#she is not about that corporate life and is much more of a free spirit so being a freelance artist is much more her style

[applesaucesims]

With another baby on the way, more space needed to be made for a nursery. Of course, Louis was unhappy with the idea of him having to share a room with the baby, while the girls were already sharing one with each other. Thus, the best solution was to expand the house with an additional room. For all the construction work that needed to be done, Niall had called up some professionals to help, who were doing a much better and faster job than they could have done on their own.

Other than that, the pregnancy had inspired Emma to think about her own path in life. She had noticed that the time either of the parents were spending with their children was very limited, and with a fourth on the way, things would become more difficult. Emma thrived in her role as a mother, and not being there for a children was a horrible thought.

All of this had finally led to her reconsidering her career choice. While she loved all the set painting she did for the film studio, it was not the same as coming up with her own themes. In fact, being tied down to specific themes given by the company was starting to not feel as inspiring as she originally thought. The little time she had left to herself to make her own paintings was much more creatively fulfilling in every way. Since it was never about the money for her, anyway, with Niall doing as well as ever in his career as an actor, quitting hers seemed to be the best decision in this situation. After some deliberation, she told her husband, before calling up the studio to make the final move.

[TRANSCRIPT]

*construction noise* *work chatter*

Emma: "Ni, can I talk to you about something?"

Niall: "Of course, what is it?"

Emma: "I've been thinking, and I don't know how we're going to take care of four children and our careers at the same time. We can barely manage the three!"

Niall: "What's your suggestion?"

Emma: "Well, you know I loved being able to make a profession of my art."

Niall: "Yes, but you like it at the studio, no?"

Emma: "I do. Or I did. But I think it would be best for me to quit."

Niall: "But..."

Emma: "I can still paint at home, maybe even sell some of it! It wouldn't be an issue, I promise. You make way more money, anyway. And I want to be here to watch our babies grow, you know?"

Niall: "And you're really sure that's what you want?"

Emma: "Absolutely! I've already made my decision."

Niall: "Then I won't be holding you back, my love."

[mielwriting]

My thoughts on the 5.0 livestream

Disappointed Mavuika appears to be another pyro claymore. Was really hoping for a 5 star pyro sword. Would also help make connections to Bennett, since he's the only other pyro sword.

Props to those who predicted Il Capitano would be a cryo user!

Also props to whoever predicted the Archon Quests would follow the pattern shown in the Mond prologue: that is, first we learn about the Abyss Order as enemies, then we focus on the Fatui for a while, then the Abyss Order comes back into focus closer to the final showdown. It seems they’re getting a much bigger focus in the Natlan archon quest!

Also, wow, so we already know Natlan and Mondstadt have weird connections - Now we know they have another one: Natlan and Mondstadt are the only 2 nations the Abyss Order is interested in. 

Hey look a pale npc with dreadlocks

Love the greater focus on the Mandarin language! Very nice for a learner

Furina wasn’t biologically an archon, so her hair didn’t glow - she had that glowy fabric in the back of her outfit to kinda hide that. Mavuika is a really nice contrast - her entire head of hair glows very bright! Not just the tips like previous archons

Was noticeable how they reframed the player feedback: “everyone’s very interested in our inspirations for Natlan” as a corporate translation of everyone’s anger over the whitewashing and Spirit Halloween-ifying

Still disappointed in the pyro archon’s leather biker suit

Someone more familiar with Genshin’s music look into this - but around 34:10 when they started answering the question “will someone be resurrected” does the music resemble more the music from La Signora’s funeral video?

Wonder about the original Mandarin titles for the Archon Quest acts - Because “Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn” sounds so cool - and then Act 2 is “Black Stone under a White Stone”. It’s just comically simple compared to the big words that are usually in genshin titles

Also really interested in the Ancient Names thing. I’m almost certain it’s something taken from a real-life culture, and should really research more into that. 

Did I understand that right? They’re gonna give us Kachina for free, just like we got Amber and Kaeya and Lisa back in Mondstadt? 

All 3 of the new 5.0 characters mark regional specialties, and also have additional exploration benefits!

Wow you can really see the effect that Wuthering Waves had on Genshin

And Test Run finally lets you test out the effects of the characters in an open-world environment!

Traveler will not get the pyro element this update - but it sounds like that’s a possibility for once the Archon Quest has finished?

So I noticed that the 2 new Geo characters we’ll get - Kachina  and the tall lady - both come from the same tribe - the one associated with rocks and such. Makes me wonder if it’s possible to even get a vision that doesn’t correspond to your tribe’s element. 

Really seems like the cultural elements here are more simplified “everyone in this tribe loves music” “everyone in this tribe loves extreme sports” “everyone in this tribe loves mining” where’s the complexity. 

I shall add capybaras to my teapot!

Yay another Dodoco event! I really enjoyed the one last year

They’re also giving out extra rewards for completing archon and story quests within the 6 week release - including giving us a lot of the ascension materials to get to level 60!

Did find it funny when one guy was explaining all the new benefits and the other is like, “wait, this is Genshin Impact? All this cool stuff is in Genshin Impact?” Like yeah Wuthering Waves bred innovation!

FREE STANDARD FIVE STAR EVERY YEAR

I already have Tighnari, Dehya, and Keqing. I don’t really want any of their constellations, so my choice is between Qiqi, Mona, Jean, and Diluc. I don’t want Qiqi, and I don’t need Mona since I already have Furina. It’s down to Jean or Diluc. Jean’s ability to push people away looks really fun, and I can certainly think of places where I would’ve loved to have that skill. However, I have wanted Diluc since the very first time we played him in that trial run during the Mond archon quest. I also already have Kaeya, Rosaria, and Venti, so completing the Angel’s Share team would be cool. My only hesitation is that his gameplay will probably be outdone by Mavuika. But leaks have said she might not release til January, when I was expecting her in November (however leaks also said Emilie was part of Hexenzirkel they aren’t always right).

Love that Oratrice Mechanique d’Analyse Cardinale made it into the stream

BEFORE Khoi Dao repeated that phrase, I did not know he spoke French. But I could hear his actual good French-speaking accent when he said it, and turns out he does indeed speak it! Cool!

Yippee!

Zach Aguilar and Khoi Dao are a great comedic duo

LOVE to hear Brittany Lauda talk about relating to her character, Chiori, for both being seen as intimidating - I specifically relate to Chiori for her basic facial expressions, her bluntness, her acceptance of her quirks, and difficulty making friends because of those traits. Just really glad to hear I’m not the only one. 

The English voice actor for Lumine actually has a twin brother?! 

Amber Lee Conners appeared at the end of the stream, so this is a good place to say how AMAZING her voice acting as Furina is. Just listening to her voice lines and hearing the difference between her acting confident and her actual, recovering-from-depression self is a clear display of talent. Always a treat to listen to. 

Jenny Yokobori (Yoimiya VA) having worked as a pyrotechnician! Cool! 

And her sharing the bond with her character for their dads. So sweet.

Let Erika Harlacher-Stone sing as Venti more!

The Clorinda VA Crystal Lee also loves Tabletop Games!

[mpsansy]

Just to establish the timeline of when the ghosts were able to turn corporal (Manifestation, able to interact with the living world/remember, etc.), feel free to correct me, but it seems like the trio was first judging by the TikTok of Stretch putting JT in his place. Most likely due to the shear animosity the three most certainly share, if not Stretch having the most himself over Casper. Casper is next by the fact that he’s not oblivious to his father’s… less than stellar record of being an actual father. But because he seems aware of JT’s attempts to resurrect him and his mother… And it be fitting. JT’s greatest failure, wandering the halls of his mansion, an apparition of a life JT could have had… If his selfish ambition wasn’t thicker than blood. But seeing his dad trying helps Casper to still have a generous view of his father… At least until he meets Wendy, and being a witch, hooboy, she can practically taste how THICK the curse is over the McFadden family. Next is Casper’s mother, I feel like I missed the reason why, but I’m going to chalk it up to that because she died so suddenly from the curse her spirit hadn’t really collected itself until much later.

Is any of this slightly correct?

Mm, a little bit of it. But to be fair, I need to be more clear on my posts over there on TikTok. I’m finally starting to get the picture of what I want out of these characters, so I’ll be soon compiling all the things I need to tell about these characters. And having to write it more accurately here will be a big help to translate it into my videos over there!

