#mediocreaustinpowers

[bluntforcefem]

morituro with Lazarus?

of someone who is next or destined to die. content warnings for death and references to suicide.

when cassandra leaves, you don't expect to see her again.

she isn't the first to split away and she might not be the last, though you've had a hard time unlatching your claws from that sort of terrible hope. you don't know how most of them choose to die and you don't ask. occasionally, you and pascal find things left behind: books, journals, notes. you read them, you preserve them, you think about them when you lay down to sleep and sleep doesn't come. monsters, swords, oceans, the mouth of the world—you list them like counting sheep, and they lull you away eventually.

cassandra, though, she tells you; she tells you and she doesn't even think it's a sort of death, but you know better.

your gods are going to kill her and that fusion charm will be the instrument.

you lay down and think about this too, though the sun is high in the sky and pascal has been at your door for hours. you list off each god in order and then you list off her prophecies, all bitter in your mouth. her belief has never sat right with you, never sat right on you. she knows you created them. knew, at least, decades ago. you're not sure when she forgot, which of the visions bringing her to her knees convinced her that there was some substance beyond faith to them.

or maybe it's just ignorance, and you can't begrudge her that. not really.

you didn't write that fusing with a god would kill you; spectre's assumptions about divine power did that all on their own, and you never found it wise to argue. you didn't write a lot of things. you did write papers advising against fusion, in the days where those charms were still new and most of them intact; the one cassandra took with her was a fragment of the one you all dropped and shattered that day, when you tried it for the first and last time and found it... wanting. too warm, too alive, and yet still too close to what it once was.

it's still your responsibility. maybe the closest any of these departures have been to being your fault, though you're familiar with the guilt anyway. she's going to die, out there, with the god she finds as her only witness, and you're going to put her research and journals into the library like she wanted and you're going to keep living like the blood isn't on your hands at all.

you've thought about how you'd die, of course. but you found everything you could think of wanting as well.

and if you die, pascal will certainly follow—and that is the one death you refuse to watch pass you, if nothing else. that is what you hold onto as you finally sit up and open the door for them, ignoring how wrecked they look on your doorstep the same way they must be doing for you. they hold out a bag, marked with cassandra's name, and you step aside so they can take it to the table.

monsters, swords, oceans, the mouth of the world, fusion. the method is only another bundle of wool, in the end. the death is only another name. it is only more blood, and this sort doesn't stain the pages as you turn them.

[encrypted-cryptid]

tagged by @polyboros to pick a song for every letter of my url,, you're a bastard for this one <33

egoist by paseri onuma no culture by mother mother cycles by lili trifilio re-do by modern baseball yeah yeah yeah (v2) by jack conte plough by speedy ortiz tongue & stutter by i the victor evie by shoe dead! by my chemical romance hyphen by fugitive cytoplasm by the doozers rattlesnake by kabaret sybarit young and menace by fallout boy penny dreadfuls by joe iconis transient by the blank minds i'm not ok by weathers devils point by wicked shallows

going to tag @checkinder, @talkingpointss, @mediocreaustinpowers and anyone else who wants to make a funny playlist

[biblicallyaccurateandrogynoussex]

@morphlingunderscore @mediocreaustinpowers

Harry’s soul is vast and unfathomable (Please unmute) 

Link to Youtube

[bluntforcefem]

actually you know what would be so funny. Evan Eli 20. something something you (evan and eli) got jumped & you heard them say "take their asses to the polycule"

"i can't believe you're trying to convince me that venom 2 is a romantic classic," evan says, staring intently at the laptop screen as a giant church bell lands on top of one of the antagonists. "he just murdered his wife."

eli shifts the laptop a little on the bed as they huff—the fans get louder, for a moment, and then much quieter than before. evan hums in appreciation. "that's because they're meant to foil eddie and venom, obviously," they argue, "and you know what i'm talking about. you saw the rave scene. the classic, dramatic spurned lover, realising that he doesn't need his boyfriend but he still kind of wants his boyfriend... and it's really gay."

"it is pretty gay," evan concedes. "but doesn't venom, like, literally need eddie? because they're pacific rim style soulmates and he literally kills anyone else he symbiotes with?"

