#self insert?? lol

[big-boah-2]

Y'all I had a WILD RED DEAD DREAM last night. Vivid AF.

It was first person where everything happened like normal except it was modern day AU, but there were no cars, only horses. That's the only difference. Everything was kind of steampunk.

There was a safehouse in Valentine, a decent abandoned house near Horseshoe Overlook where Sadie, Arthur, and I met up after Micah escaped Beaver Hollow (Arthur didn't have TB.) After a few peaceful days the Pinkertons descended upon us, there was a bloodbath, we shot a bunch of guys and escaped on horseback up north to Canada. Arthur spun a yarn just like Hosea and we were able to get in via the Amtrak in the middle of nowhere, north North Dakota.

I vividly remember passing parks and going into a city and seeing the houseless folks and being like "I hope there's beaches or something here because we will be houseless and jobless, which is fine but shitty that I can never see my partner or family again being a national fugitive and all."

We depart the train and go separate ways. Sadie goes to some guys house that she knows, Arthur is bumming it on the street, and I'm pretending I'm a journalist studying nature/doing photography for National Geographic (I just realized I might've been Albert Mason???)

So eventually we all get caught like 2 weeks later and get sent to prison. Somehow it's a mixed gender prison bc Canada made sense in my dream I guess. Somehow Sadie got out on a technicality during her arrest (know your rights!) and then she helped me and Arthur escape from prison like in the game but no hot air balloon just a hole under the fence lol!

We somehow get back over the border into America in the middle of nowhere and I remember being like "How the hell are John and Abigail owning a HOUSE and not on the RUN this is crazy???" Because we see his and Arthur's Wanted posters in the first town. We decide it's safer to split up again. I debate seeing my partner back near Valentine, Sadie decides to to back to the safehouse (why, I don't know.)

So a few months go by, I'm working on a ranch Jim Milton style in Montana. Sadie shows up on her horse and is like "I need help, I've been living with Jake's friend in Valentine because the safehouse is being occupied by none other than Agent Milton as a trophy." For some reason I think it's a good idea to help her because I'm itching and bored. We have no idea where Arthur is.

So we go back to the house, which I just realized is the safehouse from Detroit: Become Human where that awesome Black lady runs the hideout. Milton is there reading the newspaper at the kitchen table and Sadie shoots him through the window, headshot, he's dead. We bury the body a ways away and celebrate and make it our home again feeling safe.

A week later, Arthur shows up, after hearing Milton was dead. Apparently Sadie is like... running Valentine instead of the O'Driscolls at this point with some kickass gal pals which is why I felt so safe. Arthur is a hot mess, he's been a gun for hire all over New Hanover like the very smart man Arthur is... /s

But we're so happy to have him back. And the peace lasts a few weeks, then Micah shows up. And were like Jesus Christ just what we need. He tells us to join his and Dutch's gang at Mount Hagen otherwise he's going to kill us there and then. He was all happy and thanking us for killing Agent Milton and the other Pinkertons after Beaver Hollow. It was gross. Micah in first person IRL in a VIVID DREAM where I could see his PORES, y'all it was nasty.

We roll our eyes and agree to join to get him out of our hair, but he takes Arthur in the kitchen area and tells us to stay put. Of course we don't stay put, Sadie notices Micah has one of those red guns to Arthur's stomach and is hissing at him about how he's a traitor and Dutch has plans for him and how he was gonna go baaaad things to Sadie. I was going to kill him after that statement, but Sadie whacked him over the head with an oil lamp that was on the kitchen table. Micah just laughs but he's covered in oil. Arthur stumbles back to the living room in shock, Sadie throws another oil lamp down from the top of the fireplace and yells at us to get outside.

Micah is laughing maniacally and the place smells of gas and I know what's about to happen. Sadie lights a match, throws it at Micah, and we all dive off the front porch before the place goes up in flames. Why she couldn't have just shot him and why she ruined our safehouse?? I don't know. We hid in the woods behind the house near Horseshoe basically and I'm missing my partner really bad, Arthur is so tired of all this he's also got gray hair and is 1911 Arthur now lol.

The next morning, our little camp is surrounded by Pinkertons and we decide to just give up and surrender. But Sadie isn't going down without a fight. The Pinkertons kill Arthur and I mourn for .2 seconds before Sadie quickdraws and shoots 3 Pinkertons. I just split into the woods during the chaos, and I hear footsteps behind me so I know it's over. But then it's silent and I hear Sadie whispering like, "Don't worry my friends in town will take care of it."

