#nex grant

[probably-a-plant-thing]

Nex Grant

bro i realized i accidentally fanon-ized my own oc... an actual sin on my part. anyway i fixed that <3

Bonus speedpaint :3 (flash warnin)

[plentscorner]

My worst sin was slimming nex down. Like genuinely pissed off I did that. He's not chubby, he's just meant to be a little thicker because he's a muscular guy that's well hydrated... if I ever do that again actually stab me.

[bluecoolr]

for the bingo thing uhhh... skulk or nex ?

I made both! (⌒‐⌒)

Skulk

Nex

[goldrose-star]

@vincent-sinclair-deserved-better darling you're absolutely right!! 💖

cmon show a little cleavage bro its tasteful

[yawarakaizai]

pm dazai and pm chuuya who constantly fight each other for readers attention... but then someone hurts reader and all of a sudden they work together so seamlessly to kill the mf who dared to touch you (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

ⵌ YOU'RE QUITE THE SAME IF LOVE'S THE GAIN

SENDER Reader (Fem) RECIPITENT PM!Dazai Osamu + PM!Chuuya Nakahara (BSD) CONTENTS jealousy, reader+chuuya+dazai are 16/17, reader is an heiress, hostage situation, fluff n cute!! (implied) torture, worried chuuya NOTE This wasn't the department you specialised in. You wanted to manage finances, and while Mori was more than happy to grant you the role - Dazai would nag for you to join him and Chuuya on missions that didn't concern you in the slightest. There's only so much patience one can have. COMPANY Tangled Up

A/N THI S WA S RLL Y C UT E !! sorr y this one was l ate ;//; i hav e a scho o l trip tmrw ^^// maybe i'l l t ry sm ut nex t ... i have a l ot of good re qs i ho pe i ca n ge t throu gh the m a ll ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱

Missions with Dazai and Chuuya always resulted in a thrilling adventure. There was never a time you'd look back on a mission you'd had with both and say to yourself, 'that was a bummer.'

You weren't supposed to work alongside them. Within the Port Mafia, Dazai and Chuuya were always to be assigned missions that were too dangerous for someone ordinary.

And, you? Well.

You possessed no ability. Your purpose in the Port Mafia was your background - your status.

Heiress to your father's wealth in your homeland of France, your parents were part of a certain elite group that made you a walking target should you venture without protection.

That is why you were always thrown as the bait.

With all respects to Dazai, that is, who introduced to Mori the idea of having you be the helpless, dumb damsel skipping merrily into danger.

You weren't happy about this arrangement and that was made clear by your sulking.

" Oh, look at me, I am an unattended woman. "

You sluggishly wandered around the dark halls of the abandoned facility, your voice just barely loud enough for the walls to echo your sarcastic jokes.

" This is serioouuuss! " The earpiece cleverly hidden in your ear crackled into life, you knew the voice belonged to Dazai. " Been chasing this guy for ages now, I think he's got some sort of phasing ability. He might appear outta no where, but Chuuya's trailing behind you, so don't worry. "

As if it could ease your nerves, it only made you regret agreeing to this further. " Great. I'm comforted. " You replied in a snarky manner.

You were dressed in lavish clothing that not even your pompous, arrogant mother would ever think of wearing. You seemed to have a distaste for reminders of the generational wealth you possess and opt to distance yourself from a 'royal' life. It proved impossible when it was the only thing that allowed you to maintain a job in the Port Mafia.

The gloomy and cold atmosphere left you hugging yourself for warmth as you traversed through complicated corridors. Although your earpiece was not connected to Chuuya's, you worried that you were walking off-course and/or Chuuya knew where you are meant to go, but could not blow his cover to correct your stupid mistakes.

Chuuya did a pretty good job at staying hidden. You could not hear a thing other than the clacking of your heels against metal flooring. " Ohh.. I'm so scared. " You pitched your voice higher, this being your best shot at luring out whoever it is the PM were after. You weren't taking this seriously, that was clear to both Dazai and Chuuya.

This wasn't the first mission you three were together, there were a few others that you'd two go through but this was the first time you were thrown a seal to a shark.

Dazai was elsewhere in the building, you weren't sure where and he gave no information when asked. With the affirmation Chuuya had your back, you knew that there was nothing to fear.

You would have appreciated some communication on his end though. You figured it must be his unnatural shyness towards you that made it hard for him to be too forward.

You easily noticed how his behaviour would change around you. And with Dazai around? Oh, boy.

Even if you could be a little air-headed sometimes, you weren't dumb to the hints in front of you.

From the day you were rescued from captivity - a story for another day - Chuuya stood out. You find it funny how he'd be unable to face you for more than a minute before looking away hurriedly. It sprung your new-found hobby of teasing Chuuya whenever you could. Of course Dazai picked up on it pretty soon after too and Chuuya has not known peace since. You couldn't help it! You weren't to blame! You giggled to yourself reminding yourself of Chuuya's little crush, fingers intertwined behind your back loosely, your back straightening from its previous hunched-over stance.

Feeling sudden confidence surge through your veins with the recollection of memories with Chuuya, you were just about to turn on your heel to address the gravity manipulator until a hand grabbed you from behind - before you had the chance to see who it was, you felt cold metal press against your temple that made you freeze up.

In front of you, Chuuya had finally revealed himself, but he too was stood as still as stone.

" Kill me 'n the girl goes too. "

They have never let it get THIS bad. Not ever have you ever even been in the hold or this close to an enemy, and here you were at gunpoint, something that was not planned.

You didn't dare break eye contact from Chuuya. This might just be your final moment. With great trust in Chuuya and Dazai's ability, you weren't sure how they'd proceed with this.

Chuuya might end up being the last thing you see. The look of fear on his face too didn't ease your nerves. They were not in the position to bargain. And funnily enough, you blamed yourself for this.

" Fine, yeah. Let her go. " Chuuya stood up from his mid-offensive position and dropped whatever weapon he had. A gun and a small knife for close-combat, he raised his arms above his head to firmly show his surrender. The hand that was previously on your lower hip raised to roughly cover your mouth, a gloved palm shoving itself in your face and that broke you down immediately. Fear took over and your knees went weak with pure fright, yet the man behind you had his fingers digging into the flesh of your cheek with such a harsh grab that it kept you standing up-right, the barrel of the gun pressing in deeper to your skull, sure to leave indents - that is if you weren't just shot dead. Then an indent would be the less of your worries.

With your back pressed against the chest of the stranger, you could feel the vibration of his confident voice as he spoke loudly, " Don't take me for a fool, Nakahara. You could easily use that ability of yours. " And that was true. You actually forgot about Chuuya's ability. Your mind was too foggy at the moment.

It was the first time you saw Chuuya Nakahara look uncertain in whether this mission would end well or not. He smiled insecurely as he let out a gruff exhale, " Wouldn't do that if I wanted her to live, yeah? Now let her go. "

Even if he kept grinning, you could see how the sweat dripped from his face even through your own teary eyes. With the palm pressing over your mouth and nose, it was difficult to breathe and steady your heart that was already beating fast enough as it is.

" Hmm.. " The gun was lowered slowly, caressing down your cheek and to your chest before being positioned at the pit of your stomach, " But do I really wanna? "

You began to squeal in protest, unable to accept your helplessness but it seemed someone else did your job of retaliation for you.

In the blink of an eye, the man holding you captive fell backwards and consequentially dragged you down with him but ended up tripping you up a bit further. You fell with your head banging on the hard floor, your captors hand slipping from your mouth and allowing you to briefly ‎gasp for air. The clattering of a gun was heard somewhere yet you were too dazed to properly do anything at this point.

The last thing you remember was the feeling of being raised from your underarms and distant shouting.

" -as if she'd be able to do-"

" No, you shut up! You could've done something easily. "

" It was your idea to use her as a fuckin' pawn, don't twist this. "

" Uhh! I'm sowwy~! I thought Chuuya Naka-fucking-hara had some balls to intercept~! "

" Zip it! She's waking up! "

Groggily, you stared at the two of them, sitting opposite each-other on the end of your bed. Judging by the bright white, you were most likely in the infirmary.

Chuuya was the first to lean in, he must have not noticed his hand coming to rest over yours which were folded nearly over your stomach. He had hope in his eyes, contrasting with the emotion you last remember them in. " Y/N? " He called out to you, taking a glimpse at the steady heart monitor.

Testing your voice, you let out a low hum before croaking out a meek, " Heya. "

Dazai was the first to break a laugh at your first words. His and Chuuya's eyes were soft.

" Don't look cute, I'm pissed at you both. " You huffed, turning your head to the side, avoiding them both.

Chuuya held your hand a little tighter, he understood if you decided to be unhappy with him. " Sorry, Y/N. I really fucked that up. Shit, I just didn't know what to do. " He explained himself with such compassion you were urged to look at him again. " I guess I discovered seein' you like that. Uh. In trouble and stuff, makes me seize up badly. "

From the corner of your eye you saw Dazai huff before standing up, but Chuuya held onto your attention as he continued speaking tenderly to you, " I thought that this loser would have planned a set-up and knew that was gonna happen but. It took too long. I realised last second he didn't plan shit. "

" Hey! Don't be so rude, Chuuya~ Besides, if it weren't for me, precious princess would've been shot. " You saw Dazai reach into his back pocket for something you couldn't quite recognise yet.

" Oh, that was you, Dazai? " You asked, alluding to the sudden drop during the action. " Yuup~ And y'know what the best part is? "

You quirked a brow and stole a shared glance from Chuuya. Dazai was unexpectable.

" Since me and Chuuya are so nice.. "

So Chuuya was in on this too?

Dazai paused his sentence and hummed in a baby-ish voice. " Kill me and the girl goes too! " He mocked, earning him an earnest giggle from you. " That wasn't funny, Dazai! I was scared! " You retorted, but still couldn't wipe that smile off of your face.

" Sorry, sorry. But, like he wanted, he's not dead. "

Dazai held the object he had pulled out in front of him. Bloodied priars.

" Technically death caused by unattended injuries is not 'killing him' on MY end, isn't that right, Chuuya? "

Chuuya nod his head before you.

They have that man locked in a fucking basement.

