#ooc: at long last!

[araremonaka]

More handholding

[thefloatingstone]

Trying to figure out how to make squid boy emote because every time I've drawn him so far he looks very stern and it just didn't sit right with me. Also the more I played the more I noticed how his expressions change.

Anyway this is what I got so far. I plan to do more because hoo boy is it tricky to pull certain emotions out of him.

[cactus-juiceee]

so this is how 1863 went right

[thankstothe]

[scrappy-urchin]

From her oh-so objective opinion, Undyne did a mighty-fine job doing what she assumed was this "adulting" thing everyone talked about. How she spoke all highfalutin, being in control of her emotions... that kinda stuff. After all, those are the epitome of adulthood, aren't they?

If Grillby were to look toward the seated child as he made the fire dance, he'd see the teenage fish's "mature" façade drop and melt into a starry-eyed 5-year-old watching pyrotechnics for the first time. Then, after that finishing touch -- the flames of her twofer drink BURSTING in the air! -- she took in a sharp breath through her teeth and exhaled with an "OhmyGODthat'sSOstinkin'COOL!"

As much as Undyne wanted her excitement to boil under the surface, it spilled over as soon as Grillby walked away from the table. This supposed "adult" bounced in her seat and clapped like a baby seal awaiting morsels thrown at her.

The FRIES look sooo... good. And so does the DRINK!! Bet it tastes like FIRE! Oh, what was she gonna have first?! Her hand went STRAIGHT to the basket of glistening cheesy fries...

...the flavors were AMAZING! They were gooey and greasy and crunchy and the grease made the saltiness better and it completely hit the spot! The gleeful squeal Undyne emitted from her gills turned only a few heads of nearby patrons.

SCREW the amount of time it took to wait for her order -- those things were worth every minute by the taste of it!

If these fries were that good, then logically, so must be the drink! Sure, it sucked it wasn't actually two drinks like the picture on the menu, but the explosion it made cleared any disappointment from her mind.

While swiping her salt-stained fish lips with her forearm, she stared at the concoction before her. The mysterious milky-brown haze seems to have won the fight for dominance at the top of the glass, floating at the surface above the loser amber-yellow. This stuff looked COOL. She took the glass in her hand.

This was it. The teenagers stood at the precipice separating adolescence and adulthood.

After drinking this, Undyne'll see the world through the eyes of an adult. All the kids at school will be awe-struck by her newly-acquired knowledge! Her magic will be unstoppable! And she'll totally kick Asgore's ASS the next time they spar!

With the same passion she shoveled the french fries into her mouth, she downed the drink in one shot.

... ... ...

As soon as it hit her tongue, her mind went to INSTANT REGRET. Her throat gagged at the indescribable concoction. With pursed lips, she heaved foward, spraying the beverage across the table and onto the opposite bench of the booth. "PPPppp... choooooooo!!"

This... certainly caught the attention from the entire bar. Royal Guard Canine Unit included.

@the-scrappy-urchin​

Ahh, perhaps he had given the small fish too much credit. Regardless of their oblivious nature he still would act the part as a most humbled servant to his patron. Shifting in place he made eye contact with Undyne as the thought had crossed his mind to simply mix everything but he wouldn’t waste the food, that was the only edible thing on this table in his opinion.  Slowly he reached over to take the shot of chocolate syrup with a dollop of milk in it then paused as to place his finger close to the highball glass filled with apple juice. In real time fire from his finger danced around the glass before seemingly igniting it in a furious roar of high flames. Bringing the shot closer to the rim of the highball glass, he then angled the tall flames to bend down to pour into the tiny shot glass as to give the illusion it was on fire. With the short burst of his more showy fire magics, he held the once large flames in the small glass before hovering it over the apple juice.  Flicking his gaze once again over to the young fish he did hope that this tiny prank would teach them a lesson in… well not trying to buy alcohol from a well established tavern for one, but the latter of waiting till one is old enough to tell the difference between actual alcohol and a phony prank. “Enjoy.” With that Grillby dropped the shot into the apple juice then watched as his flames shot up like an erupting volcano before zooming towards his open palm in the form of a medium sided ball before sinking down into his palm thus vanishing from sight.   Walking away from the table back into the kitchen, he made a point to prepare a drink to wash down the disgusting concoction that now sat biding its time before Undyne would be brought in by its enticing allure.  Poor Flame-ling, but it needed to be done. 

