he had a great katon" and thats about it.

I WILL SAY HOWEVER. Itachi sees him and instantly is that one PTSD dog meme. Sasuke is a BABY but holy shit Izuna looks exactly like he'd expect him to grow up as and it's making him FEEL THINGS. Also he's so bratty little brother coded !! He's an entire 7 years older than Itachi but Ifachi keeps fucking up and trying to big brother him it's embaressing.

And ofc Itachi didn't go into the first meeting thinking he'd see some weird older mirror version of his beloved baby brother who he misses and worries about very very much. So like. There's for sure going to be some conflict there. If their first meeting is a scuffle (which it probably will be) I think Itachi would keep hesitating to attack. On full run away mode. Which is probably for the best bc he shouldn't try to fight Izuna anyways honey he's like double your bodyweight and you're strong but you aren't THAT strong.

• Pointing back at both the 'Itachi does not like Madara and has quiet thoughts about how it'd possibly be in everyone's interest to just kill him' and the 'Itachi and Madara quietly bond over being clain head/heir during stressful times (w pressure from the elders especially)

I can see 2 outcomes of a potential bonding conversation with them:

1) They come to understand eachother better.

Madara wants to be on good terms, he looks at this kid and sees one of his brothers eyes and the others quiet determination. He can tell Itachi doesn't like him for some reason, and it's frustrating because he doesn't know why. He wants him to like him. He wants to be able to offer his hand and have it taken. It hurts, to be looked at with such suspicion from a face that has traces of Izuna's.

Meanwhile Itachi . . . Itachi looks at Madara and he sees someone who gets it. Gets it like no one ever has. It scares him. He looks up at this man, this horror story he's been told to fear becoming, and he sees himself. And this realization shakes him. It makes him think, makes him wonder. He's so, so sure of his loyalty to Konoha. More sure than he is of anything else in the world. But . . . But if something happened to Sasuke, if he had to choose—

And maybe it softens something in him too, along with the (honestly healthy) dose of fear. It forms a little crack in his shell, just enough to maybe, maybe let Madara through. Just a hair.

Or 2) we pull one of those "The conversation ends with them agreeing verbally but mentally they're on 2 VERY different notes."

Madara, nodding and looking at Itachi meaningfully: "Yeah it can be hard, but all we can really do is try to make the world a safer place for the ones we love. (To create Konoha, to keep my clan safe. Izuna safe. And now to keep you safe too.)

Itachi, nodding slowly: "Yeah. No matter how hard it is (even though I think I understand you more than anyone else Ive ever met) we have to try to make the world a safer place (by killing you in your sleep once Konoha is formed) for the ones we love (My clan. My village. Sasuke.)"

• Also pointing back at the 'Hatake warring clan era reputation,' the 'Tobirama is half Hatake' and also now pointing at Tobirama's title as the White Demon. Small thing but it'd be neat if there was some small throw away line that the nickname lowkey started in part because of the absoloutley terrifying reputation of the Hatake combined with Tobirama's own Everything(tm) like it just had some influence on how some view him. Give me Uchiha's making dog jokes ab him it'll be funny

• Ok but now the actual plot thoughts. Yeah I know I kept you waiting sorry about that.

So time travel! Probably due to a mission gone wrong. Some ruins or some ancient crumbling scroll that wasn't even supposed to do fucking time travel but was so old and corroded that it somehow managed to transform into a whole other seal by pure bad luck. Or good luck I guess, considering it could have just turned into a nuke.

Our favorite team of disasters are very very alarmed !!! What the fuck !!! Obviously they don't default to thinking time travel, but they immediatley know something is wrong. The landscape has changed, though the big landmarks are still there. The mission was complete anyways with no injuries so they just retreat to Konoha. Only oops !! It's not fucking there!!!

Queue alarm.

Shisui is the first one to suggest time travel because he's quirky like that. And there's a very easy way to confirm this theory.

(Also we're going to say that Konoha's location is a valley a few miles out from the Naka River that borders the Senju / Uchiha territories.)

This is convenient because that verification method involves checking in on where Itachi and Shisui know the old Uchiha compound should rest.

They do it in full stealth mode, the second they saw Konoha was missing Kakashi as team leader decided they'd treat the land as enemy territory. They all agreed ofc, for all they knew this WAS enemy territory now.

And, ofc, yeah!! There's the old Uchiha compound!! Being active!!! There are people there!!!

"What are the odds Fugaku-sama decided to have the clan return to their homeland for ahh, cultural enrichment?" Kakashi asked weakly.

"Time travel." Was the only reply he got from Shisui, whispered reverently as the boy vibrated with excitement on the branch.

Itachi just gave him a look, radiating a level of dissaproving disbelief that no normal 12 year old should be able to make. Kakashi would know, he was that not-normal 12 year old once.

From there they decide a no interference policy. Hands off guys!! They probably debate it tho, like, a good amount. They all have ✨️opinions✨️ except maybe Tenzo who's lowkey still in the middle of trying to learn how to be a person and is following Kakashi's lead 99% of the time. Especially since they're still in mission mode and this is like a super serious discussion and he really does know the least ab the founders overall.

They probably debate the merits of going to Uzushiogakure bc seal help but it's really far and they don't actually have like, just any leverage with them. They already decided not to fuck with the future so it isn't like they can trade secrets and warnings. At least if shit happens here they have some plausible deniability, being, yk, 2 uchiha's and a senju-passing guy with Mokuton. Kakashi's kinda fucked tho in that regard but he isn't going to be doing the party ANY favors with his clan heritage.

Which means it's time to potentially get desperate enough to interact with Tobirama !!! Which will inevitably lead to them bumping into a Uchiha patrol or something!!! I don't know honestly

• Anyways want Hashirama and Tenzo to interact. He has so many issues like holy shit. Let Hashirama give him the hug he deserves. I want him to violently adopt him. New brother acquired!!!

I said before but Tenzo is still reprogramming from ROOT. Let Hashirama impact that! Let him help! They can make flower crowns and photosynthesize together idk

Hashirama would be so happy to have another mokuton user, I think they should be able to sense eachother extra strong and like 'ping' off of eachothers chakra, it'll be fun

▪︎ I'm not thinking toooo hard about power scaling and this is fanfiction so a) don't quote me on this and b) for the love of all that is holy don't take my words as gospel

But for this fic specifically I'm ranking the founders and Team Ro, weakest to strongest (in a clean, fair fight head on w no time to prepare) :

Itachi (he's fucking 12 guys. But also he is like. FRACTIONS under Tenzo and Shisui. If he were 13 I'd let him be above or at the same level but like. He's 12. Cmon.)

Tenzo - Shisui (they're like JUST under the next 2 tho like seconds behind)

Izuna - Tobirama

Kakashi ( by the skin of his fucking teeth and the advantage that is his stupid amount of jutsu's and lack of self preservation)

Madara - Hashirama

And again that's not counting like. The specific situations, time given to prepare, potential dirty tricks they could play (I think the Konoha tricks would play a fraction dirtier than the others, who are slightly more used to big open battles vs the ANBU squad who does all sorts of shit in all sorts of places) plus like. Mental state and team ups.

