#the in-between tales
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nemo-draco · 3 months ago
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The abandoned church had been here as far back as she could remember, but when she had first looked around at her surroundings, all she could see were rolling hills covered in long grass that rippled in the wind. She had loved the wind, even though she couldn’t really ride it properly in the confines of the yard. The few times she’d been able to get out though, oh, that had been fantastic. She’d run all over the hills, gathering up speed until her clawed feet tore out dirt and suddenly she had been in the air. It was one of her best memories, wings beating at the winds as she hung suspended above the fields. It had been a powerfully alluring thing, freedom. She’d never wanted to go back.
But she’d had to return to the circle. Even though there was a part of her that saw opportunities for humor in nearly everything, she knew that the circle was central to her existence. Home wasn’t the right word though. It wasn’t until later that she learned a word that really, properly summed it up: prison. It had been harder to tell at first though. At least, not before everything happened.
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amuelia · 7 months ago
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small drawing as im looking forward to watching tales of the empire tomorrow
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fumifooms · 8 months ago
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another detail for bugliker shuro: in the chapter 60 cover, his succubus is falin with insect wings & legs! a little reminiscent of laios's tbh...
Oh my god you’re RIGHT…
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Even at the most mosquito-like we see them be in canon they only have wings and hair-like antennas, not this full fit with collar and extra legs… The wings don’t look the same… Oh my god Toshiro’s ideal is a bug wife
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avitally · 9 months ago
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hear me out
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crumblingfaggotazula · 5 days ago
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Baby Rya being a menace in yesterday’s new chapter
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artistdove · 2 months ago
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Somewhat official designs for each of my Mickey and Oswald Aus along with minor lore. For those that want basic info on each au, here's the link.
Between the Screen Au
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Mirroring ear injuries due to Blot.
Mick has minor health injuries due to having the Blot in him during Epic Mickey, resulting in monthly check-ups and a paint monitor.
Mixed their outfits post Epic Mickey.
Oswald is co-leader of Wasteland and head of the Conversion Trolley Station, while Mickey still acts but occasionally works side jobs.
Tale of 2 Brothers
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Style is based on the Beta pitch, so semi-angular basically.
Both have the Blot in them, so they can use paint or thinner with their hands. Old movesets from the Epic Mickey Beta trailer are present when they fight.
Oswald keeps his Blot arm hidden at all times unless around Ortensia, Gus, Mad Doctor, and the Blot. Mick eventually sees it.
Toons & Dungeons
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Oswald is an Artificer/Sorcerer and Mickey is a Bard/Sorcerer.
Oswald has minor lighting spells while Mickey has various spells. Oswald has a gun that can shoot electricity, Energy/Paint, and Acid/Thinner. Mickey has a wand, Pan Flute, and Lute. Both carry a small hidden dagger.
Oswald was taken in by the Gremlins while Mick gets adopted by Yen Sid.
Rising Star
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Outfits change over the years, so this is the main look.
1920s-60s they stay conservative with looks, but eventually let loose as times change.
Can be depicted smoking or drinking cuz they old.
Magic Island
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Villagers inspired by Mickey and Oswald, so their names are different. Oswald = Clover while Mickey = Elias.
Clover is a Smug/Lazy Villager while Elias is a Jock/Peppy Villager. Idk if that makes sense (���・∀・).
Elias sleeps early while Clover stays up late.
Local Toon
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Classic old looks. Nothing much to say, they are kids in this world and look like their first designs.
Toon High
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Main designs until later arcs.
Oswald prefers loose cloths unless working on machines, which he wears tanks or snug clothes. Mickey likes active wear or normal teen clothes.
Later on, the two wear something of the other as a way to solidify their repaired brotherhood.
Ink & Mirrors
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Actual plot is Mick and Ink!Oswald. Parallel plot is Oswald and Ink!Mickey.
Both are dealing with completely different issues. Ink!Oswald is hunting Mickey while Ink!Mickey is trying to help Oswald.
Ink!Oswald is stuck in a sort of limbo where his mind is like pre-Epic Mickey, mostly due to the false heart Bendy implanted into him. Ink!Mickey seems to have kept some of his self due to his heart, but Alice Angel mangled the poor mouse.
