#steampunk world's fair

[sluckythewizard]

TABLET WENT DOWN FORA MINUTE SO I WAS REDUCED TO USING PAPER AND PEN. so anyway ive been watchign this show thats kinda neat u guys prolly never heard o it its called wondey luts

[sidhewrites]

Rotating Plumeria and her antics in my head. Hates proper clothes but wears them in public bc she has to. Secretly uses magic when performing maintenance even if she knows it might blow something up. Has blown things up in the past, lost 2 limbs and all hearing in one ear, and refuses to let that stop her. Thank god the boss is just as much of a menace as her.

[portablefrailty]

Expo Modèrne - 2023

Running a historic photo of the Manufactures Building at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 through Deep Dream’s AI a few times yielded this airy little anachronism: a timeless, steampunk expo hall where culture junkies from throughout the modern era share musings under the chandeliers.

For artistic styling I directed the program to emulate the works of Mucha and Toulouse-Lautrec. The model for the shadowy male dream figure is Colin Farrell.

[kou3218]

The History of Lightcannon

Warning, this is very long so buckle up. (Also spoilers for Arcane)

For those wondering where this ship came from and how it's bloomed from something that was pretty niche into something nearly mainstream. It's an interesting journey. So let's dive in.

(Note - Updated post with more information on the history. It's actually older than I realized.)

Let's start with some context, Lightcannon is the name of the ship between two characters from the MOBA game, League of Legends. Officially launched in October 27, 2009.

Luxanna Crownguard (though she prefers Lux) from the kingdom of Demacia. She's a mage whose skilled in light magic. She became a playable champion on October 19th, 2010. She is literally the Light...

...To the Cannon known as Jinx (formally known as powder.) from the slump of Zaun. A psychopathic loose cannon whose also a uncertified genius when it comes to tinkering. She became a playable champion on October 10th, 2013.

Both residing in the world known as Runeterra.

Now you might be wondering, "How in the hell does a pretty blonde noble mage girl from a kingdom of knights get shipped with a blue haired psycho steampunk Harley Quinn knock off that's a continent away?" (Don't pretend Jinx wasn't made to cash in on the hype of Quinn. Riot is known for cashing in on trends.)

(edit 12/3/2024)

Well originally, I thought it was due to the Cosmetic Skins that League is known for releasing for it's champions. They usually have some fun special interactions with characters and even some lore. Creating AU's of sorts. Some are one shots, and others get expanded up into full on spinoffs with stories and their own expanded narrative.

In 2015 RIOT launched the Star Guardian set. Basically a Magical girl set for the characters: Lux, Jinx, Janna, Poppy, and Lulu. And this set is what many thought kicked off lightcannon. Myself included.

In the Star Guardian lore, they are childhood friends. With Lux being described as, "Cheerful, courageous, and just a bit clumsy. Lux shines the brightest among her Star Guardian team as its captain."

While Jinx is described as, "The cynical teen rebelled, refusing to treat her powers as anything more than a plaything to serve her own interests. While Jinx scoffs at protecting a world she doesn’t trust, she does believe in her childhood friend Lux—and if someone could see into the depths of Jinx’s heart, they’d see a furious, burning need to keep those she holds dear out of harm’s way, at any cost."

If you are at all familiar with Magical Girl shows, you can see how this kicked it off. There is always an undercurrent of Yuri in ever MG series. For this, the classic, Good Girl x Bad Girl with a heart of gold. This even got it's own cinematic. With plenty of shots of Lux and Jinx Longing for each other.

With some rather fun interactions in game.

And a classic scene from one of the stories

However, it was pointed out to me by @questionablecuttlefish there were people before the star guardians that were already shipping them together as for back as 2014!

Barely 3 months after Jinx was released. The first lightcannon fanfictions started to appear. Which is kind of crazy!

This also pre-dates ekko - who became playable on May 29th, 2015!

Now at the time, Jinx didn't have much lore. She was just the crazy boom girl, and it was hinted at that she had a history with Vi and Warwick. (Too be fair, VI's lore was kind of all over the place and she was mainly "Police Brutality, LoL.) So she was kind of malleable.

Lux however had a lot of lore. She was born into a high standing Noble family that is sworn to protect the king. Hence the name Crownguard. She is depicted as a bright, cheerful, and optimistic character. She's also related to the champion Garen, her older brother. However, she is a mage and magic is hated in her country of Demacia. So, she has to hide who she really is. Garen does know and accepts her. There are also a number of stories where she has done very questionable things. One of her decisions led to her trusting the wrong man, Sylas. A criminal mage that tricked her into helping him escape. Which ended up triggering a mage rebellion, which led to a lot of people dying. (And her OG lore, she operated as a spy. Which some people have played with.)

Sounds familiar right?

So a big part of what drew these two together was the potential these two could have if they met. The idea that Lux finds someone who encourages her to be herself. To let her magic free and accept all of her. Which could also apply to Jinx as well. The idea that they could be who they truly are with each other. And still drawing a bit from the Star Guardians down the line with the whole Good Girl x Bad Girl.

Again, this was still pretty niche. Very much a crackship, but people were pretty creative in what they thought of.

Then came a big shot in the arm for the ship, the Cinematic trailer for Wildrift.

This trailer had jinx hoping around runeterra and grabbing people to join her team to fight. The first person she grabs in Lux, whose bored and wants something exciting to do. And here comes this manic pixie dream girl who pops out of nowhere, jumps in her laps, takes a selfie, and then pulls her into a portal to fight a giant monster like she wanted. Plus the fact that Lux can create pretty shiny lights and massive magical explosions doesn't hurt either. With a lot of the promo stuff having them act like friends helped to fuel it further.

And then, a year after this, Arcane launched!

This not only gave Vi more depth, but also Jinx (Originally named powder). She went from, "lol, random, psycho murder, boom girl." To an incredibly tragic character who who just want to hug and tell her everything is alright.

And it wasn't that we wanted Lux to fix Jinx, we wanted them to help each other. And with the ending of season 2, the viability of Lux and Jinx actually meeting skyrocketed even further. With Jinx faking her death and sneaking onto an airship that was seen over open water.

Possibly to Demacia to get a fresh start? Not impossible. Maybe even be her guiding light.

Additionally between season 1 and 2 or arcane. There was this fun little Chinese Animated web series called, Valoran Town. It didn't have too much an impact on the ship, but was still a bit more fuel for it.

Basically, a slice of life series about the champions living in a small town. The main story focusing on Lux as she runs away from home trying to live free and independently from her overbearing Brother Garen. Her best friend and now roommate in the series is Jinx! Since a lot of promo material for wildrift did have them acting like friends, this felt like they were kind of leaned into that angle. Which worked pretty well.

Each episode is about 5 minutes long, but it's just super cute and fun. Also a nice pallet cleanser from the heart ache of arcane.

This person was kind enough to upload and subtitle all 12 episodes.

Give it a watch, it's free. (Just turn on closed captions.)

So, yeah. That's the history of lightcannon. We love it for many reasons, but for me. It's the potential they could have. It's very much a crackship, but I will sail it everyday. Hope you learned something.

And some funny things to think about.

Lightcannon and Caitvi/Piltover's finest means that Jinx and Vi have the same taste in women. Upper class femme.

But it also means the Crownguard sibling also have the same taste in women. Or, at the very least, have a kink for criminals/killers.

Garen with the Noxian assassin Katarina.

Lux with Sylans and Jinx.

Which would also make Lux and Jinx Bisexual too, so represent.

Yes, I support timebomb too. Arcane Season 2 episode 7 is beautiful. I see why people ship Ekko and Jinx together. I'm a multi-shipper. You can do that. They both love Jinx, and she deserves all the love.

[diminuel]

I always joked with my buds that the Revolutionary Army are kind of huge nerds for how dedicated they are to their extremely silly aesthetic. But then it hit me. They actually have THREE distinct aesthetics, Medieval (cloaks, broadswords, masks, etc.) Steampunk (goggles, top hats, scarves, etc.) and Queer (skimpy outfits, fishnet, gender non-conforming, etc.)

But today it hit me.

They’re REN FAIRE DORKS

the political narrative of One Piece is one where the proletariat’s best hope for liberation lies in the hands of REN FAIRE PEOPLE

X'D

You're right! Though to be fair, I'm sure Ren faire dorks are more than capable of saving the world in any given universe!

[astra-galaxie]

So...quick question. How would you rank each CC game in terms of character design? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Oh! Good question! Let me get some pictures, and I'll come back with my list!

1st place: Mysteries of The Past

I LOVE the character designs of MotP! It does an amazing job at replicating the style of the late 19th century, which it's supposed to be set in, and while some things aren't entirely period-accurate, I love it regardless! Also, the characters' physical appearances are detailed and unique, creating a large diversity among this season's cast.

Plus, Victorian Steampunk is one of my favourite styles (even if I don't wear it), so that's an added bonus for me!

2nd place: The Conspiracy

This season showcases how much Pretty Simple's character designs have improved since its release, as it brought back many S1 characters. The details in the designs are beautiful, and this is also when PS started trying more facial expressions and poses for the characters. This season is a perfect example of how character designs can be improved with practice, so it earned second place!

3rd place: Travel in Time

S6 gets third place thanks to how many different periods' styles it's replicated. We had Ancient Times, the 1960s, the Renaissance, the future, the Age of Sails (which I love pirates, so bonus!) and Medieval Asia. This season had so many unique styles within it that it's only fair it should be in the top three! I think the only reason it's not higher up is because it's shorter than the other seasons, and while I don't know if I would want it to go for 60-ish cases, it would have been interesting to see what other times we could have visited.

(I still think we should have visited MotP during S6, but that's an idea for another time, so I'll shut up about it for now!)

4th place: Supernatural Investigations

S7 gets fourth place, as I love seeing its take on different supernatural creatures. I am a HUGE fan of the paranormal and magic, so this season is right up my alley! While some designs could use improvements (*cough* the demons *cough*), I still like seeing all the different mythical creatures. Regardless of the things I would choose to change to improve some of the characters' designs, it did an excellent job making characters who are so different than what we see in other seasons.