[blackbirdffxiv]

what is an unspoken rule you believe with gpose?

I have a couple, but some of my biggest ones are these:

You see clipping? No you don't. This is just something I feel falls on the "if no one asked you for your opinion, then don't say so". Clipping is gonna happen, it's not 100% unavoidable. Just don't go picking apart someone's gpose, it's rude and honestly kinda (note: extremely) trashy behavior.

Don't shit on vanilla players / don't shit on modded players. Just respect each other y'all, it's not that hard. Yes, people with access to mods can make more intricate pictures, but that doesn't mean people who gpose in vanilla/on console aren't worth praise for their efforts (I mean have you seen some of the gposes some vanilla players can do without crimes?)

"Your character looks good, FOR A--" Don't even think about finishing that sentence, trust me when I say it is NOT going to get a thank you. Backhanded compliments ain't it, chief.

And the biggest one of all.....

Just because your gposes don't get traction/reactions in an online space does not mean they're terrible. I speak as someone who has used both this site and the other hellish site to post my gposes and such, and as someone who has at one point had numbers get to them (and still do on the occasion); your worth and/or your characters' worth is not tied to numbers on websites that are held together with string, hot glue, and duct tape.

Whew, that was a mouthful but I am someone who enjoys this hobby very much, I'm also someone who has dealt with lots of strife from said hobby. And sometimes folks just need a reminder that this is, at the end of the day, a hobby; we're all just playing pretend with imaginary characters in a video game, but that doesn't mean we should sacrifice just being respectful of each other while doing so.

[askchilchuck]

I WANNA BE YOUR DAUGHTER SO BADLY WAHHHH SJAKKSN *sobs* *blows up*

[iniziare]

/sits on hands with the ferocity of Solas' determination so that I can't put my salt to 'paper'.

[godblooded]

just an fyi, and it feels like it needs to be said here: your blog is your own space and you should be able to say whatever the fuck you want. if you’re sad? vent. get sad. maybe put it under a cut, definitely tag it, but get sad. if you feel like you need someone to talk to? drop a freaking message about how you’re feeling like you could use a buddy, or anything randomly engaging. if you’re having a hard time, you should feel safe and okay to talk about it in your own space. we’re writers and we’re people and while there’s a lot to be said for how engagement outside of oneself is necessary in rp (and really really needs to improve), i think there’s a lot that must be said about people reaching out to others. it’s become so solitary here — the whole ‘reblog from source’ thing when it comes to shit like about and musings is absurd. the whole refusing to like things is ridiculous. yes, curate your space, that’s important, but curating your space into a studio apartment only you live in doesn’t make this a community anymore, it makes it a studio apartment you live in.

just be yourself here. do whatever you want. but i’m always saying: remember you’re not alone, and don’t let yourself feel that way.

[balladetto]

hh...hii.

[faeriegirlshroom]

- @transfem-goddess-temple -

Let’s make a deal~

I can grant the powers indomitable, the station of angel in my high court, and the right to fuck any of the sluts within my temple walls. All I require is your obedience, and your worship of my massive Goddess cock. Does that sound fair?

If so, the deal is struck~

Well...

See, this one's a tough one for me. I've been lurking about your temple for a bit, and you seem very interesting... but.

I've never had much faith in the gods, fate, or divinity. Really, all I've gotten from your ilk is hurt. So, in fact, I've honestly developed quite the resentment of the gods. Besides, this deal of yours could use some work, honey~. So, from fae to goddess, I'll give you gesture of, well, good faith, if you will, as a freebie this time around, and give you some advice.

You're gonna need to work on your specifics, darling, if you want to get anywhere with my crowd~. Both for your safety as well as ours. I'd like some details on your "powers indomitable", and what the role of an angel in your court entails, responsibilities and benefits and the like, as well as what you'll command me to do in my obedience of you... because I'm not signing a contract if I don't know what I'm getting myself into. Wording as well. "Any" of the sluts in your temple is a descriptor that I'd say includes you, dear~

So, prove to me you're different from the rest of your kind, and perhaps I'll consider your offer...~

[whirling-fangs]

[[ hehehehheh..... It's happening....]]

