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goldeneyedgirl · 1 year ago

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TwiFicmas23 Day 2: In the Dark of the Night 2 (Eye of the Storm)

Good evening everyone! I hope your December is going well and slightly more organized than mine! I am also exhausted, so please excuse any ridiculous errors.

Tonight, we have a section from the sequel to In the Dark of the Night; Cryptid Alice-verse is a favorite of mine - the world is bonkers, Alice is nuts, and Jasper is just here for a good time. This was requested by an anon early in the year, and I was happy to add it to the list. (Heads up, for 2024, I am changing how ficmas requests work for my own sanity.)

This is a very early first draft of this fic, so everything and anything is liable to be retconned but we're here for vibes above all else. I highly recommend reading the first story or this is going to be extra weird.

tw: allusions to rape & abuse; generalized descriptions of body horror.

eye of the storm.

The coloured lights flash over the room at random - hundreds of sweaty, reeking human bodies and the kind of music that rattles its way through your bones. It’s loud and dark and has become one of Alice’s favourite places in a very long time. The raves in Berlin - and most of Europe - are the easiest places to hunt.

The music is good, too. And she loves to dance.

She blends in well enough, with the skin-tight skirt and the top that only covers up the bare minimum, and the artfully smudged makeup. Enticing enough to catch attention, but not memorable enough that she’s at risk. Not that it would matter that much, but she prefers to be just another face in the crowd.

It allows her to hunt for longer in one place, when she’s utterly forgettable.

She orders a drink, and then another, because human alcohol makes her feel warm and her limbs feel looser. It makes dancing better, and the people easier with her - some of them can sense that she is not like them, that she is something old and complex and terrible. The alcohol makes her more likeable, more human, even when it’s her imbibing it.

But her head is still clear when she finds a mark, when he sidles up to her with undeserved confidence. He’s the kind of smug that comes from money and a lack of consequences. She doesn’t miss the pill in her next drink or the way his smile widens when she tosses the drink back like water. The effect of the pill is minimal on her; it manifests several moments later, when they’re sneaking upstairs to the store rooms, past the velvet rope blocking the narrow steps. She stumbles on her high heels and he chuckles low; unfriendly and the kind of laugh that would chill anyone else.

And then her dizziness passes, and she almost pities him.

It goes the same way as always - he thinks he’s got the upper hand; she acts enthusiastic to his ministrations and she knows he almost feels bad - mostly that he wasted whatever tranquilliser he slipped into her drink, not about the harm he planned for her.

Her venom tingles on his lips and tongue, and he blames the drink or five he’s had and settles in.

She thinks about asking him some questions once her venom addles him, questions she shouldn’t know to ask. About girls and pills, about hurting and pain, about the haunted little sister he’s not allowed to see anymore.

But that’s not why she’s here, and would just agitate him. It always gets messy when they get agitated; she hates it when they panic.

Luckily, he’s easily subdued because she’s absolutely starving. Probably the alcohol. Her venom does funny things when alcohol is in the mix.

She’s not in the mood to take her time and be neat about this; she tears into him like an animal - first is that ephemeral part of him that humans have no word for him. The sacred part, similar to a soul. The pain of that defies understanding; she remembers hers being flayed from her being, once. Punishment for poor judgement. Humans’ are delicious and she savours it.

It’s all over too quickly, and she leaves him behind without looking back - lying in the middle of that dark, dirty room with the music ponding through the floor. His throat ripped out and ragged, and his chest cavity open, gleaming wet and red but hollowed out for her hunger. His left femur is broken; a rather pitiful attempt at a protest.

The blood on her skin and in her hair sinks in, pulled through to other hungry parts of her in different points of time and space. She’s nothing and nobody, and no one pays attention as she slips back to the bar for one last drink; sugar sweet enough to make her teeth ache but with that hot dry burn she enjoys more than she should.

It’ll be at least a day, if not two, before they find him. A horrific death, the work of a psychopath. A little sister will hide in her bed to muffle her relief that he’s gone and never, ever coming home. Almost a dozen girls will smile at the knowledge that he might not face a judge and jury, but something took their pound of flesh.

But her messiness means that she’ll only have another night or two before she has to move on. She’ll eat again, and that should last her for a while.

A pity. She liked Berlin.

—

The next night - her grand finale before she leaves for Norway - is a grown-ass man who shouldn’t be offering her the things he whispers in her ear, shouldn’t be sliding his hands up her stocking-clad leg - shouldn’t have even approached her and brazenly taken a seat at her booth.

This time, it’s in an all-night coffee shop with dim lighting and a faint haze that comes from carelessly bold patrons lighting up at the late hour. She demurs and gives the old pervert every opportunity to leave, but he laughs at her and boxes her into the booth, and the look in his eyes is hard and absolute.

She’s never been fixed in time and space, so she can see exactly the path that this old bastard has planned for her - either she consents or he takes it by force. He will hurt her if he needs to, like he has to other young girls before, some of them his students.

The shadow he casts has his wife, his daughter, his mother cowering from rage and violence. He won’t be missed. So she pretends to be afraid, to be cowed by his aggression, allows him to drag her out of the booth by her elbow. She lets the flesh mottle and bruise, lets him feel like the predator.

She lets it last as long as it takes for him to find a place where no one will hear her scream. She even lets him push her out of her shoes, but that’s no loss - she wishes she’d gotten the purple.

And then when he’s staring down at her, his eyes greedy and violent, she smiles and she takes her prize.

He dies in that alley, his eyes wide in terror as he faces down the kind of demon that are only meant to be found in books. Disappointingly, the honour of the killing blow goes to the dumpster he fell again, slamming his neck against the edge hard enough to break bones. She always likes the sound and the flavour when their deaths are her own.

He’s gone before she even tastes him; she’d wish him a speedy trip to hell, but some say that’s where she was born. And the parts of his essence and soul she’s going to tear into… there won’t be anything but shreds of him left to dissolve into the air.

“Alice.”

The call is soft and so far away and blows away the dust of an open path in her mind, a singing thread, that she had not forgotten but had long since made peace with its silence. It had been a shrine to something sacred, and she almost gasps out loud at its echo in her mind. She wants to call back, to holler down that open path, but she pauses, blood running down her face, as she listens.

The words are faint, but heartfelt and it hurts her own head to widen that path. It’s been a while and, unlike her others, she’s only ever opened one path to one soul. One person. She’s out of practice, and it’s like untrained muscles screaming at a sudden lurch into a run.

“Alice, I always hoped we’d cross paths again.”

The regret is heavy in his thoughts, and she presses closer, trying to see through his eyes. It’s blurry and white and green.

“I’m sorry.”

Oh, he tastes like forest and sunshine and leather on the back of her tongue, and she missed him. He was supposed to call for her decades ago.

But why now?

“You could have helped us. Hell, you probably could have saved us.”

That’s when he touches the ribbon in his pocket. Her ribbon, the one she left him with. A talisman, a physical anchor, a key that reinforces the path; she’s relieved he kept it. Oddly touched that he’s carrying it, but it makes everything easier for her. Clever boy; his hand on the ribbon is enough for her to grasp onto, to pull a fragment of herself into the scene in his mind.

“I wish you were here.”

The scene sharpens as if she is standing there in the snow, barefoot, facing…

Facing down the thrice-cursed Volturi and their entire court.

What has happened?

Aro’s smile is wide and that of a crocodile about to close its maw around the thing it wants the most. And that thing includes Jasper.

The entire city of Berlin shudders for a moment, something that will later be uneasily explained away as an earthquake, but is her rage that shakes the city at its core because she can reel it back inside of herself.