Anyway, getting back into this. None of these ghosts were ever able to interact with J.T. The trio specifically weren’t even in the manor except for Casper, who saw a man desperately seeking a way to get his family back. Casper had a hunch that this man was perhaps referring to him and another person, but… he didn’t know him. Like at all. It was mixed feeling for the child, but he really did want to help the man.

However the interactions were so small, so faint. It irritated the child. But perhaps irritating J.T more cause now he knew something- someone was there with him. Casper had lashed out and broke some things due to the invisible barrier. Both equally tried to talk, but something was there to say “NO”.

Though this was for the better for Casper. Because this man, the man that was indeed his biological father. In all the years of attempting to bring his wife and child back, he was still thinking of himself. Always had, always will. A reality I don’t think he saw until Wendy came into his life.

Now with what you’re saying there, kinda feels like you pulled it out of my brain. Wendy is not only great friend to Casper, but a spectacular magical genius. Knowing all things about curses and secret spells. And she does see it. All the things that happened to her friend and his family.

It might have actually upset her cause, as you said, she can taste how thick the curse is. I happen to take that literally. With Wendy describing the taste as blood and sticky like tar. Almost suffocating if you wanted her honest opinion. And she feels for this family. She really does cause it seems like all the horrible deaths that happened to the McFadden family, it all occurred because of J.T’s crazed obsession with power. And all of them paying the price for it.

And I kind of said something about Casper’s mother that I’ll be happy to repeat. She was lost in all this time. And with your thought about the curse having a play in that would be appropriate to sum it up to.

She'd be the very first affected by the curse and it pushed her so far away that she split apart. Barely managing to collect herself and trying her best to call out to her family.

Took long enough, but the trio finally heard her calls.

[kindheart525]

I’ve been doing more arc planning lately and adding more side characters to the cast, so I thought I’d do a doodle sheet to introduce some of them and give you all a small taste of what’s ahead! 

Smooth Tune AKA Smoothie - Licorice Lace’s girlfriend  A harpist from Licorice’s orchestra, she is equal parts beefcake and angel. She is graceful and gorgeous, with a more cheesy and girlish side too. Many would say she is way out of Lic’s league but she still chose him and would do so a thousand times over.

Aphrodisian Foam - Fashion Model In a sort of “ugly ducking” tale, she started out as an insecure chick with unusual hybrid traits (wingless unicorn hippogriffs are hard to come by) but now she is a show-stopping model who shares her beauty with the whole world.

Tranquila - Trailblazer’s “enemy” An “influencer” by her world’s standards, she has a passion for fitness and loves sharing it with the world. She publishes her favorite workouts and daily musings in various magazines and video tutorials, focusing on strength and balance in one’s lifestyle. She does it all with a calm, chilled-out attitude, contrasting the girl known as her enemy.

Roman Candle - Trailblazer’s “best friend” A wrestling champion in high school, he is a skilled athlete who knows how to stand out. But he was also your typical douchey teenage boy, generally a dick to those he didn’t call friend and not particularly favored among the girls because of that. Hopefully he won’t stay that way forever.

Almond Meringue AKA Uncle Al - Trailblazer’s publicist  A humble old stallion from a village outside of Trottingham, he is Trailblazer’s publicist on paper but in reality he’s so much more. He keeps her schedule intact, makes sure she remembers to eat and rest, and helps her avoid embarrassing herself in public. She really keeps him on his hooftips, but they’ve grown to care about each other in a somewhat familial way which makes his job worth it.

Burr - Mudbriar’s son Somewhat like the uncle he resembles, he broke the mold set by his parents, pursuing a more extroverted career path than Mudbriar and choosing a different genre of music than his other father Feather Bangs. An idol of his little cousin Meteor Shower, he has lofty goals for his career but is enjoying the ride on the way there.

Sweetpea Soup - Manic Pixie Dream Girl Her description is pretty self explanatory: she’s quirky and free-spirited with a rebellious streak, and a strong and contagious appreciation for all life has to offer. Anyone she meets would consider themselves lucky to have known her and be left wanting for more time with her.

Painted Lady - Tea Cake’s aide Passionate about foalcare, her greatest reward is getting to nurture foals as they grow and watching their vibrant personalities bloom. But she can also be a little overbearing and intrude on what is meant to be independent play if she thinks extra care is needed (which it sometimes isn’t). The foal she works with now needs that extra care to an extent, but it’s still annoying.

Infernal Startrail - Blackfire Phoenix’s coworker In some ways she is every corporation’s dream employee with the way she thinks outside the box and has a solution to most problems she encounters. She is decisive, intelligent, and professional, but isn’t above the occasional workplace gossip to an extent. But then again, most people aren’t.

Fireball Rosso - Bullseye’s boyfriend  A talented makeup artist for any and all genders, he’s very serious about his craft. Some consider him arrogant and snooty and maybe he is just a little bit, but he’s very secure in himself and he wants others to be confident in their expression too.

Strawberry Bon Bon - Meteor Shower’s girlfriend A hopeless romantic at heart, she puts her all into her relationships with others, sometimes to her own detriment. Getting her heart broken a few times by guys who didn’t put in equal effort has left her with some trust issues, leading to insecurities that carry over into the next relationship.

Pearl Closure - Sour Peach’s girlfriend  A fashion designer who specializes in “magical girl transformations,” i.e. those extra special outfits that have two designs in one! She can make literal rags unfold into a stunning ballgown, and at the height of her career she’s very popular among celebrities who want unique costume changes. She took her time to nurture her talent before sharing it with the world so it would really be worth the wait.

Fruit Salad - School of Friendship alum She’s a party animal with a little bit of bimbo mixed in, in the sense of not always reading the room. She’s well intentioned, just not super responsible or receptive to when someone wants to be left alone.

Pearl - Miner She is the type of diamond dog that when she has her mind set on something, she will not stop until she accomplishes it. This includes things like digging really deep to get a certain gem she senses, even when she hits rock. She’s eager to meet new creatures and when she is your friend she’s very affectionate.

Juneberry - Mailmare A flirt who always has things to share like fun facts, she likes talking to others and learns a lot from all the ponies and creatures she delivers mail to. Not everyone makes a habit of talking to the pony who delivers their mail outside of small talk, but when they do it makes her day.

Veneer Smokescreen AKA Smoky - Movie theater employee With a monotone attitude, she’s the kind of pony where you just have to believe her when she says she feels a certain way because she’s not going to show you any other way. As a foal she was punished for being too childish despite being a child at the time so now she has issues expressing herself.

Hyacinth Moss - Marmalade Meringue’s wife Insecure and ashamed of her siren heritage, she is easily embarrassed by anything that even remotely makes her look bad (like Marmalade expressing a bad take in public or her kids lightly bickering). She is generally touchy and reactive and will react to any slights very passive-aggressively.

Starfruit Bouquet - Hyacinth and Marmalade’s oldest son A soccer player practically since he could walk, he has a love for the game and a love for life no matter what successes or failures come his way. He isn’t in the game to win, but loves it for the camaraderie and teamwork it comes with. Any mistakes he takes in stride as long as he has his friends by his side.

Sour Grapes - Hyacinth and Marmalade’s youngest son A spelling bee kid who will probably graduate to the debate team and then some prestigious college, he is ambitious and competitive. The game is cutthroat and so is he, albeit in a rule-abiding way. You would think he and his brother would be at odds with how different their values are, and they certainly do disagree, but not as much as their parents do. Making fun of them is one thing they can bond over.