Mickey is constantly stressed as he tries to escape the studio and revert his brother. Paint barely works on these enemies so he is stuck using only thinner and electricity, leaving him heavily drained.
Oswald is alert 24/7 and trying to rescue others alongside fixing his brother. Having never used the brush before, he finds it a tad difficult to use correctly. It's also causing him to drip. He has a limp due to an attempt to use his leg as a weapon, which failed horribly.
P.D. Toons
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Public Domain toons turned into ocs. They are still the original characters, but my own take.
Oswald is Oliver Hare and Mickey is Willy Fieldmouse.
Oliver is the local trolley driver. Willy is a staff member for a local studio.
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poorly-drawn-mdzs · 10 months ago
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The girls are plottinggggg
[First] Prev <–-> Next
#poorly drawn mdzs#mdzs#wen chao#wang lingjiao#Realizing she was supposed to have an upper lip mole was a cold slap in the face. So sorry ma'am. I won't forget again.#They are evil dumbass 4 evil dumbass and I think we are all missing out on the sheer potential of the comedy between these two.#They have way too much power and are using it for the wrong reasons - which makes them truly great villains.#And when things don't go their way they become piles of whining sludge.#Wang Lingjiao is forever fascinating to me even though we only get crumbs about her.#She's a servant girl who's greatest asset is her beauty and her attractiveness.#Meaning she's had a life being in the gaze of people with significant positions of power over her.#I can't help but read her childishness and petty tantrums as someone who has finally been given the chance to not feel powerless.#If she was a more virtuous type we might 'like' her more but honestly...I don't think she would have survived to this point.#WLJ has only known power hierarchies her whole life. Probably accused of seduction before she even understood what that meant.#I love contrasting her with mianmian because they have similar(ish) backgrounds but different approaches to moving forwards#But WLJ's story is about flying too close to the sun and mianmian's is about going too close to the water.#Like the sea mist dragging her down into complacency - all the sect powerplays are mandatory to 'go along with' if she wants to climb-#-the social ladder. Yet she is the cautionary tale (and a foil to JGY as well) she leaves before sacrificing her own morals.#Mianmian flies away with her wings only slightly plucked while those who sacrificed everything to reach for the top crash and burn.
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thevoidstaredback · 2 months ago
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Tales of Conquest, Warnings of Fools:
Letters Between Brothers
Damian Wayne, Dec. 24, 2011
Your forgiveness is more than I ever could’ve asked for. I still don’t think I deserve it, but I will take what you have given me, ahki.
You writing back was unexpected, but I’m so glad you did! Though, I guess this isn’t very secure, huh. Oh, well! As long as nothing incriminating is written down, we should be fine.
How’s father? And your siblings? I understand there are three kids father’s adopted. Also, what about your extracurriculars? Anything exciting going on that you can tell me about? It’s boring, crime wise, where I’m at. No murder mysteries or sex scandals or huge break-ins. Not that I want any of those to happen, but it’d be really fun to get to follow a case that isn’t twelve years old or four states over.
How are you adjusting at all, actually? It was a big culture shock for me for a while, especially because no one here speaks Arabic. Can you believe that? Some of the others still think I made up an entire language just to mess with them! I haven’t been able to speak with someone in our mother tongue in a while, but I’ve been trying not to forget any of it! Even if there’s an accent coming through.
Tell me about your life. Not what the media says. I want to know the real you. Do you have friends? Any pets? What about hobbies? Do you still have that dagger I made you that one time?
Anyway, I gotta go now. I hope to hear from you soon!
I don’t know what holiday(s) father and your siblings celebrate, so I’ll wish you a happy all of them!
سأسامحك دائماً يا أخي لقد وُضعت في أسوأ الاحتمالات وبذلت قصارى ��هدك بما كان لديك من معرفة. كنت ستعرض نفسك للخطر فقط إذا عدت.
Danny Fenton
***
Danny had wasted no time in writing a response. Was he going to come off as eager? Probably, but he didn’t really care. His brother had responded to him! Granted, he thinks this is a trick, but there’s some part of Damian that believes Danny’s alive! He forgives him for not going home! It’s more than Danny could’ve ever allowed himself to hope for.