A shiver, not a storm.

Not yet, at least.

Aro, who has made himself untouchable over the centuries, and still manages to strike wildly at them, her and her kin. His blows rarely kill but they do cut and wound; her own scars are still fresh enough in her mind. One of the downsides of being outside of time; the memories never age right.

The Old Ones have warned them all not to go after Aro; they are allowed only defence, never offence. They say that creatures like the Volturi, full of avarice and wrath, will pave their own downfall. They have seen it so many times before; Aro and his kin will burn themselves out, and another will take their place.

The Old Ones and the Eternal Sleeping will not rise for anything short of war, and it will not be a war of their own making. That is the first law, and one she has obeyed.

But this… Jasper is hers. Marked and strung together, crudely but holding fast. He is hers to defend above all else, and no one can do anything about that. She just wants to know why Aro has come after Jasper and the Cullens. What she knows about the Cullens is vague; mostly gleaned from other fragments of herself, other lives they lived. They are peaceful people with too much money and little concern for those outside themselves, no matter what they tell themselves. They are human, it is their nature. But she is certain that they are not a danger. Not to Aro, not to the human population, not to anyone. What flimsy excuse is Aro using now? A desire for more gifted bodyguards? More power and land and wealth?

Whatever he wants, it’s nothing good.

The words are muffled, and she takes a moment to look over at Jasper. He’s standing there beside her, stoic and staring, not flinching. The anger streaming off him is palpable and she wishes she’d seen him before now.

You could have called me at any time, Jasper. Just to talk, just to see how I am. I would have come in a second. I wondered if you’d forgot about me, truly. I supposed I am flattered by the fact I am your last regret, your longing thought, though.

She shudders and looks around, her senses stretching. He’s right where he’s supposed to be, and that’s a long, long way from Berlin. It’s been a long time since she had to take herself apart this way, and there’s a risk. A price that has to be paid, and she’s not unwilling to pay it, if he’s amendable.

“Jasper?”

Of all the ways that Jasper thought he would die, this is not it. Not standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his closest people, staring down the army - there is no other word for what Aro has brought, larger than the biggest Southern army Jasper both faced and wielded - of Volterra, trying to defend the life of a half-breed child with ribbons in her hair and pompoms on her coat.

This is not a trial. This is an execution, a public one as a reminder that they were here by the grace of Aro’s will and that no one is safe if the King of Volterra is displeased.

He’s sorry he brought Peter and Charlotte into this mess. He should have known better than to trust that the Volturi would play by the rules, especially when the Volturi wrote the rulebook.

No, this is not how he thought his death would go.

But to be fair, he thought that once back in Texas when he was faced with three red-eyed women with smiles full of promises. So perhaps he should be more surprised that he didn’t see this coming.

Edward gives him a pinched smile that is more of a grimace. Aro is still talking, still taking this opportunity to remind everyone who he is, that he should be considered a wise and compassionate leader.

He wonders if Marcus considers him that; the man looks like a shadow, like the death of all things. Jasper has heard rumours about Didyme’s demise; some of them are farfetched, ridiculous even. But others… the way Aro smiles at the Cullens and their friends, Jasper cannot doubt that he is capable of terrible things.

“Of course, there is the hidden crime, one that I’m not even certain that you yourself are aware of, dear Carlisle,” Aro smiles benevolently, but there is no kindness in his emotions. He’s angry and jealous and greedy; his gaze is flickering over all that have gathered here, for the Cullens, as if

“You have seen my thoughts, you know of all our doings,” Carlisle intoned stoically.

“Of course, my friend! And I am delighted to discover the joy and miracle that is young Renesmee,” Aro beamed at the child, clutching tightly to Bella. “I trust that you have no comprehension about what is going on, and that loyalty to our long friendship is cherished, Carlisle.

“However, the crimes that are occurring under your nose are ones that risk not only our world, but the human one also - they are toying with things that should never be disturbed. It is an act of violence, of terrorism, unspeakable evil…

“The oldest creatures that roamed this earth, they were dangerous. Monstrous in a way that we cannot comprehend. Ungovernable. Very, very powerful in ways that have been lost to us before the first vampire walked the earth,” Aro spread his arms out, as if he is performing for a crowd. And perhaps he is. “Many of those creatures are long gone, but there are a small few that still exist amongst us. We have tried to protect our kind from them, to exterminate them to protect our secret and to protect our kind from them. They cannot be reasoned with. They are dangerous to everything we hold dear.”

Aro has everyone’s attention with that little speak, but all he can think of is a kiss that stole his mind and his will. Of limbs snapping and cracking around too-many joints, and those big eyes, with that knowing smirk. Of blood that was too hot, and the puff of a heartbeat in the back of his mind.

Of something that lasted a night, however warped and strange it turned out, that marked his memories indelibly.

The ribbons twists through his fingers.

“…And yet, as I stand here, one of your friends, Carlisle, has summoned one, called one here. Is that not an act of war in itself, dear Carlisle?”

Carlisle splutters, the denial genuine and frustrated. “Aro, you’re being ridiculous!”

“I’ve been tracking this particular one for many years. She possesses a skillset that is very… dangerous if left unmonitored. Her anchor lies here, we’ve traced it. And, dear Carlisle, I believe you when you say you are ignorant of all of this. But someone here has betrayed you, and they alone should pay the price."

Aro stares at them, all good humour gone, and not a single one of them understands what he asks. Except him.

He knows exactly what - exactly who - Aro is searching for.

Alice.

It’s been a long time. Since he saw her. Not since he thought of her - she is one of those people who lingers in the memory; it seems impossible that it was just one night, all those years ago. Her presence always lingered; like she fundamentally changed him, changed everything, the second she hitched a ride in that truck.

“I was… in hiding. Then I was exposed. Then I made a choice.”

“There are so many names for us, Jasper. I’d prefer if you just used mine.”

And he doesn’t understand this at all. That Aro has dragged the entire court here, across the fucking world, under the guise of a trial because of Renesmee’s existence and now, suddenly, Renesmee doesn’t matter.

It was no secret that Aro was looking for an excuse. Of course she doesn’t matter. He knows that there are much more terrible, unseen things out there than a little half-breed girl.

(He had been prepared for that, had waited curiously to see if Renesmee came out a monstrosity, an abomination that had too long limbs and a void where her eyes should be. He had been oddly disappointed how utterly mundane she was, as if she was the key to something, to better understanding of things that were probably best left alone. Edward have been confused but annoyed at his reaction and Jasper hadn’t bothered to explain.)

Aro knows as well as Jasper himself that Carlisle would never allow Renesmee to become something dangerous. He would sooner build her a gilded cage somewhere far away than allow Renesmee to do harm to human beings.

Carlisle knows it as well as Jasper; that it wouldn’t be Jasper’s hands left to break Renesmee if she’s too strong, too dangerous, too unreasonable. It will be Carlisle’s, with a tender kiss and a prayer for her redemption. Aro sees Carlisle as weak and easily manipulated, and the rest of the family sees Carlisle as a pacifist, as a champion of life beyond all else.

And Jasper sees him as a father who will protect his family from anything, even their own poor choices. As a doctor who recognises that to save a life, sometimes you must amputate, and Jasper is surprised no one else sees that in him. That they call him ‘doctor’, but they only see the man of faith.

But he digresses. Aro has come here and it is not solely for Bella or Edward or Renesmee. It is for Alice, and she isn’t here. The Cullens have never met her, and he’s never told them about her. What would he say - “I met a demon-god-monster on a highway, and she was beautiful? We talked and argued and fucked, and then we parted ways. And I’ve never forgotten her”? They’d think he was crazier than ever.

