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auroras-void · 4 months ago

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Hmnn it's been years since I've run a DnD campaign, but I saw that Brennan Lee Mulligan quote about the power of friendship being nothing compared to chronomancy and I just got the coolest idea for a villain.

I'm thinking a powerful chronomancer, but no one knows they're a chronomancer. They're introduced simply as an ordinary mage, who is an absolute perfectionist. They talk to everyone as if their old friends, somehow always knowing exactly what to say, their spells are weaker than what the party normally encounters, but miraculously always seem to have deadly precision.

Now, the real gimmick though, is I want to use loaded dice for them. Specifically, I want to design and build my own d20 that I can rig to land on *any* face.

The mechanism is dead simple, I'm going to take a hollow d20, place a strong neodymium magnet inside, and then fill it with a carefully measured indium-gallium alloy. The idea is to create a blend that has a density as similar as possible to neodymium, while still being solid, or mostly solid at room temperature.

That way at any point you can simply hold it in your hand above a spot on the table where you've hidden a powerful magnet, and the metal inside will liquify under your body heat, allowing the neodymium magnet to move freely inside and be "reprogrammed" by the larger magnet under the table. At which point you remove your hand and allow it to resolidify, locking the magnet in place. All while still managing to pass an inspection and hopefully even a balance test within reason.

(I also actually already have a crazy strong magnet for hiding under the table, ripped a pair of them out of some old PA speakers, very hard to get it unstuck from my file cabinet, and it doesn't even look like a magnet at a cursory glance!)

Additionally I think with a carefully constructed dice tower, it may be possible to hide the unnatural movement the magnet imparts.

Finally, and this is maybe the craziest part, if I can perfect my design, get it to successfully evade suspicion and land on a design that's somewhat cost effective...

I want to make one pair of identical dice for each player, rigged like this. Then only hand them one each, without telling them what they are.

Now the clever part here, I mentioned making a dice tower designed to hide the shenanigans afoot. If I'm doing that, I can do a little more than just that. I'm thinking, make the dice tower attached to the DM screen, ostensibly so I don't have to reach over the screen to put a die in. But in actuality I intend to put in a mechanism there such that as it falls I can swap the die halfway down the tower for one I've preloaded into a hidden slot with a bit of mechanical slight of hand.

The idea being, I can take the secret duplicate, and reprogram it in advance, meaning I can now rig *any* roll to *any* number.

(Maybe I make them match some of the decorations on my DM screen so that it seems more reasonable to as for them back at the end of the session, to reduce the chances of anyone figuring out the gimmick or accidentally discovering they're magnetic.)

Imagine the possibilities! I can have them lying dormant for most of the game letting them be natural rolls. But whenever they encounter the BBEG, suddenly the numbers look a little... suspicious... Maybe before they're even revealed as a villain, whenever the players are around them, their dice suddenly seem to roll in strange patterns. Maybe no one rolls an even number 10 times in a row. Maybe the sequences of rolls start to repeat themselves. Reality around them just fundamentally feels slightly off.

It should be as subtle as possible at first, the players should only be able to pick it up if they're being very observant. Additionally it should be reserved, most encounters should not fuck with reality, both to reduce suspicion of dice tampering and to provide contrast against the times you *do* fuck with reality. There should be red herrings and alternative explanations that buy you time to weave a mystery for the players to work out. Executed well I want it to feel like a magic trick. Because it essentially is one, given all the insane fuckery and sleight of hand I'm coming up with.

It doesn't even have to be limited to the dice either, any way of playing DnD has ways you can fuck with things behind the scenes. If using a digital or projected battlegrid you can move things behind the fog of war and shift the room in any way you like. If using theater of the mind you have the plausible deniability of forgetting details when you rearrange things in your narration. Not to mention any other styles and rule changes you can make if you're homebrewing or using a ttrpg besides DnD5e. If you add deck building to your game you can even literally use close up magic sleight of hand to stack the deck!

Then, as things kick into gear you can do all sorts of crazy stuff, maybe the party finally catches the villain in a corner, and for once, everything seems normal, all their dice are rolling true and they seem to finally have them caught off guard, they dispatch their minions easily and the villain opens a doorway and makes a break for it. When the players rush in to pursue though, the next room has exactly the same layout as before, complete with the exact same minions they just killed. After some confusion the party begins the fight again, but if they're particularly observant, every roll they make has exactly the same results as last time, meanwhile the villain is only repeating numbers if they were already high to begin with, and their spell slots seem to have refreshed.

Towards the end of the campaign the players have figured it out now, but the chronomancer continues to perfect their craft. Their stats remain mediocre as always, but now they're *only* rolling nat 20s every. Single time. Meanwhile the players are suddenly only getting nat 1s. Now the players have an interesting mechanical challenge here, where they have to figure out how they take on a foe who *always* gets perfect rolls with the abilities at their disposal. The only way they win is by thinking outside the box, coming up with a strategy that either has enough overwhelming force to fight through the debuff, or that sidesteps the need for rolls in the first place.

As the campaign progresses the time manipulation grows more and more powerful, but it also starts to visibly take a toll on the villain. They're aging, *fast*, and their sanity is beginning to unravel just as quickly. They have far more scars than the party could have possibly inflicted.

By the final battle they're a force of nature, powerful enough to take on a god, able to manipulate reality enough to poke at the fourth wall, they can introduce mechanics like forcing the players onto a turn timer. Or maybe something like Time Eater from Slay the Spire where the players have their actions limited in some way that can still anticipate and come up with counterplay against.

But it's come at a great cost, any goals the villain once had are long gone now, I'm thinking either they start to show signs of dementia, and the party needs to delve into their past to unravel then and talk them down, or they become a Jobu Tupaki, able to see every timeline simultaneously, experience every timeline simultaneously, and they've gone mad with eternity and try to cope with it by trying to impose order, perfection, onto *all* of them.

Maybe they're a likeable villain, and you can plant seeds all the way back when they were still aligned or at least, not opposed to the party, hinting at their motivations that the players can use. Or maybe they represent some kind of force that the party must oppose and destroy. Or maybe some other secret third thing,

In any case though, by far the most effective solution for the party here is of course, the power of friendship. They need to be able to talk them down, gather enough allies to overpower them, or come up with another creative solution to either bring them down peacefully or create an opening where they can kick their time wizard ass.

Ooo!! And I just came up with the perfect name for them!

"Kai", short for "Kairos".

Kairos of course coming from Greek. Here referencing the concept of time as it's experienced qualitatively. (As opposed to Chronos, the mere passage of time).

#post #dnd concept #ttrpg ideas #story ideas #brennan lee mulligan

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canmom · 5 months ago

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as a general maxim, when you make art you wanna create contrasts: detail vs simplicity, saturated colours vs grey, organic shapes vs inorganic, long paragraphs vs short, colloquial language vs formal, loud vs quiet, fullness vs emptiness

and you also want to work that on a meta level as well. contrasting between things being the same and things being different. repeating the same thing over and over feels homogeneous but so does everything constantly changing. a mix of some things coming back around and some things being novel keeps you guessing.

and keeps you guessing is an important thing - a purely regular pattern with no variation doesn't tend to elicit as much interest, except when it's placed in contrast to other artworks.

recently in the last few decades it seems that, probably inspired by the parallel discourses of machine learning, neuroscienctists have cooked up a kind of 'thermodynamics-style' theory of how the brain works with what they call the 'free energy principle', which casts the brain as being in a cycle of constantly generating predictions and testing them against sensory input in order to refine its internal model. here's artem kirsanov, a guy who makes pretty good videos on ML theory, with a neat visual summary:

youtube

why do they call it free energy? I guess they're following in the footsteps of Claude Shannon in borrowing names from thermodynamics for similar-looking formulae. (and in fact, Shannon entropy ends up playing a role here.)

I will need to dig more into this to really pierce the mathematical formalism and jargon in this hypothesis; presently I'm reacting to a surface summary and vibes. but musing on the idea, I think this tells quite a cute story about the above maxim for art: things that are hard to predict force us to do more work to develop our internal model, so they provoke us; but there does need to be something to predict, because it's also saisfying to resolve a pattern in the noise.

the interplay of surprise, recognition, and learning, by this theory, somehow drives how we feel about the art, from the feeling of intrigue when you see an intricate visual composition, to the emotional impact that comes from a long-teased resolution in music.

to add a wrinkle to this, apparently individual neurons respond positively to rhythmic stimulation, such that if you're trying to grow a physical neural net, that's how you 'reward' neurons for giving good outputs. (I believe it came up in this video where a youtuber tried to grow some neurons to play Doom.) repeated patterns are in a sense the 'least surprising' input. not 100% sure how that vibes with this theory tbh, I feel like there's a lot of ways you could fit those two concepts together.

music is a very 'pure' form of art in this sense: you establish clearly recognisable patterns and then vary them just before they start to get boring.

games, on the other hand, engage our direct interactive feedback: we can try things and see if the game responds in the way we expect, and in so doing, elaborate an internal model of the game world.