[ask-eden]

Sunbeam: Once Dialga was created, I was more or less "retired"... But I taught them everything they know about- Alaxia shifts underneath his mother's tongue, suddenly piping up Alaxia: You came before Dialga? That doesn't... seem correct. Sunbeam: Why yes, I did! Thought you would know that, considering how studious you are! Or did you forget about your lil ol mother?~ Sunbeam gives Alaxia a teasing look as she continues speaking Sunbeam: I'm not surprised you don't know however, it's not entirely taught.. You know how Dialga is.. always stealing the spotlight! Sunbeam: For whatever reason, Etoile created myself and another first. I believe their name was.. Stardust? Oh it's been... so long since I've seen them... They left long long ago to someplace else.. Haven't seen them since... Sunbeam: Anyways, I acted in Dialga's place... and Stardust acted in Palkia's place, until Etoile created them!

Sunbeam gently nuzzles some of Alaxia's hair, fixing anything that had been ruffled from her grooming Sunbeam: I was never sure why Etoile created... everything else before they created Dialga and Palkia.... I'm sure they had their reasons. Consider me a "rough draft" of Etoile's! Alaxia winced slightly at the final comment, eyes narrowing in slight anger.

Sunbeam: As to why I am the species that I am... That I'm not sure of either! Etoile just seemed to love experimenting with things, always has! Sunbeam: Thankfully, they blessed me with the ability to transform into a mew.. that way I could be closer to my sons... Who I love dearly~ Sunbeam quickly begins to groom behind Alaxia's other ear, purring loudly as she affectionately licks his fur. Alaxia's claws grip in and out of the bed fluff, a wave of irritation now flooding over him, only slightly soothed by his mothers affection.

-- -- --

[ Anon ]

[randomwriteronline]

Prompt: Your delightful plot bunny of the Turaga Metru transforming back to Toa Hordika on Spherus Magna. If you want, please write something about the moment Tahu goes to check on Mata Nui and finds him surrounded by six dozing Toa Hordika. His bafflement is fueled partly by jealousy and sadness.

Of whom, exactly? He doesn't know.

The hut was halfway between a Matoran and an Agori home: very small, very compact, with a tiny window near the top facing south, so that there would always be enough light but never too much. He was surprised how well Pouks had fused the two styles together.

He stopped his hand as it was almost already wrapped around the heavy cloth covering the entrance, with a sudden awareness that it would have been awfully impolite to just barge into some other being's private residence unannounced - especially if said being was a god; limb retracted hastily, he stood for a little as though not knowing what to do and finally decided to hit the wall with his open palm, hoping it would make enough noise to catch the attention of anybody inside.

There was a little sound from inside, as though someone had suddenly stirred back to their senses.

"Mata Nui?" he called cautiously.

"Tahu!" a weak creaky voice replied, sounding rather glad. "Oh, are you here? How nice to hear you. Please do not come in."

The Toa immediately tensed: "Is something wrong?"

"I have never been doing as fantastically as I am right now," the Great Spirit reassured him despite sounding like he'd just been put through some kind of woodchipper: "I only fear that a sudden entrance might frighten them again."

Them?

Again?

Forgetting his better judgement and the clear instructions he'd just been given, Tahu lifted the cloth and peeked his head in.

Mata Nui was laying down on a stone bed with tired eyes turned to see him, as comfortable as he could be; all over him, curled up or splayed across his body without concern nor modesty, laid six sleeping Toa Hordika with not a care in the world, effectively pinning him down in a manner so complete that he could not have moved a muscle if he tried.

The Ta-Toa's eyes almost bulged out of his sockets.

He pointed at the six werebeasts with some barely contained not yet identified emotion, alternating between staring incredulous at them and his god.

"How?!" he demanded to know beneath his breath.

Mata Nui wheezed the beginning of a laugh.

"Don't you 'hh-hh-hh' me, we've been trying to get them out of their hideaway for days!" Tahu hissed, so beyond flabbergasted that he didn't even think of checking his tone or choice of words. "How did you do this?!"

The other being's breath whistled out of him much like a kettle again to convey his amusement: "I believe my presence piqued their interest," he explained, still chuckling at the Toa's outrage.

He tried to move an arm as carefully as he could, to slip it out from beneath Whenua so that he could beckon Tahu closer, but very quickly changed his plans once the feeling of a thousand invisible ants burrowing into the limb took hold.

"Oh, this has fallen asleep." he mumbled. "And the other three as well. I should have expected that."

"You sound awful," the Toa noted, noticeably in a tone much more concerned about his condition than the Great Spirit himself appeared to be.