He’s always tasted arsenic on everything, since that terrible kiss. Always heard that faint heartbeat in his mind. Kept a ragged ribbon to worry at, looped around his keys, in his pocket for fifty something years.

Alice…

They are going to fight and they are going to die because no one else here has the answers Aro wants, and Jasper is never going to breathe a word. The Volturi numbers into the forties, with the entire court and their witnesses. There just aren’t enough of them to win this.

He should have fetched Maria, should have rounded up every stray, every nomad, every disenfranchised asshole this side of Monterrey for this debacle.

Alice, I always hoped we’d cross paths again. I’m sorry.

“...Jasper?”

“Alice…”

The heartbeat in his head is beating louder, and the taste of her venom is strong on the back of his tongue.

Alice.

—

If only a reunion could have been one of a time-stopping kiss, of being able to look the other in the eyes and say, “I’m so glad you’re safe, that you’re well. I missed you.”

Instead, it is this.

#alice cullen #jasper hale #jalice #alice/jasper #twilight fic #ficmas23 #ficmas #my fic: in the dark of the night #cryptid alice #jasper will absolutely simp for alice as long as it doesn't involve mind-control #i have so many notes on this world and how alice works #wips #someone buy aro a puppy so he stops collecting people #and i use 'people' in the loosest possible way considering alice is most definitely not considered 'people' in this fic #alice is going to look at ness and go “oh a dhampir. they've mostly died out but you can use an ordinary bug spray to get rid of it.”

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vanweezer · 4 months ago

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crazy city population 1 (me) (kingsley)

#problems!#a lot of things are coming out in hd for me. i get nervous about a lot of things and i get scared just the same #and in those times i find myself reaching for someone. not a specific someone but i always expect a hug when presented with fear #now dont get me wrong youre all dickhead pissy pants stupidfaces and i cant stand the sight of youse /j #but ive been so fixed for so long on making this Me who just doesn't care and doesn't need to care because fuck you etc #and there are things im passionate about and people i love but thats not what im getting at here #i like bugs slashers & sitting in tight dark spaces. i like being by myself and i dont care about what happens when i die #i dont respect police and i still dont think ink poisoning is a thing thatll happen to me (see: every craft project ive done this year)#i do this stuff i act this way i basically can never ever have a day where my brain isnt active at all times #but when i get Like This specific uneasiness i get scared of being scared. and for some reason my brains way of remedying this feeling #is imagining someone to tell all this shit to & be comforted. crazy #somedays im like go fuck yourself leave me alone fuck off other days im like i need just one person to let me cry with them when i get bored #its craaaaaaazy city

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cannibalisticskittles · 1 year ago

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my builder is pissed at absolutely everyone inside this cell but they have never had any positive feelings towards yan whereas they Thought Miguel Was Their Friend (he came to their BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!) and pen was at soulmate-level, so. while yan definitely deserves a verbal beatdown, the one he receives is.... going to involve a lot of rage that is really meant for the other two that my builder isn't able to express towards them right now. but he's an asshole, so while it's technically misplaced, it's still deserved.

mentioning mi-an is also a terrible choice bc it just reminds her of how much of an ass he's been to mi-an, who is, by all accounts, a very nice girl. that just turns the rage back to full force. very "and ANOTHER thing!"

#my builder: sure yan. now that you've mentioned mi-an i'll help you escape. i'll even let you be the one to unlock the door.#my builder: first just stick your hand through the bars :)#and then of course when he does they grab his hand and start bending his fingers back #my builder: yan. yan listen. stop yelling and listen. i'm not gonna hurt you much. i just want you to know that i can.#my builder: as long as you stay put in that cell you're safe as houses. snug as a bug. all your needs taken care of.#my builder: but if you ever get free?#my builder: i will find you. i will bring you back here. and i will bury you so deep even the buzzards won't find your bones.#mtas #mtas spoilers #mtas yan #mtas pen #mtas miguel #which she's yelling at him for being a terrible boss and a shit person it's pretty normal #when it starts to delve into 'people would DIE if your plans worked and duvos swept in do you understand that? they would DIE.' it's...#still relevan bc while his part in this is smaller it still would have the same result. but everyone there knows he doesn't care.#miguel and maybe pen are the ones who that speech needs to be directed to #but. she can't look at them without also wanting to cry and she is NOT going to do that damn it she will cry #yan tho? no chance of crying when she sees him. he just sucks. 100%.#so he's the one who gets yelled at. he's the proxy for the points she's making

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mermaidsirennikita · 11 months ago

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What gets me that a lot of the time questionable/bad behaviour from the female or male lead is ignored but even the idea or something that's percived as cheating is meet with kill bill sirens.

lol YEAH.

This is a controversial take, but.... I don't know. I think cheating is a very bad, sometimes horrific thing to do.

I don't think it is universally felt in the same way by all couples, and I find it really weird that the internet has kind of come to uphold it is as like... on the same level as assault, domestic violence in general. I also find it really weird that everyone seems to have taken this very simplistic "once a cheater, always a cheater" take to the extreeeeme.

I've never been cheated on, and I've never cheated on anyone. I have several close loved ones who've been cheated on. I supported someone through a cheating situation that really, really rocked her, with diminished confidence, panic attacks etc following (she's also... fine now and views the whole situation in a different light, which is another thing that can happen)--so I'm not diminishing how bad this can be. I also have been friends with someone who did do it, and moved past it and has a happy marriage now. I do not imagine that I could get past it... but who knows, I've also never been there.

However, I think this idea that every cheating scenario is this WELL-THOUGHT-OUT insidious affair that was designed to harm the other person and manipulate and abuse them is... flawed. Because let us be completely real. A lot of people cheat. A lot of people cheat once, and their partners literally never find out and they stay married and pretty happy for the rest of their lives, and nobody finds out. I know that's like, scary to consider, but it does happen.

So while I don't think it’s okay, I do think it's kind of ridiculous that we act like something as common as infidelity is always the same. Sometimes people are just really stupid, dude. Sometimes, people are really stupid and their partners get over it and it never happens again. Sometimes, people spin a web of life-altering lies with secret families that mentally destroy their partners upon discovery. Sometimes, a one-time stupid thing does destroy a relationship (and rightfully so).

I think that this really black and white perspective on cheating as like this UNIVERSALLY CATASTROPHIC EVENT is part of what makes people so averse to it in fiction. And like? Tbh? While it is REALLY difficult to pull off in a romance novel, I do think it's like... weird that something as complex and again, common in real life is like, anathema in romance. People can (and do) have their happily ever afters in their real life love stories after their partners cheat, or frankly after their partners cheat on their previous partners with them. It's not savory... But it's also not always a straightforward "this party is good, this party is bad" situation.

I will always say that the one thing I think romance NEEDS is the HEA and the prominence of the love story. Those are genre conventions. Otherwise... I don't know that there are hard and fast rules. It's kind of like the "can you write a romance in which one party has a terminal illness that is not resolved at the end" question. I don't know, dude. It's hard to pull off, but are we going to say that people don't have HEAs in these complex situations?

