#i have a better mystery twins piece in the works

[scootersscooter]

Teenage Mystery Twins!

[marlynnofmany]

Squishy Cybernetics

“Hello!” I said. “Where would you like this?” I waved an arm at the large pallet of boxes, bags, and miscellaneous other packaging. It was on one of our biggest hoversleds, and accompanied by some of the biggest crewmates.

The Waterwill at the loading gate burbled thoughtfully, sounding like a water jug given sentience. She extended what passed for an arm of her own and pointed indoors. “You’d better bring it all the way in. Over here.” She glided inward, moving in that mysterious way I’d never figured out. Someone shaped like a column of jello had no business scooting forward that quickly, no matter how much their lower end rippled against the floor.

But I didn’t have time for galaxy-gazing; I had to help steer the hoversled. Regulations said we needed someone on all four sides for a load this big, just in case of antigrav mishaps. Didn’t want it slamming into something breakable at this client’s facility — or slamming into anything at all, really, but this place was some sort of high-tech manufacturing plant, and I didn’t want to think about what kind of damage a crash could do.

No mishaps today, though. The Frillian twins paced along on either side, all muscles and tight clothes (they’d left the flowy silks behind today; a solid choice). I couldn’t see Zhee in the back, but I heard the quiet click of his bug feet. My own feet were silent in proper Earth shoes as I tugged the steering handle and followed the Waterwill.

I thought we’d just take the thing to the far side of the big loading dock, unload it in an out-of-the-way spot to be unpacked later. But the Waterwill kept going. We passed hovercars and wheeled carts, storage cabinets and bins, along with a baffling arrangement of pipes along one wall. Windows showed glimpses of the busy manufacturing facility. I had no idea what they were making. Maybe I’d get a better look on the way back out.

Oh hey, a human, I thought in surprise as I passed a bigger window. With a Strongarm on his back? What in the world are they making together? I was already moving past, and could only speculate about intricate manufacturing projects that needed hands and tentacles at the same time.

I was still wondering why the Strongarm hadn’t just pulled up a chair next to the human when the Waterwill signalled me to stop. “Stopping,” I announced for Zhee’s benefit. We all came to a halt, and nobody crashed into anything. Hallelujah.

“Here, please,” the Waterwill said. She stretched her arm out into a long tendril to pick up a scrap of something blue that had fallen on the floor, and pointed at an empty space near several foam-topped tables. “I’m needed out front. Heeme, can you oversee?”

“Sure thing,” said a voice from nowhere, then a Strongarm climbed out from under one of the tables. “Found the last of the broken bits, by the way.” Two of his tentacles were curled around pieces of the same blue stuff the Waterwill had picked up. The blue stood out against the dark red of his skin, but not as much as the four mismatched tentacles on other side did. They were a transparent blue-green much like the Waterwill’s own tendrils. I tried not to stare, and failed.

“Thank you,” the Waterwill said. “I’ll be back in a bit.” She set her broken piece of whatever on the nearest table, then scooted through a door that was apparently soundproofed, because a cacophony of whirs and whooshes filled the air until it closed.

“Right,” I said. “Over here, then.” I steered the hoversled into position, then we all worked together to guide the detachable gravity platform onto the ground. That part always made me nervous, since it looked like the giant pallet that could crush me was floating through the air with just a touch of technological magic to make it go. I understand other models of industrial-sized hoversleds have more mechanical-looking gravity platforms, or regular forklift arms. Ours was the glowy magic kind, and it deposited the giant stack of objects with all the precision of the best fairytale enchantment.

“Perfect,” said the Strongarm. “We’ll unpack it from here. Thanks.”

“Our pleasure,” I said.

Zhee, finally able to see over the hoversled, got a good look at who I was talking to. “Oh, I’m sure you’re fast at unpacking,” he said, pointing with his pincher arm. “Does that model form into blades?”

“Sure does!” the Strongarm said, holding up a see-through tentacle that instantly flattened into a shape like a steak knife. “Good for packaging, stubborn latches, and all manner of other things.”

“And stabbing!” Blop put in, to be immediately shushed by his sister.

“No stabbing on the job,” she told him.

The Strongarm laughed. “Yeah, just respectable tool use. They don’t give these out to anyone who’s going to do violence with them.”

I asked, “Is that Waterwill tech? I haven’t seen one before.”

“Yup.” He turned the knife back into a tentacle, then into a variety of other shapes. “One of the perks of working here, for sure. They’re cagey about sharing tech. This is the best prosthesis I’ve ever encountered.”

I thought of the hard metal-and-plastic replacement limbs that were standard on Earth. They would be wildly out of place on this guy’s squishy octopus body. And no amount of interchangeable attachments would be able to beat this kind of easy shapeshifting. I said, “That looks really useful.”

“It is!”

The loud door opened to admit a wall of sound, along with the human-and-Strongarm pair. Which I realized with a start was actually just a human wearing more transparent tentacles on his back.

“Here’s the new set,” he said to the Strongarm, placing a clear box on the table that was full of a stack of more flat blue things. They appeared to be cut into very specific shapes. I might have been curious about what they were for if not for the much more interesting thing to be curious about.

“Hello,” I said. “Does everyone who works here get extra limbs?”

The tan human grinned. “If they want ‘em! And they pass the screening, of course. But you’ve got to leave them here each day if they’re the bonus kind, as opposed to replacements.”

The Strongarm wiggled his tentacles in a taunting manner. “I can open packages and slice food so easily at home.”

The human made a face and wiggled the tentacles on his back. “Yeah yeah, we’re all jealous. Someday I’ll convince the bosses that there’s an actual market for these, and I’ll be the first in line to buy my own.”

“They think there isn’t?” I asked in shock. “Those look so useful! I can’t list the number of times I’ve wished for more hands. Using teeth and feet only goes so far.”

Zhee made a disparaging hiss. “You have that many fingers, and still want more? Greedy.”

“I’m just saying that re-weaving a cargo net would go much faster if I could hold all of the fibers at once,” I told him, then turned to the Frillians. “Back me up. Two arms just isn’t enough sometimes, right?”

Blip and Blop looked at each other and shrugged. “I guess?” Blip said. “But that’s just when it’s time to get another person to help.”

Zhee clicked a pincher. “Exactly so. Or approach the problem differently.”

The human told me, “I’ve had this conversation more than once. Apparently not all species grow up imagining what it’s like to have bird wings or monkey tails or whatnot.”

“Surely other people want to fly,” I said. The expressions around me were dishearteningly blank. “Surely!”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” the human said. “See why I couldn’t convince the bosses?”

“But even on a practicality standpoint!” I exclaimed. “They have you using them here; why wouldn’t they think you’d want to use them at home?”

He shrugged, moving the tentacles in a graceful wave as he did. “Alien brains. I’ve given up trying to fully understand.”

The Strongarm spoke up. “If there are actually a large number of humans who would buy these, then it couldn’t hurt to put together a request from outside sources. The bosses don’t listen to random employees who are probably biased, but they might take an interest in actual buyers.”

I shook my head slowly. “Our courier ship isn’t going to be that kind of buyer, especially not at the scale they’d probably need.”

“What about big human ships?” Blip asked. “We could suggest it to the next one we meet.”

“Or human colonies,” Blop said. “Or large groups at space stations.”

Zhee said, “I heard Captain Sunlight talking about a delivery to Basal Station soon. There are plenty of humans there. You could suggest it to them, if you think this is really that widespread an interest.”

“It couldn’t hurt,” I said, thinking. There was indeed a significant human population on that space station, which might even include the crew I’d met from the droid jousting ship Hold My Beer. They were definitely the type to appreciate some extra arms. Both for working on finicky electronics and general slapfight shenanigans.

“Here, we should have something with the contact information,” said the Strongarm. “Jon, is there a notepad over there?”

“Yeah, got it.” The human leaned over a table and used his tentacles to lift a stack of books so he could pull out the small notepad at the bottom. That may have been showing off. “Here you go!” He handed it to me with his regular hand.

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll see if I can find the right ears to whisper into.”

“Best of luck!” he said. “My partner has asked me no less than half a dozen times if I could sneak my set home to play around with, but I’m not gonna risk the job.”

I laughed, hoping I wasn’t blushing. “Oh man, I wasn’t even going to mention the bedroom applications.”

Of course Zhee had to ask, tilting his head with faceted eyes shining. “The what?”

“Remember how most humans find tentacles a little creepy?” I asked him, pocketing the notepad.

“I recall. It makes this insistence all the stranger.”

“Well, some humans aren’t creeped out at all. Kind of the opposite. They like them a lot. In a, uh, private fashion.”

Jon the human spelled it out for him. “Mating rituals.”

Zhee’s antennae did a complicated dance, then settled in something that looked like disgust. “I was about to ask why, but I’ve decided I don’t want to know.”

“Yeah, best not to,” I agreed. “Anyway! Very useful extra arms. Good for a wide variety of activities. Other humans will likely be interested.”

“Very likely,” Jon agreed.

I activated the hovercart with a nod, and we said our goodbyes. The employees wished me luck. They returned to work while we headed back toward our ship.