Turns out she's the new Colm O'Driscoll. I was like fucking WHAT.

So we go to Six Point Cabin and there's like 15 O'Driscolls she's bossing around and they treat her like a queen. I'm treated like a king too. Then my now ex-partner shows up and looks slightly different from IRL but he doesn't talk to me, pretends that I'm invisible and it was heartbreaking. He talks to one of the O'Driscoll guards, then turns to me and says, "I just wanted to see if you were alive. Now I see you are, and that must be unfortunate." And walks away?? I was like wtf you dick but I was wrecked.

Shortly after, the O'Driscolls protect us from the Pinkertons that show up. I hear a helicopter and I'm like "Here comes the damn drones" out loud.

And then I woke up. Writing it down, I just realized I'm pretty sure my partner was a 🐀🐀🐀

That's it, that's the dream!

[unlikelypandahologram]

Who will win the fight for Optimus Prime's love? His canon girlfriend? His worst enemy who's tried to kill him multiple times?? His best friend??? The guy who screams a lot???? Place your bets now folks!!

(Commission for me by the very talented lextodrawstuff! Also, BONUS LMAO)

[conspicuous-clown-car]

random drawings i liked

plus sum suggestive stuff below

[l0verseyes]

ultrakill oc. hell finds her one-sided obsession w/ V1 funny. and a bit relatable

[skeletonlover69]

i think he'd be surprised if it was so sudden

[rissouu]

random texts w sukuna!

©rissouu 2024

[mblue-art]

BAD SANSUARY // [14] tears for owl-bones's event !

"...Killer, it just looks like I have running mascara."

"it's such a look though."

messy kisses and post-nuzzles

[bones-of-a-rabbit]

Smthn about escapism and why someone (me) might choose to stay with Kinito even tho he was a bit mean and also didn’t like that u had freewill lol

Also a little bit of thinking abt how Kinito and the Player Who Stays (the Stayer???) share a lot of parallels (working hard to deserve nice things, crippling loneliness, selfish reasons for clinging to one another, self awareness, dissatisfaction/disappointment with their respective realities leading to them idealizing the concept of each other, etc etc)

(The song lyrics are from ‘Woof woof’ by ARTHUR. It took a few listens to rlly appreciate it, now it scratches my brain in v nice ways)

[leshyleaf]

bumper stickers

[thatdeadaquarius]

Genshin Impact Sagau/Isekai:

You still have acces to characters! ...by possessing them. 👻

PART 2 (you're here!) / Part 1

All art by me! :] leave me a iced coffee?? :0

HEY!! REALLY QUICK PLEASE READ!

STOP tagging my posts as "Yandere Sagau", "Sagau Cult AU", "Sagau Imposter AU" or other related dark content tags.

I'm sick of seeing reblogs that tag my work as dark content, when I'm specifically trying to LIGHTEN UP THE SAGAU TAG 😭😭??

Please be more respectful of this. Actually read the work before you just tag it incorrectly. Tags do matter.

/nm /gen

☆

Sun: Gender Neutral Reader (they/them)

Planet: Misc. Genshin AUs

Orbit: Headcanons, Scenarios

Stars: Tighnari ft. Cyno, Alhaitham, Collei

Comets & Meteors:

Content Warnings: Mild violence (bandit attacks/non-graphic), Reader/you possess people non-consent (mild/consent given eventually)

& Trigger Warnings: Reader/"you" possess people non-consenually for short times, but given consent eventually.

(pls comment if any more!)

Edit 9/7/23: 1,000+ NOTES?? WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE WHY- THANK YOU???

Edit 12/24/23 + 4/5/24:

☆

My goofy ass forgot to put this here .-.

Anyway this is a full length fanfic now ;)

…mistakes were made.

bad decisions were had, and okay, mayyybbbeee you could’ve taken more precautions against people finding out you were “real”.

afterall, you did see the Eremites reaction, even if it was only two guys (one from each camp) that you possessed :/

word spreads quickly amongst the Eremites groups, you guess, bc next thing you knew, after you’d moved closer to floating around Gandharva Ville,

they’d called that entire bit of forest haunted.