I think this also gives me a lens on my autistic difficulties with social interaction: until I learn enough of the social 'game' in a particular space to understand how the things I say are likely to be received, I tend to feel quite anxious. but once I start to get to know people and get a basic model and feel that I'm not likely to put my foot in it too badly, the feeling flips quite dramatically; it becomes exciting to meet people and learn about all the very specific things they're passionate about.

I don't wanna go too far with this, I distrust 'everything reduces to this simple formula' metaphors, but I formed a connection and now I'm telling you about it!!!

#introspective nightposting #philosophy #ai #not quite sure which of my existing boxes to put this subject in so it gets all three #neuroscience #Youtube

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great-brilliant-radiance-au · 15 days ago

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vid of flipping through comic test bind !

and here binding process !

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so to talk about what did in previous post about wanting reach a 32 paper page benchmark before solidify anything , this is why !

We enjoy book binding as a hobby , so we are creating GBR in a format that very much is binable and comfortable read even in physical form

there will NOT be print runs nor will it be sold , don't sell fanfiction We planing to have it be available as a free pdf

You can follow this bookbinding tutorial to make this kind bind here ! (pamphlet single signature bind)

Video does Not cover how we did end flaps ,

what we did was that we didnt measure , but just cut out the sheet to height and leave width unchanged , then after fully binded , mark where want end flap to be folded (be sure add some margin and not right up against end of text block) then fold it to the line , and thats all !

We kept it down by just punching holes and doing simple pattern in thread , which keeps it together . it solution that not need glue n also have cool pattern on cover !

Reason why 32 was the magic number for us is because 8 leaves (pieces of loose paper) when folded will make 32 book pages (if interested in math stuff for leaves to pages conversion , we put one in undercut)

However , it technically just 26 comic pages due to front matter + chapter title pages not being counted (which is 6 extra pages)

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And heres it's size compared to a real graphic novel ! It about the size of 2 panel rows for normal graphic novel . (yes this is also smaller than a normal written book novel which average about 5" x 7.5" inch)

If curious , canvas size is 1275x1650 px with 1 inch margin ( we Don't recommend this specific sizing unless you're trying to do what we're doing with formatting , it is Not traditional page size and may feel too small )

Reason for this small sizing (besides small books being soo nice and holdable) is because its half letter sizing , in other words , each piece of paper used is just printer paper cut in half

It effectively Extremely cuts down on paper waist by making 1 sheet of paper into 2 leaves , as well as not needing to trim product much . (2 leaves folded makes 8 book pages while one folded piece of paper would make 4 pages) , it also makes grain direction correct (going up and down)

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So all of this is exactly why Great Brilliant Radiance is formatted and sized way is and why may feel oddly small n compact

it is Very tough make a comic in this very small sizing , but its a very fun challenge !

We didnt get the print correct first time , it took 3 print attempts to get all print right wawgh , but it was worth it :]

thats all for now , unless you want to look at math equations 🐕 (i dont like math)

[Below is a leaves to pages conversion equation stuff]

[transcription]

2 leaves = 8 pages 4 leaves = 16 pages 6 leaves = 24 pages 8 leaves = 32 pages --

[equations applies to all no matter how many leaves per signature]

[amount of leaves] X 4 = page number,

[page number] / 4 = amount leaves,

[signature count] X [amount of pages for specific leaf count] = page count,

(ex: 9 signatures X 24 (6 leaves signatures has 24 pages) = 216 page count)

so 160 page book would be 160 / 4 = 40 leaves , and can if 4 leaves per signature , itll be 10 signatures

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We created these equations ourselves as notice this pattern

It also doesnt Need to be complicated , due to how books work , you Always want all signatures to be exact same leaf count , so if doing 6 leaves per signature , you want keep Every signature 6 leaves

So because of this , you can just make a chart of all the numbers to reference

just have a chart that counts up by page count of the signature you want n you're good to go :]

Woaw u made it ! 🐟

#book binding #tips #behind the scenes #ramble #artwork #art #Great Brilliant Radiance #Great Brilliant Radiance AU #GBR AU #undertale #undertale au #deltarune #deltarune au

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mirror-ralsei · 2 years ago

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THEORY: The Ink Blot Test & Symmetry in UTDR

This isn't as much of a typical theory as it is pointing out a design element that I think really needs more discussion: the distinctive style used in certain visuals in the game.

It's actually kind of difficult for me to describe. But there seems to be a recurring style used across many enemies and their weapons. This style is typically white in color, and typically very ornate and detailed-looking. It's easy to pick out because most of the shapes in Undertale/Deltarune's sprites are more simple...and because of one fact: all of these designs look symmetrical.

Here are the places I noticed this style appearing. Hopefully as you look at these, you can understand what I mean by a particular “ornate, symmetrical look”:

Reaper Bird's overworld appearance

Reaper Bird's body

Asriel's CHAOS BUSTER

Final Froggit

POSSIBLE: Knight Knight's Good Morningstar (listed here as “hammer”)

POSSIBLE: Memoryheads (they're in 3/4 view and melting-looking so it's harder to tell, but notice the curly parts and comb-teeth-like parts)

Gaster Blasters (using the unused version since it's easier to notice the style without the eyes)

(While most of these designs are technically not symmetrical if you look closely, they all definitely give the impression of being so.)

There's some other possible references to this style, but I'm just going to focus on the more distinct ones for now. And even some of the ones I've listed are debatable. If I had to pick just a few, I'd use Reaper Bird, their overworld sprite, and CHAOS BUSTER as the definitive examples.

So it's taken me a couple years of not quite being able to place why this style felt so familiar. At first I thought they might look like fractals...

...but that wasn't quite it. Finally, all of a sudden, I put my finger on it.

This design style reminds me of Rorschach blots.

For anyone who doesn't know, the Rorschach test is a psychological test involving the subject looking at inkblots and determining what these patterns look like to them. As you can see, the inkblots are very intricate and symmetrical - just like the examples above.

How does this connect to Undertale? Not too much. But Deltarune? Possibly a lot! Maybe that's the reason most of the instances where this style appears seem connected to Deltarune in some way.

For starters, inkblots are black and white. Specifically, they're black patterns on a white background. So far, every instance of these inkblot-like designs in UT/DR have been the inverse of this: they're all white patterns on dark or black backgrounds. We know light and dark have meaning in Deltarune, so this makes sense.

The ink blots' meaning are what you make of it. Your brain determines what real world things this abstract ink on paper looks like to you. This seems like it could tie into the concept behind the Dark Worlds, and how they seem like “interpretations” of items in real life: For example, the Halloween Pencil becomes a SpookySword. (It's possible the ShadowCrystals may play on this “perception” idea a bit too, but we don't know yet.)

Doctor Gaster seems to be conducting tests on us (Sound Test, SURVEY_PROGRAM, etc.) to observe our feedback. This thematically fits with this whole Rorschach blot test reference. I'm not sure if “WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?” from Entry 17 and the egg man's flavor text 'What do you think?” are necessarily connected to this at all, but it does happen to fit the theme, lol.

All right, so we've established that there seems to be a symmetrical-looking style. We theorized that maybe they were supposed to evoke a similar look to Rorschach blot tests.

Now we're going to speculate even further.

So why exactly was this Rorschach blot looking style chosen? I think this symmetrical look might be based around reflections. After all, Deltarune involves a Light World and Dark World that reflect each other. And there are actually a few important references to reflections across Undertale and Deltarune.

Kris first appeared in Undertale as the PC's reflection in a puddle if Undertale is being run in Debug mode (Video by marxvee)

Reaper Bird is encountered in a mirror

Asriel and Kris' sides of their room are almost perfectly symmetrical in terms of layout and furniture

Kris' room in Ralsei's Castle has mirrored sprites of Asriel's trophies

The File Select text before Chapter 1's completion states “CHOOSE THE TARGET FOR THE REFLECTION” when copying a file, “IT IS IMMUNE TO ITS OWN IMAGE” when trying to copy a fiile onto itself, and “IT CONFORMED TO THE REFLECTION” when overwriting a file with a copied one

Mettaton NEO's attack is incredibly high but defenses are low, Spamton NEO's defense is incredibly high but attack is low

Gaster's motif of “666” is “mirrored” by 999: 999 appears in multiple places, eg. Chara's attack, stats of Grandpa Semi were “atk: 99999, df: 99999, hp: 999” (pointed out by LeedleLel's comment on this video by Lil' Alien).

The background of Jevil's fight is a mirrored image of a carousel.

The mirrored sinks in the right hospital room read “(It's a regular sink.)” and “(It's a clone of the other sink.)” Also: “(Perhaps there was originally one tall sink that was cut in half to create both of them.)”

All leg options in the GONER_MAKER are identical except the final one, which is mirrored. (pointed out by Shayy via Semi Frequent Undertale Facts)

The background of the GONER_MAKER itself is mirrored.

The background of the Asriel Dreemurr fight is mirrored.

The strange fog graphic before Papyrus' battle appears mirrored.

