#normally i wouldn't make a fuss about this but it just feels kinda strange for someone to repost my art within the art community i inhabit

[smile-files]

omg wtf . sorry that ur art got stolen :-[ . probably reach out to them and ask them to take it down and if they dont then probably spread awareness . gl

yeah i reached out a couple days ago, did again today. hopefully they take it down so i don't have to make trouble... at least i can be happy that they liked my art enough to want to steal it haha :'D but thank you!!

[invinciblerodent]

as i was making my way through the Shar temple as Petyr in increments, I kind of couldn't stop thinking about how this whole thing is a real eye-opener of a formative experience for him.

he's got... very little experience with any organized religion. He grew up among druids (I feel like it's rather natural a fit for a rather neutral/neutral good-aligned ranger), so he wouldn't say that he's a believer of any one specific faith, he's more in the "well of course the ancient powers are in perfect balance as they should be. gods are real, yeah, but they too are just pieces in this game- larger pieces, but pieces nonetheless, just like you and me" school of thought. His "faith" is less one with tenets, and rules, and a deity, and more of a general, handwave-y type of... mystic spirituality, where it's okay for him to just be as decent as he can be (which, the bar is at roughly his ankles there), do what he strikes him as right, and the rest will sort itself out. (If he had any magical aptitude, he would be a druid, but he doesn't, so he isn't, basically.)

so I imagine his utter bewilderment reading Sharran texts for the first time, which is a bit after he's accepted that he has feelings that go beyond just simple attraction for Shadowheart. This guy, whose entire Thing is being adaptable, going with one's fancies as they strike, and a "live and let live/why exactly should I care, quickly" type of philosophy, is now forced to be confronted with the objective reality of a religion that (while he knew some about in a very general, abstract sense) not only is preaching things that are sort of the partial antithesis of what he believes in, but it is also... making Shadowheart act completely different from the way she is when they're alone together.

She's normally so fun. She trades those silly, flirty quips willingly with him, and despite the mischief, she really isn't as secretive as she likes to pretend she is. She's kind to animals, and likes pretty flowers. Her touch, while she is prone to prodding a bruise just because it's funny to watch him jump, it's -frankly- the warmest he's known in a very long time as well as... one of the first that isn't just a quick fuck/fwb/hmu-when-you're-in-town type of arrangement. She may tease, but she also fusses, and eases aches and pains that he's used to taking days in a mere instant, and, well, when her finger brushes the inside of his wrist as they sit by the fire, that's really nice.

The person he knows her as, they're a sweet, warm person with a lovely teasing edge, a "friend-but-something-else-too" who teasingly says things like how his presence makes her smile, and though the Shadow-Curse is weighing heavily on all of them, making them act strange (my hc is that all of act 2, they're all snappier, quicker to anger, more anxious and more prone to putting their respective feet in their mouths) this... ardent, reverential worship, especially of a goddess who sounds objectively pretty damn terrible, is kind of scaring him.

When he's thumbing through the books in the Silent Library, each sounding worse than the last (and the darkness and destruction of Reithwin heavy in his mind), he just... steals glances at her doing the same with that serene expression (as if languishing in grief and darkness is somehow a good thing), and he feels like he's seeing... almost a stranger, wearing her face.

He's more or less accepted that his casual interest has turned into him full-on falling for her the moment he handed her that night orchid, and laughed with her at her (kinda terrible) joke, and now there are these texts all about how... love is a disease, arson, and an insult to Shar's infinite darkness. No matter how he bristles at the word "love", that... must be a really strange feeling.

It'll be really thematically appropriate for the commitment dialogue to come at the heels of her casting Shar aside. And despite how dense he normally is (with his 8 INT/8 CHA combo), it really feels a little like he knew that this was going to happen at a point much sooner than she did.

Maybe it's a type of intuition. Maybe it's just wisdom. But learning about Shar after getting to know Shadowheart, yeah, it would be hard to see that Sharran ideal in her.

(They really went all the way in showing us early on that this is not right for her, huh.)

