#i am so enamored with these two

[ghostinthegallery]

For the WIP ask game, what is Pariah Nexus part 2?

Sure! I had a lot of fun writing this fic for @two-reflections for the 40k holiday fic exchange, about Sa’kan from the Pariah Nexus animated miniseries. And I want to write a little sequel! Some continuing adventures for our big green guy and the deathmark, focusing a little more on the latter this time. Bring Szeras back to cause problems. He’s so good at causing problems XD

The story revolves around Sa’kan and the Deathmark finding another group of human survivors…which causes issues as they are rather skeptical of Sa’kan’s new robot friend.

————————

The Deathmark could hear Sa’kan’s steady breathing. The Astartes was asleep. That gave the Deathmark pause. He was allowing himself to be so vulnerable, despite the uncertainty of their new circumstances. Even a human could cut the jugular of a space marine if the latter was unconscious. Yet Sa’kan slept, trusting the Deathmark to keep watch. Keep them both safe when the unavoidable needs of flesh finally claimed their due. That made them listen to the other humans’ conversation all the more closely. In case they did decide to present a threat. Even their hushed murmurings across the camp could not escape the Deathmark’s audiocreptors. They might as well have been shouting right beside them. “—telling you, we can’t trust him,” one whispered. The youngest one, with the dirty yellow hair. “That’s one of the Emperor’s angels,” their sibling protested. “We have to trust him, even if he seems strange.” “But what if…” he dropped his voice even further. “What if he’s a fallen angel? And that’s why he’s consorting with one of those abominations?” One of the three grunted. The Deathmark was not sure what that meant, until they realized it was the old woman with one eye scoffing at the younger pair. “That’s no fallen angel.” “How do you know?” the youngest demanded. The elder spat something onto the ground. “‘Cause. Fallen angels got spikes.” The Deathmark shared in the ensuing dumbfounded silence. “Spikes?” said the sister. “Spikes. Big ones, all over the armor.” It sounded as if she were attempting to light a lho stick. “Saw a fallen Astartes when I was active in the Guard. Had bunch of skulls on there too.” “Why would fallen angels all wear spikes?” The youngest sounded as if they were sneering. “You wanna get close to one, you feel free to ask.”

[floralcrematorium]

Austria's holding her coat, somewhere. Gotta show off those arms somehow ♡

[pencilofawesomeness]

Hey pencil, how are you doing? are you still burned out? I just miss your HTRYDS because it is a refreshing take on FT that addresses things that are overlooked? eg Jellal getting proper help and having a life and relationships outside his past.

Hi! Thanks for checking in! I'm alive, and my writing mojo took a longer vacation than I would have liked, but it started coming back in the last couple of months. Unfortunately, for the wrong things, but I have long since learned that I have to let the happy brain chemicals do their thing on whatever project(s) gave the random inspiration burst before I can reign them in.

I am working on the next chapter of Runaways, and it is coming along, but I'm probably going to wait until I have at least two or three chapters done before I start posting again. To keep the rest of the arc's update time consistent, hopefully. (And if I don't come back with Runaways soon, I absolutely plan on getting out a side story or two for @ft-platonicweek because I have ideas~ :3)

And awwww thank you anon! I'm glad over people enjoy me picking out details of FT I find interesting and under utilized and going ham lol. Like with Jellal—he's such an interesting character, and even more so when he can be relatively stable and not a sad boi incarnate. Not that he's not prime sad boi stick target material but... I digress XD

[kingofanemptyworld]

getting myself Organized over here

[thelifetimechannel]

Happy holidays! [S] Checkmate timing test

These timings match up with Tensei's "Of Gods and Witches":

Before the battle we see WV greeting AR and being super excited. AR is kinda baffled but gratified. We see their former memories in the clouds, maybe WV points to them?

Jane, Nanna, and Kanaya target bigger undead monsters. Casey's undead consort army shows up when they are almost overwhelmed. Rose and Roxy both slap their foreheads in comic dismay.

Karkat, Terezi, and the carapaces are ground troops against regular underlings.

Remaining Alpha kids are air support against flighted underlings.

Hal is hanging out taking messages from everyone directing battle traffic.

The preloader shows the Battlefield, surrounded by those weird checkboard vine things. It should be just crowded and dark enough to imply a serious sense of foreboding. Upon the flash loading, the Battlefield spins and zooms as the music starts.