Tenzo or Shisui couldn't take down Izuna or Tobirama but if they teamed up I'd allow it. Kakashi would get his ass kicked by Hashirama or Madara but he could survive a minutes longer than the others would

Itachi is doing his best

But like

He's 12 guys

I love him and he is terrifyingly competent but he won't win 1 on 1 with anyone unless he has some sort of advantage. Minus Shisui and Tenzo who he does have the advantage of regularly fighting, so.

• I think they do get to go back home in the end. It takes a ton of work tho and they probably do need to get Mito's help with it, Kakashi can show them the seal they got brought here with but it's an ACTUAL one in a trillion miracle it didn't fucking atomize them. So it needs a lot of touch ups

Anyways !!!

I have a little more rattling around in my brain but I'm really tired and also starting to think about other things now so I'm gonna stop here. Might come back and add to it later so stay tuned if you're into that

Full disclaimer I'm not gonna write this. I don't have the proper energy and it'd probably end up being too ambitious of a project if I tried. I'd love to see it happen tho, so like !! Big open invitation to absoloutley anyone who might want to take even a fraction of the ideas I've listed.

@ me if you do tho I wanna see the final product

[girlbowser]

gonna go completely insane for a second here.

was thinking about mspar. who will obviously not. appear in hsbc. bc it makes almost no thematic sense for that to happen

but like… i made a connection. that i want to talk about.

mspar in pq is defined by two things, early on

really, really, really fucking hating the direction the epilogues took the "story", and wanting to take it into their own hands to fix it.

like, the imagery about this being a Bad Thing is pretty unsubtle. in the prologue, mspar literally tramples over homestuck panels, crushing them underfoot. and by the end of pq, what they have done isnt just create a new timeline where "everyone is happy," they've overwritten homestuck to do it. theyve Literally retconned the story and replaced it with their fanon ideas of how to "fix" things. that's why ultdirk and the director have to come and tell you that it needs to stop.

there's a lot more about mspar's actions in pq being like… pretty unambiguously villain shit, in my reading, but thats a sort of separate ramble to what i wanted to be insane about (let me know if you want me to ramble about. mspar being the bad guy. another time.)

basically. mspar's design looks a hell of a lot like doc scratch. obviously. theyre both round-headed narrators.

doc scratch's textbox is literally just mspar's inverted. theyre foils, in a sense. scratch enables canon while hurting everyone to do it, and mspar enables fanon (…while hurting everyone to do it, differentways.)

and that got me thinking like. a lot of this description i just wrote applies to another character too.

someone in the text who was introduced as a reader of the stories of the heroes, as an author of fanfiction and fanart

though, obviously meat and candy calliope are accounted for. it's not literally that mspar is calliope. besides, its not even like calliope wears a similar hooded black outfit to them, or makes a huge fucking deal about loathing the complexity of postcanon,

hey wait a minute

and theyve got a lot in common. even beyond the superficial. for example, they both just. appoint themself as the guardian of their timeline, because they have to "fix" homestuck. (whether the characters in homestuck want this or not.)

jade harley literally tells *both characters* "well, what if we don't want your protection!!!! why won't you leave us alone!" and then they just sorta ignore her wishes

and the connection keeps going. like. mspar and altcallie have both stood outside of the green sun with aradia and absorbed a canon into themself so they can rewrite it.

this extremely specific thing they have in common!!!! kinda fucked up!!!!!!

like, im not saying this because i literally think mspar is going to crack their head open and reveal altcallie a la Lord English in that intermission.

but THEMATICALLY.

they have a lot in common.

way more than i realized until literally two days ago!

like mspar is LITERALLY another narrator at least on the scale of ultdirk and doc scratch and the like and LITERALLY ALL OF THEM ARE VILLAINS shdashjfhasfhsajdhgashfkgshjdgsdfgsdhjg. there is stuff to think about.

(conspiracy brain.) and of all the outfits mspar wore in friendsim, it's specifically the black hoodie up that they got sprites for….

anyway.

obviously pesterquest and hsbc werent referencing each other because the second one did not exist yet.

but like! i think theres something there. in terms of da Themes and Motifs.

(if there are more close readings of pq, id be SUPER curious to find em :3)

[vampkomori]

Ena the Order is the concept of conforming to Fate, and Elio is an Emanator of Order

welcome to my pre-2,2 theory, i got carried away.

for those yet unaware, theres been a theory flying around that the Goddess of Sigonia, Gaiathra Triclops, is a folkloric interpretation of Ena the Order, on account of the iris of Ena's eye having the same colors as Aventurine's. we can go much further with this though.

(Aventurine's pupils are diamond-shaped, but little Kakavasha has round pupils. its likely that diamond-shaped pupils are a result of becoming a Stoneheart, because Topaz also has diamond-shaped pupils, and Aventurine used to not have them. but i digress)

Anyway, Gaiathra=Ena. Gaiathra is described as a left palm with 3 eyes, arguably Ena also has 3 eyes- two closed ones on their face, and one massive, open eye floating around them.

Gaiathra "reigns over all matters related to fertility, travels, and trickery." (Sigonia, Planar Ornament Relic Set) and is said to have been the one to bestow Aventurine with his luck.

but first: What is Order? Based on the words alone, youd think Order would have more in common with Equilibrium, but evidently that wasnt the case. Considering it was assimilated into the Harmony, it must have overlaps with that though, since the broader path is the one that absorbs the narrower one if their concepts are too similar. So, if Harmony is unity and peace, the idea of everyone joining a happy paradise, then how did the Harmony manage to absorb Order?

"I am filled with curiosity about how THEY swallowed up Order. The hymns of Xipe continue to spread and grow, occasionally overseen by ideology. In contrast, Ena's harmonic songs seems to align within a three-dimensional framework, akin to an emperor maintaining hierarchical order among all creatures. While there may be some overlap between THEIR Paths, the ancient Order is enormous in size, and swallowing THEM would prove far from effortless... Among the Aeons, there exist countless enigmas that surpass my own speculations." - Dev Log for Xipe in Simulated Universe, Herta's comment

Herta doesnt know either, and by all means a freshly ascended Aeon should not have an easy time absorbing someone as ancient as Ena- that is, unless Ena intended for it to happen.

This is a lot of establishing facts before i get to the meat of things. We still dont technically know what Order even is, so lets try figure it out!

"The planets governed by Ena adhere staunchly to established rules, yet I must acknowledge that the various calamities in the cosmos were all hindered by Ena's guardianship, leading to extremely efficient development of civilization among diverse planets. Interestingly, however, civilizations all eventually hit rock bottom because of Order. The ancient planets that once fervently worshiped Order would shine briefly before their total collapse... Perhaps this is the "Path" of these planets." - Dev Log for Ena in Simulated Universe, Herta's comment

So: Order is the concept of adhering to a predetermined outcome- their "path". Ena observes humanity "gazing into a crystal orb containing the cosmos" and ensures that they all follow their predetermined path of Fate. None may go astray, no outside influence may interfere, no matter what fate awaits them, they must follow their set path.

"THEIR voice is composed of syllables sequencing the rise and fall of civilizations in accordance with the Aeon's path."