[sixofravens-reads]

Finished The Lost Future of Pepperharrow!

(spoilers ahead!)

This was a...good book? I guess? I feel like I should've reread The Watchmaker of Filigree Street first, but also don't because not much from that book seemed to carry over to this one.

I liked the plot, though it didn't make sense to me for a while, at least there was enough happening to keep me engaged. The setting was cool, I've read a lot of books set in Japan this year and I really enjoyed it, especially seeing more of the forest and Mount Fuji. Also Six is wonderful! Love a weird child, especially one that doesn't play to the Creepy Child stereotype and is just....normal little-girl weird. Also Thaniel and Mori's parenting skills are excellent and hilarious.

I did hate that Takiko got fridged. Like, there's no way around it. She died to further Mori's plot, and because Thaniel somehow fucked up by switching to the dark timeline with a decision he didn't know was important. I feel like there's a way this could've been written so she didn't die, but I also kinda feel like the author wanted her out of the way so this pesky wife wouldn't interfere with Mori's gay English affair. Though she's also just a marriage of convenience, and he abandoned her for 10 years so was she really interfering? The book acts like Mori coming back to Japan means he now has to Fulfill Husbandly Duties or something, which he really doesn't. (This drives me nuts bc it's like every SPN fanfic that bends over backwards to get rid of Dean's love interest in a ~cool feminist way~. No, she didn't die because she was in the way! She died.....to uh....create enough of a disturbance in this timeline that Mori comes back!! Nevermind that she could've just thought about it really hard and he would've reacted as if it happened! It makes me so mad because after a decade Takiko finally has the freedom to do whatever she wants without guilt and anger and fear hanging over her and she just! Dies!! Why!!!)

Also, it's hard to explain but since I've read a lot of books set in Japan recently, by comparison it really feels like the author came at this from a hard British perspective? Like, I know Thaniel is a Brit and thinks everything is strange and new when he arrives there, but even when she's narrating from Takiko or Kuroda's perspectives it still doesn't feel totally...natural? It's like she set the story in Japan, but wanted it to still be Britain, and has to strongly point out whenever something is Not British, if that makes any sense? I'm honestly not sure what would help with this, maybe it's just her writing style annoying me. There's just a subtle difference between her writing and say, Sifton Tracey Anipare's in Yume.

Also, I wish we'd gotten Grace's perspective again. I know she was a kind of a cunt and a bit homophobic in the last book, but she was deeply interesting and I would've liked to hear more about the experiments. Also, I find it mildly weird that she and Thaniel left off on a sour note, and yet she seems terribly excited to see him, beyond like, normal relief about maybe getting busted out of her lab-prison, so hearing her perspective on the whole thing would've been nice.

Anyway, this book was a 3-3.5/5 for me I think. I might reread it someday but...idk. Pulley is not a bad author but I don't think she's ever going to write a book that will totally wow me, and I think she tends to set up interesting plot points, but then sacrifices good plot and sensible character choices to keep her OTPs together without much fuss. At the end of this, she really wanted Thaniel and Mori to go back to England as if nothing ever happened except the electron microscope being invented (which...is actually kinda pointless unless penicillin was ALSO discovered at this time, did Mori put mouldy bread in some petri dishes too?) and it doesn't really feel like a truly satisfying ending.

[artsyxloner]

Not Just a Monster

Warning: blood,Voices, violence

4: Green Roof Apartments

It was dark by the time I had gotten to the green roof apartment building. I was coming up near the font where it looked like they were doing construction work? but Spotted something laying on the ground.

Its limbs were all Sprawled out getting closer making sure it was dead before I went in.  Half of its head was chopped Capitated it had looked-like its face was beaten in my something big?

Its teeth were all yellow and dirty as its skin was a sickly bluish-gray. But one of its ears stood out the most. It was enlarged, I was sure to remember this and put it in my field journal.

I was about to check the front out when I heard the monster utter some words. " I can't see?!" It spoke my eyes went wide as I turned to look at it.

