#i can totally function on 7 hours of sleep!!

[chemicalarospec]

what if you said: I care about my intellectual development

but your brain said: you care about gay people more

[wetslug]

my incredible ability to sleep nearly* an entire 36 hours is the only way i can recoup my spoons for the next week. id love to find another alternative but here we are

[soapyghostie]

It's me again! Thanks for doing the last one. I LOVE Drayton, but finding content for him in general isn't very easy! Let's shake it up a little though. What's Michael Myers like when he's not killing people, just.. at home? Either with a (G/N) reader or on his own. (Maybe some before and after comparisons?) -☎️

Hey Anon! I’m so glad you liked it! This was so fun to write because Michael is one of my all time favorite slashers! Thank you! 🤗

Michael Myers

Michael Myers is a recluse. He likes to keep to himself most of the time and likes to be unbothered. When people bother him it pisses him off. That’s why he stalks and kills anyone who steps near or in his house. Take Laurie, for example, in the original movie; he basically only stalked her and attacked her because she stepped foot on his front porch. 

He is also a total homebody. He never steps foot out of his house unless he is going out killing or for his personal needs: food. 

He loves to spend time in Judith’s, his older sister’s, room and stare out the gigantic window in there, stalking people some more. Hey! He’s gotta make sure there are no intruders, okay? 

Michael is artsy. In his spare time, which he has a lot of spare time, he’ll create paper mache masks. He’ll create all different kinds of masks: creepy masks, animal masks, Mardi Gras masks. You name it! He’ll usually paint them. He has all sorts of different colors to paint his masks with. Michael has a pretty steady hand so his masks usually turn out pretty clean and painted with many different colors. 

This man never sleeps. The most sleep he’ll get in a day is 30 minutes to 3 hours. The amazing thing is that he functions just as fine as a normal human-being with 7 to 8 hours of sleep because I could never. 😓 During the night, he’ll lay in his bed, stiff as a rock, and stare at the ceiling. He’ll just listen to all the noise around him waiting for the front door to creak open to announce an intruder that will unfortunately never be seen again. 

Now when you came along, everything flipped upside down for Michael. At first he didn’t like all of the changes that came with living with someone, but over time it stopped bothering him. It even gave him a sense of comfort to know that someone loves and is willing to take care of him. 

Michael can’t cook for shit. While he was living on his own, he would steal a lot of fast food. I mean a lot. He also loves his sweets. He kept a bowl of sweets in one of the top cabinets in the kitchen. However, when you came along is when he had his first ever home cooked meal. After that he never ate fast food again. 

He follows you everywhere. Going to the store? He is across the street, stalking you. At work? You can see him peeking in at the closest window to your desk. Don’t be alarmed. He’s just making sure nothing happens to you. 

Michael likes to watch you sleep. Yeah. I agree. It’s creepy, but it’s Michael. What do you expect? He’ll stand in the corner of your bedroom and watch you the whole night. Again he is just trying to protect you. You know that people like to intrude into his house a lot right? 

You and him like to do movie nights. He’ll only watch horror movies though; anything else and he’ll leave. He especially likes gory horror movies. If you're scared, he may or may not let you hold onto him during jumpscares. 🙂

[liveforjeongin]

Heyy you, saw you are taking requests and had an idea. Ler changbin and lee han with 9,7,10 from prompts #2

Something like, jisung woke up in a major lee mood and let's say he has Tumblr and left he's phone open with a tickle fanfic, changbin found it and decided to help him with his mood

Okay soo that's a small idea i have you don't need to use it if u don't want to or don't need it

Soo that's it..

Have a lovely day/night <3

A Little Help

I TOTALLY LOVE THIS IDEA

Thanks for the request anon<3

-tickle fic, if you don't like that you can keep scrolling

requested by: anon

warnings: some swearing words, a bit too long I'm so sorry

Prompt 7, list #2: “All you need to do is ask.”

Prompt 9, list #2: “Are you...blushing?”

Prompt 10, list #2: “I can’t say it!”

➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷

Jisung woke up like it was a normal day, but this time there was something different...

Oh no...

He woke up in an intense lee mood. He needed tickles so badly that if someone doesn't tickle him right now he wouldn't be able to be a functional human being for the next week

What to do now? Ask for tickles? Impossible, Jisung could barely say the word and, knowing how teasy the members are, he wouldn't risk being teased 24/7 from now on

So he just went for the safe option, Tumblr, his total savior

But this time it didn't work

In fact, it just made it worse

Fuck, now what?

It's not like Jisung had too many options, so he just kept scrolling and scrolling through Tumblr tickle posts. Eventually, even though he just woke up, he fell asleep with his phone on and Tumblr opened

It was nothing to panic about, it's not like in that exact moment, just before the phone's screen blocked since it had passed too much time without being used, a member comes in and takes his phone of his hand to let him sleep better and looks at his Tumb-

"Hannieeeee! You awake?" Changbin entered Jisung's room yelling. Fortunately, this didn't wake up the quokka, but the image of Han sleeping melted Changbin's heart, how could he look so cute?

Changbin smiled for himself when he saw Hannie sleeping so peacefully, but then he noticed Jisung's phone on his hand, and approached to him to take it and just leave it on Jisung's nightstand

But in the moment Changbin took Jisung's phone, couldn't help but notice the app Hannie was on... Tumblr?

He had heard of that app, but never really understood for what it was, and, honestly, didn't give it any importance at his dongsaeng having it

Until he noticed what kinda posts were on Jisung's following content...

Tickles?

What?

Saying Changbin was surprised was nothing compared to how he was actually feeling

It's not like he despised his dongsaeng, it was actually the opposite, he found it really cute, it's just that he thought Jisung actually hated when someone tickles him, but second thought... He never told anyone to stop when they were tickling him...

Huh

Changbin decided to just leave Jisung's phone on his nightstand as he had planned, leave him sleep in peace and keep that new discovering he did about his dongsaeng for himselft, maybe he could give him a little help later...

A couple hours later, Jisung woke up again

In the worst lee mood he has ever been

Why is life so unfair?

Complaining mentally about how unfair it is to not have tickles on a day like this, Hannie went out of his room and headed to the living room, where Changbin was.

Jisung sat on the couch next to his hyung, resting his head on his shoulder, a lot tired yet

"Good morning, hyung" Han waved Changbin in a sleepy tone, it was clear he slept too much that morning...

"Good morning, Hannie, tired still?" Changbin waved back, smiling down at him

"Yeah..." Jisung muttered with a yawn

Changbin chuckled at him "Don't fall asleep again or you're wake up even more tired"

"Mmmm... You're right" Jisung muttered and sat straight on the couch, fighting in opening his eyes to drive away his tireness

When Jisung seemed... Less asleep, Changbin decided to finally confront him about what he saw on his phone

"So... Hannie... You know you fell asleep with your phone on your hand?" Changbin started

That practically woke Jisung up completely immediately

"Ummmmm... Yeah? What's with that?" replied, the nervousness could feel on his voice

"You were on an app. What's its name....? Tumblr or something?"

Shit

That could not be happening

It had to be a dream, right?

