#been building the collection for a while so

[wizard-of-interesting-failure]

No you know what I'm gonna take a second here. [Highly unhinged rant at the fundamental injustice, inefficiency, and sheer bloody-minded stupidity of current social technology below the cut]

Absolute horse piss. God, even setting aside how she deserved better from everyone around her and had the same right to a fully accepted authentic life as everyone else, imagine what she could have done if she was supported instead of being treated like this. If she wasn't fired from her job, ejected from her support network, and didn't have to constantly advocate for herself and people like her to be treated like human beings (which was brave and good work worthy of being honored but should never have been necessary in the first place, like rescuing people from a building that collapsed because it was built like shit)

Like okay I don't talk about this that often but I'm a kidney transplant recipient and I think a lot about how the field (like every other avenue of human endeavour) has been crippled by short-sighted bigotry. STEM fields are still hugely male-dominated (sidebar STEM is not the be all and end all creatives y'all super valid and important and your work is foundational to the functioning of STEM and human endeavour and quality of life as a whole; this is just the example that highlights the point for me personally) and it's like. If we didn't push literally everyone except cishet white guys well off enough to afford tertiary education away from everything in the area, would I just have an artificial kidney by now? Who knows?? I'm probably never fucking going to because stupid nonsense.

It's the same shit. And don't get me wrong, the individual human tragedy of unnecessary hardships on the part of this (and every) trans woman (and so many other groups besides) is morally horrible and an indictment of culture as a whole. But we'd probably have fucking blade runner robots or quantum computers or working fusion reactors or Actual Cool AI Instead Of The Current Horseshit by this point! Or a real Mars colony instead of some blowhard yammering on about it while he inflicts suffering on untold millions! Or God knows what else!

And don't even get me started on lack of opportunity for almost everybody in the world. It's like that quote about all the potential einsteins who were born and died impoverished without ever even touching a science textbook.

Like you wanna know why we're struggling so much? Population increase is supposed to mean more hands and minds on every problem but it doesn't because...ugh! Imagine if we cared about global poverty. Imagine how many more lives free of hunger. Imagine how many more people thinking about how to solve everything that needs solving.

I just. The morality is bad enough. It's a great evil by itself. But the sheer fucking gall of dressing it up behind progress and hard decisions. Do you have any idea how much "progress" this costs us? What a good investment humanity would be if we pulled our heads out of our asses for two seconds? What you, personally, have lost because the person who would have given it to you lived and died in preventable despair?

Again, I have to emphasise. People are worthy without contributing huge individual achievements to the arc of history. Society is a collective and everything everyone does adds to the weave and adds up to what we as a whole achieve, there's no real separating out of "this person did this thing" when they were supported by the entire collective of humanity past and present, and even if there was achievement is not the sole benchmark by which life is measured. A better life for everyone is the point, and the idea of "if I don't think you're contributing then you don't deserve anything" is a big part of how we got here in the first place.

There is no culling of the "unproductive". They are the ones who need this most of all. Every life matters, every life (yes, even that one) is a roll of the dice for a miracle of insight (not just in STEM; it all fucking matters and it always has), every life is its own purpose, every life is worthy, to save one life is to save all of mankind, to enrich one life is to enrich all of mankind, to be a life that is enriched is to be enriched on behalf of all of mankind, and none of these facts depend upon any others. There's a mind in there! A self-perceiving miracle of reality! Of course it's precious beyond measure regardless of context, you dipshit!

We can celebrate great advances and exceptional performances without ignoring that we, as a whole, made these things possible too. And we can recognise that these things are valuable because of what they do for everyone, and that the more everyone there is the more valuable they are, and that in order for making life better for the worse off to matter the worse off themselves must matter, and that every life is worthy and every soul is sacred and the people using Lynn's technology to help with their disabilities or live hidden from those who wish them harm or resist the forces I'm talking about here are why the technology is a force for good in the first place.

But I weep for the fact that we have squandered almost all human potential across all of history in short-sighted power-seeking and arbitrary outgroup punishments, and everyone everywhere has suffered for it. Yes, even the stupid billionaires; they'd probably live longer if they hadn't stepped on the people who would have discovered the cure for whatever ends up killing them. Today's average well-off human knows riches that would be the envy of the kings of old, and the average human if none of this was a problem would know riches that would be the envy of the oligarchs of today.

Lives being lived in ways that diminish other lives are ideally changed minimally so that they no longer do (this is the maximisation of collective freedom) and consigned to any other fate only with great sorrow. Even if it is right to do so, I do not believe it is ever righteous. Even if it is not regrettable that it was done in the present, it is regrettable that the past produced a present that required it, and a future that does better should ever be sought.

Just...fucking stupid. That we're so willing impoverish ourselves so that some other people we don't like for no reason can be impoverished more. That the only thing keeping us from Star Trek (not just the spaceships but everything else too) is petty fucking spite (and physics but who knows what backdoor bullshit we could find to work around that).

That Lynn Conway's life, extraordinary and laudable as it was, was made smaller by this rank fucking idiocy. I do not aim to diminish her work by considering what it could have been. I aim to diminish the age she was forced to live in.

Rest in peace, Lynn. You deserved unfathomably, infinitely fucking better, and we are all richer for what you managed to pull off in spite of it all.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Can you fix her? She was originally for sale for only €100 / $104.16 just for someone to by and save it from ruin. Someone bought it, and after some renovations, the castle in Veauce, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, is back on the market for €662,880 / $837,382 approx. USD.

Known to be the residence of Louis the Pious, (the soul surviving son of none other than Charlemagne), Emperor of the West in the 9th century. With ongoing construction, it has grown to 118 rooms! But, don't worry, b/c it has it's own French "GoFundMe" to help with the renovations. And, a part of it looks livable, but there's one caveat- it's haunted.

See, this is a living room. One sticking point for potential buyers, however, is that it is allegedly haunted by a number of ghosts, including a teenager called Lucie who used to work in the château.

Lucie died in one of the five towers around 500 years ago, and is said to still walk the halls of the property today. Yeah, but this is a nice hallway.

I really like this room. Other ghost sightings reported from the storied château include a 50-year old woman, with her hair up in a bun, allegedly witnessed by the current owner’s son.

Beautiful dining room- look at the size of that fireplace. The main reason the château is up for sale, however, is because of the large volume of renovation works which need to be undertaken. It has 4 wings.

Even if the steep price of the property may be putting people off, the ghosts are not. “No one mentioned their fear of seeing ghosts when they visited the château to buy it. It is normal to see ghosts in such an old place,” said the owner’s son.

Renovation work could cost between €10 and €20 million and include intensive repair work on the château’s keep which collapsed in 2005. Because the building is listed as an historic monument, up to 50% of the cost of the renovations could be reimbursed by the government.

Some of the work that's already been done.

I mean, the current living space is gorgeous.

Says the group that is collecting donations to help with the reno: The collection is used here to help to take over the roof covering of a part of the castle, which suffers a lot from the bad weather and whose continuous collapse represents a danger AND a risk of losing a new part of this beautiful castle!

This is an important step for the security work, but also for future restoration and maintenance work!

The group feels confident that they will raise enough money to help out.

So, you still have a fabulous to live in while the work progresses.

It needs some windows here.

What an amazing opportunity.

Real Estate listing:

https://www.realportico.co.uk/listing/castle-complex-in-veauce-north-of-clermont-ferrand-endangered-monument/100001723126549

https://dartagnans.fr/en/projects/sauvegarde-du-chateau-de-veauce/campaign (Funding site)

Earlier articles about the property:

https://www.connexionfrance.com/practical/photos-see-haunted-118-room-chateau-on-sale-in-france/239198

https://www.connexionfrance.com/news/a-chateau-for-just-100-french-mairie-buys-fairytale-ruin/154292

[organic-bloodbath]

Knife Princess – Part 6

Chishiya x Reader

Summary: You and Chishiya get trapped in a closed space together, both of you getting strange flashbacks.

Warnings: Claustrophobia, panic attack.

A/N: I didn't plan to write this so fast but i just blacked out when i started writing it.

Chapters

♤♡♧◇

Niragi's friend, Jae-sung, gave you a place to stay for a while until you'd find your own place. It was rather small apartment, but you and Niragi got the room which belonged to Jae-sung's roommate, who apparently would be visiting his in-laws in Korea for three weeks. Or something like that. You and Niragi would have about two weeks to find another place to stay the night.

The room had one single bed, so you slept on it and Niragi would have a mattress on the floor, being the usual gentleman he always was (not). You didn't personally know Jae-sung, but by the first impression you got from him, he seemed nice enough. Not anything like Niragi atleast, but what did you know.

For the first few days you didn't do much else than rest and go for a walk. You met up with couple of your friends, who luckily had been out of Tokyo that significant day. You didn't keep regular contact with them anymore, all of you having your own lives, but hey had immediately reached out to you when they heard you had been one of the victims.

Your boss had given you two weeks to rest and recover, which was more than you were prepared to have. You worked an office job as a graphic designer so you could have easily started the job sooner since you weren't physically restricted to work which was mostly sitting around. But your boss didn't want to take chances on your wounds suddenly getting worse in the middle of a work day. You knew you'd get bored after a few more days, since your social life was overall extremely dry as well.

You had decided to go to the grocery store nearby, craving for something sweet. Cookies, ice cream, chocolate – probably all of them.

You arrived back inside the building, carrying a bag full of groceries with you. You decided to walk up the stairs, your eyes on the screen of your phone, typing a text to your friend. You would have taken the elevator, but it was all the way up on the 9th floor so you'd rather walk up, getting a little exercise too.

But you didn't manage to reach the stairs at all when you crashed on someone's chest, stumbling back but managed to keep your balance. Although, the crash made you drop the bag on the floor by your feet, spilling some of the items out, making you curse under your breath.

You looked up and saw a familiar face in front of you. Well, not exactly familiar, but a face which you'd seen before not long ago.

"We should stop crashing on each other like this," the guy suggested, slight smirk on his face. The same guy who was at the hospital and fell on you the first time you met him.

"What are you doing here?" you asked, furrowing your eyebrows, and kneeled down on the floor, bare knee touching the cold ground. You started collecting the packages back into the plastic bag.

"Well, i happen to live here," he answered and lowered himself to your level to help you gather the items. "I haven't seen you here before."

"Might be because i haven't been here more than a few days by far. It's just for couple of weeks," you said, making eye contact with him as you stood back up. A small smile appeared on your lips, though you weren't sure if he noticed it. "Don't worry, then i'll be out of your way."

"Your home got destroyed, huh?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, a genuine apologetic look on his face. You didn't want strangers to be sorry for you, but now you kind of appreciated that, surprisingly.

"Thanks," you said quietly and started to leave, walking past him back towards the stairs, like your original intention had been. "Well, i'll be seeing you then, i suppose."

"See you." He was watching after you for a moment, until he spotted something on the floor by his feet. "Hey, Y/N?" the guy shouted after you, making you turn around.

You furrowed your eyebrows as he approached you again.

"You, um, dropped this," he said and handed you a cookie, but you didn't immediately grab it.

"How do you know my name?" you asked, narrowing your eyes.

He fell silent for a moment, not knowing the answer himself. It had come out of his mouth so naturally he didn't know what to respond. Like he had always known it without needing to ask about it. It had only appeared in his mind just by looking at you.

"Uh, i probably overheard it when you were talking with your brother," he figured out. "Not that i meant to eavesdrop." Maybe he had overheard it but just forgot when it happened? He had always had a good short-term memory and would certainly remember where he had learned your name. Especially since he hadn't known you long at all.

But he didn't remember the reason. No matter how hard he tried to think, he couldn't grasp why he knew it.

"Hm, i guess," you mumbled, feeling suspicious. He was still handing you the cracker.