"I can't get any closer to the camera, I can't even see...my...little reflection." from the Spamton Sweepstakes

youtube

POSSIBLE: Gaster's belly face (upside down, details are white on black background, where Gaster's main face are black on white background)

POSSIBLE: Hot Fridge (inverse of the function of a normal fridge. look this one's loose lol, only including it because Alphys invented it and fridges are tied to Asgore's egg fridge, Snowdrake's mother, the Sans fridge call, and maybe the unused “rustfridge” in the Trash Zone (a place rife with possible Deltarune references))

POSSIBLE: Unused rooms 123 and 321 (123 is a relatively accessible unused room with interesting dialogue and 321 is...dark, and "empty").

So notably, the places we find this reflection motif in Undertale seem mostly connected to Deltarune: Kris is the PC of Deltarune, Reaper Bird is tied to Deltarune through Everyman, Mettaton NEO is similar to Deltarune's Spamton NEO, and Gaster is...well, probably the one who gave us our SURVEY_PROGRAM in the first place. Even the more tenuous examples of reflections seem plausibly Deltarune-related, such as the fridge Fun call and the Gaster belly face in Spamton's dumpster and a reflected dark room.

I'd like to expound a little bit on the File Select and sink dialogues. Both of these seem to be playing with a concept that could explain this reflection motif.

Copying a file in the File Select seems to mean we are “reflecting” it onto another slot: “CHOOSE THE TARGET FOR THE REFLECTION.” We cannot copy a file onto itself because “IT IS IMMUNE TO ITS OWN IMAGE.” If we overwrite an existing file with a copied one, “IT CONFORMED TO THE REFLECTION.” Interestingly, though, if you copy a file into an empty slot... “THE DIVISION IS COMPLETE.”

Not multiplying the file - dividing it in two. The original file is also implied to be changed in some way by this, because if you cancel the action of copying a file into an empty slot, “IT RETAINED ITS ORIGINAL SHAPE.” Meaning it would not have retained its original shape if it were copied.

The flavor text for the “cloned” sinks reflects this (hah) exactly. “(It's a regular sink.)” and “(It's a clone of the other sink.)” are followed by “(Perhaps there was originally one tall sink that was cut in half to create both of them.)” Aside from being relevant to the only tall sink we know of, Papyrus' in Undertale, this seems to be setting up a concept of “reflections” representing “an original being divided in two.”

That's about as far as I can take this with the context we have now. We don't know what exactly this reflection/division concept will mean in the plot of Deltarune, as it hasn't showed its hand yet. We don't know if the resemblance of that one recurring style to inkblots is intentional or just coincidence. But at least we have some possible explanation for why these motifs of symmetry and reflections keep showing up.

#undertale theory #deltarune theory #utdr theory #reposting this here without really editing it much so sorry if it's a bit messy!#also yeah this motif is what my url's referencing lol. i do wonder if the reason there's multiple ralseis is this reflection-division thing

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minseologs · 1 day ago

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Crucible 1/?

a vessel of a very refractory material used for melting and calcining a substance that requires a high degree of heat. In philosophic terms, a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development. A severe test.

If I'm being honest, I've always been aware of my privilege. As a matter of fact, I'm incredibly grateful everything was handed to me. Being on top of the world definitely has its own growing pains. Every step felt like walking in roses with thorns. So beautifully terrifying. I only see how far I've come if the violence comes around again. My hands were stained red, but it didn't hurt.

Today, of all days, I have paid my karmic debt in full.

His brows look over the report, idle hands hold the corner of the page, and he flips as his eyes scan through the monthly finance reports. After a suspicious amount of unfinished deals passed by their radar, Hyukmin couldn't help but notice a pattern in the quarterly reports. One of the group's worst fears arises again, an issue he hoped he won't have to deal with while working for his cousin's underground affairs.

After discovering this side of the family's immense wealth, the truth was unraveled with a simple talk. Still higher ranking than most, he wishes he could accompany her in more physical aspects of the realm. But with his father's wishes not to put his cousin in danger, he's been tasked to be the new financial analyst of sorts for all their underground deeds. He’s done incredibly well. Maybe too well.

"Minseo, it's urgent," his footsteps hurried to catch up with her, herself packing up for the day; the office was as quiet as her silence. "Minseo—"

"It's the end of the day—" her purse flings over her shoulder, unsatisfied that she was needed at the end of her legal duties. "How urgent?"

"You're about to lose 10 billion won, kind of urgent—" He shot it at point, both their faces blank.

Minseo places her purse down to sit again, and Hyukmin follows her side with files in hand. She sat as they were pushed to her view, looking over the transactions from their deals. She was confused.

"You know I don't touch illegal deals in a legal setting," she muses, looking over her shoulder. "Are you sure this isn't—"

He shakes his head, organizing each paper for her to see better. They were scribbled with circles and question marks that didn't make sense.

"The last quarter of the year with exports went through with this receipt for the weaponry," he points to a circled total of a receipt, another finger pointing to the bank statements that didn't match. It made sense. "And the next one has done the same. All up to this quarter. That could only mean one thing and one thing— someone is taking advantage of you."

Hyukmin still had to learn the ropes of their underground family as he was blessed with parents who kept him away from the violent part. Minseo's face fell to irritation when he found out he was telling the truth and that someone had broken her trust.

A sudden vibration fills the gap of their realization, himself feeling his pockets. He took his phone out, and their faces softened at the name on the screen. It was Hyejung, with a photo of herself and her son Jinwoo.

"Go home," she gathered the files as the phone rang.

"Are you planning something?"

"I'll take care of this. No one will know for the time being. Keep gathering what you know."

"I can help you." He offers.

"You already did." She answers. "And thank you."

He doesn't move. She cocks a brow before he attempts a sentence. Though he was older, Minseo held an aura that could be compared to fear. Besides, it was for his own good not to delve too much. With much hesitation, he answers the phone with a cheerful voice. He leaves before she can make her own phone call. Another man answers on the other end.

"Shake your branches, little tree," she speaks the code word known within her most trusted circle for help. They had to finish the sentence to prove loyalty to the family. She waits for a response.

At the other end was Ryunosuke, who became alert yet confused by the sudden sentence. It's been a long time since that had grazed him. But he didn't question it. His voice was alert.

"Toss gold and silver down on me."

#cms:log #dimplesyamato #blindryu #uh ohhhh

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mistymountainsmc · 7 months ago

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An Overseer’s Bond

400 after becoming Overseer:

Niserra stood near the nexus point of her dimension, M-1923, waiting for the man who requested this meeting.

She let her eyes wander across the layout of this very familiar planet. It was a lush planet, with tall trees and thick moss coating the floor and trees of the forest. A pale fog danced beyond her eyesight, restricting her sight to about 20-30 feet all around her. This planet is meant to be a test for any otherworld travelers, much like TAHE, but more simple than an ‘open understanding of the multiverse.’ Niserra wasn’t too opposed to otherworld guests, but she’d prefer them to know how her dimension works before doing anything stupid.

As if he was summoned from her thoughts, she felt a presence added to her home. Niserra turned and saw a tall man with padded armour on his chest and shoulders, leaving his ashen grey arms and head bare, crusted like hardened magma. His yellow and purple eyes were cold and almost dark. His left arm displayed red and yellow runes, the same liking as hers, signifying his status as Overseer. Purple-pink streaks illuminated from his left eye of the same colour, veining like a scar.

“Overseer M-1923, I presume?” The man spoke, his voice as cold as his gaze.

“Yes, I can only assume you are Dresden?” Niserra replied. I was given his name, but he doesn't use mine. Elloise wouldn’t have left that out. But she is Elloise.

“You are correct,�� Dresden answered. “Elloise Ludum said you were interested in my assistance.”

So he uses her name, but not mine. Interesting. Niserra continued to make mental notes of him. Gotta be careful. I don't know everything about him.

“Yes,” Niserra said. “I was told you can house entities that may be difficult for either me or my dimension to handle.”

Dresden started to walk, circling Niserra. “Yes. Any being from your dimension that gets too out of hand for you, I can deal with.” He finished circling, holding strong eye contact with her. “In exchange for a favour.”

His eyes showed little to no emotion, almost piercing her soul. His figure seemingly casting a shadow all around them, darkening the already dim forest. He seems to have as much Dark Side as a Sith. What could he want?

“I am willing to make that a reality,” Niserra responded, careful to not reveal any hint of concern.

Dresden backed away slightly, the shadows drawing away. “And what might you want for your side of the Bond?”

“Just a ‘safety precaution.’” She began her request.

“I am listening,” Dresden’s voice remained level.

“I have a project of mine,” Niserra started. “I have tested it before, but putting it into effect could be, almost lethal, to say the least.” She paused, hiding a shudder of who might disapprove of her motions. She straightened up, returning a cold gaze to him. “I am confident that my plan will work. But just in case,” She stepped closer to the man. Her blue runes spun, changing her blue eyes to blood orange. “I may need him contained.”

Dresden stood unfazed by her boldness, matching her cold gaze ten times. “Deal.”

He began spinning and tapping his runes in a pattern. The red and yellow runes blended together and formed a circular pattern on the palm on his right hand. He then stretched out that hand forward to Niserra, the runes slowly spinning.

Niserra in turn spun and tapped hers and a blend of pink, blue and orange runes formed the same pattern on her right palm. She met his eyes once more, still refusing to show any emotion. She held her exhale in and gripped his hand in a firm handshake. A bell tolled inside her head, ringing like a sound echoing her fate. Both of their runes spun in unison and shone brighter than before, disappearing seconds later into their hands.