5th place: Save The World

Save The World is when I feel that Criminal Case really started to branch out with its diversity in character designs. We visit so many countries throughout the seasons that it makes sense for the characters to reflect the differences between nationalities. I won't speak for how accurate some of the designs are for all of the nationalities featured in this season, but I think PS did a good job designing characters to represent each country. You can even see it among the Bureau since few members originate from the same country. Overall, StW has fantastic character designs, even if the following seasons have more details.

6th place: City of Romance

OMG! Who would have thought we'd ever see the day CoR DIDN'T come in last place on a list?! (At least I don't recall them ever not being in last place...)

Even if CoR failed horribly at being the final season of CC, the character designs are good. Some characters I like more than others, but overall, they have plenty of details without being overwhelming. Had CoR gotten the chance to be a full 30-case season, we might have seen more characters come back from past seasons and see the design improvements like we did in S5 and S6. Like I always say, CoR had the potential to be better than it was, but at least the character designs weren't a total flop!

7th place: Pacific Bay

(AnxietyFluffy, please forgive me for putting S2 so low on this list.😭)

While I enjoy PB's plot and characters, unfortunately, I had to put it so low on the list since, compared to other seasons, its character designs aren't as impressive to me. Mainly, it's because it's only the second game, so PS was still working on improving character designs. While I can see an improvement between S1 and S2, it's just not enough for me to put PB higher on the list. But, I still think PB did a good job creating diversity between districts, and while I will always question how the climates of these districts coexist, it was nice to see the differences reflected in the character designs.

8th place: Grimsborough

Last but certainly not least is Grimsborough! While it's nostalgic and the game introduced me to CC, sadly, its character designs showcase the fact that it's the first game. I would never say the designs are bad, but they're not as good as they were in the following seasons. There's something simplistic about the designs compared to feature seasons, but I still enjoy them. However, I am glad that PS started making the characters more detailed and unique in the following seasons, and I wish we could have seen more S1 characters come back in future seasons to see how much their designs could have improved.

I loved seeing how PS's character designs improved over the course of their 8 games while staying true to their CC style. I've always enjoyed the style and characters of this series, and it was fun to pick which ones I liked most! I'm sure others would put the seasons in a different order based on character designs, but I'll stand by my choices.

Thank you for the ask, eggsandmasks! You always send me some fun brain teasers!😁

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tags @mysticstarlightduck @theink-stainedfolk and probably many more!

Wip Aesthetic Tag

Rules: Make a moodboard for your WIP, a playlist (3+ songs/music will suffice but it can be as long as you want) and describe the Vibe of your WIP.

Oh god, I'm really bad at aesthetic stuff. No clue why, I just feel like it's never cohesive. That said, here's my best stab at Mystery of the Mortal God.

⚙️Moodboard🌿

🎵Music🎶

Instrumental (pulled from my character playlists):

Flight of the Silverbird

Ponyo's Sisters

HUNGRY!

Exclusive Coupé

A Murder of Crows

Wings (Aether 2)

The Quiet Earth

Vocal:

I Want to Conquer the World - Bad Religion

Supersonic - Bad Religion

Harlan Road - NewTown

Black Lipstick - Chicano Batman

The Reckoning - Dom Fera

Norwegian Wood - Buddy Rich Big Band

Call me Call me - Steve Conte

🩸Vibes🏵

A walking, steam-powered vardo lurches over a yellow-flowered marsh and under a sky of curious stars. Red, sparkling smoke rises from its chimney. Muddy footsteps are left in its wake like the trail of a mechanical dragon. It seems like a place of magic, which is fair, as it's the home of a witch. She sits with a lit pipe and a tabby cat purring on her lap, quietly contemplating a distant, stolen song. Even in the peace of the moment, her mind is alight with grand schemes and dreams of adventure.

In the capital of a thousand peoples, there stands a detective office lit by golden lamps. It's busy - goblins, elves, and lizardfolk rushing every which way in hopes of managing the many crimes wrought by rogue mages. At its heart resides a beat of calm in the eye of the storm - an opulent office out of place for its cushy decorations and color coding fit for a palace. This is also fair, as working at its desk is a prince of sorts. The prodigal heir to divine contracts and a deadly curse. He shudders at the knowledge of his bloody fate, yet pursues it nonetheless.

On the side of a lonely road, in a lonely land, under stars that are not curious, but disappointed, lays a wreck of bronze and steel. It bleeds black on green. It is confused by this. Where is the red? Where is the pain? It remembers another place - gray and icy and riveted. It remembers two eyes surrounded by shadows and a grin hanging in the dark like a half-moon. Hate closes in like a frigid wind, piercing through any amount of heart or compassion. It will have revenge.

Tropes include slow burn romance, revenge quests, magic as a science, and mad scientists. Genre is fantasy steampunk.

Snappier character descriptions include a braggadocious redneck mage with a chip on her shoulder the size of a mountain, a prissy, gossip-loving detective with a deadly curse, and a sweetheart of a maybe-robot with some terrifying instincts hidden behind a fog of amnesia. All of them, due to personal quests, will end up banding together to defeat a would-be demigod, facing cunning traps, summoning ritual shenanigans, and their own conflicting personalities. Will they survive? Will they join the villain? Who's to say? All I can assure is that if they fail, it'll at least be in a blaze of glory.

Heavily inspired by the Foundryside Trilogy and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

I'll tag @spideronthesun @kaylinalexanderbooks @ominous-feychild @galactic-mystics-writes and anyone else who wants to play!

[forthegothicheroine]

Congratulations on your turn as Iris! I'm so happy to hear you're treading the boards again!

I might get the chance to visit San Francisco early in next year, and I was wondering if you might have any suggestions of fun things to do, off the beaten path a bit, in the colder months in that fair city?

I greatly apologize for taking so long to answer this! While many of my favorite things are gone (I still weep for steampunk stores and revival movie houses,) there are still cool, unique things to do on a trip. Here are some of them which were open as of a year ago.

Japantown Mall: The best place to be, hands down. The mall itself has amazing authentic Japanese food, a giant half-Japanese and half-English bookstore with a whole level devoted to manga and light novels, and lots of small stalls of crepes and boba tea. Across the street you'll find the Crown and Crumpet, a cute tea room with an upper floor that sells EGL brands. Even if you don't buy anything, just walking around is a great day!

Golden Gate Park: Take a walk and see the beauty of nature! Have a snack at the Japanese Tea Garden while admiring the koi pond! If the tickets aren't too expensive, go to the Academy of Sciences aquarium and say hi to the albino alligator for me! Admire the Shakespeare garden if it's in season! Another fun place to be for a whole afternoon.

Lupa Trattoria: The best Italian food I've ever had in the United States.

Haight-Ashbury: While not the goth and hippie paradise it used to be, this is still a cool couple streets. There's a science fiction bookstore called Borderlands, another cool indie bookstore called Booksmith, a huge vintage clothing store called Relic Vintage, and some pretty good thrift stores as well.

City Lights: Not done book shopping? Go to the place that published beat generation writings back in the day, which now sells an eclectic collection of intellectual, classic and offbeat titles. When I would get a book and go read it at the nearbye Cafe Zoetrope, I felt like the coolest person in the world.

Pier 39 Sea Lions: Sea lions!!! An earthquake sent them here, and they've stayed here ever since. They sit on a bunch of large rafts wrestling, showing off, or sleeping in the sun. They always cheered me up.

Exploratorium: A totally unique science museum that encourages you to touch and interact with the exhibits. They have special presentations as well, so check the website to see what's going on

Musée Mécanique: Do you want to take a headlong plunge into the uncanny valley? Of course you do! This free mini-museum has animations and carnival games from yesteryear, and the huge and terrifying Laughing Sally. It's in walking distance of Pier 39, too.

Lovejoy's Tea Room: They catered my wedding!!! Great tea and pastries, and a super cozy atmosphere, plus you sometimes get to see egl friends have meetups in gorgeous attire.

The Castro: As gentrified as it's gotten, there's still something wonderful about a neighborhood with rainbow crosswalks and pride flags waving everywhere. Sob outside of the late lamented Castro Theater (now a concert venue,) go to a souvenir store, walk down to Bi-Rite Creamery for ice cream if the line isn't too long.

Bourbon and Branch, Smuggler's Cove: If you like vintage cocktails, have a night out at Bourbon and Branch, a retro speakeasy, or Smuggler's Cove, an amazing tiki bar. Call ahead for B&B, since you need reservations and the password.

Folsom Street Fair: If you ever go again in summer and are not squicked by kink, check out this fetish festival! (And no, scaremongers, children can not actually get in and be traumatized by this, as they check your ID.) Buy a corset, have experts tie you up, get sex ed from guys who've been teaching it for fifty years, see everybody in their awesome outfits. (It is somehow always on the hottest day of the year, though, so stay hydrated, especially if you're in head to toe leather.)

The Alamo Drafthouse: While not unique to San Francisco, I'm always happy to be in a city that has one of these. This movie theater shows new films, classics and cult favorites, and you can order food while you watch (try the milkshakes!) One of my best moviegoing experiences was when they showed The Lost Boys, and all the goths in the lobby looked at each other and nodded, like yeah, we all know why we're here.

[gumnut-logic]

I've been poking around in my Steampunk AU and hoping to spark the muse as I do enjoy playing in that world and I came across this snippet that just has some glorious images of Tracy boys that I had to share :D

I hope I can get my head in the right space.

-o-o-o-

Scott shifted his shoulders under his coat and looked up at the sky.

It was a gorgeous blue today and he would have loved nothing more than to be up in it…in any way possible.

Beyond the gates, at the far end of the fair, a great wheel was spinning slowly, its passengers enjoying the brief illusion of being airborne at its peak.

He stared at them for a moment, almost sad that they had little clue as to what they were missing.

But wish as he might, today was not the day for flying. Today was a day for Scott Tracy to represent his father at the latest technology exhibition and fair.