Ena has the ability to foresee the future, as they dont just sequence the rise, but also the fall of civilizations. They are inherently impartial, just, things are destined to happen and so they see to it that they happen. Order is the concept of conforming to Fate, if a planet is destined to be destroyed by a calamity, then Ena guides it to that outcome.

However, Aeons, despite being concepts, arent just concepts, they have some semblance of sentience, self-awareness. they have goals, they make deals, though humans are unable to comprehend them.

So, Ena conforms to fate, but what is the purpose of doing so? Ena can see the future, but we know Kafka. there isnt just ONE future, theres a lot of futures, and endless paths. So its logical to assume that Ena, by being able to see the fates of civilizations, can actually see the endless amount of paths towards all possible fates, and personally chooses which path is specifically followed. and for the sake of the theory, lets assume Ena is benevolent and guides humanity towards the most fortunate fate (though even the most "fortunate" of fates can still end in destruction)

Before Ena was assimilated into the Harmony, they made a deal with Qlipoth the Preservation: Qlipoth will bring an end to Tayzzyronth the Propagation (as they are interfering with the predetermined Fates of planets) and in turn Ena will help Qlipoth against Oroboros the Voracity somehow (likely foreseeing its Fate and interfering with it). Qlipoth held up their end of the bargain, but Ena was assimilated before they were able uphold their part, which is interesting

We know theres something fishy about the Orders assmiliation into Harmony- it doesnt make sense, especially knowing that Ena foresees the future, and is likely aware of their own fate.

Heres where we remember that Gaiathra is also a goddess of trickery. Theres two possibilities:

Ena foresaw their own "demise" and made a deal with Qlipoth knowing they wouldnt be able to follow through on their part of the promise

Ena, able to see multiple paths for the future, foresaw that being assimilated into Xipe would lead them towards the most fortunate one, so they let themselves be absorbed on purpose, as the Harmony would not have been able to absorb the Order otherwise. The deal was just a bonus.

Either way, Ena would have known of the future, and making a deal shortly before the assimiliation of their path is clearly a scheme- they get something great out of it, and dont have to follow up on it.

Heres where we bring up Elio (and the Stellaron Hunters). We actually still dont know what path they follow, and isnt that so interesting? What path could possibly include following a "script" to ensure a certain future? hmmm

sounds like Order to me!

Elio possesses the ability to foresee future possibilities and the paths that lead towards them. Essentially, the exact ability that Ena is shown to possess. All the futures look pretty bleak though, except for one, which hes trying to achieve by making sure to follow that exact path: his "script". the very definition of Order.

Note also that despite Enas assimiliation, their faction can still exist. After all, Idrila the Beauty is also gone, but the Knights of Beauty still roam around. The path of a deceased or assimiliated Aeon can still be upheld even if the Aeon no longer exists.

Anyway, Elio is basically upholding Ena's legacy by ensuring that we adhere to fate, and guides us towards the most fortunate one. His ability is far too powerful though, so its safe to assume hes an Emanator, since theyre considered to be "as good as emissaries of the Aeons' wills"

*As a bonus, Gaiathra also reigns over "all matters related to 'travels'". if you stretch the definition a little, "travels" could refer to the idea of embarking on paths towards fate. you "travel" on a path, after all.

Theres also this interesting little tidbit here:

"THEY are always so symmetrical and so equal. If we were to rank those most sublime beings, only the Voracity and the Permanence can stand toe-to-toe with the Equilibrium's antiquity... Oh, and also the Order. After Ena disappeared, the Equilibrium's duties have only grown greater. Then, how would HooH perceive Nanook?"- Dev Log for HooH in Simulated Universe, Herta's comment

The fact that Nanook is brought up is pretty funny as theyre the youngest Aeon, and since only the most ancient ones would be able to stand "toe-to-toe" with HooH, youd think as the youngest, Nanook wouldnt stand a chance against them. but they were brought up regardless, in tandem with Ena no less

Coincidentally, Nanook is also the Aeon that Elio wants the Trailblazer to defeat too. Curious! You could say that it is the Will of the Order to see the fall of the Destruction? anyway,

HooH's duties "have grown only greater" since Ena disappeared, meaning that they must have overlapped in some way before, but coexisted. (similarly to how the Remembrance and Preservation coexist, possibly) We dont know much of anything about Equilibrium yet though, so lets put that aside.

Lets talk about luck.

Luck is just chance. The results of "chance" are left up to "fate". We know that not all choices or events matter in the grand scheme of things. Theres endless possible paths, so rolling a 1 or a 6 doesnt matter because it will still lead you onto the same destiny. Luck is irrelevant to fate, it does not influence it. Luck only influences how you arrive at it.

So how do you reconcile that with Order? if Order is staunchly adhering to fate, observing humanity to ensure they all end up on the "right" path, then how does chance, luck, happenstance, fit into all this?

Luck is the ultimate Order, because there is only ONE path that luck can take: the most fortunate one. It does not influence your fate however, luck only influences which one of the countless paths towards your fate you end up on. and always being lucky narrows your potential paths down to just one.

This is also why Nihility was the natural conclusion for Aventurine. If you realize that no matter what you do, you cannot change the outcome of your choices, then you realize its futile and decide to succumb to it. youll always win, so whats the point? Thats Nihility: succumbing to Fate, the inevitability of everything, realizing your choices dont matter. When youre lucky and everything you do leads to the same result then you start to think that maybe nothing matters.

Back on track though. Fate, despite being predetermined, is not singular. as in, theres predetermined fates (plural) waiting for you at the end of your path. theres multiple endings. Luck means you have less paths to end up on but luck does not influence the end goal.

In a way, what Elio is trying to do is very similar to what Aventurines "luck" does: he wants to end up on a very specific path that leads him to a very specific fate, and luck leads you onto one single path, theoretically making it easier to achieve certain fates. Its an interesting parallel.

"Blessing" someone with luck seems a bit too hands-on for someone like Ena, so while we might never know why Aventurine was blessed specifically, we can kind of see it as a sort of trial-run. Ena does not interfere, does not "defy" fate, but bestowing luck onto someone to narrow down their futures is a bit like interference- except its not, only on a technicality. theyre still adhering to the set paths that exist, after all, im not changing fate, what are you talking about? look, hes still on one of your predetermined paths. the fact that he cant go onto other paths is irrelevant if he still ends up at one of the predetermined endings.