Dresden promptly released his hand from hers, meeting her eyes once again. “When could I expect your part of the deal, if it is to fail?”

“It will not fail,” Niserra gritted her teeth at the comment of failing. She released a sharp exhale. “But, if it comes to it, one year from now.” That will be long enough for things to be set in time.

“Very well,” Dresden lowered his eyes just slightly. He began to tap and spin his runes in a different pattern than before. He opened his hand to his side and his yellow rune spun and left his extended arm, creating a portal into what she assumed to be his world. It was a musty hall of a sickly yellow colour and glitching lights, a rank smell matching the sick sense of the halls. Without hesitation, Dresden stepped through the portal into the room and said: “Until we meet again, Overseer M-1923.”

The portal closed, leaving Niserra in the forest alone. She calmly exhaled in the silence, thinking through the Bond. This will count as the second bond she’s made in her lifetime as an Overseer.

Her Jedi senses took over as she felt a nagging feeling, urging her of some danger. Niserra spun on her toes to search her surroundings. Nothing, not a person or animal on this decolate planet. The fog lay still and undisturbed. She furrowed her brows in confusion. That isn't normal, Niserra slowly turned her head as if something caught her eye. That couldn’t be caused by Dresden, my Jedi senses never set off with an Overseer before. And I specifically set this planet to be uninhabited and hidden, why would this happen here and now?

Niserra dug her heel into the ground, disturbing the blanket of moss. She looked down to her left arm, her runes continuing to slowly spin. Her countenance fell in sadness with the loss of her mentor, a fellow Overseer who long passed after giving his world to another. I wish you were here. Could really use your help right about now.

The forest lay still, not even the wind responding to her request. Niserra took a deep breath before spinning her pink rune and extended her arm, letting it fly and open a portal into a spacus void with stars speckling the dark canvas. She stepped in, her feet now on something solid than the soft moss of Loclenea. She promptly shut the portal and began to spin and tap the orange runes. “Now, back to work.” An orange hologram of information appeared in front of her. She tapped on it like a screen and it split into dozens of other screens circling around her. “Lets see how ready you are, Mythical Sausage.”

This is definitely not foreshadowing chapter 9 even though this is an AU of the AU, nope, none whatsoever…👀. Am I also doing this to get more traction on the AU itself? Not entirely, trying to do these so it’s somewhat easy to pick up on even if you haven’t read A Force Apart.

God bless!

#a force apart #Dresden Oakland #dresden #multiverse tales fan fic #multiverse tales oc #multiverse tales #overseer au

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despair-to-future-arcs · 4 months ago

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Oh fuck.. Brace yourself Rei, you're not gonna like this in the slightest..

... *As then Rei began to read the file*

[X]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: April 27th, 1994

'I had decided to research on a subject that has developed any emotions, the subject had appear to be breathing, my assistant had help me prepare the subject which after resting for a bit I got to work and began to place the experiment into a room…'

…

Date: May 1st, 1994

'I was able to put a chip into the experiment's brain, to test patterns into the brain and see what emotions they felt; so far it's neutral.'

…

Date: June 15th, 1994

'When I brought the experiment some items to see what the subject had felt about it, testing to see how they respond; the appear to like the toy bear but seem to not like the rubix cube - meaning that the subject had show positive emotions towards the toy as it felt very soft while seeming to show negative emotions towards hard surfaces, I'll need to do more testing.'

…

Date: February 9th, 1997

'The progress of the experiment has show various amounts of emotions and testing, it appear curious of the door and attempting to leave which I return back to it's room which I discover that my assistant had let it out since it needed to use the bathroom; I decided to hold onto the key next time so this doesn't happen again.'

…

Date: April 27th, 1999

'The experiment had grown up a bit and the emotions are starting to become more erratic and acting out, I had to use drugs to calm them down but I suppose this was to be expected. My Assistant didn't seem too happy and asking when we can stop this but I told him that I need to do more research on the experiment…He seem worried but I don't care…'

…

Date: April 28th, 2002

'As the experiment had grown, it started to become less and less easy to manage the experiment and I decided to do more tested, I might need to put them into a jar to do more testing which then I inform my assistant about this; he was horrified by this and say that this isn't what he signed up for but I told him that this was what we intended to do from the start so I'll do the procedure starting tomorrow…'

…

Date: April 29th, 2002

'The experiment and the assistant had disappear, I look around and couldn't find them; he must of taken off when I was away… I miscalculated, seems the assistant became attached to the experiment, I think I'll stop with this experiment, I gather all the data I had collected. This experiment has proven to give a various amount of emotions which were simple; ranging from happiness, sadness, anger, fear, curiosity and other emotions expected of the age of the experiment… This experiment has been nothing shore of a failure.

This will be my last report, Kokoro Mitsume signing out.'

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

...Wait, did... did Dr. Mitsume tested on a child...? How... How does anyone not know this...?!

Looking from all this and what I'm understanding, it appears the 'experiment' was likely their child that wasn't let out, drugged and it appears she put a chip in the child's brain and the reason Dr. Mitsume was planning to put the child's brain into a jar was because it was acting out, like any child would...

I remember hearing of something similar; 13th-century experiment ordered by Frederick II. Supposedly, he had a bunch of kids to be raised together on an island without any human contact to see if some natural language would emerge. Phonemes, plosives, sentence structures. Emotions don’t have any logical structure to them.

But instead of being a social experiment, it was to test emotions in a child's brain along with begin a single subject and then there's Dr. Sojiro Kurokawa went along with it or at least in the beginning but... he got attached to the experiment until he couldn't take it anymore and escaped on April 29th, 2002. The date... April 29th, 2002...that date...

'Kurokawa'... April 29th... Wait, hold on a second...!

*As then Rei pull out an image, then pulled out another one*

----------------------------------------------------------------------

They... they look similar, this is... no, this can't be, but this is...!

Is... Does that mean Mikako Kurokawa is Kokoro Mitsume's daughter...?! This... this can't be...! But it makes sense...! But how could she...?

*As then Rei, started to remember...*

Was... Was the chip in her brain, exploding...? That, might explain a few things and I...I treated her so horribly in the proto-killing game too...

*slams her fist on the desk* God damnit...It can't be possible but looking at all this, the dates... they line up but I just... I can't imagine someone like Mikako would go through this...?!

#dr #danganronpa #dtfa #despair to future arc #ds:rw #despair side: re write #ds ep 12 #dra #danganronpa another #sdra2 #super danganronpa another 2 #rei mekaru #sojiro kurokawa #mikako kurokawa #anonymous

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skellebonez · 2 years ago

Text

Celestial Crossing (A MoonStone, SWKxChang'e, ship fic): Chapter 5- Double Surprise

This chapter WILL have spoilers for S4! Minor ones.

I have been stuck on this chapter for so long, but it's finally done! I think it's gonna be worth it to see the surprises that are showing up in this one.

AO3 Link.

"So... What do you think?"

Chang'e hummed, chewing slowly with her eyes closed in deep thought. Or at least Sun Wukong hoped she was in deep thought. Her poker face was so much better than he ever could have guessed before really getting to know her.

It felt like ages before she swallowed the bite of food in her mouth, letting out another hum before nodding her head.

"It's... Amazing!" She said, chuckling when Li-Yan chirped in a pattern that mimicked the sounds their mother made. "You're getting much better at baking, Mooncake! MK is going to love this."

"Really!?" Sun Wukong exclaimed with excitement. He had to hold back from spinning around, not wanting to jostle the child in his arms.

"Really," Chang'e assured. "You know I am always honest about my opinions on food. If I say it's good I really think it's good."

It was a genuine moment of basic and simple domestic normalcy. Just Sun Wukong, Chang'e, and their baby Li-Yan in Sun Wukong's lap. They sat in the kitchen, taste testing a new batch of vegetarian desserts that the king wanted to make as a special surprise for MK getting so far in his training. Just making nice little tarts and buns and having a good mid-morning.

It had been a few days since Li-Yan's surprise entrance into the world and they had finally gotten into a bit of a routine. The little one had less trouble staying awake for long periods of time and needed less energy to sustain them-self through the day, so much so that neither parent felt drained enough to immediately need sleep after a feeding session. And true to his word, Macaque had left after that first night once he was certain that Li-Yan would be sustained without assistance.

Nothing could possibly ruin it.

Nothing.

........ of course that was too much to hope for.

They really should have guessed something like this would happen eventually. Or at least Sun Wukong should have. He KNEW Macaque. He KNEW the other monkey demon couldn't resist scheming in some way. He didn't know how to have fun without scheming anymore.

But not even the Monkey King himself could have seen this one coming.

How was he supposed to guess that, before the clock had even struck noon, that the Six-Eared Macaque would stumble out of a sudden (and very shaky) shadow portal in the wall, barely making it half a food out of the wall before immediately face plant

"Uh-"

"Did your friend just die on our kitchen floor?"

"He's not dead!" Sun Wukong yelped quickly, handing over Li-Yan to Chang'e carefully. "I don't think he can even die anymore, man's like a computer virus that just keeps coming back. But..."