©yawarakaizai 2023 ﹒﹒ reblogs appreciated! requests open :3

[follow-up-news]

President Joe Biden is zeroing in on the policy goals closest to his heart now that he’s no longer seeking a second term, visiting New Orleans on Tuesday to promote his administration’s “moonshot” initiative aiming to dramatically reduce cancer deaths. The president and first lady Jill Biden toured medical facilities that receive federal funding to investigate cancer treatments at Tulane University, where researchers demonstrated using a piece of raw meat how they are working to improve scanning technology to quickly distinguish between healthy and cancerous cells during surgeries. The pair then championed the announcement of $150 million in awards from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. Those will support eight teams of researchers around the country working on ways to help surgeons more successfully remove tumors from people with cancer. It brings the total amount awarded by the agency to develop breakthrough treatments for cancers to $400 million.

[radioactive-metal]

CASINOOOOOO FICCCCCCCCCC (pt.1)

ITS HEREEEEEEEEEE

good morning and merry Christmas my fellow obsessed fans of this lovely wee series we have here, I grant to youse, as a Christmas present, the first Half (or so) of the casino fic. It’s got insanity, it’s got scheming, and it’s got a buggerton of innuendo. What more could you want?

so anyways, wherever you are in the world, with family or friends or perhaps by yourself, have a merry Christmas, Ido’nai, Hanukkah, Sanguinalia, or whatever you choose to celebrate. That’s enough rambling in my part. Enjoy gang.

Authors notes: in this the AU emerald city fiasco happens before semperternity. And the Zero is waiting somewhere else. So the squad is flush with cash but still without direction. This will be fun.

Tyler:

“What do you mean it’s missing a piece?” Cat looked about ready to murder someone, most likely Aurora. I laid a hand on her shoulder, very much ready to stop her acting on her fury.

“I can feel it. It’s broken. Look at the eye on this compared to the drawing.” Aurora pointed at the trigger sitting on top of the console to the picture of the sigil she had unconsciously scrawled. She was right. It was missing the gem in its eye.

Finian leant back against the bridge bulkhead, exo whining as he did so “good news gang! I have a cousin who just so happens to deal in missing parts of random artifacts from an ancient race of aliens.”

“Really?” The question slipped out before I could stop it. Finian looked at me like at me like I had just asked why we couldn’t open a window in the longbow, “No golden boy. Did the GIA give you concussion or am I losing my touch?”

“I would bet that ty lost more braincells from my punch then you ever had numbnuts.” Cat ground out. Finian raised his eyebrows “Nice one dirtgirl, I’ll have to add that to my collection.” 

Zila sat, sucking on a lick of hair for a moment, tapping furiously at her uniglass. “I have found the missing piece. Its location was detailed in the data left in the safe deposit box.”

Every person on the bridge whirled around to look at her. “Unfortunately, it is in the vault of La Casio Royale, in Neomonoco. However, currently, the Time to the Line race is on in the system, so it will be slightly easier to sneak in.”

I drummed my fingers on the armrest of my chair. “I feel like there’s something missing here”

Finian rubbed his temples, “yeah golden boy, there is. If you thought biatchiis security was bad, the Vaults de la Royale makes his look like a play pretend cash register.”

Scarlett:

On one hand, I had always wanted to see the time to the line race, preferably from a luxury yacht, waited on by a small army of very handsome men all named christoff. But in the other: we now had to pull off a heist that made that whole business on semperternity look like taking candy from a baby. The entire vault was open to vacuum, with electrified walls, laser sensors, shelves that weighed each lockbox sensitive to .00003 grams.

But on the other other hand: I got to put on my best outfit and lie, gamble, and drink my way through la Casio Royale, the best establishment in the galaxy for the sins of greed and gluttony.

Needless to say, I had my work cut out for me getting my squad mates up to par.

Once we had landed our (heavily disguised) longbow, we made our way to an incredibly expensive apartment complex. Zila had a set of keys and guided us to a door labeled 312. We stepped in and were all floored by the opulence. Oak paneling lined the walls. Onyx tiling led the way to the central living area, with a colossal window and balcony overlooking the ocean of the planet. The legion clearly hadn’t skimped out when building this place. I still couldn’t wrap my head around how they had laid all of this out. The box, the camouflage unit on the longbow, this apartment. It was as if they knew what was going to happen before it did.

There were 6 doors leading off the main corridor. Each one was inscribed with a different sigil. One had seven lines, the next had a stylized double A, after that was two hoops. Then on the other side of the hall was another four, with a beetle, a handbag, a gold bar, and a phoenix.

I took a wild guess, and opened the door with a handbag on it. Inside I found a lavishly decorated room, all velvet carpet and silk sheets. The largest bed I had ever seen sat in the middle, and directly across from the door to the room was a massive ornate closet. I gently stepped over to it, and found it was full to the brim with an incredible selection of clothes. Worksuits hung next to ball gowns, and everything in between.

There was two doors, I opened the first one and found a bathroom filled with enough marble to have depleted a small quarry. High end toiletries were arraigned next to glass sinks. I then check the other door, and found myself in a small corridor, with another door on the other end. I closed the door behind me and opened the next one.

I found myself transported to trask. A low ceiling studded with stalactites. Gently glowing blue vines grew on the walls, and floating in the center, quite possibly the best part of the room, was one Finian De Karen De Seel.

Aurora:

I opened the door with the old logo of Ad Astra, and I found myself in my childhood bedroom. It was the exact same. From the crappy old wooden bedframe to the books laid about the place. On the bedside table was a note.

Aurora:

We are so sorry that this is what you have to do. You should have been welcomed into this new time, not forced to run. 

Please consider this to be some very small apology,

Aurora Legion command

Admiral Adams and Greater Clan Battle Leader De Stoy

Below the message a small chip was taped. I plugged it into Magellan and saw it was a video. I pressed play and saw Callie, though much older, mid thirties at least, carrying a toddler. “Look the the camera kiddo! Say hello to your auntie Auri! Can you say hello little Jie?”

The toddler seem more focused on its mother bracelets.

“Hi Auri. I know you won’t ever see this, but I like to keep you updated. Even though you’re gone. This is Jie-lin. She’s 2 years old now. I hope you’re safe wherever you are. I love you”

I couldn’t keep it together. I broke down. These past few days coupled with this just broke me. I started bawling. Ugly, broken sobs that scratched at my throat as they came up.

I stared at that final frame of Callie. So grown up, so much older than me. I wondered what had happened. To mom, to dad, to the family after I left. Did mom go back to school? Did Callie ever go and see Hong Kong like she always wanted? What happened to dad?

I was stirred from my thoughts by one of the doors to my room creaking open. What would have once led to the kitchen now opened up into a plain grey corridor, currently occupied by the galaxies greatest Legolas lookalike.

We locked eyes for a moment. I saw that wall behind his eyes crumble for just a moment. I saw concern, but it could have well been pity.

“What…” my voice, scratchy and raw, caught in my throat “what do you want?”

Those damned purple eyes flicked away from me. And over the rest of the room, almost drinking it in. He stepped past the doorway, closing the door behind him without a south, and dropped noiselessly into a position with his legs crossed under him.

“Strong and silent then. Ok Legolas.” I mumbled, reaching around for something to throw at him. I grabbed my pillow, and acting on instinct from something I’d done a million times before, chucked it. He caught it out of mid air without a flinch. He raised a single, immaculate silver eyebrow at me.

“Stop doing that you son of a biscuit!”

“Stop what?”

“Being so irritating and rude and annoying and cute - er.. uh…”

Both his eyebrows jumped up to his forehead and I saw the faintest glimmer of what could be hope in his eyes. 

Tyler:

Everyone else filtered off to their rooms, leaving one door unopened. As I opened the door I found a nice,  it not ostentatious bedroom. Nicer than my room at the academy, but not what I would have expected from such a fancy apartment. Honestly I preferred it. I was never truly at home in fancy places, even when my dad traveled for the senate and took me and scar with me. It was always too much.

There were three other doors than the one I had just entered. The first was open to a bathroom, the second was a glass balcony door, that had a stunning view of the ocean.

The third door was closed, and had no obvious labels or indications of its purpose. I stepped over to it, and opened it only to find myself with scarcely four centimetres away from Cat. She looked up at me, and for just a moment I was there again, on shore leave, scotch in our veins and together. I staggered backwards, overwhelmed by that closeness with her. My ace, my closest friend, my confidante.

“Come now Ty, I’m not that scary”

“No-no god no of course not Cat no. You just…. Scared me.”

“Heh. And I never broke any academy regs. You’re fooling nobody Tyler.”

She lifted a hand, and with it a bottle of Terran scotch.

“We’ve made enough bad decisions in the past few days to fill a lifetime. What’s one more?”

And honestly? I couldn’t argue with that.

“So do you want to shout at me first or can we skip to the fun part?”

The now setting sun glowed a gorgeous golden orange through the light, catching in her dark hair and lighting up her face, now covered in a smile.

“Are you having a laugh? Nah. You’re going to sit your ass in the seat over there, and we are going to talk this out while I partake in this fine bottle of scotch that was left in my room. After that? We’ll see.”

By the time she had finished shouting at me, the sun was gone. In its stead was twin moons, visibly moving across the sky. We were sitting out on the balcony. She had a glass with a triple shot of scotch, I had some mineral water.

“Ya know Ty? I honestly considered the GIA’s offer on semperternity.”

“Is that the booze talking or you?”

“Are you having a laugh? I’m as sober as a funeral. This stuff” she shook the glass “is about as weak as nuns piss.”

“I figured. On both counts I mean. At risk of sounding uncomfortably cliche, I had faith that even though you wanted the offer, you would still back me.”

“God I hate when you read me like a book.”

“What can I say? I know you too well.”

A glint in her eyes made me realize what I had just done.

“Oh really now Ty? Are you sure? Cause I think there might be a few things you don’t know.”

And with that, I was dragged back through the door and onto the bed.

Cat Brannock 1, Tyler Jones 0

Zila:

There was a large amount of data stored on several storage wafers in my room. Each one contained briefings, plans, and other such information. Most was time locked to future dates, but I located one unlocked folder. Within was two subfolders, labeled ‘Orders’ and ‘Blue Prints’

The orders folder contain a briefing document with a security clearance I did not recognize. It was inaccessible, presumably corrupted, as it was date locked several hundred years in the past, and yet could not be opened.

The Blue prints folder was much more fruitful. Within was pages upon pages of plans, analysis, and photos of the vault we had to crack into. 