As a note though, Ena is not Fate itself. Ena adheres to fate and ensures that humanity follows it. Nihility is basically succumbing to fate and thinking its inevitable and change is futile, and I guess you could see Harmony as the concept of circumventing fate- instead of arriving at one of your predetermined endings, how about you get assimilated into our harmonious hivemind and experience eternal bliss? (lets wait on that 2.2 harmony lore-drop before saying anything about that though)

got off track a little. basically, Ena's Order is the concept of conforming/adhering to Fate. potentially, in their era, Fate was a singular end, because they were the one to guide humanity onto certain paths and towards certain ends (which is why civilizations thrived but ultimately still collapsed). Enas assimiliation was on purpose, although we can only speculate on the reason. so i will. heres my speculation:

Ena is not Fate itself, but a Guide. seeing the countless possible paths and possible fates for humanity, they foresaw the same thing that Elio foresees- a terrible End at the hands of the Destruction that may affect humans and Aeons alike. potentially, Enas Will mightve been to avoid that (but remaining within the confines of fate, not defying it) so they set in motion the steps needed to embark on said path, which necessitated their assimilation into Harmony. if Enas reign caused the Fates of humans to be "set in stone", then Enas disappearance could be seen as humans regaining the ability to choose their own paths, their own fate. Essentially, Enas disappearance wouldve been necessary in order to even create the possibility of an "alternate ending" and leaving the choice up to humanity.

anyway thats the conclusion thanks for coming, godspeed if you read the whole thing. im bad at keeping things short and concise. and i started rambling near the end

as a disclaimer: these are vague thoughts and i change my view on things often. if we get new info in the future that says this was all nonsense then thats that. im not trying to convince anyone. just offering a perspective for funsies

[toytulini]

god i should not be dwelling on this im just so haunted by that """low spoons""" recipe. we are on entirely different planets. what the fuck are you talking about

"easy, quick" "less than 35 min" yea you were doing this professionally huh

[infamous-if]

Sorry, this one's a bit of a criticism, I think it's weird that punky, aggressive Seven chose to be in (what I chose to be) a folk band at the start, like I get that we're besties but this is very much not her aesthetic or performance style

Picking to be a folk band actually makes a lot of things a little weird through the game, like why is G, famous rockstar, invested in a band that's so wildly out of her genre? Why do we have a song with a sixty second drum solo? Why are we playing electric instruments?

Basically I think there are too many genre options at the start and they don't really make sense with how the rest of the game is written assuming you're a rock band of some stripe. Like, a hip-hop group, an EDM group or a synthpop group probably wouldn't have a guitarist or a live drummer at all.

I really enjoy the meat of the game and all the relationships and drama, but the like, knowledge in the back of my head that I picked to be a folk band makes a bunch of later context come off pretty strange and I think that streamlining the genre choices down to genres that would have electric guitarists, live drummers and drum solos would be a fix for this.

I mean, I get it! And I thought of that too while writing the initial demo, but honestly, it's just one of those things meant to be customization purposes and to add to the details of story. It's what people want out of their play through. I could've easily made MC's band a regular rock/punk band and called it a day, and I know other band IFs did that for the logical part of it, but I don't want to. I like seeing the different combinations and what people create. It's more for people to add in what they want and to imagine their story as is. Does it make sense? Not always, but it can easily be explained as a fusion or any other explanation people want to use.

I think the problem when you advertise a story as slice of life in general is that people expect 1000% realism in a way they don't with any other genre, but I don't really want to be limited to that. I mean, in reality, there are many things that would be different if I was going for complete realism, but I'm not. This is very much a dramatization haha

It's not much of a big deal, in the context of the actual story, and also, it would be pointless for me to really hone in on streamlining the genres because you can type in your genre anyway? I think if it does bother you, I would recommend doing a type in or just going the traditional rock/electric route. Or just type in the genre you think best reflects the story, that's why it's there!

Plus, I do like having a diverse selection of genres just to show that theres more genres out there than just rock when it comes to bands and band stories. It also helps build the MCs background in the eyes of readers (their choice). I know a few readers who have typed in their own genres and write lyrics in their native language, which I think is really cool.

I'm limited to how much I write and can code. Realistically, I could've added variables and changed the instruments/positions of the band members to correspond with the genre...and I'm almost unhinged enough to consider it...but nah lmao not now, at least.

Sorry that it ruined the experience a bit! But I'm likely not going to change that ^^

[a-998h]

Aska nd ye shall receive!!!!!

SAGau idea!

Reader almost always plays on co-op since they unlocked it alongside their three friends at scheduled intervals when they all have the time.

Said reader can also code, and to make up for the fact that not all their friends can buy or pirate (cuz of lack of cash or storage) games they have, they make mods they add in, then add out, alongside lots of solo beta testing.

(if this isn't possible IRL, suspend your disbelief)

Also theres no NSFW in this ask or being requested it's just jokes a la "3AM challenge gone wrong! Gone sexual"

also there's one implication of catholic trauma

plus capital letters

Sorry if anything makes no sense

Anyways—

===============

The Backrooms

*insert law & order audio*

Reader, playing Aether. "I added the Backrooms."

The Kaeya Main "Oh God."

The Childe Main "You added the what??"

"Same." «== they're playing and want to adopt Ferminent

"The Backrooms, this fictional idea that even an infant hitting their elbow wrong has the .000001% chance of—this is not mathematically accurate—teleporting you to this uncanny infinite realm, and the only way out is to somehow repeat what got you in there. And I don't think doing either on purpose is humanly feasibly."

"I understood none of that but okay." The four laughing ensued.

"okay but" wheezing "how— how are we gonna get in if you can't do it on purpose??"

"yeah that sounded like a little bit like an oversight."

"a LiTtLe BiT"

"literally just click that button that wasn't on the screen before."

"oh "

pop!

"oooh god. I'm getting catholic flashbacks!"

"oh shit you okay? Do you need a break or—"

"no. No I'm good"

"oh good"

"Any monsters to worry about?"

"yes." They all start laughing "Unless it's bugged in co-op because I only play tested this on single player!"

"backrooms gone wrong! We died! Gone sexual!"

"cops called!" "sixty nine hospitalized!"

"no!" Laughing continues and as it dies down: "we're escaping the backrooms, and I'm using the version with clues to reaching the next levels so we're not stuck here all day."

"so are you gonna help us oooorrrr . . . "

"you're alone, I'm gonna be following you around as you screw around!" The dying laugher peaks again

"you put us in this mess!" "you allowed me too!!!"

And then the loudest inhumane scream ensued, alongside theirs as they scattered.

"Kane pixels monster is real! Is this the Kane pixel backrooms? Oh good we're all fucked!!"

"and the wikidot!" Now only reader was laughing

"are you speaking a different DIALECT?!"

"pretty much" gasp "it's chasing meee!!"

"you deserve it! Daaance deluded puppeteer daaance!!" And then the reader ran in their direction from behind "you used me as a meat shield!"

"to demonstrate we all get four lives! If we die a fifth time, we start at the first level again, repeat!"

"yeah that reassures me" they say sarcastically, now controlling Zhongli "wait first level—?"

"there's arrows on the walls" "tell me where, I'm gonna carry this team"

==========

"What the heeellll, I can't even see any damage on the monsters" "you can't kill what cannot be killed"

"oh crap." Dies. Xiao takes Zhongli's place

"disorder? In MY backrooms??"

"it's more likely thank you think!"

=================

"Since when did you change from Kaeya to Ayato?"

"since when did you die all the way back to Freminet?"

"I didn't I got gooood!!" Spinning circled around them "Aahh!! Friendly fire! Friendly fire!"

Freminet is replaced with Gaming "I literally hate you"

"I love you too <3 AAAAAA—"

================

"guys help! I clipped into the walls!"

"you reap what you soooowww, fucker!" A sword strikes them "AAHHH!!"