But, gods was he awkward! He hadn’t let Jazz read the letter at all. She didn’t know what he said the first time, she didn’t know what the response said, and she wasn’t ever going to read any of them if he had any say in the matter. Yes, they’re siblings and he loves her just as much as he loves Damian, but this was something she didn’t have any business poking her nose into. He liked to think that Damian would likewise keep this from his own siblings, though he’d totally understand if Dami shared purely because of the suspicious circumstances.
Anyway, Danny had read and re-read Damian’s letter for hours, trying to come up with the best response, only stopping when Jazz called him down for dinner. Sleep hadn’t come easily, either, because of the adrenaline from actually getting a response. He’d hoped he’d get one, but he was also sure that he wouldn’t get one.
But why did he have to be so awkward writing back? Damian’s his brother, not a total stranger! Damian probably wouldn’t care. Danny’s always been like that, awkward at all the wrong times. He’s just gotten used to not hiding it since he left, though it had taken a while.
He has to wonder, though, if Damian is with father, does this mean he’s left the Shadows? How had he done it? Obviously, he hadn’t faked his death. Father is a very public figure, so anything short of Damian leaving a massacre behind him as he left the Shadows would be unlikely. Unless he is still with the Shadows? In which case, Danny’s just doomed himself. Sure, the PO box was set up in the town over, and maybe he struck up a deal to have the letters sent from there to his house, but that wasn’t going to stop ninja assassins. Nothing short of death would stop ninja assassins!
No! Bad Danny! No use having second thoughts now; It’s too late. He just has to hope for the best. Gods, was he hoping, wishing on stars and everything! He wanted this to work out. He wanted to have a relationship with his older brother-
Damn, he’s still the younger sibling. He hadn’t thought much of it before, but both Jazz and Damian are older than him! If he counts father’s children, which he does only to prove his point this one time, then he’s the youngest of six kids! That’s not fair. Who decided that was a fair trade? Could be worse, he supposed. He could be stuck as a middle sibling. Shutter the thought.
“Danny?” Jazz opened the door with a knock, “You ready to send that letter?”
He groaned into his pillow. “I already did.”
“Really?” she wondered, sitting on the edge of his bed.
“Yeah,” he rolled over to face her, “Finished it this morning and shipped it off.”
Jazz hummed. “I still don’t get why you won’t let me read them. I could totally help you with spelling and stuff!”
Danny sat up and stared at her with a dead look. “Jazz, I was taught by people who were the best of the best in their fields. There isn’t a single thing you could do to help me write or read those letters.”
“Why not?”
“Because they aren’t in English.”
“Liar!”
“I’m not lying!”
“Yes you are! I saw the one you got! It was in English!” She paused. “Except for that last bit. That just looked like a bunch of squiggles.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “That wasn’t a bunch of squiggles, Jazz. It was Arabic, my mother tongue.”
“First,” she adjusted to sit criss-cross on the foot of his bed, “Never say ‘mother tongue’ again; it sounds weird. Second, the simple solution is to teach me Arabic.”
Danny had to pause for a second to let the words register in his head. “You-you want to learn Arabic?”
She shrugged. “Sure. I mean, it can’t be that hard, right?”
“Yes it can,” he sighed, “You’d have to learn a whole new alphabet of letters and sounds. It’s not a Latin based language like English or Spanish.”
“I can do it!”
“I don’t doubt that, but I think an easier language would be better.”
She huffed. “You just don’t wanna share.”
True, but, “I could teach you Romanian? It’s a Latin derived language, like English, so it’s got the same alphabet.”
“Fine,” she agreed after a moment, “Where do we start?”
“Kids!” their dad called from the kitchen, “We have something for you!”
Danny and Jazz shared a grimace. “Down stairs, apparently,” he said. Quickly, they left the room and made their way down the stairs and to the kitchen. Their parents probably didn’t have any actual gifts for them, so they weren’t going to get their hopes up.
They were right, of course. Jack and Maddie Fenton were creatures of habit and obsession; workaholics, in simpler terms.
The two kids joined their parents at the table. “Mom,” Jazz greeted, “Dad.”
“Jazzypants!” Jack smiled, his voice booming, “Dann-o!”