Along with data was a note, one of several I had found so far. This one read “trust the hawk”. I piled it with the other notes, some had been helpful, pointing me to guide my team mates in the correct direction. Others were much more cryptic, many mentioning hawks, crystals, and the ancient myth of Ouroboros. 

More to consider.

I wonder if it is wrong to manipulate my teammates.

I am still not feeling nothing

Finian

I spent most of the evening after Scarlett left fixing up my exosuit. The fact the legion splurged for terrestrial anti grav made feel warm and fuzzy inside. Or maybe that was talking to Scar. Who knows?

After an extremely long and deep sleep in zero G, I woke at would be 8:30 station time. Later than normal but not ridiculously so. With a sigh and some grumbling I donned my exo once again and turned off the Zero G. All of those pains and aches I thought had gone? They came right back. Turns out there’s only so much one nights sleep can do.

I opened the door and wandered out to the common area of the apartment, to find Zila sitting at the counter, obsessing over some file in her uniglass, and Kal out on the balcony doing some sort of meditation.

“Third awake isn’t bad… where’s our high and mighty squad leader?”

“Sleeping with legionnaire Brannock.”

I did a double take at that “asleep? Or…. The other thing?”

Zila didn’t respond.

“Maker… really? My goodness he’s actually human? I thought they assembled him at the overachiever factory.”

“There is no such factory.”

“Don’t change Zila. I need someone to tell me these things”

With that I wandered over to the refrigerator to see what we had. I found it stocked better than I could have hoped. It even had my favorite kind of breakfast burrito.

“Wow, they really did think of everything.”

Zila made a small noise, then hurriedly typed something on her uni.

At that, as if on cue, Scarlett walked round the corner. Far from her usual put-togetherness, she looked bedraggled, hair frizzy and makeup smeared. Even then though, as she caught my eye and winked, I felt like my stomach was full of butterflies.

“Morning Zila”

No response, Zila being a conversationalist ad always.

“And good morning fin”

The gentle smile, the way she said my name… it felt like someone had released another crate of butterflies in my stomach (why do they keep dumping them there? Do I look like a bug enclosure?)

“M-Morning Scar”

She walked over, brushed my hand (for just a little too long to be accidental) to hit a button on the coffee maker. I personally couldn’t stand the stuff, but Scarlett seemed to guzzle it like air.

“Any plans for the day?”

“You know, the usual, being the most handsome member of the squad.”

“The usual indeed. You can multitask while doing that I presume? I have a shopping list and need a spare set of hands getting it all. We can get lunch and such. I know a guy here.”

There was quite a few things to unpack there. First was her agreeing with me? The most handsome? Maker that let off a third… flock? Collection? Swarm? Of butterflies. The second… was she was asking me to go out with her. To go shopping and get lunch. Me. ME. The only reason she would pick me for that is if-

Great maker in the heavens. Scarlett Jones was asking me out on a date.

Tyler

The sunlight streaming through my window gently brought me back from the sandman. I stirred and moved my arm to my eye, only for it to hit something warm, and vaguely soft and-

Oh yeah. Last night. The memories flashed though my head like a dying star. I cracked an eye open, and saw her there, next to me, still dead to the world.

Her hair was mussed, what little makeup she had smudged around. I shifted under the covers and gasped from the pain. Looks like I might have voided the warranty on the old fun factory.

The noise woke her up. With a grumble and yawn, she opened her eyes. Her voice was soft and scratchy, but no surprises there. Thank the maker the walls are thick.

“Morning Ty. What’s the big idea with all the noise?”

“The boys…. Poor fellas seem to have taken a beating”

“Wonder who could have done such a thing?”

With that, she shifted closer to me and closed

her eyes again.

Should I have done this? Probably no.

Was it a bad choice? Most likely.

Do I regret it? Let’s see.

I looked over at the clock at the side of the bed, 6:50.  Later then I would normally wake up. I should probably get up.

However: this bed was comfy, and most importantly, there was a woman I loved next to me, and that was too much of a problem for the little bit of me that wanted to get up could overcome, and so I drifted back off to dream land, listening to Cats breath.

Kal:

I awoke at 5 AM ship time. My father had instilled this into me with his fists. I always woke at 5 now, no matter when or where I slept. I still have the scars, the last reminders of the wounds he inflicted, and the care my mother gave me. The universe truly was cruel. Making me the son of that wretched being, and taking my mother from me because of his fit of rage.

I went out to the balcony, to meditate as my mother showed me. It helped clear my head, and to tamp down the enemy within. I cleared my mind and reached out. My powers were weak, insignificant compared to all but the weakest of waywalkers, and yet i could still feel my comrades, ever so faintly. Tyler’s golden light, lighting him up like a beacon in the dark. Scarlett, glowing ruby red, casting a warm and welcoming glow around her. And Aurora. By all the souls of Syldra, Aurora.

She was like a star. Glowing with the purest white light, too strong to even look at. All I could see was her outline, and that void blue core of her being. 

I was no stranger to being pulled in two different directions. The teachings of my father versus those of my mother. The enemy within versus me. But this one was different. One could fill the galaxy with words and it would not come close. If all the blood vessels were laid out to end to end, and each cell had the word love engraved on it, it would not equal one billionth of a second of the pull. It was nearly impossible to resist, myriad works of art had been created about it over the millennia. None came close to describing it. I opened my eyes from my meditation, and looked out over the glistening sea, utterly stunning by all accounts. It was bland and boring compared to Aurora. And yet, I was denied such a thing. I could not. Alas, she was human. I don’t know if she could even reciprocate these feelings.

That was until yesterday. Like a man clutching to a cliff edge, I hung on to those words. Was there hope? Did she mean those words? Those feelings flying off her like a star going supernova? 

I did not have many of my mother gifts, but even I could feel the emotions of one as powerful as her.

And she felt something for me.

The smallest ember of emotion, which may catch.

And so hope remained.

And so despite everything, I had reason to smile.

Scarlett

I was 3/4ths of the way through my coffee when Tyler trudged in. Not walked, not marched, trudged. I have seen him do such a thing exactly twice in my entire life. The day after dad died, and the morning he got back from shore leave after graduation. Given that no one we know died, and the incredibly visible and large hickey on his neck… I’d say that my brother was engaging in…. Fraternization. 

I’m impressed honestly. I had a bet with myself that he wouldn’t last through the 2nd night on the longbow, now it’s been a whole week! Impressive.

As Tyler rounds the corner, I notice his odd gait, swinging his leg out and forward, rather than straight ahead in proper marching style. 

Fraternization indeed.

He stops at the counter, grabs one of the stools, and gingerly sits down. We lock eyes for just a moment and have an instant of perfect, non verbal twin to twin communication.

‘Really?’

‘Not a word’

The silence was broke by a sharp sniff through is nose, a long sigh and him shifting. 

“Right then. Anything of note to report?”

“Negative sir” came Finians reply

“Nope” 

“I have something sir” Zila had stopped tapping on her uniglass

“Well? The suspense is killing me legionnaire Madran, what is it?”

“Testy this more I see sir” Finian said, seeing if he couldn’t get a rise of his commander

“I have located blueprints and relevant construction information for the vault. I send them in a data package over our squad communications link, along with my personal analysis on viable points of entry.”

“Didn’t get much sleep then I take it Legionaire?”

“No more than you sir”

I choked on my coffee. Finian did a spit take and Tyler looked utterly bewildered.

“First: what I was or wasn’t doing last night is between me and the maker. Second: did you just make a joke?”

“No. I stated a fact. I got 4 hours and thirty two minutes of sleep last night, while by my estimation you got between four and three quarters and five hours of sleep.”

Finians pale skin was now flushed a pale shade of pink from him trying to hold in his laughter, meanwhile I was laughing around the coffee stuck in my throat and Tyler looked even more bewildered. The kind of bewildered that makes a deer in headlights look like a professor of psychology.

“I-uh- Well anyways, if you could pull up the data on the table hologram so we can prepare a briefing legionnaire.”

“Yes sir”

Aurora

I woke up with puffy eyes and a throat that felt like it has seen the wrong side of an industrial sandblaster. Turns out: crying yourself to sleep is awful. I can’t believe Hollywood lied to me. It’s almost like it’s full of paid actors.

I had to peel myself from my bed, I sign I had slept far deeper than normal. I opened the closet, and found that it was stocked with clothes exactly to my size and liking. I picked out a nice outfit and walked to what I could only assume was the kitchen, where I heard the gentle murmur of voices. I rounded to find everyone else in the squad all chatting amounts themselves, with coffee and, of all people, Cat, manning, as my mother would call it, the cooker. Tyler looked up, and gave me a kind smile.

“Well then, that’s everyone. I’ll start the briefing now if no one has any objections.” He paused “Ok good.” He tapped a button in the centre of the table. It lit up revealing blueprints, for what looked like a very over the top bank vault.

“This, ladies and gentlemen, is our target. The most fortified, secure, and impenetrable bank vault ever designed. Within, is contained the last part of the trigger, a 32 karat chunk of Eshvaren crystal.”

Scar leaned forward. “So an easy jaunt into a bank vault to steal a gem. What’s the problem?”

“Finian?”

The Beretreskan nodded

“If you remember Biattchis office, with the security system that would wake a carreer criminal screaming? This one would make them hand themselves in to the police and collapse into a jibbering, insane mess. Laser sensors and hair wire triggers, weighted boxes and hard vacuum. Silent penetration is nearly impossible”

Kal spoke up “so how do we intended to get in quietly?”

Finian giggled like a kid on Christmas morning. “Kal…. Who said anything about quiet?”

Tyler tapped the button on the table again.

“We will be organized into 3 groups of two, with Zila running support here.” He gestured at a point on the holographic map, indicating the apartment “Legionnaires De Seel and Jones task is to create a distraction. I don’t care if it’s a riot, a brawl, anything. We just need all eyes away from the vault. Legionnaire Gilwraith and Aurora will be our backup in case we have unwanted guests. Finally, me and legionnaire Brannock will be infiltrating the facility, opening the vault, and retrieving the target. Any questions?”

“How do we intends to breach the vault?”

Tyler’s eyes glimmered. “Are you familiar with shaped charges?”

[End of part 1. Teehee]

[radiaurapple]

Lucid Dreams of New Orleans: Chapter 7

CHAPTER SUMMARY: IN WHICH Alastor resolves a pest problem.