SCREEN 1: 00:00-00:05 Pan up across a wide shot of the kids in various battle positions on the battlefield. Aerial combantants (Terezi, Hal, Davesprite, and the Alpha kids sans Jane and plus Calliope. Kat note: Davesprite’s on the lilypad. Matches last convo, and also, he’s a beta too :P) are around the scene. Karkat and WV stand on top of a hill, WV holding a waving red flag. The Beta kids are standing on a lilypad in center screen.

SCREEN 2: 00:05-00:09 On the chord, pan down across the kids on the lilypad, all in battle ready poses with weapons out

SCREEN 3: 00:09-00:15 On the chord, the opposite side of the hill we just saw WV and Karkat on. Pan to the right hand side. They stand on top of the hill. Scrolling by at differing speeds to the background hill are Jane (holding her fork made from the White King’s scepter), Kanaya, and Nanna. WV’s army of carapacians is gathered around them.

Screen 4: 00:15-00:19 On the chord, worm’s eye view of The Alpha kids and Calliope in the sky.

Screen 5: 00:19-00:21 A view of the underling army approaching: think the carapacian armies in flashes such as WV: Rise Up, where the hills are all separate layers that do a lot of panning. A mix of undead Alpha session underlings mingle with the Beta session’s horde of monsters.

Screen 6: 00:21-00:23 A bird’s eye view down onto the Beta’s lilypad.

Screen 7: 00:23-00:26 Third drumbeat Jane raises the scepter to begin the Reckoning. A red filter descends over the sky and contrasting green defense portals appear on the final drumbeat before the flute. A few streaks of meteors can be seen. The Reckoning has begun.

Screen 8: 00:26-00:28 As little synthesizer pretending to be a flute plays a first solemn note, the red filter descends further, the Betas look up to Jack fly overhead. They pan up, Jack moves down.

Screen 9: 00:28-00:32 On the second synthesized flute note, Jack lands on the platform.

Screen 10: :32-:34 The Betas and the ground pan down, Jack pans up. PM lands either in front or behind them

Screen 11: :34-:37 The background turns chaotic and red as Jack’s health vial appears. It’s already huge, as befitting of a final boss. It fills with vitality gel, but when it reaches the end, it laps itself and starts filling again in a different color.

Screen 12: :37-:41 Cut to a wide shot of the lillypad hovering over the battlefield. Clouds flit by, meteors fall, a crowd of underlings is trampling their way from right to left across the screen. STRIFE ROUND _ _ _ pops up at the bottom and numbers start spinning, eventually settling on ??? so that you don't know whether John had to reset to get this outcome or how many times.

:41 Slamming back to the lilypad, where John has his first engagement w Jack. This is done in a style of sprite similar to Rose’s fight with Jack pre-Cascade. They lock sword to hammer.

:45 Planetside, the Mayor raises his hand and Karkat raises his sickle and yells something. The carapace army advances against a horde of mixed underlings.

00:48 A general group of carapaces rushing forward.

00:50 Carpacean and underling footsoldiers meet. Remember: Carapaces on the left, underlings on the right!

00:52 Kanaya and Jane face off against a bunch of undead. Kanaya with her chainsaw, Jane with lifey powers glowing around her hands.

00:56 Transition by having John’s hammer and Jack’s sword meet on screen, and with a flash, we cut back to them.

00:56-00:58: With a series of blows in time with the guitar notes, John moves Jack rightwards across the screen.

00:58 John takes off Jack’s hat, but gets knocked back.

1:00 John jumps into metaphorical shadows of the background and Rose slides in, needles at the ready.

1:03-1:09: Rose takes off a tentacle. It would be amusing to try and have some kind of callback to her previous fight with Jack here.

1:10 Dirk, Roxy, Jake airborne. vs flighted underlings. This would be a good moment for a fraymotif: Jake gets the idea to use it, and either performs his and Dirk’s Caccia Amore (a buff whereby they swap glowy power auras and cleave through a group of underlings no problem) or his and Roxy’s Shot in the Dark (trapping a group of underlings in a black voidy version of Jake’s hope bubble and ricocheting bullets inside until they’re all grist).