“What’s up?” Danny asked. He wanted to go back to his room and stew over what he’d just sent to his brother. Seriously? ‘I’ll wish you a happy all of them?’ That’s so stupid! Beyond stupid, actually! He wanted to curl up and die. Can people die of embarrassment?
Maddie smiled kindly at her children, somehow matching her husband’s energy but not his volume. “We had another breakthrough in our research.”
“Oh?” Danny had been intrigued by the [now] Drs. Fenton’s research. It was all theoretical, of course, but they claimed to have proof of base for their research. He’d never seen it before, and they’d never offered to show him or Jazz, but they mentioned it in all of their papers. He’d never deemed it worth anything, so it had been pushed behind relevant information like literally anything else.
He still didn’t know how they’d gotten those papers published. They were the laughing stocks of the scientific and occult communities! An accomplishment in and of itself, really.
“Yes,” his mother nodded, “But that’s not what we called you two down to discuss.”
“It’s not? Jazz tilted her head to the side.
“Nope!” Jack’s smile somehow got bigger. “We’ve decided that the both of you are old enough-”
“-and responsible enough.” Maddie added.
“-do go down and see the lab!”
Jazz and Danny had two very different reactions to this statement. Danny was a bit excited to get to see whatever held his parents’ attention at all hours of the day. Jazz, on the other hand, was furious.
“What!” she demanded.
Jack and Maddie didn’t seem to even register her anger. “You two have both proven yourselves responsible in your school and house work, so we figured it was time to let you two in on the family business.”
“But, I don’t want to do lab work!” Jazz objected, now standing with her hands on the table and her chair pushed back aggressively.
“Nonsense,” Maddie waved her off easily, “You’ll love it. Besides, you’ve always wanted to help us in the lab, ever since you were a child.”
Jazz just screamed in outrage. “I’ve never said that!”
She was ignored. “Of course, we’ll have to go over the proper safety measures so that neither of you gets hurt.” Jack stated.
Throwing her hands up, Jazz stormed away from the table and stomped up to her room, the door slamming behind her. Danny has no doubts that she’s locked herself in.
“She must be tired,” Jack smiled fondly, “We’ve got some work to finish up down stairs, Dann-o, but we’ll be back up for dinner, alright?”
Danny nodded and the two left. Quietly, he whispered, “Liar.” to the empty main floor.
***
Danyal Fenton Dec. 27, 2011
Your definition of ‘incriminating’ must be wrong. You reaching out in the first place would’ve put us both in danger had your letter been intercepted. The same remains true for every letter we exchange, though I will not be the one to put a stop to the communication. It is nice to have physical evidence of your conversations, no matter how much time passes between each response.
I am still skeptical that you are my brother, but, as I said in my last letter, I will continue on with a shade pulled over my eyes, ahki.
I have done some research while living with father. My own experiences prove at least some of what they say is true. I never truly believed you had died. I always had a feeling that you were alive somewhere, safe, out of reach of Grandfather and Mother.
Father is well. In public, he is outgoing, drunk, clumsy, able to start a conversation from nothing and let it trail off into a slightly more useful nothing. In truth, he is standoffish, strong, able to talk circles around anyone. He is always ready for a fight and always prepared for the worst. He does not like surprises.
We have four siblings, and one honorary sibling. Richard Grayson, Jason Todd, Timothy Drake, Cassandra Cain, and Stephanie Brown. Grayson is more outgoing than the others, though he has been with Father the longest, so he is just as skilled as him. Todd was dead and refuses to communicate with Father. Drake is smart, but that is all he has going for him. Cain was raised in the League like us, though not at any of the bases we ever visited. Brown was dating Drake, but has since become more of a sister to the Manor.
Alfred Pennyworth is the family butler. He raised Father and continues to stand by his side. He is a formidable foe, though I have yet to see him in actual combat. He, aside from Father and myself, is the most competent resident of Wayne Manor.
Again, you need to reassess your definition of ‘incriminating’. There is nothing I can share, without consequence, that hasn’t already been made public by the GCPD. I will say, however, that my position as the superior child remains unchallenged. Not that any of those bastards Father has taken in would ever pose any kind of challenge to me or you.
I must ask, you know where I am, so is it not fair that you tell me where you are? The return address you have used leads to a PO box in Elmerton, Illinois, but I doubt that’s where you really are. Your description of ‘boring’ in regards to the crime rate is fully expected of anywhere when compared to Gotham, though that goes nearly doubly so for the midwest.