================

"I think this is what the abyss feels like"

"I think that's an insult" "you've never been in there"

===many deaths & respawns later===

"you're a monster you know that right"

Giggling, "yes yes yes!!"

"we should do that again" "as the one with arthritis from carrying you idiots, I veto it."

"veto denied :D"

The Wither Storm

Playing Kokomi "what is it this time"

"Wither Storm :)" Reader, playing Fischl looks up at them

Playing Xinyan "uh oh"

Eula "on a scale of one to backrooms, how difficult will this one be?" "Collateral damage"

"and that's ignoring the proximity voice chat!"

Fast paced breathing "oh thank God that wasn't a thing in the Backrooms, we were just using discord"

"yeah it's a shaaaame"

"wait, we couldn't lay a finger in the Backrooms"

"you can kill the wither storm and still engage in friendly fire"

"thank goodness!!"

"so what's in store?"

"I'm gonna teleport us to another plane—because we don't want Teyvat harmed in the process—and we're gonna summon the wither storm and kill it."

"let's do it blind."

"yeeeesss!!!"

"did we not learn from the backrooms???"

"no we did not!"

"blind it is! Let's go!"

"wait—!"

===============

The Wither Storm is summoned! And like a standard wither simple shoots out skulls that destroys where it hits and inflicts withering on any living being.

"WHAT THE HEEELLLL???"

"LOOK WHAT YOU DID!"

"guys get building materials—!" Xinyan is replaced with Lisa who is far, far away from where the death was "And I withered away. And I'm away from everyone

"wow, I can't hear anyone!"

===============

Beamed up by the Wither Storm: "guys help"

"one I barely heard you, scream next time, two it's already to late for you." Eula is them eaten in one piece by one of the storm's mouths

"oh my fucking god it has a halo . . . It has like four of them" Looking up, far away from the group with Yae Miko, running away after a head faces their way

Far far away, Kaeya takes Eula's place in the plane

(Google image "crackers wither storm" to get what I mean in the last paragraph)

===============

"bestie!!" Reader controlling Hu Tao walks up a small hill

"Oh my God! Bestie!" Another Hu Tao looks in their ideection, they run towards each other "regroup! Regroup! We gotta regroup cuz the next phase is gonna begin!"

===============

"we did all that work and never even got a nether star" Sitting down with Heizou

"says who?" Back with Fischl ":O"

"the inventory . . . " They habitually jump with Kazuha

"oh, what's this I see?" sticking to Hu Tao after the Wither Storm

"who wants to read the description?" By now everyone opened their inventory to find a fourth of a white, purple tinted four-pointed star

"As testament to your suffering, a piece of the Nether Star joins you growing treasury!! A Devastation reduced to a mere chapter in your life"

"look, I get that after we're done you just remove the mod forever and leave it to gather dust, but at least, at least let us keep this even after removing the Wither Storm mod."

"and let us make a beacon while your at it!"

"sure why the hell not!"

"what the hell is a beacon and will I want in?"

"you all will!!"

"yes we do!"

"you don't even know what it does!x

"and neither do you!"

===============

Personally I imagine that Teyvat is a bit split on this.

On one hand, their Grace is far too happy with their friends who Teyvat deems as fellow Creators they play around with and they're playing around with their divine powers.

On the other hand, making mods and bug testing is time consuming and both of these take attention their Grace could be giving them instead.

They've heard plenty times the Creator complain about their world's spaghetti code, the Reader has cursed the creator—"who the hell made this?"—many times and Teyvatians interpret this as either the Creator having lost their memories or an act of self-hatred or a blend of both.

It doesn't help how Reader curses themselves whenever they find an error in their own code

Though I wonder the thoughts of Vessels from four worlds being used for four gods to meet in scheduled meetings either during normal gameplay or modded gameplay.

No but imagine some vessels doing things their code supposedly shouldn't allowed but it gets brushed off as a mod glitch 😭 lmao, like say, Kaeya muttering "Cataclysm . . ." To himself during the Wither Storm and only barely not being noticed

BRO WHAT WILL LIKE KHAENRI'AH PEOPLE AND ARCHONS AND OTHERS THINK WHEN THEY SEE THE NETHER STAR FRAGMENTS FORM A FOUR-POINTED STAR TOGETHER AKA THE NETHER STAR WHICH IN TEYVAT THE FOUR POINTED STAR IS THE SYMBOL OF KHAENRI'AH?

That's all I have in me today

feel free, not but pressured, to add your own ideas, add onto my ideas, etcetera, etcetera as you please, you got my absolute blessing

take your time as needed

Hope your having a good day!!

Thank you for sending me this.

This is awesome on its own and it must be shared.

But seriously, you're right. Teyvat wants you to be happy, but only with them. So they come up with a plan.

They're going to not work and basically annoy your friends off the game. They know I'll make you sad, but you have them to make you feel better.

If you friends are extra stubborn, then more extreme measures are but in place. Like bugging out, not ascending but taking the materials, and stuff like that.

Eventually when your friends quit the game, you go back to solo mode. Now you spend your time with them. While it makes them sad to see you upset about being able to play with your friends anymore, they'll be your new friends and be the best characters they can for you.

After, you'll be with them soon.

[puhpandas]

Carbon Fiber Hilt

(3,551 words) warnings: mentions of death, mind control, spiraling, panic attacks, knives, blood, trauma. the usual kinda

Gregory, while over at Tony's house, is asked to cut the vegetables for dinner. He never really was able to get over the feeling of the hilt of a knife in his hand.

Gregory hasn't picked up a knife since that night. He hasnt had any reason to. Vanessa has also avoided being even near one like the plague.

He hadn't had a reason to for a long time. A year and a half, actually. Maybe just a bit less than that. Knives were scarce in a house full of people terrified of them, and they were never needed when Vanessa would find meals to make that distinctively did not require one to prepare.

But time has passed. A lot of it has. And Gregory should have known he wouldn't have been able hide from one forever.

Its not the first time Gregorys been to Tony's house. It's small and old, and it shows in the asymmetrical-ness and appearance, but it's not a dump. It's very well kept and lived in, and its evident; theres flowers in the front yard and a birdhouse and a little rainbow pinwheel. Theres windchimes that Gregory can always hear from inside on particularly windy days and the place is made almost entirely out of old wood. It's just old.

Gregory never understood why Tony is so embarrased to take him here. His Mom and Grandma are really nice. His Grandma has wisdom to share and a glint in her eye, and she has crows feet all across her eyes that show off how much she smiles. Tony's Mom isnt much different. She also smiles, but it's more optimism and less joy. Theres bags under her eyes that show how shes struggled but a shine in her eye that tells that she isnt unhappy. Gregory thinks he sees that in Vanessa a lot.

Its comfortable at Tony's house, in a way that Gregory's apartment he shares with Vanessa and Freddy isnt. He loves his home, but theres a distinctness between the landlord white paint and gray cabinets in his house and the rich, homey wood of Tonys.

Gregory feels comfortable there. He thinks that Tony's family catches onto the same thing one day where they ask him if he wants to help with dinner.

"Mom." Tony grits out incredulously after she asks the question, her head peeking through the arch leading to the kitchen. "Greg shouldn't have to do that, remember?"