"i mean- yeah, but. c'mon." eli turns their attention from the laptop to him, mock-frown betrayed by the way their mouth twitches at the corners. "play in the romance space with me here, evan. they're got great chemistry. their neighbors probably wish they would being so loud during their weird—"

"lover's quarrels," evan interrupts dryly, and eli laughs so loud he can feel the feathers of their wing ruffle against his back, a strange weighted blanket he had almost forgotten was there.

"i was going to say weird gay sex, but that too."

"kind of rude to assume their sex is weird, don't you think?"

"you're telling me you think fucking the alien ooze is a vanilla affair?"

"you tell me." the retort is reflexive, and he only realises the double meaning of it for eli when they go bright red, staring at him incredulously. "i- you know i didn't mean it like that-"

they laugh, loud and wheezy, and put their head into their hands, the finale of the movie long forgotten. "oh my god. wouldn't you like to know, evan?"

"i would love to go my whole life not knowing, actually, and don't make me think about it!"

eli's laughter subsides into breathless little snickers, and evan rolls his eyes, settling back down and trying to figure out what he's missed on the screen. they lean over and whisper a synopsis as it goes, and he idly wonders just how many times they've seen it - but it's helpful, so. he brushes that aside.

when the credits roll, they close the laptop, easily putting it on the nightstand without moving an inch. evan doesn't move either, though he feels almost awkward about it, tapping out rhythms on the covers in front of him. they turn back to him and don't seem to question it, yawning as they stretch out and settle into a more languid position. "are you staying over tonight?"

"i think your wing, uh- might've decided that for me." eli glances at it, their expression turning sheepish. evan shrugs. "i'd- like to, though. if the offer's open. i just need to change."

"no sleep jeans?"

"not tonight, anyway."

eli's face scrunches, and he grins. they lift their wing to let him wiggle out, but not before leaning over and giving him a little kiss on the head. evan blinks.

"i'm- are we doing goodnight kisses now, too?"

"if you want," eli says, faux-casual though their cheeks are visibly pink, clearly embarassed. "sorry, uh- that was probably-"

"it's fine," evan decides quickly, leaning up to give them a kiss on the cheek back. he also feels- well. a little embarassed about it. but now they're both embarassed about it together, and none of the others are there to fondly poke fun at them about it, so the two look at each other before grinning and glancing away. "i'm gonna go get changed."

"don't die," they say, morbidly affectionate, and evan waves his hand at them as he rolls off the bed and ambles off to get his sweatpants.

[bluntforcefem]

Also. Arturo and the obvious? (astral)

of or relating to the stars

the observatory is situated halfway down the nether line between electrasweet and some other town, tucked just off the tunnel and through a crack in the wall like it's not meant to be found. arturo finds it anyway, in some desperate late-night hunt down astronomy forums for a place to watch the stars that isn't within city limits. nothing the mayor had her hands in would have the answer.

it's further out than ae's ever gone - and ae's never gone in the nether, either, before this. the emptiness of the roof-sky makes ae nauseous, viciously so, and ae tries not to look through the glass room of the tunnel as ae walks down and down and down. the portal lets out in an empty field, barren besides the flowers and the observatory, made from shifting concrete shades and a base of dark stone that has it almost blending into the night sky.

arturo doesn't go in the door. ae flies up, instead, and slips in through a hatch. faintly, distantly, it registers as trespassing, but all ae can feel is the dull relief that nobody's up there now. nobody to see as ae hurries to the telescope and looks through the viewer.

nobody to see when ae staggers back from it like it burned vaer.

"the stars are gone," ae says. it's too loud, in the silent room. "the stars are... gone."

ae escapes back out into the field outside and retches into the grass, pulling vaer hair out of the way, refusing to look up. there's just- static, up there. is the sun even real? the thought makes vaer sick again. when vaer knees are steady enough to hold vaer weight, ae stands back up, wiping off vaer mouth and staring blankly out at the horizon.

isn't this what you wanted?

arturo can't brave the nether again, not with its static-sky and not like this. ae picks a direction and begins to walk instead, uncaring of if it's the right way back or how long it'll be like this.

when dawn breaks, it'll still all be so far away.