#romance novel blogging #lol i also think we all want to snark and be like GOOD LUCK TO THOSE CHEATERS #when someone leaves their partner for someone else #ONCE A CHEATER ALWAYS A CHEATER ONE OF THEM WILL CHEAT ON THE OTHER #and while that often happens #come on. it doesn't always happen #sometimes those people go on to have 2.5 kids and 50 years together and perfectly happy lives #and i think that understandably bugs people bc it doesn't fit in with this idea that bad behavior is cosmically punished #and it also doesn't fit in with the idea that these are HEINOUS BAD PEOPLE who are incapable of kindness and love #but let us be real... it does happen.............#and it doesn't undo the hurt they did the wounded parties #but idk sometimes i do kind of roll my eyes at like #decades-long marriages being invalidated bc of how they began with ending a like 5-year relationship #like the original sin will always outweigh anything positive that comes after #i think we as people (and i have to remind myself of this i'm not innocent)#need to stop assuming we know the ins and outs of everyone's relationships

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rosenecklaces · 2 years ago

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now that i sit and think about elain mental state after the cauldron violation (because that's how it was described) then to her seer powers acting up...I really feel disgusted at how people made fun of her for it and even still find her weak by being quiet and crumble emotionally when things became too much in less than a year

She had depression you guys, just as feyre had it on the second book and just as nesta destructive habits growed on hers

To keep it short, i have my share of depression since i was 14, not only I didn't knew how to call it back then but also, when i realized what was happening to me, i just didn't tell my parents nor anyone for that matter (and we had no money for therapy anyway, so)

How did I handled it? acting like everything was normal, going on into my day and life as regular without really showing signs of someone being "sad", just being tired here and there, not sleeping and then releasing all my pent up despair at night, crying. And as more I think about it the more i realize Elain was probably handling her fragil mental state the same way

She was trying to talk normally to her closed ones, keeping up to herself to not call attention to how she really felt or tought and in some way distracting herself with chores and gardening while only letting be seen how her broken proposal affected her, and her prophetic dreams (since people saw it and actively kept an eye on her about that situation)

Like is so weird to me because in one hand they wanted her to stop crying about a very serious matter that literally changed her life and on the other they called her brain dead and too bland just because she didn't asked for help and wasn't being loud about it, is just‼️She can't fucking win with this people and is so sad and also makes me angry! like if this is their reaction to someone silent mental health declining in fiction i could only imagine how would they be with someone irl presenting this same signs of depression...

#rant #acotar rant #i don't usually get serious about acotar stuff but this has been bugging me for a long time #cw depression #tw depression mention #just in case #elain archeron #pro elain #if this was a diff fanbase maybe i would taken this matters less serious but we all know acotar fans are very stupid #when it comes to elain especially. is like they think is funny and not weird to talk so nasty about a character who #presents irl people experiences and emotions... like sorry to ruin the party but fiction can be related to reality and people in some level #sure we all know this bookd aren't serious nor realistic at all but sjm is a real person who also had written about mental health actively #sometimes she miss sometimes she doesn't but the real life experiences reflecting in the books are still there

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laugtherhyena · 1 year ago

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Species of the Land of luminous fragments

Forest kingdom

-Manticores

-The ascended ones of the forest kingdom, manticores are creatures part human, part lion and scorpion. They have lion ears, mane, having fur around their legs and animal-like feet alongside sharp retractable claws that can come in and out of their fingers at will. These creatures have enhanced strength and endurance, alongside the ability to shapeshift into a lion form whenever they wish. They're also capable of changing the appearance of their faces from an animal or human look at will.

-Manticores have the tail of a scorpion that carries their poison, manticore poison doesn't kill, instead it causes the person affected by it to enter a state of near paralysis where they feel drained and are essentially unable to move. Antidotes for a manticore poison can be made by potion made using a blood sample from one, but the effects of manticore's poison can fade on their own after 2 or 3 weeks.

-Manticores grow up to be extremely tall in comparison to most other species, most of them easily making it to over 220 cm tall.

-Manticores are the forest kingdom's most famous creatures, most being part of the royal guard, being in charge or not only protecting their kingdom but going on expeditions to collect power crystals in the depths of the Forest.

-Centaurs

-Having the upper half of a human and lower body of a horse, centaurs are very strong creatures, being able to move heavy objects all across the place. But a centaur's most well known trait is their immense speed, being as fast as a rolling pillbug. These creatures usually work on transportation of materials or people through the land kingdoms or partake in racing competitions.

-Despite having most of their upper half human-like, the centaurs still have horse ears on their heads instead of human ones which enhances their audition.

-Similar to Forest critters, some centaurs can have markings on their human bodies that were carried over from the horse half.

-Satyrs

-Satyrs have the upper half of a human but deer-like legs and tail, they also possess deer-like ears and can grow antlers regardless of their gender. The hair on a satyr's is the same as the fur that grows around their deer parts, having the same colors and patterns as such.

-Although not as fast as a centaur, the deer-like legs do make the satyrs quite faster than other creatures, their legs can also deliver strong kicks on their foes.

-Satyrs can be of multiple deer species depending on what area of the forest kingdom their bloodline comes from.

-The Satyrs see their antlers as a representation of their strength, the bigger they are the stronger the satyr is. They take pride in taking care of their antlers. Having a broken one is looked down upon by them.

-Vampires

-Vampires are creatures part human and part bat, they have large bat ears on the sides of their heads, large fangs, fur growing around their lower legs and large wings that start from the back of their arms and connect to the side of the vampire's torso. These wings are made of two thin layers of elastic skin stretched over the vampire's arms, ending a little before the wrist region which still allows them to move their hands freely.

-Due to the anatomy of their wings, Vampires cannot wear any clothes with sleeves and whatever they're wearing has to have a large enough side opening for them to fit their arms and wings through.

-They have a naturally enhanced upper body strength and strong arms to handle flying around, their species is typically lean in build as extra weight makes it harder to fly and the act of flying itself builds muscles and burns fat.

-A vampire's eyes are rather sensitive to light, as such they tend to keep their eyes closed during the day and only open them after the sun goes down. This poses no problems for the bats as they can use their enhanced hearing to move around just fine.

-Their fangs can be used to suck blood out of other creatures, however as their species became more integrated with society the vampires gained easy access to a lot more food options negating the need for blood consumption. Most vampires nowadays rarely drink blood, and when they do it comes from meat allowed for consumption.

-Allowing a vampire to drink your blood is seen as a sign of love or a very strong bond between the person and the vampire.

-Forest critters

-Out of all species, the forest critters are the ones that a closests to a human. Main difference being that they have animal-like ears and tails, some can also have fur growing around their hands and legs or even in other parts of their bodies. Just like the satyrs, their hair and fur are the same.

-Forest critters can be cat, rabbit, fox, furret or raccoon based. Depending on the animal they are, the forest critters can get a few small abilities or patterns from them.

-Fox and racoon critters tend to be discriminated against due to being seen as untrustworthy and thieves respectively, rabbits and ferrets tend to be seen as loving and kind, while cat critters are seen as smart and sophisticated.

-Land humans and werewolves

-Land humans are the majority of the humans found in the land kingdoms, despite being in fewer numbers in comparison to the amount of creatures around, they have been part of the land kingdoms since forever. Centuries of hybrid relationships and exposure to power crystals has led these humans to develop the Howling gene, a genetic mutation that when inherited in a recessive pattern causes the offspring to turn into a werewolf usually around their late teens.

-Werewolves have the face, neck, tail and legs of a wolf, most even having fur around their chests or covering their hands. Werewolves have enhanced strength and speed alongside great hearing and smelling senses.

-If a werewolf comes from the forest kingdom they will be grey wolves. Werewolves also don't have the easiest time there as for years they were obligated to take in potions to "revert" the effects of the howling gene,leaving the individual as close as they can to a human if taken regularly. This does contain heavy side effects such as; recurring headaches, forgetfulness, slight lack of appetite and leaving the person who takes them feeling tired or weak most of the time.