The last time Lucifer saw his father, he was granted a fragment of His divine power — a punishment in the guise of a blessing — that he might serve as steward of the wayward souls cast down into Hell. It is a cruel gift, designed to ensure that he will always be haunted by his mistakes; Lucifer has endured the past seven thousand years by avoiding its use at all costs. But in the aftermath of the fight with Adam, Alastor’s worsening injury threatens the foundations of his daughter’s dream. Lucifer does what any good father would do: he uses his long-forgotten power to deliver Alastor’s soul from the brink of destruction. In turn, knowing Alastor — with all his sins, past lives, and heartbreaks — teaches Lucifer a little more about what it means to be human.

[AO3 LINK]

New chapter and new art!! note that chapter 6 is an interlude so this takes place directly after chapter 5. Next chapter is dropping in a week as usual!! chapter preview below 📻🍎

All Hell breaks loose the next morning. 

Niffty has, apparently, been keeping a colony of more than three hundred rats in her room — and the prior evening, while Alastor was occupied with his interrogation, she had seen fit to set them loose in the hotel. 

Charlie calls an emergency meeting after Angel Dust wakes the hotel with his — frankly childish — screeching about a rat in his bathtub. 

They convene in the kitchen to assess the situation. Niffty, perched on the counter, snickers and openly admits to releasing the rats for what she terms their playtime. 

A consensus quickly emerges. Niffty is Alastor’s responsibility; so, too, are the rats. 

Alastor’s dominion over the radio is equal parts blessing and curse in his search and rescue operation. If he concentrates, he can hear the shuffling, sniffing, and squeaking of all 312 rats in the hotel — which, while helpful in locating the rats, makes it more difficult for him to plead ignorance regarding those that have wormed their way into the worst predicaments imaginable.

This is how Alastor finds himself on his knees, dismantling the toilet in Husker’s bathroom.

“Oh, Hell,” Angel Dust says — Alastor hadn’t heard him come in, focused as he is on loosening two pipes in the water line that appear to have somehow, in the six weeks since they rebuilt the hotel, rusted together. 

Alastor grimaces. “I’m quite busy.”

“Sure,” Angel says. “Y’know, you ain’t gonna find a rat inside the pipes. They can’t live in there.”

“These ones can. I’ve come to the conclusion that these are not rats — they’re demons, sent from some lower ring of Hell to ruin us. They are relentlessly determined to evade me. And they. Don’t. Die.” Alastor heaves at the wrench with both hands — it budges perhaps an inch. He huffs. 

“Huh.”

Alastor shakes out his aching hands and looks up at Angel. “Can I help you?”

“Oh — yeah, I was just wondering if my bathroom is clear, now, or if I should wait to shower? It’s just, I gotta get to work soon.” 

Alastor listens — one of his ears twitches. 

“It should be fine, if you’re quick,” he says. 

“Right,” Angel says. He takes off at a run. “Thanks!”

Alastor raises a hand in acknowledgement and returns to his task. The pipes have begun to drip around the join, which complicates matters — Alastor did shut off the water before he began this accursed project, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still wet in there. 

Footsteps behind him. 

“Angel. If don’t leave me to my work, I’ll —” Alastor glances over his shoulder — “Oh. It’s you.”

Lucifer stands behind him, smiling sheepishly, his hands clasped behind his back. “I brought you a present,” he says. 

With a flourish, he produces a rat in a golden cage. The creature is standing on its hind legs with its tiny hands wrapped around the bars. At the sight of Alastor, it shrieks in frustration — further evidence that the creatures’ disdain for him is somehow personal. Lucifer places the cage on the tile next to Alastor.

“Thank you,” Alastor says. “That leaves only —” he cocks his head to the side and listens — “Two hundred and sixty-two. Including this one.” He inclines his head toward the plumbing and resumes the miserable task of loosening the pipes. 

“You don’t know a thing about plumbing, do you?” Lucifer says. 

Alastor huffs in irritation — Lucifer leans over him with a smug smile on his face. “Those pipes are heat welded,” Lucifer says. “You’ll be here all day if you insist on using a wrench. Allow me.”

Before Alastor can protest, Lucifer tugs off a glove and places his hand over the join. There is a sizzle, a puff of steam, a flare of heat across Alastor’s face — and the two pipes come apart effortlessly in Lucifer’s hand with a cartoonish and unnecessary pop. Lucifer withdraws, a smug smile on his face — his fingers leave molten orange prints behind on the metal, which fade away after a moment. 

“Show-off,” Alastor grumbles. He sends a shadow tentacle in after the pipe rat — a tiny shriek echoes from the darkness. As the rat emerges, it makes a desperate grab for the edge of the pipe, kicking and screaming. 

Lucifer snaps his fingers; the rat disappears and reappears inside the golden cage with its brother. 

“Your assistance is unnecessary,” Alastor grumbles without any real heat — getting into those pipes on his own was pretty miserable. 

Lucifer smiles like Alastor has just given him a compliment. “You’re welcome,” he says. “Now — I need to get back to it. I just made a breakthrough on a project I’m working on, and I have a meeting this afternoon with the other sins.”

“The project is a rubber duck.” 

Lucifer frowns. “What else would it be?” 

“Just confirming,” Alastor says. “Now, there’s another rat in the light fixture. So. If you don’t mind.”

“Oh! Sure. Good luck.” Lucifer backs out of the room, but pauses in the doorway. “I’ll — I’ll see you later? Tonight?”

“I will be back to collect on our deal once every single one of these infernal vermin are back in captivity.” Each word is punctuated by a further unfolding of Alastor’s antlers — he breathes deeply to bring them back under control. “I expect it will take several days. Enjoy your reprieve.”

“Right. Right. Of course. Okay. See you, Al.” Lucifer ducks out of the room.

Alastor stares after Lucifer in confusion for a long moment. Al — the abbreviation reeks of familiarity. The people closest to Alastor had called him that, when he was alive — does Lucifer share that fellowship now, due to the knowledge he’s acquired? The idea is disconcerting, so he puts it aside and returns to his work. 

It takes Alastor all day to wrangle the first 104 rats. He delivers them into Niffty’s waiting hands, and she welcomes each one home by name. 

He heads for the bar, exhausted, to collect the night’s highball from Husker; then he slips into the shadows and across the hotel to his room. He hangs his coat by the door. His ears twitch — on the other side of the wall is the unmistakable cacophony of a dozen displeased rats. 

He peeks his head through the door. He blinks. Twelve pairs of irate red eyes regard him from twelve golden cages, stacked neatly on his doormat like the misguided offerings of a house cat.

A smile creeps across Alastor’s face. He closes the door gently — he’ll bring the rats to Niffty in the morning. 

[AO3 LINK]

[raeynbowboi]

How to Play as Poison Ivy in Pathfinder 2e

I have wanted to build Poison Ivy in Dungeons and Dragons for a long time, but was always held back. Why? Because there are 14 spells total in Dungeons and Dragons that actually use plants: Druidcraft, Thorn Whip, Entangle, Barkskin, Spike Growth, Plant Growth, Speak with Plants, Grasping Vine, Guardian of Nature, Commune With Nature, Wrath of Nature, Druid Grove, Transport Via Plants, and Wall of Thorns. It's not nothing, but Druids in DnD learn 25 spells, and only 14 actually deal with plants, barely more than half. It never felt sufficient to actually build the character in DnD. But Pathfinder has far better elemental variety, which makes building a character like Poison Ivy far easier.

ANCESTRY

Dr. Pamela Isley was born a human, but became an ecoterrorist super villain after an accident gave her Chlorokinesis. This power connected Isley to The Green, a metaphysical energy field connecting all plant life in the universe. There are two especially good options for Poison Ivy's Ancestry:

Ardande Human: Poison Ivy is canonically Human. The Ardande Versatile Heritage can be applied to any race. Ardande are those touched by or hailing from the Elemental Plane of Wood, making them related to Genies, much like the Genasi of DnD. Ardande Heritage feats allow Poison Ivy to recover vitality through photosynthesis, resist effects with the Plant, Poison, or Wood trait on top of succeeding against Poisoned effects more easily, speak to trees through the Wood Element language of Muan, leave a path of flowers and vines when she steps or strides which creates difficult terrain, summon a wood elemental, and nature can even form a barrier to protect Poison Ivy from an attack as a reaction.

Thorned Rose Ghoran: The Ghorans are a sentient race of plant beings created by the Archdruid Ghorus during a war between Nex and Geb. Ghorans of the Thorned Rose heritage are beautiful, but hide sharp thorns that harm those who touch them. I also considered the Enchanting Lily Ghoran, whose sweet, flowery aroma makes them Trained in Diplomacy and grants a bonus when they Make an Impression. Ghoran Ancestry feats let Poison Ivy make thorny unarmed attacks, make her thorned fists more deadly and let her use her Wicked Thorns feature more often, create a perfume cloud that can dazzle and blind non-plant creatures, deal poison damage to anyone who touches her, and cast Nature's Reprisal (a 6th level spell) once per hour as an innate spell.

Both Ancestry options make a lot of sense for Poison Ivy, but of the two, I gravitate toward Thorned Rose Ghoran over Ardande Human. In fairness, it is also possible to choose to be an Ardande Ghoran, granting access to both sets of ancestry feats, but this is not the best option as it forces her to Sophie's Choice her best options.

BACKGROUNDS

Criminal: Poison Ivy has been a notorious supervillain for several years. She becomes trained in Thievery, learns Underworld Lore, and gains the Experienced Smuggler skill feat.

Dendrologist: Dr. Isley gains an in-depth knowledge of trees. She becomes Trained in Survival, learns Plane of Wood Lore, and gains the Terrain Expertise (Forest) skill feat.

Elementally Infused (Wood): With this background, Poison Ivy was exposed to a Planar Breach from the Plane of Wood, becoming infused with Planar magic. She learns Plane of Wood Lore, and gains Root Reading, which she can cast as an Innate Primal spell.

Herbalist: Poison Ivy has studied the healing properties of herbs and plants. She becomes Trained in Nature, learns Herbalism Lore, and gains the Natural Medicine skill feat.

Plant Whisperer: She has a green thumb so potent it borders on a magical understanding of plants. Poison Ivy gains Nature proficiency, Plant Lore, and the Natural Medicine skill feat.

