#c: Corcra

[void-botanist]

7, 13, 15, 50 for the multigender asks!

Thank you!! Edith, Corcra, and also me are genderfluid but in very different ways.

7 - Do their genders fluctuate, or are they all their genders all the time?

Edith: she feels that her genders are sort of roots to whatever gender she's actively feeling, so while she's usually one or maybe two genders, there's always a tiny bit of all of them in her.

Corcra: she sometimes feels that she hits moments of alignment between them but even though it's not usually 100% exclusive she does feel that she's generally man or woman.

Me: like Corcra, my genders are more or less "man" and "woman" but even though they fluctuate I'm always kind of both of them. It's probably fair to say that mix is sort of its own gender, androgyne.

13 - How does their multigender identity impact their sexuality? Do they use multiple labels for it?

Edith: in terms of what she does in the bedroom and who she's attracted to, not really. But in terms of how she feels about it, the quality of her attraction, she has all kinds of ways to describe it that I haven't really been able to align with real-world labels. Like with her pronouns she generally simplifies it into just being bi, but she'll explain the nuances if people ask.

Corcra: on the one hand she's not really worried about it because she doesn't feel like she has to explain it to anyone but her husband. But on the other her attraction to him can feel very different depending on how she feels gender-wise. She's still bi regardless, but when she feels more man her label of choice would be vincian.

Me: I'm loose with my labels in general - I don't really see a shift in my sexuality but I'll use whatever feels right - bi, gay, queer, but generally masculine or neutral descriptors.

15 - Do they use any “conflicting” or “contradictory” labels (cistrans, manwoman, girlboy, fagdyke, lesboy, turigirl, etc.)?

Edith: the closest she comes is demigendervoid, which isn't exactly contradictory, but does underline how one of her genders is really just the lack of gender.

Corcra: I could see him using vincigirl but on the whole he hasn't really felt the need for a conflicting label.

Me: none of them have really captured me at this point but anything can happen.

50 - Wild card! Mention anything else you want! The more I got thinking about Edith the more I realized that she has a whole lot of genders going on (the current list is voidgender, gendervoid, dymanic, cedargender, stonegender, aporagender, woman) but this isn't really obvious to anyone but her and to a lesser extent her family. Leon has built up the ability to guess what gender she's feeling mostly based on what she's wearing and adjust his nicknames accordingly. Horatio unintentionally absorbed the idea that the state of being Mom means having multiple genders and he's mildly surprised when many Moms don't (gee, Bill, why does your mom only have one gender?). I think he also thinks the pinnacle of relationships is having at least one person with multiple genders (not that he'd ever break up with someone on those grounds, that would be silly)—which led me to think that perhaps he discovers he's the one with multiple genders and actually he's living the dream. But I haven't yet figured out how that shakes out.

It's coincidental that Corcra is also a (step)mom, but interestingly, she is a public figure (COO of Revalo's Tailory) and makes plenty of public appearances on talk shows and stuff so she's learned how to navigate being genderfluid with that. It's not always seamless, but he's really not too bothered about people getting things exactly right as long as they're being respectful. And he tries to make it as easy and obvious as possible for them. I said in the past that her stepson Mick made her a bracelet years ago that she wears as a sort of identification when she shifts into her canid form at the full moon and I'd like to think that he included the genderfluid colors, even if it's only meta (not sure if there are genderfluid colors in-world but I could believe it).

I think I've vaguely referenced my hoard of secret gender labels in the past but honestly, they're mostly variations on trans genderfluid androgyne faggot. I also mentioned recently wanting to take on she/her as some of my pronouns again, but I feel like that would just end up being an easy out for a lot of people who know me as a trans guy. I want to be she/her in a queer gender way, and that's just not how people are going to see it.

Send me a multigender ask

Shifter taglist: @outpost51 @kk7-rbs (there's just enough shifter here to invoke the taglist lmao)

[void-botanist]

Oops I wrote a whole response in the tags. Let me bring some of it up here.

So Corcra is in the book for like five minutes but she is the Stepmom of All Time. She helped Pat get away from his ex-wife who was...fine with their kid (I guess I'll call him Mick?) but very abusive to him. I think Mick is like ten now, partly because Spinder had a favorite ten-year-old nephew in Old Canon and I want to recreate that energy. He would totally be embarrassed about the bracelet if he didn't adore Corcra. He's still a little embarrassed about it whenever Corcra has one of her occasional TV appearances and she gets asked about it.

By now she has transforming with the bracelet down. Her canid form is a black fox and when she's transforming she shoves the bracelet up her arm so it doesn't fall off (that took some practice). And then she and Mick go run around in the yard for like five hours. (I think schools start late on Antarac so it's not an issue. And even if it was there's like shifter passes that let you skip the day after the full moon and he could probably get one even though he's human. Nothing gets done on the day after the full moon lol. It's just movie in class day.)