Well, it wasn't

"Uhhh... I-"

"What's a lee?"

Oh no

"W-Well... Y-You see..." Jisung tried to think of a credible excuse, but it was useless since Changbin seemed to know everything by now

"I-It's... Someone that... L-Likes being t-t-tickled" Hannie answered, having some problems to say the feared tword, blushing slightly and looking everywhere but at his hyung

"Ohhh, I see. And I'm guessing a lee mood is when one of these.... lees wants to be tickled, am I right?" Changbin said that so casually that was too flustered for the younger

"Y-Yeah..."

"And I'm guessing that's the mood you're having right now, isn't it?" Changbin asked with a teasy smile

Jisung blushed the brightest red ever, how was he supposed to answer that?

"Y-Yeah..." Han answered, extremely red

"Are you... Blushing?" Changbin teased as smirked down at him and overthrowed him on the couch, sitting on his hips

"W-WAIT HYUng what are you doing?"

"I'm helping you a little... Wasn't this what you wanted?"

Jisung blushed even more if that was possible, and nodded slowly with his head

"Good. Now, Hannie, all you need to do is ask~"

"W-Wait what?" Jisung's eyes widened at that

"You heard me. If you want tickles, you'll have to ask for them~" Changbin was really having fun teasing Jisung over here...

"H-Hyung... Please don't make me say it... I can't... I can't say it!" Jisung gave Changbin his best puppy eyes, hoping that convinces him

Unfortunately for him, it didn't work

"Awwww, but you'll have to say it if you want your tickles~ Come on! It's not so hard"

"Yes it is hard" Jisung said, pouting at his hyung

"Your cute faces and pouts are not convincing me of anything... You're gonna have to ask, Hannie~" Changbin teased him, pinning his arms above his head, making the younger way more flustered "I'm not doing anything until you ask for it~"

Han encouraged himself enough to try to say it, sighing before talking "Changbin hyung... P-Please t-t-ti-ckle me..." finally got to say

Changbin smirked down at him "Ohh, of course Hannie~" Changbin didn't waste a single second and immediately went for Jisung's bellybutton, his worst spot, making the poor kid go crazy

"NOHOHOHOHOHO, WAIHIHIHIHIT WAHAHAHAHIT HYUHUHUHUNG HYUHUHUHUUUUUNG NOT THERE HYUNG PLEHEHEHEASEEEEE"

"Aw please~ You literally asked for this, you can't stop it too soon~"

"BUHUHUHUHUT YOU CAN'T GO ON WOHOHOHORST SPOT THIS SOHOHOHHOON! THAT'S CHEHEHEHEHEHEATING HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Changbin chuckled at his dongsaeng, finding him extremely adorable "Alright, fine, you're right" moved to his sides instead. Still too ticklish for Hannie, but not as much as before

"You're having fun, Hannie?" Changbin teased him while absolutely wrecking him

"HAHAHAHAHA YEHEHEHES!" Jisung said without thinking, overwhelmed by the tickles, blushing the second he realized what he just said

Changbin just smiled at him while tickling him, he was happy knowing he was able to make Jisung this happy

After some more minutes of absolutely being wrecked by Changbin, Jisung decided that was enough

"ALRIHIHIHIHIHIGHT HYUNG STOP NOW PLEHEHEHEASE!" Han said through his laughter, making the older chuckle as he got off of him

"How was that? Good enough for you?"

Jisung was breathing hard with the biggest smile on his face, he couldn't think so well so just rested his head on his hyung's lap and said "That was the best, thank you so much, hyung" Jisung said with his eyes closed and extremely tired

Changbin just stroked his hair while smiling at him "Anytime, Hannie"

Jisung fell asleep... Once again, but hey! Who wants to have a productive day when you can just have some tickles, right?

➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷➷

OKAY I'M NOT SO SURE ABOUT THIS ONE BUT I KINDA LIKED IT AND I HOPE YOU TOO😭

[exploredawhatifs]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you @xottan for the tag!!! This beginner is humbled and honored that you'd think to tag me so ended up doing this instead of sleeping.

How many works do you have on ao3?

(4) in my heart; (6) according to ao3. The first (3) were meant to be one thing, but I didn’t know better. Thought a series would tie them together as one unit more than it actually did.

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

157,510… I have mixed feelings about this. I love writers who have an economy of words so I suspect proper editing would cut that crazy number down, but I don't have a proper editing process.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Marvel Cinematic Universe and Sherlock with an eye towards some anime one day

4. Top five fics by kudos

By pure kudo count, the top three go to the three parts of the

For Appearance’s Sake series (Frostiron) followed by

The Doctor’s Choices (a Johnlock WIP) and

Bend Thee Aghast Challenge (a Frostmaster WIP)

but the kudo rank is nearly identical to the posting dates so with only a four month Ao3 career, I’m not sure kudos is a fair way to judge the work

5.Do you respond to comments?

I do now! @lokislonelylady helped me get over the initial comment response fear and I’m forever grateful. Writing and posting also gave me more confidence to leave comments for others’ works and @xottan was the first writer to respond at length. That was a game changer. I didn’t expect responses and still don’t, but it was nice to feel a connection (thank you!!), so now I make it a point to respond to any comments I get as soon as I can or at least before the next post. I don’t get many so it’s easy enough

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Angsty… maybe Unbinding (part three of that first series)? I was told the last part was a bit depressing before the comfort hit.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uh… only 2 works have an actual ending so far… but I suspect The Doctor’s Choices will be the happiest ending of what I have in the works.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not on the fics itself, not yet. More for not knowing what I’m doing, like tagging. The first version of tagging for For Appearance’s Sake series was a mess. Also for not understanding the ship I first ventured into. 

9. Do you write smut?

Ehm. Yes. Not sure that I'm particularly good at it, probably not but I only have one story that’s not explicit/dark, and that was just for a therapy assignment.

10. Craziest crossover?

None as of yet

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not yet. It’s early

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but that sounds cool.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not yet. I’ve never even had a beta reader… collabs sounds interesting. 

14. All time favorite ship?

Great question. This one is hard. It was Johnlock for a long time. I started reading in the MCU eight months ago, and the MCU has so many creative pairings that I’m just confused. That said, based on the various works in progress and ideas popping in my head, it must be Frostiron at the moment.

15. What’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

None. This question prompted me to go fix what I hated about the wip and so, I'm good. I consider Fools’ Scheme a work in progress. Technically, it functions well enough as part 2 in the series in terms of moving the plot along, but considering the whole thing suddenly deviated to an emotional, happy ending, that middle part really needs some emotions massaged into make it work better with part 3, but emotionss are so hard.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I’d love to say action with a bit of world building, but who knows? It’s hard to judge your own work, and based on the comments from the English professor in college��� this ESL kid was barely understandable.

Realistically, the strength I can confidently talk about is speed. Based on the past four months, I average about 1200 words an hour when at a computer; 600 an hour on my phone (though to be fair, usually when I’m writing on the phone… I’m also supposed to be doing something else… like work). Makes me question my career choice (zero writing involved in my day job). With this writing speed, I really would have been making bang during Dickenson’s day where writers got paid per word.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Emotionsss. How other writers put emotions on paper is beyond me.  I do okay with fear and anger but the feels? like love and sadness? Absolute crap, and I don’t know that it will get better since the moment my writing starts down that path, I nope out of there so fast that I’m done writing for that day or it pours out of me in an unfiltered melodrama that I can't imagine anyone wants to read and I’m a wreck for half a week.