He trailed off slowly, moving toward the body in front of them even slower. Macaque was alive, his breathing making his back and chest rise and fall was enough evidence of that, but he was... definitely unconscious.

He would never just lay down like that, not around Sun Wukong. Their relationship had started to mend over time, but Macaque never seemed to relax around the other immortal monkey fully. Understandably so, he supposed.

So this was... off. Disconcerting in a way that the Monkey King couldn't put his finger on.

Then something inside, INSIDE, of Macaque's shadow moved, the top of a very small head peaking out quickly before dipping back inside the darkness cast by the lights overhead.

... he didn't...

"Does he normally have little guys in his shadow?" Chang'e asked. Sun Wukong had a feeling she already knew the answer, however, despite voicing the question.

"Definitely not," Sun Wukong said. Macaque couldn't have... "This is... not no- ... oh. Oh THAT DUMBASS."

"Uh?" Was all Chang'e could say, so surprised by the outburst she couldn't think of something else.

"He copied me! AGAIN!"

“I don't really think that-” Chang'e started, pausing only when she saw the look on her love's face. It was a mix of frustration and concern, something she had only seen on him in very specific circumstances. She wasn't entirely versed on the relationship the two immortals had, though she knew a lot more than most people. She could tell that, as annoyed and not 100% trusting in the other the Monkey King could be... he still held some amount of care for Macaque. “...that is the most pressing matter right now. If he copied you? We can chastise him for it later. For now, we should check and see if he is ok.”

“... you're right,” Sun Wukong said, almost if his mind was elsewhere and it had taken him a couple of minutes to register her words (and by all accounts, that was entirely possible). “But he's OUT. If he hasn't moved by now, listening to me yell, then he is really unconscious.”

“True...” Chang'e said, petting Li-Yan between their ears as she pondered on what to do. “I would say we should let him rest, but if our suspicions are right... it may be best to wake him backup.”

"Maybe if I kick him really hard-"

"Sun Wukong!" Chang'e snapped. "You are not kicking an unconscious man in front of our child!"

"Aww, not even a little?"

"Absolutely not, you cannot be a bad influence on them!"

“Ok, ok!” Sun Wukong said with a hearty laugh. “I wasn't actually gonna do it anyway, no need to literally kick him while he's down. But... hmn... how are we going to wake him up... We could try shaking him or yelling, but I really don't think that's a good idea in this scenario.”

“Do we have anything with a strong scent that you think would work?” Chang'e suggested. “We don't have smelling salt, but maybe there's something else we can use here.”

“Not a bad idea! And I think I know just the thing...” Sun Wukong agreed quickly. Chang'e watched as the Monkey King rushed off and returned just as quickly, with a bottle of peppermint extract. ”With our noses this should do the job well enough.“

”Just as long as you're sure he won't react too violently at the smell,“ Chang'e said with a soft chuckle.

Li-Yan watched on in curiosity, head tilting left and right. Their ears flicked in time with their tail, and the way they moved their head in her arms almost mimicked the way a small rabbit might sniff the air. Hmn...

They WERE made up of parts of her bunny bots, not just the original ones but also parts that Sun Wukong had managed to salvage and put together. It was likely that some of those parts were from some of the person sized robots she used within her mooncake factory. They were built to have sensors that could detect the ”smell“ of things like smoke and and burnt or spoiled mooncakes for safety. Perhaps they worked together with the unintended magic they tapped into to create them to change that...

There was a lot about their little bunkey baby that neither of them knew about.

But there was also plenty of time for them to worry about that later.

For the moment, the two of them kept a watchful eye on the shadow monkey's face as Sun Wukong rolled him onto his back carefully. He looked as if he was merely sleeping, the only way for them to know he wasn't was them seeing him fainting before them earlier. Sun Wukong opened the bottle of peppermint extract and carefully waved it under Macaque's nose. They could have sworn they heard the softest tiny little kitten like hiss from somewhere, but neither could really take any time to focus on that when Macaque suddenly groaned, lifting a hand to attempt to weakly push away the offending odor.

“What the fu-”

“Language,” Sun Wukong said quickly, closing the bottle and putting it in his pocket before carefully grabbing the other's hand. “You can curse all you want when you're NOT around my kid. Let's get you sat up.”

“Aw man...” Macaque groaned and his face fell instantly, not fighting the Monkey King as he helped him sit up with only a little effort. “I feel like I just got hit like a truck.”

“You look like you got punched in the face,” Sun Wukong countered. “Or swapped face masks with a raccoon, with those eye bags you have there.”

“That bad, huh?” Macaque said with a groan, rubbing his eyes in clear exhaustion. “I'd... hoped I wouldn't need to ask for any help actually but I kinda... overestimated things a little.”

“Are you ok?” Chang'e asked, slowly coming around to kneel on the other side of him so she wouldn't just be looking at his back. “Be honest, we can't help you if you lie to us.”

“I mean,” Macaque shrugged, putting a hand behind his back with a flinch as they all heard the soft of a soft hiss once again. They didn't miss how his eyes widened and he looked around in worry. “I'm just exhausted. And hungry. I'm fine outside that.”

“And the thing in your shadow?”

There was the sound of a breathless squeak that escaped from the shadow monkey, not unlike the sound of a deflating balloon.

”That's... uh...“

"What were you thinking?" Sun Wukong asked, face in his hands as fingers gently massaged his forehead. "No, no I shouldn't ask that. WHY WEREN'T YOU THINKING? That's a much better question. You very literally just finished explaining the dangers of this stuff to us a few days ago."

"I was thinking!" Macaque snapped, hand still behind him. "I just... didn't exactly expect what I got?"

"What, exactly, do you have?" Chang'e asked softly. Li-Yan chirped in curiosity, little paw reaching out to wave towards Macaque. “Like I said. We kind of saw something earlier, so you can't exactly hide them from us.”

"OK, don't... just don't spook them, alright?" Macaque said slowly. "They're really, REALLY, shy."

Sun Wukong tilted his head in mild curiosity, but nodded slowly. He could see his wife nodding as well behind him from the corner of his vision. He could also see her eyes widening as Macaque slowly pulled his hand forward, and his shadow... slowly started vanishing before their eyes.

In it's place, once his hand was pulled in front of him, were two very small baby monkeys. They were black with tiny red spots and wide eyes filled with confusion, a little fear, and lots of curiosity. And they were so...

Small.

Barely bigger than a couple of fingers, one easily able to sit in Macaque's palm like a kitten while the other clung to his wrist. Both had their long tails wrapped around whatever part of Macaque's arm or hand they could, and the same small hissing sound escaped from one of them.

Well, that explains that little mystery.

"... ta da?"

”You made TWO of them!?“ Sun Wukong whisper yelled, gesturing to the babies.

“Not intentionally!” Macaque snapped, flinching as one of the babies let out a soft chirp. “No no, shh, I'm sorry that was too loud, uh... They have sensitive ears. Like me.”

"Like their..." Sun Wukong started, trailing off slowly. "Wait a minute..."

"Oh Macaque, you DIDN'T-" Chang'e said.

"Did you. Make two magic babies... without a partner?" Sun Wukong asked slowly. "After you explicitly explained to us that we would need to work together to keep our SINGLE magic baby intact?"

"I already said I didn't make two intentionally!" Macaque insisted. "They just... happened. Like Li-Yan, sort of?"

"They're so small," Chang'e said in awe and concern. "Surely regular macaque babies aren't this tiny."

"No, that's a side effect of the magic," Macaque admitted with a nod. "They probably would have been roughly normal sized if I had used more than I did or they were just one being."

The one sitting in his hand dunked their head behind his fingers, barely peaking out from behind them. The other hissed softly, once again like a feral kitten. Though they didn't actually appear to be that scared... perhaps they were testing the limits of those around them. Both of the other parents couldn't help but notice that the hissing one was slightly smaller than the one hiding themselves away, if only by a little bit.

Then the larger one let out a yawn, stretching out one of their hands.

"They have little beans," Chang'e said with wonder. "They have toe beans on their hands!"

"I also have beans on my hands," Sun Wukong muttered softly.

"So do I, Wukong, you ain't special," Macaque muttered back in turn, carefully pressing on the soft paw pads on the palms of the child as he grabbed their hand between his fingers oh so gently. It was the most gentle motion Sun Wukonhg had ever seen the other make in all their lives together. "They're so... SOFT."

"They're brand new," Sun Wukong said with a shrug. "Of course they're... HOW new are they? Don't tell me they were literally were born literally yesterday, please tell me they're older than that."

The lack of answer and the way Macaque quickly tightened his mouth into a thin line as he looked away told hem both everything they needed to know.

"They're only a DAY old?" Chang'e whispered in concern.

"I hate being right... Macaque..." Sun Wukong said slowly. He took in a deep breath, brushing his hair back with a sign. "OK... ok ok ok...Can you please explain why I just happen to be looking at what appear to be 2 brand-new born monkeys and how, exactly, we got here?"

"Who also seem to be made out of your shadow," Chang'e chimed in.

"Yes, that too," Sun Wukong agreed with a nod. "I'm all ears."