My feet Accidentally hit some gravel making the smallest noise. Its enlarged ear started to twitch. " I can hear you!!" I mumbled its fingers moved when all of a sudden they shot out spikes. Until it hit the concrete building wall making a crashing sound.

I jumped out of the way before it could hit me. I rolled on to the payment as another shot of spikes came. Laying on my stomach it was either fight or flight since I didn't have a weapon I chose to leave knowing I could get killed.

The only reason I didn't before was because of the golden If you didn't know already. Getting up I ran away, not able to fight well I wasn't a good fighter as you have seen before but I was extremely lucky.

Going in behind the building there  I checked for a possible way in. As I moved stuff out of my way I found a door hidden behind a white tarp. Moving it out of the way there was a sound of a huge thud making the group shake.

I wobbled a little bit trying to steady back my balance. Knowing I shouldn't have looked back but my Curiosity got the best of me. I nearly fainted seeing a monster about the size of Wait no it was the size of the hulk.

It kept saying " Protein" that's when I knew that was one of the monsters that ate people. Grabbing ahold of the door handle I twisted it opened running in quickly I shut and locked the door behind me.

I signed out a heavy breath feeling sweat run down my forehead and back. If this place has these kinds of monsters there's no telling what is in this building.

I should have known, there can't be a place without some type of these things living in it some more than others. Inside the back building was dark and it gave me the creeps.

Lights flickered on and off creaking sounds coming from the old busted pipes and the floor was kinda wet with water they made have had a water leakage somewhere.

I made my way down the hallway as my footsteps splashed the little amount of water. It Echoed making the place give me goosebumps my arms my whole body shook.

I needed some sleep because I have been through a lot today my body was sore even though I healed. Checking every door it was locked until I came to the end of the last door.

Opening it Carefully as the Hinges made a squeaking sound I cringed hoping nothing heard that I was surprised to see a closet. It was those that had a little cot where the people slept on if they need to borrow one.

I smiled, it even had a pillow. Slipping off my duffel back after a while of carrying it I felt relieved hearing my bones and muscles stretch and pop. I flopped down my side hitting the comfy cot.

My breathing slowed as my eyes began to feel heavy they flutter for a few seconds before closing that's when I knew I was going to have some fucked dreams tonight from the things I saw.

...

There was nothing but loud screaming everywhere I went. Everybody was running away as they knocked each other over them jumping over seats and them hiding behind stuff.

I was confused at why they were doing this? What was wrong I didn't see anything out of the ordinary?

At the time I wasn't aware they were all running from me. I didn't have any control over my body just only inside my head, I could think.

I mean I could feel my body moving but and something wet was gushing from my nose. I was confused about what was happening? It was just a nosebleed wasn't it? that's normal.

That's when I looked in the window and was horrified at what I saw my reflection was smiling back at me with pitch-black eyes and blood was all over the bottom of my mouth dripping down to my neck.

That's when it began.

I sat up breathing hard, remembering the horrific image of myself. I quickly pick up my duffel bag and unzipped it bringing out my opened water bottle pouring some in my hands I splashed my face with some to cool me down.

I wiped my eyes rubbing them until I couldn't see it anymore until I saw stars. Signing I ran my fingers through my frizzy, red hair, I've had this dream since the night they were killed and it's like the inner monsters inside me want to keep reminding me.

I'm starting to hate it, next time I see it I'm going to tell it to fuck off! Getting up I drank my water and took out some Oreo pocky Munching on them Quietly.

I know all this junk wasn't good for me but it was the only thing I had. As I did I felt my nose dripping wet, making me Drop my pocky stick.

" shit!!" I grabbed the ends of my sleeve trying to soak up the blood that was constantly flowing. " Now! Now! that's what you get when you say you were going to tell me to what's the word... fuck off?"

I almost choked on my food hearing its damn voice. " it's too bad I didn't get to talk to you when you fell." I covered my ears not listening to the inner monster inside me wanting to come out.

I stayed silent not listening. " fine ignore me, but when the time comes you'll need me." I still stayed quiet " It wasn't my fault it was yours why would I need your help!?" I fussed getting down on my knees.