Other than that, choppiness. I focus so much on the action and plot that some of it comes out short and action, action, action without the why... this is especially true because my adhd has me jumping from scene to scene or even story to story as I write. Literally Johnlock for ten minutes, then it’s Frostmaster for a paragraph, jump to two separate Frostirons I have going on in the back, and a random Loki & Nebula that’s brewing before jumping back to Johnlock. =.=;;; my brain…

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Yesss. It would be fun to do it in the way Groot is handled in the MCU.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

MCU - Tony Stark/Loki, though it was without even understanding what Frostiron was. I must have read like five Tony Stark/Loki before jumping into writing an unplanned novel, and in all of them, Tony was pretty mean to some weak version of Loki. My fix was to make Loki a bit stronger so that he could send Tony to prison… turns out most people in Frostiron sees them together. Halfway through writing them, I suddenly realized why;;; They’re so alike.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

It varies from moment to moment. Literally, it’s the fic I’m working on and since the last thing I typed is Let’s do ‘Just a slave’, (Thor & Loki) that is the one at the moment, even if it was a therapy assignment. 

It’s not representative of my usual stuff but I did manage to write it in a single sitting of three hours and found it fun, so I guess it counts.

***done!***

Well, that was interesting. More challenging and fun than I had imagined.

Tagging someone: I also tag @lokislonelylady, though, like @xottan says, no pressure. Don’t know if you can even write until you’re fully healed. Sending my love and gratitude either way! Honestly, there should be an amazing commenters’ version of this because @lokislonelylady , you brighten people's day with your comments! I have learned to comment just as much thanks to you.

And while there's really no reason anyone else will stumble on my tumblr, but if you do and you’re writer, consider yourself tagged! (if you want)

[feralkwe]

ship ask game. pre-relationship 5, general 10 and 12, + 7 and 10 for domestic? pick whatever ship you want lol

so i was gonna do a different ship, but you have an elidibus avatar, i have an elidibus avatar. let's not be coy. you are all gonna unfollow me if i don't get other interests soon.

let's go!

I - 5: what would their lives be like if they had never met?

this one is very funny to me, given that he's an essential part of the plot on at least three occasions and she functions to stop him in it. i imagine if they hadn't met, there wouldn't be much world left. tho, idk maybe she'd have survived it all and come out the other side of all the rejoinings fully intact. huh. wow. i have to think on that one a bit. ope.

II - 10: What are their parallels, whether in their personalities or their histories?

oh i love this one. idk who would ever sit and draw all the parallels between the wol and elidibus. that certainly could not be me. i would never think about the fact that they both consider their duty to the world the top priority even over the personal self. i absolutely spent zero hours thinking about how they both love the world enough to sacrifice everything to save it. and, if i'm honest, i've never noticed that they're both a little obsessed with one another over the course of their bizarre twists of fate.

i like to think meeting the wol in the past influenced elidibus as he went forward as warrior of light. kit certainly pressed onward to see the world saved in part because she knew what he sacrificed to give her that chance. i also h/c that kit being a warrior inspired him in his paladin form, but you're not here for my silly lore headcanons. i also think his choice to possess ardbert was strategic as part of that obsession.

for kit's part, she never really recovered from what she had to do in sos, which is a nice paper cut that pandae poured lemon juice all over.

II - 12: do they hide anything from each other, big or small?

before setting off to elpis, elidibus warned her that she could not use these little jaunts through time to change the events of the past or influence the future. so obviously when they meet for pandae, she doesn't tell him what she knows. right or wrong, it is a choice she made out of what she saw as a duty to the world. that's okay lol because he totally thought she believed his ruse too, right? those are equal things, for sure! so initially, yes, they were both keeping pretty big secrets. arguably hers is much worse.

i think in a world where they were allowed to be together that honesty would be a big thing. kit dislikes lies, and lying seems counter to the fundamentals of who themis/elidibus is. they will both do so out of necessity, but if we're dealing with a world that isn't tearing them apart and making them mortal enemies, no, i don't think they would hide anything from one another.

IV - 7: who worries the most?

oh, i'm pretty sure this yoke is bore evenly. it's just who they both are, imo. my god, will someone invent therapy?

IV - 10: who is more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

well that is a disgustingly cute question that is gonna take me back to that 'in perfect world where they actually get to be together' place. my initial gut was to say kit, because elidibus is too duty-bound, but uhhhh i established in fic that he considers her the one exception to always putting his duty first. him. it would be him. "just five more minutes to cuddle, pls. no, the convocation won't miss me. it's fine. i can be late. only nabriales will complain. he can go fuck himself."

i'm so cringe. please take me out back and shoot me.

thanks for the ask! i'm almost sorry i'm a one-trick pony right now. almost.

ship ask game questions here.

[dave-cobb]

LUCY LAVERICK HIRSCH, 5/10/40 - 7/11/24 My mother, Lucy Laverick Hirsch has passed away at 84. I was in the ER with her when she left us.

She developed extreme Osteoarthritis in her hips and shoulders and had been having mobility issues for the last six years, including a spinal compression fracture. These issues accelerated over last two years with her being unable to walk more than a short distance or stand without discomfort. On Friday, June 27th she woke in severe pain, unable to stand up or walk at all, and went to the ER who evaluated her physical condition and transferred her into a skilled nursing facility.

She was there for two weeks, with no change in her mobility. While her memory had been declining the last few years, it had been getting noticeably worse the last few months, with a sharp decrease in her mental acuity while in the skilled nursing facility. In the last few days, she’d also been fighting some sort of rapid chest infection, which is what ultimately made her body shut down completely on Thursday, July 11th 2024 at 12:44pm; she was heavily sedated and sleeping when her body finally succumbed.

Her passing was a release to her, definitly a burden lifted — it happened quickly, without pain or prolonged suffering.

Per Lucy’s wishes, there will be no memorial service. In lieu of flowers or condolences, we hope that her passing can shed light on and help de-stigmatize Borderline Personality Disorder — a mental health diagnosis that Lucy sadly rejected and unfortunately never sought treatment for. I truly believe she would have been happier had she been able to seek help. You can make a donation in her name to Emotions Matter, a non-profit resource for families impacted by BPD: https://emotionsmatterbpd.org

____________

Upon her passing, my feelings about her are, to say the least, complicated. Any grief I have about losing her was processed a long time ago, alongside a decade of therapy trying to understand and accept a mental illness that she denied and never sought treatment for. While I had managed to establish a boundary that enabled me to have a functional relationship with her, she was never the mother I wanted or needed. I have a lot of anger and resentment about her decades of emotional abuse; that’s not to mention her decades of serious financial irresponsibility as well, which was a burden to both of her husbands, and ultimately me. She had pushed pretty much everyone in her family away, spent all of her money, and I was the last man standing.