Stuff these into your pockets, your voice said when you grabbed the cracker into your hand from his hold.

"What?" he asked.

"What what?" you asked.

"What did you say?"

"Um, i didn't say anything," you denied.

He went silent for a moment, just looking at you in your eyes.

"You're a strange man, you know that?"

"So i've heard," he smiled. "I'm Chishiya, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Chishiya," you smiled.

Your smile made his heart flutter and twist his stomach in knots.

You were gone before he could say anything else. Chishiya didn't know how long he kept standing there after you had left, but it took him a while to get himself together and continue his way back to his apartment.

♤♡♧◇

Two days later, you had gone to a library to read for couple of hours, not wanting to stay in Jae-sung's small apartment the entire day. You had visited this library once in a while when you were younger, but hadn't been here in a long time, not after you moved further away from here. Now, you had taken a comfortable position on a couch which was usually taken but was now available to sit.

After a while, someone approached you. You looked up, your heart starting to beat faster when he looked at you.

"Y/N?" the man asked, furrowing his eyebrows but then his eyes brightening. "Hi, how are you doing?"

Your throat felt dry when your one-night hookup was looking down at you.

"Um, fine," you mumbled.

"May i sit?" he asked, pointing the spot next to you on the couch. You only stared at him for a while, until slightly nodded. "What have you been up to?"

"You lied to me," you said quietly, not able to start doing any small talk with him. You weren't going to cause a scene in a damn library but you weren't going to pretend acting friendly either.

"Lied about what?" he asked, genuinely confused. He had seemed to be in a good mood before he approached you, but now it started to fade when he saw the unwelcoming look on your face.

"That we slept together," you gritted between your teeth.

"Um, i already told you," he said. "Nothing happened. For real."

"Okay, so how am i pregnant then?" you spat, anger starting to boil inside you.

His eyes widened. "You're pregnant?"

You crossed your arms against your chest, leaning back against the couch. "Yes, thanks to you."

"I swear, Y/N, we didn't do anything after you told me to stop," he insisted, starting to panic. "I remember it well enough to know that we did stop. After you passed out i simply went to the shower and then fell asleep next to you, okay?"

You eyed him for a moment. He seemed genuine, truly meaning every word, but you weren't buying it. Just because there was simply no other way how you could have become pregnant. If you weren't bearing a child inside you, you might have actually believed him.

"I swear through my mother's grave, hand on my heart, that i did nothing to you. I'd say it directly in front of God," he promised, starting to be desperate, seeing the look on your face – both hurt and angry. He could tell that you weren't so sure to trust him. "Can't you take, like, a paternity test or something if you don't believe me? It's not mine, i promise."

God, how much you wanted to believe him. He looked so serious and genuine it was hard to blame him on things you didn't even remember.

The moments you remembered with him, he had been gentle with you and asked for final permission on everything. When you had said 'no', he had let you go.

"Please," he pleaded. "I did nothing to you. I don't sleep with unconscious women, no matter how wasted i am."

You shut your eyes and held your forehead. How could you believe him when there had been literally nobody else than him?

"I, i came to talk to you now because you forgot a few things in my apartment that day," he said. "I thought i could meet up with you later so i could return them. You just never left your number so i couldn't reach you."

You did forget some of your things in his place but had just accepted the fact that you'd never see them again.

"You can keep them."

"We don't need to hang out, i can just-"

"Keep them, okay?" you insisted and got up from the couch, leaving him to sit by himself without another word.

♤♡♧◇

On your way home, you tried your best to calm down your racing heart and keep your breath steady, but it was turning out to become challenging. You wouldn't be about to cry in public. All you wanted to do now was scream, but you couldn't do that either at a bus stop.

You had promised Niragi to be back at the apartment in about 15 minutes because he wanted to introduce you to his friends and be social, since all you did right now was mostly staying by yourself.

The elevator in this building was ancient and looked like it could break any time soon. The sound of the floor creaking under your feet with every step didn't make you feel very safe either. Still, you stepped into the elevator, pressing the button to the 6th floor, not having the energy to walk all the way up there.

The door started to slowly close until someone's foot stopped it and opened the door again, letting the person to the elevator as well. You locked eyes with Chishiya.

"You're literally stalking me," you stated as he came to stand next to you. It wasn't a big elevator at all, it was made to fit to exactly four people. Three if you wanted to move a little and not only stand with your arms touching each other, not able to take a step to any direction without stepping on someone's foot.

"We live in the same building," he pointed out.

"And yet i haven't bumped into any other neighbor except you and someone's grandma. You now twice," you said back.

"I suppose we have similar daily routines," he responded.

"Mhm," you said, lifting your left eyebrow and turning away from him.

He was going to the 7th floor, only one floor above you. You didn't speak anything, just stood next to each other in silence, an inch between your shoulders. You felt awkward, but didn't care to start even more awkward small-talk.

You were on the 4th floor, when suddenly the elevator stopped, so hard as if it had hit a wall, making you almost lose your balance.

"What the hell?" you mumbled. The doors didn't open and you assumed you were between two floors. Anyway not able to get out.

You suffered from claustrophobia and being trapped in a small space with no way to get out was one of your worst fears. You had never been a fan of elevators, but you had gotten used to them, as long as you didn't have to stay in one for a long time.

You started breathing more rapidly, feeling like the air was running out and you were going to suffocate. The elevator started shrinking, the walls coming closer to you. Chishiya looked at you, worried look on his face.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked softly.

You didn't answer, you were too caught up in the panic attack that was about to start. Your hands were shaking and you just really, really needed to get out of this elevator, starting to hyperventilate. You felt pain on your chest, pressing your trembling hand against your racing heart.

He put his hands on your shoulders, turning you towards him. You avoided eye contact with him at first, looking at the wall over his shoulder.

"Hey, hey," Chishiya said, realising what was going on. "Look at me. Y/N, look at me."

You turned your face towards him, allowing yourself to make eye contact with him.

"Take a deep breath in a count of three, okay?"

Your eyes started to water as you looked at him, having a really hard time to take deep breaths and calm down. You tried your hardest, his hands gently rubbing your arms. Eventually you were able to calm down.

"That's good," Chishiya smiled. "You did really good."

"Is it weird if i hug you?" you asked quietly, nervous for his rejection or making him uncomfortable. Chishiya contemplated your request a little bit, until gently wrapped your arms around you, massaging your back with his hand.

Another person's presence and touch always, or most times, managed to calm you down properly. You heard his steady heart beat.

Was there someone else? Or was i... was i your only one?

You pulled away from him, furrowing your eyebrows when you looked at him in his eyes. "What do you mean someone else? We're alone here."

"I didn't say anything about someone else," Chishiya mumbled, furrowing his brows too.

"Yes you did, i heard you," you insisted.

You were always really embarrassed when someone saw you have a panic attack and you could feel your cheeks burning up this time as well, now that you had properly recovered from it and realized the entire situation.

"We've been trapped in this elevator for barely ten minutes and you already start to hallucinate," Chishiya stated. He sounded serious, but the small smile on his lips gave it away, wanting to cheer you up and lighten your mood.

"Shut up," you mumbled and hit his shoulder, his words making you a little amused as well.

"I'm going to make a call to get this thing fixed and us out of here. You okay now?" he asked and after you nodded, he took his phone from his pocket and dialed the correct number.

You were afraid of getting another panic attack if you had to be here for a long time, you didn't want to go through that again in such a short time. At least i'm not alone here, you thought. Right now, you were more than glad that he had put his foot between the door and stepped inside with you, even though it had been awkward at first.

"Alright, they said they'll be here as soon as possible, but it might take a while to get this running again," Chishiya explained turning to look back at you.''

"Amazing," you huffed.

"Hey, it could be worse," he pointed out.

"Mhm, and how exactly?" you asked, crossing your arms against your chest.

"Well, you could be stuck with one old man from the 2nd floor, who doesn't shut up about facts about toilets and bicycles," he answered.

"Toilets and bicycles?" you huffed.

"Yup. So, be glad it's me and not an even stranger man than me."

You looked at him for a moment, until you narrowed your eyes, looking again directly at him. "You sabotaged this thing, didn't you?" You widened your eyes and pointed a finger at him. "I knew you had been flirting with me at the hospital!"

"Hey, even if i wanted to get to know you better i wouldn't go to the length of trapping you in a small space with me," he swore, one hand on his heart and the other up in the air.

"Mhm," you hummed, crossing your arms. Then, you pouted a little, pretending to be upset and tilted your head. "So, you don't want to get to know me better? At all?"

You were incredibly close to each other, a few inches between your bodies.

"Well," he said slowly, glancing at the ceiling for a moment to avoid your intense gaze. "I didn't say that."

"But you implied it."

"You're putting words into my mouth," he stated when he had locked eyes with you again.

He wasn't matching your 'i'm just joking' vibe at all right now.

You eyed him up and down, starting to grin. "You're kind of cute, you know that?"

"Cute?" he repeated, raising his eyebrows.

"Yup," you confirmed and bit your lip. "Nobody told you that before?"

"Hm, not that i recall." You smiled wider when you noticed his cheeks turn slightly pink.

"So, you figured out already where you know me?" you asked.

He narrowed his eyes. "You admit that we've met?"

"No," you said. "Other strangers just haven't thought before we might know each other – without considering it flirting."

"Well, i haven't found an answer to that yet," he admitted.

"Hm. Well, let me know when you do."

Your phone let a sound of a new text message, making you take your phone from your pocket. You were feeling hot and pulled your sleeves up to your elbows as you took the phone in your hand.

Assface: are you still out? we're running out of beer

When you had exposed half of your arms, the tattoo on your arm was revealed – two knives crossed with each other, surrounded by roses and couple of skulls. It picked Chishiya's attention, making him analyse it with his eyes.

I didn't find a pen and paper. And i'm bored.

Chishiya looked at your face when he heard those words, your lips not moving at all. Not letting out a single syllable. He could swear that he hadn't imagined those words, spoken by your voice in his head, by himself.

I have a second knife, you know.

You turned your face towards Chishiya when he had fallen quiet, noticing his concentrated stare on your lips.

"What, you want to make out?" you asked with a playful smile, then biting your lip.

You put your phone away and backed him against the wall, standing barely an inch away from him, playing with the collar of his shirt.

"We can play 7 minutes in heaven if you want, now that we have enough time to spare."

Chishiya's face turned red, eyes widening. He swallowed the lump in his throat, stomach feeling funny. His usual calm demeanor shifted completely to something else he had very rarely experienced before. Probably never before. He shook his head a little to get a grip of himself.

"Oh, no, i didn't-"

"I'm just kidding," you giggled, enjoying what kind of effect you managed to have on him. "But it's okay, Chishiya, i know i'm pretty," you grinned and put your finger on his chin. "You can admit it."

"I'm not denying that you're pretty but i wasn't thinking of kissing you," he stated as seriously as he could but even he could tell his voice was trembling a little. "I was just, looking at your tattoo."

"My tattoo is on my arm, not on my lips," you hummed, then started to smile. "So you think i am pretty, hm?"

"Will you shut up about that if i say yes?" he asked, resting his head against the wall.

"Maybe, no promises though," you shrugged. "Well?"

"Fine, you're pretty," he admitted. "Now, end of discussion."

You just smiled, turning into pouting right after. "So, no kissing, hm?"

He couldn't help but glance at your lips but then he cleared his throat. "No kissing."

"Fine," you huffed, acting all disappointed even though you were just teasing him, and backed away from him. You sat on the floor, back against the wall, Chishiya sitting down next to you.