Anyway when I figure out the aesthetics of how Corcra & Pat & Mick show up in Nicea ("goodbye thank you for staying at our hotel what will we do without you little freeloaders (affectionate)") I will share it on here and tag you.

And uh Nicea taglist to witness us yelling about werewolves? @kahvilahuhut @kingkendrick7

Okay actually it turns out I wasn't done thinking about Cheryl's bracelet, and in fact I would like to borrow that idea?

Maybe shifters in Nicea have a bracelet or bracelet equivalent so that non-shifters can identify their loved ones during That Time, especially on shifter-heavy planets. But most importantly Spinder's older adopted brother Pat, the one married to the shifter heiress? He has a kid from his previous marriage who I feel like has to have made a craft bracelet for his stepmom for identification purposes. And she's like kind of a big deal businesswoman and also looks like a 1930s film star but she never takes off this cute janky bracelet made by a five-year-old.

I rest my case. - @void-botanist

Hi oh my god I’m so [explodes into hearts] ANYWAY Cheryl’s bracelet is like. One of my Favorite Tiny Details and I’m so??? Honored??? I love the idea of someone who changes form still keeping Something Distinct that identifies them as Them and I may or may not be crying about Fancy Lady Who Loves Her Stepkid So Much She Wears His Gift All The Time Even If It Clashes With Her Outfit.

Because it’s not just the identity aspect of it — it’s such a small detail that speaks VOLUMES about their relationship, especially as The Stepmom isn’t always the most accommodating of Someone Else’s Offspring. Dillon calls her mom Cheryl post-divorce, and Cheryl doesn’t love her any less for it, and she still wears the dinky little bracelet her baby dilly pickle made the year she begged and begged to go to summer camp ‘like the kids on tv’ and ended up writing home so many letters with the voice of a soldier sent off to The Great War about how she just missed her mom and Daisy (but that she would be brave and valiant and stick it out, because the Monroe girls don’t back down from a challenge) and returned home with Many Gifts (things she made at craft time) from her Expedition (two hours away).

Anyway, the Court rules in favor of the Petitioner in the amount of Supports This Idea So Much dollars and Please Send Me The Link When You Write It cents, case adjourned.

[kevin-ar-tuathal]

"Béarlachas"

I've been meaning to write this post for some time now. As a person from the Galltacht (English-speaking Ireland) living and working in the Gaeltacht (Irish-language Ireland), and operating most of my life through the medium of Irish, I can honestly say that English-language Ireland, Second Language speakers of Irish and Learners of Irish tend to have a really skewered understanding of a) what Béarlachas is, b) the different forms it takes and c) what effects/damage/meaning each of its forms holds.

Contents of this post:

•Perceptions of Béarlachas

•Loanwords Vs Béarlachas

•Different Languages, Different Sounds

•Language Purity Vs Language Planning

•Conclusion

Perceptions of "Béarlachas"

Outside of the Gaeltacht, most people's understanding of "Béarlachas", or "Anglicisation" in Irish (which I am deliberately putting between inverted commas!), is the use of so-called "English-language words" in Irish. The usual list people like to list off include:

• Fón

• Teilifís

• Giotár

• Raideo

• Zú* (see Language Purity Vs Language Planning below)

• Carr*

*The ironic thing about the last item being that 'carr' (the word for a personal vehicle) is older than the English-language word 'Car' 🚗.

Second language learners with a bit more exposure to the language deride native speakers, particularly speakers from Conamara, for "using English words and adding '~áil' at the end to make a verb". Several examples being:

• Gúgláil (Google-áil)

• Sioftáil (Shift-áil)

• Sortáil (Sort-áil)

• Péinteáil (Paint-áil)

• Vótáil (Vote-áil)

• Focáilte (F*ck-áilte)

• Supósáilte (Suppose-áilte)

(⚠️NB: it is HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT that I spelt these words in these specific ways in Irish - to be explained below!⚠️)

Other so-called "English language words" in Irish include:

• Veain • Seit • Onóir • Ospidéal • Aláram • Cóta • Plaisteach • Leictreach, 7rl, 7rl...

And what about: "Halla" or "Hata" ??

Loanwords Vs Béarlachas

Before I explain where I'm going with this, I am going to introduce some words that have their origins in other languages, like:

"Seomra" from the Middle French "chambre".

"Séipéal" from the Middle French "chappelle".

"Eaglais" from the Greek "ekklesiastes".

"Pluid" from the Scots "plaide".

"Píopa" from Vulgar Latin "pipa".

"Corcra" from Latin "Purpura" (from before Irish had the sound /p/!)