I’ve pushed through years of painful therapy to really understand that her behavior was largely beyond her control and came from a place of fear and deep depression. She was a very unhappy woman, who took out her unhappiness on the people closest to her, while putting on a happy, likable face to the rest of the world.

Jason and I have spent the past seven years trying to make sure she was safe and comfortable amidst her limited mobility, even amongst constant, ongoing patterns of gaslighting and lashing out. I had resigned myself over the last few years to hold both truths: that my feelings for her involve a lot of pain, and that she’s also a human being to whom I can offer grace and dignity as she passes.

It’s been awkward when people console me during all of this — I’m not particularly sad, and I feel pangs of guilt when people expect me to be sad. It’s too complicated to fill in all the blanks with people, so I am trying to be gracious. But it weighs on me.

She was completely sedated with her in the ER for about four hours. Hilarious side note: I put on a movie on the hospital room TV to pass the time until she was gone, thinking I picked something light and innocuous and dumb with A DOG’S PURPOSE — which was absolutely the wrong choice and I was a total sobbing mess but for all the wrong reasons? Forced catharsis perhaps? Regardless, the stupid dog movie helped.

Eventually I started softly whispering to her, “it’s okay, you can let go now, don’t be scared.” I gasped as I literally watched her vitals start to drop slowly as I kept talking to her softly and gently, encouraging her to move on. “You can let go now. It’s time.”

I even joked with her, “and you know, you were a total pain in the ass.”

I don’t believe in an afterlife — so I don’t mourn her loss, but instead mourn that she had a lifetime of pain and confusion. I mourn that I never truly had an authentic mother-son relationship, but rather had to craft myself into a theoretical “good son” version of me that fit her mercurial needs. I mourn not really having positive family memories with her, but only ongoing drama and heartache that, as the “good son”, I often had to placate and soothe.

As I kept speaking to her softly and watched her vitals nearing zero, I said “I hope you can find peace.”

I truly hope that my mother actually heard me and somehow found peace when she passed.

I know I finally have.

[dianagj-art]

Hello again!

I did this lil silly survey a long while ago :)

I wanted to ask if you would mind to answer a few of my questions again :3

If not, that's totally fine! No pressure!

How many hours do you sleep per night?

How many hours are enough to get through the day and how many are a lot for your standard?

Is caffein (in any form) part of your morning routine or your 'last resort'?

How do you feel over the day before and after consuming caffein (if you consume any)?

For example: sluggish, foggy, awake, exhausted, grumpy, just tired, etc.

Thank you a lot for (maybe) participating!

If you want, I can add you when I post the results, but I can also leave you out :)

hiii!!!

-8 or 9 in a good day

-If you mean minumum hrs to function like 4, but to actually feel good enough to do stuff with 7-8 hrs. I dont have "too much for my standar" bc I love to sleep and sometimes I sleep up to 12 hrs on weekends

-Coffee is not my morning routine, but is my mom's and I like how it tastes so, if she makes some I also get some

-It doesnt really affect how I feel trought the day

I love these little surveys so pls do tag me<3

[potterandpromises]

sorry for not winning you an arcade ring: chapter 8

Mabel and Theo spend the morning together. [Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]

Also on AO3

(Picks up the morning after the last chapter.)

With a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, Mabel leaves her room in search of water.

Theo's curled up on the couch, facing inward, all too vulnerable for this building. She watches him for a beat too long.

He stirs. Her cheeks redden.

She opens the fridge and checks behind a container of leftovers for something cold, briefly considers the gut milk. 13% alcohol. It could still be a hangover cure, right? maybe? No sense chancing it, though. She's getting married tomorrow. The rehearsal is today. 48 hours from now, it'll all be over, the killer brought to justice.

(Unless something goes horribly wrong, of course.)

Mabel had sort of forgotten how last night ended: alone, fitful, embarrassing. Theo said something to her, a mystery for after the mystery is solved. The online English-to-ASL dictionary she uses has a reverse search function. She'll start there, investigate her two hunches: playful insult, or endearment.

She fills a glass of water, drinks it down, fills it again.

Behind her, Theo groans, eases himself off the couch.

They lock eyes and his unguarded neutrality turns to sheepishness. She won't ask, not today.

She sets her glass down on the counter. “Good morning," she signs.

“Good morning.”

"You can..." She gestures vaguely in the direction of the fridge and pantry.

He nods, and it's only a little awkward. She meant what she said: after tomorrow, she'll stop asking him for unreasonable favors that lead to him sleeping on her couch in his blue jeans. (But, her brain helpfully reminds her, he could have simply rode the elevator six floors down. It wouldn't have been hard. Or they could have shared; she wouldn't have minded. Unfortunately.)

She starts the coffee. Theo shuffles around her, his hair still ruffled from sleep. She's got to stop letting her gaze linger too long. Or not. Maybe she doesn't have to.

He pours himself a bowl of cereal. She sips her coffee; burnt.

“Do you ever think,” she starts tentatively, “about what it would have been like if we’d been friends as kids?”

He looks at her for a long moment, expression totally unreadable, which is rare for him. “Z-O-E would still be dead.” Her chest tightens. “I think.”

“I’m not talking about Z-O-E.”

Mabel’s wondered, more then once, if they could have been friends back then. She knew who he was, sort of, saw him trailing behind his father. Her aunt informed her of his deafness and she had not considered friendship a possibility, had almost not thought of him at all.

They’d had more in common then they could have known. Mabel and Tim solving mysteries, Theo living out a conspiracy. The Hardy Boys breaking into their neighbors’ apartments while Theo stole from the dead. Or, she realizes, he probably did know those things about her.

As a kid, as a teenager, she'd been an awful detective. She'd never imagined, even in the safety of storytelling, that something unusual and dangerous had been going on in his life.

If she had known, had figured it out or been told in some alternate life, what then? Could even just the second half of the tragedy been prevented? The truth is, if they'd gotten in each other’s way like her and Tim did, she doesn’t think she would have had the patience to either learn ASL or communicate in other ways. Maybe it takes being 29 to really know each other. That’s a cold comfort.

"I don't think we’d be here." Theo spoons cereal into his mouth, chews thoughtfully.

“We don’t know that.”

“No, we don’t.” But he gives her a long look that suggests high confidence in his guess.

Of course she would prefer a universe where Zoe did not fall and Oscar did not go to prison, either because Theo never crossed paths with any of the Hardy Boys or because he was one of them. (Somehow, she does think that would have made a difference, through the power of friendship or some such bullshit.) She would take her resurrections, Zoe and Tim, over this new relationship. But the thought carves a pit in her stomach and no one's offering a trade.

She pours herself a bowl of the same cereal Theo’s eating, and sits down across from him.

This can’t be it. This can't be almost over.

[factorialsotherfandoms]

A breakdown of character appearances and hybrids and stuff in qsmpxcomau for @rabbit-harpist

As fair warning I can't easily summarise the eggs and don't have drawing spoons rn so um... ask me for specific eggs if you want one and I'll do my best <3

In the context of the au, 'human' means any human or hybrid. (These are mostly based on common stuff I see around fandom. but only speak English so shh). Generally for things like hair their cubitos are a good shout.