-Various werewolves and potion makers consider this potion pure unnecessary cruelty, many of the latter even refusing to produce or sell them in their stores. And despite the kingdom eventually banning the rule that obligated werewolves to take in potions, it is still used relatively often around the Forest kingdom, as many people and families see the werewolves as "wrong" and wish to "cure" them.

Mountian kingdom

-Owls

-The ascended ones of the mountain kingdom, owls are creatures part human and part owl. They have cold colored feathers ranging from shades of blue to purple growing around their arms and legs, coming at a sudden stop at their bird-like hands and feet. The feathers cover their long ears completely and can sometimes grow on other areas like their chests and elbows. Owls also have an owl tail.

-Aside from the enhanced strength and endurance that comes from being an ascended one, Owls have natural ice powers, being able to conjure ice beams while in human form and freeze their feathers at will creating an incredibly hard ice that serves as great defense. Owls are also naturally good at handling cold temperatures.

-Owls can change from their human to bird form at will, their bird form being approximately the size of a red fox. They are able to fly really fast and can create strong snow storms by flapping their wings repeatedly at a target. An owl in bird form is strong enough to pick up a humanoid creature and bring them high into the sky with them.

-Owls can change the anatomy of their head between both of their forms at will, this doesn't change anything about them, some just prefer the bird look over the human face.

-In rare cases an owl can be born with warm colored feathers instead of the typical blues, this was seen as a blessing or luck sign by their peers.

-Butterflies

-The bug species that became native to the mountain kingdom after fleeing from their birth planet, the moon. Being an enormous power crystal floating in space living in the surface of the moon was incredibly dangerous for their species as they would never stop being affected and morphed by the crystal's energy, which caused them to grow into horrific creatures enormous in size in an incredibly painful existence which left most of the older butterflies way too tired to do anything. Eventually the older butterflies used their powers to send the younger and healthier of their kind to earth where they would have better lives.

-Modern day butterflies are a result of hybrid relationships between the ancient butterflies and humans they met during their time on earth, this caused their species to grow healthier and more human-like over the generations.

-These creatures have long silky fur growing from their shoulders to the palm and back of their hands, the fur is also growing on their back, chest and legs. They also have 3 pairs of eyes, a long curled up tongue and a pair of antennae sticking out of their foreheads. Some Butterflies can be born with an extra pair of arms, though that's a very rare occasion.

-They have large butterfly wings coming from their backs that allow them to fly at high speeds and high into the sky. The color of their wings is determined by the power they were born with, they start off being a milky white color but change to being warm colored if the butterfly has telekinetic abilities or cold colored if they have mind controlling abilities.

-Similar to spiders the butterflies have psychic abilities, they are all illusory however the butterflies can either be able to momentarily control the movement of a creature they spilled silk on like a puppet using their fingertips, or be able to momentarily make things that have been in contact with their silk float at will, being able to control where and at what velocity this object or person will go. No butterfly can have both of these powers.

-The butterflies have a strong connection to the moon, being able to absorb moonlight which is where the source of their powers comes from. This ability makes them great at handling cold temperatures but also makes them not do well in hot ones. The butterflies enjoy gazing at the moon and admiring its beauty in the night sky.

-All butterflies can spill silk from their fingertips, it can be used as a defense mechanism however they can often spil excess silk. This excess can be turned into strong ropes that are then used in building the leashes used on wolf sleds, the main source of transport of the kingdom.

-Minotaurs

-Minotaurs are creatures that are part human and part bull. They have the head and tail of a bull and lots of thick fur growing around their bodies, they also have hooves on their feet and 4 sharp claws in place of their fingers made of the same material. A minotaur's fur never stops growing, it grows everywhere on their body so if one wishes to have skin showing they have to go out of their way to shave the fur and keep it that way.

-The thick fur makes them naturally good at handling cold temperatures. However, even the ones who want their whole body covered in fur need to be sheared similar to sheeps from time to time. The fur left over is often used to make clothes which are resistant to the cold climate.

-The minotaurs' sharp claws also help a lot when fighting. However despite these attributes minotaurs are known for being very kind and gentle, most of them either working in journeying to the mountain caves to collect power crystals or as guards around the towns.

-Fauns

-Fauns are the offsprings of Minotaurs and land humans, being some of the most well known and accepted hybrid species. Similar to the minotaurs they have the tail of a bull and thick fur covering their arms and legs, coming at a stop at their hooves and 4 sharp claws in place of their fingers made of the same material. Although their fur is similar to the one of a minotaur, a faun's fur does stop growing.

-Unlike minotaurs the fauns have a human head, however they do still have bull ears, horns and hair of the same color and material as their fur. Fauns are also not nearly as strong as minotaurs but surely stronger than a human, they are known for using their horns to headbutt or pierce opponents during fights.

-Land humans and werewolves

-Just like the forest and desert kingdom, land humans are also found in the mountain kingdom alongside werewolves. If a werewolf comes from this kingdom they will be arctic wolves.

-Unlike the forest kingdom, most mountain folks are kind to the werewolves, treating them no different than they would treat a Minotaur. In fact, a few werewolves even work alongside the minotaurs in their journeys to the crystal caves or in being guards around the towns.

Desert kingdom

-Phoenixes

-The ascended ones of the desert kingdom, phoenixes are creatures part human and part falcon. They have warm colored feathers ranging from shades of red to yellow growing around their arms and legs, coming to a sudden stop at their bird-like hands and feet. The feathers cover their long ears completely and can sometimes grow on other areas like their chest or elbows. Phoenixes also have a falcon tail.

-Aside from the enhanced strength and endurance that comes from being an ascended one, phoenixes have natural fire powers, being able to conjure fire balls while in human form and set their feathers on fire at will. Phoenixes are naturally good at handling hot temperatures.

-Phoenixes can change from their human to bird form at will, their bird form being approximately the size of a red fox. They are able to fly really fast and can create fire vortexes around them while spinning towards a target. A phoenix in bird form is strong enough to pick up a humanoid creature and bring them high into the sky with them.

-Phoenixes can change the anatomy of their head between both of their forms at will, this doesn't change anything about them, some just prefer the bird look over the human face.

-Similar to the Owls, Phoenixes can be born with cold colored feathers instead of the typical reds, this is seen as undesirable and a sign of bad luck for the family.

-Phoenixes are mostly all monarchy and the few rich populations of the desert kingdom that's close to them, having that much wealth is essentially the only way they would be able to get their hands on enough power crystals to complete the transformation into a phoenix.

-Spiders

-The bug species that became native to the desert kingdom after fleeing from their birth planet, the sun. Being an enormous power crystal floating in space living in the surface of the sun was incredibly dangerous for their species as they would never stop being affected and morphed by the crystal's energy, which caused them to grow into horrific creatures enormous in size in an incredibly painful existence which left most of the older spiders way too tired to do anything. Eventually the older spiders used their powers to send the younger and healthier of their kind to earth where they would have better lives.

-Modern day spiders are a result of hybrid relationships between the ancient spiders and humans they met during their time on earth, this caused their species to grow healthier and more human-like over the generations.

-These creatures either be 4s, spiders with 2 pairs of eyes and arms, or 6s, spiders with 3 pairs of eyes and arms. The spiders also have big slightly twisted upper canine teeth, they are very sharp and cause quite a bit of damage when biting a foe.

-Spiders have a lot of fur growing on their bodies, covering their legs, arms, chest and back. Their fur helps them climb on surfaces with ease and can also have many patterns ranging from stripes, spots or a mixture of both. A spider's hair will also have the same colors and patterns as their fur.