"... I wasn’t copying you this time-"

"Lies!"

"I'm not lying!" Macaque snarked back instantly. "I'd... I'd wanted to do this for a while. That's actually how I knew what you did. I'd already looked into it for me."

"How long is a while?" Sun Wukong asked in suspicion.

"... 3 centuries, give or take?"

"3 c-THREE centuries?" Sun Wukong balked, blinking with his mouth agape for a moment. "You planned them for THAT long and you STILL... What?"

"This wasn't supposed to go this way!" Macaque half explained. "I thought I genuinely had everything planned out perfectly, I don't know how THEY happened. I've never actually seen a single person bring two of them about before. I didn't even think it was possible."

"Well..." Sun Wukong said with a shrug. "You're the 6 Eared Macaque. Maybe that has something to do with it."

"Why don't you just... start at the beginning?" Chang'e suggested softly. "Walk us through your planning and what you thought would happen, not from the other day but waaaaaay back."

The change in Macaque's demeanor was slow. First even more tense, then like he was considering the offer, and then he finally relaxed with a sigh before he nodded.

"... You remember how I would always help out with the little ones on the mountain? I'd always loved taking care of kids," Macaque started. "Didn't matter if it was the monkeys on the mountain or the humans that Azure got us to help. I always had a weak spot for making sure the little ones were ok."

"Yeah, I remember that you used to keep them occupied with little shadow puppets back then," Sun Wukong admitted. "Especially the duck ones."

"Kids LOVE ducks," Macaque said with a sage nod. “It honestly wasn't hard to make sure they were entertained while the adults around them cleaned up or did work or whatever else was needed. I'm pretty sure Peng thought it was funny that I was constantly volunteered to be a ”glorified babysitter“, but the one thing I'll give Azure is that he knew I liked it. That's why he always had me take on that job.”

“Wait,” Chang'e said slowly, tilting her head a bit in thought. “By Azure and Peng... do you mean the Azure lion and Golden Winged Peng?”

“Yeah,” Sun Wukong answered for Macauque with a nod. "The four of us were in a Brotherhood together with YellowTusk Elephant and DBK, remember?”

“I thought those names sounded familiar," Chang'e said with a nod. “I didn't get to hear a lot during the banquets I was able to go to in the Celestial realm back then, but it was hard to miss the talk of Celestial warriors who had decided to remain in the mortal realm and started fighting along side the Monkey King himself.”

“I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you heard about all that,” Macaque said with a nod. “Even if you could only go to banquets on occasion I imagine that we all caused a LOT of trouble for everyone up there.”

Sun Wukong chuckled at that, looking more than a little smug at the memory for a moment before a softer expression overtook his face. If his companions didn't know him as well as they did they might not have recognized it as the melancholic look it was. As if the weight of all that they had done in the past had suddenly crashed down on him in an instant.

But the moment was gone as quickly as it came, the sage nodding at Macaque to continue.

“You know how the story went,” Macaque continued. “We fought the Celestial realm, got kicked in the teeth, Monkey King got trapped under a mountain, journey west, so on and so forth. Got revived, headed on my way after ditching LBD.”

There was a noticeable tension in Sun Wukong’s shoulders at the mention of HER.

It was clear there was a lot that Macaque was glossing over, but neither adult wished to press the matter. Not when they already knew the outcome of those details. Chang'e had already been filled in on what she needed to know before, that Macaque had died and been revived by the Lady Bone Demon and had been running from his obligation to work for her and bring her back. She knew that, somehow, he had lost his life in a fight with her husband.

The details weren't necessary when the two of them clearly had been trying to move past it, had already accepted what had happened and were mending the rift between them.

“And you just... happened to find out about how to make magic children on the way?” Sun Wukong asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Kinda?” Macaque said with a shrug. “It's not like I set out looking to have a kid, I was on the run and didn't know when I wouldn't have to worry about a certain lackey anymore. Turns out he was never looking for me to begin with, after I ditched the skeleton key... but that was probably because she'd told him about her ”destiny“ predictions and he knew it wasn't time to act.”

“Sooooo, where to the magic kids factor in again?”

"I'm getting there!" Macaque said with a huff. "She said to start at beginning and I have a flair for the dramatic, give me a break."

Sun Wukong would have said something snappy back, he really would have. That had been his relationship with Macaque since the defeat of Lady Bone Demon. Macaque says something snarky and he snapped back and they exchanged barbs back and forth for a while.

But then he saw how the little twins, held so softly in the hands of the shadow monkey, were so curiously patting at each other's faces. As if trying to memorize each other. And how Macaque watched them with so much softness in his eyes.

"OK, I won't interrupt anymore,“ Sun Wukong said with a nod.

That was a lie. But he would make an ATTEMPT not to.

”Thank you... now... Oh yeah,” Macaque readjusted himself, making himself comfortable as he continued. “When you spend a lot of your life as a wanderer you start to hear things a lot more and you pick up on patterns. You hear the same stories, you notice people doing similar things miles apart from each other. That's how I first heard the tales of these magic constructs, these children that those unable to bear their own children would create in the hopes they could have a family.”

Both other adults nodded, encouraging the other to continue as they listened with genuinely rapt attention.

"It wasn’t hard to find some of the sources of these tales once I knew where to ask," Macaque answered with a shrug. "It wasn’t like I had much else to occupy my mind at the time. This was YEARS before I started on my “let's find the Monkey King and try to take vengeance every few years” thing, so I didn't really have any idea of what I even wanted to do with my renewed life. I just existed. I didn't know what to do with myself at all.“

"So you just gravitated toward the stories?" Chang'e prompted.

"Sorta," Macaque answered. "It really started when I tried to settle down in a village for a while actually. There was this older couple who was really well known by everyone who had been trying to have kids for years but it just never worked out for them. Then one day... Boom. Kid."

"Just... suddenly kid?" Sun Wukong asked.

"One day they had no kid, the next day?" Macaque continued. "Kid. Not quite a new born, but not more than a few weeks old. And clearly not made from traditional means, which the couple didn't even bother trying to hide. They actually kind of bragged about how well what they tried out worked. And the villagers were so happy for them."

"Sounds like a very accepting place you sound," Chang'e mused softly.

"It was. I just... seeing all those people around that kid, proclaiming it as a miracle... something just clicked in my head. I thought, "heck, I can do that", so," Macaque said with a shrug. "I started looking around, asking questions. I may have gotten a job at a nursery-"

"You worked in a NURSERY!?"

"YOU SAID NO MORE INTERRUPTING."

"YOU WORKED WITH BABIES."

"YOU SAY THAT LIKE YOU EXPECTED ME TO EAT THEM!"

"BOYS!" Chang'e interrupted, voice loud and firm but not quite a shout. "You're scaring the kids."

Sun Wukong and Macaque instantly froze, not realizing they had fallen so easily into their usual bickering. Both bristled, fur sticking up as they realized the mistake they had made as they looked down.

Macaque's twins were no longer holding onto him as they were before, one ear pressed into his arm while another had let go to cover the other. Li-Yan, meanwhile, was pressed into Chang'e, little ears pointed back and their face plate displaying only a !? in place of their usual face display.

"No no no, shhh," Macaque said, being the one to jump into action first. He covered the twins with his hand gently, chirping soft assertions of comfort to them. "I'm sorry, daddy's sorry, shhhh..."

Sun Wukong jolted, hands already gently petting Li-Yan's ears in an attempt to do much the same comforting, Macaque's words making all this feel much less bizarre and much more real than it had before.

Macaque was a father now.

... that was not something that the Monkey King had ever expected to acknowledge, even in the times long ago. Long before their falling out, long before even the brotherhood days.

"... what made you stop?" He asked carefully, taking Li-Yan from Chang'e to hold them in his own lap for a moment. "With everything you know about the process you must have been doing research for a long time."

"Years," Macaque admitted. "I wanted to know everything about this particular process, how wide spread it was and what different methods there were. It's extremely uncommon, but not taboo. Just difficult, and with easier ways to do the same thing around, like the river in the women's country, most people would opt to try something different first. I left that village after a few decades so people wouldn't question why I never aged. I tried to pick it back up after... after the first time I came after you. And I did, for a while. But the desire for revenge kept taking over and distracting me. Then... I saw our Not Mayor again."

"He was trying to get you to pay back your debt?" Chang'e asked.

"No. He just.. was smirking at me. Like he was planning something, or sending me a warning. Knowing the Lady Bone Demon was close to coming back just... made me give up," Macaque finished with a shrug. "I didn't see the point in trying after that. It was too dangerous to try knowing she could send me on the run at any moment. And then I uh... heard you got a successor."

"And we know the story from there?" Sun Wukong chanced slowly. "Outside of some of your motivation."

"More or less," Macaque said with a shrug. "Anything I haven't told you about that isn't relevant to these two."

"Why did you make two babies, though?" Chang'e asked softly, concern laced in her tone. "You were almost completely drained by them feeding on your essence when you came to us."

The way Macaque immediately clamped his mouth shut and looked away told Sun Wukong that there were only two options. And one he was certain was less likely because Macaque knew how to plan ahead.

"Oh my gosh it was-" "CEASE." "- an accident." "SHUT UP!"