"Cnaipe" from the Old Norse "knappr".

"Bád" from Anglo-Saxon "bāt".

ALL of these words, like the ones above, came into Irish via the most natural means a language acquires new words: language contact.

The reason WHY the word gets adopted is usually -and this is very important - the word is for something that the culture of the language Borrowed From already has, which is introduced to the language Borrowed Into.

For clarification, what I am trying to say is that languages NATURALLY oppose cultural appropriation by crediting the culture they got a word from by using their word for it...

I.E. "Constructing" a new "pure" word for an item that has come from another culture, is, in effect, a form of cultural appropriation - which is why institutions such as Alliance Française and Íslensk málstöð are at best puritanical, and at worst xenophobic*.

*There is nuance here - there is a difference between institutional efforts to keep a language "pure" (re: those such right-wing English/British and American opinionists who claim that the English language itself is endangered 🙄), and language planning (which also falls under the remit of Íslensk málstöð).

Furthermore, there is also such thing as "dynamic borrowing". This is where technically a language has adopted a word from another language, but has changed its meaning/adapted it to its own need. Let us take two Irish language words for example: "Iarnród" and "Smúdáil"

Iarnród is made up by two words taken from the English language: Iarann, from English language "iron" and Ród, from English-language "road".

Together, these two words mean the English-language term "Railway" - but English has never had the term "Iron Road" to refer to this object.

Similarly, Smúdáil comes from the English-language word "smooth". Only adapted to Irish, and adding the Irish-language verb suffix creates a word which means "to iron (clothing)". 😱

Different Languages, Different Sounds

Every single language on this planet has its own sound system, or "phonology". It is VERY rare for a new sound to be introduced into a different language, and some languages are MUCH more sensitive to what speakers of another language would consider a "subtle" difference, or not a difference at all.

Now...

IRISH HAS DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF SOUNDS AS THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!!!!!!!

(^roughly ~ish) I am making this simplistic statement to DRIVE home the fact that what English-language speakers and Learners of Irish hear as "the same as the English", Irish speakers hear a SIGNIFICANT phonetic difference.

All consonants in Irish [B, bh, c, ch, d, dh, f, fh, g, gh, h, l, ll, m, mh, n, nn, p, ph, r, rr, s, sh, t, th] - and YES, séimhiú-ed consonants and double consonants count as separate consonants - EACH have at least TWO distinct sounds. Ever heard of that old rhyme "Caol le caol, leathan le leathan"? Well, the reason why it exists ISN'T to be a spelling tip - it's to show how to pronounce each consonant in a word - which of the two distinct sounds to say.

What I mean to say by this is that, when we adopt a word into Irish, we aren't just "grabbing the word from English and hopping a few fadas on it"; we are SPECIFICALLY adapting the word to the Irish language phonetic system.

I.E. when an Irish language speaker is saying the word "frid" THEY ARE NOT USING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORD "fridge" !!!

The sounds used in the English-language word belong to the English language, and the sounds used in the Irish-language word belong to the Irish language.

As a linguist I get very passionate about this distinction - the AMOUNT of times I have come across a self-important Irish language "learner" from the East of the country come to a Gaeltacht and tell native speakers that they are not using the "official" or "correct" version of a word in Irish just GRATES me to no end. PARTICULARILY as these so-called "learners" cannot hear, or typically have made NO effort to understand phonetic differences between the two languages. (Though honestly, on that point, I cannot wholely blame them - it is a fault on Irish language education as a whole that the differences in sound are hardly, if ever, mentioned, let alone taught!)

Language Purity Vs Language Planning

Moving on, as I mentioned earlier, it is very rare for a sound to be adapted into a new language. As many Irish language speakers and learners know, there is no /z/ sound in (most of the dialects of) Irish.

And yet, somehow, the official, modern translation given for the Irish language for "Zoo" is ...

Zú

Whenever I think on this given translation, I am always reminded of a good friend of mine, a lady from Carna, who used to always talk about "Súm" meetings she used to go on to talk with friends and family during COVID.

This woman only speaks English as a second language, having only ever learnt it at school and only ever used it in professional environments. She does not have the sound /z/, and as such, pronounces words that HAVE a "z" in them as /s/ sounds, when speaking in Irish OR in English.

As such, I often wonder how An Coiste Téarmaíochta can be so diligent in creating and promoting "Gaelic" words for new things, such as "cuisneoir" instead of "frid"; "guthán" instead of "fón" (which is actually pronounced "pón" in Conamara, as that suits the sound system of that dialect better); or "treochtú" instead of "treindeáil" ... And then turn around and introduce sound and sound combinations such as /z/ in "Zú" and /tv/ and /sv/ in "Tvuít" and "Svaedhpáil" 🤢

It's such this weird combo of being at the same time puritanical with regard to certain words, dismissive in regards to vernacular communities, and ignorant with regards to basic linguistic features of the language.