For her background, I'll go with Plant Whisperer. Herbalist also works well, the only real difference between the two is which Lore she's trained in. But as a botanist, Dr. Isley would know a great deal about plants, even if she does also know their medicinal uses. Elementally Infused is just going to give her a spell she's already going to grab, Dendrologist just improves her survival skills in forests, and Criminal has nothing to do with her botanical training.

FAITH

Any character of any class can choose to worship any deity and don't need to be a Cleric. Ordinarily, I tend to omit this with most characters, but Poison Ivy's reverence for The Green and Mother Nature are definitely devout enough to register as a faith. So, which god would Poison Ivy worship?

The Green Mother: The Eldest Goddess of Carnivorous Plants, Intrigue, and Seduction. Her methodology resembles that of Poison Ivy. Using seduction to manipulate people and lure them into the waiting jaws of her plants. The Green Mother is somewhat popular among Ghoran worshippers.

Gendowyn: The Fey Goddess of the Fangwood Forest, she is a living manifestation and representation of the natural world, not unlike The Green in DC Comics. Her edicts include preserving nature, oppose the agents of Cyth-V'sug, the Demon Lord of Decay and Fungus, destroy blighted fey, make no deal with fiends, and harm no innocents.

The Green Man: The Green Man normally only allows himself to be worshipped by sentient plants such as Leshy and Ghorans, but other races can be accepted as worshippers if they prove themselves as allies to nature and plantlife. The Green Man's edicts include nurturing the growth of nature, the preservation of natural environments, suffer no abuse to nature to go unpunished, do nothing to destroy or tarnish natural spaces, and do no harm to plants except to preserve more plants in the process.

Shumunue: The Elemental Lord of the Plane of Wood, when she found the plane, it was still with silent plantlife. She birthed new life into the plane by creating mimicries of nature out of moving wood. Leaves buzz like bees through the sky as wooden deer gallop between the trees.

Of these four, The Green Mother and the Green Man make the most sense for Poison Ivy to worship. The Green Mother reflects her attitude and desire to feed the world to her plants. While the Green Man better reflects her preservation of nature above all else.

BUILD OPTIONS

Leaf Order Druid: All Druids swear their fealty to nature, but each Order swears themselves to a different aspect of nature. Druids of the Leaf Order devote themselves to plants, trees, and fungus. And unlike Druids in DnD, Wild Shape is not a Class Feature that Poison Ivy needs to ignore. As a Druid of the Leaf Order, she gains the Leshy Familiar feat, and if she gains an Animal Companion, she can choose a Wood Elemental. At 2nd Level, she can take the Order Explorer feat, which can allow her to take the Animal Companion feat from the Animal Order. All Druids also get to learn either Animal Empathy or Plant Empathy as a free feat for joining the class, and of course she'll choose Plant Empathy.

Wood Impulse Kineticist: A Kineticist does not possess magic or spellcasting, but rather has an innate connection to one of the Elemental Planes, in this case, the Elemental Plane of Wood, which grants Poison Ivy with Chlorokinesis.

Nymph Bloodline Sorcerer: Sorcerers possess innate magic, but unlike Druids who all pull their magic from Nature, a Sorcerer's magic can come from any source. As such, the Sorcerer's spell list is dictated by their Bloodline. Those of the Nymph Bloodline trace their lineage to nature spirits such as Dryads. Sorcerers of the Nymph Bloodline get Granted Spells on top of their chosen spells. They gain Tangle Vine, Charm, Calm, Animal Vision, Vital Beacon, Wave of Despair, Repulsion, Unfettered Pack, Moment of Renewal, and Overwhelming Presence. They also gain three Bloodline Spells: Nymph's Token, Blinding Beauty, and Establish Ward. They can cast any spell as many times as they have spell slots for, and can choose one Signature Spell per spell level. Their Signature Spells can be Heightened freely without needing to be relearned.

Plant Eidolon Summoner: Summoners, like Sorcerers, change their spell list based on the eidolon they can summon, and Plant Summoners use the Primal Spell List. Plant Summoners forge a bond with a Plant Trait creature such as an Arboreal Warden, a Dryad, a Vine Viper, or a Forest Dragon. Their Class Feats focus on evolving their Eidolon into a stronger form, with feats granting their eidolons elemental energy, growing to Large or Hulking size, becoming ridable mounts, gliding or flying, gaining a burrowing or climbing speed, or becoming powerful spellcasters in their own right. Summoners, however, are not full spellcasters. They only get 4 spell slots and 4 spells known. However, these spell slots are always 2 per level, for their two highest spellcasting levels, making them similar to Warlocks in DnD. If their Eidolon takes the Magical Understudy, Magical Adept, and Magical Master evolution feats, it can learn Primal Spells for levels 1-7, making up for their Summoner only getting level 8 and 9 spells. If you also take Share Eidolon Magic, then your Eidolon can cast your Summoner spells, and Poison Ivy can cast the Eidolon's spells, allowing them to share their spell lists and spell slots.

Wilding Steward Witch: Witches gain an esoteric understanding of the mysteries of the universe, and focus their magical abilities through a familiar. While most familiars are animals, Familiar Abilities can give Poison Ivy a Familiar with the Plant or Fungus Trait, the Wood and Elemental traits, a Poison Reservoir, Spellcasting, and can even assist Poison Ivy in criminal activity by Aiding her in Deception and Thievery. Witches also learn 3 lessons. Poison Ivy can study the Lesson of the Elements, the Lesson of Mischief, and the Lesson of Renewal.

Captivator Archetype: Poison Ivy gains access to spells from the Occult Spell List, but only of the Enchantment and Illusion trait. Other feats allow Poison Ivy to Countercharm, sustain captivator spells effortlessly, and cast a 1st level Captiavor spell that takes 2 actions or fewer as a reaction to being attacked. However, before you get too excited, Enchantment does not mean spells like Charm or Dominate. Spells with the Enchantment tag include Dull Ambition, Forced Mercy, Warrior's Regret, and Infectious Ennui.

Familiar Master (Druid, Sorcerer, Witch): If you want to improve your Familiar, taking this archetype will let you augment your familiar further and expand what your familiar is capable of doing.

Geomancer (Forest, Plains, Swamp: Plant): When you cast a spell with a trait that reflects the environment you're in, you gain a boon as a result. Using plant magic in a forest makes enemies Clumsy 1, on the plains it grants Temporary Hit Points equal to the spell's level, and in the swamp, a plant spell deals persistent poison damage equal to half the spell's level with a Fortitude save. At higher levels, Poison Ivy can ignore the terrain she's in to gain the benefits of any 1 terrain that matches the trait of the spell she cast, letting her gain the effects of being in the plains even when fighting in a desert. She can ignore difficult terrain in a terrain type she just drew attunement from, she can draw healing energy from the terrain around her, cast the Commune with Nature ritual spell, create difficult terrain around herself and offset those caught in her difficult terrain, be protected by your attuned terrain type, and cast spells of the terrain type with 1 less action. However, because her spell list is so Plant-focused, fighting anywhere but the Plains, Forests, and Swamps undercuts this archetype, even with the feat that lets her ignore her surroundings.

Herbalist: Makes Poison Ivy better at treating wounds with medicinal herbs and poultices. She can grant her allies buffs based on the herbs she can find in the environment type, and craft Elixirs of Life.

Poisoner: You become adept at crafting and distributing poison to your enemies. Your poisons can gain a longer shelf life, give foes penalties to rolls against your poisons, gain tolerance to your own poisons, and poison two adjacent foes at the same time.

Hag Bloodline Sorcerer (Archetype): The main reason this is being included is because Poison Ivy also has a variety of mind manipulation abilities, and those kinds of spells can be found on the Occult spell list. By taking the Hag Bloodline, Poison Ivy gains access to the Occult Spell List, and can thus take spells like Charm, Command, Enthrall, and Dominate. In order to gain access to high level Occult spells, she has to become Legendary in Occultism.

DRUID LEAF ORDER

As if there was ever any doubt, Poison Ivy gets her power from nature and is closely connected to plant-life above all else. Unlike Druids in DnD where they have to ignore their Wild Shape feature, each Druid order gets class feats at every level that allows them to stay more on-theme with the element of nature they embody. Thus, choosing the Leaf Order not only grants Ivy access to the Primal Spell list, but her Druid class feats can further expand on her plant-themed abilities.

HAG BLOODLINE SORCERER (ARCHETYPE):

Outside of her plant powers, the other thing Poison Ivy is known for is her ability to control and manipulate the minds and emotions of others. And no spell list does this better than the Occult Spell List. The Hag Bloodline is just the closest to her nature vibe that can grant her the Occult spell list.

DRUID SPELLS

C Puff of Poison, Root Reading, Take Root, Tangle Vine, Timber 1 Flourishing Flora, Noxious Vapors, Wall of Shrubs 2 Entangling Flora, Fungal Infestation, Splinter Volley 3 Soothing Blossoms, Stinking Cloud, Wall of Thorns 4 Bursting Bloom, Life-Draining Roots, Petal Storm 5 Mantle of Unwavering Heart, Murderous Vine, Toxic Cloud 6 Nature's Reprisal, Petal Storm(+2), Rose's Thorns 7 Life-Draining Roots(+3), Murderous Vine(+2), Nature's Reprisal(+1) 8 Petal Storm(+4), Pollen Pods, Summon Elemental Herald (Wood) 9 Nature's Enmity, Pollen Pods(+1), Rose's Thorns(+3) 10 Nature Incarnate, Petal Storm(+6)

SORCERER SPELLS

C Daze, Figment 1 Charm, Command 2 Paranoia, Vicious Jealousy 3 Enthrall, Hypnotize 4 Honeyed Words, Suggestion 5 Glimmer of Charm, Hallucination 6 Dominate, Paranoia(+4) 7 Warp Mind 8 Confusion(+4)

Signature Spells: Command, Vicious Jealousy, Hypnotize, Suggestion, Hallucination, Dominate, Warp Mind, Confusion

INNATE SPELLS & FOCUS SPELLS

Cornucopia (Leaf Druid) Impaling Briars (Impaling Briars Feat, Leaf Druid) Jealous Hex (Hag Bloodline) You're Mine (Hag Bloodline)

Oaken Resilience Plant Form Speak With Plants (Permanent) Nature's Reprisal (Once Per Hour)

DRUID FEATS

Level 1: Leshy Familiar, Plant Empathy Level 2: Poison Resistance/Order Explorer: Animal Companion Level 4: Leshy Familiar Secrets/Mature Animal Companion Level 6: Grown of Oak Level 8: Floral Restoration/Incredible Companion Level 10: Plant Shape/Floral Restoration Level 12: Garland Spell Level 14: Green Tongue Level 16: Impaling Briars Level 18: Primal Aegis/Specialized Companion Level 20: Verdant Presence/Apex Companion

Taking the Order Explorer feat is optional, as Poison Ivy does not need a Wood Elemental companion. But I included it for those who want her to have one, while trying to ensure her plant magic still took priority.