Stepping out of the carriage beside him, Virgil was picking at a smudge of something on his green silk waist coat. Scott had to hold back from rolling his eyes. By all that was merciful, how his brother managed to get grease on everything? If Scott was honest, the exasperation was fond rather than annoyed.

“Tuck it behind your cravat.”

Virgil looked up at him as if he had been startled out of his skin.

Scott sighed and leant on his cane as his brother fiddled further with his clothing. “It is hardly noticeable.”

“What is hardly noticeable?” Gordon appeared beside Virgil and looked his brother up and down. Alan hung behind him, eyes staring out at the fair as if all his Christmases had arrived today.

“Never you mind.” Virgil’s voice was brusque as he straightened up in his charcoal grey suit and adjusted his similarly-coloured top hat.

He made Scott conscious of his own deep blue almost black hat and he instinctively touched it, causing it to tilt just slightly down on one side.

Gordon caught the movement and grinned.

This time Scott did roll his eyes and turned away. “Be on your best behaviour today. We are representing Tracy Industries and our father. No tomfoolery.”

“Aw, ruin it, why don’t you.”

Gordon made a very good imitation of a spoilt child when he so chose to. If it wasn’t for the trust Scott had in his little brother, there would be worry. “Look sharp.”

With his brothers at his back, Scott Tracy strode into the fair.

-o-o-o-

[mad-bird-writes]

Introduction and Current WIPs

Hiya! My name is Echo (@tousled-birdmad-girl is my main for those who care about such things) and I'm a writer. I've been writing in some form or another since I was about ten years old, but only recently plucked up the gumption and drive to attempt anything original, much less put it out for the world to see. Time will tell how this goes...

I love horror, tho I wouldn't consider myself a "genre" author, as I think horror, surrealism, fantasy and magic can be found everywhere if you know where to look, and the presence of fantasy elements does not necessarily mean you're writing a "fantasy" book. So, we'll call what I do "fiction" and leave it at that for now :D

Inspiration-wise, I draw from the works of Stephen King, everything Mike Flanagan ever put to Netflix and beyond, Paul Shapera and his ever-growing Shaperaverse, Guillermo Del Toro, Chuck Palahniuk, and the Cthulhu Mythos as a whole (with a particular liking for taking the worlds, entities and themes first created by Lovecraft and using them to create something that'd make him spin in his grave.)

Below the cut: a list of my current WIPs and some general housekeeping information. If you see something that sparks your interest, please come sit by my hearth and pour yourself a drink <3

Original Works:

The Lost Souls' Revival: After a series of personal crises, struggling creative Amari Walker stumbles across a flyer advertising a strange carnival, offering "a total restoration of spirit" for the cryptic asking price of "3Y". With nothing left to lose, she attends, quickly becoming enthralled by the Revival and its colourful cast of performers, in particular its eccentric, nameless ringmaster. When her night of fun and escapism is over, she finds herself wanting more, and embarks on a one-woman quest to follow the ever-moving carnival wherever it goes, a quest that will drive her to the edge of sanity, and possibly beyond the reach of reality itself. (vibes: steampunk, dark carnival, mythology/folklore mishmash, fantasy horror, the Fair Folk, whatever the goblins were selling in Rosetti's Goblin Market)

Better To Reign In Hell: It's 1897. The world is changing too fast. Pastor Nathaniel Lawrence is dying, for all that he's trying to hide it. His daughter, Susannah, too old for rebellion and too young for spinsterhood, is content to follow in her mother's footsteps as the town's herbalist, but a bombshell marriage proposal seems set to destroy those plans. A chance encounter with a badly wounded man may offer her the escape she seeks, but at a price: Merritt Caine is not all he appears to be, and his dark past has an unbreakable grip. (vibes: southern gothic HEAVY on the gothic, small town horror, witchcraft (fictitious and real), Satanism (fictitious and real), corruption but in a good way, religious horror, the cycle of abuse, eventual murder (of the good kind) )

The Order of The Pallid Mask: In the corpse of a city at the centre of a dying world, a benevolent cult is working to restore their world to its fabled former glory by appealing to its retreated god, The King in Yellow. Sariann, the cult's High Priestess, is willing to sacrifice whatever she must to ensure a brighter future for the city's refugees; her body, her soul, her mind. Virgil, a lower-ranking member of the Order, her confidant, attendant and trusted friend, is willing to defy the Order and his faith to keep her alive. And the Yellow King has plans and desires of his own... (vibes: Cosmic horror, Lovecraftian but make it romantic, the beauty of the unknown, rituals, creating a religion from the ashes of an old world, post-apocalypse, ancient civilization (not of Earth), Eldritch love triangle) ***

Fan Works/Other:

As far as fanfics go, I don't have any long-form WIPs on the stove, more like a series of short (well, short-ish) form drabbles, headcanons and other assorted bits, which I might as well post here when I have them as proof that I do have a creative output that extends beyond Spotify playlists and Pinterest boards.

Fandoms include:

Fallout (mainly New Vegas and the Prime series so far, but encompassing this universe as a whole)

Red Dead Redemption (particularly the second game as I haven't played the first one yet, £35 for a port of a PS2 game my *ass*)

the Flanaverse (Hill House, Bly Manor, TFOTHOU, Midnight Mass... basically everything bar The Midnight Club, which I have not watched)

the Cthulhu Mythos (if you can call that a fandom :D I was working on a queer retelling of Dreams in the Witch-House at one point, if I can *find* the notes I wrote I might bring that one out of retirement...)

plus one or two fandoms the content crucibles of which I would not subject myself to if you held me at gunpoint (iykyk)

I've also amassed a small collection of OCs from various TTRPGs I've been part of, a couple of whom still haunt my mind and may or may not be written about from time to time... (no DnD tho, I think it's safe to say we've reached saturation point with DnD-centric/derivative works) ;)

***

General housekeeping + other info: I am an adult and this is an adult writing blog by default. I will be writing smut/other sexual content and dealing with mature and dark themes throughout these listed works (and anything else I may write to post here.) I will tag for "main" triggers and give general content warnings where applicable, but I cannot guarantee to cover every single trigger a person may have, therefore, you read and interact here at your own risk. If requested, I will add more trigger warnings, but again, I can't fully guarantee to get everything.

I kindly ask that you refrain from reposting anything from this blog: excerpts, character profiles, moodboards (if I make them) etc. I also ask that you do not take anything for your personal use under any circumstances.

My inbox is open, so send me an ask if you have any questions or simply want to chat! But for now, I've rambled for quite long enough, so I'm gonna wrap this post here. See you! <3

(tagging @coffeexafterxmidnight and @dominaarts )

[stormblessed95]

Stormy - I have been wanting to start reading Brandon Sanderson's cosmere? books, but I can't figure out where to start.

I have seen conflicting arguments. Some say to start with "Mistborn" (which is my default thinking, as it was the first), some say to start with "The Way of Kings".

Several posts and videos have suggested that no matter where you start you don't read them in chronological order?

Help a girl out? 🙏

-From Fantasy girl who is getting really tired of TikTok trying to convince her ACOTAR is the greatest thing since Tolkien. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Friend, if all booktok is giving you is ACOTAR then you need to expand your algorithm! Lol I'm MORE than happy to talk cosmere and reading order!

SO it's important to know that there really isn't a right or wrong way to do this. Everyone will have their own preferred reading order, or the way they did it. As for the chronological comment, it's because each series takes place at a different point in time in the universe.... It can get a little confusing, and I wouldn't necessarily worry too much about it. Lol if you get really into the cosmere and want all the lore, the timeline of each story on each planet, the 17th shard or coppermind websites do a great job and you could spend DAYS going through it all. Lol but it's also spoiler galore, so I would stay away until you read through the books.

Sanderson himself does say that he breaks a ton of rules of writing/in fantasy in the way he starts The Stormlight Archive. That's his center piece of the cosmere really and he personally recommends reading that one after he has earned your trust as an author. And that's fair because boy does that series have a long, slow and confusing start. But DAMN does it pay off. It is my FAVORITE cosmere series. I named my BTS blog after it 😂😂

The cosmere is an multiverse made up of multiple different book series taking place on multiple different planets, each planet is ruled by different shards (their "gods") and they all, in some ways interconnect, mostly right now in smaller ways, but things are coming together more and more. Finding Easter eggs from different series is one of my favorite things. You also have one character, who is a world hopper (there are lots but he is the main one we see) who appears somewhere in every single series. You can read by series.... You can read in publication order.... You can read in phases.... Lol truly, you can't go wrong!

Mistborn is a great start if you want to try that. It's one of his most well known, but it is not his first published work in the cosmere! It's set on the planet Scadriel. It's a solid series, super strong AND it's a great way to *ease* into it, especially if you are newer to fantasy. Which is sounds like you are not! But still. It's the classic fantasy tropes with Brandon's own take/twist on it. Prophecy chosen one hero, an immortal evil god-emperor, a plucky found family band of misfit rebels, with book 1 being a heist story with magic. It's got a metal based magic system that's one of the most unique hard magic systems I've read

Mistborn starts with the Era 1 trilogy, which includes:

- The Final Empire

-The Well of Ascension

- The Hero of Ages

- The Eleventh Metal (novella)

- The Traveler (short story, only found online)

Era 2, which includes:

- The Alloy of Law

- Allomancer Jak (short story)

- Shadows of Self

- Bands of Mourning

- Mistborn: Secret History (novella)

Mistborn will continue into 2 further eras as well in the future on Scadriel. They haven't been published yet, all we know about it is that Era 1 was your classic epic fantasy trilogy world set up for the most part, Era 2 is set 300 years after the end of era 1 and has a steampunk western feel to it. (It also has lesbians with guns as a side couple/character, and one of my FAVORITE cosmere couples in the main pairing). Era 3 will be set more modern fantasy/magic, he said think 80s/90s, and Era 4 will be a scifi/fantasy feel set in space!