It was a shock to me as well, though I have been handling it. None of the others have noticed any unease, so I will take it. It will not do to show weakness in the face of enemies. I can agree, however, that the lack of use of Arabic is disappointing. I do not fear that I will ever forget the language or our home, but I do regret to say that I have encountered similar problems you have.
Father insists that I go to school with others my age to ‘socialize’, though I do not see the point. It’s all thinly veiled insults from the adults we are placed in the charge of. I am much smarter than my peers, so I have not been able to have a single intelligent conversation with any of them. The exception, however, being Jon Kent. He is adequate company. Our Father and his father are friends.
I have a cat named Alfred, after the butler. I would like to get a dog, but Father has denied my request. I have, however, managed to hide Goliath in the cave. Father knows he is there, but the others remain oblivious.
As for hobbies, art is the only one worth mentioning. I have several sets of paints and colors and pencils, though I remain partial to charcoal. Paper is the easiest to use, but I prefer canvas.
Of course I still have that dagger, Danyal. I have many weapons, but that is the only one that has never left my person.
Father is Jewish, though he was raised Catholic, and is an atheist; Grayson is Christian; Todd was raised Catholic, but is atheist; Drake was born to a Christian mother, but he follows after his father as an atheist; Neither Cain nor Brown were born into religious families, so they don’t follow any religion, as far as I’m aware.
Pennyworth has decorated the Manor for all of the holidays, though the only tradition I’ve actually seen practiced is the gift exchange from Christmas.
Honestly, you must work on your formatting. You give almost no information in exchange for your questions getting answers. It makes your letters very short. So, I will turn all of your questions back on you. I expect them to be answered sufficiently.
أفضل ما لدي لم يكن جيداً بما فيه الكفاية كنت أعلم أنك لا تزال على قيد الحياة، ومع ذلك لم أفعل شيئًا سوى نشر كذبة وفاتك.
Damian Wayne
***
The letter was a surprise, especially considering it’s a page and a half, though he should’ve expected it. He found it hilarious that the first thing Dami had done this time was to insult him. At least he’d waited a few lines in the last letter! It hurt a bit that Damian still thought this was a trick, but Danny couldn’t find it in himself to blame him. He’d’ve acted the same way if their roles were reversed.
He liked hearing about Damian’s family. They’re so different compared to what the media says. Then again, he expected that. Most people are hardly ever exactly how they’re portrayed to bigger audiences. The Drs. Fenton being an exception.
And, yeah, he knew Dami was going to search the address, but did he really have to come out and say it like that? At least he knew the Shadows (League?) hadn’t gotten in the middle, otherwise he’d’ve been cut down by now. Small blessings.
Ah, Goliath the dragon bat. Danny remembers when they got Goliath. Hiding him was hard, but they managed. Though, he’s fairly certain that Mother knew they had him hidden in the caves of Nanda Parbat. That does beg the question, though, of how the hell Damian managed to get a - by now - fully grown dragon bat across continents and into a cave in New Jersey without being spotted? Did he even really want to know? Probably not.
Danny could remember the expression on Damian’s face when he realized that Goliath was getting bigger. They’d found him on their first mission for Grandfather after leaving the group that had been sent with them. They’d kept him moving between their rooms when they got back, never keeping him in one for more than a night before moving him to the other. Then suddenly, the creature they’d found that was no bigger than their forearms was as long as their arms from shoulder to fingertip! They had only been able to keep Goliath between their rooms for another month before having to hide him in the caves under Nanda Parbat.
And the food! Goliath, even as a baby dragon bat, could eat triple his body weight. It was a wonder no one found him! How does Damian keep him fed? And how have his siblings not noticed the dragon under their house? Thoughts for another time.
Danny closed his book as he finished it. It was the astrology one, clearly written for people new to the topic, but he wasn’t complaining. It was easy to understand and he found himself actually enjoying it more than he originally anticipated. He could see why the girls in his class liked it, too. He could see himself falling deeper into this rabbit hole, but he wasn’t upset about that.