FREE ARCHETYPE FEATS

Level 2: Sorcerer Dedication (Hag Bloodline) Level 4: Basic Sorcerer Spellcasting Level 6: Basic Bloodline Spell (Jealous Hex) Level 8: Bloodline Breadth Level 10: Basic Blood Potency (Enhanced Familiar) Level 12: Expert Sorcerer Spellcasting Level 14: Advanced Blood Potency (Ancestral Blood Magic) Level 16: Advanced Blood Potency (Bloodline Resistance) Level 18: Master Sorcerer Spellcasting Level 20: Advanced Blood Potency (Greater Bloodline: You're Mine)

SUMMON ELEMENTAL (WOOD)

While I did not choose to include Summon Elemental on Poison Ivy's spell list, if you want to summon Wood Elementals, here's the level guide to know what you can summon.

2nd Level: Wood Wisp, Vegetable Lamb, Wood Scamp 3rd Level: Moss Sloth 4th Level: Nursery Crawler 5th Level: Whipping Willow, Living Grove 6th Level: Carved Beast, Pine Pangolin 7th Level: Snapdrake, Painted Stag 8th Level: Elemental Thicket 9th Level: Twins of Rowan 10th Level: N/A

Conclusion

I am super pleased with how Poison Ivy turned out. She's a perfect blend of everything I expect out of playing as Poison Ivy: she has plant magic, a leshy familiar, an optional wood elemental servant, poison magic, and the ability to brainwash people with charms.

[newmusickarl]

Albums of the Year 2024: Honourable Mentions

2024 – what a year for music hey?!

We had The Last Dinner Party in Spring, a well-documented BRAT Summer, a Fontaines Fall and, finally, The Cure for the Winter. We also had a couple of big reunions: the Gallagher brothers delighting everyone by reuniting Oasis, nu-metal icons Linkin Park returning with a new vocalist and then, just last month, indie darlings The Maccabees announcing some live shows for 2025. Both the Electronic and Country music genres seemed to have a particularly great year, while artists dissecting toxic relationships also seemed to be a thematic favourite over the last 12 months. We also had plenty of memorable moments and some incredible festival performances but, above all else, we had some bloody great new music.

You’ll be pleased to know that while this blog took a backseat to some other hobbies and ventures in 2024, my listening habits certainly didn’t slow down. My Apple Music Replay tells me I’ve listened to 587 albums from 983 different artists, 4,758 songs and a whopping 35,886 minutes of music. Just like previous years, I’ve whittled this mass of new music down to my favourite Albums, EPs and Songs of the Year – starting as always with the albums.

From my own (more accurate) tally that I keep every year, I’ve actually listened to 220 Albums in 2024, with that 220 then broken down into my Top 50 Albums of the Year, my 50 unranked honourable mentions and then sadly 120 albums that didn’t make the final cut. As ever, the top albums come from a multitude of genres: pop, rock, indie, hip-hop, R&B, country, electronica, shoegaze, punk, post-punk - it’s all here! So, although there is a good chance you won’t enjoy everything on this list, hopefully there is at least something for everyone.

For those who are following my annual countdown for the first time, I have a basic criterion that has treated me well over the last decade when collating my final Album of the Year list. Generally, I’ve favoured the records that:

Had the biggest impact on me

Was a landmark culturally or within the wider music world

Showed ambition or had something unique to offer

I played the most during the year

Ultimately produced my favourite front-to-back listening experience

So, before the Top 50 countdown officially begins with the albums that finished 50-41, I wanted to just shout out the albums that I thoroughly enjoyed this year but ultimately just missed out on the Top 50 spots. This includes some fantastic debuts (Been Stellar, Dolores Forever, Fat Dog, Sprints), some surprise returns to form (The Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, The Libertines), some late career highlights (Gruff Rhys, Maxïmo Park, James, Los Campesinos!) and plenty of the year’s biggest and most acclaimed projects (Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kamasi Washington, Waxahatchee).

So, officially kicking off year-end season, here are my 50 Honourable Mentions for 2024 in alphabetical order (by artist):

Arab Strap - I'm totally fine with it 👍 don't give a fuck anymore 👍

Been Stellar - Scream From New York, NY

Beyoncé – COWBOY CARTER

Bill Ryder Jones - Iechyd Da

Billie Eilish – HIT ME HARD AND SOFT

Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: NeX GEn

Caribou – Honey

Cassandra Jenkins - My Light, My Destroyer

Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out To, She Reaches Out To She

Daudi Matsiko - The King of Misery

DEADLETTER - Hysterical Strength

Dolores Forever - It's Nothing

Du Blonde - Sniff More Gritty

Fat Dog - WOOF.

Fazerdaze - Soft Power

Four Tet - Three

Geographer - A Mirror Brightly

Goat Girl - Below The Waste

Green Day - Saviors

Gruff Rhys - Sadness Sets Me Free

Hovvdy – Hovvdy

The Howl & The Hum - Same Mistake Twice

Ibibio Sound Machine - Pull The Rope

IDLES - TANGK

Jack White - No Name

James - Yummy

John Grant - The Art of the Lie

Kamasi Washington - Fearless Movement

The Libertines - All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade

Lime Garden - One More Thing

Los Campesinos! - All Hell

Maggie Rogers - Don't Forget Me

Maxïmo Park - Stream of Life

MGMT - Loss of Life

MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks

Mount Eerie - Night Palace

NewDad - MADRA

nothing,nowhere - Dark Magic / Hell or Highwater / Miserymaker

Orlando Weeks - LOJA 

Rahim Redcar - HOPECORE

Remi Wolf - Big Ideas

Schoolboy Q - Blue Lips

Sega Bodega - Dennis

Sick Love – Champagne

The Smashing Pumpkins - Aghori Mhori Mei

The Smile – Cutouts

Sprints – Letter to Self

Tycho - Infinite Health

Vince Staples - Dark Times

Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood

So that’s what didn’t quite make it!

Now, join me throughout December as I reveal my Top 50 Albums of the Year, My Favourite EPs of the Year, My Favourite Live Shows of 2024 and My Top 100 Songs of 2024 Playlist.

[probably-a-plant-thing]

Nex doodles from the Sketchbook

[rivensdefenseattorney]

Are there Paladins in your Au and what role do they play

Yes there are Paladins, I was going to go more into details whenever I got around to talking about more of the schools and also the occupations that exist.

To sum it up, Paladins are like designated knights. They're selected from a young age to serve a sovereign and/or deity. They typically practice a spiritual approach to magic that grants them them special abilities. The paladin is sworn to follow and serve their sovereign and/or deity.

Some of the relevant Paladins include: Avalon (Retired)

Silva (Retired)

Thoren

Diaspro

Roy

Nex

[next-autopsy]

Hi there Nex! How is everything going? Hopefully you’re doing good. Would you mind answering 1, 22 and 25 for the positivity ask game? Excited for your answer! Take care 😊🩵

Hey Vani! Thank you for your ask, lovely 💕

1- What is my fave part about being in the fandom?

Kind of the basic answer but I honestly do love the affection and support felt from y’all! This fandom has been so welcoming and kind and its really given me the courage to be more, do more and say more.

22- What quotes would I assign to my mutuals?

@malarkgirlypop - "Now remember boys, flies spread disease so keep yours closed."

@panzershrike-pretz - "Hey, you! That's right, you stupid Kraut bastards! That's right! Say hello to Ford, and General fuckin' Motors! You stupid fascist pigs! Look at you! You have horses! What were you thinking? Dragging our asses half way around the world, interrupting our lives... For what, you ignorant, servile scum! What the fuck are we doing here?"

@footprintsinthesxnd - "Hey Frank, this guy is reading an article that says the Germans are bad."

@sweetxvanixlla - "Oh Lord, grant that I shall never seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, or to be loved as to love with all my heart."

@land-sh - "We're not lost private, we're in Normandy."

@ronsparky - "We salute the rank, not the man."

@xxluckystrike - "Bull, smack him for me please?" (thump) "Thank you!"

@mads-weasley - "Sobel's a genius. I had a headmaster in prep school who was just like him. I know the type."......."Lew, Michaelangelo's a genius. Beethoven's a genius."......"You know a man in this company who wouldn't double-time Currahee with a full pack, just to piss in that man's morning coffee?"

@samwinchesterslostshoe - "June 6th... of last year?".... "D-Day, yes sir."..... "Haha, Alright, don't get hurt."

25- what colours do my mutuals remind me of?

@malarkgirlypop - Soft coral

@panzershrike-pretz - Firetruck red

@footprintsinthesxnd - Light teal

@sweetxvanixlla - An off white cream or beige

@land-sh - Crimson red

@ronsparky - Black or like really really dark gray

@xxluckystrike - Lavender

@mads-weasley - Dusty sage green

@samwinchesterslostshoe - Magenta

Don't ask why, I have no idea. Just vibes.

p.s: I'm so sorry if i missed you, i just can't think properly

[tutchando74]

Tomorrow's end of the year

This year was special to me. This was the year I entered social medias for real.

After years of telling myself that I should post my ideas, I finally took enough courage to do it, and voala, I even made friends along the way.

I don't know them enough to call them close friends, but I consider them to be. Of course I'm talking about Simple, Carleen and Shadeless.

I ain't gonna tag them (Load of bullshit, I'll do that down the line), since this is more of a letter to me, but thank you three so much for dealing with me. Granted, you haven't seen shit from me yet, but still.

I hope we continue being friends, but only time will tell this tale.

Now, to my blogs, I'm gonna leave here the statistcs of my blogs and AO3.

@tutchando74

Posts: 650

Quite a big number, huh? Never thought I'd post so many in my life.

Followers: 45

I'm so grateful to all of you who follow me. I don't what attracted you to my blog, but I'm thankful to all of you.