Please let me know what you think and feel free to theorize about their roles! Which of these characters are most excited to see in the story? I can’t wait to introduce them proper, which for some should be pretty soon!

~~~~~~~~~~

Roman Candle designed by @melos-magic-ponies Infernal Startrail and Pearl (the dog) designed by me Everyone else designed by @gelidponies

[fleurknows]

♡﹒ ׄ ೀ introduction to 𝗟𝗔𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗨𝗦 𝗥𝗛𝗘𝗘 .ᐟ ɞ

⠀⠀⠀( PARK SUNGHOON . TWENTY - ONE. DEMI BOY . HE / THEY . ) we’ve got the spirits , how ‘about you ?! it looks like ( LAZARUS RHEE ) just got their acceptance letter to monster university . i hope the ( FRANKENMONSTER ) has their bags packed so they can move into ( HOWL HALL ) ! i’ve heard they can be ( - VINDICTIVE ) and ( - ARROGANT ) but also ( + NURTURING ) and ( + ELOQUENT ) . monster university is the perfect time to explore who they want to be . did you hear they’ve got a job as a ( BOOKKEEPER ) at ( BLOODMOON BOOK STORE ) . good luck and remember to be yourself , be unique , be monster !

♡﹒ ׄ ೀ 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗦 .

— ♡ 𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 !

FULL NAME : lazarus rhee . NICKNAME(S) : laz . AGE : twenty - one . SPECIES : frankenmonster . DATE OF BIRTH : january 3rd . GENDER : demi boy . PRONOUNS : he / they . OCCUPATION : bookkeeper at bloodmoon bookstore . LIVING SITUATION : howl hall . FACECLAIM : park sunghoon .

— ♡ 𝗣𝗛𝗬𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 !

HEIGHT : 165 cm . EYE COLOUR : violet , with wide circle pupils . HAIR COLOUR : obsidian , with one strand of violet at the back of his head . NOTABLE DETAILS : skin seemingly made out of porcelain , with ball - joints at each joint in his limbs ; he has the likeness of a marionette puppet with no strings attached . his eyes are always glassy and cheeks perpetually flushed . there is a dull crack in his left cheek from an injury long - since healed over , but once it's broken , porcelain never truly is as flawless as it was before the fall .

— ♡ 𝗜𝗡 𝗗𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗛 !

lazarus' creation was fully accidental , and he has been plagued by such knowledge since that same day . his creator had no intention of creating sentience when his physical form was pieced together , using pieces of porcelain and cotton and silk �� no . her intent had been to create an empty vessel with which she would use to summon her sibling back from the dead and allow them a corporeal form once more . it was a thoughtful gesture , but no good deed goes unpunished . motherhood was not her ideal , as a young witch with much of her life ahead of her yet , so much like the story of frankenstein and his monster , she abandoned him . both thinking that this would give him his best chance and freeing herself of the responsibility she accidentally burdened herself with , she left him at a small shrine and believed someone would find him , leaving his fate to whatever god bestowed him his life and cursed her own . he was lucky enough that , eventually , someone did . he lived on his own for a few weeks to months . his anatomy didn't require him to eat , so it wasn't difficult . after some time , though , he was taken in by a kind man who gave him both a home and also a name . he claims not to remember this name that was gifted to him , or else he pretends as such , but the stranger treated him as if he was his own . he took it upon himself to teach him , to guide him , and when he was ready , to enroll him in school and make an effort to help him build an identity outside of his abandonment and a life beyond the one he thought he wasn't enough to have . a couple of years ago , a tragedy occurred and the man who he came to know as a father was killed ━ some say it was by accident , other's say it was with intent ; he chose to believe the latter . the man who took care of him was killed because of that simple fact ━ because he chose to take in a monster and someone , for some reason , took issue with that . this caused the young monster to resent humans in their entirety as a species . a hatred festered inside of him even for the man who treated him with kindness and as if he was his own ; again , he'd been abandoned and , again , he was alone . he swore to himself that he would never allow himself to grow attached to anyone again ━ human or monster , alike , for at the end of the day he is nothing but porcelain , and cotton , and silk ; there is no heart in his chest , nothing but a vacant cavity to house the anger he feels . now , while at monster university , he works at bloodmoon book store as a bookkeeper , keeping shelves neat and stocked and organised . he enjoys it because , for the most part , he gets to keep to himself and seldom has to talk to people . he usually comes off as standoffish and cold , sometimes borderline mean , but beneath all of the hatred and resentment , the borderline vengeful nature he has towards humans , he can be very caring and nurturing , especially toward young children and small animals ; those he , in a way , sees an old version of himself in .

[heartsxbane]

event! special delivery for @oceansborn ( loreon & lyanna )

Forever, if it were a measurable period, would still fail to be long enough between a truly heartbreaking betrayal and the mere mention of a cowardly lion who had dared to pretend to be in love with her. The kingdom she would've delivered to his feet and every imagined glory that would come to it was still burning about her in a blaze only her eyes could see, forever struggling to breathe in ash and snow. There had been no allowance to wallow, no mourning, only the stark reality of a stark king's disappointment in a girl firmly mired in second place, stuck in a state of eternal proving of a worth that had been established ten times over. Younger sisters still made him smile, a father who had lost his firstborn and named the third his heir apparent. Lyanna's smiles were tempered with a sliver of condemnation at least that Lyanna felt was there. For his eldest living child it was a small war in itself to make a father praise her. It had been years since the name had been mentioned, Bane's growl of displeasure the last time Loreon Lannister had even been mentioned among Winterfell by the staff or its ruling family caused a poor maid to faint.

On this new plane of existence where a footing was no more sure than dancing on the edge of a frozen pond, Lyanna had traveled with family to assist them in these talks. She had to find a way to be content with a fate most unexpected, wrestling with the voice that asked what she was willing to sacrifice to take what ought to belong to her- that would belong to Lyanna if she were a son and not a daughter. Thus far into this grand ball in king's landing, Lyanna had even entertained the thought of melting a heart iced over, knowing it was awfully exhausting keeping the world at arm's length. Then a ghost appeared. If a direwolf had been allowed, Bane would've snarled. Hackles would've been raised as if they reflected Lyanna's own emotion narrowing her eyes at a spirit that was made corporeal. The girl that had loved him once battled the woman hardened by her subsequent experiences. Were this the days after a letter had been delivered to her how a stark princess would've flown to his arms and openly displayed how much she loved. Lyanna would've kissed every inch of face, overwhelmed and crying, telling him how much he meant and not to scare her like that again, and they would've married then and there. Lyanna would've found the septon to honor his religion and dragged the old fool in by the ear, demanding it be done. Were it after rumors came that he feld with another it would not be kisses that would cover Loreon's cheeks. Still, somehow, as small as she was Lyanna would've slapped him, tears running and ruining a perfectly painted face filled with an anger that was no anger but a love that may have been allowed to die peacefully. The thirdborn Lannister prince had not the honor to give her even that or even the chance to pretend as if she would not forgive him the moment he'd kiss her if it had been a more immediate return. No. Lyanna had to cry when the wind howled or it stormed. The blood of her mother cried to the seas to let the waves take her to a god as old as her own who would protect his lost child. Bane whimpered, a beast as fearsome as his lady, feeling the devastation in the stark's bones as she stared out the gates slowing losing hope. If he asked - if Loreon dared to tell her face to face he didn't really love her enough to go through with this she could've saved herself like he thought his words could set her free from a disappointing life. Instead, he had, without knowing, delivered her into a fate worse than the one she imagined.

A chest rose for a moment with the fire housed in her, a blaze of righteous anger flaring, needing to turn her face away. Lyanna did not, though, and her eyes remained on the man. She would not allow him to disappear into the crowd and fade from view back to whatever place he'd come crawling out of. Lyanna would not shout, rage as she wished or waste tears he did not deserve but what better way to confront a lion than directly. "This is a most unexpected surprise. Should we take the appearance of ghosts as an omen of ill fortune or does a specter bring this council glad tidings? Prince"

[mywifeleftme]

92: Aquariana // Aquariana

Aquariana Aquariana 2013, Drag City (Website)