1:26 Show planetside combat. Cool moments for people:

Karkat drags a few airborne underlings down with Blood powers for his army to trample.

Terezi does some sort of mindy thing perhaps to direct Jane and Kanaya

-The second of Jake’s two fraymotif ideas. Because you know, he’s the only one who was actually seen buying his, and Act 5 is pretty goddamn clear Fraymotifs are purchased from consorts.

-General note: While the kids can be doing good, the underlings have to be putting up a fair fight, with the tide of battle turning to the underlings’ favor once Jack uses the Miles. Otherwise the Crisis Point looks like it comes out of nowhere for no good reason.

JACK PLATFORM

1:40 Dave + Davesprite versus Jack. Davesprite takes off a wing and Dave gets his sword. Jack tries to bludgeon Dave with his massive healthbar…

1:50: Jack getting his health bar lopped in half by Dave. (NOTE: Dave does not participate in direct offensive attacks, only defense)

1:58: Jack summons the Red Miles, which destabilizes the lilypad, throws all the betas off balance, and punches holes in the lilypad. Terezi's jetpack is hit and she crashlands.

~2:05~ Crisis point

2:12 dirk gets decapitated like a dumbass.

2:13 rxn shot: Roxy is like why tf did u do that

2:15 Kanaya and Jane chainsaw their way out of an Underling Jane revive-killed a little too late, leaving them trapped in its ribcage. They’re pinned as soon as they emerge. Don’t worry, I’ll be making the gore sooty and ashy because Gill has done enough gore-things.

2:17 Karkat's army is cornered by a bunch of tough looking underlings. Looking up at the sky, meteors are hurtling towards the surface.

2:21 General pan of the carnage, ppl looking desperate

2:27 JACK PLATFORM On the Crescendo: Dave raises a hand and a bunch of Skaian defense portals glow red. Zoom into one to picture of Earth with the time ticker showing time passing.

2:30 On the crescendo: GB!Jade pops through the portal with the meteor and nabs the planet, then leaves the way she came. THEN the meteors shoot through, passing harmlessly through empty space.

2:34 Use as transition to Jade’s attack (keep the meteor but change the background), grabbing meteors and blasting them through/around Jack

2:40 PM and Jack dueling, but PM getting knocked back

2:42-2:50: A montage of tired and pinned kids (Jane reviving Dirk goes here):

2:50: Jade and PM look @ each other and nod.

2:50 As the drums kick up, PM charges the screen, providing transition for Jade’s retreats into the sky.

2:52 Jade hovers. A fraymotif circle appears beneath her while the former-Becs are seen on the lillypad below.

2:53 Cut to below her: The Spacey thing can be seen in the sky, but something comes over the hills in dramatic fashion. Cheers love, cavalry’s here The hills and the army rise until they’re in frame, Casey at the helm.

2:57 is the reveal shot with the low strings.

3:01 As the drums swell, Casey orders them to charge. They go for the underlings’ flank, a wide shot showing skeletons mobbing underlings.

3:03 A reaction shot of the two armies meeting.

3:05 Roxy and Rose slap their foreheads in a show of comic dismay, but Rose looks down in surprise to see a fraymotif circle under her feet.

3:08 In time with the Savior chords, the boys also notice the fraymotifs circles under them.

3:11: The camera cuts back to a wide shot of the battlefield to display the name of the 4-person motif: Unite Synchronize. No, shush, I know what I’m doing.

3:12 Jade gets some big ol’ insta-runes lighting up behind her.

3:13 PM and Jack fly awhile before PM suddenly takes off into the open void. Jack is confused, looking around for her. He looks up.

3:19 Activating lock-on fraymotif thing, comprised of the Light and Time circles. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.

3:22 Rose and Dave, with their insta-runes.

3:23 John nyooms in front of Jade and activates his own insta-runes. I definitely know what I’m doing, stop looking at me like that.

3:26: Space + Breath instarunes light up and spin in a way that can only mean FRIKKIN LASER BEAMS.

3:28: Zoom out, through the various flavors of instarunes, out to Jack who’s in the dead bulls-eye of all of them.

3:30 He tries to evade, but Light + Time mean there’s a dead lock-on on him.

3:32: Well clear of the blast, all four kids do a gesture that sets off the beam.