General wear is like... armour for missions, then it depends. For truly casual hours (think the Brazilians in France) they do have their own clothes - at least a few changes - but anyone who does combat stuff tends to sleep and hang out in jumpsuits. Because the armour just goes over them, and everyone is on call 24/7. The exception is the non-combat people, some of whom still wear them. They do come in many colours at least! And some of them have decorated with embroidery.

Own clothes are mostly in the region of modern clothing. I'll pop some NPC screenshots below for vibes and the like.

If they're being undercover or around civilians, trench coats, jeans, hoodies, big workboots - think like.. cyberpunk but then take all the cool neon strips away when they're somewhere they can't relax but need to look normal.

Under cut is notes on specific people, then also a bunch of reference images

Notes for individuals:

Antoine - just... Okay you know those fan designs for him where there's the cube with faces on and the rest is a flesh coloured slightly torn up at the bottom all the way around cloak and what's underneath is a mass of black shadows? That. He basically looks like if a Mimikyu tried to make a human suit with a changable expression hat. Don't worry about it I'm sure he's a perfectly normal and lovely person and did I mention he has a cult?

Aypierre - a dude. I really like the robot extra arms headcanon I see around, but he only really uses those in the lab. Both for higher stability and to handle dangerous substances. Lab coat in the lab, jeans and knitwear (Gegg shirt is now a knited jumper) vibes casual hours. Heavy scarring on the back of his head, much like Felps', but much more obvious as shorter hair.

Baghera - is... not strictly a hybrid, but lets call her one. Human shaped, but all of her skin is covered in yellow feathers, and she actually kinda has two mouths. She has a fully functional bird beak, behind which is not her throat but a normal human mouth. Everyone calls her a high-expression duck hybrid but, um, yeah no. She has wings, but they're clearly badly stunted.

Bagi - cat hybrid, but she doesn't have ears or a tail, only retractable claws. Wears big trench coats and hats or hoods, and while out working always brings a gas mask. Her eyes also reflect like a cats, though the shape is normal. Just likes big and loose clothing generally. A strong believer in many layers.

BBH - demon. Legit just a demon. He cannot really hide he's demonic given the pure black skin is demon-only trait, but he claims he's just a couple of generations down from a demon and a human having a kid together. Big hoods, even in casual wear.

Cellbit - cat hybrid. No those aren't cat ears, shut the fuck up. (They totally are, and that's a tail, and unlike his sister he can't even claw you - he used to be able to, but when he 'joined' the Federation they forcibly and surgically declawed him, and there's scars on his hands from it). His goggles are a Tazercraft special and have all sorts of access to various feeds and tv stations and infrared view. Heavy scarring he can and does keep under his clothing. Friendship bracelet worn around his ankle and in his boots instead. Goes in a safety box if doing anything very dangerous. When using psionic powers, his eyes go red. The level of red scales with the strength of the power, unlike Tazercraft where it's just very colour or not. Roier's jacket is slightly too big for him and usually either worn or around his waist.

Dan - really was just a guy, poor dude.

ElQuackity - Scroll down to Quackity. They're identical twins, ElQuackity just prefers suits and smirking. Doesn't have scars. Like suspiciously few scars everyone has at least a couple here or there, simply from life, except for him.

Etoiles - yes the cucumber thing. Plant hybrid because it's fucking cool okay??? Grows flowers in the spring, but they're extremely vulnerable and tend to get knocked off him easily. Tends to wear a full helmet when fighting because he throws himself around and likes having to worry less about head injuries.

Felps - is almost a generic just a dude as Dan. Has heavy scarring at the base of his neck thanks to the surgery to remove the implant. It's mostly hidden between his very thick hair and his neck tattoos. This is a thing from, well, the coma story onwards. When working in the command room uses in-ear headphones and wears a stabproof vest. It's not a lot of armour, but he can't handle full and they're not expecting problems there, everyone's just comfier if he wears it. Almost certainly has scarring on the back of his hands and insides of his arms and at his shoulder from the IVs while he was in a coma. While away in France was probably in a cute dress Festa Junina style. Friendship bracelet was stolen by aliens :( (Cellbit has it though. Once he gets it back, it's always there and on display). Various tattoos you know how it is.

Fit - biologically only human and there's no specific feature you can pin it on, but there's something clearly off about him. Scars everywhere, but the heaviest scarring is around his left shoulder, and across his chest. Heavy burns, usually hidden. Prosthetic left arm, made with scrap and junk rather than good quality materials. Scarring gets heavier as plot progresses - they do have means to minimise scarring, but they don't work well on him.

Foolish - Shark thing is too fun. Little feet and wrist fins, though the head is just a hat (one he uses to cover his gills as too much exposure to air upsets them). Skin varies between the smooth grey of sharks and a golden metallicy texture. In universe nobody knows what that means (totems no longer exist, but he still has a bit of their blood in him from many many generations ago. The shark component made it stand out). His features also look oddly flat to the human eye.

Forever - a very pretty guy, but a guy. There might be some trace of something elven or fey in his ancestry, but if there is he doesn't know it. He's given up on formal wear when conducting operations, choosing stuff that's easy to run in and wash instead. Loose trousers, good boots, shirt he only needs to undo the top few buttons to take on and off - has to look presentable to their allies. Rather than a jacket will usually be wearing something in the order of a bullet or stab proof vest. Much like Felps isn't in the field so isn't taking the good armour, but given position and what's happened in the past isn't comfortable without something. Friendship bracelet worn usually openly, but under gloves to keep it safe if it risks being damaged. Has a USB stick on a necklace chain he wears under his shirt, containing both the most secret info of the group and digital versions of photos of his family. Various tattoos, mostly arms.

IronMouse - actual demon, perfectly happy to admit it. She's also PsiOps so while they /want/ her in armour, she has been known to magically reinforce her cute dress when needed for something and doesn't have time to change. Just wears what she likes, doesn't bother with the jumpsuits. If she has time to change she will, if not you get her as she is.

Jaiden - bluebird hybrid. Has the lovely toned wings, though they're a bit too small to fly with. Perfectly healthy size, just she didn't develop that trait. Normal bones, too. Does not believe in sleeves, largely because she finds armour on her arms obstructive and blood in fabric uncomfortable. Blood just on skin is her preference - if its acidic it'd get in the armour anyway. Nobody's happy about this, but like, are you going to stop the woman with the highest kill count? Off duty if its cold she will wear a hoodie, specially adjsted for wings. Heavy tattooing on her arms.

Luzu - Jeans and hoodie guy. Mostly looks normal, unless you squint too hard and realise his one visible eye is cybernetic and there's something very slightly off about the way he moves his jaw. Incidentally, sometimes that eye changes colour - and at the same time it does, the colour of the lights on his little flying helper robot also sway.

Mariana - looks mostly human, though there's light, pale cream feathering around his ears. He's called a dove hybrid for it, but it's not quite right... Leather jacket with lovingly applied patches.