[biblicallyaccurateandrogynoussex]

@mediocreaustinpowers

loop is consistently on the mind. i cant get enough of them. i am listening the hell out of that loop playlist. i have finals. pray for me

[bluntforcefem]

for ship bingo. One of the dumbest sides of the relationship drama quad. Echo Eli

the entire crow-atti pc square of the extended quad drives me nuts

[bluntforcefem]

💌 looking at you? with my big eyes?

hi moss!!! you're one of my best friends and the stuff you talk about drives me nuts in SO many different ways. you come up with some off the walls bonkers concepts that i absolutely adore, your passion for niche bullshit i know nothing about is infectious and i could listen to you talk abt linguistics and weird historical knowledge and your ocs furever probably. and i love hopping on call with you and dicking around for a while its the best

[bluntforcefem]

"The Gloss has Washed Away" for the title ask game? Idk if you're doing character reqs on this but if you are. I am thinking So Hard about Eli and Void

the gloss has washed away – eli and the void realize that something has gone wrong at roughly the same time. unfortunately, their ideas of what exactly went wrong are very, very different.

where did it go?

"... what do you mean it," eli asks, slowly, their eyebrows furrowing as they sit up in their hammock. the void says nothing, its presence a storm of frantic discontent in the back of their mind, their heart beating faster to match. their chest itches fiercely. they pull up their tank top and hiss; the flesh there is stained blue-black, fuzzy and strange to the touch, too much like sculk for comfort. "what- what the hell are you doing?"

it doesn't deign them with coherent thought. eli snarls even as their throat tightens, pressing a shaky hand to their sternum and squeezing their eyes shut. reaching out to the void the same way its reaches for them is usually an exercise in futility, but they grasp at the edges and pull, pain spiking in sync with the thoughts that burst into eli's mind.

the rest is gone the taste is gone what did we do where is it where is it-

they recoil, tumbling off the hammock and sprawling across the floor, wings unfolding in a panic and taking the brunt of the impact. eli stares up at the ceiling, unseeing, nails still dug into flesh. the void pulls away, and the stream of consciousness stops, everything slowing down with it.

eli.

"you fucking- you replaced it? you- what?"

eli-

"what did you do," they breath out, desperate, "what did you- what did you do?"

we have never been able to keep its comfort, it answers, as nonsensical as it is cold, before it withdraws near-completely.

eli closes their eyes and lets the panic wash over them like a flood.

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

Oh boy, do I have recommendations! @tjmystic @mediocreaustinpowers @galadhir and anyone else interested, here is a list of books and online resources that I strongly encourage folks to read:

The Grammar of God, by Aviya Kushner: I recommend this book for a beautiful, approachable, and fascinating look into the different ways the Tanakh and the Xtian Bible have been translated throughout their histories, the differences between those readings, and the inherent ambiguities in the Hebrew that led to them. (I also will say I have a personal attachment to this book because it's actually what, in a roundabout way, got me interested in researching Judaism more, but that's neither here nor there.) Regardless of that, I think it's both an appropriate book for people of various backgrounds and that the author is profoundly respectful to the hard work (and sometimes even danger!) of translating something as important as the Bible.

Essential Judaism by George Robinson: This is the best book I'm aware of for encyclopedic explanations for almost all things Jewish. Shortly after I had started converting to Judaism, I became frustrated with how difficult it was to find a comprehensive, thorough, organized, and straightforward explanation for a holistic perspective on the basics of Judaism, and so I started building an outline to write a guide for other gerim. Then I found this book and it did it virtually exactly how I would have. I was over the moon and have been recommending it ever since. I strongly encourage skimming this for the basics and then keeping a copy of it with you while learning so you can reference it as-needed.

JewFAQ is another excellent online resource that serves a similar purpose, but by nature of it being online makes it a little harder to understand the outline of it. Even so, it's a great resource and being online makes it an instant acquisition.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament, edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler: both are Jews who have extensive academic backgrounds that make this a very helpful reference. It's the NRSV text, annotated and explicated by Levine and Brettler (with additional essays in the back) to provide Jewish cultural context and intertextual citations within the New Testament.