Sun Wukong couldn’t help it. He TRIED to stop. Really he did. But...

"Stop laughing at me you asshole!"

"La-ha-ha-language!" Sun Wukong barely managed to wheeze out between laughs. He carefully placed Li-Yan on the floor between them, the little one looking up at him with a confused chirp as he double over in laughter. "Sorry, I'm sorry, it's just... the fact you decided to finally have a kid because WE had a kid and then you wanted that kid so bad you accidently magicked up TWO kids is. KINDA FUNNY. You... you failed successfully!"

It took no time at all for the Monkey King to fall to the floor again, trying his best to hold in his laughter at Macaque's accidental super success at baby making.

"You're lucky there are children here or I'd kick your-"

"Can we please stop cursing in front of the babies?" Chang'e said, firm and a small lilt of frustration edging into her tone. "And maybe try to work out how Macaque is going to take care of two children? Li-Yan alone is enough to drain us a lot, and it's probably not healthy or safe for you to constantly pass out because they need to sustain themselves."

"... ah, yeah," Sun Wukong said after a moment, staring at Macaque with realization. "That's why you just kinda. Face planted on our floor, isn't it? You can't feed them at the same time. It's not sustainable for you."

"It is!" Macaque protested. "I just... need some assistance afterwards..."

"That's one way to put it," Chang'e said, matching her partner in tone for the first time in their conversation. "Look... You helped is out. A LOT. And clearly you need help now. So, whatever you need? We'll help you."

"You will?" Macaque asked, staring at Chang'e with a sideways glance. "I mean, I kinda expected you to because you kinda owe me, but I also expected you to... I dunno. Need convincing."

"We're not the Lady Bone Demon, Mac," Sun Wukong said after a moment. "Even if you hadn't helped us? We would still have helped you just because you need help."

"Oh," Macaque said, as if he was genuinely surprised.

Sun Wukong had a feeling that he actually was.

"Like I said, let us do for you what you did for us," Chang'e said firmly. "Stay here, we'll make sure you and the kids are good until we all know they're stable. Deal?"

"Sounds like I'm the only one getting a good end of this stick."

"Take the stick before we smack ya with it," Sun Wukong muttered under his breath. He couldn't help it.

It was just a habit for them to take shots at each other.

"Do I have to keep you two in separate rooms?" Chang'e asked. "Cause I can call in the bunny bots to babysit each of you separately while I make lunch."

"That's not-"

"FOOD?"

Chang'e and Sun Wukong stared at Macaque, the excitement in his voice not easy for either of them to miss.

"... I've been extraneously hungry since the babies started feeding on me," He said, clearing his throat in embarrassment.

"Yeah, that tracks," Sun Wukong said with a nod. "We've been the same since we had Li-Yan. But with two I bet it's even... worse, what are your twins doing?"

Macaque must have been incredibly distracted by the promise of sustenance because, before he knew it, the twins had crawled away from his arm and were sitting in front of him. They started at Li-Yan, who returned the favor by staring right back at them, before letting out a questioning monkey like chirp in their own little digital sounding way. And the twins, clearly confused, tilted their heads as they chirped back their own question in response.

The three adults watched as the 3 little ones stared at each other, heads tilting in almost perfect sync as they tried to understand the other tiny being before them.

Then. Slowly. One of the babies reached out...

And slapped one of Li-Yan's ears before rushing backwards, grabbing their twin and forming back into the taller monkey's shadow.

The three parents watched in stunned silence as Li-Yan froze, as if unable to process what had just happened. Themselves also taking a few moments to process what happened.

Three seconds.

Five seconds.

Then they all watched in confusion as the robot baby started to LAUGH.

The amount of relief that rushed through the adults at that exact moment could not be put into enough words for the author to describe. But you can imagine it was a lot.

"Why would they do that?" Chang'e asked in curiosity. "Is it because Li-Yan looks like a rabbit but sounded like a monkey?"

"Probably," Macaque said, clearly looking like a man who was fully expecting to be ejected from the moon base. "Once the twins get used to them they likely will treat them the same as any other baby around them."

"Aw, Li-Yan has their first little playmates!" Sun Wukong said with delight. "But my gosh they are shy."

"Yeah," Macaque admitted with an awkward chuckle. "They uh... tend to hide when they get spooked. The first time I sneezed around them was an experience. but they should pop back out in their own time. Probably when they're hungry. They tend to sleep when I do, but they've woken be up to feed before."

"Sounds like we need to work around that," Sun Wukong mused softly. "We don't want them draining you while we're all passed out."

"We can take shifts like we did when Li-Yan was first born," Chang'e suggested. "All of us. One of us stays awake when Macaque is up in case the babies drain him too much again, and one of us stays awake while he sleeps in case they drain him in his sleep."

"You are going to babysit me and my children?" Macaque asked in dismay.

"Sadly, you have proven Sun Wukong correct in one regard," she answered solemnly. "You cannot be trusted with your own well-being."

"Ok, you got me there," Macaque admitted with a nod, which was not what either had expected. He stood up, slowly and carefully. "I'm not above realizing that I really messed this up, I should have at least had someone to watch me while I did this. It's like weight lifting with no spotter."

"Just don't do it again," Sun Wukong said as he stood as well, picking Li-Yan up as he did so. "Now... I am hungry again already, because SOMEONE was munching on my energy the entire time we were talking."

He smirked, immediately bringing Li-Yan up to his face to pretend to each them, much to their squealing delight. Even Macaque seemed to find this sweet, a soft smile ALMOST gracing his face.

"What do you want to eat, Macaque?" Chang'e asked with a smile of her own.

"Food," Macaque answered quickly.

"...you can be more specific, MAYBE?" Sun Wukong said.

"Edible food."

"Don't make me wish I disagreed with my wife, Macaque," Sun Wukong said, clearly joking.

Both adults were surprised by Macaque actually chuckling in response this time.

"I know you would never, you lovesick dork. I just don't have a food preference, I'm starving," the shadow monkey said as he stretched. This turned out to be a mistake, as he had to grab onto the counter to keep steady. "Ah, lightheaded. Making two kids on your own really takes a lot out of you."

"Would that technically make you their mom?" Chang'e asked, rubbing her chin as she pondered this.

"Momcaque," Sun Wukong offered so helpfully.

"I will do anything you ask me to if you NEVER call me that again."

"Then tell me. What are their names?" Sun Wukong asked in curiosity.

The silence that greeted the question made the air around the trio of parents feel incredibly awkward.

"You've planned this for CENTURIES and they don't have NAMES YET!?"

"I was planning on naming then after I got to know them!"

"THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!"

"You didn't NAME YOUR OWN BABY AT FIRST!"

"WE DIDN'T PLAN ON A BABY AT ALL!"

Chang'e sighed.

This was going to be a very long co-habitation.

"I can call them Thing 1 and Thing 2 until I figure out their names," Macaque said uncertainly, shrugging vaguely as he held the larger of the twins.

"You cannot be serious," Sun Wukong said. "Can't you think of any better nicknames? Something? Anything?"

Macaque frowned, watching the smaller twin viciously attempting to bite his tail, which wasn't even the least bit successful or painful given her size. Held the larger twin, feeling the purr radiating through her entire tiny body.

"... Rumble and Savage?"

"That-!... actually, that's not bad," Sun Wukong admitted with a nod. "The little one who smacked Li-Yan, they're smaller-"

"She," Macaque corrected. "They're both girls."

"Oh my gosh, you're a Girl Dad," Sun Wukong said without even missing a beat. "Mei is going to tease you forever."

"I'll let that one slide, FOR NOW. Look, I don't know how long it's gonna take me to figure out names for them," Macaque admitted with a shrug. "I had A name picked out, but I either need a new set of names or I need to pick one that matches."

"You really don't need to-

"They. Will. Have. Matching. NAMES," Macaque said with insistence. "It's what I want so that's what they're gonna get."

"Ok, ok," Sun Wukong said with a chuckle, admitting defeat. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"Nah, I told you pretty much everything there is to tell."

There was no way in any of the known realms, from the Celestial to the Underworld, that Macaque would ever tell them the rest of the story...

"And what, exactly, do you need that many orders of bao for?" Pigsy asked with a raised brow.

He was onto him.

"You've seen my kwoon, Pigsy," Macaque said with practiced nonchalance. "Place is a mess. Last time Bai He came by she threatened to clean it up herself when I wasn't around and, ya know, I think her dad would actually kill me if any of my weapons hurt her. So I'm in for a long project to prevent my imminent demise."

#Monkie Kid #lego monkie kid #fanfic #sun wukong #monkey king #chang'e #celestial crossing au #six eared macaque #liu er mihou #rumble and savage #hehehehe

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eyes-inthe-dark · 1 year ago

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Hi Hello I actually make things sometimes

I don't know if anyone who follows me is interested in this stuff bc I very rarely post things from my own life, but I decided to be a little more active on here besides reblogging funny shit regarding my current hyperfixation.

So, here is the (incomplete) crafting diary of a neurodivergent trans person surviving christmas with the family and the dark and dreadful times (winter) in general by making shit! with my hands!