Maxo - just a guy, but sunglasses. Always looks exhausted even hiding his eyes. None of the group (except ElQuackity, and Forever on meeting days) are especially neat, but Max is extremely scruffy. Likes his collars to stick up, covers his lower face with a bandana while on mission, keeps his hair in a messy bun. Keeps a locket and many changes of pairs of gloves.

Mike - pink hair, you know how it goes. Likes his bright colours and shorts and lab coats while around and about, is much more restrained when fighting. He likes having a body. A bit of scarring, but most of hs damage is internal. His and Pac's friendship bracelets broke, so they combined the beads and take it in turns to wear it. Mike wears it as a necklace. There's nothing paticularly special species wise. Usually just like. Brown eyes. When he uses psionic powers more complex than telepathy, they glow green. If Pac is in his body (and therefore using psionics to be there) one eye turns blue. If Mike isn't in his body at al but Pac is, both eyes are blue. If nobody's there even slightly, pass out time. If they're perfectly in synch to the point they should be considered one entity in two bodies, both have the grey-green-blue of aquamarines (think like when they were heisting right before Mike was kidnapped for timing). After his kidnapping he has claw scars scraped down the left side of his face, and just spots where the claws dug in over his right temple.

Missa - Skeleton hands! Acid is a problem but immune to most poisons on his hands. It probably spreads elsewhere, but he likes to keep himself covered up. Big hood, skull pattern tattooed on his face which he sometimes uses facepaint to decorate the skull. His armour is a purpley blue and painted with a skeleton over it. Does also have a skull mask, though it's too fragile to wear in combat. The facial tattooing is to cover up heavy scarring, which becomes obvious if you look closer. And, well, being part skeleton was an obvious choice. Post-plot there's heavy burn scaring reaching from his belly button to his left shoulder, and slightly on his neck. But, not until the very very last mission (Leviathan). Until then his scars are smaller. Actually has very sensitive pads on his feet.

Pac - Hoods, even when on mission. Hides in them. Turtlenecks or scarves, too. Blue is his favourite, jeans are his friend. If its hot he might wear less, but he'd much rather keep on his hoodie over a turtlenecked shirt. Left leg is prosethetic, custom built by him and Mike. He actually has a couple of prostheses of different designs for different purposes. A more comfortable everyday one, one suited to difficult terrain, a running one, one built of acid and fire resistant materials, etc. Mike makes him more out of scrap as a way of showing affection. When he has the friendship bracelet he loops it a few times around his wrist - or ankle if he's doing lab work. Prefers trainers, does boots for heavy work like missions. See Mike notes for eyes - normally brown, his psionics colour is blue. After he nearly dies has burn scarring most places, heaviest up his left side and across his back.

Philza - crow hybrid. Very high expression, having large enough wings for flight, hollowed bones in his wings, spine, and hips, some feathering around his ears. Wings could fly except that they are visibly damaged. It's hard to tell what, but the feathers are messy and he clearly struggles for the strength to keep them up (the feathers cover large scarring, but did manage to gorw back through). The hat cannot be lost, neither the emerald or the charity ribbon. He ties the ribbon to hs armour when fighting. For fighting he has a veil on his hat. He's also one of the first to pull out gas mask during fighting, because his theoretical ability to fly leaves him more vulnerable to certain toxins. (When all is said and done and with the right combos of surgery and physio he will be able to short flights again, but not as far as he used to. And they'll always be sensitive. And not until the aliens are gone and not without a lot of research.) Does the perching when he thinks.

Quackity - ducky. The little wings in his hair you get in some fanart as I adore it. Also wings - actual duck wings while the hair ones are yellow - but a little smaller than Jaiden's. Tracksuit with slightly too small trousers and a much too big jacket vibes. He keeps the gunshot scarring on his chest very hidden, though there are also clear places his feathers were plucked and failed to grow back. Does not remember what the injuries were from. Smilier than his twin.

Roier - spider hybrid! Almost as obvious as the birds and their wings is the fact he has six eyes. His two central ones are the largest, while thinner ones above and below. The bottom ones curve upwards along his cheekbones, and are a little chunkier than those above.When on assassin duty he kept to thick but tight fitting clothing. He still prefers it now, though his red jacket was given to Cellbit once he found the guy again. While Mike has claw scars which go down his face, Roier has some which go across.

Slimecicle - just a gloopy guy. Slime hybrid. As he's a hybrid not a slime he looks mostly person, except his skin is able to secrete slime. Generally it doesn't, bu does if he gets scared or stressed or too hot. Really intolerant to temperature changes - cold makes him seize up, and hot makes him unable to get up as his muscles jelly a bit and he gloops all over the floor. Despite looking funny, it can be extremely dangerous for him. Clothing he prefers things that stay cool - thin t-shirt, some shorts, he'll just grab Mariana's jacket if he gets cold.

Spreen - bear hybrid. High expression. Has the ears, but also much of him is covered in black fur. Claws. Joins Max in the sunglasses club.

Tina - demon pretending to be a goat hybrid, keeping her horns ground down. They don't have nerves so it doesn't hurt, but it is uncomfortable with the vibrations into her skull. Likes cute pastel colours, and likes how blood splatters on them.

Vegetta - does not believe in shirts, and has the scars on his chest to prove it. I'm sorry I'm at the bottom of the list and bored now >.<

Walter Bob & Fred do not take off their armour. I'll include a sample of what it looks like below. (Fred leads their group, Walter Bob stopped by once for a mission and can be called again but stays with his group)

Wilbur - he's just a guy in knittwear and jeans and maybe suspiciously pale and hungry, but he's got a guitar and he'll sing for you.

Screenshot time! Options are very limited in the character maker but like. For the vibes.

First some NPC stuff:

Then our three Chosen, left to right Hunter, Warlock, Assassin (internet can find full images I guess)

A Reaper (AKA Bagi's class) in full combat getup (just normal looking person under mask and all)

Skirmisher (renamed Deserter in this), so Walter Bob/Fred/Ron etc

Now some screenshots from my game not just cutscenes and renders!

Missa and Roier in the common room, with Cellbit and someone at the back

An extremely busy infirmary at... some point in the game?

I'm preeeeetty sure is Mike and Felps hanging in the command centre, but unsure on the Felps there's no many customisation options so he's just generic black haired guy there

Baghera and Mouse at the training range

Fit and Jaiden at the front, Foolish and maybe BBH (unsure couldn't make a demon at all) in the middle, I think Tina and someone at the bar

Commander's Quarters, a bit nicer than Forever's Office but you get the idea

Just the whole inside of the ship zoomed out, or as much as I could get

Fit showing off armour (late game, mid game, early game in that order)

Roier (human obvs) in "spider suit", special armour I gave him allowing grapples to higher elevations as a free action

Jaiden (late game armour)

BBH attempted with facepaint, with his ghostie in the background (this is the in game design. Only BBH's and Tubbo's use that model. Phil, Mike, and Luzu have custom ones not found in game)

There's no good skull facepaint in game to use as either mask or tattoos, but here's what I mean about Missa's armour being decorated like a skeleton

There's also these which are like... A selection of posters made in game. Some auto-generate at certain points, others I made at the end of missions. Also forgot Max's sunglasses in one but shhh. Just to fill up the max pictures allowance now screenshots for now

Cool screenshot I found

Also please just the position Mike was yeeted into the cell in while captured the poor man (towards left)

[cosmoshard]

Hello again!