3:34 MAXIMUM BULLSHIT ACHIEVED: THE GIANT LASERBEAM OF FRIENDSHIP

We see it go off from a few angles in time with the beat and get Jack caught in the crossfire at 3:38 , taking off another tentacle and wing.

3:40: After getting laserblasted, Jack stumbles back, weakened, only to look up and see

3:42: HEY THERE, PM. She flies at him, just above the beam, sword ready and the camera zooming in each successive chord.

3:46 On the second to last chord, Jack raises his one arm and broken sword in defense: on the last chord, there’s a shot of them in the frame together, rush at one another-

3:50 Everything goes white; SHE STRIKES and fades in on her in the aftermath of a sword stroke, having taken Jack’s hand.

3:53: Everything sloooows down and Jack slowly falls to the ground away from his detached hand.

3:57 A shot of the battlefield with all the enemies dissolving as Jack falls.

04:03 On the low piano key, pulses and the battlefield goes from a torn red hellscape to normal. As the flash ends, it fades to a final screen before the replay button appears: a battlefield scene with the lillypad in the foreground transitions to the victory platform, where a green house stands. No, I don’t care if Hussie’s was red: It’s the Beta kids’ fight, the Beta kids’ regent, the Beta kids’ Battlefield, the Beta kids’ frog, and the Beta kids’ STORY - it’s the Beta kids’ green house on that goddamn victory platform.

FLASH ENDS

[window-view-orion]

I’m not really an OMG doll collector but I do have a few, and there are plenty that if I saw them in a store for a good price I would probably pick them up.

…

…

…

Guess who I found in store for a good price? 😅

[surfinthehighway]

The master is not utilizing me properly! I will show my "Master" how information collecting is done!

Noticing how GIR’s motivations in GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff and ZIM’s motivations in ETF are so similar.

GIR (when he’s competent) knows that ZIM doesn’t understand his potential and sets out to prove himself to ZIM.

When ZIM learns the Tallest don’t see his potential and don’t care about Earth, he sets out to make them care and prove himself (ETF is also really similar in motivation to Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars too).

Conclusion: ZIM is to GIR what the Tallest are to ZIM. There are a lot of little parallels highlighted in GIR Goes Crazy like ZIM giving GIR “fake” or meaningless tasks like watching TV to keep him out of the way the mirroring how the Tallest give ZIM his fake Earth mission.

[roanofarc]

sometimes i’m like maybe i’m exaggerating my dislike of timothee chalamet or harry styles bc being a hater is funny but then i see a pic or clip of one of them and i’m like oh wait no i do harbor an unnecessary amount of genuine resentment for both of these guys

[ranger-kellyn]

cannot believe i actually just read 2 books back to back wtf the fuck

[queen-mabs-revenge]

ok but one of the joys of good omens: putting your favorite historical figure in the 'other tags to include' field on ao3 for funsies

[waywardsalt]

Everyone on Mercay knows Linebeck

For some reason, playing Animal Crossing always inspires me to write, and today it inspired me to write this... poem? This ...thing vaguely about Linebeck. It’s exactly 1000 words and I haven’t edited it since writing it. 

So... if you’re interested in reading it, then please enjoy!