(Especially when, i mbéal an phobail, there are already such perfectly acceptable terms for these kinda words, like Gairdín na nAinmhithe for "Zú; Tuitéar and Tuít for "twitter" and "tweet"; and Faidhpeáil for "Svaedhpáil".)

Conclusion

This really prescriptivist approach by Irish language institutions needs to end. Not only is it not addressing or engaging with the Irish language as it is spoken by vernacular communities, it is creating this really twisted dynamic between second-language Irish speakers who apparently "know better" than first-language and native speakers of Irish.

This is what "Béarlachas" is. Not the natural adaption of words from a language with which Irish in the present day has most contact with. Not the dynamic inventions of native speakers, and even Second-language-as-vernacular speakers, utilising all the linguistic features available to them, whether that be their own dialects of Irish, English, or whatever OTHER languages/dialects are available to them.

"Béarlachas" is the brute enforcement of English language mentalities and an obsession with "purity" onto Irish, a language that has FOREVER adopted and integrated words, features and people into itself.

Gaeilge, like Éire of old, like the Ireland I want to be part of today, is open, inclusive, non-judgemental - knowing where it is coming from, and knowing that its community is its strength and key to how it has and will survive!

[definesanity]

Six Plus Two.

TW: Mentions of death, and Five being herself. That is, on the verge of suggestiveness.

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

Life wasn't exactly yahoo at the moment.

I mean, for falling asleep after finally platinuming Drakengard 3 and then waking up in a field of flowers in a comfy chair, it could've been worse.

What's more, someone sat in front on you, leaning on his hands.

He seemed to be in his early twenties, with long, pure white hair and pale purple eyes. With a long overcoat, a large cape that draped over his shoulders and purple earrings, not to mention a plain white shirt that's definitely seen some better days, you're surprised he hasn't done a certain Skyrim joke yet.

"If you were expecting to awake in a carriage, then I'm sorry to have disappoint." he said smiling, his voice masculine with traces of femininity to it. "And, although I'd love to jest more, I'm guessing you're wondering where in god's name you are?"

"That certainly would be helpful, not gonna lie." you joked back, and his slight smile helped to break the oddity of the place around you two.

"To be completely honest, explaining it all would take too long in one sitting, and I'm already short on time, so I'll ask straight up: say if you were to suddenly drop into the land of the Intoners, what would you say?"

"...Which Branch is it?" if it was A, then you're fucked. B, C, D or E? Even more-so.

"Branch G. The previous one, Branch F, was where I originated from. My reason for being in this timeline is, well... Accord, simply put."

"...Wait, you're serious?"

"What, you thought I wasn't?"

You shook your head, laughing nervously. "No no no, it's not that! I just thought I was having one hell of a wacky dream, that's all!"

"Well, I don't blame ya for that one; this is the type of dream a person would have after a long day of gaming, after all." he chuckled lightly, before blinking, his eyes gaining a small light to them. "Ah, right, where's my manners?"

He placed a hand towards you. "Loux Corcea Gladiolus: at your service, my liege."

You paused. Wasn't it Corcra that meant purple?

...Eh, languages are different here. And besides, it's only a small error. Corcea and Corcra are incredibly similar to one-another, so...

You took, shaking slowly. "I'm... well, just call me whatever you prefer, I suppose. I'm not picky."

"Hm, that so?" he retracted his hand. "Well, kid, as you're probably really confused, ask away."

"What in the heck do you mean, 'drop into Drakengard 3'?"

"Oh, is that what they call it in your world?" he looked surprised for a second, before remembering the question. "Ah, right: it's exactly what it sounds like; again, very long story, but to make it short... well, ever heard of a little something called 'reincarnation'?"

"...I'm reincarnated?"

You're not the one for lying, so you're not going to; that's pretty damn cool.

"Indeed; to put it briefly, in this world, there exists a God who sent the Intoners down to keep the peace they made as their envoys, and whom they revere... and, well, in Four's case, very aggressively. Said God is called Llizel, The God of Peace, The Peacekeeper, The War-Stopper, The Victor, The Leader, among many more titles."

You paused, taking in what you heard. So, you're the reincarnation of a God.

"Neat." you replied, and Loux laughed lightly in response.

"I thought as much; of course, Zero is the black sheep of the family still, so don't worry about that."

"...Wait, will I get killed by Michael? Because, well, you know," you pointed to your face. "God, and all that?"

"Rest assured, the Dragons are allies with Llizel; you'll be fine."

"...So, I'm a peacekeeper..." you said slowly, "...Without any weapons?"