The Source Family were one of the more successful new religions (read: cults) operating in Southern California during the early 1970s. Founded by Father Yod (pronounced “Yoad”; né Jim Baker), a towering, bearded figure with a few alleged murders (via karate chop!) and bank robberies under his robes, the Source Family operated a popular health food restaurant in L.A. and cut dozens of brainstewing psych rock records that have become holy grails to men who physically resemble late period Jerry Garcia. Yod assigned one of his 13 wives (Isis Aquarian, née Charlene Peters) to document the cult’s journey over the years, resulting in an incredible trove of video recordings, some of which were used to assemble 2012’s The Source Family documentary. The footage, much of it eerie and gauzily beautiful, gives us a good idea of what day-to-day life in the Family was like, from its origins to Yod’s corporeal demise in Hawaii following a hang-gliding accident (!).

The Source Family were as close to a prototypical cult of the era as you can get: white robes, buffet approach to Eastern and Western spiritual concepts, illiberal attitudes toward “personal possessions,” semi-involuntary polygamy, institutionalized drug use, etc. If you’ve ever listened to recordings of the sermons of Jim Jones or David Berg, Baker’s hep gibberish will sound strikingly familiar, and indeed, the Source Family followed the standard trajectory—from monogamy to a form of free love that mostly allowed the leader to fuck all the hot girls; from soft notions about kindness and peace to dark mutterings about an imminent apocalypse; from vegetarianism to moral loopholes that sanctioned the killing of dangerous outsiders. The Source Family never went the way of the Peoples Temple because, when faced with a mounting crisis (the cult’s disastrous move to Hawaii), Baker decided to disclaim his godhood instead of doubling down on it. No one knows why he eventually told his followers he was only a man, but I have a hunch: he wasn’t a sawed-off little gnome, and he wasn’t crazy. Unlike his murderous peers, Baker didn’t have much to overcompensate for; he was a huge, built guy who didn’t need a cult to get laid, impose his will, or feel important (though he got off on all of the above). In the end, no one died, and so it feels a little less vulturine to nibble at this particular cult’s artistic output than it does, say, the Manson Family’s.

On that note, let’s turn to the music. Record nerds are always on the lookout for cult music because it often goes extremely hard, be it Manson’s acoustic freak folk, Scientology space jazz, or “Veteran of the Psychic Wars.” The albums the Source Family are known for (released under a variety of names like Ya Ho Wha 13 and Father Yod and the Spirit of ’76) are out-there freeform acid jams in which the cult’s more experienced musicians try to work around frontman Yod’s untrained drumming and bellowing—a member of the No-Neck Blues Band pops up on the 2012 documentary to gush about their records, and you can see why acts like NNCK and Jackie O Motherfucker would lose it for this stuff.

The album we’re looking at today, by contrast, is a solo piano recording from the mid-‘70s by Aquariana, another of Yod’s wives, that went unissued till 2013. Aquariana had a Queen Guinevere-type look, and the liners note that she would frequently spin her own long golden hair into thread to sew and embroider with. A capable pianist with a multi-octave voice, Aquariana’s music could broadly be called folky, but it feels a little more theatrical than that, influenced by show tunes and AM soft rock. Her songs are mostly about love (-ing Father Yod), bearing children (of Father Yod), and the magnificence of Father Yod. It’s midway between devotional music and the type of stuff a medieval bard would be retained to write in praise of an egotistical baron. You can practically see Baker being fed grapes in the producer’s chair while she plays. Though it’s not as overtly weird as Ya Ho Wha 13, there’s still a lot of stuff on Aquariana that no sane producer would’ve allowed, like the way she tunelessly holds and holds and holds her notes on “Oh My Love” and “One Love” until you start to think your record is skipping. That strangeness is why it exerts the particular appeal it does, and it does have a particular downbeat intensity that holds my interest, despite its rudimentary songcraft.

Chicago’s Drag City label was behind the documentary and mid-2010s series of Source Family music reissues. Unlike reissues of, say, Manson-adjacent music, the label was able to work with surviving Family members like Isis Aquarian. This meant of course that they couldn’t dress up the reissues too salaciously (see LIE: The Love & Terror Cult), but Baker’s group already had such a strongly creepy aesthetic that there wasn’t much need to. A designer would be hard-pressed to come up with a more uncanny cover than Aquariana got: the singer at the piano in her ruffled gown with an unreadable expression, the head and shoulders of her husband-father visible behind the instrument, the portrait framed in ornate white fabric. It feels like the work of an outsider trying to underline the cult’s depravity in red pen—yet the composition and cover design were by Yod himself. Make of that what you will.

92/365

[tcfactory]

*gets annotations out*

What are northern marriage rituals?

How was the process of getting over his fears for sqh?

Couldn't mobei-mom pull a "dream demon" and come back that way?

Is tlj going to keep on being the sénéchal once moshang marry ?

Tlj and sqh ever get together to complain about everyone and everything? As a treat.

What do YOU wanna tell us about mobei-mom?

1. I have some thoughts, but since I put so much of a Mongolian influence into the Northern Demon Kingdom, I don't want to make up things without further research.

2. Mostly exposure therapy, in the sense that he spent time with MBJ when he knew he wasn't in danger/was in control. I'm fond of pillow princess MBJ - he plays up being lazy and spoiled and SQH gets a bit of an ego trip doing with him as he pleases.

But also just generally talking about things when they are uncertain about eachother's culture and often even when they are certain, because their personal history shows that they don't know nearly as much as they think they do. The reassurance that MBJ is now educated about human limits and will ask and ask again before doing anything that might harm him helped him overcome his fears eventually.

3. Okay, so my idea as of now for Mobei-mom is that she's lost her corporeal form and is now more or less permanently attached to her husband as something ghost-adjacent. Not really willing to try to interact with the world at large because gods know what that would lead to, but she's definitely there and she's trying to keep Mobei-dad from despairing, despite his quickly failing health.

The cheesiest possible end state for this is that she catches her husband's soul when he dies and then waits patiently for MBJ to do the inheritance ritual and gain enough power that he can open a big enough rift for her to go back to the Endless Abyss, spirit husband in tow.

4. (I'm going to assume this was meant to be LGJ? :D) They will discuss it, but probably? He doesn't hate his job as such. Not this job, at least. Not yet. The way I picture it, in a more canon-adjacent verse he would have to take on increasing amount of work as his brother slowly fades away from the strain of the ancestral power, without hiring more aids because they are trying to keep it under wraps. So by the time MBJ takes over, he's been doing like 5 or 6 high end management jobs with not even enough staff to properly do one and he's beyond resentful.

In In Tune's verse, SQH notices that LGJ is exhibiting signs of overwork and will find a way to help him out somehow, so he never gets to the point where he just wants to see the world burn so he can have a day off. Being northern seneschal is a good, respected position where he can showcase his smarts, but not so dangerous that he has to worry overmuch for his life and he can go and spend his free time trying to court LQG.

5. Oh they absolutely do. SQH supplies the alcohol, LGJ gets them expensive Japanese snacks, and they vent to each other for a whole evening every now and then. It does both of them a lot of good.

6. Mobei-mom is not beholden to a lot of things, but she's compelled to follow Fate. That's why she stuck around to 'die' when MBJ was young, despite having a few opportunities to return to the Abyss.

She would recognize SQH as Author God if they ever met face to face, but wouldn't tell anybody about it. She would enjoy reading PIDW, even the repetitive papapa, but she would think LBH is a very boring protagonist.

She has actually met TLJ before, but TLJ was too young to remember her.

[ribbonscene]

ㅤ️ㅤ️ㅤ️ㅤ️ㅤ️ㅤ️ anne and her tales 𓆩♡𓆪 𝅄 ⋆

ᅠㅤ️act i : who is anne?

ㅤ️welcome, lovelings. hereby you are entering anne’s fairytale. now... you may wonder, who is anne and what do you need to know about her? well, you have taken a great start here. ♡

ㅤ️anneliese claire is an alter-ego created by ralynsha clairanne, a normal corporate worker who spent most of her time crushing herself against life and the problems within while half of her mind wandering around what she called “beyond the universe”. unlike ralyn, anne is a free-spirited ego who isn’t afraid to speak to her truth. and like a little kid, just as pure and as curious about the world, anne finds beauty in the mundane; spending her days writing about her layered feelings, to let out what ralyn can’t due to her principals.

ᅠmeanwhile, most people have a back-to-back different alter-ego, ralyn and anne got each other’s back like a figure and its shadow. what ralyn couldn’t say, anne would. and what anne couldn’t do, ralyn will pursue.