-Similar to butterflies the spiders have psychic powers, however they need a Crystal sphere in order to properly use them. With the Crystal sphere the spiders can have visions of the future, however these visions are enigmatic with odd visuals and take a lot of energy from the spider after having one they also require a lot of learning in order to be able to access them or even comprehend what's being shown on the visions. Said visions can also not give straight answers from time to time.

-A spider with enough power and training can also use the crystal sphere to teleport a couple feet from where they were originally standing, this only works for the spider, they cannot teleport other creatures alongside them.

-The spiders have a strong connection to the sun, being able to absorb sunlight which is where the source of their powers comes from. This ability makes them great at handling hot temperatures but also makes them not do well in cold ones. The spiders enjoy sunbathing and use it as a way to relax.

-After being attacked fiercely by the desert kingdom queens and their phoenixes, the spiders have retreated into living as far as they could from the desert kingdom and remaining there where they deem safe. The stagnate volcano where they rebuild their homes is all a lot of spiders have ever known.

-Pillbugs

-These beings originated from the center of the earth, living in the large cave system that surrounds the real origin crystal. The species eventually made their way to the surface where they habited the area that's currently known as the forest kingdom before being chased off the territory during the kingdom's creation.

-Pillbugs have a thick and resistant shell going from the top of their heads to the tip of their tails, the shell offers great defense against both standard weapons and magic attacks, it also allows the pillbugs to roll up which is most commonly used for them to travel at high speeds. The shell also grows around their arms and legs providing protection and enhancing the strength of their punches.

-The transitional area between the shell and the skin has markings of the same color around them, these markings can be swirls, stripes or spots and can even appear in other areas of the pillbug's body.

-The pillbugs normally only have one pair of eyes, though it's not uncommon to see some having extra eyes somewhere around their faces at seemingly random areas.

-Unlike the spiders and butterflies the pillbugs don't have any kind of physics powers, however they are the ones with the most physical strength of all insect creatures. They also have a strong connection with nature, they are able to feel when the land around them is doing well or when it isn't, they can also feel when it's going to rain, snow or when it will be sunny soon.

-Sand lizard

-Sand lizards are humanoid reptilian creatures, out of all species in the land they're the one with the least amount of human-like characteristics. They have the head of a desert horned lizard, usually with a couple large thick scales sticking out of their head that resemble horns, and thick scales covering most areas of their body minus their chest, abdomen, inner legs and the underside of their tail.

-Their scales provide great endurance and are almost as resistant as a pillbug shell, they can have a variety of patterns on them but their colors will always be warm and earthy tones. Scale colors are hereditary and will be passed down from parent to child. Sand lizards also shed their scales periodically, they can be turned into leather or used as ingredients for certain kinds of potions.

-They are cold blooded creatures, which alongside their hardy scales helps them go by very well in the desert environment.

-Sand lizards don't grow any hair or fur, however some can have long thin scales poking out of their heads which can resemble or be styled similar to hair depending on the amount of them.

-Land humans and werewolves

-Just like the forest and mountain kingdom, land humans are also found in the desert kingdom alongside werewolves. If a werewolf comes from this kingdom they will be arabian wolves.

-Unlike the forest kingdom, most desert folk see the werewolves as strong and powerful fighters, treating most of them with respect or even fear.

Shore kingdom

-Sea humans

-Sea humans are descendants of the offspring of the mermaids left behind on land by the ocean kingdom and land humans centuries ago, being some of the most well known and accepted hybrid species. They're only found at the Shore kingdom and genetically close to the mermaids, looking very similar to one in human form, even having the same webbed ears and gills around their necks.

-Despite not being able to shapeshift or breathe underwater like the mermaids, sea humans are naturally great swimmers. They also seem to be drawn by the ocean or bodies of water. Just like their ancestors, the color of the scales around their ears is hereditary.

-Unlike land humans, sea humans cannot carry the howling gene. As such, no werewolf is native to the shore kingdom, so whenever shore folk see one around they're usually fascinated and curious about these creatures.

Ocean kingdom

-Werewolves

While not native to the Shore kingdom, since sea humans don't have the howling gene, If a werewolf goes through their transformation on Shore territory they will become manned wolves. Being a kingdom filled with several different species that moved there over the years, werewolves hardly ever face any sort of prejudice in the Shore kingdom.

-Mermaids

-Mermaids are most of the ocean kingdom's population, in land form they are similar to the sea humans having webbed ears and girls around their necks. However the mermaids can have their fingers webbed as well as the ability to breathe underwater. The color of their scales is hereditary, passed down from parent to offspring.

-They have the ability to change from their land form to their sea form at will, in sea form they will have the lower half of a fish. This helps them swim a lot better and depending on the region a mermaid comes from they may have more fish-like features than others

-Similar to forest critters, there are a few animals that can be the fish part of a mermaid's body. Those are; Crocodiles, Eels, fishes and sharks.

-Crocodile, Eel, and a few deep sea fish mermaids tend to get discriminated against and seen as "ugly" or "ferocious" due to their appearance, while shallow fish and shark mermaids are seen as gorgeous creatures.

-Sea serpents

-The ascended ones of the ocean kingdom and the strongest of all ascended species, the sea serpents are taken from their families while still young mermaids and sent to the depths of the ocean kingdom where they will be at constant exposure to great qualities of power crystals. It is not safe for an older or fully grown mermaid to travel as low as where the sea serpents live.

-The sea serpent transformation is long and physically painful for the person undergoing it, it tends to only be completed at age 18-20.

-In human form the sea serpents have webbed ears, gills around their necks and the ability to breathe underwater similar to the mermaids, but they also have sharp claws at the end of their hands and feet which are covered in hard scales. The sea serpent also has horns and sharp teeth.

-They can switch from human to serpent form at will and in serpent form they become huge sea serpents capable of swimming incredibly fast and dealing massive damage with their attacks. Their long body is covered by hard scales that serve as great defense, however these scales tend to have broken patterns on them due to the rapid development of the sea serpents.

-Sea serpents actually have the longest lifespan out of any other creature, however the vast majority of serpents die in their youth due to the rigorous and violent training regime they're put through.

-Despite being their kingdom's protectors, the sea serpents are looked down upon with disgust and fear by the mermaids who see them as terrifying monsters.

Hybrids

-Hybrid relationships are seen differently by society depending on the kingdom. While it is very common in both the mountain and shore kingdom and relatively normalized in the Desert kingdom, in the Forest and Ocean kingdom these are seen as weird and almost forbidden in some way due to both kingdom's extremely traditionalism. Back in the day they would even go as far as chase off hybrid couples and their children.

-Hybrid children are usually a mix between the parents' species, though there are cases of hybrids that look almost identical one only one of their parent's species. The most well known hybrids are the fauns, who were created from offspring between Minotaurs and humans, and the sea humans, who come from the relationship between mermaids abandoned by the ocean kingdom on the shore and land humans centuries ago.

-Although having hybrids is possible, one must be aware that there are very different species all over the world which leads to some being more compatible than others when it comes to reproduction. The species are classified in 3 main groups: creatures, avians and insects. While an offspring generated from parents belonging to different groups is possible, it's an incredibly rare occurrence and the pregnancy tends to be a very risky one with a high chance for miscarriage.