"Can i ask you a serious question?" he asked, the tone of his voice to a lot more serious one, he was back at his normal self. You listened to him now with closer attention. "Do you feel any different after the accident?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like," Chishiya started, trying to gather his words together to make sense. "I feel like there's a large piece missing inside me, you know?" You furrowed your eyebrows. "I don't know if that sounds dumb, but-"

"It's not dumb," you interrupted. "I do feel like that too."

"You do?" he asked, lifting his eyebrows in surprise.

"I mean, kind of yeah," you admitted, hugging your knees against your chest. "I feel weird. Like there's something crucial i don't remember. I can't really explain it. But i've just figured it's due some survivor's guilt and trauma or whatever, i don't know. I'm just trying to leave the entire thing behind."

Chishiya knew, was absolutely sure, that it was something else than simply survivor's guilt.

"Perhaps," he mumbled and looked into his hands on his lap.

You didn't know how much time passed the two of you being trapped in the elevator, but you'd guess it was anything between 30 minutes to one hour.

Suddenly, the elevator started to move again, startling you so badly that you collapsed against Chishiya, grabbing his shirt on an instinct.

He looked at you, hanging on him, until you turned your head towards his gaze, eyes widening.

"I'm sorry," you apologised, letting him go. "I just got really startled."

"It's alright."

Chishiya stood up and took your hand in his, pulling you up from the floor just as the elevator's door opened.

"Well, i guess this is my stop," you announced, suddenly feeling a bit awkward again, just like the moment in the beginning when Chishiya had stepped into this elevator. "See you around, Chishiya."

"See you around, Y/N."

♤♡♧◇

You walked inside the apartment, Niragi and two of his friends sitting at the table, playing cards together and drinking beer. Apparently they had found more beer somewhere after all.

"What took you so long?" Niragi asked, clearly not pleased for having to wait for you so long. "Did you bring more beer?"

"Got stuck inside the elevator," you stated. "So, no. I didn't."

"That shit finally broke?" Jae-sung asked and let out a laugh. "Took long enough."

"Join us, we saved a seat for you," Niragi invited, patting the chair next to him.

"Oh, i think i'll just go to read and-"

"Don't be silly, one game," another guy pleaded, you had never seen him before.

You rolled your eyes and sighed. "Fine, one game."

But one game turned into another and yet another, until it started to get really late. You were having a lot of fun, though, and you managed to win surprisingly often, shocking the guys a little because they had thought of being some sort of masters in card games themselves. Niragi knew you were a challenging opponent though, so he was amused by the reactions of his friends.

You now held the King of Spades card in your hand, looking at the King's cartoon face and felt it staring back at you, a little too intensely. You got a weird twist in your stomach, suddenly feeling sick.

Uncomfortable pressure formed inside your skull, some sort of flashes running inside your mind. The card dropped from your hand as you held your head in your hands, shutting your eyes.

You heard rapid shooting and screaming everywhere around you.

A man in a long black cloak approached you, pointing his gun at you, but someone pulled you out of the way of gunfire.

Swimming in a lake, being held against someone's bare chest but not seeing the person's face. An explosion somewhere in the distance.

Finally, Chishiya's face looking at you with worried eyes, a tear falling down his face and blood on his cheek. Saying something to you but you didn't hear what.

Every flash didn't last longer than one or two seconds, feeling like they were splitting your brain in half.

You felt a hand on your shoulder, Niragi looking at you with a worried expression on his face. You jumped on your seat, him scaring the crap out of you.

"Y/N? What's wrong?" Niragi asked.

"My, my head just hurts," you muttered and stood up. "Migraine. I think i'll go to lie down." You were already walking away until turned around one more time and gave the guys a smile. "It was nice to play with all of you though."

You went to the spare room and sat on the bed, hands grabbing the edge of the bed.

What the hell was that?

♤♡♧◇

Chishiya fell asleep fast that night, faster than usual, even though his mind wasn't even closely free from all the storming thoughts about you and everything going on in his life right now.

He saw a dream which felt too real and familiar to be only a dream. He felt like there had been more to the dream, and he remembered only a small part of it.

He saw your face. You were standing in front of him. With a smile on your face, you pulled him into a kiss, hands on his cheeks.

You pulled back after a while, still holding his cheeks as you looked into his eyes, challenging look in them. "I've never done it in a lake, though."

Chishiya woke up, for a moment trying to comprehend where he was after opening his eyes, then fully realizing he had only dreamed the entire thing. You weren't there holding his face. You weren't there kissing his lips. You weren't there at all, your touch had been only his own imagination.

Had the moment between you two in the elevator really affected him that much? Surely not. No, definitely not.

His heart fluttered and for some reason, he had liked it. The idea of you being close to him.

He wanted to slap himself on the cheek which held a ghost of your touch, just to get this feeling spat out of him. Touch which hadn't been there at all in the first place.

He didn't know you. You were strangers to each other who simply went through the same trauma. He had never felt like this about a woman who he only knew by a name. He knew nothing else about you besides getting injured when the meteorite hit Tokyo.

He could tell you were beautiful and would get any man on their knees by your feet, he wasn't going to deny that.

Was this some sort of "love at first sight" moment he was experiencing? Definitely not. He didn't believe in love at first sight, no. It had to be something else.

Chishiya groaned, absolutely frustrated, and wasn't able to sleep anymore.

♤♡♧◇

A/N: Hope i didn't forget to tag anyone <3 The next part won't be posted this fast lmao don't get used to this.

Taglist:

@audiiix

@valexqpt

@spencersoneball

@queenofviolenceandnerds

@moonchild323232

@lizxoxeth

@crazzzyyyy

@kimsrie

[sleepnowmychild]

Reminder when talking about ancient religions:

There's a massive time period here. Were talking THOUSANDS of years. And each city and reigon has different ways of worship, a different patron, different constructs etc. And there were a heap of different sects and offshoots too. Orphism would have had differences to later classical worship. The inner workings and beliefs of mystery cults would have been different to early worship from 1000 years before. Rome had its differences to Greece.

That's why sourcing the general date and area a certain practice came from is important. While there's not really a set "canon" for these things because of how much changed over the years and from reigon to reigon, there does tend to be an overarching collective agreement (e.g. Hades being the king of the underworld is largely the same across time and reigion, Aphrodite coming from the sea is the same across most reigons etc).

Details like who married who, who's parent is who can change depending on the exact place and time. How exactly a deity was worshipped would vary, like exactly what offerings they'd recive and what exactly you'd ask them for etc would vary.

And then you fast forward to modern times, where our temples are reduced to historic ruins, many of our problems have been solved with modern technology, our day to day life is so vastly different. Our worship changes too. We use the worship of the past as a framework for our modern one. We don't exactly casually sacrifice animals now do we?

So there's not really any exact "right" way to practice. We can't recreate every detail of the ancients, but we do use them as a touchstone. We use the same fruits and incense, but put them on a personal altar rather than a massive temple. We use the same prayer structure, but do it in our modern language. We take all those details from those thousands of years and differing reigons, collect the information that's consistent and we can still use in the modern day, and build our worship based on that.

And the deities of these ancient religions? They watched us grow and change from year to year, country to country, language to language. And they still stuck around. They don't care how we worship, as long as we're worshipping. If you forget to light a candle, they don't care. If you don't have a statue erected on your altar, they don't care. As long as you're worshipping, as long as you're looking to the ancients as a guide and adapting in ways that work for us, they don't care.

They're deities, not your strict dad who will throw a fit if you pack the dishwasher wrong. They're ancient, they've watched us change, they'll continue to watch us change.

[siri-ike]

(Warning: this meanders, prepare for a long read)

Some dark rituals can be done with any moonlight, and slightly more complex ones require a full moon. With that small difference, they go from being available every night to one night a month. There are of corse rarer moons, such as the super moon, which only occurs once every four months.

This one is the opposite. It requires as little moonlight as possible. This is why this can only be done tonight. The night of the micro new moon. A new moon as far from the earth as possible.

When the spirits are too weak to fight back.

You'd think on such a clear day you'd see some stars for once. But nooOOoOoo.

It was a dark and dreary night in Gotham just like all the others. The Riddler was teasing the newest detective, Penguin was throwing a fit over something or other, Poison Ivy was hitting on her therapist, and inside the Gotham clock tower Clayface stood frozen through and waiting to be picked up by police.

Dick thought this would be cooler. He'd been Robin for SIX WHOLE DAYS, and barely anything had happened. Anything he'd gotten to help with anyway. He's nine years old. He can take care of himself. Bru- Batman really needs to learn that.

So when he'd heard rumors at school about suspicious activity in one of gothams hundreds of "supposedly abandoned buildings/mansions," He had to check it out. And he would do it on his own.

Or he was gonna. Not to name any names, but Dick seems to have very loose lips.

That's how it became just him, some kids from school, a boy from a Gala, a boy he met at a police station and a girl from right outside the house, seemingly also planing to break in. But aside from that, it was a covert mission.

Thankfully, none of them questioned or even seemed to care that he brought a utility belt. In fact, they were surprisingly well armed. Wallace brought a toolbelt. Garfield showed up in a skintight outfit with steel plate shoes and gloves (what does he expect to happen?). Nadia had knives hidden all over her body, a garrote wire, sharp metal fingernails, and some kind of powder (what does she expect to happen?!). His classmates all chickened out, so really, he got the best outcome he could have asked for.

Getting in was just a matter of hopping a wire fence. Everyone was able to pull that off except Wallace, who had to cut his way in. While they waited, Garfield was somehow able to sneak in and unlock a door.

Inside was no one. As expected for just a rumor. For some reason, it felt like the floor boards didn't creak when Garfield or Nadia stepped on them, but Dick and Wallace made them wanna alert the media. They searched every room from the ground floor to the attic, but all they found were a closet full of identical purple robes, a collection of jars with animal fetuses in them, a chest full of severed fingers arranged in order of least decomposed to most decomposed, and wax statues that looked oddly similar to Dicks three classmates who bailed on them. Eventually, they had to admit defeat and go home.

But just as they were about to exit through the front door, Nadia begged them to take a closer look. It was just as well. They needed to find Garfeild anyway, seeing as he'd disappeared at some point.

Gar looked quizzically at the device Dick (Richard, 9, Caucasian, Male) had handed him.

"These will let us communicate if we get separated." He said as he pocketed the three extras.

Once they got to the fence, Gar heard a noise coming from further behind the manor and walked off to investigate. It turned out to be girl, 12, black, introduced herself as Nadia. She was intent on breaking in as well. She was well prepared and seemed to know what she was doing. But for some reason, Wally (Wallace, 11, Caucasian, male) was adamant about not letting a girl in on a dangerous mission. While he struggled to cut through the fence, everyone else had jumped so easily, Gar went ahead and snuck in.

No one ever locks the third floor windows. He quickly checked the most obvious places for signs of habitation, the kitchen hasn't been used in at least a month, but the living room barely had any dust in it compared to everywhere else, exept for the bedroom he'd entered through. There were fresh rope marks on the bed post, and the sheets were messy. Someone had been tied up there.

When he opened the door, he saw Dick kneeling in front of him, clearly about to pick the lock. He'd apparently also given Nadia one of the spare communicators.

The others all went to search the house, but Gar had all the information he needed. There had to be a basement, even if there's no obvious entrance. Everyone split up, and he went straight underground.

It was easy, worm through the floor boards, mole down till he met solid stone, after that he could just crawl around as a centipede until he found a crack. Nothing to it, really. Too bad, he had to leave his shoes and gloves behind.

He ended up in a wine cellar full of bodies. Most were just skeletons, but some could still be ID'd if they told the police. To his right was a spiral staircase down, but no apparent way up.

So down he went.

The steps were made of cobblestone and looked much older than the building on top. The occasional bone or severed limb suggested people tried and failed to get up to the closed off room he came from. The further he descended the thicker the air got, Gar was no stranger to the smell of decomposing, but this was worse than Grandma's Bachelorette party.