ㅤ️both ralyn/anne often describe themselves as an orange cat, having infp-t as their mbti, and a proud libran all the way. she preferred being addressed using feminine pronouns, and in case you are bewildered with all this new information, you may address the human form with both names {let’s just say it’s the same person, different name}. :]<3

ᅠㅤ️act ii : what intrigues anne?

ଙ♡ generals : anne/ralyn likes anything pink, sanrio, and positivity contents. she believes in manifestations and the power of mindset; universe, and everything in between. she has always been a one-true worshipper of makeup, skin and body care, food, and perfumery. she indulges in fiction books a lot, as it helps her to write better. and one of her quirky qualities is that she is always curious. be it you started to talk about science, which she isn’t fond of, she will spend her times to search around for answers so she could have a conversation with anyone. she loves strawberry, green tea, and mochi a lot {you would find her talks about these three things a lot}. she loves learning new things as she treasures what’s already there.

ଙ♡ music : she is fond of k-pop music since her early years of living {nowadays her lenses are focused on enhypen, seventeen, theboyz, riize, ive, newjeans, le sserafim, aespa, csr, itzy, and stayc}. besides those, she is an avid listener of taylor swift, niki, mitski, beabadoobe, olivia rodrigo, melanie martinez, laufey, dept, hivi!, bruno major, nadin amizah, gracie abrams, and so much more musicians! ♥︎ her life rotates around music and always will, and listing all her favorite musicians will be a long-life job she couldn’t finish.

ଙ♡ movies and series : during her worst days, she found reading books overwhelming since the letters were running around her head; thus, cinema helped her recover her feelings on those times. two of her favorite genres is romcom and child flick; as she could watch movies with those genre forever. before trilogy, 13 going on 30, 10 things i hate about you, mean girls, wild child, legally blonde, la la land, the devil wears prada, you are the apple of my eye are some of her favorite movies to watch. while modern family, brooklyn nine-nine, young sheldon, superstore, anne with an e, reply 1988, extraordinary attorney woo were some of her favorite tv series. she likes cartoons {especially anne} and disney is the one who accompanied her growing up. besides that, she loves the baby boss series and studio ghibli productions! well... the list is taking too long, isn’t it? shall we stop now?

ᅠㅤ️act iii : where is anne?

ㅤ️you are reaching the last’s part of anne/ralyn’s mega-bank {phew, finally...}! now that you are here and before you find out about where you could directly speak to both anne and ralyn, i think it’s best for you to know that the place is her safe place; so if it’s uncomfortable for you to stay around with all her stuff going around, please always know that you are allowed to skim her presence from your life. and she would prefer new friends whom she could talk to; so if you aren’t up for that also... please skip this message, kindly. c:

ᅠㅤ️✧ㅤ️anne’s main-residential

ㅤ️ㅤ️✧ㅤ️ask anne anything!

ㅤ️ㅤ️✧ㅤ️hot-or-cold tea sesh with anne

ㅤ️ㅤ️✧ㅤ️anne and her ancient tales.

and that is that, anne and ralyn hope you enjoy your short stay here. and she is looking forward to see you somewhere above. see you on the other side! 🤍

[garbagefarm]

Mutucule Farm #13

2023-03-13, Session #13 for Mutucule Farm, Spring 7 Year 2 through Spring 13 Year 2

Cast:

Me (@mothmute)

Belle (@snacco)

Cam (@amanitaspore) — absent tonight, but with us in spirit

Erin (@salamand3rin)

Highlights include, but are not limited to:

Pompkin is taking a nap in solidarity with Cam, who couldn’t make it due to having to go to bed early

I accidentally killed one of the potatoes :(

Erin pet one of my pigs >:(

Making a trip to the desert just to plant a bunch of trees. Reforestation, yeah!

—followed immediately by clear-cutting Cindersap Forest. Deforestation, yeah!

Belle starts building fences around her barn and fences herself in

my notes say “very precarious seeds” but I do not remember the full context of that

Belle picks most of the jazz, but leaves one for the bees so they can make Jazz Honey

Belle continues building fences and walks into a tree, george-of-the-jungle style

I added gates to the fences that I made all by myself without Belle’s help at all

(this is a lie. not the part about the gates, that’s real, but Belle made most of the fences)

Belle asks if this is gatekeeping, I reply “yeah” in a way that made people laugh

Gotta save eggs for cam (not pam)

Hatmouse looking at me very sadly...

Hatmouse is a... small business owner

(Hatmouse is very small and has no money, so you can imagine the kind of stress that they’re under.)

We could all use a little enrichment in our enclosures

I realize, in the middle of the day, that it is raining. I mean, I knew it was raining, but I remembered the implications of the rain, and rush to the beach

(But I won’t go in for the kill pop the question ‘til Cam is back)

Belle has a cutscene where she scooches closer to Sebastian (for the kill)

Haunted Mariner isn’t convinced that Belle isn’t a cop and won’t sell to her

—at which point Belle realizes she’s only at 9 hearts with Sebastian. Maybe the scooch was too much?

Train! Doesn’t drop any loot, boooo.

I remember a secret note, though, and dig up some buried treasure (see gallery)

I regift a maki roll that Linus sent me to Belle

Erin brews coffee at midnight

The potatoes are done!! Harvesting all the ‘tatoes!

Officer is fully grown!! Detective is still a baby

We try to get them together for a photo, but it doesn’t really work out. (see gallery)

I keep forgetting Joja is an option for buying seeds

“but you’re such a big fan!”

I purchase Pig #3, Corporal!

I deny accusations of rustling. Cutting down trees is not rustling, if hear rustling it must’ve been a ghost.

(Fella enjoys sniffing the flowers by his stables)

First truffles!!

When Pompkin lies on the bed, you can still get into bed, unlike a cat on a bed in real life

Sold the potatoes!! We went above and beyond with potatoes! We didn’t need that one I accidentally killed, anyway!

I immediately rocket from like level 1 farming to level 5

We each get a mini shipping bin as a reward

I wonder if we could use it to lure Lewis into a trap...?

Potato money means Pig #4, Sergeant! I’ll have to upgrade the barn when I wanna get more

Erin gets a deluxe backpack!

I ask Belle if she’s feeling okay when she doesn’t make the reference

Discussing free range fruit trees

Erin thinks it makes sense, since we’ve got so much “unsprinkleable land”

Lewis sends Belle a letter about Mermaid’s Pendants

how did he know? is he always watching??

First apples are in, we’ll be able to finish the Fodder bundle soon!!

morning is egg day— we agreed not to do Eggs without Cam, so that’s the end of the session. ‘til next time!!

TO-DO:

Egg fest!

Gonna get married!!

Fodder bundle!!!

Still haven’t added more bees

More backpack + tool upgrades?

Taller barn/coop??

Finish the fences???

House upgrades!

fashion!!

more Iridium Sprinklers!!!

(other bundles)

(also I realized that Krobus sells stardrops, we need to save up for those)

Gallery:

The treasure!! (the best part is that it’s obscuring my hat*)

(* - legally not a hat)

Detective (L) and Officer (R) after Officer grew up got promoted!

Hey, could you get a little close for a better picture?

Oh. That’s ... maybe a little too close.

[midnightunderground-npcs]

Mateo’s body was not yet cold when the sun’s first rays began slithering across the expanse of the Neon Museum— his spirit was tethered still, tied to his corporeal form as he waited for La Virgen de Guadalupe to claim his soul. The Cicerone, as She’d been called these days. Or was it the Guide? It was all bullshit, anyhow, none of it mattered now that he’d lost the battle in an attempt to win the war for his benefactor. Knowing all he did, he wouldn’t see heaven. Hell perhaps, if not Purgatory. 

He laid there then, beside his body, waiting to be claimed.

That absolution would never come to him, though. Not as the sun’s rays crested the peaks of the clouds in the sky, that light splitting apart the dark of night and slithering across the darkened space of the Neon Museum. 

What a shame he’d turned from the Navarro magic. Had he studied more than he’d slain, he may have found something of note about this curse— a man with such dedication to his convictions is bound to. But he didn’t and now his death would be a mere footnote in Kinich Ahau’s redemption; his revenge on those that had imprisoned him.

Still, this end is a beautiful thing, with the way the magic glitters within those tendrils of sunlight, golden gossamer searching and searching until they find purchase on the corpse of a broken man. As the light creeps over his body, a voice calls out to the Hunter’s ghost, what do you and the rest of these deniers give me but scraps? The call of magic was a gift from me to you and you’ve wasted it, and here I am now, hungry, chained to this world still...I’ll consume you still. I know not of being so wasteful.

Light covers his corpse, a blanket of warmth as he begins dissipating from this world, consumed by an ancestor so hungry for freedom. Mateo thought he’d be free from this curse, that he’d eradicate it and free the Navarros to come. And even there he’d been a failure.

You’ve barely any magic in you, but I’ll take it. The other two, they’ll surely have more for me. For he has been communing with me for some time now and she has finally heard my call— I will be freed from my prison, and I will have all that I deserve, all that has been taken from me.