4 biggest fans: @carleenchoco, @ask-serial-designation-s, @shadelessanon and @the-simple-creature

What could I expect, I'm a simple man, always keeping his friends close.

@ask-fell-drones

Posts: 144

Unfortunaly, this AU didn't get as much attention as the other one, but hey, that's a good number.

Followers: 31

Again, I don't know what attracted you to this AU, but you need help.

4 biggest fans: @tutchando74, @igothepanzerdivision (I can't for the life of me tag this guy), @brookiedaaroacecookie and @l0v3sickl0s3r

Yes, I like my blog's post, judge me. A thank to the three of you, even if Igothe there is kind of a fever dream.

@ask-shop-drones

Posts: 1180

By far my most famous blog. This isn't even a joke. I understand why it tracted more attention though.

Followers: 71

A thank you to everyone who got interested in this little AU of mine. Honestly, a thanks to all of you.

4 biggest fans: @tutchando74, @l0v3sickl0s3r, @hotmacsticks and @kitty-chans-art

A thanks to the three of you who have made RP's with my AU or just supported it. Thank you.

@ask-alphakill

Posts: 40

This AU hasn't grabbed much attention, but I'm okay with it. This AU was born as a joke.

Followers: 4

Thanks to you who follows this blog. Honestly, thank you. I'm glad you liked this little joke I made.

4 biggest fans: @tutchando74, @skyblueducky, @nani-w (also can't tag you) and @paintchipstastegood

Thank you three for interacting with this AU. It honestly means a lot.

@askrealityfalls

Posts: 5

Yeah, this one ain't a lot famous, probably cause of my drawings.

Followers: 2

I'm surprised someone follows this. Thank you a lot for this.

4 biggest fans: @tutchando74, @lentalguts-gingersnaps and @jthorpe96

Ain't even got 4. Nonetheless, thank you two for interacting with this little thing.

I'm sorry for anyone who was bothered by the tagging, but I wanted to thank you all for this. So, one last thanks everyone, and I hope you all have a great nex year, and I hope mine's great too.

Now for my AO3 account.

Even if it my account doesn't have a full year yet. Accomplished more than I thought I would, no joke. I expected that I would write things and they would get like 20 hits or something, but imagine my surprise when in around a week I got 100 hits on Split Drones. It was a surprise, and that was the first edition of Split Drones, one that doesn't exist anymore because I edited it, cause it was bad.

Hell, I even got a fanart, made by Clockwork. This is a dream come true. I even got a gift, made by InspiredDragonWriter. He decided to gift me back a very good work. Also got a related work made by Kingcrustnip.

This is insane! I'm still so happy about all of these.

I'm going to talk a little about each of my main stories here that I made this year.

Split Drone (on going)

One of my favorite stories that I have thought of. I'm happy that after the 3º chapter it got a lot more attention. And to think that it's not even close to ending.

Murder Drones Oneshots... Kind of (on going)

My most viewed fic here, for obvious reason. It's a oneshit book. Honestly, I don't like this one, but I still have to finish it. There are requests that have more than months on the waiting. The people who sent them don't even remember it anymore.

Rescue Drones (on going)

I'm glad the Twins allowed me to use their content to do my strange shit. Honestly, I really like this story, specially the world building I did with it. I just like the concept of different HQ's out there. I don't know if the Twin read that story anymore, probably not, but I'm happy that they let me use their universe to write my stories.

A walk and a discovery + We meet again brother (finished)

Two gifts for InspiredDragonWriter. I really liked his content, so I thought of making these stories. I like them, think I did a good job on doing a horror story. I hope he really did like these gifts.

Listening to music (finished)

This is just a fun idea I had. Glad some people liked it, but I don't really have any more ideas on what to do with it. I think Clockwork would have an use for this one on his musical oneshot though. Unfortunaly it's closed.

Mine (on going)

A request that turned into a full fic. Honestly, it's really fun to do it, and it gathered way more attention than I thought it would.

Downard Spiral (on going)

A side fic for Rescue Drones. I have a harder time writting in first person than in third, so the quality of this one is leagues worse than the main story, but I don't think it's that bad.

Greek HQ (on going)

This is a huge story I'm trying to tell. Hope the 10 people who read it like it. Things are going to become much worse, really fast.

Little Rescue Drones side stories

Just some fun fic ideas I have on my mind. Nothing more. Don't even know if I should make them cannon.

Brown and Son Playing (finished)

Just a fun little idea I had for these two.

Serial Designation S RP (on going)

I never expected to play a RP, specially on Tumblr. I'm glad I did though, met three pretty fun persons. It's hard to do the Rp through Tumblr, but it's very good.

Poemas (on going)

My first attempt at writting poems. It's really fun to do it, specially to talk about my culture. 

Now, I saw the Twins doing this, and I really liked it. It is showing my final statistics, so I'm going to do the same. By the end of this year, my statistics were:

- User Subscriptions: 8 I'm thankful to everyone who liked my works enough to follow me on this site. I'm glad you enjoy my stuff that much.

- Kudos: 420 This is insane to me. I got this amount in less than a year. Going by dates, it's been around half a year. I'm fucking thankful to everyone who liked my stuff.

- Comment Threads: 88 That's a lot of conversation, and even if most are about the fics, I think I did make some friends here. Hope they think the same.

- Bookmarks: 56 I'm glad people liked my works enough to leave a bookamrk on them, and 56 bookmarks across all my 26 works. That's more than double.

- Subscriptions: 47 Across all my 26 fics, I got 47 subscriptions in each of them. I'm thankful to anyone who did this, trully.

- Word Count: 110,657 Honestly, why do you americans use comma to separate the decimals when most of the world uses dot? Whatever. That's an insane amount of words to me. That's more than I expected to write in all of my life, wich is funny that it turned into my hobby.

- Hits: 14,796 This is an insane number to me. 14k views on my fics. I never expected to have all of this in half a year, but I'm so glad and thankful I did.

It isn't much, but its more than I thought I would get in my first year. Well, it was fun writting everything and meeting new people here in this site.

My gratitudes goes to The_Twins_On_Internet, Kingcrustnip, LB_Clockwork, Shadow_Drone_N_Bryan78932, InspiredDragonWriter and everyone who read, kudoed, bookmarked, subscribed and commented on my fics. A huge thank you to all of you.

[schnuron]

2024's albums I like [December 7th, 2024]

It's hard to keep up listening to music that's up-to-date or looking at the new releases in music websites such as Bandcamp, Bleep, Pitchfork, etc.

I'm picky when it comes to choosing the albums I like to listen to. Metal and rock don't excite me so much in 2013 as I keep growing up as a Millennial. Darkwave, ambient and some electronic music are my current obsession. Even though, I'm passable about the rock music, I'm not very enthusiastic of it.

I haven't mentioned the other albums here, but I don't think the ones from Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Coldplay or Glass Animals were the best albums they did. If you enjoy and like those albums, that's okay.

If I have something new to post a thread about the newest albums in December, I'll do it. You guys are welcome to share yours.

I wanted to post this thread a little a bit early before this year ends. These are the ones I've been listening to in 2024:

-

Darkwave: Dead Astronauts - Ghosts <3 Feyleux - Midnight Hearts Filmmaker - Grim Encoders (Dark Electro / EBM) NECRO - Into Oblivion Night in Athens - Wasted Reflektions Profit Prison - Gilt Sixth June - Stay! <3 Soror Dolorosa - Mond Sydney Valette - The Healer Electronic music: Erika de Casier - Still Charli XCX - BRAT Bat For Lashes - The Dream of Delphi Skee Mask - Resort Uboa - Impossible Light Kelly Lee Owens - Dreamstate Fennesz - Mosaic (ambient) Old Amica - For alltid (ambient) alva noto - HYbr:ID III (ambient) The Green Kingdom - Arcadian (ambient) / Horizons (ambient)

Other: 070 Shake - Petrichor Arooj Aftab - Night Reign FLO - Access All Areas mk.gee - Two Star & The Dream Police Nessa Barrett - AFTERCARE Tinashe - Quantum Baby The Cure - Songs of a Lost World Wrong Organ - Mouthwashing OST

Honorable mentions / the albums that were okay: (G)I-DLE - 2 

Allie X - Girl with No Face (Synthpop)

Ariana Grande - eternal sunshine 

Arooj Aftab - Night Reign 

Artemas - pretty 

Artemas - yustyna

Astrid S - Joyride 

BUNT. - Levi Don't Do  

Bad Omens - CONCRETE JUNGLE [THE OST]

Bill Ryder-Jones - Iechyd Da 

Black Nail Cabaret - Chrysanthemum (Darkwave)

Blisspoint - DOG 

Blue Oyster Cult - Ghost Stories 

Bolis Pupul - Letter to Yu

Bring Me The Horizon - Post Human: NeX GEn 

Bruce Dickinson - The Mandrake Project

C Z A R I N A - Empire 

Calignosia - Malpaís 

Carlita - Sentimental  

Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn into You: Everasking Edition 

Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She (Electronic/Goth Rock)

Cigarettes After Sex - X's

Clan Of Xymox - Exodus (Darkwave / Goth Rock)

Disintegration - Shiver in a Weak Light (Post-punk / Synthpop) 

Donny Benet - Infinite Desires (Italo-Disco / Synthpop)

Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism

Echoberyl - Through the Chaos (Darkwave) 

Elbow - Audio Vertigo 

Embedded Figures - 6 Lovers EP (Darkwave) 

Eminem - The Death of Slim Shady 

Erik Wollo - Solastalgia 

FLETCHER -  In Search of the Antidote 

Father John Misty - Mahashmashana

Filmmaker - Land of Hidden Variables (Darkwave-ish with noise) 

Florrie - The Lost Ones 

Four Tet - Three 

Fred again.. - USB / ten days 

Future Islands - People Who Aren't There Anymore 

GENDEMA - sassy things

Gente De Zona - Demasiado

Geordie Greep - The New Sound 

Glaring - Hope (Darkwave)

Goat - Goat 

Golden Apes - Our Ashes at the End of the Day

Greyhaven - Stereo Grief EP

Gruff Rhys - Sadness Sets Me Free

Habitants - Alma

Hainbach - Breve

Houses of Heaven - Within/Without 

Hudson Mohawke / Tyga - L'Ecstasy 

IAMTHESHADOW - To End What Never Began (Darkwave) 