" When the time is right Soo-Nico." This made me scoffed no more like a laugh like a crazy person. If someone saw me from their point of view they would think I am.

Then the voice left like it was never there. My fist clenched as I started to bang on the floor. " I'll never need you!" I whispered as tears beamed my eyes.

I cried quietly for a few minutes leaning my back on the edge of the cot. Then I heard the sound of instrumental music coming from the speakers go off. Seconds later there was a young man's voice.

I nearly jumped out of my skin, " uh, uh," it went Static " Survivors, the first floor is safe now."

" come to the first floor. We'll be safer together." The guy paused then spoke up. " We survivors must stick together. Please come down. Come down here now."

" –I said please come down..." the man's voice went static again followed by a long Frequency that hurt my eardrums. I couldn't think for a moment there were people here? There were survivors.

I wasn't alone, I hurried I get up but stopped a thought coming to mind. What if he was trying to trick someone like me to get me to come and then take my stuff and keep it for himself? He just is saying it's safe and lies.

But for some reason I knew he wasn't lying, it sounded like he was calling for someone to come down that was being stubborn. If they were stuck up there? I only had two choices to go or not.

I decided to go I needed some social interaction if there were people there? but I would be wary and careful of them.

I wasn't going to trust them that was for sure just stick around long enough to see what type of people they are.

Getting up I grabbed my bag slinging over my shoulder carefully opening the door it was still the same as last night the same creepy eerie feeling I didn't notice before but there were cobwebs.

With dead bugs and flies in them ready to be eaten. My face crinkled up, feeling bad for them I knew how they felt now, Well in some way.

I moved down the hallway going to the entrance that's probably where they are at. I stopped every few seconds hearing strange Noise this was the first floor He said it was clear right?

Maybe he was saying one part of it was clear and blocked off. That means there could be monsters Roaming free around this section of the first floor.

I felt fear creep inside my chest and up my throat. Seeing the monsters I saw last night, there could be some-more like that or worse.

My arms got goosebumps, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand. It was like I was trying to freak myself out. I just wanted to turn back and hid in that closet and never come out.

It was promising but I knew being a wimp wouldn't solve anything. So I forced myself to go on my feet talking a right at the end of the blinking light that hung down from the Ceiling.

I passed a bathroom door that said out of order, Ignoring it I passed on seeing the walls that had wallpaper were all ripped up with mold spoiling over them.

Toys and clothes were all sprawled out all over the floor I bent down to pick up a shirt but dropped it when I heard screaming and crying.

My eyes turned to where the sound was coming from them landing on a pair of double doors. I ran towards them stepping on my tip-toes to look through the small glass window to see what was happening?

There was a group of people holding back a woman that was most likely in her late forties. With the front entrance open they all looked terrified.

[bitchfitch]

babylon artfight resource

as you can tell i play it Very fast and loose with this boy, just get the color pallet right and your good.

an excerpt from one of the things ive written with him:

Why isn't he looking? The man there in the very back of this dingy little tavern with his nose in that massive old book. Nobody ever ignores him when he plays, so how is this man Not Looking?

Babylon sings a little louder, bows his violin while forcing a bit more of his natural charm in along side every note. This rest of this little inn was looking, smiling dazedly as they danced and sang along to songs they didnt know they knew, songs they would forget as soon as he stopped playing. It wasn't often he let himself do this, playing in front of people who weren't guarded against him, but he needed the coin, and this town needed someone to come steal away their troubles for just one night.

But why isn't That one paying him any attention? Even when Babylon wasn't trying to charm people, his music still stole wills easier than he took wallets. It was something innate about him that did it. Nobody without some form of protection could resist him.

And yet, even now as his own feet begin to hurt and his voice grew strained, that man hadn't looked at him once. He's not deaf, Babylon saw him turn in response to the waiter talking to him. He doesn't seem to be protected in anyway, usually when his magic brushed against countercharms it felt like dragging his nails down a chalk board, but he felt nothing of the sorts from the man. He just seemed completely and wholly unaffected.