BUT IN YOUR DEFENSE-!! how were you supposed to know they’d blab to the whole camp they didn’t remember the past 20 minutes after you unpossessed them?? and immediately be on guard and jump to possession?? (Irminsul works hard but eremites/sumeru people work harder u guess)

And by the time you were happily patrolling with Collei, the forest rangers were just so chill you didn’t really expect anybody would think a ghost was possessing them (or whatever you were now… maybe,, just code?? it’s unclear)

so when u start to see Tighnari squint at people who’ve technically just “woken up” after you possessed them, mumbling under his breath more and more as a file he carries around gets thicker and thicker-

you start to think,,, maybe.

okay, mayyybbbeee,

you’ve fucked up.

◇

You really can’t help it, first it was making sure Collei got back safely from patrols (she’s ur skrunkly okay, you can’t help it, you’re still aware she’s capable but- the urge to skrunkle overpowers you- )

but then-!! You managed to spot Cyno! :D its ur boy!! ur little meow meow, who can throw people over his shoulder!! He really doesn’t need you, hovering around, but eh ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

what could it hurt! …it’s not like he can see, hear, or feel you anyway…

(unless u possess some animal/machine he thinks is friendly, which. sumeru is not exactly known for cuddly creatures. you don’t feel like experiencing death when possessing stuff just yet-)

imagine ur panic and shock as the General Mahamatra takes on a camp of criminals on the run, only for one of the old ruin machines (the ones that are just LEG and DEATH)

to hear the ruckus and come stomping around a thick patch of trees, it launched missiles!! You can’t warn Cyno, he can’t hear you!! No one can!!! The criminals are unconscious, there’s no other wildlife nearby they all ran off!!! FUCK-

You look at him and try to imagine his perspective as vividly as you can, he’s looking over the criminals, but now he’s turning, so people passed out and the tree-line got it-

Congratulations! You’ve possessed Cyno. 💀

It completely disorients you for a second, but then the panic of dodging the missiles comes back in time for you to make his body dive and roll off to the side, for as long as you can manage a roll too since you remember that’s the best way to dodge missiles in the game

…which works really well! bc he’s so fit and agile tbh

It was weird to finally run again after so long (two months now in teyvat?? wow)

with your feet suddenly in sandals, and feeling the breeze chilling your bare chest (Cyno’s chest??)

yeah its a shock considering most of the ppl you’ve possessed lately have been fully clothed rangers lol

you quickly imagine your ghostly form again, and just like that you’re drifting out of Cyno in ur “ghosty” form, having floated out and away from his back

Poor guy looks so fucking confused, and immediately is wielding his spear again, and is about to get out the crouch you put him in behind the dilapidated stone wall (dammit he better not waste ur efforts to keep him alive-)

until missiles slam and explode against it, he ducks back down (thank fuck) and Cyno just looks around one last time before hopping the wall and running to fight the thing

you notice that when the electro user goes to use his powers, they seem stronger than they were in his fight with the goons??

Maybe he was just going easier on them, since they are only human?

…so why does even Cyno look surprised when he goes to make a simple swipe with his charged spear and a bolt of lightning cracks out from his spear instead…?

…weird.

◇

Tighnari knows you’re here.

You figure he must have collected the reports of people “blacking out” or “sleep-walking” or whatever else and begun to suspect the worst.

…to be honest, you’re not sure what to do.

on one hand, it would be great to have someone know you actually exist, as yourself,

but on the other…

What would Tighnari think?

Of you possessing his rangers?? Temporarily taking ownership of someone without permission??? You’re afraid he’d think the worst of you…

tho u didn’t do so often, as u realized how messed up this could be, and u never did more than make them walk or talk normally for a few minutes before leaving them alone!

… afterall, you missed interacting with people. You were honestly a little worried abt going crazy, which is the only reason u were desperate enough to possess human people in the first place and continue doing so, just to talk to someone and have them look you in the face again like you really did exist as a person here-

(u thought u remember reading somewhere back on Earth that someone can only last 3 days of no other human contact until they start to lose it? but even if that’s not true, at the very least, u dont think talking one-sidedly to yourself all the time is healthy…)

so when Tighnari seems to get that file you’ve seen him adding onto, and gather up supplies, mentioning a day trip to Collei and the others to Sumeru City for some

“further research into these ‘blackouts’, and also contacting some of my colleagues who might know something…”

there’s no way you’re not going with him.

you feel increasingly anxious all day, and at one point when you were sure Tighnari was walled-in by books at the House of Daena, decide to go blow off the anxious energy by possessing an animal to get some food!