I did this lil silly survey a long while ago :)

I wanted to ask if you would mind to answer a few of my questions :3

If not, that's totally fine! No pressure!

How many hours do you sleep per night?

How many hours are enough to get through the day and how many are a lot for your standard?

Is caffein (in any form) part of your morning routine or your 'last resort'?

How do you feel over the day before and after consuming caffein (if you consume any)?

For example: sluggish, foggy, awake, exhausted, grumpy, just tired, etc.

Thank you a lot for (maybe) participating!

If you want, I can add you when I post the results, but I can also leave you out :)

Hmm lets see~

hours per night is usually around 7-9, 9 is perfect amount, 7 is functional, 11 is excessive but only happens in times of sleep deprivation. I’ve survived off of 5 hours before but I can only do that for a couple days before I crash completely.

coffee or caffeine in general is usually a last resort for me, I prefer tea with less caffeine and more flavor options :3 green tea and earl grey are my favs✨

Caffeine is interesting, I don’t experience any hyper energy at all, its more like someone driving over a bumpy road and sliding everywhere, and then after caffeine its like a newly-paved road. Smooth sailing. My mind is reined in and I can finally focus. Unfortunately it only lasts a couple hours before I feel even MORE tired then before😭 I will take a nap after coffee crashes and this is coming from someone who cannot physically nap on a whim.

Thank u for the questions! I love to info dump my weird analysis’s on people :3 u sleep well and have a chaotic good day!

[djpachipikachu]

Hello again!

I did this lil silly survey a long while ago :)

I wanted to ask if you would mind to answer a few of my questions :3

If not, that's totally fine! No pressure!

How many hours do you sleep per night?

How many hours are enough to get through the day and how many are a lot for your standard?

Is caffein (in any form) part of your morning routine or your 'last resort'?

How do you feel over the day before and after consuming caffein (if you consume any)?

For example: sluggish, foggy, awake, exhausted, grumpy, just tired, etc.

Thank you a lot for (maybe) participating!

If you want, I can add you when I post the results, but I can also leave you out :)

woag im part of a sleep study how exciting

1. how many hours do you sleep per night?

per night it varies a Lot ,,, most of the time it seems to be 6-7 hours but i often only sleep 4-5 hours or go 9-11 hours when im given the time

2. how many hours are enough to get through the day and how many are a lot for your standard?

5-6 hours are Enough for me but not like . really well functioning , and a lot would be 9+ hours bc i feel groggier with that much sleep , either way im usually very sleepy no matter what shrugs

3. is caffeine a part of your morning routine?

caffeine doesn’t do anything for me usually so no i dont rly have it

4. how do you feel after consuming caffeine?

i usually feel lightheaded or dizzy

i dont mind being included in the results💪💪 i hope this helps :]

[sewercrocodileart]

Hello again!

I did this lil silly survey a long while ago :)

I wanted to ask if you would mind to answer a few of my questions again :3

If not, that's totally fine! No pressure!

How many hours do you sleep per night?

How many hours are enough to get through the day and how many are a lot for your standard?

Is caffein (in any form) part of your morning routine or your 'last resort'?

How do you feel over the day before and after consuming caffein (if you consume any)?

For example: sluggish, foggy, awake, exhausted, grumpy, just tired, etc.

Thank you a lot for (maybe) participating!

If you want, I can add you when I post the results, but I can also leave you out :)

1.- I sleep between 7 and 9 hours now! (better than the 2 hours I used to sleep because bad dreams)

2.- I'm functional with 5hrs at least! 10hrs is much for my standards plus having naps, is strange for me

3.- No, I don't like drink caffeine when I wake up, I have all the energy I need when I see the sun on the sky jajaja!

Tough I try it when I was studying, doesn't work to wake me up, end more sleepy and with my face on the middle of the street xD

4.- Of the times I try, before just sleepy, after I end more sleepy, tired and more grumpier than usual

And yes please! Want to see the results!

[stephuart]

Hello again!

I did this lil silly survey a long while ago :)

I wanted to ask if you would mind to answer a few of my questions again :3

If not, that's totally fine! No pressure!

How many hours do you sleep per night?

How many hours are enough to get through the day and how many are a lot for your standard?

Is caffein (in any form) part of your morning routine or your 'last resort'?

How do you feel over the day before and after consuming caffein (if you consume any)?

For example: sluggish, foggy, awake, exhausted, grumpy, just tired, etc.

Thank you a lot for (maybe) participating!

If you want, I can add you when I post the results, but I can also leave you out :)

-I roughly get around 6-7 hrs of sleep. I go to bed at 1am then get up at 8am for work. I have insomnia so I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep.

-During my college years, I ran on 2-3 hrs of sleep, now I need at least 5 to be able to function.

-8+ hrs is too much for me, my brain will not allow me to sleep that much.

-I get migraines so I stay away from the stronger stuff like Coffee, Tea, and Energy drinks. But if I really need a boost I just get a soda or eat some chocolate. Not really the best way to start the day, but rather be tired than risk getting a migraine.

- Even with a little energy boost I still usually feel tired, not sleepy just tired.

And go ahead and use this for your post.

[jacazull]

Hello again!

I did this lil silly survey a long while ago :)

I wanted to ask if you would mind to answer a few of my questions again :3

If not, that's totally fine! No pressure!

How many hours do you sleep per night?

How many hours are enough to get through the day and how many are a lot for your standard?

Is caffein (in any form) part of your morning routine or your 'last resort'?

How do you feel over the day before and after consuming caffein (if you consume any)?

For example: sluggish, foggy, awake, exhausted, grumpy, just tired, etc.

Thank you a lot for (maybe) participating!

If you want, I can add you when I post the results, but I can also leave you out :)

Hi again!! I remember you!!! ^^

I totally don't mind~

Hmmmm I wanna say I average at 7 hours, sometimes 6 or 8.

My body literally can't function with less that 5 hours of sleep or I'll be like a zombie. Knowing I have to work and be on my feet usually keeps me going until I get back home.

10 hours or more feels like a lot, my body doesn't let me sleep more than that in one sitting lol.

Caffeine doesn't particularly energize me (it almost puts me to sleep sometimes), so it's not a part of a routine or last resort. I just like the flavor. Energy drinks are also way too sweet for me, so I don't touch those. If I play with a little fidget I can keep myself from yawning though!

I hope this helps your findings!!

[iviarellereads]

Harrow the Ninth, Chapter 29

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For detail on The Locked Tomb coverage and the index, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Third House icon) In which a dinner party is planned.

August holds to his promise to gild Ianthe's arm. Mercy is curious-skeptical of Harrow's mental abilities when she can't even get Duty’s name right, even though Harrow obviously DOES get the name right because she says Ortus, never mind the headaches and nosebleed-feeling when Mercy says it and touches Harrow's head.(1) Mercy declares that she lives "in the worst of all possible worlds."(2)

They lay in Ianthe's bed, not laying together but simply staying together for mutual protection. Harrow asks why Ianthe keeps all the scandalous paintings of the Third House founders in her room, and Ianthe says "It is the type of energy I wish to take into my future".(3)

They discuss the mission to kill the Saint of Duty. Ianthe says if it were up to her he'd already be dead, which Harrow doubts privately.