At the bottom lay an explanation for the foul odor.

The floor was soft but coarse. Almost like dirt, but it was strung together somehow. Night vision really wasn't helping. He patted around with his feet, not wanting to get this residue on his hands. He's definitely felt this texture before. But where? If only there was the least bit of light in there.

Wait, what was he doing? There's more senses than just sight.

Gar made a clicking sound with the back of his throat and listened for the reverberations. This room is small. There's piles of stuff in the corners, probably just more bodies. There's a wooden door with metal bars at adult eye level. Squirreling through there, led him to a corridor.

Another click revealed there were more rooms, most had the same wooden door, but one had a thinner wooden door with no bars. On the walls were torches. Gar had nothing to light them with, nor a need to.

Just passing them, Gar learned the other cells smelled like death, too. He snailed through a chip in the bottom of the door. He didn't check if it was locked, but there could have been people on the other side.

Smells better in here. And there was a little bit of light coming from a table. It was a cellphone, plugged into a powerbank. It's at 48%. Someone was here less than an hour ago. Gar took the battery and stuck it into his thigh, leaving the cable out and attached to the phone in his hand. He turned on the flashlight. It looked like a small dining area, like a break room at a renesance fair. There was another door opposite the one he came in. It looked more worn. Another wall had a little kitchen, enough to make a quick meal, definitely a work break room. Opposite that was a ladder through a tunnel. Finally.

"He probably just went home." Wally huffed. He really needs to stop letting strangers drag him into B&Es. "We could always just report the fingers and baby jars."

"They were fetuses," Dick replied. "The term "baby" implies human and already born. What we saw were aborted and, therefore, not illegal to keep."

"Ok. First off. Nerd. Second, the fingers couldn't have been legal. Now, let's go."

"He also lives all the way in New Hampshire. His parents won't pick him up til tomorrow."

The two were startled by a thudd behind them. Nadia had dropped Gars shoes and gloves on the floor in an attention-grabbing way. Fine, so he didn't go home.

"I called his communicator. These things were at the back door." Nadia said flatly.

Oh, right. They all had communicators.

"Do you think someone could have grabbed him?" There was a slight hint of excitement in Dicks tone.

"If I were kidnapping someone, I wouldn't take the time to remove their shoes and gloves. I think he took them off for some reason and disappeared afterward. Now, there are few reasons why someone would take their shoes off in this sort of environment." She picked up one shoe. "My guess would be water. He could have found a basement or something and realized that it was flooded, so, to get a closer look, he removed his unnecessary, heavy gear." Nadia theorized. "I didn't find any doors leading to a basement, so, if it exists, the entrance must be very well hidden."

"It could be outside." Dick added. "Let's search the grounds."

She should probably have been scared, but Álaug hadn't felt much of anything the past cupple days. Couldn't this stupid cult just hurry up and do whatever they were planning to do already?

Every muscle in her body felt heavier than usual. She could barely lift herself up off the dirty gauze covered floor. She rubbed her eyes, but the "tired" was firmly in there. Around her was a blurry room, with four blurry walls and one blurry door. Outside, she could make out faint footsteps. Inside sat a blurry girl, who used the wall to pull herself up and - no? Nevermind. There lay a girl falling back asleep on the floor.

Nadia snapped back to herself. It's her, Álaug is OK. Sort of. But she has to be near by atleast. Nadia looks around herself. The place she saw was all stone. It couldn't have been in this mansion. It was dark, too. Chances were, it was too deep for moonlight. Nadia quickly grabbed the shoes and gloves from the floor. She showed them to the others along with some lie to lead them underground.

Unfortunately, the smaller one seemed to think it could only be outside, completely disregarding the possibility of a hatch under a rug or a door behind a bookcase, and the redhead refused to listen to her. Thankfully, there was a storm cellar for them to investigate while she went back inside to search properly. Think. When they got here, before they started touching things. The living room was the only place that looked like it had been used. She turned it upside down. She moved the couch and coffee table just to check under the rug. She emptied every shelf, drawer, and cabinet to no avail. She tapped on the floor and walls until she got to the wood panels on the side of the stairs. She pushed it in, and a short door popped out. At last. She did it. And this time she was going to make it in time.

Inside was a long dark tunnel down. "It's in the living room." She announced into the communicator, which reverberated from the second one she had. Oh, well. They either heard or they didn't. The green one was the only one who had proved to be more than dead weight so far anyway. Not that she needed any of them. She only needed Álaug.

An estimated 84 trillion miles into the tunnel, Nadia finally admitted she might have needed a flashlight, too. But she's not giving up just because it's dark. After a 15-minute decent, she heard a click. It was quiet and far away, but it sounded alive. Man or Beast? Would either be a good thing?

She's gone! Seriously? He only had three people with him, and two of them were already missing! Dick pulled out his communicator to track her location. It looked like she was... 0.497 miles away. How did she get half a mile away? The dot still reads on the property. Right below them, in fact.

Was this too much? Was he in over his head? Should he call Batman?

Well, no one knows about Nadia, and Gar had specifically mentioned his parents would not notice him missing for at least 3 weeks. So it's not like he can get in trouble if they keep going alone.

After a while, it started raining, and the boys were forced to move the search back inside. Where they found the living room wrecked and a door where there previously wasn't one.

Dick pulled a flashlight out of his utility belt and took one step inside before he was pulled back.

"What are you doing?" Wally demanded. "This room is visible from the outside. If you call the police this is plausible cause, and they can investigate."

"But then we don't get to investigate."

The argument went on embarrassingly long. If Nadia was in there, she had a major head start.

The corridor was long and winding. Wally refused to come with, insisting he would go get the police. Jokes on him. They're in Gotham, police aren't gonna help.

"It's happening! Get ready!" The lead cloked figure shouts.

In front of him is a somewhat conscious 11 year old girl in a nightgown tied to a shrine and surrounded by strange symbols written in her own semi-irredecent blood.

"Aghh!!"

"Aghh!!"

"Gar?"

"Nadia?"

"Where have you been?"

"Creepy dungeon. I found a cellphone. Could have something on it." He offered her the device.

"Oh, I left the nerd upstairs. They were slowing me down." She pulled both communicators out of her pocket and held one to her mouth. "I found Gar. We're in the basement." She looked at him again. "Are you going up or coming with me?"

"With you. I found an important looking door you might wanna see."

"We're headed further in." She said to the communicator.

"Wait for me, I'm on my way."

"We'll see you at the bottom." She was not about to wait 15 minutes in a cramped stairwell. "How far down is it?"

"I don't know, I'm pretty bad with time."

The chanting was almost soothing. In a way, it reminded Álaug of the pit. The thorny vines around her arms and legs loosened, and her mind faded further. They tore at her "flesh" as they slithered away from her. Soon, there was nothing holding her together.

The lights went out, and the chanting abruptly stopped.

The podium beneath her glowed a supernatural shade of green. And all around her floated gears, pendulums, and clock hands.

In the middle of the show appeared a toddler? No, an old man. Floating above the crowd. He spun around to face her. His expression turned sour. He pointed his staff at her, and in an instant, her chains were gone, and she fell to the ground.

Something must have happened while she was writhing on the floor because before she knew it, she was holding a baby.

This time, upon reaching the medieval break room, the lights were on. Electric ones! The candles on the walls were fake. The suspicious door was open, too.

"Do you hear that?" Gar asked.

"No?"

"Sounds like chanting."

Urgency washed over Nadias face. She pulled out her communicator again.

"Dick, we can't wait. Rituals already started."

"Hey, no. Wait for me. I'm almost there." His voice was obscured by the sound of running. "What ritual?"

She stepped out the door but was met with two possible directions. "Which way is the chanting? We need to hurry."

Gar ran directly towards the sound.

"But they could be in danger."

"Look, kid. We can't just send a SWAT team to go investigate a child's rumor."

"Can you do anything?"

"I could arrest you for breaking and entering."

"Well, there are three more people currently breaking and entering there. Can you go for that? Or do you only work on crimes that have already happened?"

"Listen here, you little-"

"Forget it! Actual gang members are more helpful than this!" Wally stormed out of the police station with tears in his eyes. Gotham is very different from Central City.

🎶Tick tock, goes the clock🎶

🎵And all the years they fly🎵

🎶Tick tock, goes the clock🎶

🎵Till you and I must die🎵

Danny's soft face looked so at home in Clockwork arms. His big round cheeks, so full of sweetness. His wide eyes full of wonder and curiosity. When they were open. For now, Clockworks' greatest treasure soundly slept and tightly held onto one of his fingers.

Clockwork could lose himself for hours staring, and he usually did. But this time, his baby bonding time was cut off by a summon. He found himself in a dark room, lit only by his own clock works. In his arms was nothing. He searched for any ghostly presence but felt only a dim charge from behind him.

On a podium surounded by ghost runes and old time pieces was a girl, a ghost? No, she's odd in some way. It didn't matter. She was tied up. Clockwork aimed his staff her way and aged the chains until they were nothing but dust.

"Great God of time!" A mere human addressed. "I have summoned you here for one purpose. Bring back my wife. In exchange, we will return to you the goddess of the moon." She bargained, gesturing toward the girl.

Clockwork prided himself on being a patient observer, an impartial judge. Today was not a proud day for him.

The two of them followed the chant until-

"It stopped."

"Keep going. Maybe we're close."

Dick could only follow the dots on his communicator since they were no longer answering him. 0.28 miles. That's not so bad. And for some reason, they weren't moving.

When Dick finally reached them, they were frozen in place, bathed in a ghostly glow, with matching horrified looks. They seemed so fearless before, so why now? Curiosity compelled him to look, but Dicks better judgment won. He reached in and pulled his allies out of the light, and it was like they shocked back into their bodies.

"What was in there?"

They didn't have time to answer. Instead, a huge burst of energy floded out of the room. They narrowly avoided it by staying in the shadows.

The light slowly dissipated over the next two minutes. Leaving a faint glow in its wake.

Once they deemed it safe, all three carefully made their way into a grand hall. Row after row of skeletons all wore the same robes from upstairs, and faced a big extravagant steam punk looking shrine. The glow was coming from there. A mix of blueish green and a dark red. All drowned out by the cries of a baby.

Nadia was the first to run over to the shrine. Dick was more careful, and Gar just seemed unsettled.

This dust is people. He's walking on dusted people. They were alive and chanting less than an hour ago, and now they're dust. And now they're breathing them. Tonight has officially moved up to top ten worst days. It's somewhere below his parents' death but above English jewel theif double homicide.

"Come on." Dick tugged at his elbow.

They went up to the shrine, where they saw Nadia holding another girl. They looked like complete opposites. Nadia was tall, black, curly haired, and had a general "has hidden knives regardless of the situation" vibe to her. The other girl was pale and short. Her hair was straight as a wooden plank, and her vibe was "spooky roses" and "needs hospital."

Near them was a glowing baby lying on the floor, fussing. Its white hair looked slightly greenish thanks to the halo surrounding the infant. Gar felt compelled to pick it up and take a few steps away. Upon doing so, the baby settled. As though something in the shrine made it uncomfortable.

"Can we get out of here?" Gar piped up.

"Of course." Nadia picked the other girl up like she weighed nothing more than a corgi.

Gar couldn't help but be more careful on the way back. Not that Dick was complaining. He was tired of being left behind. At least they did rescue the girl. Some girl. That's heroic. And he totally did something, right?

"Hey, Gar? If my dad asks, I was a great leader, ok?"

"Okay." Gar was not paying attention. It was like he was hypnotized by that baby.

"Aren't you getting tired? We can switch."

Gar looked Dick up and down. He was already struggling with the long winding stairs. There's no way he could handle a baby on top of not having sonar.