You could also start in publication order with Elantris. His first book ever published, and you can low-key tell. It's still a great book, but it's not as strong as the others and so I tend to rec this one as definitely please read it, but maybe not as an intro to Sanderson as an author. Elantris is a standalone and set on the world of Sel. This world has two other novellas set in it, which are Emperor's Soul (one of the best novellas I've ever read in my life) and the Hope of Elantris. Emperor's Soul is the story of a prisoner tasked with reconstructing the mind of the Emperor to save her own life. Elantris is based on a magic system that broke, triad narrative structure and heavy political intrigue that is told in a way that won't go over my head

If you want to ease into the world by way of Graphic Novel, check of White Sand. It's set on the world of Taldain, takes place timeline wise WAY EARLIER than most of the other cosmere and is just pretty fun honestly. There are 3 volumes total.

Warbreaker is one i used to recommend to my friends all the time as an intro to Sanderson as it was super fun, super colorful, a standalone and a fantastic read with a great romance subplot. Since it's a standalone, alot of people find it less daunting to pick up and it hooks a lot of people in to wanting to read more of his stuff. It's set on the planet Nalthis and has one of the more obvious crossovers in the cosmere into another book series. Characters (and a sword) from this book, also appear as side characters in the Stormlight Archive. Brandon Sanderson also gives a download of Warbreaker for free as an ebook on his website. This is a story of two princesses (sisters) who grew up knowing their lot and fate in life, and then suddenly they have to switch. It's got romance, politics, intrigue and crazy twists and a color based magic system.

My husband started with Stormlight Archive and has zero regrets. Lol and lots of people do start here and love it. Because again, no wrong way to do this! When I mentioned earlier that it really throws you into the deep end, it does. The first boom has a prelude that shows events 5000 years ago, then a prologue with events 5 years ago, then ch 1 with events 6 months ago, then you finally get to present day with the MCs and have no idea how they got to where they are or what's happening at first. Lol but it's got horribly broken characters who are just desperately trying to save themselves and then the world. It's the most badass fantasy world with epic anime level fight scenes, an intricate and so cool magic system and a truly unique world that you are fully emersed in. The video above is like my favorite trailer make people watch to say "read this!!"

Stormlight is set on Roshar and includes:

- The Way of Kings

- Words of Radiance

- Edgedancer (novella)

- Oathbringer

- Dawnshard

- Rhythm of War

- Wind and Truth (releasing Dec 2024)

And the latest release will conclude the first arc of the Stormlight Archive. He plans to have another arc in this series as well with another 5 books and a few more novellas.

You could also start with a few of his newer cosmere related standalones as well! This are all newer releases that he did as secret projects and could all be good entry points into the cosmere as well with a good fun standalone read!

Tress of the Emerald Sea is set on Lumar. It's like pirates of the Caribbean meets Princess's Bride

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is set on Komashi. Two people find themselves switching bodies, have to solve a mystery to save their respective people's and slowly fall in love along the way (inspired by Your Name)

And The Sunlit Man, I wouldn't read this one as an intro to the cosmere personally, but you could! Its main character is actually one of the side characters from the Stormlight Archive and is set way in the future from that time as well as on a different planet, Canticle.

You can also just jump into some novellas instead if you would rather. There are two novellas out now that have no connection to a series (yet) but are part of the cosmere and set on different planets.

Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is my other favorite cosmere novella and is INCREDIBLE and is set on Threnody

Sixth of Dust is set on First of the Sun

This is old, so missing some of the newer books, but still a great resource:

And if you've made it through all that and are still a little like okayyyy but where do I start??? Some extra resources....

Brandon explaining what the cosmere is himself

Brandon recommended where to start:

If you want the closet to chronological, I'd go:

Publication Order can be found here, the cosmere books are in Green:

https://coppermind.net/wiki/Bibliography

And personally? I'd start Mistborn or Warbreaker. Unless you are fully ready to dive deep into trusting him with a story lol then full send it with Stormlight Archive.

AND if you are reading these, please feel free to DM me to chat about it or send your reactions or anything at all!!

Good luck! Hope I didn't just confuse you more!! Lol

[lacependragonwrites]

BY THE RITES OF STARS ★ an anti-military science fantasy

the first book in the starkyda universe

genre | science fantasy, military fantasy, steampunk/gaslamp fantasy

audience | adult

pov | multi-pov, (usually) third person limited, present

series premise | a bunch of queer, disabled dragon riders try to raise a rebellion, take down a fascist, patriarchal regime, and save the world at the same time.

themes & tropes | chosen one(s), prophecies, meddling gods, dragons & dragon riders, griffon riders, magic/military academy, anti-military, anti-fascism, power of friendship/love, the power of being different, found family, animal companions, magitech, Hard Magic, if you try to get rid of us we only get stronger

content warnings | queerphobia in all its forms (homophobia, acephobia, transphobia, polyphobia, etc), fatphobia, ableism & eugenics rhetoric, child & spousal abuse, systematic abuse, indentured labour, animal death, graphic violence, misgendering, dead naming, animal abuse, some very minor cannibalism as a side effect of other stuff

★ SYNOPSIS

For three hundred years, the world of Lumira has existed on the brink of apocalypse. Only the hard work of the dragon riders, stationed across the three lowest islands, keeps the otherworldly fungus, known as the Blight, from swallowing the world. But it is no longer enough. Six years ago, Saoirse Cuirc declared herself a girl before the statues of the Gods and spoke with the Goddess herself, Sáerlaith, who declared Saoirse the first of nine Chosen - people on Tairkyda who would stop the Blight and save the world. Now, in the present, Saoirse, her best friend Lucian, and many others are on their way to their first year at Tairkyda's military academy to become dragon riders. But from the very start, it's clear that she, Lucian, and all the other "different" initiates aren't welcome. Divided into different flights, pushed down and harassed by students and teachers alike, and constantly chasing after a goddess she can't seem to find, Saoirse is failing before she even starts. And Lucian, split into a flight with Kiryu, who won't stop picking fights with him, isn't fairing much better. Elsewhere in the school, Jules, an indentured student, fights back against unfair rules and clashes with a professor who vows to make them understand consequences. When Jules discovers that one of their flight mates, Sabine, is cursed and will die within the year, they rally Wren to help save Sabine and her brother. But the further they dig, the harder it is to stay out of reach of those who want to harm them. In engineering, Lara and Bran are both after answers that neither one can find alone -- Lara is trying to save her father's career, while Bran hunts for the answer behind the hiccups in the island's magitech. Cináed, their new lab assistant, just wants to go home to Underside, and if helping these two gives them a chance, then they'll do whatever it takes. And in Underside, Kat hunts for a way to Topside to find her missing sibling and teams up with the silent and deadly Rhys, who wants revenge for their murdered mother. But their journeys to Topside, and to their goals, will be far more fraught than they can imagine. All Saoirse wants is to be normal. All Jules wants is to go home. All Wren wants is to be strong. But if they are to save their new friends, stay in the academy, keep their dragons, and have any chance at fulfilling the duties of the Chosen, duties all three are quickly thrust into, they'll need to work together, learn everything they can, and be prepared to give up everything in the face of both saving the world and making Tairkyda into a home they want to live in. The last years of a three century war are beginning. But it's not just saving lives that matters. It's creating reasons to keep living, too.

★ CHARACTERS

Saoirse Cuirc: 19, she/her, trans woman. Heiress to the Cuirc family. Type 1 diabetes. Anxiety disorder. Fat.

All Saoirse has ever wanted was to just be a normal girl, but no matter how hard she tries, she can't even taste it. Anxious, overeager, and already feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders, Saoirse is the first of nine Chosen and is meant to find the rest and serve as their leader. Except Saoirse doesn't want to lead. She just wants to make friends and get to pretend she isn't the world's best chance at avoiding destruction. But she can't forget, not even for a second.

Jules Locke: 19, they/them, non-binary. Fringe farmer. Autistic. Migraines. Fat.

Blunt, hardworking, and endlessly curious, Jules is dragged into the world of dragon riders and politics when they stumble across, and hatch, a dragon egg near their family farm in the Fringe. Indentured until they can pay it off, Jules is determined to get home to their grandfather as quickly as possible - but their plans might be waylaid after they discover Sabine's curse and find themself unable to leave her to fight alone.

Wren Hashimoto: 19, they/them, trans masc. Youngest of the Hashimoto family. Stoat beastie. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Celiac.

After an entire childhood spent under the well-meaning and overbearing thumbs of their family, hatching an egg means Wren finally has some freedom. But arrival at the academy quickly proves that this world is not built for them, and Wren finds themself fighting just to keep their head above water. The people looking down want Wren to fail, and Wren will stop at nothing to disappoint them. But the true fight might not be with the world outside, but with the vast, burning anger inside them that might swallow their world whole.

Kiryu Furukawa: 19, he/him, cis man. Half-fae and least favourite of the Furukawa family. Juvenile arthritis. Tinnitus. Alpha-gal syndrome. Eating disorder NOS. Bipolar disorder.

Born out of wedlock and to one of the few fae still in Lumira, Kiryu has had the cards stacked against him in Tairkyda since the start. But it wasn't until he was nine years old, when his father found out about and tracked him down, that Kiryu even knew he was destined to be cursed. Until then, he'd been a normal kid. Trapped in his father's house and slowly worn down by years of bigotry and abuse, Kiryu got quiet, started playing stupid, and did everything he could in hopes of getting home to his mother and sisters. Now, with a dragon hatched, his father and eldest brother have recruited him in a mission to change the Chosen, and if he succeeds, he'll finally get to go home and breathe. Now if only he didn't despise his father and this culture and didn't take every opportunity to pick fights and start chaos.

Lucian: 19, he/him, cis man. Beastie. Saoirse's personal guard and companion. Gigantism. Migraines. Fat.

Lucian's first memories are hunger, fear, and pain. His first memory of light is Saoirse, then known by another name, and she gave his world light and meaning. For years, Lucian has lived in Saoirse's shadow, off the streets and out of bad homes only because she took interest in him. He protects her with everything she has. But he longs for more. Lucian longs for open skies and smiling faces, for notoriety that comes not from Saoirse, but from his own name and his own merit. And when he hatches a dragon egg, something he never thought he could do, Lucian isn't sure if this will give him more opportunity to make a name for himself, or seal him into his role as Saoirse's number two forever.