Zhee grumbled disparaging things about my species the whole way, but that was nothing new.

~~~

The ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come! And I am currently drafting a sequel!

PS: the story with the good ship Hold My Beer is here, if you're wondering about that. It's fun.

[aziraphales-library]

hi <3 do you have any recs for long multichap fics that are NOT slow burns? thank so much!

Hello! There are not enough fics tagged "fast burn" so I also did a search for "established relationship". Enjoy...

its duty is to harm me, my duty is to know by natalunasans (T)

the title is from a cohen song about death, & also applies to life... whether in london or in tadfield; together, alone, or in (usually good) company; the ineffable partners talk out their fears, try to figure out what they are and what to do with themselves, now that they're not working for heaven and hell anymore. domestic softness > action, but there is some plot and angst (off and on)

Don't Drag Me Down by rowenablade (M)

Armageddon didn't happen, Heaven and Hell have agreed to leave them alone, and Aziraphale and Crowley are free to build a life together. But the forces of Hell aren't happy with losing, and even if they can't directly harm their wayward demon, they can try to drive a wedge between him and the angel that he loves. After all, Crowley had been encouraging them for centuries to get creative.

The Starting Hinge by lucky_spike (T)

When a rare book collector is mysteriously killed, DI Barnaby and DS Winter are on the case. Meanwhile, the question of what will become of the victim's extensive library stirs a small group of rare books collectors into a furor. Who can be trusted? - This is predominantly a Good Omens fanfic with some Midsomer Murders thrown in just because I could do it and I wanted to. Contains death of an OC and (obvs) murder and attempts thereof. Nothing gory, though, so party on.

Great Omens (The Big One) by falsepremise (M)

A narrative of certain events leading up to The Big One, in strict accordance, as shall be shown, with the nice and accurate prophesies of Agnes Nutter, witch. A Good Omens sequel, set thirty years in the future...   Thirty years after a failed Armageddon we must face The Big One, as Heaven and Hell, working together, enact a plan to fix the world or destroy it forever. Meanwhile, Aziraphale and Crowley discover that truly being on their own side has more implications than they’d ever have guessed. Changes to the basic metaphysics of the universe. A second book of prophesies. Mysterious twins on a mission. Hijinks and shenanigans. Deep questions, laughs, ridiculous banter and sexy stuff. Welcome to my attempt at an epic Good Omens sequel.

Considerate Omens by OneofWebs (M)

Crowley is plagued by dreams of a life he lived long before time had even begun. It's two years after the Apocalypse-That-Didn't, and though he's got a healthy bit of fear of what may come next, choosing to ignore these dreams seems a much better use of his time. In those two years, Aziraphale had moved into his flat, and they may or may not be dating. They don't talk about it, but they do get along just fine with their play-pretend routine, which proves a bit rickety when neither of them age. To avoid suspicion, Aziraphale thinks it wise that he spend some time presenting as a woman. This, a catalyst to the end Crowley had feared before, because it's hard to resist the idea of children when the opportunity presents itself. - [The Continuation of Good Omens]

Bleating Hearts by HKBlack (E)

Meet Doctor Aziraphale Fell, university lecturer of English Literature, Shakespearian expert, and man with an unexpected goat in his office. When the handsome herder who comes to catch the unruly visitor asks some pointed questions, Aziraphale finds his life suddenly turned upside down and filled with both new challenges and opportunities. But is Crowley all that he says he is? And even if he isn’t–does it really matter when he’s clearly a piece of the puzzle missing in Aziraphale’s life? Trip on over to Devil Doe’s Dairy and Goat Scaping Farm, where the cheese is always smooth, the goats climb roofs, and true love might just be around the corner.

- Mod D

[tongue-like-a-razor]

For the celebration (congrats btw!!) could we see the first time that it came up in conversation that Jake had a crush on a mystery girl? However you pictured it happening! Unless it’s too early to reveal it or if you have other plans for it! You can completely ignore this!!

I love your work!!

Aww thank you so much, darling! I love love love this request! I imagine this conversation happening between part 6 and 7 :D Hope you like it!

5k Weekend Bash Drabbles

Brother's Best Friend - Off Limits

Jake Seresin x Reader

“What’s the matter with you?”

Jake looks up from his drink, a little dazed. “What do you mean?”

Bradley gives him a pointed look. “Well, you didn’t even notice the two chicks we passed on the patio on our way in. Twins. You let me crush you at Mortal Kombat. Twice. You’ve barely touched your beer. And I’m pretty sure you weren’t listening to my rant about the pickles.”

“The pickles?” Jake cocks his head in confusion.

Bradley nods. “Mm-hm, the pickles that are supposed to be on this burger.” He gestures at his half-eaten meal.

Jake stares at Bradley for a moment. “Can’t believe I almost missed that.”

Bradley purses his lips sourly and returns his attention to his food. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re distracted.”

Jake looks down at his own plate and mutely picks up a fry.

Bradley, who’s about to take a bite, slowly lowers his burger, watching Jake zone out again as he chews. Bradley smirks, setting his burger down. “Spill,” he demands.

Jake cringes. “There’s nothing to spill.”

Bradley starts chortling. “Who is she?”

Jake sighs uneasily and finally meets Bradley’s gaze. “Uh, you don’t know her.”

“You bang her yet?”

Jake tries not to wince. “No. She… doesn’t know.”

“Doesn’t know what?” But after two seconds of contemplation, Bradley leans into the table excitedly. “Are you telling me you’re hung up on a chick who has no clue that you’re into her?”

Jake swallows uncomfortably. “Looks like it,” he responds miserably.

“Why haven’t you asked her out?”

Jake glances up at his friend, doing his best not to appear overly guilty. “She’s bad news.”

Bradley’s grin broadens. “I like the sound of that.”

Jake suppresses a groan. “No, it’s not what you think.”

“What do I think?”

Jake grimaces, staring into his fizzing beer. “I just mean… she’s not an option.”

“Because?” Bradley raises his eyebrows expectantly.

Jake shifts in his seat and looks back up warily. The truth is, he wouldn’t mind talking about you at all. In fact, he’s dying to tell his best friend about the emotional turmoil he’s been contending with since he realized he had feelings for you. But, as luck would have it, Bradley is actually the root of the problem, and consequently the last person Jake should be sharing with. Still, Jake really can’t resist talking about you, given how much he’s lately been keeping to himself. “Because she’s” – off limits – “taken.”

Bradley nods sympathetically. “Been there.”

Jake grips his beer stein and lifts it off the table. “Her boyfriend is a real piece of work, too.”

“So, show her that you’re better. Easy.”

Jake sets his beer back down without taking a drink. “Am I?”

Bradley leans back in his seat with a chuckle. “Oh no,” he says.

“What?”

“You fucking like her, dude.”

“I told you, I like her.”

“No.” Bradley shakes his head. “No, no. You don’t just like her, man. You like her.”

Jake is watching Bradley impassively. “Are you fucking glitching?”

Bradley laughs. “Admit it!”

Jake opens his mouth to protest that he already has, but then closes it again because obviously Bradley is right. “Yes, I fucking like her, Bradshaw. I like her enough to know that she shouldn’t be with me.”

Bradley’s obnoxious cackle has fizzled to a merry chuckle now and he shakes his head with a loud, theatrical sigh. “My boy is growing up!”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“I’m so proud of you, man.”

“I said, shut the fuck up, Bradshaw.”

Bradley raises his hands in surrender. “Okay,” he says giddily. “So, tell me about her.”

5k Celly

[nyxi-pixie]

Hiiiii.

Sorry to bother you, I wanted to know if you had any fic recs? Your writing is so good and your tastes are immaculate, and I am starving for any kind of good content. Please?

its not possible to bother me love dw <3

NOW. i dont actually read all that much anymore bc i am horrendously picky but this does give me an excuse to hype up the few authors that have satisfied my unreasonably specific tastes 🤩.

so. a few bsd recs for you (except theyre 99% skk because im horribly predictable forever). everyone go read all of these and tell the authors how wonderful they are in the comments please <3

anything @booksandpaperss has ever written is genius work and everyone should read it. could talk abt all of their stuff for hours (and i have🤩 they put up w so much of me bothering them godbless). also our brains do some accidental crazy mind melding shit whenever either of us write fic so if you like any of my stuff you will like theirs. thats the rules. <3

like twin stars in the dark (we collide)- dead apple skk porn as a vehicle for 22skk analysis. makes me salivate i have read it so many times. they get 22skk better than anyone🙏

my lies are for you to keep (my love for you to lose) - the only take on beastskk that matters to me ever. you can actually see me losing my mind in the comment i wrote on this fic bc of how fucking insane every single line made me. theres SO much packed into this thing its fucking crazy i NEEEEED everyone to read it. thats all <3

till death, I'll give you my breath - dazai death timeloop. this fic terrifies me so much i await every update with my teeth chattering and my heart pulsing so rapidly i should be hospitalised. the first scene of chapter 2 genuinely had me on the verge of tears im unwell about it.

(elli also has some jjk stuff thats REALLYREALLY good and if ur into jjk u should check that out too.)

NOW. aside from being a propaganda machine for my fav writer ever. Heres some other stuff i love.

the second perspective by @wildflowerteas. murder mystery/detective noir stuff w some time fuckery. the au of all time. mashes aspects of beast, canon, and some extra special niko sauce into a mixing bowl and goes crazy w it. just Such a genuinely impressive piece of writing. i could talk abt the technical brilliance of it for hours but i will stop myself. you gotta commit to this thing because it WILL make u crazy. also i loveee the sskk. its like if we had the beast first meeting sskk forever. SOSO GOOD!!!!

did fate guide the gun or did you? by @kanetheo. i read this pretty soon after chapter 109 and it genuinely fried my brain for months. the writing style is beautiful (as for everything they write AUGHH!!!) and the angst is delectable. the way it intersperses more fun silly skk moments with just. complete misery. GOD. it just hits. ive reread it quite a few times and it never fails to make me go crazy. srsly cannot rec this enough.