"I don't think so."

Dick was in front so he stepped into the living room first, followed by Gar and his glowing baby, followed by... uhm... where are the girls?

Along with the sunrise, the boys were met with Wally. Hiding behind The Flash. Who in turn was standing next to Batman.

Dick's gonna be in so much trouble.

Why would Clockwork de-age Danny and then just leave him in Gotham for Batman to steal? No, he'd raise that boy himself. Fuck letting others get their grubby mitts on his new son. He wants to make sure he doesn't turn evil like Dan and this is the only way he knows it will work 100%.

That is until someone summons the ancient of time and gets a baby because the portal was a little to the left.

Now Clockwork is sending ghosts to go retrieve the boy since he can't leave the realms.

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 149 (A New Pet - And a New Landgraab Problem?)

Captain Whitaker made himself right at home at the Gordon house on Sable Square. When Lavender returned from daycare on his first day as a reanimated dog, the Captain was thrilled to meet the energetic toddler who loved pets.

He also celebrated discovery of the chicken coop in the backyard, and he loved to chase the cats. It had been a while since Heather and Conrad needed to train bad habits out of a new pet, but they were happy to do it, because Captain Whitaker fit their family like a glove.

Heather's sister, Hazel, dropped by for breakfast one morning, on her way to help Alexander Goth put together his application to run for mayor.

"It's a long process and the town hasn't had an election in close to forty years, but Alex has a lot of really great ideas to make the Bay even better," Hazel said. "I really believe in him, and he needs more help with his campaign now that he's doing midnight feedings with baby Carina."

At the mention of Alex and Lydia Goth's second child, newborn Carina, Heather rubbed her belly as she felt her own baby kick. "I'd love to see this town running smoothly with a real mayor at the helm. The water shut-offs we've had to deal with lately make it so much harder to get the kids bathed, and the dogs, let alone us!"

"I hate to sound like Dad, but get a dew catcher. It rains enough on the coast you could collect enough water to last for weeks!"

"What's a dew catcher?" wondered Lavender.

"It stores water for when there's drought or the pipes freeze in winter. It's kind of like recycling the rain," Hazel explained, and Lavender nodded along thoughtfully.

"What's recyclig?"

"It's when you take something and use it again for something else, rather than getting something new, because it's better for the environment. Like new toys. If you bought a used toy, it would be recycled, as opposed to a new toy from a store."

"Used toys are better for the envi-erment?"

Hazel nodded. "Yeah, because new production uses a carbon footprint, and you want that carbon footprint to be as small as possible to help the planet."

Heather glanced pleadingly at Hazel, launching into one of her public policy talks with a four-year-old. "Why don't you get your Aunt Hazel to read you a story before she goes to work?"

Lavender smiled, dragging Hazel to the living room and picking out a book. "Can you do the voices again, too?"

"Of course, Lava. I can't read you a story without doing the voices!"

"No you can't!"

Lavender wasn't the only one in the household interested in books. Ash had picked up as many books on time travel from the library as he could, and he'd barely put them down since. If he was supposed to invent time travel, he had to understand it first.

Heather and Conrad were wary of what he was learning, but they'd encouraged Felix and Lilith to pursue it before they knew what Marco had said. Ash promised to leave the actual time travel to the adults, so they allowed him to study books like Theoretical Electronics and A History of Time Travel to offer assistance to Felix and Lilith - but only if they needed it.

Conrad accompanied him to the local library to return a few books he'd finished and check out a few more, bringing the dogs to run around. They sat in bright inflatable chairs that seemed out of place in the old wooden building. But the local historian and librarian, Gunther Lynx-Munch, said they'd been dropped off by an anonymous donor and he didn't want them to go to waste.

As he thumbed through the books on the shelves, Conrad turned to his stepson. "Are you really interested in all this time travel stuff?"

Ash shrugged. "Felix and Lilith say Emit's nice. What if changing the future changes him, too? I don't want to change the future too much, but I don't want to be feared. If I do help Felix and Lilith, I don't mind people not knowing I did it."

That night, Heather prepped fruit for Ash's school lunch while Conrad was bent over the sink to repair the plumbing. "Malcolm called again," she groused. "He's so interested in Ash's counseling sessions all of a sudden."

"I think this time travel and seeing ghosts stuff freaks Malcolm out a bit."

"He doesn't even think it's real!" She closed the fridge door with a heavy thud to put away the sliced fruit. "I think he's plotting something. With his mother."

Conrad finished with the plumbing and dried his hands, wrapping his arms around her and cradling her stomach. "Like what?"

"He's acting like I can't take care of our son, as if he wasn't flirting with Miko instead of watching Ash when he was taken. He actually said 'It can't be easy to move around that small house with all those animals.' They have a dog!"

"Don't get upset," he pleaded gently. "Has Malcolm ever been worth it?"

She forced herself to breathe, letting herself fall into his embrace. "I love you. I just worry about Ash all the time lately."

"I love you, too. Let's get some sleep; the baby needs it. We can worry about everything again in the morning."

Despite her fear and worry, the days were busy and long. Pregnant Heather was easily fatigued, and she soon fell asleep in Conrad's arms. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 2.1 Summary

Gen 1 Start | Gen 1 Summary

[delightfulhidingnook]

His Best Knight, The Queen

(Dark Cacao Cookie x Reader)

Chapter 3

The battle between you and Hollyberry raged on for hours, but while her strength greatly outweighed yours, you made up for it in agility and speed. She’d have to catch you if she wanted to do any real damage and you were good at keeping a distance, that is until she managed to catch a hold of your ankle during one of your kicks.

“You got too close, hahaha!!”

She lifted you like you weighed nothing, swinging you into the air and slamming you back down to the ground, causing you to cough up some strawberry jam, absolutely knocking the wind out of your lungs. It was agony, but you shocked both of them after you picked yourself up, spitting out some jam before getting back into a fighting position.

“That all you got?”

“Hahaha!! I like your style, you’re strong-willed!!”

“Well, you’ll never catch me surrendering, not on your life!!”

Only once the sun began to set, did the battle finally end, both you and Hollyberry fallen in the snow, sweaty and exhausted from such a long fight. Dark Cacao approached the both of you and one by one, helped you up and sat you both back against the unfinished wall.

“I believe it is a tie.”

“Aw man!!” Hollyberry groaned.

You laughed “What a shame, I really did want to try some redber-”

“No, no you do not.” Dark Cacao interjected.

Hollyberry let out a small laugh “He’s just mad cuz last time he went overboard and ended up fighting trees and puking behind the tavern while our dear friends and I held his hair.”

“You were forcing those drinks into my system, I would have never displayed such acts of idiocy had I not been under the influence of that cursed beverage.”

“You’re already a display of idiocy when you’re sober, an ugly display too.”

Dark Cacao rolled his eyes and began petting Sweetie who had walked over to join the group and bury his face in the snow to clean his jelly-stained fur.

“Oh now that’s just being mean, Dark Cacao isn’t ugly.” You laughed.

“What is he then?” Hollyberry raises a brow as she looks at you.

“Well, he’s. . . . . .regal, yeah, he’s very regal.”

“Regal, sounds like a stretch, how so?”

“It’s not a stretch at all, ever since vanquishing the dragons he’s done nothing but help. He helps me collect firewood and do deliveries, he even fixed the local flour mill so we could make bread again, he’s even helping build this wall to protect the village, which he risked his life for by fighting off the invasion with me, that’s a king if I ever saw one, a regal leader.”

Dark Cacao was holding back a big smile as he listened to your praise about his help around the villages.

“Thank you Y/n, but I am undeserving of such praise.”

“Nonsense, you’re a huge help around here.”

Hollyberry finally stands back up, as she looks back and forth between you and Dark Cacao with a smug smile on her face before shrugging.

“Well, my offer of help with the wall still stands.” She offers you her hand to help you up and you gladly take it, dang, you really weigh nothing to her.

“We will take you up on that offer, then afterwards, you can introduce me to these other friends of yours over a cold glass of redberry juice.”

“It’s a deal, I’ll start heading back and shall return soon.”

And with that, she departed back to her kingdom, but not for long, returning with a team of cookies ready to assist in building the giant wall. Passing villagers would spend time and help out as well, though occasionally there would be a halt whenever the Licorice Village attempted another attack, but they would be no match for you, Dark Cacao, and Hollyberry. The wall stretched far beyond the Milk village, leaving plenty of room for expansion, and a gate was added for easy access or defense.

During the busy work, in between deliveries and wood gathering, you would talk with Hollyberry which lead to you both becoming good friends. She talked about past memories, and even brought up her and Dark Cacao’s other friends, Pure Vanilla, White Lily, and Golden Cheese. You also spent more time with Dark Cacao, even teaching him how to ride a cremewolf, needless to say, Hollyberry spent the entire day growing a six pack from how hard she laughed every time Dark Cacao fell off. But there were also peaceful moments of just the two of you sitting beneath a dead tree and talking, mostly you, he wasn’t really one to talk, but he was an excellent listener. He understood your burden of stress from caring for two villages nearly all by yourself, your grief for your friend Affogato who hadn’t said so much as a goodbye when he left. You relive that talk almost everyday in your head because it was the first time he had held your hand, it was warm and comforting, who knew a hardened soul was capable of such a gentle gesture.

It had taken months, but eventually the wall was finally done, you stood atop the structure beside Dark Cacao Cookie, admiring the view of the snowy mountains.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it, with this to help keep attackers out and invite newcomers in, I hope this place grows into something amazing.”

“Mmh.” Dark Cacao nods in agreement.

You turn and look at him, his calm expression looking outward at the view as his hands rested upon the handle of his blade, his long hair flowing with the gentle breeze.

“You are absolutely breathtaking.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing!! I said uh, this view is really breathtaking, wow, what a view am I right? Uh, I’m just gonna go check out and see what Hollyberry is up to- AH!!”

You were once again startled by the presence of the twins, Oat Milk and Almond Milk, both looking out at the view as well before turning to face you.

“Now this is a wall, unlike your pile of rocks, the integrity of this structure isn’t completely compromised.” Said Oat Milk.

“I will say though, I will miss watching the destruction and violence of battles, as well as occasionally participating, who will we trap now brother?” Asked Almond Milk.

“Perhaps we can advance our knowledge and skills to become elite forces for this future kingdoms defense, then we can push beyond the limits of our current lethality.”

They both walk up to you, putting their hands together as they plead, “Please can we be future special lethal forces for the kingdom, please please please.”

The look on your face expressed nothing but absolute terror, even Dark Cacao was side eyeing the boys with concern, you compose yourself as you knelt down to their level.

“Unfortunately kids, it’s not up to me, I’m not queen, there isn’t really anyone in charge yet, but I promise, whoever ends up ruling, I will put in a fantastic word for you two.”

They smiled and jumped in excitement before running off, “Come on Oaty, we gotta go tell mom.”

“Mom, we’re gonna be future lethal forces!!”

As Hollyberry walked over, she stared in the twins directions as they ran down the stairs of the wall before looking back at you, pointing her thumb over her shoulder as she held a confused expression on her face.

You sighed, getting back up on your feet, “Honestly I stopped asking myself what was up with those twins years ago, I introduced you to their parents remember? Banana Milk Cookie and Strawberry Milk Cookie.”

“Yeah, I remember, they were such kind and gentle souls, I can’t wrap my head around how two sugar sweet cookies could have such violence-prone offspring, anyways, enough of that, I was coming to tell you, since the wall is done, I would like to formally invite you to the Hollyberry Kingdom to drink and dine with my friends and I.”

“I can’t wait to meet them, it’s gonna be so exciting, I should get my best coat!” You giggled.