The Bible With and Without Jesus by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler: this is a sort of follow up book to their annotations in the JANT - they had many more things to say, and so they collaborated to put out a book that goes over ten major areas of interpretative difference between Jews, Xtians, and historical-critical method biblical scholars. I'm currently in the process of reading it, and so far it is excellent.

How to Read the Bible by Marc Zvi Brettler is another good one. This book examines the books of the Tanakh, compares them with Old Testament translations, and applies a historical critical analysis to several major Tanakh books/stories. The goal of the book was to create a Jewish sensitive resource that still uses the historical critical method. Unfortunately the historical critical method, despite its obvious and important academic uses, was nevertheless originally developed (or at least used) as part of a way for Xtians to delegitimize the Jewish scriptures in favor of the New Testament. This book represents a solid effort by a religious Jew to utilize it in a Jewish friendly way.

The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus by Amy-Jill Levine: This is another one I'm working my way through, but so far it is very interesting. Levine seeks to do exactly what it says on the tin in terms of historical context for Jesus and his teachings, and to make understanding him as a Jew a bit of a bridge between each faith without (of course) suggesting that either give up their uniqueness.

Holy Envy by Barbara Brown Taylor: This is an excellent and moving book about how a Xtian minister finds holiness in the traditions of others, and seeks to incorporate their wisdom into her own faith without appropriating them. Here's a lovely quote from it (which is how I found the book in the first place.)

Why the Jews Rejected Jesus by David Klinghoffer: Despite the clickbaity title (and the fact that David is an unrepentant conservative and it shows), I will recommend this book with a couple caveats. One, I'm not 100% convinced that he has the formal academic background to write this book, although I think he did it well anyway. And two, he says some things about America as a country, the Reform movement, the Islamic faith and Muslim world that make me want to fight him behind a Dennys. I do think it's a useful text for bringing into vivid relief (and not without some wry wit) just why, exactly, Jews are typically so unimpressed by Xtian proof-texting and textual arguments for Xtianity. I also think that he does a good job of talking about the awful things that Xtians have done throughout the ages to try and force Jews to convert, including holding rigged public "debates" over religion. Klinghoffer is sometimes confrontational, sometimes conciliatory, but nevertheless consistent in providing a solid explanation that is accessible to laypeople about what is going on with these theological differences.

People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn: Ok so this one is far less about theology and far more about the breadth, depth, and diversity of antisemitism, and I think it's required reading for anyone who truly wants to understand and be an ally to Jews. It's a hard read, I'll be honest. There are graphic descriptions of the violence committed against Jews, including kidnapping, torture, rape, expulsions, one-off murders, and mass murders. It is hard to read how much violence has been done and how many people looked away. I walked away from that book many times before I finished it, and always with my stomach in a knot and tears in my eyes for my people. I ask that you read it anyway. Here's a good thread on the book to give you a better idea of what to expect. But the reality is that you will never understand Jews, Jewish culture, Jewish history, and the development of our theology in light of that history, unless you have a realistic and not whitewashed understanding of antisemitism (especially but not limited to Xtian antisemitism.)

This thread is another tough one, but it's important to integrate this into your understanding of the Jewish people right away, because it's impossible to fully appreciate our reticence and anger without realizing just how much has happened, how virtually no people in the world have clean hands, and just how long this has been going on for.

Something that you should probably also be aware of is the phenomenon of messianic "Judaism." The messianic movement (one of the more famous sects is Jews for Jesus) is appropriative, ahistorical, predatory, and fundamentally antisemitism. They're effectively Southern Baptist evangelicals LARPing as Jews to proselytize to and convert real Jews to Xtianity. This thread is essential reading for understanding it. If, in your travels looking for Jewish things, you aren't sure if something is messianic or not, don't hesitate to ask us @is-the-thing-actually-jewish. Jews for Judaism is another excellent organization that works as a counter-missionary group and helps deconstruct the lies told by messianics about Judaism.