Sabine Bellerose: 19, she/her, cis woman. Oldest child of the Bellerose family. Blind. PTSD.

Sabine is dying. She knows she's dying and, furthermore, she knows she can't be saved. That's fine. All she wants, before her father's stupid curse kills her, is to save her brother. But when she hatches a dragon egg she didn't even want, the timeline changes. Her father sends her off to the academy with an hourglass around her throat. The day after the school year ends, Sabine will die. Frustrated and helpless, Sabine will fight with everything she has to save her brother. Herself? She gave up on herself years ago.

Cináed: 19, they/them, genderless. Half-fae and indentured servant of Topside. Autistic. Hard of hearing.

Cináed's not supposed to be here - here, in Topside; here, as staff; here, unable to leave because of the stupid charm wrapped around their ankle that they can't get off. If they could, there'd be nothing stopping them from running home and finding their sister again. After nine years of waiting, very few consequences are going to get in Cináed's way of finally tasting freedom. But for them to get there, they'll have to work alongside two of Topsiders up-and-coming magineers, and the more Cináed's responsibilities to Topside and feelings for both Lara and Bran grow, the harder it is to run home for good.

Lara Acardi: 21, she/her, trans woman. Cerebral palsy. Seizures. Fat.

Everything can be understood if you are patient, humble, and never give up. This is Lara's life motto. Raised by a brilliant, warm man, who is also the head military scientist of Tairkyda, Lara has spent her life in awe of science and magic. She is a person who chases ideas, opportunities, and dreams, even if they might seem far fetched. And when her father struggles to find a solution to a new Blight problem, which leads to pressure from above, Lara recruits her friend Bran, and new lab assistant Cináed, into helping her solve the problem and save her father's reputation and career.

Bran Fáolan: 22, he/him, trans man. Albinism. Autistic. OCD.

Bran and his family have never fit into the upper crust of Tairkyda. Described, at best, as "overly obsessed weirdos", Bran's widowed mother encourages her children to do what brings them joy. For Bran, that is science! Driven by an insatiable need to create something impossible, something no one else has seen, Bran toils in the engineering labs everyday, seeing little point in personal relationships or like, being nice. But when the anomalies he's tracking start to add up, Bran ropes Lara and Cináed into helping him discover exactly who, or what, is causing the magitech in Tairkyda to malfunction and flicker.

Padma: 12, she/her, cis girl. Fisher beastie. Left hand amputee.

Padma survived what many others wouldn't: a limb amputation due to Blight. She only survived because Shahin, her adoptive father, found her and saved her. And she's never stopped trying to save him back. Quick on her feet and vicious with her teeth, Padma has spent years running in the shadow of her fathers' criminal empire in Underside. Now, with the magitech malfunctioning more than ever and Topside tight-lipped about it, Padma has the perfect opportunity to go undercover and get information for her dads. The pressure doesn't matter - all that matters is not letting her dads down. If she can do that, she can do anything.

Katriona "Kat": 22, she/her, cis woman. Berserker. Right arm amputee (above the elbow). Bipolar disorder.

Nine years ago, Kat lost Cináed to Topside and it's all her fault. She just wanted them to eat something good. She thought if they stole from Topside they could make good money selling what they grabbed. Instead, she lost the only family she had left. Now, Kat is an underground fighter; letting out her anger in the ring while she saves up money to get information about Topside and Cináed's whereabouts. When Kat gets the chance to team up with someone even scarier than her, she takes it to get to Cináed quicker. Despite her anger, Kat's pretty good at taking care of other people, particularly those younger than her. A lot of kids in Underside go to her for help.

Rhys: 15, they/them, agender. Farsider. Wolf beastie. Autistic. Nonverbal.

Rhys did not exist before they were six years old. They appeared, stumbling, broken, and weeping, in Underside nine years ago. After accidentally killing over a dozen people with strange shadows, Rhys fainted, and a doctor determined that Rhys had survived Blightfall, the final, and fatal, stage of Blight. Many wanted to study them, many wanted to use them, but Rhys ended up with Madeline, a woman who came to be their mother. Rhys loves Madeline. Rhys loves Underside. And Rhys has terrible powers that no one else does. And when the Enforcers of Topside kill their mother, Rhys casts aside their deep desire to be good - to be a hero - and takes up revenge. No one gets away with killing their mom. No one.

★ SETTING

Starkyda is a world in three parts: the Aether (above), the Nether (below), and Lumira (the world between). It's got similar technology to the 1880s-1910s era of development, it's in the first big stages of its industrial revolution, and magic is woven into everything. This is a world of floating islands. After a great flood many many years ago, the Gods rose the islands and their people into the sky to protect them from the endless waters. There were many changes during The Flood, including the hybridization of all living creatures. Cowpigs and chickurkeys and raccoorrels. (Also the dragons do not talk, just so we're clear.) Magic is not restricted to bloodlines or anything similar in Lumira. Any person can wield magic and the stars provide the layouts of every spell possible. However, without taeliswood - a highly guarded resource on Tairkyda - a person can only access a fraction of the magic in the world. Only through wealth, connections, or access to the military academy is it possible to gain the taeliswood for proper wand cores, brooms, and even the most coveted of all: a taelismera. Tairkyda, our main setting, is the lowest inhabited island left in Lumira. Those lower fell into the ocean after the Blight infected the island's living soul and killed them. Without a soul, the island plummets. Tairkyda is an island, divided. Topside, the city above ground, is deeply classist and run by five separate and feuding groups known as the Five Families. Only the academy is a neutral ground. The Wall, which separates the inhabited island from the Blighted sections, holds its own culture, as does the Fringe, the large ring of farms that wrap around the outside of the city, beyond the protection of most of its walls. But perhaps the most disparate section of the island is Underside - the literal underbelly of Tairkyda, located beneath the infrastructure of Topside and dug into the caves, the cliffs, and the dirt itself, until a mirror of Topside exists within its shadow. This is the more overt criminal world of Tairkyda, and mostly it houses those deemed undesirable by society or who were unlucky enough to be born down there. The military academy is the heart of Topside and is where all members of the military, whether foot, support, dragon rider, griffon rider, etc., are trained. The academy provides the largest supply of dragon riders to the war against the Blight. While two other islands have small colonies - Starletom and Hornkider - nearby, neither has a robust dragon rider population and few eggs choose to hatch for them each year. It is not an exaggeration to say that, as the world stands, if Tairkyda were to fall into the ocean, it would mean the end of the world.

★ LINKS | Book Tag / Series Tag / Rambling Tag / Profiles / Excerpts / Worldbuilding / Playlist

★ TAGLIST | @reminiscentrevelry,

ask to be added or removed from the taglist! taglist used for snippets, character profiles, worldbuilding posts, and other larger, wip related content.

[feathersandblue]

Veilguard 1/?

So, the first couple of hours in and:

the gameplay mechanics are fucking me up. I'm the kind of player who starts pressing buttons randomly when stressed, I actually loved the good old-fashined turn-based RPGs, so the new DODGE-ATTACK-HEAVY ATTACK-DEFEND-DOGDE-DODGE-ATTACK actions required are really fucking me up, to the point where I'm considering turning down the diffculty to cakewalk - but, yes, I'm aware that this is a me problem

10/10 for egghead reappearance, I always loved him and he's hot as fuck and also wittier than ever. I really, really hope that he keeps being awesome, so far, the encounters my Rook had with him in the Fade were hilarious. Can't wait to see where it's going, I do so hope that his relationship with the Inky (platonic or otherwise) will actually make a difference.

however, what did they do to his eyebrows, they're distracting

people are complaining all over reddit that the dialogue is too flippant, too superficial, and it reminds them of a YA novel but to be fair, when I think of some of Origin's lines, they weren't the best, and Rook's humorous replies often remind me of renegade!Shepard or purple!Hawke, which I love

also, to be fair, Dragon Age was never very deep, so I'm not sure what people are expecting. But I do get the impression that it's simply not aiming to be controversial at all

yes, there is a switch in aesthetics and tone, they went from medieval dark to steampunk high fantasy. It's like playing D&D, and I do miss (and mourn) the drab and depressing atmosphere of Origins, but to be fair, Inquisition was already well on its way to flashy and colorful, whereas DA2 was recycling dungeons and led you through an empty city and everyone rightfully criticized it for that

I'm ambigous about the open world vs. narrow corridors concept, on the one hand, I do like open world exploration, on the other hand, I often get lost. I'm not sure how high the replayability score will be though - then again, it's always a matter of whether decisions and character background actually make a difference that makes if worth your time to try something else

I appreciate the fact that you can pause during cut scenes. How often did I get interrupted and then missed some important tidbits? Also the "skip" option is pretty great

What I really miss is the lore and the worldbuilding, so far, it feels very generic. The DA universe had some pretty unique concepts (the Circles, the Fade, the chantry, the Blight) and it's all gone through a blender and come out bland. Maybe there will be a return to certain elements of it later on, but so far, I'm really missing the concepts that Gaider established (borrowing heavily on WoT)

I get why they found it easier not to include content of the earlier games (except for Inquisition because Solas), but it's also disappointing: for years and years they baited us with "your choices matter", and we're all attached to the Warden and Hawke and just having them disappear from the narrative is a bummer

all in all, I do like it, and I'm excited to see where the story goes, but I have the feeling that it won't be able to replace Origins in my heart.

[guardsbian]

The full "Contact Us" message I wrote to FR staff (regarding the initial phrasing of "Lolita-inspired fashion" can be found under the cut. In the end I think most of my concerns were heard and addressed, considering the contents of the revised rules.

My message was resolved with a "thank you" message and a link about an hour and a half after the revision was released. Even though everyone who submitted feedback likely received the same message, I do, at this time, genuinely believe that my feedback was read and understood by staff. (So, thank you, if any happen to catch this post!)