"Well, you answered your own question there, kid." Loux joked, but raised a hand to continue. "Don't worry; the Staff of Llizel, a staff of unparalleled magic, will be your instrument of protection. Including, if you want, my own power."

"And, what? You can control wind?"

"No, that was my previous life," he opened his hand, and a ball of electricity generated in it, arcs of violet lightning perfectly controlled. "In this life, I control lightning. Think Palpatine, or Cole Macgrath."

"...While I want to ask about that first bit, I'll leave that be for now. Besides, how would you be able to do that?"

"I'll let you have some reign over my power, while I stay as a sort of 'ghost'. Sort like, oh, what's-its-name... the thing someone made? About a skeleton sharing their Soul with a child trying to rebuild their Universe?"

"...I think so?"

"Brilliant; stand up, it'll be quick."

You did as he asked and he came over to you, leaning down. In front of you, you saw that he was tall. He placed his hand to your head and, after a small static shook, he pulled it away.

"There, quick and easy. Try it out."

Shrugging, you pointed your hand forwards--

--And jumped back as a bolt of fucking lightning nearly hit Loux.

"...Yep, it works!" you smiled, putting your thumb up. Loux returned the gesture.

"Great, now he can go." he then paused again, and then snapped his fingers. "Oh, right! Hang on, I believe I have your staff here somewhere..."

He reached back into his coat (which you silently thought was like a certain half-gaint's from a certain British book series), and after a second, he presented you a beautifully designed staff, engraved with a white gemstone at the top, with the bottom of it appearing to be curved and made of steel.

"Your staff, my liege?"

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

You know, with all that happened, a costume change was the last thing you were expecting.

But, lo and behold, when you appeared, you wore clothes that were so high quality you actually felt bad for wearing them. That, and also a hood.

The guards didn't take kindly to you, but nor did you to them. A shame, really, even after you tried to compromise...

Your staff, which you've had for the last five minutes, was already like another part of you. Not to mention it housed a very, very large array of magic at its disposal.

"W-Who is this guy?!"

"They must be helping the demon! Kill them!"

"Wait, their face... it looks like the Peacekeeper's!"

The soldiers also talk a lot. And, are quite a lot in numbers.

From behind you, Loux chuckled softly to himself, his figure transparent and floating, observing the circle of soldiers that encircled you both. "Hm, I wonder... have they noticed our trap yet?"

"What do you mean by that?" you whispered back, and the mysterious man chuckled.

"Remember what the Finisher of the Smoke power is from 'InFAMOUS: Second Son'?"

You blinked, remembering... and then smirking.

"Showtime." you muttered, as you launched quickly into the sky. Looking at Loux, he nodded, before his eyes grew wide.

"Shit, murderous lady at twelve o'clock!"

Looking down, you saw what he meant: Zero was fighting the soldiers below you. And you were flying towards them.

"OI, ZERO! MOVE IT!" you yelled and, thankfully, she seemed to have noticed you coming towards her at high speeds and dodged just as you landed into the ground, a shockwave in your wake.

Looking up, your hood down, you placed your hands up towards Zero and prayed she wouldn't just kill you. "I'm not here to fight you."

It worked, thankfully.

"...Llizel?" she asked, both of her rose-coloured eyes looking at your own. She looked almost shocked, but then invoked her sarcasm. "Well, look who decided now would be a good time to prevent a war."

"I would've been here sooner, if not for complications... and, how do you recognise me? I thought I wasn't as, should we say, 'spread'?"

Zero rolled her eyes, walking past you, with yourself following. "With my sisters, you should know by now. And if you're here to stop me from killing them, then I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not going to."

"And how will killing them help?" you shot back, your knowledge on the game coming back at full force. "You of all people know that you can't take them all on at once, not to mention you won't be able to just kill the Flower--"

She stopped, them looked back at you. "How the hell does someone like you know about the Flower?"

You rolled your eyes. "The Flower is all the chaos and discord in the world, Zero; it's only natural that I know about it, given I'm its polar opposite."

In truth, Loux was quickly whisperings information to you, but even you can pull shit out of you own ass.

"Well, that's all well and good, but what the hell do you mean, 'just be able to kill the Flower'?"

"The Flower, their Angels; both the same thing. Kill the Angel, you stop the Intoner and kill a part of the Flower. Not only that, but the Flower and them have two separate sources of their strength." you sighed, shaking your head. "I know it's rich, coming from a God, but for once, have some trust."

Zero chuckled. "Want to know what happened the last time I put my trust in someone?"

"Well, my eyes aren't indigo, are they?" you replied dryly, with Zero stopping, her eyes flashing various emotions, with anger being among the most common.

Finally, she sighed deeply. "Fine, oh 'God of Peace'. But the moment that you're wrong? I'll kill you myself."