“I’ll see you then, I’ve got to go prepare.” Said Hollyberry as she departed.

So much excitement, what would you wear, what would you say, all of these questions raced through your mind as you got yourself and even Sweetie ready for a night out.

[xxxicddbr88]

Puppy love

❕️ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE❕️

In where Jiyong can't help but to fall in love with you, his bestfriend, and is not sure how to handle it..

warning(s): fluff and Jiyong being hopelessly in love! The reader is said to be a woman, use of Y/N

Jiyong had caught himself staring at her more than he'd want to admit..He's in love with her laugh, smile, eyes and even the way she speaks, some people might call him a freak for paying so much attention to someone that's not even his girlfriend but he thought he was being romantic, would she think so too?

He stared at her during classes, during breaks, during lunch...he pretty much stared at her everytime he could and his friends teased him for it, he couldn't really hide his frustration everytime he had heard her laugh at something her friend had said..it may sound possessive but he only wanted her laugh to be for his ears only..

He glanced behind him and stared at the back of her head as she stood on the other end of the class before turning around again "What do I do?" he whispered to his friend, Youngbae "Do what?" he asked, clearly confused and Jiyong rolled his eyes and shook his shoulders "Were you even listening to what I was saying? I was ranting to you about what am I supposed to do to get her to go out with me" he grumbled "..just..ask her out" he snickered "You two are great friends and neighbours, I'm sure she likes you at least a bit" when Youngbae saw that Jiyong was about to protest he spoke up again "Do you at least know what she likes?" He asked and raised an eyebrow at which Ji nodded "She likes Tulips..letters and chocolate" he listed off and Youngbae stared at him before sighing "Thats not a lot...but it'll do" he said and after a short while he spoke up again "She's free on Friday right? no afterschool classes or anything" he asked and Ji nodded his head "Perfect" he grinned and they both started talking about their plan.

︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶︶ ୨♡୧ ︶︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶

(Y/N) was by her locker changing out of her school shoes, her bag slung over her shoulder. She heard footsteps approach so she looked to her right and smiled when he saw Jiyong "Ji!" she said with a friendly voice and he tensed up, thankfully she didn't see, he collected himself and started speaking "Are you..uhh..free this Friday?" he asked, his palms were sweaty in the cofines of his pockets "Friday? Yeah I think I am" she said after a while of thinking about any possible plans she could've had "Great!" he said loudly, louder than he intended..even she got surprised "Do you.. want to hang out...after school?" he asked with reluctance, something that wasn't really like him, she nodded and a soft smile plastered her face "Yeah, why not.." she started and spoke up once again, cutting him off "are you okay? you look nervous" she mused and he nodded "I'm fine! perfectly fine!" she giggled at his words and tilted her head "I'll be waiting then" she hummed and adjusted her school bag "see you on Friday!" she said happily, closed her locker and left the school building, he stood there for a while before letting out a sigh "You didn't do anything" Younbae snickered and Ji rewarded his words with a glare at which the other boy just chuckled.

︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶︶ ୨♡୧ ︶︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶

Her and Jiyong were walking through the park, she was rambling about something she liked, he didn't know if it was a movie, book or a game..all he was focused on was the way the setting sun framed her face, the way her eyes sparkled as it did..he was mesmerised by her to say at least.

"Ji" she snapped her fingers "Ji are you listening?" she asked and tilted her head with a frown at which he quickly nodded "I..I am" he stuttered out and she just smiled "I can see" she snickered and they went back to walking, that didn't last for long as he suddenly stopped, she turned around with concern etched onto her face "Hey..you okay?" she asked "You've been acting weird all week" she continued and he cursed under his breath with a smile before speaking up again "I'm fine" he murmured and looked at her "there's something I was meaning to ask you though" he continued, his gaze intense, she didn't answer..waiting for him to continue.

"wait here" he said quickly and ran off, she stared at him in confusion but didn't protest, she waited.

After around 10 minutes she started to grow anxious did he just leave? she asked herself, as the doubt increased she suddenly heard hurried steps and turned around, she smiled in relief "I thought you left" she said with a sheepish laugh at which he chuckled with embarrassment before straightening out and staring straight into her eyes "(Y/N)" he started "We've been friends for a long time and..I've grown to like you, more than just a friend" he took a breath as he saw her eyes widen "if you don't feel the same it's fine..I..just..couldn't do it anymore" he continued and held up the Tulips, a letter and a box of chocolates "I like you" he repeated "I like you more than I'd like to admit.." he bit the inside of his cheek "Say something.." he urged when he saw her look, she stayed silent before smiling and accepting the gift "Finally" she chuckled "I was waiting till you tough up and ask me out" a playful grin appeared on her face and he smiled "I like you too, Ji" she said words that Jiyong was just waiting to hear, words he wanted to hear.."You remembered my favourite flowers" she murmured, more to herself as she adjusted her hold on them and they stared at eachother before Jiyong smiled widely "I love you" he said and she replied with just as excited "I love you too".

Love?

That was new, for both of them..two teens, two different people.. yet they always have felt a connection between eachother, one they didn't want to admit or were to scared to but now? Now it seemed like that feeling was always between them.

He held her cheeks as they exchanged a soft kiss..their first kiss, something that will be dear for them both as the time goes on.

"Can I be your boyfriend?" He asked her quietly as his forehead rested against hers, she giggled softly "Of course.." she whispered and they both shared another kiss..

୨୧┈┈┈┈୨୧┈┈┈┈୨୧┈┈┈┈୨୧┈┈┈┈୨୧┈┈┈୨

My first ever fanfic on this platform! I'm not sure if I didn't rush the ending but I'm half asleep as I write it, please do tell if anything needs correction and if you liked it dont forget to show your support❤️! Requests are open!

[notcruvusmemes]

This. This is why I'm hopeful about the future. Because when systems are working well enough (even when they're far from perfect), people tend to forget why the systems are important, because it's been a while since they've witnessed what happens when the systems aren't there. But right now we're all getting a very quick and dirty lesson on how much important, quality-of-life-improving work is done by parts of our government, and just why Constitutional checks and balances are so important. Some of what people have been calling "bloat" and "red tape" is actually there for a reason.

But I suspect ordinary Americans are now going to be much more familiar with the workings of our government than we've been at possibly any time in our nation's history. And that can pave the way for people to come together and say, We tried the fascist oligarchy approach and it failed us spectacularly; let's never do that again and instead try something that actually serves the people, like government is supposed to be doing (and in some ways already was doing). Let's question the politicians that say we should throw the baby out with the bathwater, and instead support the politicians who advocate for transparent and reasonable changes which make existing systems better for everyone except the con artists trying to amass power for themselves.

In short, I think the current administration has fucked up massively in a way that is *increasing* how much Americans are holding them accountable, and how closely scrutinized political movements will be from here on out. There's a good chance this can turn around in a major way. It won't be immediate, and we may go through some things worsening in the meantime which I do not want to make light of. But events are starting to build common ground among all but the most Kool-aid-drunk. The benefit of the spectacle and upheaval is that people won't easily forget how this feels, and it's going to stick with them for a few election cycles at least. We're not going back to the former status quo, which means we're primed for a collective move forward. And I think together we can make it happen.

You know, the Elon Husk recklessly cutting so many jobs from the federal government has really reminded me of just how much the government does.

A lot of people ask “what has the government ever done for me?” and it turns out that well until like two weeks ago when the Husk cut so many people from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau it was making companies that charged you random illegal charges refund you without you even noticing and suing companies that break the law

[notdotspot]

Dp x Dc Finale

Masterpost

Just a note before: Suprise! I am a liar! I could not help myself so even though I have been busy I wrote anyway. Thank you for reading this far, I deeply appreciate it. This is the end and it's a long one. Enjoy!

-------

Tim is already suited up and setting a course for the League of Assassins compound when the bats begin collecting in the cave for the mission. Normally when they all collect for a mission it is for world-ending matters only. It is hard to get the whole family in one place without brawls breaking out or the impending doom of a fatal disaster hanging over their heads. Danny floats down from the cave ceiling, opting for a superpowered entrance over the front door. Tim thinks it is somewhat odd now. They had a routine. He was so used to seeing Danny in his civilian clothes that seeing a young Phantom in his place was just as startling as the first time they met.

“Everything is ready. Coordinates are in and the new earpieces are ready.” Tim opens the case for each family member to grab one.

“Why new comms? Our current ones are fine,” Jason asks, stuffing his head back into his helmet. 

“I interfere with normal tech and the ectoplasm radiation we are about to encounter will only make it worse. The new ones are adjusted for ectoplasmic interference. It will also help keep your heads on while you come into contact with the radiation. No more pit madness,” Danny explains quickly. They file into the Batwing and take off. Only Tim and Bruce are allowed to pilot after the plethora of incidents that have resulted from others taking control. Dick and Cass can also be trusted to pilot but Dick’s privliage was revoked after taking his team on a joy ride where Arsenal blew a hole in the roof and Cass simply can not be bothered with staying awake on a plane ride, much less controlling it. 

“We will make it to the island after nightfall. Get some sleep,” Bruce more or less orders the passengers. Tim can see Danny’s puzzled look at how each of the bats listens and closes their eyes. The ‘sleep when you can’ mindset is so deeply ingrained in their family and Danny has probably never seen any of them take an order without pulling a face or arguing. He can see the moment Danny decides it is okay to fall asleep too, detransforming quietly, and Tim can not help but watch as his features relax. He loses track of time memorizing Danny’s features as he drifts to sleep. 

The whole plane was awoken as they touched down. They set to the mission immediately.

“Nanda Parbat. Home sweet home, huh, Dami?” Jason claps Damian on the shoulder as they step off the ramp. 

The younger pointedly ignores him, but Tim reads the longing look in his eyes. This is his home. Rundown after being attacked and abandoned. Left unkempt in a way that would never befit the Heir to the Demonhead’s return. It must feel like when Tim first stepped foot in Drake Manor after his parents were truly gone. They were never really there but something soul is crushing about seeing the manifestation of the life that crumbled around him. Walking into his home, where he spent all of his formative years, changed from his last memory of it. Damian steels his expression and Tim brings himself to do the same. He will have to comfort his little brother later, now, it is time to finish what they came here to do. 

Bruce leads the group into the ruins. Dick, Steph, Duke, and Cass are in the Batwing so that they can land on top of the Lazarus Pit once it is located. Damian follows closely behind Bruce with Jason behind him. All three of them know exactly where they are going but digging through the overgrown tropical plants and piles of rubble makes the journey more difficult. Eventually, they make it to a clearing that was once a large room. The roof is caved in but the shape of the building reveals it was once a large doom. Tim turns around to look at Danny. He was lingering in the back of the group, following the ones who knew the way. His eyes track every curve and detail of the room, observing and cataloging. The fascination in his eyes makes Tim long for Danny to look at him that way. 

A crack echoes through the ruined building. The group snaps to attention looking for the source but Danny is moving in a split second. He is gone from the frame of Tim’s vision. A thundering crash forces him to turn around to where Bruce and Jason are standing. Replacing the spot where Damian was standing was a large chunk of roofing that had fallen. They are all still and staring at the spot. Then Danny appears with Damian next to him less than a foot from the rock that should have crushed Damian to a pulp. 

The shocked look on Damian’s face fades quickly as he composes himself, but his slight uptick in breathing gives away his fear. 

“Thank you,” he says to Danny curtly. Danny who was obviously working on instinct at the moment looks more panicked now that he has time to think. Bruce gives a meaningful nod to him. Jason skips to the front of the group.

“That was not terrifying. We did not almost see Dami crushed. Let us keep going.” His fake enthusiasm and sarcasm do not hide the slight tremor in his voice.