"It is nothing to be worried about," the other soothed him. He craned his neck back, squinting at the window roughly above his bed: "I am certain it is only a matter of hydration. I have not moved much today, so it must have passed my mind. Allow me to - it has been... Oh cosmos. Seventeen hours since I last had any water."

Tahu disappeared from the doorframe.

At most a minute later, he reemerged holding a slightly wet cup (he must have dipped it in the reserves Gaaki had so kindly left the Great Spirit with before she and her Stone brother had left him to his own devices roughly a day before) in both hands with an invincible grip, as though there was nothing in the world he would have feared more than dropping it; trying his hardest to make as little noise as possible he slid into the hut all the way to Mata Nui's side, all while glaring in concentration at the recipient in his palms.

He was startled back to reality from his grumbling thoughts only when dull golden fingers wrapped around his own to take the object from him.

"Still you must rescue me from myself, it seems," the Great Spirit mused with a tired, kind, apologetic smile.

His hands were tepid; their heat melted into the Ta-Toa's like sugar.

He slipped the cup away from Tahu's grip in the gentle way with which a spider plucks the dew from its web, murmuring his thanks before taking a long sip.

The Toa watched him for a second, berating himself halfheartedly for just standing in place like that. His eyes fell on the Hordika snuggled up against him, and some kind of flustering feeling got the best of him: "I'll get some for them too," he mumbled, stumbling and almost tripping on his own feet as he tried to make his escape.

A lukewarm touch reached his knuckles again, and his thoughts fell apart like crumbling biscuits: "There is no need to stir them yet," Mata Nui reassured him. "I believe they are quite enjoying this chance to safely rest all together."

"But when - when they, if, they-"

"Your Turaga are quite indipendent, I can assure you they will be able to provide for themselves just fine once they do awaken to tend to their needs."

"I should- be, off, then," Tahu tried again, "So they won't - I don't, scare them, in case--"

"Their senses have grown rather keen in this form," the Great Spirit insisted with a gentle smile. His fingers curled lightly around the Toa's to keep him there, next to the seven of them: "I am fairly certain they are already well aware of your presence. Their continued sleep is a good sign - it means they do not deem you a threat! My concern was that they might have been spooked if you had appeared without warning, but you have been so courteous, I sincerely doubt they feel as though you might herald any danger."

Courteous...

Had he really used that word? For him?

Tahu dumbly stood still like some kind of brainless automaton, mind drawing blanks upon blanks, flustered beyond words.

He must have looked awfully stupid like that, but what could he do? Mata Nui was still Mata Nui, and he was bound to have that sort of effect on someone who'd always only ever known him as a god.

The light fingers were still around his wrist; they tugged gently.

He blinked, noticing he was staring, and lowered his head with haste while trying to lay his gaze anywhere but on the six sleeping forms: "Are you sure? That it's..."

"I speak from experience, do not worry. They were very quick to rouse and hiss at Kiina and Ackar when they visited me," the other being laughed softly. "There should be a stool, should it not? I believe Pouks saw fit to make one... Have a seat, if it would please you to stay. I would quite like your company."

The Toa hurled himself at said stool like he'd been shot out of a cannon and sat down.

He was so stiff, bending even slightly would have cracked him in half.

"You can come a little closer," Mata Nui smiled.

Tahu lowered his gaze to quickly take note of the distance between the two of them: he was, bio more or bio less, exactly on the other side of the hut.

Steam hissed from his armor in cloudy strings out of embarrassment as he miserably dragged himself and his seat to the side of the bed, thinking it would have been oh so very relieving and pleasant for the earth beneath his dejected feet to open up and plunge him into the nearest stream of lava available.

He could feel the Great Spirit's eyes on him, looking at his Hau with a kind of fond amusement that reminded him of Onua.

It wasn't unpleasant, or mocking - just strange.

A groan caught their attention. Nokama Hordika, in her blissful unawareness of the awkward air around her, rolled her powerful shoulders with a grumble and decided she did not want to sleep in her current position anymore; so she punted her legs steadily, arched her back until it had completely pushed Mata Nui's chin far enough back that his neck almost strained, curled a little tighter around herself, and exhaled a whistful purr as she settled comfortably once more, head near her brothers as they replied to her pleased noises with their own chirps.

Tahu furrowed his brows without animosity as he looked at them: "Seriously, how did you get them to come out?" he mumbled.

"I did not do much, in truth. They came here on their own accord."

"How?"