He moved on to read the second book he’d gotten, the one about witchcraft. Briefly, he chuckled at the image that he was slowly coming to see as his future. “A witch,” he hummed with a smile, “Mother would be so disappointed.”
The book opened up with a brief history about the topic before going into a deep dive about different practices and how things had changed and improved throughout history. It also gave names to famous witches and witch hunters, one that he recognized.
Jack Fenton, about three years after Danny had been taken in by the family, had given Danny a full rundown of his and Maddie’s family histories. Fentonightingale had been the family name until Jack’s great-grandfather had changed it to Fenton when he married. John Fentonightingale was a well known witch hunter in Salem, Massachustes in 1600. He was best known for eating a slow acting poison in the form of - now extinct - flowers as evidence against an unnamed witch on trial. He died shortly thereafter, leaving his grieving wife and children.
The humor was not lost to Danny. “Looks like dad’ll be disappointed, too.”
“Knock, knock?” Jazz asked from the hallway, knocking her knuckle on his bedroom door.
“Yeah?” he called back, closing his book and putting it down.
Jazz opened the door. “Well, I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been hiding out here all day. No plans with Sam or Tucker?”
Danny shook his head. “Nah. Tuck’s spending the break with his family and Sam’s been forced to go to a rich person party somewhere in Washington.”
“DC?”
“State.”
“She’s not too far.”
“Too far for an emergency extraction.”
“You sound like she’s gonna get killed or something.”
Danny snorted. “Don’t jinx it, Jazzercise.”
“I’m not gonna jinx it, Danimal.” She leaned against the door frame. “Besides, even if she did die, she’d come back as a ghost just to haunt you.”
He groaned and flopped over onto his side. “Don’t even joke about that!”
“Why, ‘cause I’m right?” He groaned again. She laughed. “Alright, Dannibal Lector, since you’re obviously bored out of your mind, you wanna come watch a movie with me?”
“And risk mom and dad dragging us down into the lab?” He sat up, “No thanks.”
“Come on,” she goaded, “It’ll be fun! I’ll even let you pick the movie!”
“Hmmmm. A documentary on ghost hunting or a mockumentary on ghost hunting? Such a hard decision.”
Her arms dropped to her sides. “Come on, D! You can’t stay locked in here forever.”
“Actually, J, I think I can. I’ve got food, water, and entertainment. I’ll be fine.”
“What about when you have to pee or shower?”
“I’ll put a bucket in the corner and dump it out the window.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“And rainwater is clean enough.”
“It’s literally not, though.”
“Well, I won’t know unless I try.”
“You’re not gonna live in here by yourself!”
“Why? You wanna join me? Sorry, but there’s only enough pillows for a one person fort.”
She snorted and shook her head. “You’re unbelievable.”
“What’s hard to believe? Unless you’ve got pillows hidden up your-” He cut himself off with an exaggerated and mocking gasp. “Jazz! Do you have pillows hidden up your ass?”
“Danny!” she scolded, but her tone was fond, “Watch your language, brat!”
“What?” he giggled, “It’s a genuine question.”
Jazz rolled her eyes, “No, I do not have pillows shoved up my ass.”
“Language!” he mocked.
“Are you gonna come watch a movie with me or not?”
“Sure, sure,” he stood, “But if we get dragged down to the lab, I’m blaming you.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
*
Danny was right. He was right and he was never listening to Jazz ever again. He could live in his room until he turned eighteen! That was totally something he could do. It wasn’t like he’d been raised to survive off of less in less space.
Instead of watching a movie they’d seen a million times before, the siblings had decided to watch YouTube on the TV. Halfway into Episode 4 of Buzzfeed Unsolved, their parents came up and dragged them down to the lab to show them their breakthrough from the previous night.
Looking at it, it was much less a breakthrough and more of ‘getting closer to the final picture’. The Ghost Portal had been a project that Jack and Maddie had been working on since college. A friend of theirs had gotten sent to the hospital for this project and had yet to be released. What had given them the idea that this was safe to build in their basement, let alone show their children? Regardless, it was too late now, so Danny and Jazz were forced to roll with it.
“We’re almost done with it!” Jack looked like a proud parent when he was looking at the thing.