Drakessis

May 16, 2024, 19:35 PDT

I am concerned about the use of "Lolita-inspired fashion" as a catch-all term for subject matter it does not represent. As it stands, the term's usage implies that dressing a child-analogue in the equivalent of Victorian doll's clothing or Hello Kitty-inspired accessories would imply "that the hatchling is an adult in a child's body." The underlying concern, of course, being that ill-intentioned users may use this implication to sexualize the subject. However, this is not a fair representation of what Lolita fashion actually implies, and feeds into misconceptions which individuals within the subculture are constantly attempting to combat.

At its simplest, Lolita fashion is a subculture influenced by Victorian and Rococo stylings— two eras which FR regards as lore-compliant. The fashion puts an emphasis on cuteness, such as the type illustrated by Sanrio characters and the whimsical worlds of works like Alice in Wonderland. The subculture's purpose for many is the same counter-cultural self-expression seen in the Goth subcultures, Steampunk subcultures, Scene subcultures, and many more (many of which the community of FR often embraces). There is very little to set Lolita fashion apart from the existing, accepted aesthetics showcased on Flight Rising; which is what makes the specification of the subculture as something inappropriate all the more unexpected and discouraging.

The rule creates the impression that an adult engaging with any fashion, items, or interests more commonly associated with children is inherently sexual, which— given the teenager-friendly rating of the site versus its adult playerbase— I am sure FR does not intend to do. In that case, however, what differentiates the Japanese "Lolita" subculture from the American "kidcore" or "pastelcore" subcultures? Both cases have their potential for misuse (by those who would attempt to skirt the rules regardless of what is written), but only one is explicitly prohibited in these guidelines.

(It's not difficult for one to, perhaps, interpret this disparity as the fetishization or alienation of East Asian individuals and subcultures. Which, granted, may be in response to existing behavior within the community— however, justifying this attitude via the written guidelines only hurts those victimized, being given less opportunity to speak up about a community-wide issue without being labeled as "discussing moderation.")

Even if no changes are made in the process of moderation, then at least a change in language should be made. People who participate in the Lolita subculture already face a constant stigma labeling their fashion choices as being "sexual" or accusing them of romanticizing Nabokov's work. There are existing topics/"styles" which would undoubtedly, without exception, sexualize young characters and exceed Flight Rising's rating, and their conflation with safe for work subcultures does nothing but harm those who are mislabeled as accessories to or derivatives of these groups.

The crux of my message is that Lolita fashion is NOT the same as the "loli/lolicon" genres which sexualize children, much in the way that kid/pastelcore fashion is NOT the same as "DDLG" or associated fetishes. I am sympathetic to the fact that Flight Rising would likely rather not call out these topics by name, but instead referring to an ENTIRELY unrelated subculture is not the way to sidestep the issue. In the end, it will only alienate well-intentioned players.

Thank you for reading my feedback. I hope it can contribute something of use to this discussion.

[stormbreaker101]

BEHOLD! MY MAP!

I first made it on a physical styrofoam board, then realized my phone camera is bad so I remade it in MS Paint. The locations of the worlds are NOT indicative of their actual positions in the Spiral (i have more headcanons about that), and instead were chosen just so that no thumbtack was directly in between 2 others... to some extent.

There are 49 different connections and each one has SOME bit of reasoning behind it, which I shall write under the cut.

I made this map for my AU, Corrupted Spiral, which has some noncanon shenanigans going on.

1) Wizard City/Wysteria: Canon says so

2) Wizard City/Valencia: The old Leyline to Valencia in the Catacombs, a handful of Valencians live in Wizard City, more know quite a surprising amount of the Wizard & WC.

3) Wizard City/Avalon: The old Leyline to Avalon in the Catacombs

4) Wizard City/Dragonspyre: The Druid/Dragoon war, and Dragonspyrian immigration to Wizard City after the awakening of the Fire Titan.

5) Krokotopia/Marleybone: Of course Marleybone would expand its empire to a neighboring world. In fact, I'm of the headcanon that the reason we see so LITTLE of Krok and it's all so hyper-concentrated into the Iconic Bits TM is because Marleybone fucking TOOK CHUNKS OF KT AND BROUGHT IT CLOSER TO MB SO IT'D BE EASIER TO HAVE EXPEDITIONS TO IT. (Following in the accidental footsteps of Stallion Quartermane)

6) Krokotopia/Valencia: To-be-released Canon P101 (Arc 2)

7) Krokotopia/Mirage: Both based on SWANA, and I'm of the opinion that worlds with similar IRL geography should be closer together. It just makes sense. Plus, both worlds mention the Sands of Time.

8) Krokotopia/Wallaru: Of course the Krokotillians (Pharaoh Ramakrok in particular) would attempt to expand their empire to a neighboring world. Additionally, I'm of the headcanon that the Manders, Koalas, and Kangaroos are all distant descendants of the Storm Titan (I can go in further detail if asked), so it makes sense for folks of related origin to be nearby.

9) Marleybone/Avalon: Both worlds are based on England, just different eras of it. We see a fair bit of species overlap between the two worlds as well; I'm of the headcanon that MB and AV split off from each other, with AV retaining its high-fantasy magic and MB going more low-fantasy steampunk.

10) Marleybone/Valencia: Canon P101.

11) Marleybone/Mooshu: Canon P101.

12) Marleybone/Cool Ranch: The Marleyboneans are seen establishing CR's train systems with fail time and time again (Duck of Death, Great Sky Train Robbery Gauntlet)

13) Mooshu/Zafaria: A Wizard101 NPC mentions she trades internationally, and Mooshu is one of her regular stops (alongside Marleybone, Avalon, and Polaris). Mooshu also acts as a junction between Zafaria and Marleybone and ergo the other Spiral Powers.

14) Mooshu/Valencia: Canon P101.

15) Mooshu/Skull Island: Canon P101.

16) Mooshu/Wysteria: The wisteria plant is native to East Asia (which Mooshu is based on the way a protein shake is based on multiple ingredients: thrown into a blender), and we see pigfolk in both worlds. Similar Species clause. Yes I am absolutely going to rewrite Wysteria so it's not a fucking joke because I know leaving it in its canon state with this history is a big Yikes Move.

17) Dragonspyre/Monquista: Canon P101.

18) Dragonspyre/Valencia: Canon P101.

19) Celestia/Azteca: Celestia and Azteca have so much history to me. I made a big ol' post about it.

20) Celestia/Khrysalis: Both worlds are deeply involved in the study of Astral magic, the Celestian Zodiac includes the 4 Celestian Creatures of the Radiant Alcazar, and both worlds take... inspiration from Oceania (Celestia's Watermoles are a gross stereotyped imitation of Polynesia, and Khrysalis includes references to Aotearoa)

21) Celestia/Empyrea: I have a headcanon that the Celestians were made by Raven to be stewards of Astral magic, the way the Kalamar, Nimbari, and Dwarves were made to be stewards of the main Schools (besides Balance). But because Astral magic forms a triad of Schools rather than a pair, they couldn't form a Paradox Chain and so Raven deemed them 'unworthy' of staying in Empyrea and so dropped them into what is now Celestia. However, this action caused the 2 worlds to form a link, which became a Stormgate.

22) Zafaria/Aquila: Apparently Carthage existed and the Punic wars happened.

23) Zafaria/Polaris: Same reasoning as Marleybone/Zafaria.

24) Zafaria/Mirage: A similar (albeit weaker) situation as Krokotopia/Mirage, in that the 2 worlds are (sorta) based on similar(ish) places geographically. Additionally, we see both Lions and variants of primates in both worlds.

25) Avalon/Karamelle: They both have fae and that's good enough for me. It's how Lydia made it to Avalon to save Merle Ambrose's life from badly photoshopped gay baby jail.

26) Avalon/Grizzleheim: Both worlds feature bears (the Grizzlies in GH and King Art + Balor the Broken Fang of AV) and giants (Grendels & the Jotuns in GH, the Fomori in AV). Species Similarity.

27) Azteca/Skull Island: I'm just going to point you to THIS again. Also, Xol Akmul's existence.

28) Azteca/Karamelle: I made this choice solely to make my main pirate's backstory work.

29) Khrysalis/Darkmoor: Both are pretty "shadowy" worlds, plain and simple. It just makes sense. The vibes and nothing more profound than that. You understand.

30) Khrysalis/Empyrea: We see a handful of Khrysalis NPCs stranded in Aeriel Shore, and also I just love the idea of a stormgate stretching from the most Light-heavy world to the most Shadow-heavy world. Like, the Heart cannot be completely severed from Spider. Ripped out, but not disconnected.

31) Polaris/Valencia: Canon P101.

32) Polaris/Empyrea: Raven made Empyrea to keep herself out. She dumped Mellori in Polaris. The two worlds hold a theme of being distant enough from everything else that Raven assumes them safe. Sounds pretty close to each other to me yknow?

33) Polaris/Grizzleheim: Similar to Avalon/Grizzleheim, both worlds feature bears (the Grizzlies and the Oskiy) and giants (the Grendels + Jotuns and the yetis). Additionally, the Rus that became Eastern Europe were originally norsemen. Once again bringing up the Geographical Proximity = Spiralian Proximity.

34) Mirage/Wallaru: I have a headcanon that the Sands of Time are related to the Dreaming. If the Dreaming is a sea of possibility, of everything and everywhen all at once, then the Sands of Time are just the things that became real, crystallizing and precipitating onto Mirage.

35) Empyrea/Wysteria: There is regular trade between these two worlds.

36) Empyrea/Karamelle: So we're just gonna take the canon gobbler shit and just kinda burn it in a fire, then completely rework the Alphoi's involvement in Karamelle to not be so shit. Don't worry I made it way better. Ask me about it.

37) Aquila/Valencia: Canon P101. Also what if Valencia had more birdfolk than just Marco Pollo?

38) Aquila/Monquista: Canon P101.