Betterparables.com: Now this is truly an excellent resource, which I consider required reading for new followers from Xtian backgrounds. The particular article I linked is about the Pharisees, but the whole site is great. It's basically a compilation of Jewish reads on Xtian parables and certain acts of Jesus.

Speaking of which, this is another required read for me by the amazing @/a-queer-seminarian (off of tumblr), specifically about the story in the Gospels of Jesus flipping the tables at the Temple.

Sefaria.org is a phenomenal resource for folks trying to engage in Jewish text study. It is designed by Jews for Jews, but it's a great free way to check out a Jewish translation of the Tanakh and also to look at other Jewish sacred texts that would otherwise be difficult to acquire.

I... think that's everything from me for now. There's probably more I'm forgetting, but that's basically a semester of comparative religion right there, so I'll call that good.

In Judaism, one alternative way of referring to converts is "Jews by Choice."

If a parallel term exists in Xtianity I am not aware of it, but I would like to propose that it really should exist, albeit not just in reference to converts but to all Xtians. Every Xtian should get the opportunity to fully understand their faith in context and to make an informed decision to choose it for themselves. As it stands, many Xtians are deeply ignorant about Jewish history (before and after the formation of Xtianity), the original cultural context for the stories in the Old Testament, the cultural Jewish context that Jesus existed and taught in, the critical historical (scholarly) read of these texts, what they probably meant to the Israelites who produced them, and what they mean to Jews today and how we read these same texts differently in our religious context.

This creates a problem, where Xtians are taught only the narrow band of context that their church deems it important for them to know, and even that is frequently inaccurate or so limited in scope as to make it inaccurate by omission.

And this is because the reality is that the Tanakh (that is, the Hebrew and Aramaic scriptures that the Old Testament is based on) does not naturally or inevitably lead to the Jesus narrative. If you are starting from a Xtian perspective, and especially if you read the New Testament first and then and only then dive into the Old Testament, the Jesus narrative is obvious to you because you are looking for it, expect to see it there, and are coming at these texts with that reading lens in mind. And it's not that you or anyone else is nuts to see that narrative there - there are plenty of solid Xtian reads of these texts that make sense if you already believe in Jesus as presented by the New Testament.

But what the vast majority of Xtians aren't taught is how to approach the Tanakh from a Jesus-neutral perspective, which would yield very different results.

Now you might fairly ask, why would they *need* to approach the Tanakh with a Jesus-neutral perspective? They're Xtians! Xtians believe in Jesus, that's what makes them Xtians!

My answer is multi-pronged: First, I believe that G-d wants a relationship with all people, and speaks to us in the voice we are most likely to hear. That's inherently going to look different for everyone. And that's okay! G-d is infinite, and each of our relationships with G-d are going to only capture the tiniest glimpse into that infinite Divine. Therefore, second, when approaching religion, everyone sees what they want to see. If you nothing religion but find your spirituality in nature, you're going to come at these biblical texts with that lens and take away from them similar things that one might take away from other cultural mythologies. If you, like me, are coming at these texts with a Jewish mindset, you are going to come away with a portrait of Hashem and our covenantal relationship as Am Yisrael. And, of course, if you read with a Xtian lens, you're going to see the precursor narratives leading up to Jesus. That reading bias is not only understandable but good or at least deeply human. Everyone sees what they want to see in these texts. There is no objective or flawless way to read them, and to claim that there is, is to claim that not only is there only one answer, but only one kind of relationship that G-d wants to have with people, that you personally happen to know what that is, and that everyone else is wrong. I am sorry, but if you believe that - if you truly think that you in particular (and/or the people you happen to agree with) know the mind of G-d, then you do not worship G-d. You worship yourselves, because to know the entirety of G-d would require you to be G-d. There's a term for that. That doesn't mean there aren't wrong answers too. But it does mean that there is no singular unimpeachable reading of the texts. What you see in these texts then, says far more about you than it does about the texts themselves or G-d.

So the question then becomes: Why do you want to see this? (Whatever your "this" is.) If your read of these texts is something you choose, why do you choose to see what you see? And is it a meaningful choice if you are not taught other ways of knowing, other perspectives on these texts, and to think critically while exploring them?