First: fiber stuff

I picked up tablet weaving over the last few months of 2023 and made my first pair of somewhat mistake-free shoelaces over the holidays! Only got the pattern completely right on the second try with the red but both laces now get to add a fun little detail to my shoes.

Next I tried a more complicated pattern and experimented a lot, hence the irregular pattern and troubleshooting at the start of the band. I'm now repurposing it as a camera strap and I learned a lot from it tho.

My current setup is basic cardboard tablets (I had to make extra ones so I had enough for the last band with 30 cards), tying the warp to something sturdy like a bookshelf, and sitting down with a backstrap belt on the other side of the room. I used thin wool yarn for this, which stuck to itself quite a lot, but not too much to be unmanagable, and I really like how the finished product feels.

If anyone's interested, I could make a longer post on how I made the shoelaces, I think it's a very beginner friendly project.

I managed to get my hands on a drop spindle and gave that a try, but I ran out of wool after making a very small amount of very chunky yarn and am currently working out where to best get sth local. It was fun tho!

I also finally finished the knitted scarf that has been in my wip pile for... approximately three years? I started it when I was still in school, feels like an eternity ago. It's just a simple (although very long) red wool scarf, but it keeps me nice and warm in this cold, harsh- *checks weather* ...5°C and neverending rain.

Next up: woodworking!

Noodled around with my grandpa's old dremel that we still had lying around, which resulted in this truly terrifying weapon:

Behold! I named it Toothling. It's great for poking friends and family when they least expect it.

This was more of a test run to see if it all still works and to try out doing small scale work with wood, now I gotta think of something fun to make. (I say, as if I didn't already have 50 different ideas)

Before that fuckery, I made this magnetic dice box/rolling tray for my lovely partner's birthday.

Though I don't feel like I can take credit for working the CNC magic on this, I did all the hands-on work with the sanding, assembling the magnets, shellac coating, and whatnot. I'm pretty sure wood is some sort of fruit tree, since it smells strongly of what I suspect might be plum or cherry.

Last but sure as fuck not least: embroidery

This I actually get professional instruction for at uni. I've kinda lost patience for it atm, but mostly because I cannot resist making unnecessarily complicated pieces with tiny little stitches and then am forced to finish it because I do actually kinda need to pass this class. My lecturer keeps telling me not to go so detailed, yet I have proven resistant to her good advice. But, I figured if I have to make two full pieces of embroidery to be graded on and put hours of work into, I might as well choose designs that I can turn into patches for my jacket:

Catha and Ruidus! I love me some big moon little moon imagery. The prompt was to incorporate most of the techniques/stitches we've learned so far. Added the little gold chain stitch around ruidus for the arcane latticework. It came out a little wonky shape wise, but I love it nonetheless.

And my most recent wip, a stained glass window design with the Ninth House skull and Gideon's sword behind it, to feed my current Locked Tomb obsession.

And that's it!

#fibre crafts #embroidery #tablet weaving #tablet weave #weaving #wool #handcrafted #woodworking #if you wanna call it that #Eli has a life #and needs sth to do so i pick up random crafts i see people do on the internet #critical role #locked tomb #art #dnd

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aswallowimprisoned · 1 year ago

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Restless far from a Wine Dark sea - Resisting treatment

Logan tries to pursuade the sea monster to submit to a blood test. He is not keen on the idea.

@medwhumpmay

Tw Panic attack, needles, non-con medical procedure, Dead Dove Jewish vampiric whumpee, religious whumpee, coercion

This is set fairly near the begining, when Nathaniel's behaviour has been getting more erratic, swinging between compliance and resistance

masterlist

≪ °❈° ≫

“Fogal, we have a medical task to introduce you to.” Logan spoke evenly, allowing no cause for panic, “We want to take some blood for a blood test. It will only be a very small amount, a syringe full.”

“A test?” Fogal enquired softly, “But I thought you were… experimenting… last time you gave me blood?”

“We aren't giving you blood this time.” Logan corrected, “We are taking a very small amount of blood from your arm, and then Dr Orange can do some tests on it to make sure that your blood is healthy.”

The merman paled.

“You want to take my blood?”

“A very small amount. You won’t even notice. I promise we will be careful. It's ok,” Logan soothed. The merman was far more anxious than Logan had been expecting - he was usually very good with needles, associating them with heroin and a release from pain.

“No, I, I, what do you need it for?”

“To make sure you are healthy. I promise this is a very common test…”

“That’s… I don't understand.” Fogal was trying to keep the panic from his voice, “You can't tell if people are healthy from blood. I know because all human blood tastes the same. Except if they have been drinking or on coke. And I promise I have only taken the drugs you have given me.” The merman was begging, “I can't move off this bed, I promise Logan. You don't need my blood, you know everything I promise.”

“Hey, hey, calm down Fogal.” Logan let his surprise leak into his voice, “This doesn't have to be frightening, it's very simple, it is just a small needle, it won't hurt much.”

“Ok. Ok ok ok ok ok.” Fogal started tapping out a breathing pattern into his tail. Logan let him calm himself, -Pause. Calm. Please. Pause.- he asked.

“I can pause for a moment to let you calm yourself.” Logan allowed. The merman struggled through his breathing exercise, twitching occasionally against his restraints.

“Why?” Fogal finally gritted out.

“Blood contains many chemicals that can tell us about health. We give you opiates frequently, and so we are worried about giving you too much medication that will damage your liver and make you ill. We want you to stay healthy, so we want to check it.” Logan watched the words sink in. The merman continued to writhe in discomfort at the concept.

“I don’t understand why this one is so frightening to you,” Logan socially pressured, “you are usually so good with needles…”

“You want to take my BLOOD,” Fogal ratchetted right back up to borderline hysterical.

“It is a medical test. I myself undergo regular blood tests. It does no harm.”

“You let them take your blood. You.” Fogal whispered, still terrified.

“Yes. There is no reason not to. It is for my health.”

Fogal shook his head, disbelieving.

“Blood is the soul, the lifeforce of the body. My cursed vampiric diet is proof of that.”

Ah that makes sense.

“I see why you came to that conclusion,” Logan conceded, “And why, because of that belief, you are more worried about this test.” He validated the feelings, “But if, as you say, blood has no use other than to nourish you, surely there is nothing nefarious we can do with your blood, other than the aforementioned medical reasons?”

“I can’t do magic with the blood…” and yet the merman was still near wordless with terror.

“And neither can we.” Logan tried to shut the conversation down, try to bulldoze on to the procedure so the sea monster could see a blood test was genuinely not frightening “Let us show you. Nurse Brunel is just going to put this piece of rubber tightly around your arm…”

The merman burbled with fear as the nurse secured a tourniquet around his upper arm.

“No, no Logan please, don't do this, Logan...” He started to writhe, viciously fighting his bonds, leather creaking.

“This is getting dangerous Logan,” Elias warned over the comms, “I don’t think he is ready…”

Logan acknowledged his co-anthropologist’s input, and dismissed it. If they gave up now, the sea monster would never allow the simple and essential procedure. And if he did try to fight, this would be a learning opportunity as to why resisting his captor’s wishes would always be fruitless.

“It will only hurt a tiny tiny bit, a little needle, then it's fine.”

Nurse Brunel took up the needle.

“NO!” Fogal gasped. He looked Logan straight in the eye, and started to chant.

“Khri khmimi bdikula bziia”

“I don't know what he is saying.”

“…aibdur tbluniikhi, prkha zika lmurika khdta…”

“Fogal, stop speaking, stop speaking and calm yourself.” Logan commanded, tone steady, before lowering his voice to speak into the microphone. “Is it a prayer?”

“Not one I recognise.” There was fear in Elias’ voice, “Logan, we should stop him. The merpeople’s magic is song based, and we don't know what he is saying.”

The fear in the room was palpable.

“Gag him,” the military coordinator intervened. Immediately, the merman was restrained from all angles, a rubber strap forced between his teeth as he screamed. “But complete the blood test anyway. We can’t keep letting him get away with bad behaviour.”

The sea monster writhed, and writhed and screamed and writhed. Nurse Brunel’s body language was showing his reluctance and pity, but still he forced the butterfly needle into the writhing merman’s arm.

a/n Nathaniel believes in witchcraft. It is very rare for Jewish people to believe in evil witchcraft nowadays, but Nathaniel is a couple of centuries old and from a time where a belief in witches was more common place, and from a place/time where witchcraft was viewed negatively (many times in history Jews were much more tolerant than Christians of witchcraft when being used for good, and most women kind of dabble in witchcraft cos thats what women do).

And, he reasons, humans didn’t believe in merpeople till recently, so why couldn’t witches exist? (Witches are the same in the wine dark sea universe as they are in real life, but he is still afraid).

I found this curse against witchcraft on My Jewish Learning, then anglicised it using google translate, making it equal opportunities indecipherable to anyone, whether you can read Hebrew or not.

But it is an awesome (but graphic):

Hot feces in torn date baskets in your mouth, witches; may your hairs fall out because you use them for witchcraft; your crumbs, which you use for witchcraft, should scatter in the wind;

#whump #medical whump #mer whump #restlessffawds #whump writing #interrogation whump #pushing people too far

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