"The real problem is Teacher. I'm not sure you can kill Ortus quickly enough to avoid Teacher bursting through the wall with a merry, 'Not on my watch!' and bringing him back from a deathblow."(4)

Thus, she relays to Harrow that at her request, Augustine has agreed to distract God so they can kill the Saint of Duty. Harrow is surprised that Augustine would agree to helping kill his brother in arms, but Augustine doesn't particularly like Ortus, and with Ianthe at full function, they can totally take on RB 7. So, Harrow will have an hour after dinner, tomorrow.

They lay down to sleep. Harrow feels overwhelmed by all the pillows, the satin texture of the sheets(5), the breath of anyone else beside her. Ianthe expresses that she hopes Corona is sleeping well, as until Canaan House, they spent only three nights apart, and on one of those, Corona cried so hard she vomited. Harrow says she's never slept with anyone in her life, always alone in the cot in her cell. Ianthe says she'd forgotten that Harrow was a proper nun, and asks how old she really is, given Mercy's exaggerations of her youth. Harrow answers, eighteen. Ianthe says she remembers being eighteen. Harrow reminds her that she's only twenty-two.

Ianthe asks if Harrow still carries all those letters from her former self, and Harrow responds affirmatively, cataloguing the location of each in hollow spaces in her exoskeleton. Ianthe asks if Harrow has any regrets, and Harrow answers no. Ianthe says Harrow was more farsighted than herself, and Harrow thinks that's the highest compliment Ianthe's ever spoken.

Before closing her eyes to sleep, Harrow takes another look at a painting of Cyrus the First's cavalier, and realizes the woman would have died at Canaan House, and Cyrus must have brought these paintings on purpose, to remember her by. Her own cavalier doesn't plague her much, except as a headache in the temples, or in words stuck in her head. She mentally recites some of Ortus's Noniad to herself.

Warrior proud of the Third House! Ride forth now as my sister! Ride we to death, and the proving! Ride we with heads held high; we shall bloody our blades in the foe's heart; death shall we bring the foul ones-- Death shall we win for ourselves, as the prize for our high deeds done on the ash-choked plains of the ravens!

And then she falls asleep.

The next morning, they receive an invitation (on real paper!) to dinner, from Augustine. There's a parody of a makeover montage with Ianthe, during which Ianthe says Naberius was a dab hand at sewing, and she wishes that killing him gave her his needlepoint skill along with his sword.

The worst part was your sudden resemblance to your mother. "I am very satisfied," pronounced Ianthe. You said drearily, "I look like am imbecile." "You look just good enough that I'm proud of my handiwork, but not so good that I'll be consumed with lust and ravish you over the nut bowl," she said. "I walked a fine line, and I walked it admirably. Go and fix your paint; your skull's dribbly."

As an act of protest, Harrow applies the least aesthetically pleasing skull in the canon of Ninth face paint. Ianthe wears a gown that looks like a few layers of gauze, with her Canaanite robe over.

They go to Augustine's quarters for dinner. He reminisces about the old days, when Ulysses was a madman (affectionate and complimentary), and Cassiopeia couldn't hold her drink. Harrow asks him why he agreed to help her kill Ortus. Augustine admits that his brother occasionally forms obsessions from which he cannot be dissuaded, and in just the last forty years(6) he's caused Augustine no end of pain. He says not to worry, Duty will leave first and go to the training room, and Harrow and Ianthe will leave at the signal that they will absolutely recognize but he will not tell them first lest they give away that they're waiting for it. He adds that when he wants Ortus to leave, "he'll be giddy-gone" which doesn't make sense to Harrow.(7)

Mercy arrives next, and August asks if she accepts the terms of the offer. Mercy will accept if he swears on the sword, so he raises up his rapier and says "I swear by the sword of Alfred Quinque, best of men and cavaliers, that the details of your, ahem, business will not be told by me, or revealed by me, or let fall from the lips of my mouth nor the pads of my fingers - even though I think it will be the death of us," then bids her accept. She accepts, and demands to know the plan.

"Once you hear it, whatever you do to me, don't do it below the neck. None of my other shirts are pressed." "Stop drawing this out! Tell me!" He cleared his throat and said: "Dios apate, minor." You had a front row seat to Mercymorn's dreamy eyes going quiet; the eye of the tempest, before she reared back and punched him full in the face.(8) There was not much force in that blow, which barely snapped his head back, but he whitened as though her fist had been a battering ram. He gagged, doubled over his washstand, and ejected a mouthful of teeth--a tumbling, plinking bowlful; he held his hand over his red and dripping mouth and closed his eyes, and after a few moments straightened back up, a trifle greyer, running his tongue over his regrown incisors.

He repeats "minor" a few times, she says he's lost his mind, then they exchange information in their wordless shorthand of facial expressions, which seems to placate her. She says she's not wearing the right dress for this, but he says she's perfect. Ianthe looks at Harrow and quirks an eyebrow in a way Harrow recognizes to mean "Who knows?" Harrow worries that, in a myriad, she'll have the same facial shorthand with Ianthe that the olds have.

In the end, Mercy makes disgusted noises, and anxiously complains "White wine!" August takes the young women, one on each arm, and warns them that whatever happens, they are absolutely not to get involved. Ianthe looks smugly at Harrow behind August's back.

The plan moves forth.

=====

(1) Do you have it yet? I think it's safe to say by now that you can guess at least part of the answer to these nosebleeds and headaches and people's lips moving the wrong way for pronouncing "Ortus" when talking about either Harrow's cavalier or the Saint of Duty. Muir makes a mystery of it, not a secret. (2) I wouldn't precisely put money on it, but I would hazard a guess that this is a reference to "the darkest timeline". The TV show Community, which has not aged very well, had an episode where a d6 was rolled to determine who at a gathering would leave and get pizza. One particular roll resulted in several accidents and fires, a lost limb, and other horrible things. This became a meme for the remainder of the show, and in our hearts, the darkest timeline. Where all the bad things that can happen, will happen. (3) I'm not sure how common this sort of vibe is outside my circles, but this felt like a VERY common sort of thing on Tumblr circa… 2013-2015? Especially at the New Year season. (4) Kool-Aid Man reference, almost definitely. Bursting through walls, just casting anti-death magic instead of saying "OH YEAH!" (5) Fun fact a lot of people don't know: satin is a weave (or, really, a family of similar weaves) that can be done with most fabric making materials, not a fabric itself. Silk, polyester, cotton, even linen satins exist. (6) There's that time frame again. (7) But it can make sense to us! Giddy-gone may be a reference to the game Dragon's Lair, which has a room populated with Giddy Goons, and an achievement called Giddy Gone for navigating it a certain way. (8) What in the world could THAT mean? Well, Dios means "god", as derived from Latin "deus", and Apate was a Greek goddess of deceit. And, well, they are deceiving Jod to give Harrow an hour… but why would Mercy punch August like that for these words?