Loux let out a small laugh. "Good luck with that."

"The hell do you mean?" you asked back.

"Ah, don't worry. Hopefully, we might not see it."

"...Who the hell are you talking to?" Zero asked.

"Huh? Oh, right, you can't see him." you gestured to where Loux was. "He's basically the guy helping me with the whole..." you zapped a bolt between your fingers. "Lightning powers."

"...Well, thanks for nearly getting me killed, dumbass."

"A pleasure."

"He said 'a pleasure', by the way."

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

Finally, finally, you got to the battle.

And, to say the least, the Intoners knew who you were, and that you'd already arrived. Then again, you weren't exactly subtle...

"Llizel?" Five asked from on high, her beauty still enchanting, even more now thanks to actually being living. "My oh my, Sister, I never took you for being so fast!"

"My Liege, you must help us stop Zero, we're sisters!" Four interrupted her, her mask hiding what she truly felt. "I know it's arrogant of me, but please, you must!"

"Oh, don't be such a prude, little sister!" Five chastened Four, and then licked her lips, looking at you as if you were the finest meal she's ever seen. "After all, a good catfight really gets my juices flowing~..."

Three didn't say anything; although, she did lazily laugh.

"Oh, wow, Zero and Llizel! Hey there, you two!" Two waved to you both, smiling as she did so... then she frowned, snapping her fingers. "Aw, if I had known both of you were going to be here, I'd have worn something more professional..."

One was silent. However, the twitch of her eye told you everything you needed to know.

"...So, not only wanting to kill your own flesh and blood, but you decided to even trick The Sustainer as well?" One coldly asked, red eyes piercing into her older sister. "You truly are despicable, sister."

"Trick?" Zero shot back, tilting her head with a wry grin. "Funny, because they came to me to help me."

"Do not act coy with me, Zero!" snapped the blonde, even more angered now, before turning to face you, her face softening.

"Hoo boy, here we go..." muttered the spirit next to you.

"Please. Do not involve yourself in such pitiful drivel, Peacekeeper. Keep to one side; this shan't take long."

Two, Three, Four and Five then dropped down, and Zero rolled her neck. "Oh, it won't, alright..."

Up close, the fight is much more intense than what we saw on your TV.

However, as you walked forward to observe, you found yourself distracted by Five's... 'distractions'. You know that her increasing factor is her breasts, but for God's sake...

A sharp pain then came over you, causing you to gasp. Looking down, you saw the edge of Two's sword. Looking over your shoulder, you saw a pale-faced, horror-struck Two.

"...Ow." you simply said, before your legs gave out.

...It's not as bad as you thought, honestly. In fact, you swore you could see light beaming into your eyes, trying to get you to open them--

You choke, suddenly finding yourself standing up, outside the Central Cathedral, very much alive, with Zero looking wildly about.

"What the fuck?" she muttered to herself, before turning sharply and facing you. "What the hell just happened?"

"That, was what I feared." Loux admitted from your right side. "You see, this world is a video game to you, yes? Then, by that logic, these so-called 'Checkpoints' would also exist, and bring you back to your last 'Save.'"

"From what our invisible friend here said," you faced Zero, nodding. "If I was to die, time would rewind back to my last Checkpoint, or 'major point', in my life; in this case, just before your fight with the other Intoners."

"Huh, is that right?" Zero rolled her eyes ('Still odd to see that,' you privately thought). "Well, try not to die again, will you? I have a job to get done."

"...Say," you asked, looking at her. "How come you, not so much as trust me, but at least listen to me?"

"This shit again?" irritability, she started moving towards the fight with her sisters. "You already know; as your envoys, we can't not trust you, as annoying as it may be."

"...I see. So you're still not convinced."

"No shit I ain't."

You walked next to her, tilting your head. "Then what will it take to change your mind?"

"Staying alive would be a start. Then we'll talk about that goddamned Flower."

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

The same interaction happened, although this time around, you decided to step in. From Loux's expression, he seemed glad to have a companion who could get things done.

"One." you began, looking up curiously at the red-eyed Intoner. "What happened with peace?"

Gesturing to Zero, you continued. "I understand that you don't want to forgive your sister, but she deserves to live just as much as you do."

One looked at you. So did the Intoners, of various expressions. Finally, One turned to Zero, a cruel smirk on her face. "Ah, I understand it now; since you couldn't fight all of us on your own, you instead brainwashed Our Liege to help you. Am I right?"

"No, you're off by a fucking longshot." Zero replied dryly. "Me, brainwashing a God? Do you realise how stupid you sound right now, One?"

"...I was afraid this might happen."

One looked to her sides, nodding. "Sisters: defeat Zero, and save the Peacekeeper!"