That was… Interesting.

He let the final note taper off as he came to a stand still. The tavern goers clapped, the applause tapering off as they blinked their momentary confusion out of their heads. Some might realize they had been charmed, most don't, and no one caused a fuss about it tonight, that he could be greatful for.

If Babylon was a wise man, he would take his earnings and leave, return to his home in the attic of a different tavern. The glorious one that sat in the center of their bustling capital, that wasnt at all like this one here in the very back of a town litteraly called Dead End.

But he wasnt a wise man, he was a curious one with a stranger to try and figure out.

Babylon decided he didn't quite feel like being tactful, and slid into the booth seat across from the stranger. Before he was even fully settled the man spoke without looking up from his book.

"Your playing was beautiful," He had a strangeness to his voice, his tone was flat and it didn't sound quite right coming from his mouth, too deep, too… Something that Babylon couldn't name,

"Thank you," Babylon smiled, nobody ever remembered what he sounded like after he had finished playing. Which was a shame, he'd spent so long cultivatimg his skills that it always felt like such a waste when he could play as horribly as he wanted to and still have everyone who heard bending to his will. But he was still proud of everything he'd worked to learn, "To be honest I kinda thought you weren't enjoying the performance," He cocked his head, "I'm curious whats in that book that kept your attention,"

The man was quiet for a moment, he was so still, his eyes didn't move in his skull and his skin had a sickly yellow tint to it. Definitely not anything he was trying to be, Babylon concluded. He shouldn't fimd comfort in the fact that he wasnt the only one trying to hide a monstrous face behind that of a half elf's, though he felt he was definitely doing a better job at it.

Finally the man spoke, "I liked it a lot," he said simply, "I didn't want to stare, so I kept my head down,"

something pinged in the back of Babylon's mind. Oh, the man was Lying, he wanted to stare. Of all the boons he got out of his wretched deal, this one was always the most useful, "Is that so? I don't mind being stared at if I'm being honest, I actually like it quite a bit. I don't think I could be a performer otherwise,"

"People do not like it when I look directly at them. The bar keep said it was creepy," The man said truthfully, still apparently giving his full attention to the book in front if him,

"I want you to look at me," Babylon started, if his music couldn't charm this stranger maybe something a little more direct could? and if it couldn't… well the very thought of that made his heart race. "You're… Interesting and I think I want to figure you out," he purred, flirting always worked for him, hopefully it would work here,

The man finally looked up and imeaditly Babylon understood why people didn't like him looking at them. His eyes were just wrong, too still and slightly glazed, not wet enough, and the iris was a strange greenish silver. But, it didn't feel like the stranger was looking at him, more like he had already been looking. How hadn't Babylon noticed that before? How long has this stranger been focused on him, and how was he faking not being focused on him so perfectly?

"Oh, you really should keep your chin up more," Babylon started, "Its a shame to hide such a handsome face," he said, it was true, the stranger was handsome if you didn't count his stranger features, a strong jaw and sharp cheek bones with a nose that had a cute crookedness to it, thick lips that weren't quite red enough to look alive, and long stringy black hair that had a pretty wave to it,

Something loud crashed outside, like a tree falling over behind the tavern. The sound sent everyone besides the stranger jumping half out of their skins as he closed his book and hurriedly stuffed it in his jacket, "I think I need to go,"

Babylon wasn't fully back to himself yet, loud noises always sent him on guard, when he reached a hand out to snag the stranger by the sleeve, "Sorry, sir," he apologized, "Was I coming on too strong? Come on. sit back down and give me another shot" he tried to smirk but that feeling of being watched only grew, like he truly, Finally, had the entirety of the stranger's attention, whatever that might mean.

"No- Uh, Good bye," the stranger said, pulling away without a hint of elaboration as he set a fast pace to the back door of the tavern. Not running, or walking, more lumbering and shuffling. Like maybe he wasn't quite used to have legs under his considerable size, tall and broad shouldered with a deep barrel chest and thick arms and legs.

Babylon watched him go, tapping his nails on the old wood of the table as he did. He'd have to meet that guy again someday. He'd never found someone completely immune to him before. People were always at least tempted to follow along with what he asked, but the stranger, the one with the dead eyes and the desire to look at him, he seemed so unaffected. Or at least he wasn't charmed in the slightest by him.

Babylon tried to suppress the fluttering feeling in his chest. This was it. his first chance at maybe being able to befriend someone who wasn't being coerced into liking him.

---

The next time he decided he would venture into that little no name tavern, Babylon chose to wear a different face. That wasn't unusual, it was safer for him if no one could ever recognize him. What was unusual was the amount of effort he had had to put into making this one. He wanted to make sure that stranger wouldn't look away from the moment he entered. Normally that wouldn't be hard for him, he had a nack for guessing what others found beautiful, but the stranger was a complete mystery. No inkling of what he may like came drifting to the surface.

Still, Babylon tried and tried until he found something right. Small and dainty like how he'd gone last time hadn't been enough to catch his eye, so maybe tall, with a good amount of muscle. Babylon thought about the men who worked the docks down by the lake, they could be a good example for this. He'd borrow the sandy blond waves of one of them too while he was at it, and the wide puppy dog brown eyes of that little cleric that had started following him and his sisters. A beard came next, a few shades darker than his hair and just long enough to round out his jaw.

He looked in his pocket mirror, this face was handsome, the black stretch fabric he favored for his clothing clung to the broad chest and strong thighs in a way even an eunuch would appreciate. He was good at making handsome faces for others to enjoy, but this one didn't sit right. It wasn't what he needed it to be. Maybe…

He let his curves soften and his chest grow, let the beard dissipate until he looked like the former faces sister, still strong and broad, but feminine and beautiful instead of handsome.

He sighed, this was worse. It wasnt farther from what the stranger would want, but he didn't know What about it was wrong. It wasn't the femininity, that he felt certain of.

He fwumped back onto his mattress with a heavy sigh as he let his disguise drop. He hadn't been able to get that stranger out of his head in the entire three weeks since he saw him. This was the first free afternoon he had had in that entire time, and here he was wasting it by not being able to guess at what that stranger would like.

It was frustrating.

It was infuriating.

but most of all it was invigorating. He Didn't have a little window into this stranger's head like he did with everyone else. He was just as lost as any other man trying to catch the eye of a stranger at the bar.

The trap door that lead up into this shared room was shoved open with a loud clang as Tamm, one of his two sisters, pulled herself up without even bothering with the ladder. She huffed a greeting before pulling that cleric up after her. He yelped and stammered when she set him on the floor beside herself.

"Thought you were going out tonight Babs," Tamm said, she gave him a look that definitely meant she wanted some alone time with the cleric,

"I'll be out in a moment, just having a crisis," He huffed, he sat up and tried to ignore the hurt that always came when the cleric flinched everytime he saw him without a disguise. Babylon didn't think he was That ugly, certainly grotesque, but in a pretty way if he did say so himself,

"Go have a crisis somewhere else please," Tamm said, "I promised to teach nerd lord how to sword fight,"

"And you need to be alone in our room for that? I'm pretty good with a sword, maybe I could help teach him?" Babylon scrunched up his nose at her, he Knew what she really wanted to show him, he'd seen the way they'd been making eyes at each other, but he Really Really wished he didn't,

"Babs-" she started, but he waved a dismissive hand as he got up and grabbed his violin,

"Yeah Yeah, I'm going Tammsy. Make sure shorty wraps up, I'm not ready to be an uncle," He goaded before dropping through the trap door and into the hall below. The door slammed shut above him and he heard the latch lock shut, "Don't Eat Him!" Babylon shouted, and snickered when he heard her groan through the ancient wood.

He straightened out his clothes before taking on the face he'd tried out before, the more masculine one just because he didn't want to have to remember to respond to a different set of pronouns. It still wasn't perfect, but it would do.