the decomposition of dazai osamu by @hella1975 this shot several bullets through my brain and i still havent recovered. i keep thinking 'oh i should reread that' and then i dont bc some part of my brain still concerns itself w maintaining whats left of my sanity. BUT its crazy good and everyone should read it and suffer at least once. EVERYONE LOVES YOU OSAMU!!!! EVERYONE EATS YOU!!! line of all time lets all kill ourselves.

smoke held conversations by feralrookie - i havent reread this in a while but it does cool stuff with nlh and the skkisms are really good in this too. ppl often write teen chuuya as less intelligent than he actually is. hes very observant, esp of dazai, and this fic gave me that 🙏

i called your name til the fever broke by forest_raccoon - vampire chuuya. biting is involved. i blacked out reading it. enough said.

[idontlikejazzsonowitsmyname]

In light of the big rebirth of Gravity Falls and surprisingly Bill/Ford.

I'd like (demand) a wholesome AU where Bill got therapy without being institutionalised after trying to start drama on earth, and instead finds Sixer entertaining enough to settle down for a bit, 'he's mortal' Bill thinks. 'He'll hang around for a few decades and be gone after Ford gets boring' Bill thinks (lies)

Ford still decides to hide his diary after a bit because of reasons I'm too lazy to come up with aside from snooping overnment agents, BUT when Stan comes over and sees the state his beautiful smart amazing older brother lives in is somehow worse than him who's currently wanted in multiple states he decides to help him out financially, Ford obviously doesn't want to just scam the town he lives at so he adds actually educational facts all around the piecs, like how an anatomically correct centaur works, thus the mystery shack still being a thing but probabky with a different name.

"THE ENIGMA CABIN" idk I gotta name this something other than "old men yaoi without the toxic radiation au"

Ford takes all the extra cash earned by the shack and tells Stan (this time NOT after having just reunited and with better wording) to live out his sailing dream and keep his research distant.

Stan does leave (peacefully might I add) but the fake ID's and other shady items still get left behind for the 'is he even our grunkle' thing to still happen.

Years go by and eventually the new pine twins get dumped at the cabin where grunkle Pines is waiting.

Basically just gravity falls except instead of a scamming funny grunkle we have an educational but socially distant (autistic) grunkle who's desperate trying to keep Mabel and Bill away from eachother because he's already endeared to her and Gravity Falls will NOT survive a Bill and Mabel team up.

Pacifica probably plays a slightly bigger role over the spirit thing, which probably intimidates Bill and causes problems, probably a dramtic argument or two.

Dipper gets therapy because I think it would be funny if him and Bill had the same therapist.

The end (pretend I did something funny here)

[melancholymarrow]

Heyyy idk if this has been done before, but I went crazy and made a very detailed Howl's Moving Castle AU for Gravity Falls :DD

(Sorry in advance for the lack of arms. Drawing arms is like the bane of my existence hhhhh)

Lore for the au below cut

Basically, Fiddleford is Sophie, and Stanford is Howl. Fidds is like an engineer, but he wants to be an inventor & experiment with mixing magic and tech.

Ford, better known as The Great Wizard Stanford, is both a sorcerer and a scientist. When he was younger, he swallowed a star, making a deal with it. In exchange for great wisdom and power, Ford traded his heart. When this happened, the star's soul split in two. One latched on to a piece of Ford’s soul, taking his heart as it's vessel. This entity is Cipher, who appears as a ball of blue fire with a small yellow triangle with one eye in it's center. Cipher is Calcifer in this au. Because this part of the soul merged partly with Ford's, they share/swap some personality traits. Cipher has more of a conscience than og Bill, and Ford is a bit more vain about his appearance (he magics his hair blonde for a while at the start of the story).

The other part of the star's soul became a human-appearing demon. He named himself Bill, but most know him as the Demon of the Falls. Bill worked closely together with Ford for a time, but ended up betraying him and showing his true colors. After this, Ford fought Bill but ended up fleeing when it became clear he would lose the battle. He's been spending years trying to find a way to defeat Bill so that he doesn't hurt many more people.

The mystery twins take the place of Markl in this au. The Stans are just their uncles in this au, not great uncles. Shermie is their dad, and he's away fighting in the war. The twins were sent to live with Stanford when the war started so that Ford would keep them safe and also teach them magic.

Stanley takes the place of Turnip Head. Stan had been pretending to be Ford for a while to scam people, and Bill accidently tracked him down instead of Ford. Bill was pissed when he figured this out and cursed Stan to be a scarecrow. Fiddleford, when he was leaving home after he'd been cursed, found Stan stuck in a bush. He'd thought he could use the stick as a cane, but quickly found out it was another guy with a curse on him. Stan had been stuck in the bush for three days and could tell that Fidds had also been cursed, so he decided to help him out. Stan gave Fidds his 8-ball staff to use as a cane and led him to the moving castle.

I have wayyy more already thought out if y'all are interested at all. Might post some art of other characters in the au later.

[twst-hottest-takes]

Tweel Anatomy Discussion!

Part 2.

(Finally getting around to this! Link to part 1 here: https://www.tumblr.com/twst-hottest-takes/759029788153446400/tweel-anatomy-discussion?source=share )

And first off a big "Thank You" to everyone who encouraged me to write the first part and who seemed to have enjoyed it. I'm happy my pseudo-scientific ramblings about fantasy anatomy make you happy!

As always: The following post will be almost purely conjecture based off of a combination of reality and fiction. None of what I say should be taken as law, but rather a fun series of hypotheticals, as that is what the game gives us to work with.

Before getting to the promised screed on "throat teeth" I'll be addressing a couple of subjects people asked about in the comments of the first post! I'll be paraphrasing, but if the people who asked wish to be credited directly, let me know and I will tag you!

First: What does Floyd mean when he threatens to "squeeze" people?

As the comment pointed out, eels (moray or not) don't seem to constrict their prey. The word "constrict" is often associated with how many species of snakes trap and suffocate their prey before swallowing it whole. In this manner, morays do not constrict anything to speak of, BUT THEY DO TIE THEMSELVES INTO KNOTS!

Commonly this behavior is used when an eel has a piece of prey that is too big to swallow all at once, so they tie themselves into a knot to get a better "grip" on their prey and tear it into more manageable pieces! A knot can also be a defensive measure to hide or protect an eel's head from potential enemies. (Looking up "Moray Eel knots" should give you a much better idea of this behavior.) In the case of Floyd Leech, I think that the term "squeeze" is meant to reference Flotsam and Jetsam's behavior in The Little Mermaid. They "squeeze" Flounder and Sebastain to prevent them from stopping Ariel from making her deal with Ursula, and also wrap around Ariel's arms to restrain her later in the movie when the deal is up. These are pretty cartoonish behaviors that wouldn't be seen in real eels as they appear in the movie which seems to treat them a lot like "sea snakes" in this way. I think Floyd's "squeeze" is meant to be a serious threat when considering what eels do to things they tie up in their knots, but it does seem to evoke a mental image of a python rather than an eel.

Secondly, the user questions how Floyd would manage to build up his arm muscles so much.

Simply speaking, Floyd's bare arms are only a matter of fanservice. He's not really "buff."

The muscles are just very well-toned. While Floyd's "mercurial moods" don't allow him to commit to things like workout routines, he's still more active than not. Doing things like basketball, dancing, or parkour with any kind of regularity will give his arms that toned look, at least as far as his human form goes. In regards to his merman form, Floyd probably did similar things that shaped his muscles this way, but didn't build them up much past average.

Thirdly, another user asked me to touch on the boys' habitat as them being residents of the apparently cold and dark Coral Sea doesn't line up with the natural habitats of moray eels in real life that live in tropical waters.

Unfortunately, I don't have any particularly fun insights into this topic because I think that's just something added to better suit the part of the game based off of The Little Mermaid. Azul and the twins are meant to be intimidating and a little mysterious, so they come from a deep, dark, cold part of the ocean that holds scary and mysterious things. Bearing in mind that merfolk are fantasy creatures, I don't find the contradiction of where you would find eels versus where the twins are from to be especially bad in terms of world building. It may not be entirely thought through, but they are taking inspiration from the Disney movie, and keeping true to it's inspiration probably came first.

(Honestly, the thing that gets me is how they said they couldn't go home because the sea froze over. As if the mirror couldn't transport them directly into the ocean underneath all the ice! I swear the writing in this game sometimes.)

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: LET'S TALK ABOUT PHARYNGEAL JAWS!

Quick explanation: Pharyngeal jaws are a second set of teeth in the back of a fish's throat. They are notable on moray eels, but they aren't the only fish that have them. The function of the throat teeth is for them to jut forward and grab onto whatever food the fish has bitten into and then retract and drag the food down the esophagus far enough for peristalsis to take over and continue the swallowing normally. (Yes, I used the first picture that showed up on the web search. It's from Wikipedia)

Do I think the Leech Twins have pharyngeal jaws?

The short answer is unfortunately: "NO."

The long answer involves more of our favorite subject: Discussing how realistic anatomy and fantasy physiology can coexist. (Spoiler alert: The long answer is still unfortunately: "NO.")

Logically and anatomically speaking it makes no sense for Floyd and Jade to have them. First and foremost, even if they did somehow have them in their merforms (which is far more plausible) they wouldn't have them in their every day human forms. The shortcoming of human anatomy is that we have a windpipe, and a second set of teeth back in our throats would suffocate us any time they would need to be used. Instead, we, like most of the animal kingdom, have tongues that push food back to be swallowed and have no need for extra jaws to crawl up and pull food down. Likewise, the twins clearly have tongues, and although they keep their primary teeth in tact between their two forms, have no need for a secondary set. Furthermore, I would posit that pharyngeal jaws in their human forms would be just plain dangerous as in the case of accidentally crushing your own windpipe. They breathe air, therefore they don't have gills, therefore they have lungs and a trachea for gas exchange, and therefore no room for throat teeth.

If the twins were to have pharyngeal jaws, it would make the most sense for them to have them exclusively in their aquatic forms. Because they breathe through gills around their ribs (see part 1) there would be much more room for a second set of teeth and the accompanying anatomical equipment. However, again, I am forced by my own logic to concede that they would still be unnecessary. Between all of the visual proof and the fact that the twins speak the common language fluently enough to have no communication issues with the land dwellers, we know for a fact that they have tongues--much like in their human forms--and that would negate the need or use for pharyngeal jaws. Moreover the humanoid head and neck structure on them in both forms would make the use of pharyngeal jaws pointless, if not explicitly dangerous (having a curved esophagus, as opposed to a straight line as in fish).

In conclusion; as much as this is a disappointment to admit, it would seem that the twins do in fact only require and as a result have a single set of teeth.

However, I will end this particular essay off with one sliver of hope.

It is implied in the text of the game that the twins were hatched from eggs. If their formation from egg to "adult" merman is anything similar to a fish's then it is possible that they once had a second set of jaws. Perhaps in an earlier stage of their development their bodies and mouths were positioned differently and they hadn't quite grown tongues yet, so a pair of extra jaws would have been particularly handy. As they became fully developed these jaws would have been lost, reabsorbed, or simply become vestigial remains as a result of no longer being of use. So while it's not logical to imagine that the twins currently have pharyngeal jaws, there's nothing that says we can't imagine that they did at some point.

(A small consolation to those of us who really would have liked that addition to their characters because we just think it would have been really really cool. Logic be darned, I still love to see fanart that depicts the two of them having throat teeth.)

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed a bit more of my obsessive ramblings regarding fantasy anatomy!

This one took a while to put together because I wanted to make sure I had a visual representation of what I was talking about regarding the placement and effect of pharyngeal jaws in a humanoid form. . .so you guys get to see a very rough drawing of what I was talking about (along with a sample of my awful handwriting). I hope that was helpful and not too difficult to understand. I have been very tired lately and ended up putting a few ask responses on hold because I REALLY wanted to get this part out. A good number of people have apparently been looking forward to this, and I felt bad for making everyone wait for so long.

Will there be a third part?

Well as of right now I don't have one planned. But if some fun conversations start regarding what I've said here, there may end up being enough stuff to include in a third post. I didn't have much to say regarding things like warm or cold-bloodedness, or coloration and bioluminescence. However, if people want to talk about those kinds of things I will gladly delve more into them as long as there are people to talk to about it. But for now, that'll be all for this subject!

Now we can get back to the inbox!

(Once again going to sleep thinking about how awesome these mer-eel designs are and how I love all the sparkles!)

[whumpninja]

I feel like even the prompt I used for this one could count as whump, given the ahem subject material. This piece uses OCs from my story The Angel of Death, and takes place about two years or so before the main story.

Taglist (let me know if you only want to be tagged in full chapters!): @i-eat-worlds @softvampirewhump @scoundrelwithboba @rainbowsandwhumperflies @octopus-reactivated @whumperfultime @pigeonwhumps @handsinmotion @starfields08000 @fleur-a-whump @worstcasescenariolullaby

Prompt used: AI-less Whumptober, alternate prompt- animal bite

Featuring: BLOOD, blood drinking, vampire whump, vampire whumpee, biting, chains, defiant whumpee

Whumptober Day Nine: The Hand That Feeds You

Mr. Moody was making progress. Angel wasn't fighting him so much anymore. He guessed that he’d plain worn the vampire out. Angel slept most of the time now, a combination of exhaustion, drugs, and the weakness that came with near-starvation. Mr. Moody wasn't stupid enough to leave him unchained, but he could enter the room now without worrying about if he would leave alive.

He whistled as he came in today, his good mood drawing the cheerful tune out of him. "Hey, Angel," he said. "How you feeling today, champ?"

Angel cracked one eye open to glare at him, but made no move towards him. He had his fangs extended, not to their full length, but not hidden away in his jaw. Mr. Moody still didn't know how that worked. There was a lot about vampires that was still a mystery- why they were burned by the sun, why some of them had red eyes, why most had only small fangs and a few had big fangs and claws to match.

"You showing off those pearly whites?" Mr. Moody asked, chuckling. "You'll get a chance to use 'em on Friday night. I found a fella who's got twin vampires. We'll see how you do against two at once, eh?"

Angel stared at him sullenly. "Do you even speak English?" Mr. Moody muttered. He honestly wasn't sure. The vampire never said a word to him. From what the officers who had brought him to Mr. Moody said, he hadn't been much before he'd been arrested. Mr. Moody was of the opinion that Angel- who clearly lived to kill- was doing better as his prize fighter than he would have in the outside world.

He'd seen it- the ferocity, the savagery, the brutality Angel used in the ring. The vampire was a wild animal. He had no technique, no skill, no training- just instinct and natural weaponry. Mr. Moody loved that first gasp from the crowd when they saw Angel's fangs on full display. "Nobody else got anything like you," he told the vampire.

Angel, as usual, ignored him.

Mr. Moody rolled his eyes as he left the alcove. "You know what, Angel?" he called back, his voice drowned out somewhat as he rummaged through a cupboard on the wall. "You ain't real personable. You got nothing in you but fightin'." He chuckled, pulling out a metal bowl and a bag of blood- surprising, how easy it was to get that stuff. "Lucky for you that's all I need anyway."

Like usual, Angel became agitated, more alive, at the smell of food. He had his hands cuffed behind his back, so he could only push himself up as far as his shoulder. His ruby-red eyes had expanded, taking over the whites until only a small ring of it remained. It was a vampire in feeding mode. Mr. Moody could almost see what little humanity remained fading away, consumed by the animalistic prey drive.

"That's the kind of thing I want on Saturday, y'hear?" he told the vampire, setting down the bowl. Angel threw himself at it, burying his face in it without a moment's hesitation. Mr. Moody knew he wouldn't let a drop go to waste. He stepped back to watch Angel eat, chuckling to himself. That was the trick with vampires- food. Control their supply of blood, and you controlled the vampire too.

He leaned against the wall, watching Angel eat. A smile twisted the edge of his lip. "Made for this, weren't ya," he said under his breath. "Born for blood. Born killer."

Angel no longer knew he was in the room, attention entirely taken up by the presence of blood. Mr. Moody took the opportunity to move in close and check the chains, make sure the bolts on the wall still held, all the things he needed his vampire distracted for.

Angel was finishing the last of the blood now. Mr. Moody dropped a hand onto his head, ruffling the shorn dark hair in a rare gesture of affection. "Keep killing for me, champ, and you'll get all the blood you could ever want," he chuckled. "Who knows? Maybe it'll even- aaauuughhh!"

The words broke off in a loud roar of pain as Angel surged up to sink a fang deep into Mr. Moody's arm. Mr. Moody shouted, stumbling back- Angel held grimly on, the sharp fang ripping a deep gash. Blood sprayed everywhere. Mr. Moody managed to rip his arm free and stumbled backward, gasping, clutching the wound.

Across the room, Angel locked eyes with him.

Mr. Moody swore at him, the pain stirring up anger along with it. "Think you did something, eh, vamp?" he snarled. "Think you can bite the hand that feeds you, huh? We'll see how long that attitude lasts without a drop of it!"

Slowly, deliberately, Angel licked what he could of Mr. Moody's blood from his face, never breaking his chilling red stare.

Mr. Moody lurched off the wall and kicked Angel in the jaw as hard as he could. The vampire went down, knocked unconscious.

"All right," Mr. Moody growled to the senseless creature at his feet. "That is the last damn time you bite a human ever again. Especially me. Hope you enjoyed it, champ. 'Cause you are gonna pay for every drop of blood."

[gaslightgatekeepgirlbosscombat]

Group H, Round 4, Poll 2:

Propaganda under the cut

Li Lianhua/Li Xiangyi

All men do is lie. He's a "miracle physician" (citation needed) who lies himself out of every situation he's in. Didn't so much as fake his death, rather let everyone believe he was dead and then lie to their face when asked about who he really is. Convinces everyone he's just a weak doctor who doesn't know any martial arts but has a cunning mind, despite the fact that he literally used to be the head of the martial arts world before being poisoned. Somehow nearly everyone he meets is in love with him. He's everything to me

#THE LI LIANHUA PROPAGANDA LEFT OUT HIM DRUGGING PEOPLE MULTIPLE TIMES #TO AVOID (POTENTIALLY) GETTING ASKED ABOUT THE ISSUES HE IS CHOOSING TO LOOK AWAY FROM AND NOT SEE #ALSO THE TIME SOMEONE FIGURED OUT HIS TRUE IDENTITY BUT THEN THEY FELL UNCONSCIOUS #AND HE GOT AWAY WITH IT BY TELLING THEM THEY HAD BEEN HALLUCINATING WHEN THEY WOKE UP

#if he doesn’t lie thirty-seven times a day he will die #you could show him a dna test proving he is li xiangyi and he’d deny it to your face

#HE ONCE SAYS TO A CHARACTER THAT ‘HE NEVER LIES’ TO GET OUT OF A SITUATION AND THAT WAS A BIG FAT LIE #TELLS A CHARACTER AN INTRICATE STORY ABOUT FINDING HIS OWN CORPSE ON THE BEACH COMPLETE WITH PHYSICAL EVIDENCE AND ALL JUST SO THE CHARACTER #REACHES THE CONCLUSION THAT HES DEAD #HE GATEKEEPS THE VIEWER FROM KNOWING HIS FULL STORY ON RELIABLE TERMS AND YOU HAVE TO PIECE IT TOGETHER PAINSTAKINGLY

#continuously lies to the person he calls his jianghu bff to evade his questions regarding his identity #puts on a mask and defends the bff in fights#then shows up later like #🥺 wow that was so scary glad you were here to protect me! i have no martial arts skills #evades arrest by pretending like being shoved against a wall broke his ribs #'🥺 i'm just a little guy and you're so strong you'd better check out my ribs' #and then throws knockout powder at him

Ianthe Tridentarius

She is trying so hard to be the main character by lying and manipulating her sister, her cavalier, her mentor, her ?love interests? (Spoiler???) And also god. Not sure how it's working out for her but she does love to lie and manipulate

Worstie Ianthe is the DEFINITION of gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. She is one of a set of necromancer twins that are the heirs to their houses rule. Except wait, only she is a necromancer and she has spent their entire lives doing necromancy for the both of them. She is constantly mean to their cavalier, Naberius, who she occasionally nibbles on like a chew toy, before eventually killing and eating him to ascend to sainthood. She goes to gods spaceship with another woman who ascended to sainthood who she has a crush on, this other woman is like…. Both incredibly mentally unwell and also haunted by at least 211 ghosts. Ianthes method of flirting with her? Gaslighting her about the corpse that keeps moving around and hiding under her bed. For no real reason tbh. She is clearly plotting to overthrow god, and at the moment that consists of her manipulating him while he’s too sad about his long term partners betraying him and subsequently exploding to really care. She dresses in terrible outfits and makes soup by burning onions to the bottom of a pot, putting meat in and some vegetables and then it doesn’t taste like anything so she puts in a few teaspoons of salt so it tastes like a few teaspoons of salt. She had her crush amputate her arm and regrow her a new one out of bone and it’s one of the horniest things I’ve read in my life.

"Gaslight = told her lobotomized (she helped), schizophrenic girlobsession that there was no corpse under their bed, even tho there totally was. Gatekeep = girl did NOT share the secret to god-like ascension. She kept that shit to herself until it was time to eat her boytoy, and by then everyone knew already. Girlboss = she has a non-necromancer twin sister, and literally Everyone thinks they r both necromancers because Ianthe is so good at it. She reverse engineered ascending to the aforementioned ascension without even completing any of the supplementary tasks. She held her own in a fight against a 10k year old lyctor. She becomes the figurehead of her entire empire. "

She uses a man as a chewtoy in the first book, literally gaslights the protagonist of the second book about a corpse, and elder-abuses God when he gets depressed in the third book. Nobody is doing it like her.

Dives headfirst with no regrets while basically laughing and covered in blood into murdering her cavalier once she realizes what the gothic locked room mystery/competition leads to while everyone else is questioning it, helps perform lobotomy on harrow so she doesn't remember the person she loves, manipulates everyone to get to the top

idk just everything about her

her relationship with her sister is incredibly Bad, she fosters codependency and views Corona(the sister) as an extension of herself. This does not stop her from keeping up the con that Corona actually has magic (She doesn't, it was always just Ianthe) for 22ish years and every single person who interacts with them falls for it. She killed a man against his will (most dying for this purpose specifically go willingly) and she consumed him and she will be burning his soul for eternity. She's completely repulsive and still somehow incredibly hot.

she takes advantage of the fact that the main character is prone to hallucinations. at one point she gaslights the mc into believing that the corpse under her bed isn't real just because she can. she reverse engineered a set of very complex trials on her own without anyone realizing she had the skills to complete them normally. she's also babysat god through his drunk and pathetic era.

[halfagone]

I love me a good Damian losses his shit over his supposed dead tvin being alive because he actually missed him. Do you have any ideas?

Hmm *strokes nonexistent goatee* Now this one is tricky. A big thing for me is that if Danny and Damian are twins and get separated, then the logic for why they never tried to look for each other just has to make sense you know? But since he thinks Danny died...

How about this: Since Damian and Dányál (sorry, I like this spelling better) are twins, the decision on who takes up the position as heir will be made after an adequate amount of training and time. neither would be treated with more favor than the other, so that they can probably prove who deserves the position more. Or at least, that's how it was supposed to go.

In reality, Dányál hadn't been interested in the combat and physical training. He did as he was told, and he excelled, but it was clear to everyone that he was simply not putting it all into his tutelage. But then, when Damian and Dányál started being taught poisons and toxic flowers and plants and disease and chemicals, that is where he began to flourish. He took to it like a flower to the sun, and there was no denying his skill in the area. Damian did well, of course, but where Damian thrived in physical combat Dányál thrived in a scientific setting.

At first, this had been treated as something of a dirty secret. Or perhaps more accurately, a weakness on Dányál's part. Many believed that Ra's would not take kindly to his grandson straying aware from his core teachings for something not nearly as important in the bigger picture.

But then one day, the Demon's Head himself spies one of his young grandsons tucked away in the greenhouse, scribbling away on a snatched piece of paper about the acidity of different types of herbs and how they could potentially negatively interact with other plants. The details are rudimentary really, and Ra's has certainly thought of many of the same possibilities but has found through experimentation that it is simply not possible. But he is young still, and obviously he does have the mind for it, even if he is not yet a master of the trade.

He does not have any need for two heirs, but he does have need for an intelligent, loyal scientist.

So he drags this grandson of his in front of an audience, proclaiming to everyone present that Dányál's 'behavior' needs to be rewarded. He is to be sent elsewhere to be taught properly. For everyone in the room, they believe it is Ra's' underhanded way of saying Dányál is to be killed for straying from his path.

Talia believes this. Worst of all, Damian believes this too.

Ra's does not inform his daughter of his plans. He knows that she is soft towards her children, and would rather whisk this one away if it means she might be able to save them both. He has no plans on killing Dányál of course, but perhaps he could use this as a learning opportunity for his daughter and other grandson.

Dányál is informed of nothing. All he knows is that one minute he had been hiding away in the greenhouse and then the next Grandfather had ripped his papers out of his hands.

He thinks he is about to die, and all he can do is try not to cry as he stares over at his equally terrified brother.

He is sent to Fenton Works, in an odd little city called Amity Park, Illinois. The couple who runs the operation finds themselves suddenly in charge of a young boy named Dányál, who is to be taught everything they know. The Fenton's had run low on funding, and when a mysterious donor had reached out, they had been too ecstatic to think things through properly. They now find themselves indebted to a very powerful man, with a young girl of their own to think about.

When they hear their donor is visiting, they are understandably frightened. But then he brings a young boy with him, who they quickly learn is his grandson, and should be treated with the dignity and respect he deserves because of that fact. He tells them to train him, teach him everything they know, and logically they know Ra's wants them to teach this boy everything so that he can be rid of them. They are replacable, disposable.

This should scare them even more, make them loathe the boy for the burden and fear he now brings with him. But then they look at the terrified expression on that little boy's face, and they realize it a noose just as much as it is a chance to rescue him.

They manage to make compromises. Dányál, now known legally as Daniel, has to be enrolled in school, so as to not bring CPS or the government bearing down on their heads. They might need him to help gather supplies, and he can't do that if he doesn't legally exist. Ra's cares very little in the nitty-gritty details, but he is rather pointed in his demands. They are to keep an eye on him and report back to him about his behavior and progress regularly.

They are sure Ra's demands Daniel to do the same, report back about them and if they are keeping up to Ra's' commands. But that does not stop them from feeding him well, treating him as if he was their own. They bring him down to the lab often, teach him all that they know without regret, and watch as he slowly but surely opens up to them.

They learn a great many things about each other, and without ever discussing, they are careful not to mention any of this in their respective reports. Jazz takes to her unexpected baby brother with the same kind of zeal she takes to her school work, and Daniel- who quickly becomes the endearing 'Danny'- adores her even when the memories she brings with her stab him through the heart.

He misses his brother. But he is at least relieved in the knowledge that one day they might meet again.

At 14, Danny dies. His history with the LoA changes nothing and everything surrounding this fact. When he starts to show odd behavior, the Fenton parents begin to worry, wondering what they should do. They try not to bring up any of this in their reports, and simply hope that Danny doesn't either.

The very first time Danny misses a monthly report to his Grandfather is also the very same month his parents take him and Jazz to visit Gotham to take some samples on the swamp dwelling there.

He doesn't realize there is someone else living there, missing him just as fiercely and hoping they can meet again.

---

When Damian finds Dányál again, sees him alive and well after far too many years apart, he is at first euphoric. His twin brother is alive, after all. Why wouldn't he be happy?

But then he founds out his brother is not out from under the thumb of their grandfather like he'd first assumed. Not only is Danny still technically working for the League, he is also aiding them in some of their ventures with his joint research with the Fenton's.

Damian attempts to physically stop his brother, hoping to take him in and back to the Cave for further interrogation. But Danny can't trust Damian either now. He has no love for the League, not after a taste of freedom, however small it might have been. Damian has no way of ensuring his adopted family's safety, and honestly has shown no interest in helping them escape the League's clutches as well.

When Damian pushes, Danny shoves back. Hard.

They might have managed to escape their destined battle the first time, but there is no escaping it a second time.

[its-short-for-jackalope]

OKAY, WE GOT A TRAILER AND A TITLE AND I HAVE THOUGHTS

You know what that means: it's brainrot time.

🏝 TITLE REVEAL: WHO IS THE SEARCHER IN THE SHADOWS?

quick note, I love this title. It's rad as hell. 10/10. anyway—

of course when I hear the word "Searcher" I immediately think of the one and only Addison Arvad, missing captain of the Antikythera and beloved wrecker of journals.

look at her. I love her. she's beautiful. also I am lowkey obsessed with how Jackie draws hair. (please teach me your secrets.)

We didn't get to learn much about Capt. Arvad in episode 3, but we do know that she was a Searcher who disappeared without any explanation, along with the rest of her crew. Kal probably had something to do with it, since he was attempting to retrieve the ship's orrery and said some vague stuff about fog and vortices, but even he doesn't seem to know exactly what happened to her and the crew.

Whatever the case, her disappearance is the reason most of the events in TGOA even happened, so it would make sense for her to be a big part of the next episode. And if Addison is the Searcher and the Searcher is in the shadows, then I have two (and a half?) theories.

The first is that she (and her crew, if they survived, who are also presumably all Searchers) are lost somewhere and that whatever "fogging the vertices" entails led to her getting whisked away somewhere else. She could be trapped there, trying to get out, and/or maybe she is in shadows in the same way Margaret was—maybe she has lost her memories and her magic.

The second theory is actually an idea @man-down-in-hatchet-town proposed that promptly blew my mind: what if whatever happened to Addison led to her getting corrupted and going dark and she is the villain of the episode? I honestly love this idea so much and I think it would be fun and also delightfully heartbreaking after hearing that entry from Addison's journal and getting a glimpse of the person she once was.

(also every pulp fan I know is in complete agreement that we want a cool female villain, pretty please Matt— 🥺🙏)

🏝 OH GOD, THE TIME TRAVEL

I've already yelled a bit about Rose being separated from Samuel and the others, so I'm not gonna repeat myself here, but I also have other thoughts about the time travel!

The trailer has confirmed that Rose was indeed sent two weeks into the past like Ahlaam said she would be. I think it's safe to assume that Rose will have to wait those two weeks until she can reunite with the others, and I also believe we're gonna have to wait with her.

Rose’s two weeks are going to be important—she's meeting Dakkar and hopefully getting some Travelore™ about the island and The Blazing World, and probably getting into some sort of trouble that better not require a printing press plate to resolve, since she doesn’t have it right now—so I don’t think they're going to just blip by. Otherwise what’s the point of sending her back in time?

I think it’s a pretty safe bet that we (the listeners) are probably going to be doing some time travel ourselves, hopping between Rose's two weeks with Dakkar and the rest of the brick family in the present as Sia takes them to the island and they get started on all that mysterious work they have to do. I have no idea what they're going to find there except maybe a rocket? but I can imagine Samuel and the others following Rose's trail as they piece together what's happened to her and learn about this place and its inhabitants, and then the storylines will connect by the end of the episode and we'll get the twins back together and they'll never be separated again!

Isn't that right, Mr. Dahan?

/lh

Alternatively, I suppose the Ellen Austin could be met on the shore by a Rose who has already spent two weeks on the island and then we could get relevant flashbacks here and there, but I don't think that's as likely. It might be too impractical for this medium when we have a lot of story (and lore) to cover and only so much time to sing about it! Plus, that"By the time our heroes are reunited" bit really makes me think that they won't see each other until closer to the end of the episode. The reunion is absolutely gonna make me cry. I can't wait.

🏝 TRAVELER ISLAND, BABEY!

The island's inhabitants have magic similar to Margaret's, and are led by a new group of powerful Travelers.

...Well, maybe it's not Traveler island, exactly. I'm guessing that most of these ~inhabitants~ are actually Searchers. Sia might not be the only Traveler, but I don't think there are a lot of them out there. It makes more sense for there to be less Travelers and more Searchers to balance things out if the Travelers are significantly more powerful like they've been implied to be.

I definitely think Ahlaam is one of the "new group of powerful Travelers" and I'm super excited to get to know her more. (I am also hoping that maybe we'll get a Jackie Traveler character? 👀) I still don't know if Dakkar is a Traveler or not, but I'm inclined to believe he might be a Searcher—mostly because his portrait doesn't have glowing eyes and flashy gold jewelry like Sia or Ahlaam. (I also feel like it may not be a coincidence that he's wearing a light blue-ish colored shirt like Addison, even if it's a different style and looks considerably less like a space suit, lol.)

They speak of a lost kingdom, The Blazing World, and how what occurs on Lincoln Island will impact an entire civilization.

The Blazing World!!! Rose hasn't heard this name yet, but we have! (and Margaret and Samuel.) The people on Lincoln Island could be survivors/refugees from the Blazing World, or perhaps they are all here on a war mission and this is simply their base of operations. Either way, I'm sure the civilization being impacted is the Travelers'; even if this island isn't currently sheltering all that remains of their people and this is only an outpost for the war, they still have some valuable people here—like Margaret, who is recovering her memories and I am certain has an incredibly vital role to play in this war��and the aftermath of whatever happens will undoubtedly be felt beyond the shores of Lincoln Island. Either our heroes succeed in whatever they're trying to do here, or it goes wrong and the Blazing World potentially loses valuable warriors & resources, and the war against Itzal takes a turn for the worse.

🏝 THE "D" WORD: DESTINY

By the time our heroes are reunited, they will be closer to understanding their destinies than ever before...

Destiny... oh, I've had many thoughts about this and been part of multiple discussions with various friends about fate and coincidence and puzzle pieces coming together in this story. enough that I'm almost not sure where to start.

...Eh, chronologically, I guess.

1817 — the year the Stratford family paper stand was established and the year Anna Hanover's father lost his place in the world. Both of these events affected the characters' lives, helping to cement the twins' love of stories and giving them an eventual connection to the New York Sun that would allow them to publish the moon hoax, and giving Anna her tragic backstory and a goal that would drive her to construct her own moon out of brick rather than ink.

1829 — the year I believe Margaret Cavendish arrived in New York City. She lost her memories and her magic, and the Travelers set her up here to live in comfort and safety and loneliness. We don't know why this happened yet, but I think it's safe to assume the location isn't a coincidence when we know at least one Traveler with precognitive abilities and it's only a handful of years until...

1835 — the year of the moon hoax and the brick satellite. Samuel and Rose Stratford write a story that takes the city by storm, attracting the attention of both Margaret Cavendish, who has been looking for answers and winds up with more questions and magic she doesn't remember or understand, and Sir John Herschel, who doesn't want fantastical stories written about him, thank you very much—but wait, how did he get here? He was in South Africa, a whole other hemisphere! How did he find out about the hoax so quickly?

Well, someone brought him the newspaper that made him come to New York, meet the Stratfords and Margaret, and invite them all to work on the brick satellite with him. They go to British Guiana, manage to finish the satellite alongside Anna, get it into the sky thanks to Margaret's Radiance, and finally meet the Traveler out in space, who somehow knew they would be there and knew Margaret's magic was returning but is surprised that her memories weren't. The Traveler knows more than she's telling, but rather than explain she sends the quartet back to Earth.

1874 — the year the quartet are teleported to. They happen to meet a friendly bosun who offers them a place on a ship that'll take them to New York, right where they want to go. Perfect, right? But in reality it takes them to a ghost ship that just so happens to contain some stuff that helps Margaret remember some things. There's a crazy awesome magic battle, sailors vanish, the ghost ship vanishes, and by the end of it all they're sailing towards a mysterious island and the Traveler, Sia, is telling them they have a lot of work to do.

...okay, the point I'm attempting to make here is that yeah, it definitely seems like something has been leading them here, to this time and place. I just can't tell if it's ✨️destiny✨️ or if it's just Sia, who can see into the future and had a clear hand in at least some of these occurrences. She sent our heroes to 1874 in a flash of light, right into Morgan's path, into Kal's, into the Antikythera's. And if she did that, who's to say she hasn't been guiding the quartet in more covert ways this whole time? Someone had to get that paper to John. Someone—specifically a Traveler someone—had to get Margaret settled in New York.