"Oh, grief..." Zero muttered, then looking at you from the corner of her eye. "Ready, kid?"

You nodded, flipping your staff to use it as a spear. "Aye; try not to kill them."

With that, you shot forwards, and immediately crossed spears with Five, who smiled sultry at you, golden eyes twinkling.

"Not even going to invite me out to dinner~?" she teased, swiping your left side and causing you to jump over her (wow, anime logic!) and hitting her spear again.

"Honestly, I was hoping we could be talked over tea, but I guess it just has to be like this?"

"Sadly, I suppose... oh well!"

Five was a powerful opponent, surprisingly; with her fast responses and flexible attacks, an opening was almost non-existant.

Unfortunately, Loux doesn't like things going to shit, it seems.

Lightning forming in your other hand, you fired a bolt directly into Five's chest, causing her to fall over clenching it.

"Sorry, I hope you understand!" you smiled at her, and then flipped your staff right-way up again. Testing the waters, you imagined a fire--

--And from the ground surrounding Two, who was currently fighting Zero, fire erupted, causing her to yell and jumping backwards into Three, with the two scrambling to get back up.

"I don't wish to fight any of you!" you declared, holding your arms out. "If you trust me, then please, stop fighting your own flesh and blood!"

"You don't understand, My Liege!" Four called back, shaking her head. "Zero--something happened to her! She isn't the same Zero I once knew, and nor the one you would recall!"

"Oh, shove it already, will you?!"

A brief second later, they all jumped back up.

One walked forwards, raising her hand...

"Here it comes..." Loux tapped his fingers against his arm.

"Gabriella!" One called, snapping her fingers.

"Wait, what?"

From the skies descended not a Daemon, but One's Dragon, the ever-so sassy Gabriella.

"Well, well, well... never thought your God could get brainwashed so easily, One." Gabriella spoke, and from the cold fury in the second-oldest Intoner's eyes, she thought the same.

"Oh, so this thing is still kicking, huh?" Zero drawled, twirling her sword. "What are you going to do, kill me?"

Famous last words.

Gabriella immediately flew into the air and shot multiple fireballs at her, but you quickly erected a shield in front of you both. Silently praising your staff, you glanced at Zero.

"I fear we won't be able to fight this Dragon." you admitted, and Zero scoffed, clearly offended by the idea of it.

"You're a God, aren't you?! Can't you just summon a tornado?!"

You turned her head to her, your eyebrow raised. "I'm a guy fresh out of college, with a strange medical condition. But, since you insist..."

The Staff of Llizel, once again providing support, helped you appear in the air and, at your mental image, summoned an array of spears constructed from lightning (because when the going gets tough, steal your comrades powers).

However, in the end, things continued as Branch A did: Zero's arm was blasted off, Michael came in to help her, but was killed, and Zero had vanished.

Observing with a curious gaze, Loux turned to you, feet on the ground. "You've surprised me. I had expected you to a little... different, should we say."

"Thanks, I like to defy expectations." rolling your eyes, you slammed your staff into the ground, creating a dust field and allowing you to follow after Zero.

"Well, don't stop now, will you? I quite like people with a brain."

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

Update:

The Singularity known as Zero has appeared to have joined forces with the Singularity, who's alias is 'Llizel', and the Singularity of Branch F, Loux Corcea Gladiolus.

As a shift has already been detected in this timeline's events, I shall continue to observe at a distance, should anything go astray.

G_379_248_101_YD: Begin Recording.

[lieutenant-blackwell]

Five Words a Day as Gaeilge: Nov 3rd, 2019 - Color Vocab part 2

Purple: Corcra /'koɾˠ.kɾˠə/

He often used to wear purple.

Chaitheadh sé corcra go minic.

As I understand it, the p sound did not exist in old Irish (hence why father is athair instead of pathair), and so the Latin word purpura entered Old Irish with c instead.

Gray: Liath /'lʲiə/

Irish uses liath to describe a couple unconventional things:

Grizzly bear: Beár liath (gray bear)

Lavender: While labhandar seems to be the more typically used term, lus liath (gray herb) is also used.

Black: Dubh /'dˠuvˠ/

Dubh has a couple interesting phrases associated with it:

You can describe a crowded or bustling scene as being dubh le daoine (black with people)

The Irish equivalent of "from dawn to dusk" is ó dhubh go dubh (from black to black)

A term for being bored is dubh dóite (burnt black). Not entirely sure about the origin for that, to be honest.

White: Bán /'bˠaːnˠ/

Other meanings for bán include empty or fallow.

Also, an interesting term for flattery in Irish is

béal bán (white mouth).

Brown: Donn /'dˠaunˠ/

To tan or rust in Irish is donnaigh, literally 'to brown'

As with some of colors listed in the previous post, calling someone "gray", "black", "brown", or "white" in Irish is typically in reference to their hair color.