Judaism inherently teaches a multiplicity of opinions on the texts, and maintains that they can be read to mean different things, even at the same time by the same person. Deep textual knowledge and methods for learning more, asking questions, challenging accepted answers as a way to discover new meaning, and respectful disagreement are baked into our culture and methods. Some Xtians of some denominations have analogous processes, although on the whole still emphasize correct unified belief over correct action with a multiplicity of belief. I am not suggesting here that Xtians stop approaching their own scriptures as Xtians or adopt Jewish methods instead. What I am suggesting is that Xtians should be taught a fuller picture of these texts and learn other perspectives so that they (1) understand their own beliefs and why they believe them (or after further inquiry if they believe them), and (2) understand and respect that this is what they are choosing to believe and that it is not the only thing one could reasonably believe. Because (3) if not, they are more susceptible to having their faith shattered at random by something unexpected, and will connect less to their faith as a relationship with G-d and more as an obligation based on an unchallenged world view.

And, frankly? (4) It will help them to be better neighbors, to love their neighbor as themselves, and to give to others the respect that they would like to receive.

Being taught the historical context, Jewish history before and after Jesus, the differences between the Old Testament and the Tanakh, the timeline of the development of Xtianity in relationship to rabbinic Judaism in the wake of the destruction of the Second Temple, the development of church doctrine and the various splits amongst the denominations, and Jewish readings of the Tanakh would give clarity and desperately needed context to Xtians about their religion. Is there some risk that some people, upon understanding these things would drop out of faith entirely or, like me, discover that they are actually meant to be Jews? Yes, definitely.

But let me let you in on a little secret: you don't want those people to begin with. You really don't. Because the reality is that if a person is not called to relate to G-d through Jesus, eventually that person will learn this about themselves one way or another. If they are given the information and tools to make a meaningful choice, they will part company on good terms. If not, they will likely become disillusioned and leave the church in pain, anger, and even trauma. They will bring that out into the world with them, and spread the bad news about the Good News making it even more likely that other people who were already on the fence will jump ship on bad terms. You cannot trick people into a meaningful relationship with G-d. You can only give them the tools they need in order to explore on their own and the rest is between them and G-d.

And the bottom line is that you don't need to and should not be afraid of knowledge. If your faith cannot stand up to scrutiny, then it deserves that scrutiny tenfold. The people you lose from the flock? You would have lost them anyway, because we aren't in the driver's seat here. G-d is. Hashem called me to be a Jew with just as much love and desire to connect as G-d calls Xtians to the church and to Jesus. A faith examined is a faith deepened or exposed in its weakness. And if it is the latter, don't you want people to know this sooner rather than later in order to fix it?

So my proposition and wish for Xtians is that they become Xtians by Choice. That they delve deeply into the origins and context of their faith so that they can be 100% certain that they understand their Xtian faith and why they choose to relate to G-d through that lens.

[bluntforcefem]

🧅 and 🏵️ for the mayors of electrasweet please

looking at you with my big eyes btw

looking at you w/ my big eyes right back

🧅 [ONION] What is surefire to make your OC cry? Who knows of this information?

elegy: nothing is a guarantee. when she was younger there would've been; before taking over electrasweet, there was a period of time where he frequently got so frustrated about not being taken seriously that he would lock himself in his room 'til he could be normal and composed about it. nowadays, a decade and change later, she's just exceptionally good at her poker face even if something gets to a soft spot

poppet: an almost-perfect simulation of what it felt like to be a part of spectre. elegy made it for hir. it's a deeply personal thing, and she's the only one who knows it exists.

🏵️ [ROSETTE] What flower symbolises your OC best and why? What does the flower mean in floriography?

i am downright BAD at off the cuff floriography moss but i'll do my best. for you. cornflowers for poppet (devotion) & amaryllis for elegy (pride)

[bluntforcefem]

🎂!

not all of these will have a name on them but it felt fitting. for you<3

[bluntforcefem]

Declan & Echo for 8 :eye::eye:?