"An unfortunate stroke of luck," Mata Nui replied enigmatically. "I must admit, in terms of my physical well-being, this day has been a wretched one. But as you can see," and the momentary pain in his expression softened with a smile that brightened his face, "My current condition does not allow me much autonomy or strength, which makes rather harmless. This realization must have given them enough courage to inspect me more closely."

Of course, that made sense. Perfect sense. They should have accounted for the Rahi instincts they were bound to develop all over again - and no Rahi would have ever trusted a Toa hunting it down.

A thumb brushed across the vents on his Hau's cheeks, gently yanking him out of his thoughts with the gentlest pull he'd ever felt: "Do not make it a fault of your own," the Great Spirit spoke, "You had no say on your design."

Did you?, Tahu almost asked; instead, before he could possibly commit some kind of sacrilegious act or let a terrifying amount of barely comprehensible emotions make his body grow scalding enough to burn the hand cupping his mask to a crisp, he blurted out: "Are they alright?"

Mata Nui nodded unperturbed (emotionally, that is, because with a Ga-Toa Hordika squashing his neck under her spine any movements around the head area were indeed very much perturbed): "Your Turaga are doing much better than I am, that is for certain. They do not have any injuries, nor seemed hungry... We managed to speak a while, about woes these forms brought them, and other such things. I hope to have been of some help, at least."

Whenua stretched across him, pushing Nuju's snout into Matau's in the process. The two gurgled at each other, convinced in their sleepy state they'd each been the true source of trouble instead of their Earth brother, and tried to lazily nip at their chins to teach one another a lesson.

Both ceased when kind fingers scratched their noses slowly, distracting them with a pleasant feeling; grievances forgotten, they readjusted themselves to snuggle closer and dozed off once more.

They were so inscrutable. Even more in this state.

"They are very beautiful in this form," the Great Spirit mused.

Tahu looked at them - their gangly limbs, their elongated heads, their poking ribs and weird tools melded so thoroughly into their limbs, even moreso than the Mata's first own had been... His expression twisted, not disgusted but still puzzled: "They're strange," he replied, a little lamely.

"Yes, of course. But there is a certain grace to them - at least in my eyes," the other explained. He sighed sadly. "I wish it was not a source of such discomfort for them."

The Toa watched him caress the warped bodies with absentminded fondness, prompting them to lean closer.

"Nokama was convinced I would have found them abhorrent," the Great Spirit muttered, "If not even sacrilegious by mere virtue of being forced to exist in this shape. She was afraid I would have been so repulsed by their sight that I would have forsaken them, despite everything they have done for my sake and that of the Matoran."

Vakama had said she'd been anxious about entering the Great Temple, too, Tahu remembered. And here she was, sleeping soundly on her god's chest. "You convinced her otherwise."

"So it would seem, fortunately."

"It looks like it helped. Talking with you, I mean - about... This."

"Hm. We veered onto other subjects, too. Especially when - oh!" Mata Nui cut himself off, bright eyes widening for a moment.

With a discrete amount of difficulty and a long series of murmured apologies he wriggled his arms out of the comfortably heavy pile of bodies draped over him a little better, even managing to push the Ga-Toa a little down from his neck, so that he could enjoy a slightly wider range of motion than he would have had otherwise, though it still wasn't exactly much; he craned his neck as far to the side as he could and began searching blindly for something with his hands.

Deeply puzzled and clearly not getting any explanation from the source, who was too captivated in whatever he was currently to achieve to share his train of thought, Tahu followed the general direction of his gaze.

His eyes fell on a cluster of tablets and papers and parchments by the side of the bed, some stacked in a more orderly manner, some strewn about in a somewhat disorganized fashion. A good number sported some variation or other of the Agori script, while others were written in much more familiar matoric alphabet.

"My dear friends," the Great Spirit started talking again all of a sudden, "They had brought me my work, to keep me occupied. It is a record of my research across the cosmos..."

"Ah... So planets? Stars?"

"Yes, among a variety of other things - flora, fauna, civilizations, terraformation, solar system formation, galaxy composition, nebulae concentration -- ah, apologies," he laughed in a terribly sheepish tone as he stilled his entire body, like he'd been petrified: "I am afraid I have acquired a tendency to get lost in my own words. If I begin to itemize things in a list, please, stop me immediately."

"It's fine."

"Oh, it really is not. I would continue ad nauseam."

"Well, Takanuva does that too if you give him the chance."

Mata Nui gave a quiet laugh: "I still doubt your brother has roughly ninety-nine millenia worth of knowledge readily available for him to loudly catalogue at length."