They keep going all the way until they find themselves underground, standing right in front of the Lazarus Pit. Tim keeps an eye on Jason. He does not want another crazy pit-driven murder spree to be triggered. 

“Nightwing. Park the Batwing right on top of our location. Then begin the setup.” Bruce is clear in his order. They can hear the faint sounds of the engines hovering over their heads. The sound stops and they wait in silence. 

“Red Robin. Confirm entrance location.” Tim looks down at the screen attached to his wrist. The blue markers of his group are at the bottom of the screen and what must be the surface group is positioned just to the left of theirs. There is a red dot blinking near the middle of the screen. The location would be on the other side of the room and the other side of the pool. 

“Confirmed, Nightwing. Let her blow.” The bomb goes off and the room shakes with the shocks of the blast. A hole in the underground room’s ceiling gives way to the sun outside. They walk around the square-shaped glowing-green pool and look up. Tim sees Cass waving from the top. 

They get to work quickly. Connect the tubes to the filter, feeding the end of the tubing out of the Batwing’s tank, through the hole they made, and into the ooze. The surface crew makes sure that each tank is filled and then replaced with a new empty one while the underground crew guides the tube like a vacuum. Sucking up the Lazarus Pit and purifying it went off without a hitch. They grapple out the hole, reload the jet, and the whole group is back off to the Batcave. 

They touchdown in the cave a few hours later and begin unloading and preparing to send it through the portal. Danny is flying in and out, emptying each fifty-gallon tank and returning it. Tim thinks the whole plan is going to go off without a hitch and it does. 

That is until they have five tanks left when Danny says, “Oh, shit!”

Tim looks up at the portal. The sigils of the spell are flashing, no, flickering. Flickering like a lightbulb about to go out and then they are dark. Tim waits in quiet anticipation for the whole portal to go boom or for some demon to breach their world and kill them all. Nothing happens, and for a moment, Tim thinks they are in the clear, but a dark figure appears to be coming through and the bats are ready for a fight. Danny already told them they would be useless against ghosts but nothing can overcome their training to go out fighting. A quick scan tells Tim that Danny is ready to fight off anything that may come at them too.

All that pops through is a little glowing green dog.

“Oh, Cujo!” Danny opens his arms happily to the puppy. “Out of anything that could have come out, you are the best option.”

He pets the dog in his arms and turns to them. “It is all good. He will not hurt a thing. Damian, you can put him in if you want.” Danny has met Titus and Alfred the Cat, so letting Damian pet a ghost animal is likely the best thing he could have done to make Damian like him. Damian, unfortunately, does not get the chance because Cujo is looking over Danny’s shoulder at the portal. He is growling and his face morphs into a much more intimidating canine. 

This time, the dark figure emerges, forming a man ghost in a white suit and black hat. 

His dark voice rings through the cave as he utters, “Phantom.” 

Danny transforms and turns slowly. He lowers Cujo to the ground, keeping his head low and raising his hands to a fighting stance. Tim does not know who this man is but Danny definitely does. He can only see a portion of Danny’s face from this angle but the look in his eyes is one Tim has never seen. In the few weeks since meeting Danny, Tim has not seen eyes like that since his nightmares. The temperature in the cave has dropped and he can see his breath puffing out in front of him. Tension builds in the room and Tim prepares to fight even if he will be useless. 

“Batman. Take them and go.” Even in Phantom’s younger voice, the command is clear. The bats’ eyes flicker to each other as each one catches Bruce’s eyes, they yield to his silent orders. One by one they back away from the portal and the ghosts in a standoff. When Tim meets his dad’s eyes, he is frozen in place. He flicks back over to Danny’s face, trying to read any emotion. He turns back to Bruce who is slowly shaking his head. Tim looks back to Danny and sees another figure emerging from the green swirl.

“Danny!” He calls before he can stop himself. This new man is dressed in a more supervillain style suit. He has a cap, weirdly shaped hair, and red eyes. The smile that cuts his face reminds him of Joker.

“Danny! Good to see you again!” 

“Walker. Vlad. This realm is under my protection. You will not lay a finger on the souls of this dimension.”

“We are not here for them. We are here for you. You owe me a pelt.” The man in the white suit snarls at Danny.

“And you owe me the Infi-Map,” the red-eyed man says. 

“I owe you nothing. Leave now and there will be no consequences for illegally breaching other dimensions. You are both on probation in the Ghost Zone and in violation of your parole.”

“Danny boy! Why should we worry about punishment if we beat you here and now? Walker gets his trophy and I get my crown.” 

There is a split second before the man shoots at Danny. Bruce is evading to safety and all Tim can do is duck behind a work bench and watch. He has seen some of Phantom’s powers before, but like this, he is focused and fighting. It is a battle like Tim has never seen, even with metas in recent years. Phantom is far more powerful than he has ever let on. Knowing he is the Ghost King is one thing, seeing him fight shows Tim just how he earned that title.

There are flashes of green everywhere. The flight is a blur. If Tim’s eyes were not honed, he would be missing every second of the fight, but he can catch bits and pieces. One moment the ghosts pass through the screen of the Batcomputer, the next, Walker is being slammed into the cave floor as Vlad shoots up toward the ceiling. In the brief pause, Tim sees the fire in Danny’s eyes. On the surface it is anger but deeper Tim recognizes specs of amusement. Danny enjoys fighting. It occurs to Tim that Danny has not been able to use his powers to the extent of his ability since he moved to Gotham. He has had all his frustration and stress in a bottle to ensure he could not hurt anyone, but now he gets to release that tension on the first two idiots he knows he will not kill. 

The fight is back on and Walker is already down for the count. Phantom grabs him by the back of the collar. He hauls him over to where Cujo has been politely sitting and leaves him with the dog. When Walker attempts to move, the puppy’s features enlarge and he snaps at the ghost. It is enough to scare him into submission and Tim struggles to comprehend the little dog as a hellhound. 

The fight with Vlad is more intense. Danny’s relaxation has faded and he is putting more strength behind every move he makes. They are both getting tired. Tim can see it in the delayed movements and dimming bolts of lighting that pass between them. Danny gears up for what looks like a finishing move. When he releases, Vlad seems to have hit him with the same thing and they both plummet from the air. 

Tim is on his feet before he can even think. He watches as Danny’s transformation circles flicker around him. Tim can only watch as Phantom disappears and Danny hits the ground in his human form. A deafening thud and then Tim is at his side. Tim is doing every medical scan he knows. He does not think he could help a ghost, or half ghost, even if he tried. He looks over to Vlad. He is on the ground near the portal, also human. Tim does not let himself get distracted with questions.

He holds Danny. Trying to sense any sign of life, but Danny is not normal. He does not know if Danny should or should not have a heartbeat. He does not know if Danny should be breathing.  He can see the glow of ectoplasm that surrounds Danny like a puddle. He does not know how to perform first aid on him. He does not know how to spot the bleeding or help him wake up. He holds Danny and he is helpless. 

He vaguely senses eyes on him. He turns to see Bruce kneeling next to him. He looks down at Danny’s face with the same expression he had after Jason died. No. He is not dead. Do not make those eyes Bruce. Cujo barks pulling their attention. The dog is towering now. His body now fits the face Tim had seen on him earlier. He is dragging Vlad to the portal. He barks again, this time at Walker who reluctantly picks up the unconscious Vlad. Cujo corrals the ghost towards the portal and barks until he walks through. 

Shrinking back to his normal size, he runs to Danny. In Danny’s chest, he starts licking his face. The slobber is green and soaks into Danny’s skin like a sponge. Those beautiful blue eyes flicker open and Cujo barks before running off into the portal. 

Danny’s eyes meet his and he pulls him in before he even knows what is happening. The hug is tight and perfect. The tension and stress melt away from Tim in the embrace.

“I am okay, but I might not be if you keep squeezing this hard.” Tim releases him slowly. Danny sits up and slowly stands. He walks away slowly, leaving Tim on the floor next to the puddle of ectoplasm. The back of Danny’s shirt is stained green and he stops when he makes it to one of the tanks from the Lazarus Pit. Tim watches blankly as Danny tips the whole tank over and drinks directly from the spout. 

The effect is instant. The color comes back to his face and the shake in his muscles disappears.

“All fixed!” He puts down the tank and turns to Tim. “I am okay. I promise. You can stop digging your fingernails into your palms.” Tim looks down to where his hands are clinched and unfurls his fingers. He finally releases the breath he has been holding in since Walker entered the cave. 

Danny unceremoniously throws the last five tanks through the portal and flips the switch to shut it off.

“I feel like that went really well! Definitely better than other Ghost Zone missions I have done with humans!” Tim is speechless. Truly speechless. He has nothing to say. No observations to voice or questions to ask.

“I will go check on the others.” Bruce rushes off, leaving the two alone.

Tim stands almost numbly. “Danny. You almost died in my arms. All you have to say is that you are okay. In my arms! Died! Dead! Gone forever! Not just half ghost! Full ghost! In my arms!” The frustration at being helpless and anger at Danny’s casual nature spills out in a fury. With each word, he got closer to Danny. He is standing face to face with him.

“Really?”

“Yes! Really! We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms! You practically crossed onto the other side right in my hands and I could not do a thing about it!”

“Did not happen. I do not remember that.” Tim thinks he might pop a blood vessel or suffer an aneurysm. 

“How can you say that?” Before he can tumble into another rant, he is being kissed. He forgets whatever he has to say, closes his eyes, sinks into the kiss, and just feels. Danny pulls away far too soon, still holding Tim’s face with both hands.

“I am okay. I am sorry I scared you.” Tim does not need to respond. For the second time today, he is left speechless, so he does the only thing he can. He pulls Danny down into another sweet kiss. They break apart only because they were smiling too much. They both break into a fit of laughter.

“You were fucking with me, right?”

“Yes, Tim.”

-------

I am in a bit of shock. This is the first big project I have completed. I hope you enjoyed and thank you so much for reading!!

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 86

The final battle is upon us. Who will decide what's for dinner tonight?

As with all moments like this, Izutsumi is part of these group therapy sessions against her will.

Amazing transition back to reality. It's the exact same image with a different background.

I still feel like the lion is lying about who it can or must serve. Marcille currently desires to fix her mistakes and stop the monsters she summoned, but that goes against what the lion wants from her. So it's instead choosing to ignore that in favor of fulfilling a more base desire for safety from a presumed threat.

This fakeout really got me.

Laios's arm seems to be in a bit of pain after that. Since his hand had to get put into the seal as well, its effects are probably creeping up his arm.

Again, I think the lion lies when it talks about how it serves its master. It's been manipulating Marcille to make her desire what will make her use the lion's power for the lion's aims. Looks like sealing the demon gives the dungeon lord a way to channel the lion's power exactly the way you want without it being able to manipulate anything.

On a side note, when Thistle and Mithrun became dungeon lords, their demons were small and grew larger over time. The lion was already big when Marcille became a lord. I'm curious if part of what caused Marcille to immediately spiral was because the lion was already strong. Maybe it took Mithrun and Thistle a few years to get to Marcille's point because their demons had to build up strength.

Laios and Marcille are two halves of the same person. They share 20 brain cells collectively, but the actual range of braincells either of them has at a given moment ranges from 15 to -5. And when one of them becomes a super genius, the other becomes muppet-brained. The only difference between them is Laios loves acting like a muppet while Marcille doesn't.

I've missed Marcille's muppet-brained moments so much. For all her intelligence, she's also the last one to realize things.

Namari had complete faith in Laios.

Last we saw of Fleki, her familiar was being torn apart by wyverns so she probably had to be killed and resurrected again.