[void-botanist]

The Shifters List

@outpost51 wanted more shifters in the new year and who am I to say no? So here's a quick list of my shifter characters so far.

I've got

Allison, red wolf

Graham, red wolf

Melinda & Alan, Allison & Graham's parents, both coyotes

Corcra, black fox

Ian, Sierra's husband and Spinder's brother-in-law, common raccoon dog

Marla & Hazel, Sierra & Ian's adopted kids, timber wolf and gray fox

Heith, bat-eared fox

Tatya, gray wolf

Edit Feb 2, 2024:

Pali, Marcus's spouse, golden jackal

There's no in-world rationale for who turns into what. Instead I exercise my authorial privileges because this is still my "don't overthink it" setting. But I think for genetic lineages, it's more likely that your kids will have the same or a closely related canid form, hence Allison's family all having Canis forms. At some point I'll probably think of more lore surrounding this form of magic and I might tweak things a bit, but unless I find a really compelling reason to change it I'm going to stick to having them transform into fully canid forms (while mostly keeping their human-form brainpower).

I also think it's important to note that Sierra, known to be the most humorless person, cannot contain herself about Ian's raccoon dog form. She has long since decided it is the cutest thing she will ever see. This isn't why she married him but it's a bigger factor than she would like to admit.

Nicea taglist: @kahvilahuhut @kk7-rbs @outpost51 @writernopal @athenswrites

Shifters taglist: @outpost51 @kk7-rbs

[void-botanist]

Wrapped Scenelets No. 100: seatbelt

I'm writing scenelets for (most of) my Spotify Wrapped top 100 songs. Here's number 100, Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson.

━━━━━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━━━━━

Pat wasn’t supposed to look, but he couldn’t help it for those few seconds after the tinted window came between him and the door of the courthouse. Even at this distance it was clear to him how much rage was bubbling beneath the slim-cut shoulders of her blazer. She shot a glance toward his car from the courthouse steps and his heart froze, even though there was no way she could see him, and then the landscaping was running past the backseat window. He took off his glasses and leaned an elbow against the door, pressing his brow into that hand, letting his eyes rest in darkness.

It was over.

Nothing in particular was in his mind as the tears started to flow. They were relief, they were grief, they were—his throat was too thick—thank god Mick wasn’t here, wasn’t watching him try to get a breath in around the feeling that was too big to be lodged in his throat, catching at his breath as he made a half-attempt to be fine.

He heard a click and a seatbelt and as he looked up to check if they were somehow there already he felt a hand on his arm. Beside him Corcra was buckling into the middle seat. It was normal for them not to talk right away after leaving yet another legal meeting, but this time he’d almost forgotten she was there. The car started moving again—just a red light—and the buckle clicked together. Corcra gently took his glasses out of his hand and put them in the far seat so she could replace them with her fingers, then lean her cheek against his shoulder. He let his head drop against hers, put his other hand over hers. The tears still came, moving down his face at an angle, dripping into her hair.

It was over, and maybe now he could believe he was safe.

━━━━━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━━━━━

Scenelets wrapped taglist: @kk7-rbs

[void-botanist]

I'm curious about Jilor 👀

Send me a ship name and get some tea!

Oho time for coming to conclusions in real time!

Jilor - Jia & Lora

(probably should have been Jilora but. oh well)

This one's interesting because Lora, Spinder's youngest adoptive sister, has existed since Old Canon and honestly had a decently large part in Spinder & Georg, and Jia I just invented because I was changing Lora's family and I didn't want to use her Old Canon husband. He's a little bit based on someone I know IRL in terms of personality (laid-back), but honestly I haven't decided on a lot about him. He is a good dad though, and I think in the future he and Lora will achieve the three kids they had in Old Canon, where they were a lot older (everyone was because weird faery aging). But being married to Lora puts him in an intriguing position: Lora is the hub of the Pastearn family, the one who kept in touch with Michael when he moved several localities afield, the only member of the family who is allowed to know where Gwin is at any given time, who keeps track of Megan's model trains and Mick's extracurriculars and Corcra's TV appearances and Spinder's flight schedules and Nieram's home improvement projects. Jia cannot remember all of this and has stopped trying. His main contribution to her family connection activities (aside from obviously going to family gatherings and stuff like that) is to make sure that there's plenty of time where he's actively spending time of their baby daughter Ayna so that Lora can be doing video calls &c. Now that I say this actually I think he does commission/contract work, so he's at home a lot of the time. Still not sure what Lora does though, aside from being everyone's favorite sibling.

Nicea taglist: @kahvilahuhut @kk7-rbs @outpost51 @writernopal @athenswrites