"Its okay, Tony." Gregory smiles easily, and any contempt he'd felt on his behalf seems to melt away when Tony catches his eye. "I don't mind helping."

That's how he ends up in the kitchen, shoulder to shoulder with Tony (he tries not to be too hyper aware of that) and his Grandma, stood in front of the counter.

"Perfect timing." Tony's Grandma grins at Gregory. "I needed someone to cut the vegetables anyway."

She then gestures to the counter, and the implications don't click in Gregory's head until far too late. He turns to look at the counter, and there, by the cutting board, is a-- knife.

Its blade is a clean, silver-ish white, and the hilt a black with the telltale three dots in the handle.

Before, he could hear the simmering of meat and smell the delicious aroma of whatever food Tony's family is cooking up. As soon as he lays eyes on the blade, it all washes away.

He knows he goes rigid against Tony's shoulder. The fabric of his T-Shirt rubs uncomfortably against his arm, and flashes and memories of a brown fursuit enter his mind without permission.

It's almost comical, how much it looks like the one he had--

"Greg?" Tony's voice rips him out of it, and it's only now Gregory realizes he was spiraling. The sound of cooking food and the sight of the yellow countertops, and Tony's worried face enter his vision.

He sets a hand on his arm, and all Gregory can do is stare with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. He's suddenly aware of the hammering in his heart, and that's the only thing that reminds him to breathe.

He breathes in slowly, not wanting to attract attention from Tony's family. Tony looks at him, and Gregory recognizes the concern in his eyes. It would be far from the first time Gregory has spiraled in front of Tony; hes done it unprompted countless times before. Tony is sometimes even a trigger himself.

Gregory catches Tony's gaze and Gregory can tell he's searching for what's wrong. Gregory shakes his head, trying to clear away the fog, and he returns the hand on Tony's arm, trying to smile. He doesnt know if it works or not.

"Its okay." He tells Tony. "I'm okay. I swear."

The entire time, he keeps his gaze carefully away from the knife still sitting untouched by the cutting board. Thankfully, Tony's family doesnt comment on how he hasnt started yet. Gregory exhales shakily when he can see the glint of the blade in the corner of his eye, but he stubbornly pushes it down, keeping his eyes on Tony.

"I-- I swear." He repeats, but it's way less certain than he wants it to be.

Thankfully, though, Tony let's it go. He just nods, turning to whatever it is his family asked him to do. Gregory doesnt look away immediately, and he can feel Tony glancing at him from the corner of his eye with worry. A watchful gaze.

He can see the silver shining in his peripherals. He knows it's there, and yet, despite how much he stubbornly hates how much it can send him shaking like a leaf, he cant force himself to look at it.

That's okay, he tells himself. Sometimes you arent ready to see things head on. Sometimes, when he and Tony sleepover at eachothers places, either of them can wake up from a nightmare and not be able to even see the other. Those nights, Gregory will just hold his hand to let him know hes there, and Tony will do the same for him.

That's what he needs to do. Touch is a way to dip your toe into the water, right? Gregory may not be ready to see a knife yet, but maybe he can still do what Tony's family wants him to without crumpling in on himself.

He can still feel Tony's intense look on him. He hasnt shifted his gaze away from the random spot on the counter this whole time. His shoulders shake, but he pushes past it, ignoring how he can only inch towards the handle instead of grabbing it. The simmering of the food on his left consumes his senses. It sounds like static.

His hand inches closer, and Gregory curses inwardly at how his hand trembles. It's just a knife. It's just a knife. Everybody can use a knife. It's just for the vegetables.

It's only because hes focused on his inner thoughts does his hand not retract away like it had been burned when it gets close. Hes unaware, blissfully for a moment, as his hand grows closer.

The handle of the knife (carbon fiber. he shouldn't know that.) only brushes against his fingertips.

It happens suddenly. In the split second his fingers touched the material, he felt the ridges in the material, the rough texture of the hilt. He felt electricity shoot up his arm so bad it hurt. He felt the way his shoulder jerked when his hand retreated so quickly you would think the knife bit at him. It might as well have.

The sudden movement of his arm drawing back and the burning touch of the knife's hilt makes him spiral. Hes all too aware of the burn in his shoulder blade and all he can think about is plunging the knife deep into something. Swinging with all his might with the intent to kill. The blade digging into something soft. Flesh.

His vision darkens around the edges. Somebody is talking to him-- Tony, he can recognize. He cant see him, because his eyes have gone dark. His arms are glued to his sides. The darkness creeps around the edge of his vision, like shadowy tendrils, and immediately, panic grips his insides.

Hes back. Hes taking back over. The shadow always meant he was being put under. No. No. He doesnt want to. He wants to go home he never wanted to do this. He never wanted to be so painfully aware of what it was like to live in shadows. In darkness. Underground where prying eyes could never see.

Gregory thinks there are hands touching his shoulders and his arms. His eyes are wide; he can feel the skin stretching. Hes aware of burning eyes enough with how much he tries to scrub the shadows away and this is no different.

His feet move, but he isnt aware of making them. The darkness is still here, and he doesnt know where hes going. Who's touching him. Hes back. hes back hes back hes back he has my body hes never going to let me out hes going to kill everyone--

All hes aware of is how it feels like hes back. He doesnt acknowledge a door closing, or how the floor transitions into hard wood to carpet, or how his breathing stutters and stalls like a car failing to start.

He's back there, and all he can feel is the hopelessness and incapability of being trapped. Locked away tight. Unable to fight back. Doubled down on because hes the favorite the favorite the wizards most favored apprentice--

"Greg?" Hands push at his shoulders, and Gregory feels the wall touch his back and his body slide down the wall. His shirt rides up his back, and all he can feel is the wet, sweaty fursuit riding on his skin. Rubbing it raw with plush and blistering when it gets sticky with blood. "Greg, can you hear me?"

He shakes his head, over and over, deliriously. He cant revel in the fact that he can control himself when he swears the voice is calling out to him. Can you hear me? You dont know me, but I know you. I can tell we're going to be great partners.

"Gregory, please--" The voice begs. Gregory pauses. The voice never begged. It only commanded. Directed. Instructed. "You cant breathe! You gotta listen to me. Hear my voice! Its Tony. Okay?"

The fog encompassing his mind (hes back hes back) lifts ever so slightly, enough for him to think. The fact that he can think at all propels him to push, and it's like it all comes rushing back. A kitchen. A knife. A house.

"You arent being controlled. He isnt back, okay? I know that's what you're thinking and its not true. Your brain is playing tricks on you again." The voice reaches him, and Gregory latches onto the familiarity of it, the tone and the richness but roughness of it making it through. "Trust me. Please."

Gregory never wanted to trust the voice. He never wanted to. He never did. But it had always been too late before.

He knows he would never want to trust the voice, but he finds that here, he does. He would never view the voice positively. The tightness in his chest and the darkness encompassing him ebb ever so slightly, and he peers through the cracks, like looking at the light at the end of a dark tunnel.