39) Darkmoor/Grizzleheim: Similar to Polaris/Grizzleheim, in that some of the Norse became Eastern Europe. But now instead of fantasy Russia, it's fantasy Romania.

40) Darkmoor/Cool Ranch: English Bill was able to flee from CR to DM to become the Duck of Death.

41) Skull Island/Monquista: Canon P101.

42) Skull Island/Cool Ranch: Canon P101.

43) Skull Island/Valencia: Canon P101.

44) Skull Island/Wallaru: We see many folks of Skull Island in Wallaru in-game, plus it's a convenient way for the Spiral Powers to be able to reach Wallaru.

45) Valencia/Cool Ranch: The Valencian unicorns became the Santo Pollan Stallions, and what if some of the Aquilan/Valencian birds also became the birds of Cooper's Roost? Something something the idea of the West moving from the Roman Empire to Modern Europe to America.

46) Cleaved/Lemuria: CCSAU lore time: CS Lemuria is basically in the Cleaved Spiral now, rather than in the CS Spiral. It probably has a handful of Stormgates leading to multiple worlds of the Cleaved Spiral, but that's not what this is about.

47) Cleaved/Grizzleheim: A rift formed between Cleaved!Karamelle and CS Grizzleheim because many canon Karamelle NPCs fled to Grizzleheim. The presence of "the same" characters in multiple Spirals forged a gateway between the two.

48) Cleaved/Wallaru: Just like the Cleaved/Grizzleheim rift, a rift formed between CS Wallaru and Cleaved Wallaru.

49) Lemuria/Empyrea: To help the two Spirals be more interconnected, and to help Lemuria develop a standing, a Stormgate between CS Lemuria and CS Empyrea was made. Why Empyrea? Because it's doing rather well compared to the rest of the CS Spiral, and also because knowledge of the other rifts between Cleaved and CS weren't international knowledge yet.

[rogueshadeaux]

Chapter Thirty-Nine — The Warm Hands of Ghosts

Everyone was hooked up to tubes, IVs or cannulas hanging from their body as they got the treatment necessary to keep them comfortable.  How long would it be till I was hooked up to wires?

3.6k words | 13-17 min read time | TRIGGER WARNING: Hospital, illness, fuck them OCs, hyp...notism?

⚠️AUTHOR'S NOTE: once again, thank you @lobotomizedlemon for giving me god's greatest disappointment to man. I would kill for Sia. And to @infamoussparks for letting Rosa be Bad News Bear here!

To the other person that's been patiently waiting for this moment for over a year (I checked the PMs! We started talking about this last July!) — I love you.

I thought palliative care meant something for kids, like pediatrics. 

I had no idea it basically meant making people comfortable enough to suffer. 

Now, to be fair, that wasn’t all the wing did; it actually seemed really cozy, in a strange way—or as comfortable as an in-patient hospital wing could be. Stock photographs of nature littered the blank walls between room doors, and the doors that were open revealed blued rooms decorated with white furniture, picture frames of family pinned to the walls and personal belongings all around the room. There was one old lady with a bed covered in fuzzy pink pillows, another had dozens of plants on the windowsill in theirs. Everyone was hooked up to tubes, IVs or cannulas hanging from their body as they got the treatment necessary to keep them comfortable. 

How long would it be till I was hooked up to wires?

I tried to shake the thought out of my head, following Aunt Sia and Dr. Sims deeper into the wing, the both of them tensely silent. Whatever crowds were in front of us parted with Aunt Sia’s stomps and stayed staring at Dad; I know I’d probably do the same, if I saw some woman in a blazer with spikes glued to the shoulder and chains decoratively falling from it leading Delsin Rowe and Eugene Sims down a hall. 

We probably looked like the world’s strangest funeral procession. 

The hall jutted right, and we moved with it, all the way to where the light the windows let in couldn’t reach. The last door on the right had stuff plastered on it, and it took till being right at the door to realize they were warnings. “‘Wear mirror glasses provided upon shift assignment,’” Brent read aloud, staring at the clipart picture of the black ski goggles like they were runes before looking at me, eyebrows raised. 

Dr. Sims reached into his jacket’s pocket to pull out a handful of black disposable glasses, the sort that Reese came to school in after an eye procedure. “Here, put these on,” he instructed, beginning to pass them out. 

Aunt Sia instead pulled a pair of modified steampunk-looking goggles, slipping them over her eyes and then regarding Dad, Brent and I individually. “Listen—keep those on.” She stressed. “I know this Conduit personally. They may seem like they’re not fully there, but that doesn’t make them any less powerful. And, hey—it’s them. They, them.”

“What the hell do you two have me walking into?” Dad tried to joke, looking between the childhood besties. Neither laughed. 

“Let’s get in the room first,” Dr. Sims muttered, trying to position the blackened glasses over his own. I followed their lead, trying to fit the awkwardly flimsy film over my nose before looking up at everyone and nodding, feeling like an idiot. What sort of power did I need to wear glasses against? Maybe this was one of the light Conduits Zeke talked about.

The inside of the room was adorned in pink and green. I think that was the first thing that shocked me—the brightness of the room. The wood and dull blue visitor’s chair was covered by a strawberry quilt freckled in green squares, there were little succulents on the dresser across from the bed. There were long, sheer green scarfs hung over the curtain rods in their own protest against the sterile-hospital white, and an old stuffed fox sat slouched over on the windowsill like it was trying to get the sun to hit a specific spot on its lower back. 

And the bed. It was still a stiff and uncomfortable looking hospital bed, but someone tried making it anything but. A large, fluffy blush pink down comforter was draped over the too-small bed, engulfing the small form that was laid in it. Their arm laid over a green rectangular throw pillow, IV embedded in the hand lying listless on top. They stared off into a corner of the room but it…didn’t look intentional. It didn’t look like much was behind the stare at all. Wires fell from the sleeves of their shirt to the bed around them, the steady thrum of a heartbeat monitor puncturing the silence with its rhythm. 

The red-headed doctor, Hutch, was there, looking closely at the patient’s monitor and only turning when the door was closed. “The nurses aren’t fond of me being here, so we’ll need to be quick.” she said. 

Dr. Sims huffed. “Why not?”

“Considering I usually don’t stray far from pediatrics, they see me as overstepping.” Dr. Hutch responded. 

Aunt Sia wasted no time in closing the gap between her and the patient in the bed, one hand going to hold the one laying on the pillow while the other touched their frayed braid, looking for a hair tie that was no longer there. “Hey, sweet pea,” she hummed softly like a mother at a cradle, fingers brushing knots out of their long reddish brown hair. They barely moved, not acknowledging Aunt Sia with a look or with words. 

Brent, ever so tactful, decided now would be the perfect time to ask, “So what’s wrong with them?”

“Dude!” I hissed.

“What? I’m just asking–”

“I know them.” Dad’s voice was soft as the statement passed his lips. I couldn’t see his eyes, but his brows were knit so close together and furrowed that they started disappearing behind his film glasses. He looked at the back of Aunt Sia’s head, who stopped combing through their hair. “Why does it feel like I know them?”

Aunt Sia sighed, moving her hand away from their hair to gently cup their face, thumb running along their jaw. Another move they didn’t react to. “Garrett, Delsin’s here—remember him?” 

Something shifted in Dad, and his shoulders visibly sagged. “Garrett?” he asked. “That’s Garrett?” 

I glanced at Brent, who was already facing my way with an eyebrow raised. Who was this person? Why did Dad look so shocked, so sad, to see Garrett in that bed?

“I apologize,” Dr. Hutch cautiously chimed in. “But…if you don’t mind…”

She left the question open ended, looking across the bed to Aunt Sia, who nodded after a pause. “You’ve got my permission,” she said, letting her hand fall from Garrett’s face to instead take their hand in both of hers. 

Dr. Hutch reached out, resting her hand on the bare skin of Garrett’s bicep, glancing between where they met and the small vial in her other hand. Why did she ask Aunt Sia if she could examine Garrett? They looked almost the same age. I thought you only needed someone’s permission for hospital stuff if you were still a kid. 

Dr. Hutch’s lips moved silently as she counted to herself, looking between the tube of black tar and the air around Garrett. We stood in tense silence as the seconds passed, Dr. Hutch’s face grew from studious, to sad, to worried before she pocketed the vial and looked at Dad. “May I check Jean one more time?” she asked him. 

It took Dad a moment to force his head to turn away from the bed to look back at me. He motioned forward, a silent beckon to go to the doctor, and I listened, swapping my dominant hand for my left at the last second so she wouldn’t have to worry about my cast. 

Dr. Hutch took my hand, staring straight at me in such an uncomfortable way that I let my eyes fall to the ground, listening to the little puffs of air she let off with every silent count and subconsciously counting with her. She hit ten, and I raised my head to watch her stare at the air around me before clearing her throat, letting go of both Garrett and I. “Dr. Sims, if I may have a moment with you?” She asked, motioning towards the door. He nodded, passing Brent to head out while Dr. Hutch looked between Dad and I. “I hope you find what you’re looking for,” she said genuinely. Her mouth opened like she wanted to say more, but she faltered, instead giving us both a nod before moving around me to leave the room. 

The door closing seemed to activate something in Dad, because he spun around to look at Aunt Sia, and while I couldn’t see his eyes, his jaw was tense. “You didn’t think to warn me about who we were going to see before coming here?” He asked Aunt Sia.

She seemed a bit miffed. “Well, considering you left without telling them goodbye, I just figured you two weren’t all that close.”

Dad immediately bristled. “I didn’t have a choice,” he retorted, eyes aflame. “You know that.”

Brent, deciding to diffuse whatever was about to happen, slightly raised his hand like he was in class, asking without waiting, “So, who exactly is this?” 

Dad glanced back, eyes hesitating on where I stood in the meantime, and seemed to remember we were in the room with him. “They’re…They were a therapist of mine, I guess.” He said. “After your mom…we were hunkered down in Seattle for about two months while the government tried to fight my enrollment into witness protection during the trials. They tried to help me.”

So the person in the bed was his…therapist? 