There’s a flash of light thereafter, blinding as a man is stolen from his afterlife. He’s gone soon after, his corpse and the phantom tethered to this very being, his story concluding with a silent voice, one he’d shielded his ears from for as long as he had heard it. As the final bits of his essence were siphoned by something other, he could only wonder, would there ever be an end to this damnation? Would the Navarros ever greet a sun that did not wish to immolate their very souls?

At the other side of the museum some time after, a God is stepping through the veil, coming to collect the soul of a man who has lived a life poisoned by his own righteousness.

Typically these children were not hers to collect— the Guide was always less than careful when shepherding those that wasted a life needlessly slaying her own. Her grip was often tighter when chaperoning hunters, sometimes so much so that their essences trembled with the possibility of complete eradication. 

It would be so easy to smite them from existence, to keep them from an afterlife, but...to destroy one of the Cicerone’s wards like this was not the way. It would remedy none of the deep-rooted issues of this realm, the one they had so carefully cultivated.

As she walked through the maze of neon signs, the Guide wondered if this would be the one to break her; the first to fill her with a grief so all-consuming, she committed an offense against her own darling. Justice should have been hers to serve, yes, but their Mother did not allow for such interferences— it was bad enough that she had helped Dilara, bad enough that she had given her sweet peri, ever the champion, such an advantage in this hunt. 

Selfish as she was though, the Guide had asked for more; she asked her dearest Cicerone for one small favor, for permission to take this child of a false God and usher him across the veil. 

Cloaked in all-black as she had all those years before, when they called for Charon, and even now when they called for la Calaca, she is a Grim Reaper with a devilish smile on her face. And though, there is no joy in the loss of a child, Mateo was sounding an alarm. He’d harmed so many on his crusade, even turning on his own people as the Sirens had done before; he’d harmed her children as he took them from their homes; and she’d harmed her little Fae in an attack most cowardly. The Hunter did not deserve a sweet journey across the veil.

But— curious? As the Guide turns the corner she sees something most peculiar. 

Mateo Navarro’s corpse is not where they’d left it. Instead, the Guide feels a disturbance in the air around her, the shimmering energy of magik left over, “you’ve got to be kidding me,” she calls into the empty space. If that fucker was still trying to push his luck at a prison break, she’d wake Hiedral herself and make her clean up this mess. “You shouldn’t give a man a chance to evade death if there’s even the slightest chance he’ll be so audacious as to spit in your face. But then, I shouldn’t blame her...some people just aren’t meant to be Gods...”

[1800duckhotline]

madonna 2, 5, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16 !!!

GET TO KNOW THE OC ASKS

YAYY Madonna time!

Sorry it took me a bit to get to this. I've been busy but here we go. Madonna lore just for you. You know the drill, this is gonna get long.

2. Is your OC a loner or a social butterfly? Are they satisfied with how they come across to other people?

Madonna is like if an extrovert and an introvert had a baby (unfunny joke but it explains sort of). Due to her past job as a pharmacist and having been part of a corporate environment, being a social butterfly was more or less a requisite, which means through the years she's built up a "social stamina" strong enough to withstand social events that last well over 3 hours. This carries over as Kindred, however, her unlife also warrants a very much welcomed sense of tranquility since she decides when she wants to be social, usually in the context of feeding from willing blood dolls she meets in clubs or with fellow vampires she has an alliance with.

I think you could categorize Madonna as an extroverted introvert, since she definitely treasures her time alone and enjoys distancing herself from socializing for the sake of her own interests.

5. Does your OC have a signature weapon and/or attack? How long did they train to master it?

As Tremere, Madonna has a vast array of Thaumaturgy skills that can aid her in battle - her favorite spell to use is Blood Theft as it is extremely convenient in situations where a lot of spells need to be cast. That said, she tends to make sure she uses as less Thaumaturgy as possible in context where the supernatural isn't involved - and thus relies on her marksmanship skills, which are fairly impressive.

She didn't know a lick of fighting before becoming kindred, so go figure - she has always been a fast learner, so it no doubt helped her in this case.

9. Is your OC laid back or do they thrive on drama? What role do they play in their group of friends/associates?

Madonna is 35 years old in body and spirit and to be fair, she is a woman with a job, even if undead, so she really does not care about drama at all. She's got other shit to do!

Even before the embrace she kept the same kind of attitude whenever it came to her associates at work and outside; people generally regarded her as the aloof cool girl that wouldn't be phased by anything... when, truthfully, Madonna just prefers minding her own business rather than gossip... Like, unless the gossip is necessary for her to complete an important task, she tends to skip it entirely.

10. Is your OC sentimental or pragmatic? Do they keep mementos or only what they need to survive? Have they always been this way or did something happen to make them change?

Before the embrace, Madonna used to be extremely pragmatic. Not entirely to the point of lacking any whatsoever sentimentality but a corporate job will do that to you - it was sucking away at any energy she could dedicate to her feelings, and it really showed in how she behaved whenever something factually exciting or mortifying happened (not necessarily to her, but something like maybe one of her co-workers having a baby, or one of them losing a family member... she used to react very matter-of-factly, not out of malice but because she didn't really have it in her to commit to her full emotions). Her job tended to come first and it was also something of a problem in her familial life, as before becoming a corporate pharmacist she used to be very family-oriented, that with having 3 siblings and elderly parents.

Becoming Kindred turned her way more sentimental. Free of the shackles of her old job, Madonna regained the range of emotions she'd closed herself away from for about the last decade or so... which makes for some fun situations where she reacts immaturely for her age, but makes complete sense when you consider that for her this is like a second adolescence!

Unfortunately, though, even though she truly desires it, she feels like she cannot go back to connect with her family as Kindred. She fears of putting their lives at risk, and especially of compromising the Masquerade since some of the changes that come with being Tremere wouldn't go unnoticed by her family; not to say that they are fairly religious people at heart, and she doesn't wish to destroy the image they have of her as a darling hard-working angel who can do no wrong. This makes her sad, but this is where her pragmatism comes in clutch and reassures her there is simply no way to go around this. Which isn't wrong... though there could be ways, if she put her mind to it!

12. Is your OC cynical or optimistic? Who or what shaped their outlook on life?

I would say she's right inbetween, with a healthy sway towards optimistic. You would think studying medicine would've made her more cynical, which it did at the time, but as a vampire she found things much less grim than she thought they were before.

In general she's always been taught by her family not to look at things with rose-tinted glasses, and it is something she stood by for most of her human life. While they didn't outright encourage her to look at things negatively, they tried to remind her to be objective when it came to most things, especially as she studied medicine. Desmond somewhat reminds her of them in that way, with her special interests revolving around algorithms, mathematics and chess; and while Madonna doesn't think this belief system is wrong, she's found now that being a little more optimistic and carefree never hurts as long as you don't slip into excessive naiveté.

15. What places hold significant meaning or memories for your OC? Do they have a positive or negative association with those places?

So I haven't gone in exact detail in my exploration of Madonna's past yet, though I know she's based in LA originally (as she was made for the VTMB setting), and I would say that besides obvious important places she's likely been with with her family, a specific place that holds significant importance to her as Kindred is probably Confession, the club, because that is where she started seeing Desmond and becoming acquainted with her. They may have differing opinions on some stuff but, well, they kind of still have somewhat of a 'whirlind' kind of romance-not-romance going on, so it's definitely a positive association... LOL

16. How does your OC make money? Do they have a respectible profession or work a series of odd jobs? Are they a criminal? Or do they get creative in the pursuit of coin?

I wouldn't say Madonna is a criminal but the legality of some of her operations as an underground pharmacist can be dubious at best. She sells black market pharmaceutical drugs and also substances that aren't for the usual... public use. She also sells concoctions she came up with for other Kindred, as a way to make use of her Thaumaturgy in a similar context to her old pharmaceutical job. So it's... kind of... shady but not straight-up illegal most of the time?