Tony he realizes. And with that comes the floodgates. Tony. Tony wouldnt be here if Gregory hadn't broke free last year. Gregory wouldn't be here if he hadn't broke free last Spring.

He pushes, and the black edging his vision let's up enough for him to see. He's in Tony's room, he can tell that much, and he can see that Tony himself is on his knees on the carpet in front of him, even through the fog, Gregory can see the panic and the worry on Tony's face.

"T--" His breath stutters. "Tony."

It's like seeing underwater, but Gregory can see the way Tony sags in relief at that. "Yeah, Greg. Its me." His voice reaches his ears, and Gregory revels in it. He revels that it reminds him of all those times he listened to Tony's voice to remind himself he's still here. That they both are. "You're at home, with me. Okay? You got freaked out over something but you're fine now. You can start coming back down to earth."

Despite himself, and the way his fingers still tingle and burn from where the handle of the knife burned him, he chuckles. "Says you."

Tony laughs as well, and Gregory feels the smile stretch on his face instinctively at the sound. It's like throwing him a rope, the beautiful sound, and he grabs ahold of it with both hands. "So you're probably feeling better now."

The final bits of blurriness ebb from his vision, and hes able to see clearly. He takes a moment, taking in Tony and the yellows and greens of his room and his green jacket and his blue eyes and his smile.

His body aches. His shoulders burn from how they're hunched, and Gregory's just able to stop himself from spiraling again at how familiar it is. How his muscles would scream when he would be in control, but he'd never stop. Never rest. Never stop swinging until the task was done. The inherit lack of feeling pain is one of the most blaring memories Gregory has that makes him so certain whatever had him was more inhuman than he could ever imagine.

He loosens his muscles, and Tony stays silent, just watching him with concerned eyes. Gregorys hand still burns; it feels like sparks flew when he'd touched the handle of the knife and now he has the burns to prove it. It twitches, and Gregory grips at Tony's carpet to try to scratch the feeling away. It doesnt work.

Tony notices. He always does. It doesnt help that it was with his left hand. Tony's eyes soften, wide and worried, and Gregory let's himself stare back as he catches his breath and tries to focus on anything that isnt the tingling in his fingertips.

He's only mostly aware when Tony shifts positions to his left side. He presses himself flush against Gregorys shoulder, like at the counter, but before Gregory can think about touching the knife again Tony is grabbing his left hand.

"I'm sorry." He says. "I should have said something about the knife. Or stopped you. This could have been avoided if I hadn't just watched--"

"No." Gregory cuts him off, voice raspy and breathless. "Its not your fault. I should have known it was a bad idea. Its just been so long that I..." He trails off. It really isnt Tony's fault, too. Gregory knows what it's like to just watch.

"Its been a year and a half, Greg." Tony points out. "I think... I think anybody would understand if you never wanted to even see a knife again after what happened to you."

Gregory nods, and despite how much he hates it, he finds himself agreeing. "I never wanted to." He says. He shuts his eyes tight and focuses on Tony's hand in his instead of the burning in his fingertips. "I didnt want to. I tried to fight back but it only made-- I only--"

Tony shushes him, squeezing his hand and pressing their shoulders closer. He uses his fingers to fidget with the tips of Gregory's, and it washes some of the prickling away to make room for Tony's warmth. "I know, Greg."

"He made me pick one." Gregory whispers, voice shaking. "I had to choose which one to kill them all with. The one in the kitchen looked just like the one I--"

"He's gone, Gregory." Tony reminds him. "You broke free."

Gregory shakes his head, his throat still feeling dry. "No." He whispers. "I never-- I never got freed. Not like how I helped Vanessa." That fear, that long suffering paralyzing uncertainty that keeps him second guessing if anything is real comes back full force, and his breath hitches. He eyes Tony's face, and their hands, trying to ground himself before he spirals. "What if--"

"He wont." Tony tells him, and theres a certain assertiveness that forces some part of Gregory to believe him. To turn away from the shadows dancing across the walls of his mind. "And if he does, we'll save you. We won't let him hurt you or anyone else."

Gregory revels in the reassurance, knowing that he's said the same thing to Vanessa multiple times. If Gregory has been able to believe it for her, maybe theres some hope for him as well. He breaths out a shaky puff of air, and he doesnt realize his eyes are unfocusing again until Tony squeezes his hand.

"I wont let him hurt you." Tony says, and theres some sort of edge to his voice that makes Gregory glance up at his face. Theres a shadow under his brow and a darkness to his eyes, but Gregory knows the anger is not directed at him. Not when Tony meets his eyes and they soften immediately. "You broke free for me all that time ago. Just so he wouldnt hurt me. I'll be there to ground you, or-- or to save you instead of the other way around."

Despite himself, Gregory's able to crack a smile at that, small as it is. He glances down at their hands, and feels the pressure. It's not cold like the handle of a knife, nor uncomfortably hot hot hot from the sweltering insides of the suit he had been trapped in. His hands do not twitch under plush and fabric; they curl around Tony's fingers, and the pressure is comforting. Welcome.

"My knight in shining armor." Gregory says quietly. Its something Vanessa would joke about when they'd talk about it and the games would be brought up. A little knight and the lost princess.

Gregory doesnt think apprentices have knights. Maybe that's what he had intended all along. No chance of getting out. No chavelry in silver armor to ride up and save you. Just the apprentice and the wizard.

Tony's fingers twitch themselves, and they shift to squeeze tighter around Gregory's own, entertwining like steel chainmail. My knight in shining armor he thinks. Maybe knights dont need a princess to be heroes.

Its warm; theres only the soft light of Tony's bedroom lamp on his desk with scattered notes and his own drawings carefully stacked around the edge, and Gregory can still hear the faint clattering of dishware across the house. The sky outside the window is a deep blue, and theres no purple to be found.

Tony's hand sends prickles up Gregorys own, but it's not like the rubbing of skin against plush fabric. It's not unwelcome. It's like fireworks dancing across his skin, electricity buzzing across his fingertips and his knuckles.

Gregory heaves out a final breath, and all the tightness in his chest leaves with it. Gregory can see how Tony smiles at him in-between the steadily dissipating darkness, and Gregory hangs onto it. It's a smile like one hes never seen before. Soft, crinkled at the eyes and filled with nothing but fondness.

Nothing like his smile. Nothing like the frozen grin when Gregory'd do a job well done. The grin that'd stick onto his face even when Gregory refused to--

"I think I'm ready to go back now." Gregory says, his voice clear now and unmuddled to his ears. It's only now that he realizes that he's still leaning against Tony against the door of his room, and their hands are still entertwined. His fingers are tingling, and it's only now that they twitch, but for a completely different reason. The shoulder that's pressed up against Tony's is warm and Gregory is painfully aware of it.

Not in a bad way. Gregory knows what it's like to be warm in a bad way. This is comforting in the way only Tony is. Even Vanessa and Freddy feel different than this.

Tony hums next to him, and doesnt move to get up at all. "My Mom will come get us when dinners done." He says, and his hand grips tighter and his shoulder presses closer. His neck twists to look over at him, and Gregory has to fight to not look away when he turns his face the same direction and they meet eyes.