Tahu tilted his head with a grimace: "Yeah," he agreed, "That's probably for the better."

His god's chest jumped with a few more warm cackles, somewhat bothering the Hordika strewn on top of him for a second or two. His lack of caution earned a few protests in the form of forcefully nuzzled snouts, mild grumbles and even a brief disgruntled raspberry.

"Did you write all of this?" the Toa asked.

"Only the material in very small matoric script," the Great Spirit replied as he went back to his search: "The rest is for my studies, both the Matoran and Agori documents are for my studies. I wished to be more involved with the inhabitsnts of my own body, at least when it comes to their culture - and my knowledge of Spherus Magna customs and history is severely lacking, so I am trying to fix that though many sources are fragmentary or lost... Oh cosmos. Forgive me, I think I need your assistance once more. There is a volume I wanted to share with you, but I cannot see much like this."

"Oh, uh, of course," Tahu nodded. His eyes bounced across the mess without focusing on anything. "How's it look like?"

"Square shape, bound in petrol green talon snake skin and string, waxed parchment sheets in bundles of six pages, a few sticking through, maroon ink for main text, bloodstone ink for titles."

Warm hands shoved themselves right in the thick of the less orderly pile, rummaging with an intense focus for a brief amount of time, maybe a few seconds. They reemerged with their trophy grasped tightly, a triumphant 'hah!', and enough force to send a few tablets flying around.

Onewa growled at him in his sleep. Whenua shut him up by weakly smacking his jaw just with a paw.

Mata Nui clapped softly: "Exactly that! Marvelous, thank you."

"Wasn't too hard, with a description of that precision," Tahu replied as he handed it over to the other.

"A phtographic memory is one of my only talents, if one can consider being made to contain as much information as possible such a thing..." his god mused. Before the Toa could dwell on those words he had moved on, shifting through the pages: "Your Turaga and I read through part of this volume earlier, after my dear friedns visited. It is the first in a series dedicated to collecting and comparing legends of the various Agori tribes in this area, with each entry pertaining to a certain theme - it was produced before the Core War, so good part of it is yet to be recovered. But this, being the first book, focuses on creation myths and the like... Ah, there it is."

He stopped roughly halfway through, on a page that featured a strange drawing of what seemed to be a reptile dripping poison - vaguely reminiscent of a flattened Lerahk in truth. The thought made Tahu almost snicker.

"This is of the Tapyri, the Fire Tribe," Mata Nui explained. "It is a tale of how they were born from an immense volcanic bonfire, coming to life from charred green wood as it churned within the lava. Similar legends I have read in Ta-Matoran works from all over my body, as well, and a few of your birth."

"Mine?"

"Of course. You are often believed to have emerged from the bowels of a volcano yourself."

An apt alternative to the forges of Artakha, the Toa could admit - though it didn't really work for the rest of his siblings' elements... He shrugged a little, unsure what to do with that information: "It's not right, but it comes close, I guess."

"It come close," his god repeated with a sort of amused tone, like he knew something Tahu didn't; one of his hands laid gently on the Toa of Fire's and a spark of hushed excitement lit up his eyes: "But is it not so interesting, that people so distant and unlike each other still share such similar tales for the same concept, using the same imagery, indipendent of one another?"

His touch was tepid.

It had a sort of strange texture.

Tahu felt a little lightheaded, but in a pleasant manner.

He agreed quietly, mumbling in much the same embarrassed way a kid does before a very beautiful person.

Mata Nui smiled a little wider, eyes thinning a little: "Besides, there is some truth to it, you know," he added. "To the idea of life having originated from volcanic activity."

"Really?"

"Very much so. Several planets have multilayered molten cores, the upper levels of which often break through their solid crust creating volcanoes or pools of lava. Their heat allows certain microscopic organisms to thrive, causing them to evolve into more complex forms of life across the span of hundreds of millions of years until they develop complex enough brains to gain proper sentience and in some cases sapience - so, your observation is very spot on: these myths might not be quite right, but they do come close."

"So it comes from Fire, then," Tahu muttered, amazed - he'd often lamented to himself his element's ability to only cause harm, and now he found out otherwise. "I would've bet on Water. It sounds like a more obvious choice."

"It does come from water as well," Mata Nui replied: "As it offers protection from external radiations and a safe environment in which substances can spread and interact with one another."