I saw this panel of Flamela stepping on a walking mushroom and tried to come up with a silly pun about her turning a toadstool into a footstool. But toadstools refer to inedible or poisonous mushrooms and this type is most likely edible so it isn't a toadstool. And footstools are foot supports to lift your feet while sitting and Flamela is not doing anything like that nor is she using it like that. Pretend that I made a funny mushroom pun that is lexiconically correct and laugh at this image of Flamela stepping on a walking mushroom while yelling into her fairy.

Flamela isn't even nice to her fairy.

The island is getting restructured into a dungeon's maze-like design.

The soldiers are fighting what I believe are small wyrms.

Laios's father is watching and waiting. Falin still writes to her parents so he knows his children are at ground zero of all this.

Flamela is not giving the party much reason to want to work with the Canaries here. And this is ignoring how the situation was heavily due to the Canaries withholding information and assaulting the party to begin.

If you spin a magnet fast enough, it's possible to make it levitate above another magnet. For years, it was believed impossible to actually make a magnet levitate over another and Earnshaw's theorem proved that it's not possible for a static magnet to float above another one without it either getting flipped or pushed away. But then someone decided to try spinning the magnet in place and it turns out that the rotation of the magnet counters the forces that would normally push or flip the magnet, causing it to float.

Anyway, that story popped into my head at this moment. Laios is suggesting they do something that no one has ever done and everyone knows cannot be done. But Laios is both ignorant of everything and he doesn't think in conventional ways. So he could achieve the impossible because he'll come up with ideas no one considered.

Everyone else thinks of the demons in terms of man-eating monsters or forces of nature. But Laios is thinking of the demon more like if it was a person with its own goals it wants to accomplish.

Finally. Someone is actually going to listen to Laios.

Based on the reactions of Flamela's teammates, it's not uncommon for Mithrun to teleport people away when he's annoyed with them.

Mithrun at least understands the situation. The world is doomed whether or not Laios actually has a way to beat the demon. So they might as well let him try. Mithrun's eye turned silver as he told Laios to do what he couldn't.

New idea to the lion and how it decides to grant wishes: When it's unsealed and has a lord, it binds itself to that lord. But when it gets sealed, it can more freely respond to anyone's desires.

The lion should be sealed in Thistle's book, but it appeared before everyone in response to Laios's desire to defeat it. And then it waited a moment so Laios could demand he share a meal with everyone if he wins.

Some walking mushrooms fell off the lion construct.

The tower wasn't attached to anything. It was just a tower floating over the water.

Well that was an anticlimactic end to this series. Oh well. It was an enjoyable read the whole way through. Thanks for following my readthrough everyone.

I'm with Kabru. There's something horrible about the end of the world feeling like a bad joke.

Wait, I got it!! Flamela turned the walking mushroom into a stepping stool!!

back

[anim-ttrpgs]

Plans for the immediate future of A.N.I.M. as of February 26th, 2025:

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy

Work on editing and polishing Eureka is continuing at a steady pace and in fact finally picking up speed again after a bunch of hiccups in development. The fact that it is being played by a bunch of people in the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club right now has given us a lot of very useful playtest data that has been super helpful in polishing the rulebook.

Another beta build of the game will release on itchio on February 27th, 2025 with the last little bits of the module writing guide finally completed, just in time for submissions to open on the module writing game jam.

The Eureka Mystery Module Game Jam opens up submissions on March 1st, 2025, but the submissions don't close until April 1st, 2025, so there is still plenty of time.

Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG

I have been busting my butt getting Silk & Dagger ready for alpha release on March 10th, 2025. It is not currently available to the public, but you can get it by signing up to our patreon. Normally I would not want to release a game publicly like this while it’s still in an alpha state, but our financial situation is such that we cannot really afford to keep it patreon exclusive any longer. We do better than most, but TTRPG game development does not make a lot of money.

Since Silk & Dagger will be releasing in alpha, not beta, it won’t be as polished, or even as finished, as Eureka for some time. The game is functional enough that it can be played, and is very fun and funny, but it has only been playtested like once and a good number of features have not even been written in yet. It is very much a work-in-progress/proof-of-concept, so do not set your expectations too high.

We will be holding more playtests on our official patreon-exclusive discord server soon as well.

After we release the Silk & Dagger alpha on March 10th, I will be shifting focus off of Silk & Dagger to work on A.N.I.M.’s third game, Death Bed, while I collect feedback on Silk & Dagger and apply it as needed. Patreon subscribers will get these improved versions monthly, while with the public alpha you will probably have to wait many months as I turn Death Bed from a bunch of scattered notes to a playable alpha version.

Once Death Bed is publicly released in alpha, my main focus will shift back to Silk & Dagger with the goal of implementing the rest of the feedback and bringing it from alpha state to beta state, while I wait for Death Bed feedback to roll in.

Death Bed: A Souls-like RPG

Death Bed is our attempt to actually bring Dark Souls-like feel and gameplay to the TTRPG medium, where so many others have failed before us.

You will start to see early pre-alpha versions of this game on our patreon as soon as April.

[stargazer-sims]

Okay! Time to show off the bears’ fashion haul!

Here they are again, for context:

It’s Victor Bear on the left and Yuri Bear on the right, in case it’s not immediately obvious. Yes, they are the same, but Yuri Bear smells like strawberry. That’s how I know which is which.

I actually have a lot of Build-A-Bears. I’ve been collecting them since 2007 and I have at least one from every workshop in Canada, one American bear, and my Pikachu that I bought online.

My favourites tend to have more outfits. These two, as well as my first bear, Benton Fraser, and my emotional support bear, Suga, have the most. They swap outfits around as well, so Suga, Fraser and the others will wear this stuff too.

They already had the jeans, but the hoodies are new. Pease excuse my sofa cover. I have dogs.

Then we have these shirts and some new matching boots. Honestly, this is mainly a shirt haul, but I’ve wanted these boots for a while and my local Workshop always seems to sell out of them (and when they have them, I don’t have money) 😂

I mean… how could I resist these tees?

And here are the outfits that are, predictably, just for Yuri Bear & Victor Bear:

Also, just because I’m kind of a completionist, here are the tees they already had, for when they’re not in their “work” outfits. The green one is actually Suga’s, which someone gifted me after my jaw/tooth reconstruction surgery (but Yuri Bear stole it).😆 The “Emotional Support” one was originally Suga’s too, but when Suga isn’t at work with me and is dressing like a couch potato in his sweats, Victor Bear wears it.

…and there you have it! This is what happens when I get a paycheque that’s larger than normal. I pay off some debts and hoard most of the remainder in the bank, but I keep some out for myself so I can spend it on frivolous things.

Which new outfits should they wear first?

I’ll take pictures of them modelling things this weekend!

[yoosung-ah]

Choose your player: aggressive vs. passive-aggressive round 1/?

[originalgenshinscenarios]

Okay I'm done with Natlan and Citlali's quest

My opinion on Citlali improved slightly, but the rest... Ehhh... No. I'm not gonna say that Natlan was bad, cause ngl for me the most boring archon quest was Sumeru. (And I'm saying it because of the fact that the dream loop was ridiculous and I hated it just as much as I hate Nahida which is a ToN)

Spolier rant in tags

[fallout-fucker]

Hancock Headcanons (Including Goodneighbour Headcanons) Part One

Surprisingly a really good cook/baker. Will make 5 Star quality full-course meals when high as fuck. Or at least, as good as you can get in the Wasteland if you don't think mutated Brahmin tastes too different from cow. Man's is making steaks.

He also mass bakes when very stressed. There's been times Fahrenheit has walked into the office and seen the kitchenette, the coffee table, any and all of the free surfaces, really, full of trays of baked goodies. Cupcakes, cookies, brownies, special brownies, you name it. When this happens, Daisy has to organise a massive order to traders to make up for all the ingredients he buys. He always gives her extra caps for the inconvenience of Goodneighbour having less eggs and flour, etc, for sale than usual. He makes sure to never take all the stock, though, food's hard enough to come by, especially produce. His town needs it more than he and his baking sessions do.

He always gives away the goods when he's finally calmed down and the stress has eased.

He takes care in making sure the normal goodies are separate from the 'more fun' ones.

The normal goods go to the townsfolk and drifters. He goes to the kids first, though. If it's during the colder months, he'll also take the time to make hot chocolates or warm milk (Depending on what's available) for them.

Actually does his job as the fucking Mayor.

Makes sure the kids have all got blankets, coats, hats, scalves, gloves, socks and shoes, and beds somewhere warm.

He regularly checks this. Has a little checklist for all the items kiddies need. He isn't letting any kids die in his streets. As far as he's concerned, those are his kids. He knows Goodneighbour isn't exactly the most PG place, but the majority of children in Goodneighbour (Like most people in Goodneighbour) don't have parents or anybody.

He'll leave a few trays on the bar of The Third Rail for pickings. Lowkey likes to decorate it with cake stands and stuff. Makes him feel weirdly calm. He gets to just take his time with it. It's a breather from the rest of his 'Mayoral Duties'.

If he's feeling generous, he'll give away the fun goodies too to anyone that wants 'em (Within reason). But Chems and produce can be pricey so he'll sometimes give those to Daisy to sell so he's not wasting a good amount of his personal stash, especially if he made a lot of goods.

He considered giving them to Charlie at first because The Third Rail is nothing if not the place for a great time, but many people who wander into Goodneighbour are vulnerable. From experience (Both personal and second-hand), Hancock knows alcohol + easily accessible edibles/hard chems + vulnerable and desperate doesn't equal anything good. So, he decided against it.

He refuses to give them to AJ because the guy is sketchy, and he's heard about the whole 'Chems For Kids' thing. Hancock's been working discreetly on solving that issue. If he wasn't keen on drunk adults having access to edibles, you can believe he'd have a real problem with anyone tryna sneak it to kids, let alone that kinda dirty money making its way back to him, and that's if AJ didn't sneak some into his own pockets. Which he likely would.

So, that brought him to Daisy. Besides, it also makes up for the ingredients and he lets her pocket a good percentage of the profit as chems isn't usually her deal.

Once more, actually does his job as the fucking Mayor.

Like with the children, he makes sure drifters and such also have warm clothes for the Winter.

Also ensures everyone has clothes suited for Summer heat, too.

Essentially, twice a year (Autumn and Spring) he'll go around Goodneighbour with a survey to see who needs what, at least a few weeks in advance of when the seasonal weather for Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer usually rolls in. Then, he organises a mass order to all of the trading caravans for suitable clothes, shoes, etc. Then he'll organise a day with timeslots and stuff where groups of people can go up to his office and get what they need.

Imagine a watchman at the entrance of the Statehouse, with a name list and time slots, and a queue outside of the door. In Hancock's office, it's full of cardboard boxes and tables. Him, Far, Daisy, and a few watchmen all giving out the items and checking them off.

Hancock has plans and blueprints to expand Goodneighbour so some of the apartment buildings just outside of the walls can be included in the town. Has a few trading deals on hold and watchmen guards he could use as contractors in mind for the job of converting the Pre-War buildings into livable homes when he is able to.

Unfortunately, with the Warehouse rats and Supermutants settling down just outside the gates, he had to postpone the plans to focus on other issues. All his contractors had to stay as Neighbourhood Watch guards and security just in case the mutants attack. The mutants are on his to-do list, but first is the Warehouse job and making sure people can stay warm in the attic instead of the homes he was hoping to have done before Autumn and Winter.

He predicted temporarily losing more workers in the Winter due to sickness, but didn't necessarily expect some to be rats, unfortunately. So, his options are limited when Sole meets him. Hence sending a stranger to Pickman Gallery and other things.

It's also why he doesn't mind traveling with Sole. Until Spring, his hands are mostly tied when it comes to progress.

Staying in town when he knows he can't do all of the things he needs to makes him antsy. He doesn't like sitting around and doing nothing when he knows his people are relying on him, so it helps to get away from it for a while.