…you’re not really feeling comfortable enough to possess a living being into eating yet, that seems hella nonconsensual, and u kinda would be taking the joy of the meal from them tbh-

so u possess a cat!

a ginger cat, bc u like to think if u do anything weird, that ppl in Teyvat have the same type of cats back on Earth and excuse it as just:

“unhinged ginger cats being unhinged ginger cats yep makes sense” lol

you’d managed to be really cute (and wasn’t that weird, having to mimic animal behaviors like rubbing ur side against a person’s legs..)

and convince one of the cooks of Lambad’s Tavern to give u some leftovers, and been about to go off to try out sunbathing before the chore boy, little shit he is, tried to chase you off with a broom!! >:( the audacity!! you clearly have a little plate and everything!!

luckily, you’d finished eating, but still! Ouch!! those bristles fucking hurt-!!!

…you look and see a Sumeru-ified version of a skateboard, and u just know ur little cat face is just ✨v✨

and u steal the little shit’s skateboard as revenge! HAHA thats what you get animal abuser!!!

The kid’s yelling at you as you speedily skate away with ur little cat paws (LMAOO), but the cooks are calling him back in so he can’t pursue, (oh good u hear them get onto him for chasing u off)

and as u slow down to coast along the Sumeru streets,

you feel someone’s eyes staring you down.

You assume it’s just people being amused at a cat skateboarding, obv

but when you look just ahead of you to see a smiling Sumeru citizen or eremite-

Oh. It’s Alhaitham.

and he’s just… watching you.

he’s stopped reading whatever he’s got in his hand, and is slowlyyyy turning his head as you pass by…

You decide to just keep skating away. LMAO

◇

it’s already sunset by the you’re accompanying Tighnari back from Sumeru City, floating along behind him

and you’d been expecting a calm walk back, tbh you’d been feeling a little better bc the ranger hadn’t found much to identify you, yet, luckily-

but bc u can never catch a break:

Tighnari didn’t see the bandits dropping from the goddamn trees BEHIND HIM- and they had like claymores out- those were definitely gonna be killing blows-!!

so yeah.

You possessed Tighnari.

turns out ur pretty good at dodging bc this is second time now you’ve helped dive away for someone in an ambush, ur kinda proud of urself tbh💀

and as you make him take a few leaps back, ur ears twitch in the wind as you duck behind a tree, then float away and out of his body

The poor hybrid ranger visibly sways, then shakes his head out of it, and he flicks his ears in different directions, squinting into the woods, he’s pulled out his bow, so you’re at least reassured he’s aware there are enemies

Like Cyno last week, he too gives up and rolls for the next tree for cover and begins to shoot and take down the bandits

the rest of the week is kinda a blur after that, bc it’s mostly filled with Tighnari running in circles around the camp checking for blackouts, writing letters to Alhaitham and Cyno apparently, and you not possessing anybody out of paranoia :/

Most notably however,

you’ve unfortunately discovered one of the few drawbacks of ur possessions

(y’know, besides not existing essentially, what with no one being able to sense u outside of possessions)

apparently, if someone walks thru you, they accidentally force you to possess them 💀??

while it’d already happened once with a random ranger that you didnt notice was walking up behind you,

you didn’t want to test it again just yet bc it kinda made YOU nauseous and incredibly dizzy when this happened

(as in, u stumbled like a drunk after this poor ranger woman ran thru u, until you were so dizzy and the world spun sm u had to make her sit on the literal ground, luckily she just thought she was just really dehydrated when she came back into herself 😭)

so obviously, you’ve avoided crowds to keep this forced possession thingy from happening all the time

like at the Forest Rangers meetings or something, ur watching off to the side, instead of standing with them or beside them

so needless to say, after about a week and half since possessing Tighnari,

you definitely did not mean to possess Collei.

She’d been in her wheelchair today, the Eleazar flaring up and tiring her body out

so her wheels had been entirely silent when she rolled up to where you and Tighnari were leaning over some strange experiments of his- you were just trying to figure out what all these mirrors were for, didn’t he do plants more-?

you didn’t even know what the hell happened, you just felt that familiar dropping sensation, like a small drop on a rollarcoaster, blinked, and then suddenly you were sitting instead of standing/floating???