Desmond 100% helps her keep a front so she doesn't have to deal with most legalities even though her chantry likely prohibited her from interacting with Madonna too much (this is Desmond we're talking about though... she has many of her fingers in various different pies).

[lacytales]

ㅤ️ㅤ️ㅤ️lacy and her tales 𓆩♡𓆪 𝅄 ⋆

ᅠ

ᅠㅤ️act i : who is lacy?

ㅤ️welcome, lovelings. hereby you are entering lacy’s fairytale. now... you may wonder, who is lacy and what do you need to know about her? well, you have taken a great start here. ♡

ㅤ️lacy moeremans is an alter-ego created by aurelie rosetta janvier, a normal corporate worker who spent most of her time crushing herself against life and the problems within while half of her mind wandering around what she called “beyond the universe”. unlike aurelie, lacy is a free-spirited ego who isn’t afraid to speak to her truth. and like a little kid, just as pure and as curious about the world, lacy finds beauty in the mundane; spending her days writing about her layered feelings, to let out what aurelie can’t due to her principals.

ᅠmeanwhile, most people have a back-to-back different alter-ego, aurelie and lacy got each other’s back like a figure and its shadow. what aurelie couldn’t say, lacy would. and what lacy couldn’t do, aurelie will pursue.

ㅤ️both aurelie/lacy often describe themselves as an orange cat, having infp-t as their mbti, and a proud piscesian all the way. she preferred being addressed using feminine pronouns, and in case you are bewildered with all this new information, you may address the human form with both names {let’s just say it’s the same person, different name}. :]<3

ᅠㅤ️act ii : what intrigues lacy?

ଙ♡ generals : lacy/aurelie likes anything pink, sanrio, and positivity contents. she believes in manifestations and the power of mindset; universe, and everything in between. she has always been a one-true worshipper of makeup, skin and body care, food, and perfumery. she indulges in fiction books a lot, as it helps her to write better. and one of her quirky qualities is that she is always curious. be it you started to talk about science, which she isn’t fond of, she will spend her times to search around for answers so she could have a conversation with anyone. she loves strawberry, green tea, and sushi a lot {you would find her talks about these three things a lot}. she loves learning new things as she treasures what’s already there.

ଙ♡ music : she is fond of k-pop music since her early years of living {nowadays her lenses are focused on day6, seventeen, ive, newjeans, xdinary heroes, and xg}. besides those, she is an avid listener of taylor swift, niki, mitski, olivia rodrigo, melanie martinez, laufey, lomba sihir, nadin amizah, gracie abrams, and so much more musicians! ♥︎ her life rotates around music and always will, and listing all her favorite musicians will be a long-life job she couldn’t finish.

ଙ♡ movies and series : during her worst days, she found reading books overwhelming since the letters were running around her head; thus, cinema helped her recover her feelings on those times. two of her favorite genres is romcom and child flick; as she could watch movies with those genre forever. before trilogy, 13 going on 30, 10 things i hate about you, mean girls, wild child, legally blonde, la la land, the devil wears prada, you are the apple of my eye are some of her favorite movies to watch. while modern family, brooklyn nine-nine, young sheldon, superstore, the big bang theory, anne with an e, hospital playlist, reply 1988, extraordinary attorney woo were some of her favorite tv series. she likes cartoons {especially lacy} and barbie is the one who accompanied her growing up. besides that, she loves the baby boss series and studio ghibli productions! well... the list is taking too long, isn’t it? shall we stop now?

ᅠㅤ️act iii : where is lacy?

ㅤ️you are reaching the last’s part of lacy/aurelie’s mega-bank {phew, finally...}! now that you are here and before you find out about where you could directly speak to both lacy and aurelie, i think it’s best for you to know that the place is her safe place; so if it’s uncomfortable for you to stay around with all her stuff going around, please always know that you are allowed to skim her presence from your life. and she would prefer new friends whom she could talk to; so if you aren’t up for that also... please skip this message, kindly. c:

ᅠㅤ️✧ㅤ️lacy’s main-residential

ㅤ️ㅤ️✧ㅤ️ask lacy anything!

ㅤ️ㅤ️✧ㅤ️hot-or-cold tea sesh with lacy

ㅤ️ㅤ️✧ㅤ️lacy and her ancient tales.

and that is that, lacy and aurelie hope you enjoy your short stay here. and she is looking forward to see you somewhere above. see you on the other side! 🤍

ᅠ

[terapsina]

Book Recs for Science Fiction and Fantasy books with little to no romance. Because I'm tired.

(if you've got more recommendations, PLEASE share)

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher.

The main character Marra is the youngest of three daughters, a princess from a tiny, perilously placed kingdom who was sent to a convent when she was 15. It's been just as long since then, and recently she found out her older sister has for years now been abused by the prince she's married to. A prince protected by both his position and the magic of his Godmother's christening gift.

The book is about Marra going on a quest to kill the prince and save her sister.

It also contains a lot of death magic, spirits, terrible curses, impossible tasks, bone dogs, dust wives, godmothers and goblin markets. It's written like a novel but constructed like a fairytale.

Main character is neither thin nor 'pretty', which makes for a nice change of pace. Does contain a smidgen of romance but it's barely there, mostly background and never the focus, so it just doesn't get a chance to get obnoxious.

It does however get rather dark in places (think Gideon the Ninth levels).

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley.

A heavy read about the horrors of war, the ugliness of a world where capitalism and corporate monopolies have been allowed to run without opposition, and the lies those in power feed to their soldiers and civilians to make them think the atrocities justified.

The story follows Dietz, an infantry soldier who has a strange reaction to the technology that allows soldiers to be sent through insane distances by being transformed into light. It becomes quickly apparent that Dietz is experiencing the war vastly out of order, especially when Dietz starts seeing friends die before meeting them.

Very hard to read but full of impactful moments. I'd recommend listening to the audiobook if possible, it's voiced by Cara Gee (who plays Camina Drummer in The Expanse) and she does a FANTASTIC job bringing the story to life.

Characters have a lot of sex (not sex scenes as such though), but basically nearly zero romance (it's more: relieving the stress and having a human connection in the middle of war kinda deal). I do say 'nearly' zero, because the main character (who is bisexual btw) does occasionally think about an ex.

All Systems Red (and all following Murderbot books) by Martha Wells.

Probably everyone and their roomba knows about this one but it would be a crime not to mention it.

Books follow Murderbot, a Rogue SecUnit who has hacked its government module (a thing that when intact, and working, would fry Murderbot's brain if it failed to follow an order). The expected result in Rogue SecUnits would be to go on a wild murder spree, but once free Murderbot discovers it can download vast amounts of TV, books, movies, music and other such stuff, it decides to consume the media instead.

'As a heartless killing machine, [it's] a terrible failure.'

Other characters around it might maybe be having romances (Murderbot isn't paying attention and it's not relevant) but if someone mentioned it having one, it would stare at them with a face drawn in horror, and probably never talk to them again.

The voice of Murderbot is humorous and awesome. Recommend these books to EVERYONE. Absolutely everyone.

Sisters of the Vast Black (and the book following) by Lina Rather.

Follows the Sisters of the Order of Saint Rita. The setting is a future where people have expanded far into the galaxy, some decades after the last time the Central Governance tried to keep power over the colonies.

The Sisters in question travel in a living ship (the absolute coolest ship I've seen in quite a while), and go where they're needed. Technically still under the power of the Church, but not really being affected all that much by its edicts when they're so far away from Earth. Unfortunately the Church is trying to regain its control over 'the flock' recently and sends them a very obnoxious priest who just doesn't understand the realities of life in the black (he's very early-season-Wesley-Wyndam-Pryce about it).

Then they receive a distress call from a newly-formed colony though, and the Sisters will have to make a choice between following orders from the Church and doing the right thing.

One of the Sisters does have a romantic connection with a woman she met before the start of the story (but the romance itself is nearly absent and more focuses on her struggle to choose between love and her faith (would like to add that the problem is the fact that she's a nun not that she has feelings for a woman)).

---------

And other books that I have enjoyed, that don't contain overpowering amounts of romance.

Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett (always a safe bet and absolutely worth all its hype, especially the ones following the witches (Granny Weatherwax is the greatest character ever)), A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (middle grade book that's fun to read but also contains adult themes and in my opinion is enjoyable whatever your age), Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (a fun read, which gave me an extreme soft spot for the... character the main character ends up meeting), Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie (from the POV of the only surviving Ancillary of a ship whose AI once had hundreds of bodies, she starts out on a revenge mission against the leader of the Empire), The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (deals with a very kind-hearted half-elven/half-goblin son of the Emperor who has just been given the throne, very blatant racism allegory shown in the story, but it's also not trying to hide it (elves being fair skinned and goblins having dark skin), some romance but the 'arranged marriage' kind and not the focus).

Seriously if you have recs, please share.

[zlixlriffs]

Hot take but I really don’t think that Scott should have been the one to fight Xornoth. At least he shouldn’t have been alone on the offensive while Gem played barrier support.  Scott may be brothers with Xornoth in a past life but they treat him like anyone else. Pre-sealing battle Scott’s interactions with Xornoth mostly consisted of being stared at. Narratively speaking we have no reason to be attached to their relationship other than Scott telling us that they were brothers after he finds the book. They corrupted his land and placed tentacles and crystals but that’s it.  Xornoth does not treat him any differently from the other empires. There were no special interactions between the two. 

Like the thought and effort Scott put into making the flower husbands date cave. Instead of just saying “Hey we were married in a past life, we should be allies,” Scott made an entire cave and put in things, that reminded him of his past life and what their relationship was. Like how instead of us getting Xornoth trying to get Scott to remember his past life by leading him to old ruins every once in a while to show what their relationship was like, we have Scott going “I read that he was my brother in a past life from a book in a random cave I stumbled across. I have to defeat him.” 

I think at the very least Shrub and Jimmy should have been backing up Scott while he fought Xornoth.  Jimmy was the first person to be corporeally terrorized by Xornoth and was consistently bullied in his streams by the demon. He was the person that was terrorized the most by them to the point that fWhip pointed it out that it’s like a middle school boy picking on a girl he likes. Xornoth even threatened to blow up the entirety of his kingdom by turning all of the tentacles into tnt blocks and spawning a load of tnt minecarts onto his land. Jimmy deserves to finally be able to fight back against him. They’re much more frequent and severe than the one time that Scott hid in the Aeor statue and was teleported to.

Shrub’s connection to Xornoth probably has the most emotional weight behind it. Shrub was there when Xornoth destroyed her people. She’s the only one left. Xornoth followed her into the Empires world. Xornoth killed several of her wolves. She’s had so many conversations with him. Remember how she said "I know who you really are! You're a sad lonely spirit that lost! And keeps being reborn angrier and angrier, because nobody really loves you."  Remember how Xornoth told her that he belongs in the empires world more than she does. Those interactions have weight behind them. Much more than just a staring contest.

With Shrub and Jimmy, their anger with Xornoth is much more personal than Scott’s “we were brothers in a past life, it’s complicated”. 

The only people that have less of a personal reason to fight Xornoth are Lizzie and Joel who corruption can’t reach and can’t perceive the demon, respectively. Pixl has the guilt and shame for killing the Enderdragon and freeing Xornoth to the point he left his empire and traveled thousands of blocks to make a ghast farm to heal the dragon. Pearl saw the effects of Xornoth’s corruption on Sausage in the arena and was trying her best to de-corrupt him. Katherine was also in the arena and was part of the corruption experiments with fWhip and Gem. fWhip and Gem’s relationship with Sausage was broken by Xornoth. Sausage and Joey were Xornoth’s champions/pawns and were being manipulated by him.

Scott adding in lines about what happened to their mom and dad feel like a forced attempt to add in investment into their relationship. It was payoff for setup we never received because there was no reason that the audience should think that they have the same parents when Scott constantly refers to Xornoth as his sort-of-brother. tldr: There was no narrative payoff to Scott fighting Xornoth while everyone else fought Joey. Scott should have been fighting with Jimmy against Xornoth during the final battle and when Shrub was released by Gem she should have stabbed Xornoth while he was distracted.

[skullchicken]

emoji ask for Alberich: 🤥 LYING, 🍩 DONUT, 🙊 SPEAK-NO-EVIL, 🏊 SWIMMING, 🔫 PISTOL, ⚙️ GEAR, 🌈 RAINBOW, ❤️ RED HEART

Get ready for T👏 M👏 I👏 !

🏊 SWIMMING - can they swim? or are they afraid of water? how well do they swim? how do they feel about swimming in the ocean? Alberich can swim - barely. He goblinized into a giant as a teenager (at goblinization day, no less - he's pretty old) and didn't get much use out of the skill since then because

a) it's kinda hard to swim in pools when you're 3 m / 10 feet tall

b) he dislikes showing his body in public. To quote "I have some intense stretch marks. No-one needs to see that."

🤥 LYING - are they good liars? do they have tells to show they're lying? Yes. As a former citizen of Horizon (he got a cushy job at an art museum which he finally became the director of because of his parent's influence) he has decades of experience lying through his teeth and especially to himself. Once the disillusion really hit him, he simply continued the habit by selling forged artworks to rich people.

Until one day he sold one to a certain draconic CEO and had leave the country real quick to start a new life in the UCAS under a new name.

🙊 SPEAK-NO-EVIL - what is something your oc will refuse to stay quiet about?

If you get his mind into an altered state (sleep deprivation, too much wine, cram…) he will start ranting about…

Bauhaus "if you think about it, it really is an economic, practical and - at its inception - even equalist architecturial style. It's only downside, really, is that it's horrendous to look at and hostile to human life")

the art of Gauguin "what possessed the man to mix every color palette with mustard? And don't even get me started on the objectifying, exploitative, colonialism-extravaganza of his subject matters!"

... or any other topic of art history he has Big Opinions about.

Putting the rest of these under the cut :)

🔫 PISTOL - do they trust people easily? how easily will they turn their back to someone? have they been backstabbed before? will they betray someone if given an ultimatum?

Ohoho, he is so paranoid for the above reason. Yet on the other hand his mentor spirit is Oak, which translates to literally being willing to die for someone he sees worthy of being protected. (Though of course he doesn't let people know.)

e.g. in the game where I played him, he quite quickly befrieded a lil elf-poser hacker and he did in fact almost die for her, because she asked him nicely to fend of a guard-spirit so she has a shot at freeing some prisoners from a bunraku.

At the same time, every time they talked via commlink he would tape over the camera and worry she might find out where he lives ¯_(ツ)_/¯

❤️ RED HEART - their love language(s)?

Words and gifts.

He considers being nice to people to be the easiest way to get people to do what you want. But he also just enjoys complimenting people and speaking kind words when he gets the chance. He would send his co-runners thank-you-notes after their missions.

He also once had a very sweet conversation with the aforementioned elf-poser hacker who confided in him by showing him her matrix-persona who she wished she was more like (in meat-space she was very shy and socially anxious, on the matrix she was a confident leader). So he logged into the MMORPG she liked to play, downloaded the persona-model and 3D-printed it to give it to her.

Y'know. As a symbol to help her bring her ideal self into meat-space.

🌈 RAINBOW - what advice would they give to their younger self?

Oof, that's a painful one. So, Alberich was married twice. The love of his younger years was Terry, an Orc who died of VITAS. He didn't take it well and due to that and his job being very… corporate, he was dipping in and out of depressive phases when he met his wife. His wife was funny, quirky and optimistic. But one day she decided to leave out of the blue, saying that she needs to find herself. He's still fears that it was something he did.

What he would say to his self from 5 years ago would thus be: "Get professional help for your depressive phases. Your wife is trying to carry both you and your emotions and you're crushing her."

⚙️ GEAR - what are your ocs thoughts on science & art? which do they give more importance to? how much value do they place on each?

Alberich loves art with a passion, but he is also very disllusioned with the art world. Science and technology brought him companionship shortly after his goblinization, since he became a shut-in for a good half to a full year. Rationally he thinks science is more important. Emotionally he just loves in what ways the human spirit can express itself way too much.

🍩 DONUT - favourite sweet treat?

Ice cream :)