Dad turned to look at Aunt Sia again, who grabbed the bedside chair to scoot it closer to Garrett. “What happened, though?” 

She sighed. “Curdun happened,” she said at first, as if that explained everything. But then she readjusted, flicking a corner of the quilt off of her leg as it fell with her movement. “They’d been bad for a while. It started maybe a year after you left? They…they tried toughing it out on their own for a while, but it got worse, so much worse. They called me about seven years ago asking if I’d help them. Make sure they were taken care of before this happened.”

“That’s why you left.” Dad realized. Seven years ago, this person asked for her help. Seven years ago, she moved. “You said you were leaving to oversee COLE openings on the east coast.”

“I was.” Aunt Sia said. “But I also needed to be here to help with their care. They needed someone to sign off on documents when they…” she motioned at them in the bed, the unfocused eyes and slack jaw. 

Dad’s head shook, and he almost seemed annoyed at the lack of answers. “This—they have conducrinopathy. Like Jean. What caused that?”

“When they were in Curdun, they were given an implant right—” Aunt Sia raised a hand somewhere near her temple, “—around here. It completely hindered their powers while they were in there, and stayed in after they got out.”

“You can do that?” Brent asked, genuinely shocked. 

“Augustine figured out how.” Aunt Sia responded curtly, tension in her voice. “It may not have worked fully, but it worked well enough. They weren’t able to do anything to the normal degree of their power.”

Dad had slowly begun to shake his head in the middle of Aunt Sia’s sentence, like he didn’t agree with her despite her conviction. “No, that doesn’t make sense,” he muttered. “Garrett, they—I knew them after Curdun. Their powers were working fine then!” 

“You saw who they were after the implant failed to keep them powerless,” Aunt Sia said softly. “But it did something, and they started getting bad. They…we thought the implant just affected their motor skills for a bit, and then they started forgetting. Seeing things. Eugene was the first to suggest it might be conducrinopathy. We’ve been trying to figure it out since.”

Dad opened his mouth to speak, and was instead immediately interrupted by Dr. Sims reentering the room, followed by a snow-covered and eyeglass-wearing Zeke. Dad’s mood immediately shifted, something Zeke could sense as well as he went on the offensive. “We’ve got news vans pulling up right now,”

“What?” Dad hissed, brushing past Brent and moving to the window on my left. He pressed his face against the glass, head swinging both ways before he cursed under his breath. “Can’t see shit,”

“The main entrance is to the southwest,” Dr. Sims grumbled, evidently not excited about being cornered at a hospital again. “We need to start putting a face mask on you when we’re in public, Delsin.”

Aunt Sia sighed. “It probably doesn’t help that we’re both here as well, Eugene.” She reminds him. “There’s a lot of animosity for us right now, too.”

Not to mention me. 

I let my head hang, looking at the patterns in the flooring as Dad asked, “What’s going on, you two? Why are we here? What happened to Garrett?”

There was a pause as Dr. Sims and Aunt Sia looked at each other, having some sort of silent conversation on who should actually answer Dad’s question. It seemed Dr. Sims lost the mental game of rock-paper-scissors, as he cleared his throat and said, “When I started the conducrinopathy study a few years ago, Jorrer was already showing symptoms of Lewy-Body dementia—but there were some preceding symptoms that were worrisome. We could never get many answers on why or how…until now.”

Aunt Sia turned when he said that, and Dad glanced between the two of them. “What do you mean?”

“We didn’t know if Garrett’s conducrinopathy was caused by their disease, or the implant, or somehow both. And with them being the only other prime Conduit to experience it, we needed to see if their manifestations were related in any way.” Dr. Sims paused, moving to cross his arms. “Dr. Hutch was able to confirm that, whatever it is in the tar that made Jean sick is what made Jorrer ill too.”

“What?” Aunt Sia whispered, aghast. 

Dad shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

Dr. Sims reached into the pocket of his top coat, pulling out that goddamn vial of tar. “The aural signatures on this match both Jean and Jorrer.”

“That can’t—” Aunt Sia struggled with her words for a moment. “Garrett was never injected with anything. What do you mean their illness is related to the tar?”

Dad scoffed. “Augustine’s really at the center of this.” He began to pace, running a hand over his face before spinning around to face Dr. Sims. “Is that why those assholes broke her out of Curdun?”

“We still know nothing about the implant they were given,” Dr. Sims reminded them both. “We can’t examine it without extensive surgery that I’m not even sure Jorrer would survive—“

“An implant?” Zeke looked at Dr. Sims like that word mattered, obviously trying to grapple with information past.

Dr. Sims’ brow furrowed. “Yes, when—when Jorrer was in custody with the DUP, they placed an implant in their brain. We assumed for the longest time that that’s what caused their decline—”

“Did nobody plan on telling me about any of this?” Dad demanded, looking angered. 

“When Cole was snatched up by Moya, she was going to put an implant in his head.” Zeke said. “He said DARPA wanted to control him and his powers.”

“They what?” Aunt Sia nearly demanded as Dad decided that was a good enough statement to give Zeke attention, turning to actually face the man. 

“Do you know anything else?” Dr. Sims asked, moving to set the vial of tar on the overbed table to my left and instead pull out his phone. I barely caught him opening his notes app before he left to stand next to Zeke, beginning to fire questions at a rapid pace. 

Everyone kept talking over each other, the sound more like arguing than trying to solve whatever mystery was at their hands. Brent was falling silent on my side, and I couldn’t blame him—especially as we both looked at Garrett Jorrer. God, was that going to be me? Trapped in a bed and held down by tubing, not able to acknowledge the world around me? 

Well, no, that wasn’t true; as Dad and the other adults got a bit loud trying to talk over each other, I watched Garrett shift, readjust like they wanted to move away from the sound. Dr. Sims said something about them having dementia, right? I didn’t really get how it worked, but…there was still a person under there. They could have lucid moments, I was sure of it. Maybe it just needed a little prompting. 

I moved to step forward, Brent shooting out a hand to grab me by the arm and whisper, “The fuck are you doing?”

“They’ve gotta know something,” I murmured back, glancing over at the adults; they were all standing in a circle, more concentrated on whatever Dr. Sims was pulling up on his phone than us. “I’m gonna see if they can tell me anything.”

“They’re drooling on their shirt.” He deadpanned. “You really think they’re gonna answer any questions for you?”

I shrugged off his hold. “If what Dr. Sims said is true, they’ve been sick for a while. And if it happened in Curdun? Whatever made them sick would have happened before Mom’s, even if it took longer for them to show it. They’ve gotta know something.”

“We don’t know if Mom had the same sickness you did,” Brent hissed back in a whisper. “It’s not like we can test her.”

“No, but—” I cut off, “Process of elimination here, Brent. Every forced Conduit from Curdun ends up sick, two normal Conduits end up sick—and then I end up sick after meeting Augustine? There’s a common denominator.”

I kept his gaze, unwavering; he had to admit it was weird. It was! Something was going on and Augustine was at the core of it. Brent’s jaw flexed but he let me go, seeming entirely uncomfortable with the idea but relenting nonetheless. I broke from the place Dr. Hutch left me in and got closer to the bed, crouching beside it. 

And I faltered, because I had no idea how to even start shooting questions at someone so cognitively impaired. 

Garrett’s head was turned away from the noise now, staring indiscriminately at the floor beside me. They looked…uncomfortable, and I could imagine why. I actually felt pretty bad trying to pull something out of them when they were obviously hating how many people were in the room at the moment. “Hi,” I decided to say, keeping my voice soft. A greeting was the best way to start, right? Probably an introduction too. “I-I’m Jean.”

Nothing. 

My mouth grappled on air for a second as I tried to find more words. “I…I don’t know if you can really understand me right now, but you might know what’s wrong with me. With us. And if you can…if you can tell us anything about it, that would really help.”

Nothing. 

I looked over at Dad, who was busy trying to pull more answers about Garrett’s past from Aunt Sia and Dr. Sims, head swiveling over to Zeke as he asked if he knew more about DARPA. I hated seeing it. I hated knowing that we were both unknown variables treated like volatile solutions that would explode if jostled. Maybe they hated it too. “Look, you were in Curdun Cay, right? My—Alessia said something about an implant. And there’s some doctor here who thinks that whatever made me sick did it to you, too.” 

I turned, grabbing the vial from their rolling table and putting it in their line of vision. I didn’t want everyone talking about what was going on with them without involving them. It was unfair. I know I hated it.

The tar in the vial moved like syrup—and I watched Garrett as their eyes tracked it. They were starting to understand something, I just needed to keep pushing. “This is what was put in me,” I continued, a bit more feverish now. Did lucidity in these sorta patients have a timer? “Augustine put it in me, and I think she did the same to you. She—” I reached out with my dominant hand and took theirs gently, letting them feel the awkward press of my cast’s lattice. “She did this, do you—”

“Jean!” Dad snapped, making me jolt in place, “What are you doing?”

I blinked, confused; everyone was now turned to look at me and, aside from Brent, they all looked…scared? “I’m…” I drew off, glancing between Dad and Aunt Sia, who had started to walk towards the bed with her hands out like she was placating a wild animal. “I’m just trying to talk to them, see if—”

I wasn’t prepared for the yank on my arm. 

Garrett’s fingers laced around my wrist and pulled me forward, the move sending me sprawling forward as I lost balance on the balls of my feet. With one hand pinned in theirs and the other holding glass, I had to use my elbow to brace my fall, the jostle enough to light up a nerve hiding in the crevices of my bone and send the film glasses fluttering off of my face. I followed their fall, eyes only peeling away to look at the white-knuckled grip Garrett had on my wrist before glancing up, blood running cold when I saw how hard Garrett was staring at me.

Their eyes were this marbled blue, the sort of hue you expect a diamond to actually be, and the moment I met them, everything around me ceased to exist. The pain from my funny bone disappeared, Aunt Sia yelling my name left—all that existed was that blue. 

The shade spread, tunneling my vision into the icy hue before the edges turned platinum, and I lost all sense of where I was. 

Love you @neverdewitt