8. an arm sneaking around a waist, holding them close

the ballroom is stuffy, crowded, ostentatious, and a million other disparaging adjectives that echo is bored enough to start listing off. declan had looked just as tired of the whole display as they had before they got separated. the favors they do for elegy in favor of extra intel are always... interesting.

it is, at least, an excuse to dress up. all of echo's practice has come in handy—their heels click on the tile, satisfying, and the way they hold themself means most people don't bother approaching for small talk.

most people.

they clock the man who comes up to them as both old money and an asshole the moment he tries to catch their attention. what he wants, they don't know and they don't care, but they play along with the niceties as they study him. the conversation, though, begins to drag uncomfortably; he takes a step forward and they slide back, easy, pretending at ignorance.

"behind," they hear, recognizing dec's voice almost instantly. they don't startle as he slides an arm around their waist, the jewelry hanging from his horns jingling lightly as he tugs echo against his side. "so-orry, we've ju-ust got to be goi-ing-!"

"oh, is it that time already? really is a shame," echo says, resisting the urge to smirk as they play along. declan hums in amusement as the stranger flees, doesn't let go as the two of them step in turn across the floor and tuck themselves away in the alcove of a heavy curtain. there's no real reproach in their next words, mostly teasing. "i did had that handled, dec."

"i kno-ow." declan knocks his head into theirs, gentle as usual, eyebrows furrowed apologetically. "but i di-idn't like hi-im at all!"

"but i could've stolen from him," echo pretends to mourn. they grin as declan snickers, the two exchanging a look as they put their hands over his and twine their fingers. "well, the night's still young."

"ho-ow much ca-an we g-et, do yo-ou think?"

"as much as we want," they drawl, and declan's delight sharpens to a point at the same time as their own.

[biblicallyaccurateandrogynoussex]

@10ofhearts @encrypted-cryptid @polyboros @morphlingunderscore @mediocreaustinpowers

PERCEPTION (Sight) — To your left is a large wooden door with strange scratch marks covering it up from top to bottom. The scratches are old and faded, but still prominent. You enter the door?

1. [Enter the door].

2. I fix the scratches on the door!

LOGIC (Medium: Failure) — You have no cock.

REACTION SPEED (Easy: Failure) — You have no cock.

1. What- Why are you saying that?!

LOGIC (Medium: Failure) — Cock.

ENCYCLOPEDIA (Formidable: Success) — C-A-U-L-K. Caulk. Epoxy!

[bluntforcefem]

shepard/evilan for 15? I shrimply think they're normal

15. gently kissing the other's knuckles

"back in electrasweet already?"

shepherd whirls around, catching herself before she can stumble. evan gives them a little wave, the ruffles of his shirt sleeves sliding down to his elbow, exaggerating his already exaggerated pose. her head cocks to the side. "i guess the roads just led me here again! what, were you waiting?"

"right place, right time. complete coincidence." he grins as shepherd purses her lips. shrugs a little as he pushes himself off the side of the building he was leaning on to approach. "something like that, anyway. it's not a problem, right?"

"not until you said that," shepherd says, squinting, but they meet him in the middle anyway. "i've got a job, y'know! probably won't be very good company for a little bit."

"ah. you can skip."

"can i?"

"yeah, you can." he says it with such unearned confidence that it makes her laugh. "i'll be your, uh- escort? hm. let me think on that one a little while, actually- just. follow."

"this is how people get murdered, i think!" shepherd snorts as evan rolls his eyes. "i mean it! you're taking me to a secondary location, 's got all the hallmarks."

he reaches for her hand and she lets him grab it, blinking owlishly as he raises it up. "i'm not that terrible," he sulks, mouth twitching back up towards that grin. "it'll be somewhere interesting?"

"'course, then! what could possibly go wrong?"

"i knew you'd come around." he leans and kisses their hand, quick and light, completely unreadable behind the sunglasses as he lets it drop back between them - fingers still hooked together. shepherd glances down and then looks back up, cheeks flushed. "ok, c'mon, we've got to hurry."

evan starts walking, sleeve chafing against her wrist. she doesn’t let go, just strides to catch up, unable to muster up any more questions.

[bluntforcefem]

shepard normal for 86

IT'S THE ONE THING KEEPIN' ME SANE!

86. rot // PUP

thank you moss i love shepherd normal