Iglooghost - Tidal Memory Exo

Jacob Collier - Djesse Vol. 4 

James Woods / Shooter Jennings - Hear the Thunder Crack

Jamie xx - In Waves 

Jlin - Akoma 

John Grant - The Art of the Lie

Judas Priest - Invincible Shield 

Julia Holter - Something in the Room She Moves 

Julian Lage - Speak to Me

KMFDM - LET GO 

Kacy Hill - BUG 

Kaelan Mikla / Bardi Johannsson - The Phantom Carriage OST

Kali Uchis - Orquideas 

Kat Von D - My Side of the Mountain (Synthwave / Synthpop)

Keaton Henson - Somnambulant Cycles (Classical) 

Kelly Moran - Moves in the Field (Piano music)

Kendrick Lamar - GNX 

Kim Gordon - The Collective 

Kinoteki - Faith and the Vessel

L'Ame Immortelle - Ungelebte Leben (EBM / Synthpop)

LEATHERS - Ultraviolet 

Lo Moon - I Wish You Way More than Luck 

Locrian - End Terrain

Lucy Rose - This ain't the Way you Go Out 

MAX - LOVE IN STEREO 

Machine Girl - MG Ultra

Machine Girl - SUPER FREQ EP

Machinedrum - 3FOR82 

Male Tears - Paradisco (New Wave / Synthpop)

Mamaleek - Vida Blue

Marika Hackman - Big Sigh

Marilyn Manson - One Assassination Under God - Chapter 1 

Mark E Moon - Resist (Darkwave)

Maruja - Connla's Well EP 

Mary Lattimore and Walt McClements - Rain on the Road

Matte Blvck - Vows (Dark Electro / Darkwave?) 

Meat Beat Manifesto / Merzbow - Extinct 

Mega Drive - Memory Disc EP 

Micah Dailey-White - Micah

Molchat Doma - Belaya Polosa 

Nadine Shah - Filthy Underneath

Night Club - Masochist (Darkawave-ish / Synthwave)

Occams Laser - Headspace (Synthwave) 

Ockeroid - Crow Country OST 

Opeth - The Last Will and Testament  

Owen - The Falls of Sioux 

Patricia Taxxon - Bicycle

Paysage D'Hiver - Die Berge

Philippe Blache - Tristitiam Et Metus Tradam Portare Ventis (Dark Ambient / Darkwave-ish) 

Photay - Windswept 

Pink Milk - Night on Earth (Darkwave / Shoegaze)

Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D 

Priest - Dark Pulse (Darkwave / Synthwave)

Qual - Techsick EP 

Ravyn Lenae - Bird's Eye

Remi Wolf - Big Ideas 

Ritchot Textiles - i 

SENTRIES - Snow as a Metaphor for Death 

SINE - Luxuria 

Sabrina Carpenter - Short N Sweet

Sega Bodega - Dennis 

Selofan - Animal Mentality (Post-Punk)

Shygirl - Club Shy 

Skee Mask - D 

Slash - Orgy of the Damned

Sleeping Rabbits - Breathing Room EP

Snow Strippers - Night Killaz, Vol. 2 

Sofi Tukker - BREAD 

Soft Kill - Escape Forever 

Squarepusher - Dostrotime

St. Vincent - All Born Screaming

TR/ST - Performance (Darkwave / Synthpop)

The Black Monolith - End and Beginning are Dreams 

The Fauns - How Lost (Dream Pop / Shoegaze)

The KVB - Tremors 

The Spirit of the Beehive - You'll Have to Lose Something 

The Sweet Kill - Nowhere 

Thief - Bleed, Memory (Darkwave / Experimental) [Prophecy Productions]

Thou - Umbilical

Toby Driver - Raven, I Know that You Can Give Me Anything 

Tommy Richman - COYOTE

Tomo Akikawabaya - The Castle II (Darkwave and Minimal wave)

Tusks - Gold

Twenty One Pilots - Clancy 

Tyla - Tyla 

Tyler, The Creator - CHROMAKOPIA

ULTRA SUNN - US

Ulver - Liminal Animals 

Union of Knives - Start from the Endless

VR SEX - Hard Copy 

Vampire Weekend - Only God was Above Us

Vince Staples - Dark Times 

Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood

Whores - War

Witch of the Vale - 100 Ways to Leave, Vol.1

Xiu Xiu - 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips 

ben. - subculture

ben. - subculture 

i Haxa - i Haxa

r beny - discerned in the fugue of streams 

sleepmakeswaves - It's Here, But I have no Names for it

-

Ambient:

Actress - Statik 

Alora Crucible - Oak Lace Apparition

Alva Noto - Xerrox Vol. 5 (ambient) 

Black Brunswicker - A Moment of Clarity EP 

Disasterpeace - Standstill

Duncan Ritchie - Lords of Wolves OST

Faded Cloak - Wrapped in Fog and Freezing Mist 

Field Lines Cartographer - Portable Reality Generator

Jogging House - Rendezvous

Lustmord - Much Unseen Is Also Here 

Mark Van Hoen - Plan for a Miracle 

Nils Frahm - Day 

Nonkeen - All Good? 

Polypores - There Are Other Worlds

Pye Corner Audio - The Endless Echo 

SUSS - Birds & Beasts

Scanner - Alchemeia

Steve Moore - Eye of Horus

The Body / Dis Fig - Orchards of a Futile Heaven 

[shimmeringtidepools]

(@mewatina)

Nex, transformed into his old Giratina form, slowly approached the other Giratina.

"It's uncommon to meet another of my kind who has also been corrupted by the Distortion World, although I'm guessing the nature of my corruption is very different from yours."

Nex's body glitched for a few seconds before stabilizing.

"If I may ask, how has the Distortion World corrupted you?"

Giratina’s eyes scanned the other, narrowing upon the question. “Bold to assume I would want to tell you.” He started, watching as the fellow pokemon’s form glitched before his eyes.

He raised but only one eyebrow. “That’s it? That’s the nature of your corruption?” As Nex’s body stabilized, he let out a low chuckle. “How cute.”

“Every waking day I am in constant pain and agony. I haven’t eaten a mean in eons, and yet you dare to hold a candle to my form? How callous!” He spat vitriol towards the pokemon. “PERHAPS WHEN YOUR WORLD DECIDES TO EAT YOU THEN YOU CAN COMPARE YOURSELF TO THE LIKES OF ME!!” He screamed, voice booming off of the strange walls that made his home. Palkia moved away quickly, summoning her spear. It didn’t take him long to realize how scared she was.

Another voice caught his attention, formal, one holding power. Respectful.

He listened quietly, face contorting at the question. Why the hells did everyone wish to know? It baffled him, confusing to the point of humor. A dry laugh left him, groing in volume.

“Very well then! I shall grant your wish!” Taking a bow, he moved towards the edge of a cliff. A bright glow gleamed from his chest, a misshapen golden orb materializing out from it into his palm. As the glow dimmed, he held in his palm the one thing that held him together. For a moment, all was silent. A quiet that made Giratina feel like it would be ok, that he would maintain his form once more.

And then he felt it, the familiar pain that sent him lurching forward. The orb fell from his grasp into the dirt with a loud thud. Giratina coughed and sputtered, teetering ever closer to the edge of the cliff until, with a wide grin, he fell.”

“GIRATINA?!” Palkia rushed forward, standing by Calama with confusion. Looking over the edge she awaited movement, looking to see even a glimpse of her brother. Eventually, she was answered.

SPOILED FOR BODY HORROR AHEAD!!!BOTH IN ILLUSTRATION AND WRITTEN FORM!!! READ AT YOUR OWN COSTS!!

A large hand rose up, slamming down on the floating island. Red claws dug into the dirt as another hand rose up to do the same. An ear piercing howl came from below the land, growing in volume as the owner pulled himself up out of the void. Skin melted off into strange black pools at their feet, bright red chains clattering around his wrists each time he moved. Soon rose his visage, a twisted version of the handsome young man that stood before them prior. Now sat gaping black holes in his face, a twisted hole of a smile replacing the sinister grin he had when he fell.

The long lucious hair that whipped about on its own was now stringy, greasy and unkept. If one were to look over the edge, they could see just how rotted away his body was, his spine clearly visible from his skin melting away. Golden ribs sprouted out instead of porcelain ones, the shimmering bones glittering in the dim distorted daylight. The air seemed to still, slowing as he took a breath. The sound was strange, a hiss of hair that left the strange jaw that had become his mothpiece.

Blinking, red glows emanated from the hollows of Giratina’s eyes, sharp teeth becoming visible as he talked.

“Y̵̗̟̅̃͜ō̸̝̘͕u̸̲̺͠ ̸̛͚̾̑ẘ̸̫͕̘̊͘i̵̦͇͐͌s̷͉͍̀͂h̷̝̍̉̊͜e̸̤̳͊d̸̫͒ ̴̫̄t̵̰̟͆͂͗ò̶̻̪̘ ̸͎̀̎͋s̴̖͇̊e̸̝̓͆̀ȩ̶̦͐̚͝ ̷̹͌̀͝m̷̯̏y̷͚̝͒͗̕ ̷͔͖̂̚t̷̤̓r̴̠̰̓̑̄ͅu̶̥̫͋͘ȇ̴̖̰͗͝ ̸̰̃f̶̰̣̟̽̀o̸͋ͅr̶̨̓͊m̵̭̫̫̎́?̶̢̮͐͗̀ ̴̑̊͜T̸̢̜͙͛̕͘ḩ̵͕̙̂̿e̶̥̳̘͝ ̶̙͒̔g̶̖͂ȁ̵̝̎̕z̷̪͈̞̍̅͋e̷̩̹̮̅̑ ̴̳͔̜͐́̚u̴̮̝͌p̸̣̬̓̿ỏ̵͈̻̱̅͝ņ̸̡̻͂͗̚ ̴̫̞̹̆̕i̸͍̻͙̋̀͊t̶̝̠̍̆͆’̵̢̫́s̷̱̆̓̌ ̷͙̙̀ė̷̮̖͈͝n̴̬͙̟͒̾͠t̸̙̾i̶̢̖̅̋r̴͈̜̗̃e̵̳̟̐͠t̵̹͆ý̶̨̳͚͂!̷̼̎͒”

Palkia looked upon her brother with horror. “Brother…what has this place done to you?” came her whispered question.

@sinnohsiblings

Official Reference for Giratina’s Origin Form: