#oh and how would lumen be?

[makeitlookdecent]

"stop being overly afraid of status effects."

hey look at my map

[vacantgodling]

as stated, much of these are placeholder names, ideas, and concepts—this is just doing something fun for fun

chapter 1: the march hare runs

As March tore through the woods—she really had to wonder, what was wrong with this picture here?

She was a princess of Nectaria, one of the most prosperous kingdoms in all the land! And here she was, tripping over her own two feet, covered in mud, debris and even some of her own blood, trying to escape the shouting guards that had somehow caught up to her only a few days removed from her flight.

“I thought—” She huffed aloud, nearly missing tripping over an overgrown Glowtree root. “—That I had given myself—” She tripped over a second Glowtree root that had sprung up, deglowed, so nearly invisible in the dark. Face planting in the dirt, she didn’t even bother to finish her sentence, letting out an enraged huff that blew her messy hair out of her eyes. She planted her hands firmly in the ground, mud and clay squelching between her fingers, almost making her want to gag—the sensation was awful, to push herself up into an all-fours position.

“I think she went this way!”

“Get her!”

“Shit!”

March didn’t linger for much longer. She pushed herself back up to her feet, taking off downhill into the deep woods before her, praying that her tracks would be covered by the darkness that was ever lingering here; only ever illuminated by luminescent plants like Glowtrees and lumen flowers. She wasn’t sure how close to the border she was—any border, really. And that would be a problem. All of her papers and identification she left back in the palace, not thinking about it in her haste to just leave. If she was smarter, she would’ve left sooner. But no one thought that Princess March Hare of Nectaria was smart. They thought she was pretty. They thought she was kind. They thought she was a bit ditzy, or airheaded—and apparently that she… smelled good? That’d been the first thing to absolutely weird her out regarding her recently (forcibly, she would add) betrothed future-husband; the Prince of Doffensdu. He had taken a lock of her hair between his fingers, smelled it, and then with the most sickeningly disgustingly lecherous smile that anyone in all the lands could muster, he uttered that she smelled good. Divine, really, that was the word he’d used, but it still made her skin crawl.

Her elder brothers, Jan (short for January) and Feb (short for February—yes, with all 12 of them her parents had been remarkably original) had laughed at her. But they didn’t have to worry about marriages, at least not yet. They had been pathed to their militia and scholastic academies, since the two of them (unless, heaven forbid, something happened to them) were slated to become candidates for the next ruler of Nectaria, and they needed experience before their father stepped down from the crown and retired. But for the daughters and youngest sons? Oh no, it was all about alliances now—and as the third child, and unfortunate, unlucky eldest daughter—since the time she was fourteen, March had been introduced to suitor after suitor. Candidate after candidate. And frankly, if you asked her? They all were awful! Either too old, or far too young. Too boring, too plain, or too stuffy. Or, like the one her father had finally, finally settled on, too… weird! Everyone had their kinks and preferences to be sure; March was no prude, and she had a few of her own—but that’s certainly not how she would lead a conversation with someone she just met, nor one she planned to marry!

Regardless—she knew that her father wanted the best for her. She never doubted her father’s love—and surely in his mind, securing his eldest daughter’s future with a prince of Doffensdu was, on paper, extremely advantageous. Their kingdom was rich in ore and traded goods from the sea; being coastal, while Nectaria was located extremely far inland so it had access and was a hub for all the land trades. Having the two kingdoms combined through marriage meant an opportunity for more strategic and safer roads—things that March learned in her economic scholasticship, since her tutors knew she would be the most likely daughter to secure an advantageous trade marriage. And March had been fine with literally all of those things on paper. She knew her place as a princess, and she knew that just as people paid taxes, she was a bargaining chip for resources for her subjects.

But she just didn’t want to marry someone so… off!

Of course, she thought as she ran through the dim forest, tripping every few feet due to the low visibility, It is selfish of me to kick up such a fuss about this. Because she knew that many others didn’t have, well, the freedom to be spoiled like she knew she was being. And of course, she wasn’t only running away from this betrothal to a, probably decent man, just because he smelled her hair weirdly one time. Sure, he did make her uncomfortable whenever they were in a room together beyond that—though her sister below her, and closest confidant, April, assured her that she was just building him up to be some terrible guy in her head because she had a complex about getting married. Well, maybe she did! What was wrong with that? She knew that once she was wed that she’d be expected to perform…. wifely duties, and as a young maiden of just 23, that didn’t sit right with her!

March wanted to explore the world beyond the palace walls; educate herself in the lands beyond Nectaria’s rolling fields and bustling markets. Each new trinket that she could find from some far off place in one of the tiny corner stalls at the bazaar outside the palace, was another piece of the puzzle of the grand world just outside of her doorstep. But a queen couldn’t travel freely; she would be a kept woman, bound by duty, and state, and children, and more besides… and well. That terrified her! She was not so stupid to admit it! And so, she’d stolen out, just three weeks from her proposed wedding day, and disappeared without a trace.

Or so she thought.

She didn’t know what part of her plan went wrong. Did the note she left on her door dislodge? Or were there sightings of her among those in town? She wasn’t planning on staying away forever… probably. She did have a plan… One that did fall mostly apart after she lost her map in a swamp, was robbed just outside the kingdom’s walled border, and now this—stumbling through the darkness in mud and woods as she tried to put distance between herself and her captors. She needed somewhere to stop, to think…

And then—a stroke of luck.

March’s racing thoughts about all that transpired to land her racing like a little hunted rabbit through the forest, came to a screeching halt when she cleared all the glowing foliage and skidded into a clearing. All around her the trees loomed over the surrounding landscapes; their thick canopies obscuring light of the moon overhead; but the lumen flowers underfoot still bringing a soft shine to the surrounding wilderness. Not a single thing moved in this clearing; there was no wind in the grass or through the trees, no animals overhead or underfoot. Nothing but a chilling, eerie silence.

And in the middle of it all, stood a tower.

March stared, her thoughts quieting for a moment. Then they slowly began to churn, faster and faster as she slowly approached it. It appeared to be made of all manner of materials: wood, stone, brick, clay, terracotta, glass… harder to discern the further she peered up at the structure. The tower was narrow at some points…. but then March wandered around the base of it and it seemed to go around for miles at the same time. It took her nearly 40 paces to get around the length of the tower on one side, but that seemed far too wide for a structure that seemed so thin as it appeared. She couldn’t make out it’s spire, but she almost imagined that it pierced the clouds—if somehow the night swallowed it like it had.

A yell in the distance made her jolt out of her curiosity. Fear makes haste. So she quickly approached the base of the tower again, feeling around until she could try and find some sort of door or opening to hide herself in; at least for a moment. But no such door—one you could push, nor one you could pull, could March feel. In an act of desperation she began to test some of the sides of the walls, seeing if there were any pushed out or loosened stones she could use to grapple onto the side of the building, racing around the structure as fast as the panic in her throat would let her. But to no avail.

Except—she found something better.

Right as she was certain that the guards looking for her would descend upon her (as the noises in the woods as she searched the tower grew closer, and closer), she felt something coiled and sturdy, almost rope-like. What she didn’t see was the trapdoor that the “rope” had fallen down from as she circled away from this side of the tower only a few moments before. March only took a split second to make a decision: she had always been a decent climber. And now it was time to put those skills to the test.

March hiked herself up, wrapping both hands around the rope to begin to scale the wall free tethered. She could absolutely die if she fell the higher she climbed, but in her frenzied mind, it seemed better than getting caught. Until, suddenly, a snap sounded in the silence of the night; louder than any other noise that she heard near or far since she entered the clearing, and even louder than the sounds of the far off soldiers that would surely now come this way.

But it didn’t matter. Because with the sound of the snap, the “rope” unraveled only just, where March’s hands gripped it, ensaring her in its grasp and yanking her up the tower like a sandbag cut loose from a boat, and through the trap door whence it came, slamming shut with a thunderclap behind her, drowning out her startled scream.

[deepdrownlamentt]

hello hi beloved love of my life im sorry (im not sorry) for contributing to your masterlist turning into an alcohol menu but hear me out, tequila and phantom/specter/lumen (your horny your call whichever is the most pathetic and subsequently funniest) being jealous

the catch is that the thing that they're jealous over is so TRIVIAL like a new otome game? your pet??? your mom??????? theyre a wet sopping mess and im here for it

↬ courier, specter, and tequila jealousy hcs

content warnings: none

note: the emojis are actually dealing me psychic damage but i like writing dumb things so i will oblige........ sorry for the delay i am being slaughtered out here!!!!! get me out of uni!!!!!! i just want to vibe in peace!!!!!!

i think tequila May be a liiiiiittle ooc since i haven't . looked at his voicelines in a million years . and mine is trust 0 . but anyways i hope u enjoy !!!! xoxo etc

↬ COURIER doesn't think of himself as the type of partner that needs to constantly hog your attention, nor does he think himself so busy that he would leave you wanting. there's a certain balance to it, that much he's sure of — but he can't quite help but be disappointed if he finds something else occupying your mind when he finally has the time to hang up his coat freely and spend it with you.

↬not that he's quick to show it on his face, though. he's long since felt comfortable enough with you to drop any pretense of a fake, customer-service smile in your presence, after all. even then, it's very much clear from his raised eyebrows and confused blinks that he's rather surprised. or confused.

↬ perhaps he's gotten just a little spoiled by you — to the point that going for how many minutes without hearing the padding of your footsteps as you come over to greet him leaves him feeling a little odd. maybe you were busy! he rationalises to himself. maybe you got called away for a last minute meeting, and he just missed you on your way out—

↬ that is, until he hears the telltale little sound effects from a game on your phone you've told him about lately, and lo and behold, and his chest does a weird thing where it flutters and sinks all at once. on the one hand, he's glad it's just a game that's stolen your attention. on the other hand... it's just a game? he won't say anything, but if you notice anything for the next few days — going on more missions with you, or cooking you even more of your favourite foods than usual — then maybe the discreet little glances he spares your phone, making sure it's silent and face-down on the table, have something to do with it.

↬ it's rather preposterous to think that LAURENTINA would "stoop to so low a level," she says, that she would get jealous of something so minor. rather, she enjoys monopolising your attention, you see — and for your little predicament to steal your gaze away from her, well... that won't do, won't it?

↬ she teases you much more often, especially when she finds out what exactly it is that's distracting you lately: lingering touches on your shoulder or waist, sickly sweet calls of your name, or even her plucking your phone out of your hands with a sly little shark-toothed smile.

↬ if she really feels up to it, she might tease you more about your little distraction, too: oh? you want my attention, dear? i thought that little game of yours enraptured you much more. she loves watching the way you squirm, hearing how you hem and haw as you think of a response.

↬ of course, while she acts like she's above jealousy, she can still feel it simmering a little just under her skin — it's why her little teasing prods at you have become more frequent, though there's never any real ill intent behind any of them, and she's very intent on making sure you don't misinterpret her intentions. after all, she wants you to see what you're missing out on, not drive you away entirely!

↬ much like specter, TEQUILA claims that being jealous is "silly" — though it doesn't stop the exaggerrated way he pouts when your gaze is drawn elsewhere... at your phone, specifically. he doesn't seem the type to take it too personally, but as he jokes about oh, i didn't know your game was more distracting than me, there's a part of him that wonders what it would take to take your attention off of it entirely.

↬ there's a chance he might ask you on more dates than usual — even if it's something as simple as a late-night walk together, or chatting at the bar as rafaela prepares you drinks. there's also a chance he might be a little more physically affectionate than usual: his hand around your waist as you walk, resting his chin on your shoulder from behind as he watches whatever it is you're doing at the moment.

↬ in the end, though, the part of him that thought all of this was silly wins by the smallest, smallest margin; he might even ask you about it directly, if he gets the chance. and if you decide to gush about it, he listens with rapt attention — if you have a good time with it, then he's happy that you're happy, or something along those lines.

↬ but just for his sake, to appease the part of him that wanted to steal your attention back, it may be worth it to reassure (or maybe even tease) him a little in turn. just for the hint of satisfaction he might get for winning over pixels.

[callsign-songbird]

OK ok ok, my mind is churning with an AU

So, we know Charlie's wonderful slasher Simon AU, right? Well, I just finished the second scream movie and BOY do I have thoughts for my own vaiernt of the Slasher Simon AU.

College.

Sports.

Murder.

Of course, not for any convoluted reason like Micky or Ms. Lumen, no. Just because Simon had a rough upbringing, and it's one of the only ways he knows how to releive stress. Besides, he's always found knives and firearms fascinating, especially his KBAR and his Snake Eye. The first time was an accident, the second time felt good, and after that? After that was just... Ghost.

They can go to an rotc specializing college (idk if those exist, but it's 4 am, I'll finesse the details later) ANYWAY they can be split up by Dorms!! Like, dorm TF141, and K0RT4C.

Laswell could be the headmistress, or Vice President

Price would totally be the golden boy dorm leader. He has to make sure that the boys under his jurisdiction stay safe and abide by dorm rules. He totally acts like the father of the group and always gets mistaken for a teacher (although, he does tutor students who fall behind, even if they aren't in his dorm)

Gaz could be the clumsy right-hand man who always has the scoop around campus (Golden retriever boy) always wears a baseball cap or letterman jacket, sometimes both.) He's the little brother of the group, definitely. Not to the point where he is baby, but definitely to the point where the others help him out a bit more and tend to give him advice (whether it's warranted or not) and he totally looks up to Price.

Soap is a study abroad student from Scotland who takes his studies almost as serious as his Rugby. A total Jock, but not the sleazy kind, the kind that takes a drunk girl home and writes her a note explaining what happened while leaving a bucket by her bed and some pedialite on the bedside (because not everyone can drink like him) going with the brother theme, Soap is TOTALLY the older brother, you can't tell me I'm wrong. I totally headcannon that he grew up in a stable household with three younger sisters, so he's just used to being the big brother.

Simon would (obviously) be the Ghostface. The scream movies are really good at keeping you guessing who the killers are, so it really wouldn't be obvious at all. He's buff from sports and the time he spends either at the gym or training in martial arts for his expected military career, of course he still likes dark humor and really bad jokes, and has a penchant for skull themed clothes, going as far as to wear a skull-print balaclava in winter. (Soap has declared himself as Simon's best friend. Simon won't admit it, but it's true.) Keeping up with the brothers theme, Simon is DEFINITELY a middle child. Quiet, reserved, brooding, tries to keep to himself so people tend to overlook him. Middle child all the way in this dorm dynamic. (Though, being a murder isn't exactly his LIFE, more of a hobby to let off steam, so it isn't really the focal point of the AU so much as college shenanigans)

And Roach (Because in my AU roach is alive and well) if the dorm is a family, then Roach is the pet, or the Wine uncle who occasionally shows up at 3 in the morning to steal snacks. Roach is the dorm party animal, always up to trouble, always has a drink, everyone loves him, and he always seems to know everything about everyone on campus. But he's also a feral gremlin who says and does weird things (like taking naps in the ceiling on lunch) all the time, so half the time no one takes him seriously. Odd and feral as he may be, he's still part of the dorm, and everyone treats him as such.

I still have to think about the K0RT4K dormmates and their dynamic, as well as the Ghosts squad, but oh my gosh, let me know if you want any more, and please send asks if you're interested! Though, I'll probably be drabbling more about it anyway, lol

[anemoarchonhoe]

Imagine Bayo!reader using the demon slave or just wicked weaves and the more sentient demons arguing or teasing the shit outta the characters, Xiao and Chongyun especially. I feel like Hu Tao would have a blast with them and Cloud Retainer would probably study the Umbran clock tower and wartrain Gouon. I think reader would tell Zhongli about the history of the umbra witches and lumen sages and the witch hunts and Shenhe and Ganyu about how they normally beat up angels and the like. And reader just going off one Childe switching weapons out. I feel like Yun Jin and Xinyan would get along with Baal so well.

Oh imagine a normal afternoon with Itto and the gang just chilling and then they see a huge plant monster (Alraune) and a giant butterfly woman (Madama Butterfly) arguing, or just straight up fighting, and reader’s sitting there, power’s activated, wicked weaving, with popcorn rooting for Madama Butterfly to get her lick back. I feel like Itto would be a little shocked seeing other world demons. Imagine reader trying to see if they can use demon slave on HIM

Zhongli just taking a walk through nature and then hearing reader shout some enochian and then a huge sound of a dragon. So then he runs over to see reader dancing around while a giant demon dragon is wrecking havoc on huge group of treasure horders. Then they look at him and wink

This is so long I am so sorry 😭🤚🏾

Lmao imagine Baal (demon frog) and Ei looking at each other like, "omg... same name" and Venti chimes in saying "I like this Baal frog", then losing his mind when he sees Baal Zebul and requesting a duet immediately.

Chongyun and Xiao getting existential crisis over this, but you solve the problem by saying your demons are True Demons while the evil spirits they fight are just some "bootlegs". True Demons only likes to eat angels and doesn't harm humans at all, and that they work with you under a binding contract where they serve you. That set the two of them at ease. You strategically left out the part where your contracted demons will devour your soul should you die in battle. They don't need to know that.

I don't think Bayonetta!Reader would purposely use their demons on anyone in Teyvat unless it's imposter au, but even then, she won't rely on them too much. It's because demons only want angels. Though maybe vision wielders/allogenes could be exceptions since they're kinda like god candidates, and thus have some sort of divinity (vision?) on them, so they qualify as snacks. Archons definitely would be good food, they're of divine origin, and Celestia would be like Teyvat's version of Paradiso.

[mothknight42]

SOSOSO I WAS TEARING THROUGH YOUR BLOG (bc I love your fanfics they are so CRUNCHY) and I found an ask about what projects you would like to write and stuff and you said something about a comic with Umbran hair rituals but it was lost bc you couldn't draw I CAN DRAW AND I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THEM PLEASE PLEASE INFODUMP (I can't make comics but I can make concept art please madam just one chance I need that brainrot 🤲🤲🤲)

SCREAMING !?!?!?!!? HELLO !!!!!!!!!!

So fucking HONORED you enjoy my fics. Crunchy is SUCH a good description. Crönchy™

This Barbie is me always thinking about Bayo to be clear

OH MY GODDDDDDD HAIR THOUGHTS. YES. OKAY. LET'S DIVE IN. BELOW DA CUT CAUSE I AS PER USUAL AM GONNA RAMBLE.

I just have a collection of various headcanons and such so I will put them in no particular order o7

Hair is DEEPLY personal to witches, because it is used as the medium for summoning. So caring for your hair is considered one of the most important things you can do (I have had this hc forever but CATLD made it canon, so I feel justified. HA.)

In Bayo 1, we see all the witches in flashbacks have their hair covered in some way (only Jeanne's hair is really visible, but it is still restrained in those little gold nets, and in CATLD Morgana's hair is kept up in elaborate horns) so I hc that witches tend to keep their hair up or covered or protected once they reach adulthood - they only let it down/uncover it when they are alone or around people they trust!!

To touch another witches hair is a HUGE deal - I wrote about this briefly in this fic, but essentially to be allowed to touch/brush/style another witch's hair is the ultimate sign of trust!! Even witches who train together constantly or are directly related don't necessarily ever touch each other's hair. It is like. The biggest of deals type thing. To be invited to touch someone's hair is basically laying your heart bare to say "I trust you completely" and to take that invitation is like saying "I will care for you forever."

So Cereza using her hair to repair Cheshire in CATLD??? HUGEEEEEEEEEE

Witches tend to keep their hair long. If they cut it short, it usually is out of grief (Jeanne's hair is short in Bayo 1 because of this) or to symbolize a new era of their lives (Bayo's hair is short in Bayo 2 because of this).

Their is also a ritual cutting of hair which I mention in this fic, which symbolizes the swearing in of a new leader of the Umbra. Witches cut a small lock of their hair and burn it together to show their trust in and loyalty to a new leader.

Another ritual is when a witch makes her first pact with an Infernal - generally whoever is the leader of the clan will grant said witch something to put in their hair/cover their hair with as a sign of respect and welcoming to the clan proper as a "full witch" (Jeanne's little golden nets were her gift from the Elder. Bayo's headcovering in flashbacks she made herself, but Jeanne stitched it and her whole outfit with gold <3)

So Madama Khepri is the 'Protector of Time' and her description says that she can determine a person's fate by gazing at their shadow. But I think it would be neat if she COMMUNICATES said fate by wrapping a witch in their own hair (just like we see with Bayo and Jeanne in Bayo 1/Bayo 2 respectively).

Speaking of, that hair wrapping we see Jeanne do for Bayo and then Bayo do for Jeanne when they are both almost dead/down for the count? It is actually the death ritual for witches. If their bodies are left behind when their souls are taken to Inferno, whatever witches were closest to them will wrap them up with their own hair and bury them. All the witches in those Lumen sealed caskets in the first game are entombed like this. Oof.

In CATLD we see Morgana's hair in horns, and Jeanne and Bayo's with little cat ears adorning their heads. I am going to say that such styles are usually youthful fads, and a way to teach witches how to control their hair with magic on a small scale before they start to use it for summoning. Once witches get older they tend not to do such styles anymore - Morgana is one of the rare exceptions, and keeps her hair in huge horns because she loved the style (in her youth, small horns were the fad. Other witches found her odd for never letting the style go.)

Most witches don't dye their hair or alter it majorly, outside of the rare haircut. The fact that Viola's hair is dyed would cause the witches of old to keel over and die LOL. (I hc that Viola's natural color is actually a light brown, so if she properly summoned a battle suit or an Infernal that would be the color of her hair despite the dye)

Okay. These are the main ones I can think of right now? I am currently working on a Morgana POV fic with her growing closer with others and letting go of grief through hair and trust actually, but it is pretty short and experimental and non canon compliant after a certain point, so.

You mentioned drawing!! AUGHHHHHHHH. Listen, listen - if you do feel any artistic inspiration from this, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DRAW WHATEVER. JUST SEND IT TO ME. AUGHHHHH.

I just love witches and their hair. Thank you for giving me the chance to ramble on like a madman about it. #normalmode

[naraven]

Dear @opalthea,

Your matchup has been complete! After some deliberation, Doctor, we think you would best have this person as your next assistant:

LUMEN

cw // she/her doctor, slight yandere, self-depricating behavior, use of operator's real name

Jordi doesn't know what to think of the Doctor.

Not in a bad way! She was plenty nice, and talking with her always felt pleasant. It's just, it never went any further than that.

And she seemed so outgoing when with others! She would greet every staff and medic and fellow operators around Rhodes Island, yet when he followed her back to her office...

Well, all he could do was make sure the Doctor was comfortable taking her little nap.

After all, he was just Operator Lumen, a mediocre member of the Inquisition who's combat capabilities were severely lacking. And the Doctor... the Doctor had lead so many people, knows so much about the world, and is honorably trying to find a cure to Oripathy.

Next to her, Jordi feels like an ant. Sometimes he realizes who exactly he works for and it all feels like a dream. It made sense that he was assigned to do secretarial work, given his only talent of taking care of people (which he hesitates to even call a talent).

He doubts himself more and more as he works under you, until the Doctor starts... noticing him.

She tells him stories of the Aegir and the Seaborn he had never heard of in his small home town. She would always tell him with a patient smile, and he would apologize when she would groan in pain from how hard he started massaging her arms and back.

But the more the Doctor notices him, the more Rhodes Island did too.

Soon enough, he's gone from nothing to Elite 2. Engineering has asked for him to explain some Aegir technology he was tinkering with, and on top of all his Inquisition work, he sees the Doctor less and less and less.

He wonders who's taken his place as the Doctor's Assistant. Of course the Doctor would have an assistant, but would she regularly take breaks? Does she like her new assistant more than him? Would he ever get assigned under her ever again-?

Ahh, Saint Carmen is scolding him again...

Back on Rhodes Island, Lumen steps onto the landship. Amiya greets him, and he absentmindedly waves back with a small, polite smile.

He wonders where he should go first. Maybe check up on the dorms to see who needed some treatment? Maybe the people from Engineering wanted to scoop out all the information they could from him again...

Unknowingly, his feet lead him to the front door of the Doctor's office. Oh dear, he hadn't even realized, he should leave soon-

"I'll be- oh, it's you."

Lumen stammered. "L-Lady Irene! I wasn't aware you were here."

The Liberi closes the door shut behind her and tilts her head up to face him. "Yes, well, it seems you are back from Iberia. Would you like to go greet the Doctor? I was just about to go start my handcannon practice."

She squints at him. "... Actually, maybe you should join me. It would benefit you as well-"

"I-I'll join you soon! Maybe after I go and tell the Doctor I'm back..."

I don't want to be away from her for another second, please.

The two Iberians stare each other down in front of the Doctor's office. Moments feel like hours, and Lumen blinks out of the encounter when the Doctor's voice calls out from the office.

"Irene? Are you still there?"

How long has it been since he's heard that voice?

"I will be going soon, Doctor. Don't mind me."

Lumen feels her eyes leering at his back as he slides open the office doors. It feels like it's been an eternity since he had last laid eyes on the desk, the windows that show the moving scenery, and most importantly:

The Doctor.

She doesn't look at all different from the last time he's seen her. The office has a couple additions and upgrades, but the figure sitting behind the desk remains identical to the last time he heard her voice.

"Oh, Lumen! Welcome back."

He swallows a dry breathe of air. Oh my, was the temperature in the Doctor's office always so warm...?

"Lumen...? Are you okay? You don't look like you're at your best."

Jordi shakes his head, face a bit too warm but feeling more than okay.

"Never better, Doctor."

[the-consortium]

Justicar Verdan is tired. He is walking through another chaos fortress, or maybe it's the same one he was walking through for Emperor knows how long, all of them start to look the same to him. He killed far too many daemons and cultists and chaos marines to care. His armor is very damaged, although the psychic matrix inside still works, enhancing his psychic power, even though it doesn't really matter as he used too much psykery to safely use any more. As he walks through another corridor, noticing a space marine sized person through an ajar door, he stills, though it doesn't change the fact that he was already heard and the person inside is turning to the door.

(I'm letting you decide who he encoutered! I would like you know that I don't want to start with combat, so someone willing to talk will be appriciated

I'm not sure if you would need this but just fyi:

Verdan is armed with a force halberd, a mostly empty strom bolter and is wearing a scuffed and beaten up aegis terminator suit with a seriously fucked up helmet.)

The room is larger than the rather inconspicuous door might initially suggest. Columns divide it up and disappear into the darkness at the back. Some narrow windows let in grey light with strange streaks and something can be heard from outside that might be the sound of fighting. An impact further away - dust trickles from the ceiling and the lumens hanging from long cables dance for a few seconds.

The two people in the room turn towards Verdan in synchronised motion, raising their old, ornately decorated baroque bolters.

They were obviously busy looking for something. Cupboards have been rummaged through, drawers are open and jars of viscous liquid have shattered on the stone floor. Some strange tissue samples have also been scattered and are twitching on the tiles.

In a way, the two Chaos Marines certainly live up to the image you always have of them. Their armour is in various shades of pink, purple and crimson and is richly decorated with gold ornaments. One of the two, whose armour is adorned all over with text in a language unknown to Verdan, has strange flesh-like outgrowths on his helmet and a snow-white crest swings elegantly to one side as the marine fixes his gaze on the newcomer.

The other person, however - well, apparently the Heretics have gone further in their corruption of the Emperor's work than previously known, as it is obviously a woman. She wears no helmet and her painted lips twist into a slightly too friendly smile, showing too pointed teeth. She is no shorter than the Astartes next to her, on the contrary - limbs elongated into goat legs even give her a little more height.

"Oh, someone else looking for something here. And has found us. The prince means well for us!" She tilts her head a little and rolls her shoulders. Verdan can hear her vox clicking softly.

[equalseleventhirds]

Hey, do you have any recs for long form, more serious ttrpg systems for fantasy settings? I feel like I hear a lot about short/definitively-lengthed systems, but I've been yearning for a DnD-esque system without all the baggage of equip loads and complicated Challenge Ratings and other rules-y baggage I don't super care about.

do i! do i ever!

serious & long-form systems do on the whole tend to be crunchier than shorter systems (not always, but generally); nevertheless, i've picked out a........ handful......... ok there's Several, i did try to control and limit myself but u kno.......... games......... anyway, here are some that are considerably less crunchy than d&d but still lend themselves to long fantasy campaigns.

uh. under the cut for. oh god it's so long. it's so long. tried my best to explain them, u see. (which is also why it took me so long to reply lol, sry abt that)

godeater (& godeater 2.0): play in a broken, post-apocalyptic fantasy world, where dead and dying gods warp the land, and you raid their bodies for divine magic to help support humanity. 2d10-based, get weird & funky with it! i admit a small preference for version 1.0, which gave u some loose examples but left much of the worldbuilding and even character building up to u to create; 2.0 has some extra books that go with it that i haven't much looked into yet, but seem to give more solid lore to work with, if u would like that.

when the guilds pay in copper, crime pays in gold: alchemical guilds pay shit wages to use people for magical experiments. go do crimes on 'em with your own magic. d6 base, assign dice to stats to make ur own dice pool; fairly light rules and in fact very little in the way of instruction or hard lore on the gm's side, so better played with an experienced gm who's good at making their own stuff, but certainly campaign material for the right gm!

third empire - violence + beauty: the world sucks, and has sucked for a while, through two oppressive empires and into a third one. you play adventurers who are trying to carve out a little goodness, a little justice, a little vengeance, in the world. y'know. lasers & feelings based, but expanded beyond the original (which also comes with it if u get it!) into more lore, more character choices, very collaborative worldbuilding, downtime mechanics, etc etc.

ruby radiance 6e: streamlined dungeoneering built to let ppl play the way actual play podcasts sound, essentially. d20 pool system, based on trophy mechanics but v much adjusted. lots of choices to make during character creation & leveling, but much much less to keep track of during the playing part. u get it.

wizard pals: all of you are wizards, going on adventures and trying to accomplish your goals in a fantasy world. d12-based, fairly lighthearted (can lean silly but u could use it for more serious if not super grimdark adventures), much worldbuilding left up to the gm, but very simple rules, so.

grimblade rpg: (speaking of grim lol,) action & adventure in a grim fantasy world; things like character creation and rewards (and magic) fully imply a fantasy world, but worldbuilding is left up to the gm, altho there are many tables to roll on to give some help. uses d4, 6, 8, and 10; all rolls are contested rolls, with dice picked based on how serious the gm feels this roll is.

shattered aether: post-apocalyptic science fantasy, you roam around a fucked up magic world and protect ppl from various dangers. 2d6 based, based on the lumen system so fairly combat-forward in a very high-action very cool asskicking way. for some reason the font chosen for this book is murder on my eyes, but if u can get past that (or just zoom in lots and read a bit at a time) it's straightforward, simple, and fun!

familiars of terra: this one may be a little too crunchy, but i love it a lot and rly the most crunch is in character creation and tracking experience, actual gameplay is (imo) pretty easy. post-post-apocalyptic fantasy world, some science fantasy elements depending on where you choose to focus, bcos there are absolute PAGES of lore on this extremely cool and enormous world; you and your party go around with your soul-bonded animal friends to spread hope and healing and also do cool shit. y'know. card-based, again it is probably more crunchy than ur looking for but less abt tracking what you can do during things and more abt tracking experience in order to level up stats, so.

1400 quest: ok that last one was crunchy, this one's very uncrunchy. pick a handful of things and get going! clearly inspired by d&d, but very very streamlined, so things that were pages of mechanics are like, one or two sentences. gm's side of it is like, a handful of rollable tables and then do whatever, so prolly for the more experienced gm. d6 based, but you may have occasion to use other dice. also if you like this one there's others by the same author focusing on other things (1400 mage, sneak, etc), or you can check out others in the 24XX type of games, which started out sci fi but has since been expanded to a bunch of other stuff. u kno.

beast dream: pokemon-inspired game where you make friends with magical beasts and go on magical adventures! d6-based, forged in the dark, so there is a little crunch wrt deciding on position etc and stuff like stress, but the author rly wanted to focus in on letting u adventure and have fun without getting bogged down in numbers and i think that shows, stuff like load and reputation aren't so much a thing.

cognatons: play as sentient, magic-filled automatons doing whatever fantasy adventures your robot heart desires. d4-based, caltrop core, so you get a fairly simple & defined set of actions; less to keep track of, easy to follow.

dethrone the divine: you're gonna overthrow the gods, and also take their places. you're already either divine, semi-divine, or magically powerful in other ways, and you adventure with the goal of gathering power and followers so you can take the place of the shitty gods in power. d6-based, pretty straightforward system, makes characters v cool and powerful, which is always fun.

perilous: do you love dungeon crawls bcos i love dungeon crawls... streamlined and easy to understand fantasy dungeoneer adventures in this one! d20-based, leans towards tags instead of complicated numerical skill stuff to keep track of. go to dungeons, fight monsters, get treasure. simple n good. (adds in some metaplot, like who sent you, how will this affect the people living here, whatever, but rly strong with the very old core of d&d-style 'go do a dungeon' kinda thing, if that's what u like.)

high magic lowlives: ok my latest obsession bcos i'm currently planning a big ol campaign for friends in this one. there are classic adventurers in this world, out there cleaning out monster nests or whatever, but they're usually in the employ of the immortal aristocracy. you? you make your money by stealing from and humiliating the immortal aristocracy, because you're a lowlife. it's a dangerous gig, but isn't it better than going into student debt at wizard school? melds high fantasy aesthetics with like, magical twitch streaming aesthetics. fun as hell. uses all the dice and also sometimes tarot cards (mostly just for character creation, u kno). easy to understand rules, i'm having a great time.

ellipses rpg: setting-agnostic system (make ur own setting!) with simple, streamlined rules and an emphasis on improvisation. d20 based, rly just some very basic foundation and then a lot of encouragement to make things up and do what's fun. so like, loosey goosey & not super structured if you want structure, but could be fun!

unbound: setting-agnostic system but with much more formal structure, got structure around how to collaboratively worldbuild your setting and everything. obvs this means some crunch, but it's still not super crunchy, nice and straightforward rly. lotta character options but not so complex and math-heavy, u kno. card-based system. designed actually for a series of short campaigns in a linked world, tho, so if ur not up for exploring new characters a lot, may not be for you.

[frecklystars]

lars and the real girl except it's lars catching a falling star in the palm of his hands... and the star is also a human but she's too anxious to come out. she stays in the form of a star, but around lars, she'll take her human form when they're alone together. or so he claims

so he cradles her star form in his arms all day calling her "keri" his "wish come true" and everyone assumes he's carrying around a piece of plastic that glows really bright with a special light bulb at 100000 lumens or something. nobody believes him when he says she is really a human girl. or a star. because why would you be able to hold a flaming hot ball of gas in your bare hands without disintegrating or going blind, and how is the star still ever present, ever glowing without snuffing out? of course nobody believes him.

lars asks karin and gus to let keri stay. karin offers the pink room and he says in a hushed voice "ohhh no. nooo, keri..." he whispers very quietly "keri has c-ptsd so she can't... she can't look at the color pink... she can't look at a lot of things, and pink is one of--" but then he holds the star up to his ear as if she's talking to him and he says "oh. oh. baby are you sure? ok..." he lowers the star to his chest and says "ok she's ok with it if we put some of her favorite barbie dolls in there. she's going to try. but she says i need to hold her the whole time"

his hands get shaky sometimes when he's alone, when something triggers him. he's cradling the star to his chest, blinking harshly, shaking his head, trying to stop thinking about it, but he can't. she doesn't judge him. she knows exactly how he feels. she'll take human form and wrap her arms around him, he'll cling to her for dear life. her hugs dont "hurt" like other people's hugs. they're close enough to where he feels more comfortable with her touch where it almost never bothers him at all, just like she grows more comfortable with him, and even still she limits how often she hugs him or holds his hand because she never wants to overstep, and he does the same for her

when she starts to take human form more often, going out into public as a whole entire person, flesh and blood, the townspeople are like "???? oh. you mean lars wasn't... i mean... oh. ok. this was legit a person this entire time. ok" karin is relieved and happy for lars while gus is like "omfg the stress i have been put through. my dude. this shouldnt even be possible"

keri is quiet, like lars. keri doesn't like crowds, like him. has anxiety that makes her completely shut down. just like him. she doesn't like to be touched either, but she isn't as repulsed to the degree lars is. they find a balance. lars wears several layers to avoid skin on skin contact. keri is the opposite, she hates the feeling of fabric rubbing her skin, always wearing a loose t-shirt and shorts or a long skirt. lars can handle very light, soft touches, but keri absolutely cannot; someone has to firmly grip her if they're hugging her or holding her hand. so when he holds her hand he makes sure to squeeze it tight to apply pressure. and she makes sure to rub her thumb lightly over his knuckles. some moments when she's overstimulated she says "i don't want to be kissed right now, but you can put your head on my lap if you want" and he's smiling and laying his head in her lap without question, and she pets his hair gently. sometimes for maybe a few hours she won't want to be touched at all, and lars is okay with that. but as she feels less anxious and finds new habits during the day to avoid being overstimulated, she grows more comfortable with being touched and finds herself feeling more at home in this new universe she dropped into.

he finds comfort knowing keri's love is infinite. that it's literally her purpose, to travel through stars, travel through dimensions, to give love to all kinds of different people in different ways. he feels so lucky to be one of those people. she gets him like nobody else. she gives him some of her stim toys, things he didn't know existed but it helps him cope monumentally. he knows he can break down in front of her and she won't judge him. he doesn't have ptsd but he does have trauma and he is there to hold her when she is going through a flashback or jolting awake from a nightmare. he holds her tight and tells her she's safe, nobody's gonna hurt her ever again because he'd never let them. never never never.

normally with my main F/Os i like to exchange jewelry as a token of affection, but with lars specifically i would give him a sensory fidget bracelet. he'd love to roll the beads between his fingers, flick the little glow in the dark spinner. it would all be pastel colored just like keri's clothes, he'd love looking at it and thinking how "a real wishing star" gave it to him. probably has a "k" charm attached to it too just like ken's, just like K's, just like luke's, just like driver's.

keri has to vocally stim sometimes too, so he'll walk with her in the woods by the lake where he grew up and they'll sing together when she's feeling restless and needs to release some sound.

anyway can you tell i rewatched lars and the real girl and had Normal Feelings about my self ship

[akirawrites24]

My take on Bayonetta 3

What the fuck was that ending supposed to mean, if not the whole story!

1: Where was Loki? He would have done something to prevent this shit.

2: In what universe are we supposed to play in!? Clearly not the one that we played in before. As Bayonetta wasn’t even a family name (was never mentioned. And Balder would know it if it was in the 2nd game to recognize Bayonetta as Cereza) up until the third game.

3: giving Luka powers. WHY. He was more interesting as a normal human, it was nothing more then an excuse to make BayoLuka canon. As it was stated Bayonetta would never date him as he dies long before her. And in the first two games, she clearly only sees him as a toy. Nothing more or less. And may i remind everyone that in the third and second game they had little to no screen time together at all!?

4: WHY DID THEY KILL OFF JEANNE MORE THEN ONCE!? She was only there to bring back Bayonetta’s memories in the first game and was pretty much tossed aside in the last 2 games. #justiceforjeanne 

5: God why, why the lovers by fate part? (It’s heavily implied that every Bayonetta ends up with Luka) where the fuck is the fun in that!? It’s boring and there is no surprise in any of them. Let Bayonetta be single or at least put her together with Jeanne, Rodin or even Enzo for all i care in a few multiverses!  6: Why didn’t any Bayonetta survive in any universe? She is one of thé strongest characters in game history, no way that she will be get caught of guard easily. She wasn’t even caught of guard when Loptr revealed himself when he was pretending to be Loki😭😭

7: Where was Balder and the angels?? Bayonetta is literally all about angels and Eyes of the world (they aren’t even mentioned though it is what the game started it’s adventure in the first place) no way that they didn’t think that the worlds were ending cause they were gone.

8: Why did they feel the need to kill off Rosa again? Bayonetta didn’t had it in her to kill Egyptian Jeanne, but she could with Rosa?? HER OWN MOTHER? Oh please.

9: What the hell is Singularity even supposed to be?? Some robot/human guy that wants it’s own universe.

10: Where did the Chaos Gears come from? Why were they in other universes? How were they created? Who created them??

11: Why doesn’t have any weapon it’s own unique taunt anymore? Why can’t they be equipped on feet and hands individually? 

12: What the hell is the Arch Eve even supposed to be? The strongest Umbra Witch? And why does the Earth vanish if the Arch Eve is killed? What happened when humans weren’t there yet? Was it just a white void like what we have seen in Bayo 3?

13: Where the fuck was Rodin in this? He could have helped a LOT. (Especially as he knows his business is in danger as everyone fucking dies)

14: Did all the worlds get restored? Did Bayonetta and Luka get out of Inferno? HELP

15: Wasted opportunity not to give us a version of Bayonetta where she is a Lumen Sage.

MOST LIKELY MORE THINGS I AM UNSATISFIED ABOUT BUT OKAY

[inkquillery]

For the Fanfic Ask game:

23 and 40

hey, thanks for the ask, friend!! 🤗

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?

whoooo boy, you broke a dam asking this! im so excited to answer :D

a deaf!lin beifong au for avatar: the last airbender/legend of korra is at the very top of my list, it’s been rotting my brain for the past month. i am so in love with the beifong family, but lin and toph in particular are my favourites. it would just be so interesting to see how they navigate communication since they can’t exactly use sign language or writing. and i mean, the amount of flangst! (also i personally have such a fascination and interest in sign language for like, no reason at all lol, i even started self-learning recently for funsies (it’s ridiculously hard to find free online resources for auslan compared to asl)) <- this might also apply to question 17 but oh well :3

and and and an au for agents of shield where an alternate variant of skye (known as daisy) escapes into the canon universe sometime after the events of afterlife due to kang the conqueror destroying her own. she trains skye in her powers, we have some lovely maydaisy angst for both universes, and some character death :3

also ghost!lucy for fairy tail where lucy sacrificed herself in the final battle and became lumen histoire, but sticks around as a sort of spirit to help her friends move on bc i’m all about that angst <33

another one is for demon slayer, where a young tanjirō keeps inexplicably skipping through time, non-linearly and uncontrollably, but he always ends up near giyū (and through a series of confusing events and time-wimey misunderstandings, all the hashira believe tanjirō is giyū’s secret little brother ;))

and i could go on all day but no one has time for that so i’mma stop there lol—

(but feel free to ask more about these aus if you want!!)

40. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

oof, it really depends on the fic. i do tend to re-read oneshots, and occasionally longfics if i have the time/when the premise suddenly returns to me and i have this primal urge to reread the whole thing lol. or sometimes i just remember a moment that really stuck out to me and i ctrl + f for it lol.

tldr: yes i do tend to reread fics

thanks for playing! i had a lot of fun ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

[exoticalmonde]

Chapter XII All Eepy Under The Rainy Day

12-2 Adverse [For the level I used the AFK stratery with: Siege E1MAX, Bagpipe E2, Elysium E2lvl20, Ptilopsis E2lvl50, Vigil MAX, Puzzle E2lvl20, Heidi E2S2 and Lumen MAX]

! Everything ahead is SPOILERS !

[Text: 'We've confirmed that a high-speed warship belonging to the Duke of Windermere was attacked by an unknown Sarkaz weapon. There were no survivors.] GREAT! WONDERFUL! What the hell would you expect me to do about that? How in the hell do you 'gather intel' all we can do is probably look at it from below as it disappears into a cloud of steam and originium specks and hope that the next thing it fires at will not be ummediately us.

I keep forgetting that the title Duke is absolutely available for men and women, so when she comes up every time I'm like... I kind of want to be her when I get older but Ma'amn I do not appreciate the way you're talking about Allerdale. At least she has a good and honest (?) opinion on what she's fighting for, because she's at least being real about how this is progressing and what Victorians think about the 'homeland'.

And are you telling me the Duke of Windermere is dead or... Am I supposed to give up on this model now? They talk about her like she's still alive, so I suppose she was not on that ship.

Sir... Your model is so good. GOSH I LOVE Victoria's clothes so much. Look at the back of his tailcoat, look at the gorgeous cane he'd holding. What a distinguished man whose real agenda and opinions I do not remember thus I can't say if swooning over the model is tipping my good girl scales.

[Text: How about a Sankta patron firearm? I just happen to have one stached away back home...]

I know the Sarkaz are famous for their battle with the Sankta, having past history and whatnot, but are you sure you can just brink a dead Sankta's weapon into the conversation and think that's going to be enough of a temptation?

[Text: Sarkaz Soldier: Interesting... You got your hands on an angel's guardian gun huh? Timid Citizen: Oh, um, it's not mine though. It's just for safekeeping... Heavens, those angels from the Notarial Hall are going to flay me alive if they find out, but if you're interested-]

Dude, you are NOT asking if he is interested because they collect them....

[Text: I just happened to hear, you- Err, the Sarkaz enjoy collecting them, so...]

Oh, he asked, alright...

[Text: Listen up. I prefer my angelic toys freshly looted from a pile of corpses. Now, piss off.]

O-kay. Alright, you know what? You can... Do that. I- And that angry guy is dead now, alright. Oh, those two are down the drain as well...

To be fair, he's not wrong. Sarkaz have been living in dar for so long just because other countries are 110% sure that they will be back asking for vengeance and they are such a great of a number that it's going to be catastrophic. This is what I'm talking about when we talk about Arknights' whole 'Who is the good guy?' meter because it is BROKEN. Those who live well do it at the cost of someone else but they didn't really... do anything to get that going, it's all politics. In the meantime those who are mad are mad for a reason you can kinda nod to because it's relatable.

Terrible, really.

---

CADOR? HELLO? HE'S BABY???

YO THE GLASGOW GANG?

I can't even begin to imagine the damage Kal'tsit would have taken. They say she was already frail, but I wince every time she raises her hand to call on Mon3tr. Don't worry Amiya we can do this. She's gonna be fine, you are gonna be fine, it was all a bad dream. The weight of the Crown of the Sarkaz is heavy but I will hold it up for you babo, I promise.

12-2 Adverse

Poor Golding being told she's probably the reason why all 3 houses got ambushed is really heartrending. She is literally me, for real, actually, and just like how I refuse to give up so did she...

[Text: You little twat, you think being a knight gives you the right to teach me to look at the big picture? I don't give a shite about wiping out some old Sarkaz monsters. My friends are in danger. My home is in danger!]

Okay, indra coming in Indra-ing all over the place until Siege just says 'Indra, enough.' and we instantly stop Indra-ing.

So who the hell are you, Mr. 'I'm the reason Allerdale died but also all your comrades are safely evacuated as much as we could do' and what the heck is your deal??

Trillby Asher? What do you want?

[Text: My sincerest pleasure to meet all of you, ladies and gentlemen. I hope there yet remains room for our objectives to coexist.]

You, Sir, are a clown-

[Text: 'Doctor', the commander of Rhodes Island... There exists very little information on you. We were under the impression that this was due to a lack of importance. We will reevaluate our internal appraisal.]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

"We thought you are useless, but it seems that was wrong."

[Text: Your subordinates are very strong, even after they heard the word Vampire.]

Which is weird because... what even are you? Your race is undisclosed, W refuses to call you a Sarkaz and bites your backside for having horns, but you also have Baphomet in your E2 art.

What are you????

But also...

INES INES INES INES SHE COMES IN TO SAVE THE DAY BEING A BADASS ONCE AGAIN. And apparently she's been in cahoots with Ascalon because how was she meant to know that Ines is going to come around after annihilating all the communications- no, all the people waiting on the other side of the radios to hear whether or not they get to attack

Better question

HOW DID YOU SURVIVE THAT FALL???

---

Skin intermission, because I caved. Czerny skin is what I'm saving for next, but it's okay because the new CC and the ExeAlter comes first and I can work on that.

12-4 Adverse

And after all of that horror I just get to listen about how Logos is just great at darts and apparently unbeatable at... *checks scribble on hand* chair sliding.

[Text: Cador presses against the door with his body and grabs the axe peeking through the hole back with his two hands. The Man outside makes several attempts to pull the axe back in vain.

Cador: I don't care who the hell you are, but get out of my sight, or I'll have this axe in your brain!]

GET EM CADOR! What a mess, the hecking audacity to be breaking in like that.

This level... Took me like 5 tries and in the end I had to learn the hard way that maybe bringing more robots is a good idea only if I have Chiave and only if I am braced to wait like... what... 200 seconds??? It was insane. I managed though. 12-5 Adverse

[Text: War is cruel. Suffering and death follow in its wake. It exposes out barest, truest forms to one another. It tears off all disguises.]

Oh yeah, I can absolutely see people going insane with all that is happening already, you don't need to remind us... We didn't learn our lesson with the gold tooth that Per left behind after his body got mauled...

Grannynapping happens, Clovisia used her arts and I'm so sad I didn't get to see what they were. Here and then she's not. I don't really get why the workers would try to save Catherine. I mean, yeah, the attempt is fine, since they do care about her, they want to be safe and giving up at this point is a little useless as she said... The Sarkaz will not be showing mercy anymore and I don't think there is any place safe they can go.

In any case, I appreciate the worry. even if Catherine is gonna be like 'You absolute twats.'

Ayo Originium Dust spoiler, dead Infected explode.

---

[Text: Of course, Victoria has never been truly at peace. The things we make are sent to the border region to fight the Sargonians ot the Leithanians and blast holes in their bodies - Not that it has anything to do with us. All we had to do was stay in the factory and turn screws on the iron blocks.] Me: "Why is Victoria fighting Laterano again?" Pinkie: "Because they have all the GUNZ." Me: "I meant Leithania actually." Pinkie: "Because they are right next to each other." Me: "THE SIMPLER EXPLANATION HAHA!" Pinkie: "Well, yeah! You're Balkan, I'd think you'd know that the best." Me: "Oh my god, I would." --- Pinkie: "I'm saying globalization isn't a thing the way I can voice chat with you all. A Leithanian can't voice chat with a Victorian. For me to contact you, Lundi, I have to send a letter to Kazimierz, wait a week, wait another week for a responce and then read your letter." Me: "If he survives." Pinkie: "And that is if the Messenger survives multiple cancer-inducing snowstorms, yes."

---

Pinkie: "Cador is definitely one of the based ones in the Glasgow gang. When Siege shows up he's like 'Oh would you like us to fight for you M'lady' and Siege is just 'Can you... not?' because she doesn't want to deal with the weight of her title like that."

Me: "That is absolutely hilarious. I like him."

...

Hope he doesn't die a terrible, horrible death.

[drinkthemlock]

NIGHT AT THE TAVERN

VI - LAST KISS OF LOVE

The end. Translating this took me over a year. I was in a very different place in my life when I began this project and I’m so glad it stayed with me along the way. Three cheers for weird goth boys from the 1800s!

Text by Álvares de Azevedo, translation my own.

TW: this chapter contains murder and suicide.

[revised August 2024]

VI

LAST KISS OF LOVE

“Well Juliet! I shall lie with you tonight!”

SHAKESPEARE - “Romeo and Juliet”

It was late into the night; the party was over. The fellows slept in the shadows, satisfied.

A light flashed through some cracks on the door. The door opened. A woman in black entered. She was pale; and the light of a lantern, which she held in her hand, poured onto her features and awarded a singular twinkle to her eyes. Maybe once she had been a typical beauty, one of those images that make one blush with desire in boyish dreams. But now, with her livid skin, her alert eyes, her purple lips, her marble hands, and her dark clothes, dripping wet from the rain, one might say instead: “the lost angel of madness”.

The woman bent down: with the lantern in her hand she looked, one by one, for a familiar face amongst the sleeping ones.

When the light hit Arnold, she knelt. She went to kiss him, puckered her lips… but an idea detained her. She rose. When she reached a sleeping Johann, a smile paled her lips, her gaze became sinister.

She knelt down next to him, then placed the lantern on the ground. The faint lumen of the lantern hitting her clothes cast a shadow over Johann. The woman leaned in and her hand fell on his throat. A husky and muffled sob followed. The stranger rose. She trembled; and upon holding the lantern a piece of metal clinked in her hand… It was a dagger… She threw it to the ground. She saw that her hands were red; dried them in Johann’s long hair…

She came back to Arnold; shook him.

“Wake up!”

“What do you want from me?”

“Look at me… can’t you recognize me?”

“You? Is this not a dream? It is you! Oh! Let me hold you, now! Five years without seeing you! Five years! And how much you’ve changed!”

“Yes, I am no longer as beautiful as I was five years ago! It’s true, my blond lover! It’s that the flower of beauty is like all flowers. Nourish them with the dew of virginity, under the wind of purity, and they’ll be beautiful… Cover them in filth… and, like the falling fruit that plunge into the waters of the sea, they’ll be enclosed by an impure and brackish encasement! Once I was Geórgia — the virgin —, but today it is Geórgia— the prostitute!”

“My God! My God!”

The man put his face in his hands.

“Do not curse me, no!”

“Oh! Let me remember: these past five years were a dream. The man from billiards, the point blank duel, waking up at a hospital, this depraved life which desperation pushed me into, are all a dream! Oh! Let us remember the past! When winter darkens the sky, let us close our eyes; poor dead swallows! Let us remember the spring!”

“Your words hurt me… It’s a farewell, a farewell kiss and separation that I come to ask of you; on earth our bed would be impure, the world has tarnished our bodies. The love between the libertine and the whore! Satan would laugh at us. It is in heaven, when the grave has washed us clean, that our loving dawn will rise…”

“Oh! To see you only to leave you again! And didn’t you realize, Giórgia, that it would've been better for me to have died, devoured by the dogs in that empty street where I was carried from, covered in blood? That it would’ve been better if you’d murdered me in drunken sleep, rather than point the wandering star of good fortune to me and then wipe it from the sky? Didn’t you realize that, after five years, five years of fever and insomnia, of waiting and despairing, of living for you, of longing and agony, it would be like hell to see you only to leave you?”

“Have mercy, Arnold! I need this farewell to be as long as life. See, my fate is grim: there’s a vile stain on my memories… today! The venal bed… Tomorrow! I only long for the berth of the grave! Arnold! Arnold!”

“Do not call me Arnold! Call me Artur, like before. Artur! Won’t you listen! Call me that! It’s been so long since I’ve heard anyone call me by that name! I was a madman! I wanted to drown my thoughts and wandered the towns and the mountains, leaving tears everywhere I went… in the lonely caves, on the silent meadows and on the wine-stained tables! Come, Giórgia! Sit here, sit on my knees, nestled well on my heart… your head on my shoulder! Come! A kiss! I want to feel again that perfume which I used to breathe in your lips… let me breathe it and die! Five years! Oh! Such a long time waiting for you, dreaming of just one hour on your breast… Then… Listen… I’ve so much to say to you! So many tears to spill onto your lap! Come! And I will tell you my whole story! My lover’s illusions and the damned nights spent in lasciviousness and the boredom that the cold mouths of the whores that kissed me inspired in me! Come! I’ll tell you all of it, I’ll tell you how I desecrated my soul and my past… and let us cry together… our tears will wash us like the rain washes mud off the leaves!”

“Thank you, Artur! Thank you!”

The woman drowned in tears and the young man murmured in between kisses and words of love.

“Listen, Artur, I came just to tell you goodbye! From the door to my grave; and then I’d close it, content… Artur, I’ll die!”

Both were crying.

“Do you see,” she continued. “Come along: do you see that man?”

Arnold took the lantern.

“Johann! Dead! God protect me! Who killed him?”

“Giórgia did! He was a scoundrel. It was he who left a young man he slapped at a gambling den for dead. Giórgia, the whore! Has avenged Giórgia, the virgin! He was the man who ruined her! Ruined her… she, his sister!”

“Horror! Horror!”

And the man turned his face and covered it with his hands.

The woman kneeled at his feet.

“And now goodbye! Goodbye, for I’ll die! Can’t you see I’m turning pale, that my eyes turn glazed and I tremble… and faint?”

“No! I will not go. If I were alive tomorrow, there would be a horrible memory in my past…”

“And are you not afraid? Watch out! It is death that’s coming! It’s life at its twilight on my forehead. Can’t you see this sliver in between my eyebrows?”

“Why would I care about the sleep of death? My future tomorrow would be terrible: and inside the corpse’s rotting head no memories echo, death seals its lips; the grave is silent. I’ll die!”

The woman retreated… retreated… The young man took her in his arms, nailed his lips to hers… She cried out and fell from his hands. It was horrible to look at. The man took the dagger, closed his eyes, punched it against his chest and fell onto her. Two moans were muffled by the sound of a body hitting the ground…

The lamp went out.

[fantomette22]

What are some of your favorite Gehrman head-canons my friend? ^-^

Hiii !!!! Smiley Anon!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ (sorry I am doing too much?? 😅 always a pleasure to see you're still around friend ♥️ I don't remember if you have an account but don't hesitate again to come talk it wouldn't be a pb for me!)

Oh dear you shouldn't ask me about Gehrman's headcanons without being precise my brain is a constant brainrot of those ideas XD (and I can't choose)

Well I was gonna put a giant list but wait you ask about my favorites right??! i... don't know 😰 I'm really bad at choices 💀 But hey I'm gonna try! (+ had a giant list) I promise not real angsty or sad ones because I'm in the mood for happy things now! ✨

But first well I'm going to link my backstory headcanon for him and the last headcanons list I share for him in an ask game (it's going to be really similar that's why)

If I really had to choose one... well I would say he made the small hair ornament.

And that he made the mercy blade (it was his secondary weapon : in bloodborne we can wield 2 weapons and 2 firearms so...) and passed it down later to the first official hunter of hunter's.

Now here's some put randomly, hope you enjoy! :

He had a few class at Byrgenwerth, didn't go far in the studies but still and have a few classes with Laurence XD

Then he became Byrgenwerth's groundskeeper (employee #1)

he help Willem?/Laurence? to make the gold pendant by potentially making/finding the gold blood gems.

Specialist to hang out looking at the moon at 2am (I mean Caryll too. Byrgenwerth campus was a mess at times)

the big bro of the group!

Of course he love flowers and weapons too! He could speak about hours of it! he's not real social but really cultivate he compensate with his close friends.

With Maria (and a bit caryll & maybe Rom??) they were in charge of cultivate the first Lumen flowers they bring back from Loran.

Part of the siderite use for his weapon and badge came from a meteorite he found when he was little.

yes he knew quite some stuff in astronomy, anatomy & geology (because I say so)

he got inspired by the undead alive giant "arms" for the burial blade.

His name originated from you know the cut content cainhurst knight missing a leg with a spear on a monster horse (kinda look like the tree sentinel in elden ring)

he could had become knight for Cainhurst but he politely declined

About his scarf I fall in love with a friend's version : Maria give it to him as a present. Alternatively it was from his family.

Yeah he had way too much version of the "how to pick up fair maiden books" (the church had them first!) because a few person give it to him or the workshop or it was to other hunters lol. Maybe it's just cool action novels too

He know how to played cello

he make great tea. And good food too

Ok so when he was older (after Maria passed away/before the dream and all) he got a dog! A white female wolfhound that hunt alongside him for years.

+ Sewing :

Of course he had dolls and made clothes for some plushies when he was little. he couldn't do really detailed broderies but sew clothes wince he was young.

He sew back hunter's clothes who were damaged

He made hats for his friends for a Christmas or smt

Well he made the doll clothes but the one the doll wear or a precedent version of the made it for Maria. Or at least he made the red neckerchief!!

Probably design/made at least 1 church outfit or accessories

Of course the charred hunter set is from him??

This man can fix almost anything! (Like weapons)

He don’t need a lot of sleep it’s crazy but when he’s in deep sleep just talking doesn’t work you need to move and push him

His cane is a little trick weapon too. A simple yet cool and fancy sword cane.

Update : omg i forgot to said he made little wood animals figures for his friends! (And more complexe one too!)

And I think I should stop here. That's already a lot of ideas just put randomly here. I probably forget a few and it's the happy ones here mostly. Sorry if you wanted smt way simpler and shorter I got motivated wanting to share headcanons, thanks again and I hope you enjoyed 😅

[neriyon]

5 Songs I'm Into Right Now

tagged by @zylphiacrowley , thanks!

It's gonna be tough picking only 5 songs haha, but I'll try to choose some from different artists/sources. Otherwise it'll just be 5 songs from a same game or something (￣▽￣)"

Eden - Deep Eclipse

Enstars song was to be expected - I would not be playing rhythm game after a year if I didn't like the songs. Picking one was really hard tho! Every group has at least one song I like.... Choosing between Majestic Magic, Artistic Partisan and this was so hard :/ Went with this since it's been stuck in my head for half a day lol.

CHANGGWI (Singyeo cover)

Okay I kinda debated between using this or Sailing but chose this since there's something I really like about how it's sung. I do not know enough music terms to actually say anything deep about it tho ^^' Anyway, SIngyeo has lots of other cool covers too so I recommend checking his channel out for more.

Zen Zen Zense (Mafumafu & Soraru cover)

"I'd begun searching for you many lives before you were even born"

Go watch Kimi no Na wa. No seriously, it's a good movie. And Zen Zen Zense is it's theme song that manages to make me still feel very fuzzy and wet eyed years later. Chose the Mafumafu and Soraru cover instead of the original RADWIMPS one because it has subtitles and I really like how their voices fit the song. For anyone wanting extra brainworms to work through: lyrics of this song would make for GREAT EmetWoL (or EmetHyth or any angsty ancient x shard) ship things :3c "Or maybe I should start the whole universe again from zero? (you can't prove this song was one of the reasons Firn came to be)

Bluish Light (Arknights)

Lumen's leitmotif! Nice and calm one, with some emotional singing and a pretty catchy chorus to hum along. Stultifera Navis event had bunch of good songs, not to mention all the other songs this company churns out. I was so close to picking Mizuki's leitmotif Y1K or CC#11 main theme.

Akatsuki Records - Idola Deus -The Creator-

Rearranged Touhou music, yay! Again, debated between picking this or KILLOVE FIREPROOF, but I've lately ben really into the lyrics on this one. Esp the chorus - "Go forth and create, oh earthborn children of Adam who pray" is just a really cool line haha. And the whole theme of a deity granting people imagination to create their future too!

As for tags uhhhhhhh.... @sunnythanalan @stalwart-spirit @arinaxiv @ffxivlilmeowmeow ?

As usual, no pressure to actually do it, if I tagged someone who already did it sowwy, if you want to do it but didn't get tagged feel free to commit tag game fraud and tag me on it. We ain't cops here and I'm not saying no to hearing some songs people like.