"But it evaporates if the temperature's too hot."

"A good argument! It is hard for planets to be plentiful of water by themselves, especially when they are taking shape. The element can however form in space and be contained in other smaller astral bodies, such as meteorites, which then can collide into a planet if pulled into their gravitational orbit - although space is far too cold for water to be in a liquid state, so what they actually hold is ice."

"So Ice also brings life?"

"Yes, doubly so."

"Why's that?"

"Frozen microorganisms can be safely transported through space across otherwise unsustainable amounts of time. When the ice melts or evaporates they can thaw and restart their vital functions, free to duplicate and inhabit their new home."

"And Water makes Air when it evaporates, which they need to live."

"If they consume oxygen or evolve to have lungs, which they might in case the environment above water becomes inhabitable, yes."

"So then it's only Stone and Earth that don't matter!"

His god smiled very wide, very amused: "If that were the case, we would right now be living on a large pool of lava which would not allow any water upon it. Would you consider such a habitat suitable for the proliferation of life?"

Tahu hushed, reflected long and hard on the riddle posed to him, and sheepishly sank his head in his shoulders.

"I take that back," he said in a very tiny voice.

Mata Nui wheezed a laugh, caressing his cheek: "Oh, please do not be so embarrassed! You are far from the first to reach this conclusion in a haste - your Turaga had quite the argument on this same topic when we discussed it."

Now assailed with second-hand embarrassment at that mental image, the Toa hid his mask in his hands: "Please tell me they didn't start biting each other," he groaned.

"No, no, my presence kept them from it - but Whenua and Onewa almost did!" his god replied, obviously having a much better time. "They were dreadfully offended. They insisted I produce my own research so they could prove their siblings wrong, and when they discovered I had not yet written it down they tried to chase all four of their fellow Hordika off of me so that I could get to it immediately. Oh, Tahu-" he cackled again as the other's renewed despair at the news had him try to disappear inside his own palms, "-Please, do not be like that! I managed to divert their attention onto another topic, and I can assure you they behaved splendidly afterwards. I would not have been able to write anything, either way."

"Why not? Do your arms hurt?"

"Thankfully not, but their current state has made them rather invasive in their pursuit of knowledge. On my first attempt they were all over both my tools and my arms - not exactly making for the best writing conditions."

It was at least a humorous thought... And somewhat in line with the Turaga's tales about themselves...

A sudden weight distracted Tahu from his musings. He dared look down: Onewa Hordika had shifted his large snout onto his thighs, nestling on them with a sort of low chirp, and Vakama had followed suit by curling against his Stone brother, pressing the top of his head under his chin.

They seemed to have made themselves plenty comfortable.

He straightened his back with a startle.

All at once, he realized where he was, what he was doing, who he was talking to. When had the two Turaga laid on him? When had he moved so close to the bed? When had he started to lean so close to Mata Nui, until his head had almost leaned down on him?

He was no Hordika, he was not allowed these lapses! He could not be allowed these lapses. The Turaga could - they were supposed to, they were expected to, in these conditions, in this state, but not him! Not him. He was a different deal. He wasn't - he shouldn't have - he was acting wrong. He had to be acting wrong.

He had breached some kind of protocol, he must have.

He wasn't supposed to behave like this.

He wasn't supposed to act like this.

Not in front of his god.

Not - not... Not...

A palm laid on the top of his head, bringing his thoughts to a halt.

"Is something wrong?" Mata Nui asked.

His hand was warm and his voice laden with concern.

Nobody had ever treated him like that, as if he'd been a Matoran.

Tahu stared at him in silence for a little: "No?" he answered finally, equally as unsure.

He felt like his head was swimming.

The gentle pressure shifted onto his cheek: "You seemed to remember something very suddenly - do not let me keep you, if you have more pressing matters to attend to-"

"No, no! It's alright, I..." the Toa fumbled a little, mind still made hazy by the kind contact. He lowered his eyes once he realized he was once again looking directly into the god's, gaze falling onto the still sleeping Hordika curled on his lap: "The Turaga just... Caught me off guard," he settled on, because it was the truth - or a part of it, at the very least.

He did not dare look up, but he felt dusty fingertips move again in a feathery caress: "You are very warm," Mata Nui noted with a smile in his voice. "You must feel wonderfully pleasant to them."

Tahu felt himself heat up.

"You do not need to stay," he was reassured.