You could say that it's all destiny and that Sia's foresight and her actions are simply destiny's way of getting shit done, that it was all going to happen this way no matter what. You could also go round and round questioning how destiny and precognitive abilities work & influence each other until your brain feels like it's melting (why yes, I am speaking from experience) but I think I'm going to skip that and focus on a different question instead:

What does destiny (or Sia) have in store for our heroes?

I don't know, of course. probably a rocket at some point? gotta wait for the episode to find out.

but regardless of who or what has been pulling the strings, it took a lot to get our heroes to this point and the idea that they're meant to be here, that they've always been headed toward something that's more than this the lives they had before is so unbelievably exciting??? even if you don't care for the idea of destiny or fate, you know great things are coming and that the story is gonna get bigger and wilder.

🏝 YEAH I KEEP MENTIONING THE ROCKET, DON'T I?

might as well actually give it its own little section on this ramble-y ass post, lol.

We've had hints that there'd be at least one rocket in the story from the very first M.A.I.A. transmission. (If you haven't seen those, you're missing out!) Now that we're getting new cast photos where everyone has been posing with a little red rocket, it looks like it's time!

Maybe the quartet are going to help the Travelers build a rocket. Maybe they're going to help repair a rocket that already exists. Maybe they're going to go to space again, or another planet—The Blazing World?—or maybe they're only going to see the Travelers off and that'll be it. (Okay, that last one would be a little disappointing, lmao.) Hell, maybe they're only going to Lincoln Island to meet a rocket that hasn't arrived yet! So many possibilities!

...hmm. I think that's it? I think that's all the thoughts I had. I have been putting this post together off and on since last night so if I missed anything or it seems a little disjointed then that's why, lmao.

this is admittedly less of a theory post at times and more of a John impression (it's not my fault I have questions!) but why wait for M.A.I.A. transmissions and more information when I can shout about it all now? the universe simply wouldn't be right if I didn't seize every opportunity to scream about Pulp Musicals.

anyway, if you read all of this then I hope you enjoyed it! you can expect/dread more posts like this in the coming weeks, as soon as we get more info and M.A.I.A. transmissions. can't wait to see my best girl again. 💙

...I really hope Matt and Jackie have gotten that window fixed.

[rosypenguins]

would you like to dump all your thoughts, headcanons, rambles, and yaps about dom? (i luv letting people yap and i love dom)

Y-yeah I’d like that.

Most of my headcanons and rambles have already been drafted into future posts, so I’m just gonna yap about them for a lil bit lol.

I genuinely did not expect to get as attached to these twins as I did. Hell, I remember when their beta designs dropped, I thought they looked lame. But then the spin-off came out and I was like ‘oh, they’re alright actually’ and then I kept rewatching the episode because I’m cripplingly addicted to this show and slowly I just grew more and more fond of them. Dom specifically. (Faye’s amazing too but Dom hits different.)

And then the second episode came out, and I started thinking more and more about them, which spiraled into a million headcanons and a whole damn backstory and my gallery looking like this-

And I basically did to them what I did to Drew: I took all the pieces canon gave me and filled in the rest with my imagination to make two little scrimblos I can more easily write about and analyze. (Normal things hot girls do.✨)

And I find it funny how Dom has managed to capture my attention just as much as Drew has, when he’s probably a character Drew would bully like RELENTLESSLY. (I have two scenarios of this: one being Drew calling Dom’s sweater stupid and childish while Dom’s like “At least mines not all plain and basic!” and then they argue for like two minutes OR Drew actually gets to something Dom’s insecure about or says something like “Oh my God, could you shut up for once in your life? No one fucking cares what you have to say. You’re annoying and if you spent the rest of life with your mouth glued shut I doubt anyone would care. It’d be better off for everyone.” And Dom actually goes silent and then he’s like REALLY hesitant about saying anything for two weeks- wait I made myself sad writing that FUCK.)

ANYWAYS I genuinely don’t really know WHY I’m so attached to Dom right now. He’s literally just a carrot, with about 5 minutes of screen time. Half of his lines are about squirrels and birds, and yet I’d trade my DAMN SOUL for him. HE’S SO FUCKING CUTE. (Maybe it’s because of the lack of backstory and relative mystery. I love me a character I gotta piece together like a puzzle. Or maybe it’s his voice Ireallylikehisvoice-)

But yeah, I’m obsessed with him and it makes me really sad how I’ve barely been able to find any content of him. Like there’s literally no fanfiction, and barely any art. Which I guess makes sense, they’re supporting characters with not much to them, but still, it makes me sad. (BUT IM WORKING TO CHANGE THAT WITH MY FANFIC WIPS AND DRAWING DRAFTS!)

And it sucks too, because I doubt they’re gonna play much of a role in S2. They’re probably gonna fade into obscurity, and I’ll never be able to learn about their backstories or potential mental issues. (Which I ALSO HAVE A POST ABOUT-)

I think going forward, I’m gonna try and post a little more about Dom and Faye, at least for now. I’m still Drew blog obviously, Drew’s still my personality unfortunately, but I really want to try and use my blog to sort of promote them, I guess? I want to share what I see in them, and I want to feed the Dom and Faye fans that are just as starved as me.

Anyways TLDR: I just like Dom a lot. He deserves the world. (I say as I discreetly shove him into the blender of suffering turn it onto high.)

[subwaystanwich]

Our Secret

Hey guys! Here's the piece I was working on, that I showed the teaser of! I hope you enjoy my first piece of writing on this blog! Minors DNI!!! This is a mature piece.

WARNING: This piece contains sibling incest. If you have found this mistakenly, please move on for your comfort and safety. If you choose to read this piece you are consenting to being exposed to this content.

You can find the fic on ao3 or read it down below!

The unknown always appealed to Ford. It was mysterious, it was weird, it was perfect. So falling for his twin wasn't scary, it was something new to explore. Uncharted territory that he was ready to fling himself into. It was bizarre, it was something people would judge him for. But Ford was used to judgment, used to stares. He had his six fingers to thank for that.

But realistically, Ford knew that he wasn't the best choice for his brother. Stan deserved a happy ending, not to be constantly worried about people finding out about his relationship. So Ford should be happy about his twin's relationship, right? He should be over the moon.

But he wasn't.

Carla was stunning. Stan was always talking about how he couldn't believe someone as gorgeous as her would be interested in someone like him. Ford wanted to grab his brother and tell him of course she liked him! Stan was handsome, and had a magnetic personality. He was so lovable. 

But he was also fragile. And his fragility was all Ford could think about as he sat in his bed, watching Stan stare off into the distance. His eyes were rimmed with red, having spent the better part of the last hour crying.

“Hey Ford?”

Ford looked up and saw Stan looking at him, looking absolutely wrecked. It broke Ford’s heart just to look at him.

“Yes Stanley?” Ford responded.

“What’s wrong with me?” Stan asked softly.

Ford blinked, confused. “What?”

“I said, what's wrong with me? I'm such a screw up. I get bad grades, Pops hates me, and now Carla's gone. What'd I do to piss the world off?” Stan said, eyes flicking from Ford to the floor. “I'm pathetic.”

“No you’re not,” Ford said firmly. “You're not pathetic. Carla was a fool to leave someone like you.”

Stan let out a harsh laugh. “She found someone better. Someone who’s leagues better than me.”

“Thistle Downe is not leagues better than you. I’ve heard his music, and he’s the pathetic one if you ask me,” Ford said, and patted the spot next to him on the bed. “Come here,” he said.

Stan stood up from their desk chair and slowly walked over to Ford, springs squeaking as he sat down. Ford took one of his brother's hands in his own and squeezed tightly. He looked up, and two locked eyes. Ford let go of Stan, and instead, cupped his brother’s face with his hands.

“You’re a bright light, Stanley. Don't let this burn you out.”

Stan's eyes welled with tears, and Ford wiped them away with his thumbs when they fell. He needed to help his brother, but nothing seemed to be working. What could he do? And then suddenly it came to him.

“Do you want to make Fort Stan?” Ford asked, hands dropping away. Stan let out a watery laugh.

“We haven't done that in forever,” Stan said, but there was a spark in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Encouraged, Ford continued.

“We could build it and put pillows and blankets in there! And you can bring those magazines, and I'll bring my books!” Ford said excitedly.

“I also have a stash of snacks under my bed,” Stan said. “And not just toffee peanuts!”

“Ugh you better have something different over there,” Ford said with a shudder. “Those things are terrible.”

Stan laughed good naturedly and crossed the room, pulling out his magazines and food. Ford grabbed his top sheet off the bed, and the two began construction. Stan seemed cheerful, and Ford cheered internally. Comforting people was not his forte, but somehow this was working.

“Perfect!” Stan finally said with a grin. The tent was erected, and the two brought their items in. 

“Okay, so the only snacks I actually have are toffee peanuts and jelly beans. But--”

“Jelly beans?” Ford said, eyes wide. “I thought you hated jelly beans!”

“Eh,” Stan said shrugging, “I know they’re like, your one weakness, so I put some up here in case it looked you needed some. And now’s the perfect time!”

“You have them here for me?” Ford said, surprised.

“Well yeah,” Stan said with a smile. “Gotta have something for you.”

Ford smiled softly as Stan opened up one of his magazines. It was full of pictures of bikini clad women, and Stan kept showing Ford the most risque ones.

“Stop it!” Ford finally said with an eye roll. “I don’t want to see that!”

“Why?” Stan said, “You gay or something?”