#lf species doc my beloved #love coming up with species lore n shit #come to lf we have weird ass magic shapeshifters. furries. bug aliens. what is there not to love #also i feel like this is self explanatory but like #this is just stating where the species are native from/became native of said kingdom after being there for so long #not like “the only place you'll ever see a centaur would be in the forest kingdom”#nah these species are everywhere all over the land kingdoms #emphasis on land kingdoms because the Ocean doesn't allow people from outside to move to their kingdom #they are. fucked up weirdos #whoever read the lore on them knows what's up #luminous fragments #lf #hyena ramblings

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quietwingsinthesky · 1 year ago

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🌹:O

:3c

Lucifer doesn't care how the labcoats say it works; he knows there's no such thing as a clean break from a drift the minute the plug is pulled. Instead, Michael goes from a second consciousness beside his own to being dragged out of Lucifer the further Lucifer gets from him, both of them gripping tight to the connection until it slips, until it snaps, with a violent recoil that knocks Lucifer's brain out of alignment and reminds his legs that they don't work. His next step falls too fast, too heavily, and refuses to take his weight. It's only Michael, now only a voice outside of Lucifer's head yelling his name, catching him from behind that allows Lucifer to collapse to the floor with his dignity intact.

#is this more than one sentence? yes. yes it is. because tumblr deleted this post once and pissed me off.#i had so many tags about lucifer already and boom. gone.#anyway. tfw you see your boyfriend get severely injured during a battle and this makes you panic so bad you manage to make it a few meters #which is a lot for a guy who can't actually walk.#lucifer's got a whole Situation. turns out plugging a guy's brain up to a giant robot is not without its bugs.#especially when said guy was one of the first to be stuck inside the giant robot with his brother. and testing was a lower priority due to #everyone wanting a faster solution to the Giant Fucking Monsters. so lucifer's brain got overloaded and can't send signals to his legs #anymore to move right unless he's hooked up to a mech. technically when this first happened the doctor told him 'well if you stop doing mec #shit you can walk again.' but 1) he's not doing that. and 2) that was years ago. just because that recommendation is still on a file #somewhere doesn't mean it would actually work for him. or even that it would have back then. it's still the official answer for 'fixing' hi #because that's better optics than the truth. which is that he can't walk.*#(technically. technically. if he was left disconnected from the mech for a week he could walk. it would also be exhausting. and painful.#and slow. this is not something lucifer considers to be helpful information when he moves faster and with more ease in his chair.#this is something other people like to point out about him that makes him want to start hitting them. and it's not even really true anymore #the 'a week disconnected' thing. again. was a long time ago. it would take over a month for him to stand nowadays.)#(v few people Get all of this but like. michael is one of them. he's in lucifer's head enough that it would be weirder for him not to get i #add to that him being one of the few people who has seen lucifer walk nowadays and focused more on 'hey he looks like he hates that'#than praising it. and he gets it. and is also the requisite amount of annoyed when lucifer *runs off* before michael can help him into his #chair!! not the first time this has happened and will not be the last. michael's used to catching him.)#ask #oh my god that was so much rambling. this isnt even the point of the fic btw. this is just. backstory. worldbuilding.

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syrinq · 1 year ago

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thinking about the stupidity and hypocrisy of double standards

something something not expected to cheat and "whore out" when straight or gay but somehow you will be definitely unfaithful if bi because you have "twice the pool" ???

something something no one bats an eye (as much) anymore about bdsm and the "first level of kink", but the moment someone mentions a foot kink everyone needs to cover up their walkers puritan-style at the supermarket and remember to not buy wonderbread either ???

something something cutting out toxic and abusive cunts in your life is acceptable as long as it isn't your "family" or "parents" because "they raised you" and "brought you into this world" and "you only have one of those" ???

something something it's acceptable if it's the norm but if it's the very same thing but obscure or unheard of then it's 100 sins committed by satan and you should go to hell

something something bitches never heard of "live and let live brah" (falls over and peaces out)

#the prelude to this is witnessing someone legitimately kinkshaming something obscure but ultimately harmless #like?????????? bro in the same vein of touch grass browse the internet #i've seen the depths of airplanes and inflation and egg laying and whatever else and at this point fucking nothing surprises me anymore #bro if it doesn't harm shit irl who care. unironic skull emoji #image of bugs bunny i wish these people a very much die. or at least wallow in your own shame #sy.txt #like okay people skew anything they want forever. as long as it genuinely doesn't have any irl harmful consequences then whatever #i'm side-eyeing the mommy/daddy phenomenon since lady dimitrescu because i can't even tell if that's legit or jokes anymore #something inside me legit dies whenever something is called mommy/daddy but like who cares. it's called moving on or blocking #instead of being a rude ass meanie for no reason :o)

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minetteskvareninova · 3 months ago

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"Genocidal"

Like. My man (and everyone like him). I get what y'all are trying to say, i.e. both sides commit horrific war crimes, which I guess is kinda true, even if I don't agree with it completely. At the very least, it's an argument that makes sense. But "genocide" is a very specific term that can't just be slapped onto any war crime to give it more weight. Like, people. What ethnic/religious/group is either side trying to wipe out. What culture are they planning to violently supress. Please stop being so unserious.

(Please note that although this statement basically applies IRL too, I am not here to litigate the question of whether this or that real war crime fits the definition of genocide or not. I am not an expert on either genocide studies or any particular recent conflict, and I wouldn't want to drag these extremely touchy subjects into the discussion about what is, in the end, just a fantasy TV show.)

this man has the only correct opinion about this tv series.

#house of the dragon #sorry it's just #i've been seeing this one for so long #and i just kinda snapped #like i won't argue with you about real world cases #especially since it often doesn't matter as much as people think #(a.k.a. atrocities were committed either way)#but it absolutely bugs me #when people are just plain stupid about the dragon show #especially since this is a pretty open and shut case of “not a genocide”

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jumpscaregoose · 15 days ago

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Ch 4 when....

ch 4 soon ish... it's almost finished and I'm super excited for people to read it... very proud of myself

I started out posting this fic with around a 1-chapter buffer so I could make changes as I wrote ahead... ended up eating through that almost immediately. I do have a proper outline now. ish. looks like this

literally I just slapped it on the bottom of my moodboard. I'm a professional. thinking I'll have ch 4 out before I finish 5 due to having a plan, but it kinda depends because 5 is where this thing starts getting research heavy... augh

#peek behind the peek behind the curtain reason this shit takes me so long is that multichapter fics is hard #idk how people do it man #I'm trying with this one to make every chapter something I'm excited about writing but it's tough when the returns are. well. shit #no one needs me to tell them the ao3 comments landscape is kinda barren #which doesn't bug me too much for the short oneshots I normally write but with an ongoing fic it does get to you more #am I excited for people to read this fic? yes. does it actually feel like people are reading this fic? lol no #we're running off of intrinsic motivators alone which means it gets done when it's gonna get done with literally no schedule #complaining over #breaking news ao3 author experiences the ao3 author problem woaahhhhh crazyyyyy

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x-for-a-y · 11 months ago

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people think the reason the tourney scene is inaccessible is strange tourney concepts, slightly weird rpf, inside jokes, crossover incongruity, or some other thing. but you know what really puts off the outsiders? all the bizarre fucking recurring musicians from years ago the rest of the world has moved on from & rap battles and shit

#this post is mostly not a joke a major thing that curbed my interest in the broader scene for a long while #was use of rap battles/other video game (etc) parody songs. those specifically bug me #and fucking rwj also keeps showing up in tourneys. his music regardless if he's directly repped #& bo burnham. & porter robinson. & omori music. & others you can probably think of #not even Just the ''had a good showing in at least one tourney #or fits under a popular genre/flavor source or was just one person's fave''#music that doesn't seem to have real Reason for staying around except that people maybe found it funny but unironic enjoyment's common too #and the injokes. they're part of this too. i can't imagine being introduced to tourneys #through tpt & seeing opila bird & fortnite ''ninja'' & whatnot #or prizm and. well. i think everything to do with the figments? maybe that's not inside joke territory really. how about most of the game #it's not mwm's damn fault it's one of the most accessible tournaments out there it's the way every other tournament keeps stewing #. this maybe should've been two posts

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inbabylontheywept · 5 months ago

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Soviet Birds.