"I want to!" ah - that was too forceful, too eager. "I mean - I mean, it wouldn't... I'd... It doesn't bother me, staying here."

"Are you certain?"

"Of - of course. It's my duty, to protect you."

"You are not bound to me by duty anymore. I do not wish you to be."

"It's what we were made to do."

"You have outgrown that purpose by now. I am not yet autonomous and perhaps never will be again, if I ever once was, but I am not your burden to carry either," the Great Spirit told him. His solemn tone softened as he cupped the Toa's chin in his hand, gently raising it so that their eyes could meet properly. "However, if you do wish to stay and keep us company on your own accord, I would be very glad."

He sustained the eye contact for three, four, maybe five seconds; then Tahu had to duck his head down again before his heartlight risked a shortcircuit.

How could a being be so easy to talk to one moment and so completely overwhelming the other?

Vakama purred quietly in his lap.

Onewa curled a little around his brother; one of his feet pushed lightly against Nuju's hip, who stirred closer to Nokama and stretched his arms over the other Hordika.

Whenua mumbled in his sleep at the shifting happening all around him, but hushed when Matau nuzzled his back.

They seemed so calm.

"Would it be alright?" he muttered as if asking for a permission.

Mata Nui smiled, very sweetly: "Of course."

[sungodded]

It always baffles me knowing there's people out there who genuinely get angry when you can't be active online 24/7. God forbid I focus on trying to attain my dream job instead of giving my whole life to online activity. 😱

[ask-the-bone-boys]

ATBB's Future

Hiiii y'all, its uh. been a minute huh

Now that it's been a bit over a year since I put this blog on hiatus, a loootta stuff has happened and changed and i've been doing a loootttta thinking!

Looking back on it, like really really looking, my biggest reason for the hiatus was that at some point the blog just kinda became more of a chore than something I wanted to work on for fun. Ask blogs are a lot of work, even when you're just using talking portraits rather than drawing out every individual answer, and with how much ask culture on tumblr has died out over the years there just wasn't really enough payoff to make it feel worthwhile to keep burning myself out.

I think it's a really good thing I stopped it when I did, because having to deal with all that in my senior year of high school would have been a nightmare. I've actually just finished up my first semester of college now, and there's no way in hell I would've been able to keep up at any rate! With all of this in mind, I've gained a newer perspective about how to approach things going forward.

I'm still really attached to this story. With how much time I've spent thinking about it and developing it in my head, I can't let it go, even if the blog isn't really working out anymore. I keep thinking of different ways I could fix the decisions I made early on, as well as the super cool directions I could take it in in the future, and I just. I GOTTA.

So, I've decided to reboot it entirely as a fic series!

This means that, unfortunately, there won't be nearly as much artwork to accompany it, but it's far more likely for the story to actually progress! Writing is way less draining for me and once I get going I can do it much quicker than art anyway, even though I do still sorta wish I had the spoons to just turn it into a full-blown webcomic instead haha

This DOES mean that updates won't be nearly as linear as they were here, seeing as right now I've mostly been working on backstory fics that took place before the blog's main story, but that can at least give you guys more context for how the characters interact with each other! I'll also state that while I do write faster than I draw, I still do it a hell of a lot less, so updates will still probably be pretty infrequent. But at least they'll happen at all, right?

As for the state of this blog itself, obviously I'm going to leave it up! I still love looking back on the old interactions you guys had with my characters and your reactions to certain plot points (your reactions to Fluff tagging along with the rest of the group were my favorite by far) and I think it would actually kill me to erase them. I'll be posting the fic updates here too, just like I did for Self Hatred!

And even if it's not going to be an ask blog anymore, because of how much I still miss that kind of interaction with you guys, I think I want to do a sort of "last hurrah" event, to finally send off the asking format with some good vibes.

You see, there's a character I made up around this time of year two years ago. He's a pretty cool guy, but he doesn't actually show up until a specific turning point later in the story. I've been excited for you guys to talk to him since the day I made him, but a little bummed lately that you may not ever get the chance. I still need to get a lot of stuff prepared, so I'm not quite ready to announce or start anything just yet, but there's a reason I waited until my winter break to start thinking about this seriously.

I think you guys would really like to meet him.

But anyway, that's about all I wanted to say for now! This is a very long post already so it's time I start wrapping it up. As always, thank you all so much for sticking with me, even though I really haven't been consistent through the years. I hope this change doesn't come as too much of a disappointment, and that you'll keep sticking around for the reboot!