Oh god-

before you could even begin to process that Tighnari was in front of you instead of beside you, the world was shorter,

The fox-eared ranger yelled in triumph, grinning with sharp fangs and spinning around to look at you (Collei)-

“Ah-ha! It worked! Finally, I saw you! I saw you, I-?? Oh gods, Collei, NO-!”

And with quick reflexes, Tighnari’s summoned his bow, but he’s clearly confused on what to do about this situation, taking aim, but also holding the air glowing with dendro not as taunt as you’d seen him in the battle with the bandits

You scramble to raise your hands up, brown poofy sleeves rise to your command, light green hair you can feel on your shoulders, everything is familiar, but not-

“WAIT! I’m sorry!! This was an accident, I promise! I don’t intend to hurt Collei, or you!! Please, just, don’t shoot me, I think you’ll just hurt Collei instead…”

You talk him down and decide, that if he’s put this much effort into finding out about your existence, is an incredible leader and friend to everyone around him, and was able to accept the traveler and many other strange things that’ve (probably? maybe?) already happened in Sumeru (god fuck u dont even know where in the timeline you are)

that you can probably trust Tighnari with your existence, and your powers.

…He nearly passes out.

◇

Life has gotten a lot funnier, and happier, since you told Tighnari (and some of the more trustworthy rangers and Collei by proxy) about ur existence (or really, confirmed it)

He’d been wary at first, appropiately cautious and demanding answers, of which you were happy to give and explain yourself

luckily, after a whole lot of “hmm, I see, no, I think I’m understanding-” , finger on his chin and everything

he’s said it’s okay to hang around the rangers, so long as you don’t possess anyone anymore without them knowing about you/with permission (outside of emergency situations that is)

tho he did seem surprisingly understanding and accepting of you doing it before after you explained how u were just unbelievably lonely and were lowkey paranoid of going crazy-

The rangers seem to believe you’re some kind of god/spirit thing, as you had no explanation yourself as to what you were ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

Tighnari’s also given you the rule to help out around here if you’re going to “ghost-laze around”, as he puts it lol

you’ve redirected ruin machines/feral animals away from rangers many times by now, to the many thanks and gratefulness of the rangers

you’ve even managed to even figure out how to push Collei’s wheelchair around when she uses it!

mostly by possessing tree after tree and using vines, or occasionally a fungi that can fly so you can nudge her along

she has insisted that you possess a ruin guard and carry her just to try it… however, Tighnari overheard her talking to the forest rangers’ dog (you) and immediately knew shit was up and banned you from doing it (at least not yet)

While most rangers are okay with you possessing them for a few minutes (and they’ve developed this bandana wrapped around their upper arms policy of “red = no possess, green = go ahead”)

Collei is the most okay with it and for longer, so you “won’t be that lonely ever again!” :’)

Tighnari is busy with stuff, so you can’t possess him as often, but the ranger has developed a theory that the more you possess someone, the more they can sense your feelings during possession/while floating around in ghost form too,

so he’ll occasionally feel you in the room with him, and start talking out loud in some one-sided convo to make you feel more included to make up for not being able to interact with him sometimes :)

(after taking you off his list of worries he’s still pretty swamped, not that he’ll tell you that, as he’s still not quite sure why he’s so, warm and safe feeling when you’re around, so willing to trust you so naturally, that it makes him want to at leats pretend to be worried abt a possessing ghost god/thing hanging out with the rangers now)

◇

basically everything is great!

the rangers are okay with you, they got a system to interact with you consensually, Tighnari and Collei are fond of you, you get to finally have something to do instead of floating around all the time (joining ranger missions)

and look!! they’ve even been kind enough to build you a little shrine or altar of sorts! Notes about Sumeru life, recipes for you to try, occasionally some books for you to read, and even some snacks/desserts for you to try out the next time someone possesses you and gives consent! (you leave them a little note stuck on their hand with your question for specific actions like that, if there isn’t another ranger there to ask for you when you unpossess them)

and everything is so cool, and everyone is so sweet and accepting

…Until Alhaitham shows up in Gandharva Ville, knocking on Tighnari’s door.