~

Everyone on Mercay knows Linebeck

He’s famous and brave and confident

And he looks the part

In his pristine coat and dashing scarf

With his flamboyant movements

And charismatic words

Most people on Mercay

And all others that know of him

Don’t think to look beyond that tailored mask

And allow their attention to be drawn

To his alluring tales

Instead of what is

Right in front of them

Those more enamored by him

Can describe his face perfectly

They always recall the curve of his smile

The glint in his sharp green eyes

The way his hair falls behind his shoulders

Too captivated by each of his calculated moves

To see the way his eyes are sunken and his cheeks are hollow

How though his hair is well-taken care of

It’s at the same time unkempt and uncombed

Every time he is seen in town

And his dexterous hands

With the prominently visible tendons

And the thin fingers that look just a bit too long

With jagged fingernails that look as though

They were bitten rather than trimmed

And whenever his coat sleeve slips back

You can see for a brief moment

His rail-thin wrists

And anyone who goes out of their way to see him

Will tell you

That is all you are able to see of him

Under those immaculate clothes

And little as it is

Hands tell detailed stories

But this captain’s hands

Tell no tales with such detail

As bandaged fingers suggest little more than

Slight mishaps in repairs

Or a slip of the hand when cooking

If he allows you close enough

Close enough to

Touch his hand for just a moment

Then every time

Without fail

Those skilled and slender hands

Are just a little too cold

Despite the way they move

And their proximity to machinery

The sailor smiles in such a way

That makes you forget the temperature of his skin

And turns your attention to his face again

His gaunt face

Hidden in plain sight

With dry and cracked lips

And circles under his eyes

Dark as the deepest depths of the sea

And the way his smile is never reflected in his eyes

He tells lavish stories and details to the listeners

Faraway islands with dangerous dungeons

That they will never see

But with enough detail and imagery

That they don’t feel that they need to

He tells about the ocean

About the endless horizon

And about himself

About his adventures

And his achievements

And everything he’s seen beyond that endless horizon

But he never talks about himself

People come from around the island to hear him talk

A few coming for the stories

A few coming out of admiration

A few coming out of desire

And they hear about an accomplished, adventurous sailor

And never about the person sitting in front of them

The ones most fascinated with him know nothing about him

They have to assume that he likes the color blue based on his coat

He never allows anyone to buy him a drink

And he never tells anyone what he likes to eat

No one knows what his hobbies are

What kinds of flowers he likes

If he likes any animals

What kinds of books he likes to read

No one knows how old he is

How long he’s been sailing

The ones most attentive when the stories are told

Make the uncomfortable realization

That he never mentions another person in his stories

No family

No friends

No companions

When he speaks to someone in the tavern

He never says their name

When someone goes to touch him

He flinches away before recomposing

He never asks favors

And never makes small-talk

Whenever he wins at cards

It can be heard that his lies

Have the same cadence as the truth

Though no one knows the truth

And no one wants to admit that

He is a different person

With everyone he speaks with

The only consistency

Seems to be the brief glimpses of anger

Flaring up so sincerely in his eyes

Or bright flashes of fear

In the way he reacts

When someone asks if he is being honest

Some nights he can be found

In the corner of the tavern

Sitting silently

With nothing to eat or drink

Laying out fifty-two cards

And then sorting them with a cold

Mechanical

Methodology

Some days

After a story he struggles to tell

He leaves very early

Blinking hard and resisting the urge to cover his ears

Shying away from touches and lights and smells

He is rarely seen in the streets of the town

And sometimes any semblance of cheer and confidence

Is gone

Replaced with listless stares and lethargic movements

And once you see past his charisma

Though the pristine grooming

The perfectly tailored responses

And the too-perfect movements

You find yourself looking at something

Something

Beneath a hollow mask

Made up of tireless imagination

Of exaggeration and mimicry

Something to hide behind

A mask that leaves you wondering

Why it was crafted in the first place

And what it is hiding

Beyond hints of an emaciated body

And shallow stories and replies

This mask

Propped up by fear

And endless charisma

And just-right movements

This mask hiding something

That almost no one on Mercay

Realizes even exists

And even those who do know what exists

Cannot search any further

As even with the mask identified

You cannot see underneath it

Unless the one wearing it removes it

And so those pretty words

Distract the people of Mercay

Away from what is hiding in plain sight

Keeping them from that deeply uncanny feeling

That something is deeply wrong

With the man that they idolize

The man they know nothing about

Except that he is a sailor

Who shares his name with his ship

But people still hear his stories

And find themselves captivated

By this hollow illusion of a man

Sitting in front of them

And still people will say

Everyone on Mercay knows Linebeck.

[unfogged-arc]

i don't have twitter anymore so you guys get all my late night nonsense posts.

[mechaffeine]

The more that I look into invasive species the more I sit and hold hands with despair. There Are Too Many Invasive Creatures

Tomorrow I hunt bugs, assuming I am able to walk without pain

[petrichorium]

I did the blade gameplay trial last night and I once again reiterate that while I was genuinely chill w losing jing yuan’s 50/50 I’m gonna be wayyy more sad if/when I lose blade’s 😭😭😭

His gameplay & animation is just so much more compelling to me deepest apologies to my husband (he deserves the slander)

[erabundus]

not  to  be  kazuren  on  main,  but  ren's  kazuha  bias  absolutely  sends  me.

[loverboybrightsideghost]

upon further reflection i've decided that i am in love with antigone funn