The secret facility that I work in has holes in the ceiling. We don't know how to get them fixed.

We tried asking the government to fix it, once. We told them that the holes in the older parts of the facility had gotten large enough to fit birds through, and that birds were getting through, and that, perhaps, a Soviet Spy could fit through as well.

After all, it is well known that Soviet Spies and pigeons are approximately the same diameter.

Our hope was that that this vague and nonsensical threat would put a little fire under Uncle Sam's feet. If the fed couldn't be bothered to give a shit about the giant gaping holes in the roof of our facility, perhaps they could be persuaded to give a shit about... Soviet Spies.

This attempt at manipulation 100% blew up in our faces.

See, the government does not need to be persuaded to give a shit about Soviet Spies. It still wakes up most nights, drenched in cold sweat, terrified and confident that a Soviet Spy is hiding in their nightstand. If it sees a rock on the ground, it flips it over, pistol drawn, ready to shoot the Soviet Spy it fully expects to slither out from underneath. Which is to say: The government is crazy. So when we dropped those two words - inflitration risk - in the repair request, they came in guns-a-blazin'.

Does that mean that they fixed the roof? Of course not. Don't be stupid. No, instead of performing basic maintenance, they installed a state of the art alarm system throughout the facility - lasers, sonar, the works - and told us to always be on the guard. Because of the roof holes.

Then they left.

So now we had an extremely good alarm system... and birds. Which have combined in incredibly obvious and predictable ways to produce an unending fountain of problems.

For Example: About once a month, someone gets called in by the local airforce dispatch because AAAAAAAAAAA a Spy is in the Rad Lab! We're all gonna die! Except every time, it's a bird. And I get why we have to check, but every time, the dispatcher is panicked and the person going out has to be like listen, listen: It's a bird. It's always a bird. It's been a bird every month for the last fifteen years. It will be a bird next month. All this stress? Bad for your heart.

Second Example: Sometimes, birds get in while we're actually working. And when it's in the morning, you know, it's a nuisance, and it stops testing (we are not going to risk irradiating a bird) but it's not an all-hands-on-deck situation because it doesn't take ten hours to get a bird out. But surprisingly often, the bird gets in riiiiight at closing time, and in that situation, everyone goes feral because nobody can leave until the alarm is set, and we cannot set the alarm while the bird is there, because the bird would immediately trigger it and then we'd have to stay another 4 hours to confirm that it was not a Soviet Bird.

So in order to go home, everyone's top priority is Get That Bird. And we have a system for it.

Step 1: The test stands tend to be located in rooms with 30+ foot ceilings. We can't catch birds in places like that - so we have to lure the bird into the relatively low ceilinged (8 feet only) upper offices.

We do this by turning all the lights off in the test rooms, then putting floodlights by the exits. I don't know why this works - some kind of evolutionary brain fragment shared by both Bugs and Birds - but work it does. The birds almost always follow after the lights. From there, it’s just two guys moving the floodlight and a third guy to turn off the lights.

Step 2: Everyone else has been waiting for this step. There is this long stairway up from the basement level into the offices, and in the final stage, the floodlights are brought to the base of the stairwell to bring the bird up. At the top of the steps there will be a group of tennish people, waiting for the signal. The light guys will set up the final transfer, everyone will tense, and then, swish...a bird will flit up the stairs and into the offices.

It's like watching werewolves on a full moon. Before the bird cometh, we are engineers. Nerds. Pale and skinny things, trembling under the fluorescent lights. After the bird, we are beasts. Feral, gnawing things, glowing under the orange sunrise of the 70's halogen floodlights.

And like all beasts, we cannot help but give chase.

Step 3: The were-engineers begin the hunt. The goal at the start is not really to catch the bird - just exhaust it. So the pack simply does not relent. Because the stakes are going home on time, the group is basically given free reign to go anywhere in the building. If someone's door is open, and the bird goes inside, they're going to have to deal with ten sweaty panting maniacs leaping around their office. They don't get to say that they're busy, or remark on how all this movement is a terrible distraction. They are allowed to sit in silence during the chaos, and perhaps thank the war party for chasing the bird while they sat comfortably on their ass. This has been explained several times, and it will continue to be explained until cooperation is achieved.

Anyway.

The chase can go on for quite some time. Sometimes, the bird will get tired and find a crevice to hide in, where it can then be reached through standard cornered-bird catching techniques.

Other times, it will slow down enough that someone can actually yoink it out of the air. But this will go on until someone catches the bird and triggers Step 4.

Step 4: The Finale. This is the get-the-bird-out-of-the-building stage, and it requires someone to adopt a specific role: To Become the Sacrificial Vessel of Bird Removal.

This job is both coveted and feared. It's coveted, because holding a wild bird in one's hands is a precious thing. To feel how small, and fragile, and scared it is, only to free it from the building? That is what it's like to be a benevolent God. But the cost! Oh, the cost. The entire time the Vessel is in motion, the bird will be biting the hell out of their fingers. And I cannot emphasize enough just how painful bird bites are. Their entire face is a set of needle posed pliers, and they know tricks the even the cartels haven't figured out yet. So there's always a little hubbub about who shall be The Vessel while onlookers, stranded outside The Office of Bird Capture, can only look on. Quiet arguments and pleas are heard, little fragments of fear and pride and glory trickling out of room like the silver dust left behind in a bag of well shook quarters. The sound of concensus is silence, and the argument will go on until that's all that's left. And then, from the darkness of the final office, the chosen sacrifice will step forward: Hands gently cupped, tears streaming down their face, fingers trembling from the pain of the ongoing bird chomps.

And this scene is what organizes people. Not leadership, not truly. No one can think and coordinate a crowd while their fingers are being attacked with a combination nutcracker/ear piercer. But the crowd sees the suffering of their annointed, and it is driven to do everything poossible to make the process flow. People instinctively flair out, finding the fastest path outside. Doors are held open. Paths are cleared. Someone, somehow, always knows the way forward and can describe it to the sufferer. Left, left, forward. Corner closet. Yep, there's a hall in there. Forward. Two-hundred more feet man, you're doing great. Just hold it together a little longer. You're killing it.

Then the final door swings open, and the bird flees out into what remains of daylight. And yet, even here, the deed is not yet done. I cannot explain it in words, but the crowd that helped is never content until they can see and speak on the Bird Vessel's wounds. They all have to pull the fingers back and see what was given. Estimate the price: One day to get better - No, three - No, a week! Are you blind? Do you see that blood blister? -Yeah, that's not going away anytime soon - Damn, can you believe how feisty those things are? Like wolves without teeth.

(They cannot help but touch as they go. It has always been this way. Even Thomas was not content until he felt the wounds in Christ's hands.)

Only when the last of the helpers has seen, and commented, and commended, will the engineers scatter. It is their return from the underworld that announces to the sun living surface dwellers that they too can go home. (@somerunner tolja it needed to be a post.)

#DoD work #lab nonsense #soviet birds #i really like being the bird guy if you cant tell #i just like birds in general #i think this was an essay?#dont really know how to cover the ending for this thing #one part explanation of insane government inefficiency #one part explanation of the kind of joyful humanity that only *comes* from interacting with hilariously inefficient systems #like a full on defense of the beauty that only comes from poor uses of resources #and one part poetic exploration of the sacrificial hero archetype as a bird catcher #i spent so much fuckin time make this guys you have no idea #maximum effort post #effort post

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