☆

AHHHH idk if this is any good! sorry it took so long, it was mostly the art 😭😭

anyway its not the best (the writing or the art) but i hope it’s at least some content to look at and be entertained for a minute!

also figured it was a good day to post what with the attack on our beloved Ao3 (tho i think it’s back up now?)

anyway, feel free to leave critiques on this one! (which I’ll probably turn this into a real fic one day soon, but not sure what to do with the plot/do a diff setup than this or what)

☆

sorry abt the radio silence! I just needed to close my mailbox bc i had a lot of stuff to answer, ur welcome to send submissions to chat/non-requests!

and also this took time to make (once again, mostly the art, bc thats how it always is with art isnt it 😭)

☆

Safe Travels Stranger,

💀♒

☆

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @justlostintheinternet   / @assassinsnake101 /@sun-wokung

If ur tag is here and didnt work, idk why!

Maybe see if your listed as a "searchable blog"?

[zivazivc]

I made a Trolls OC because of course I did. She is a bee herder and she's constantly covered in pollen.

[moon-buggg]

The kids in the daycare rope Sun into playing pretend. He, ever the thespian, takes it a bit too seriously.

-normal-about-the-dca

[kay-selfships]

you can’t kill me, i have anime boys in my phone that need me

[candyheartedchy]

A little animatic based on the dancing scene in Chapter 6 of @tornrose24’s Scratch x Reader fic “Being Here With You”.

[lunarmoves]

a yawn escapes your mouth, cracking your jaw with its force as you belatedly lift a hand in an attempt to cover it. your muscles stretch with the deep intake of breath, then relax just as quickly. oof.

"tired?" a familiar voice asks from somewhere in front of you, low like the hum of the cosmos.

you find yourself opening your scrunched eyes to blink hazily at sun. he offers you an unreadable smile, fingertips pressed together quaintly from his position beyond the daycare's security desk. it's just you and him in here, waiting for the lights to inevitably go out.

you rub at one of your eyes, wiping away any stray tears from your yawn. "you could say that. 's been a long day." your arms lift over your head in a stretch. sitting in the little chair by the security desk for hours at a time doesn't do wonders for your back and shoulders. "doesn't help that i had all those sandwiches earlier," you add with a grimace, eyeing all the wrappers you'd piled in a corner of the desk. you can still feel the heaviness in your gut from them. fazco sandwiches are sincerely no joke.

sun's head tilts to the side slightly. his eyes narrow a little, as though in thought. "why would that matter?"

"oh." you blink at him, letting your arms rest on your thighs. you ponder upon his question. "well, sometimes when we eat a lot of food, it makes us sleepy."

sun lets out a hum, and his head does a full rotation. tick tick ticking away until it straightens itself properly. he leans forward to rest his arms on the top of the desk. "that seems... counterproductive," he responds, thoughtful.

you shrug and lean back in your seat. "that's just how it is for us. i think it depends on the kinds of food we eat."

he's quiet for a moment, the daycare's little jingle echoing around the room. his white gaze has latched onto your own, though you wonder if he's really seeing you and not... lost in whatever artificial thoughts are running through his head. you can never tell what they are. and when he eventually speaks again, you wonder grimly if knowing is truly something you even want.

"humans are so inefficient," he says like he's ruminating over the laws of physics. you quirk an eyebrow at him. he continues, "your biology is so limiting."

you frown at him. this is... unexpected, to say the least. you're unsure how to handle it. "well, i guess, but—"

"the other day," he interrupts you, one of his fingers tapping steadily at the bottom of his faceplate, "you had something in your eye. it was an eyelash. why have something that hinders you in this manner?"

"it's just... things we've learned to deal with," you respond stiffly, giving him another halfhearted shrug. "things we cannot help. evolution, y'know? we can't all be designed to perfection." it's said sourly, your gaze not-so-discreetly shifting up and down his figure.

"hm, yes." the tapping gets steadily faster. you are unable to tear your gaze away from his own encompassing one. white lights behind a sliver of glass. "you know, friend"—he leans down closer to you, voice lowering until it's no louder than a whisper—"it astonishes me how humanity has remained the dominant species for so long."

you swallow heavily. "yeah?" you say weakly.

"yes," he says, edges of his smile sharpening. "it truly makes me wonder if this reign will ever come to an end. what do they say—natural selection?" something bottoms out in the pit of your stomach.

you don't deign him with an answer. you only watch as he stands before you—metal and silicon and gears and electricity. towering above your smaller form like he's ready to bring this end himself.

[conspicuous-clown-car]

uh oh!