Theres a brief, stuttering moment where they dont move at all. Dont breathe. But then Gregory is letting his forehead tip into Tony's shoulder and lie there.

"Okay." Is all he says. And that's it. Tony leans his head on Gregory's hair, and Gregory has to hide his smile at how he can hear Tony's heartbeat from the proximity and it's going a hundred miles an hour.

Gregory shuts his eyes at some point, and the darkness does not creep around the edges and pull him under. He's safe right now. Tony is here, and Tony would not be here if Gregory wasn't.

Tony squeezes his hand in between his chatting once, then twice, and any shadows that try to reach the window of his mind retreat. He's only aware of the smell of food wafting under the door, Tony's voice rambling on about something, and the warmth of Tony's hand in his.

ao3 link

[cloudyswritings]

Moth Biology: Actually biology this time I promise

Radiance:

She’s physically not got a heart, and her chest sometimes leaks essence.

She her Light is way way hotter than Grimms, especially towards the time Ghost arrives in Hallownest. By then she’s basically a star going supernova.

That said her body is actually cold to the touch, or at least colder than the average bug should be. This is because she’s literally a walking corpse without the nightmare heart.

All of her fluff is actually very sharp and spiny, taking after caterpillars who have a similar defense mechanism and generally inject venom into those who touch them.

She’s got some sort of connection to Bardoon, but I’ll leave it at that for now.

Her whole stiff posture and pale color is because she’s in rigor mortis, she doesn’t know about this of course because it’s outside her tunnel vision.

she doesn’t even eat or breathe anymore, but she hasn’t actually noticed this and would be started/concerned if someone pointed it out to her.

Theres a lot of things like this for her honestly, she doesn’t really understand what’s happened to her and her realm since the heart was excised. She’s even slowly been losing control of it and it’s turning back into wild dreamlands controlled mainly by the mortal minds passing through it.

Moths: the species

A common birth defect among moths is holes in the heart or a lack of a heart all together. They reflect their maker in that way.

Kinda like dolphins I imagine they can be both awake and dreaming at the same time, this helps them stay in contact with the radiance

They each carry their own little dream realm from the day they’re born, think of how the dreamers each have an actual space in the dream realm you can visit, moths are like that but tend to actually decorate their spaces and such.

honestly they’re more like demigods than normal bugs, but they’re still also mortal.

Seer ascended when she died, which is a capability only made possible by being one of the moths who was originally made in the dream realm. In this form she’s at least a higher being, and given time and worship could become a god.

Interestingly moths were actually created by radiance during her war with the heart, some like Grimm(as well as others) defected to fight against her, this saw her take a more spiteful position in regards to how she treated her followers. After the war moths stopped being created directly from the dream itself and became physical beings

the best way to think of it is like elves, the older they are the more power but also more detached from the mortal world.

Anyway, moths don’t have eyelids.

they can’t eat any meats, but do need some salt in their diets, so salted smoothies made of nectar and plant matter are popular.

Dreamroots often grow from places where moths have been buried, their corpses can sometimes act as a bridge between the waking world and the dreaming.

Grimm

He was originally a moth, but over time he’s become a distorted caricature of himself due to the ways bugs having nightmares see him. Each Grimm looks a little different as a result of this.

His eyes are actually just a thin crystal pane, underneath them is a portal/wound leading directly into the heart. If you managed to crack it, we’ll the results would be catastrophic to say the least…

He can’t really fly anymore? Like at the start of the life of each Grimm he can, but as time wears on he starts burning up from the inside and his wings are often the first thing to go.

As he begins burning he often begins coughing out ash, it usually stains his wings a bit.

Certified candle eater(if you know you know)

he’s got a semi variable number of limbs? This is kinda based around his shapeshifting abilities, which basically are tied to taking elements from different nightmares to change shapes(this is how he turns into a flock of grimmchildren).

His body has a really large heart compared to the size it should actually be. It doesn’t pump blood though, it just pumps nightmare essence and feeds back into the nightmare heart.

He likes long naps, and usually visits the nightmares of mortals he found interesting.

I’ll most likely do a part 2 to this, but next up is more wyrm biology.

[sendmyresignation]

if you wanna indulge me, id love to hear your opinions on sing (all of mine are detractory which i know isnt the complete view of the song)

omg id love too!! sorry this took me a sec to formulate post-work haha. i know we don't agree about sing but honestly that's the beauty of music opinions- I feel like it becomes easier to define what I like about things when faced with legit measured criticism anyway

for me, i want to start with the structure and instrumental since it's usually not mentioned (most of the criticisms of sing are exclusively lyrical or intention-focused). it's so cool. and evocative. and full of tension!! my favorite use of synth on danger days, plus the keys and the drums (man i love the dd studio musician drums lmao), really emphasizes sing as a suspended moment both in the album (necessary bridge, tonally, between bulletproof and planetary imo) and in the track itself- its alllll building up to that bridge and final chorus. but there's all these little pieces- the backing vocals, there's so many hidden guitar parts that riff just under all the noise, that opening like, tambourine. sorry for not having a quote on hand but Ray's said he really loved writing sing and it's so totally obvious to me. especially live- part of the reason I was soooooo excited for sing swarm tour edition is that even during dd ray was like absolutely shredding for sing after the bridge. and everytime time it's so good. part of the reason the lyrics don't bother me is sing could stand alone instrumentally and I'd still want to listen to it. (sing also reminds me of Ray's solo music- the sentiment is more significant that the lyrics and the music is itself a vehicle for storytelling)

also though, i think there's a lot of intention with sing (it's up to the listener to determine if that paid off obv) but within the context of dd the record as a pirate radio station, sing has always read as a trojan horse song. making it a single too, like once a song takes on a life of its own outside the record there's new meaning and circumstance. so both within and outside the killjoy universe sing is a vehicle for not just the bridge but the overall sentiment of dd (how fucking excited was gerard when glenn beck took the glee bait) like, yes, i do agree they could've benefited from another pass over the lyrics (i will always defend keeping "sing it till your nuts" bc its sounds like sing it to your nuts though) but I don't personally get the criticism that sing isn't "specific enough" about what exactly it's against or is too optimistic about "sing it for the world"-- i think there are songs on the album (notably planetary right after it!) which do that job just fine. dd is gerard in arguably top lyrical form so theres a lot of meat in the rest of the record like. sing it for the world is a purposely simplistic art is the weapon. like those are the same sentiments rendered very differently!

also like. i do think there was a very directed target at the younger part of their fan base here (girl/boy) which is sweet. to me. like i did hear sing first when i was a young teen (one of the few dd songs i was familiar with) and it did feel huge and empowering at that moment. my chem are their best when they are navigating the dualities of their specific fame, which includes simultaneously making very serious, adult rock music which is concerned with violence death grief and sex, as well as being a role model for younger people and taking them seriously and neither of these are in rhetorical conflict with each other. so like whatever sing is a little juvenile. but it's still filled with passion! taken as a legitimate project with a creative instrumental and a narratively-driven music video. I like that aspect, it works for me. I'll never call it my favorite my chem song but its certainly not the worst when you add in the bridge (i wanted to prove my point without the bridge but like. damn!! it's a good bridge!!!). that's my spiel.