The words were said casually, no malice or harshness at all. Stan was clearly just teasing, but Ford found he couldn’t speak. Gay. He knew that he’d only had a crush on one girl before, and he knew that he loved his twin more than natural…but he’d never thought to label his feelings before. But now that the words had left Stan’s lips, Ford realized there might be some truth to them.

“Sixer?” Stan said, looking up, concern on his face. “You okay?”

“Yes of course,” Ford said shakily. Stan frowned. Unlike Ford, Stan had always been good with emotions, good at figuring out how people were feeling.

“You don’t seem okay,” he said, setting his magazine aside and sitting up. He slid over towards Ford, who tensed up at the action. “Is it what I said? About being gay?”

“Why would it be that?” Ford said, voice unnaturally high.

“It’s okay if you are,” Stan said, putting his arm around Ford. “I kinda always knew.”

“What?!” Ford practically shouted, pulling away from his twin as though he’d been burned. “I’m…I’m not, you’ve got it wrong, I don’t—!”

“It’s okay Ford,” Stan said softly. “I promise, I’m not upset.”

Ford went quiet, staring at the ground. “Maybe…maybe I am,” he said, voice barely above a whisper.

“Don’t worry about it,” Stan said. “We can share secrets you know. I’ve got ‘em, you’ve got ‘em. We can tell each other!”

“Like what?” Ford asked Stan, giving him a side eye.

“Well,” Stan said, drawing out the word, “I…I’ve had crushes on guys before too.”

“Really?” Ford said, eyebrows shooting up. “Who?”

“You know Ezra Miller from Saturday school?” Stan asked. “I had a thing for him.”

“Wow,” Ford breathed. He had no idea! Stan said he’d always known that Ford was gay, but Stan? Ford would never have guessed in a million years!

“But you were with…you’ve dated girls,” Ford said, sounding confused.

“I guess I’m into both?” Stan said, looking thoughtful. “Also Robbie Milfred. He was always nice to me but I got over him pretty quick once he started hanging out with Crampelter. Ugh. So, who have you had crushes on?”

You’re the only one, Ford thought to himself. But there was no way he could say that out loud! Sure Stan said they could share secrets, but this? This was a secret that he couldn’t share no matter what.

“Nobody,” Ford said.

“That’s not true,” Stan said, scooting closer to Ford. “I know there’s someone.”

Ford gulped, eyes flicking up to meet Stan’s. His brother was looking at him, but the look in his eyes was different. He couldn’t place what was different about Stan, but something had changed. The air was different, and Ford’s heart was beating a million miles a minute.

“There’s really not,” Ford said, leaning back. But as he did so, Stan moved even closer. Their thighs were touching, and oh god their thighs were touching. Ford focused all his energy on keeping the blood in his head and not his…other head. There was no way he could get a hard on near his brother, and certainly not from something like that.

“I said we could share secrets,” Stan said, voice deep and layered, dripping with honey. “I meant it. Any secret you have, you can tell me. Want me to tell you another of mine?”

“Sure,” Ford said, hoping that whatever secret this was would get the subject to change.

“I want you,” Stan said, and placed a hand over Ford’s. “I always have.” Ford choked on air. “Stanley!” he said, shocked. “You can’t…”

“I can,” Stan said, touching foreheads with Ford. “And I know you like me too. Don’t pretend. I see how you look at me when I change in front of you.”

Ford’s breathing was heavy now, and he closed his eyes. This was a joke, surely. Stan would pull away at any moment, laughing at how gullible Ford was. They would both roll their eyes and get back to those stupid magazines. There was no way this was really happening.

“Stanley, we can’t…”

“Why not?” Stan said, hot breath on Ford’s face. “This fort is for secrets. I won’t tell anyone what happens in here if you don’t.”

“I…I don’t know…”

“I do,” Stan said, and Ford suddenly found his lips captured in a kiss. His eyes flew open, shocked. Stan was kissing him. Stan was kissing him. Ford found himself melting into it, soft sounds of lips on lips filling the air. He let Stan work his mouth open with his own, and soon their tongues were sliding slickly against each other. Ford let out a moan that he would normally be embarrassed by, but the groan that Stan answered with made all thoughts of shame leave his mind instantly.

Ford couldn’t believe this was really happening. Every fantasy he’d ever had, it was finally coming true. Stan gently pushed Ford down, their kisses growing feverish now, desperate. A match had been lit, and now the fire was spreading. Stan’s hands explored Ford’s sides, and Ford felt his pants growing tight. But it didn’t matter, because Stan was clearly suffering from the same condition. Ford could feel his boner pressing against him, and he longed to see it, to touch it.

Ford ran his fingers through Stan’s hair and instinctively tugged. Stan made a sound, a purely animalistic sound, and his hips jerked forward.

“Stanley!” Ford cried out. 

“Shhh,” Stan said, but his hips kept moving. “Don’t want Ma and Pops to hear.”

Oh god. Ma and Pops. If they knew that their children, their precious babies, were dry humping the shit out of each other…there would be hell to pay. Ford could practically see his Pops’ face growing red with anger, and his Ma letting out choked sobs.

But he didn’t have time to contemplate this more, as Stan latched onto him, where his shoulder met his neck, and began to suck and bite.

“St-stan…” Ford moaned, trying to keep quiet.

“Yeah?” Stan said, hips moving faster. Ford felt himself moving in time, both of them chasing their own pleasure. Soon, fireworks exploded before Ford’s eyes, and he had to shove his knuckles into his mouth to prevent himself from screaming out his twin’s name. Stan followed soon after, and kissed him one last time, softly. He gently rolled off, and pulled Ford close.

“We should probably clean up,” Ford murmured. 

“Later,” Stan said, and Ford nodded. But he couldn’t help but think…everything is different now.

[herrscherofmagic]

Dear Honkai Tumblr,

I present to thee something which might be the weirdest character crossover you've seen yet: an HSR version of GGZ's Fire MOTH! Based on...

-> GGZ Fire MOTH Himeko & Houraiji Kyuushou,

-> HI3rd's young Cocolia (from the Second Eruption manga),

-> and HI3rd's Captainverse Vollerei (Red Seele)

details below

my mind works in mysterious ways, and today it decided to pair up these characters together.

it's hard to explain but I've kinda had bits and pieces of this idea already, just not put together in this exact fashion. soooo I just whipped up a sketch as a bit of a preview, just doddling based off of some reference photos. It took a bit under 40 minutes, but I'm satisfied with it so I'm gonna go ahead and post it now instead of burying it w/ the rest of my WIPs x-x

but! I would like to try and come up with a complete set of art, story, and gameplay features for these 4 in the HSR setting! Including character splashes, signature light cones, detailed abilities, etc.

While I still have a long way to go w/ this project, I do have some ideas to start with

This is my current rough outline of the story:

Kyuushou, Himeko, Vollerei, and Cocolia are a misfit band of survivors on an icy world that was struck by a Stellaron disaster (as usual). Himeko lost her family, Vollerei lost her twin (blue seele) & Bronya, and Cocolia lost Serval; but they were all united by Kyuushou, and together they fight in the ruins of their homeworld.

For their designs I'd like to try and start w/ the Fire MOTH uniforms but modify it to better fit HSR aesthetics. As for gameplay, I have the following as my sort of "first draft" for their kits:

-> Kyuushou as Imaginary(?) Harmony, wielding a blade and gun

-> Himeko as Fire Destruction, wielding her signature GGZ greatsword

-> Vollerei as Ice Abundance, using the life symbolism of the butterfly rebirth theme

-> Cocolia as Ice Nihility, using an ice lance much like the Architect's lance from Jarilo-VI (that Trailblazer now uses)

Reference images for the above sketches:

[fabseg-creator]

I had previously made a post with the title as:

Yandere Twins/An unexpected night with Mrs. Graham de Vanily

It told about a scene between Nathalie and Amélie (Amenath) and now I work a scene between Nathalie and Émilie the other sister (Eminath). In this upcoming chapter, the story happens in the past (it's still in the Yandere Twin AU). This time, it's Émilie who is lovesick on Nathalie.

The Amenath post

I warn you: It's dark and suggestive (meanwhile, I work to avoid explicit content).

----

Flashback, 15 years earlier:

An undressed Nathalie misteriously wakes up and she is tied to a metal bar (reminding a strip tease bar). 😶

The treasure huntress sees Émilie in front of her. The latter holds a whiplash (from Nathalie's equipment).

Emilie was waiting for her recently married man (Gabriel) to be gone for a long time. Long enough to reveal her true intentions to Nathalie.

Nathalie (confused and intrigued): Émilie ?! What is this madness ?

Émilie: I always wanted to make this moment with you from the first we met, Nathalie. ❤

Nathalie: What do you mean ?

Émilie: I want to accomplish my life's goal.

Nathalie: Your life's goal ? A beautiful woman like you desires an more important goal than being actress and top-model. You and Mr. Agreste have already ressources enough for live as rich people.

Émilie blushes about Nathalie saying "beautiful woman" to her. ❤

Émilie: I want to form the family from my dreams. I wish to be pregnant for make birth to my future child (I think about a boy). Why I left the Graham de Vanily House ? For freedom ? I'm already living this. Why I travel around the world (even if I was with Gabi or not) ? For exploration ? For treasures ? During our last travels, that's a lot of good moments. But I began to think about someone (not something). I believed Gabi was my ideal person but I've found a fascinating human who makes me feel happy.

Nathalie: I don't understand, Émilie.

Émilie: I'm very happy because I have finally found the perfect match for my heart. You find treasures, archeological pieces and mysterious but magical artefacts (like these Miraculouses), Nathalie. Meanwhile I find a better treasure than the treasure itself: A person who is making me fall in love. Do you want to know ? ❤

Nathalie tries to guess who is Émilie talking about. She begins to understands with a blushed tone.

Nathalie: I am ?

Émilie suddenly becomes exalted.

Émilie: Ah... Yes, Nathalie ! Good answer. ❤

She calms down before posing as a Femme Fatale.

I have another riddle for you. Answer correctly and I free you. I think about a reward to you. But be careful about the whip. 😈 Nathalie (unimpressed): Say that, Emilie. 😏

The blonde woman smiles.

Émilie: Are you in love with me, Nathalie ? ❤

---

The text you read is a sneak peek.

The full story (under the form a fanfic-minicomic pair) is on wip. It's coming soon. I must make other sketches for the illustration.