The Ghost Portal, as it was now, was built directly into the furthermost wall of the basement. It wasn’t load bearing, thank the gods. The portal was ten feet deep, seven and a half feet tall, octagonal in shape. The paneling that covered the walls and ceiling was black with electric blue circuitry cutting through them. The blank spots where the paneling was not put up were gray, matching the cement floor of the lab. There were some work lights inside, white LED strips that lined the bottom seams where the floor met the walls. The floor itself was made of black tile and nearly completely covered in loose cables and unfinished paneling. There was a red button in place of one of the missing side panels that screamed ‘accident waiting to happen’.
“What is it?” Jazz asked, not daring to go closer than the stair doorway. Danny didn’t blame her.
“It’s the Ghost Portal, Jazzy!” Maddie’s grin was huge, taking up nearly her whole face. “We’ve nearly got it finished.”
“Yep!” Jack nodded excitedly, “All we’ve got left to do is finish the inside paneling, build the outer frame, and turn her on!”
“What about powering it?” Danny wondered just as Jazz said, “‘Her’?”
Jack still hadn’t taken his eyes off of the thing. “She’s already connected to the power grid; That’s why the circuitry in the paneling is glowing, see?”
Danny picked his way through the papers cluttering the table next to him, finding the portal’s blueprints on the very bottom. The handwriting in the margins was messy, obviously from two people and taking up almost every inch of the paper. The schematics of the portal itself was done in white and much neater than the black ink from his parents’ handwriting. A third person, probably their college friend, had been the one to draw the thing with the first basic formuli. Overall, it was messy and a hazard to look at.
“Are, uh, you guys sure that this won’t blow up our house?” Danny asked, unable to keep from scrunching his nose up at the sight of the blueprints.
“Positive.” Maddie sounded so serious, like it was the absolute truth.
“You wanna check out the inside?” Jack asked, practically bouncing like an excited puppy.
Jazz was quick to shake her head, going so far as to take a step back into the landing at the bottom of the stairs. Before Danny could follow her lead, though, Jack grabbed Danny and pulled him forwards.
“Go on,” the giant man urged.
Gulping, Danny complied. He was so going to lock himself in his room now. He didn’t plan on leaving until Sam and Tucker were both back in town! “Alright.” He hoped his hesitation was obvious enough for his parents to get the cue that he did not want to be doing this. Unfortunately, neither picked up on it. Jazz did, but she wasn’t about to risk moving closer in case Jack or Maddie got the idea of shoving her towards the thing, too.
Danny had a bad feeling about this.
Stepping into the tunnel that was the portal was like walking into a different world. Somehow, even though he was only half a foot in and there was light on all sides, it was dark in there. The blue from the paneling was nearly nonexistent, and the white LEDs lining the floor were so dim that they were useless. Was this a purposeful thing? How was this possible?
The cables and cords that had been visible from the outside were almost invisible in the somehow lower lighting of the portal tunnel, same with the unfinished wall panels on the floor. And, as a result of the hazardous mess on the floor and the near pitch dark, Danny tripped halfway through. His training didn’t let him fall, but his inability to keep up the rigorous schedule he’d been raised on made him reach out to steady himself on the wall.
Millimeters before his fingers so much as grazed the button he’d not been able to see after crossing the threshold, Danny heard the barely there whisper of “Time Out.” followed almost immediately by “Time in.” at the same volume.
Catching himself on the cold, softly glowing paneling of the wall, Danny was quick to straighten out and turn around. That thing gave him the creeps and he would much rather go back to reading his book, thank you.
“So, Dann-o?” Jack clapped his shoulder when he got back to them, “What’d ya think?”
Unable to disappoint the people he’d come to see as his parents, Danny plastered a smile on his face and said, “It’s pretty cool. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s finished!”
Maddie cheered. “Right? As soon as it’s done, those assholes at Harvard will have to take us seriously!”
Danny seriously doubted they would. In fact, he doubted the portal would even work at all. It’s a hypothetical experiment that had the potential and huge likelihood of going catastrophically wrong. How much power would it take to even turn the thing on? Several city blocks at least, right? If that blows up, it'll take out not only their house, but probably half the city and everyone within the blast radius.
Danny should report this to somebody.
“That’s not even the best part!” Jack exclaimed, hurting over to what looked like an electrical box that had been set into the unfinished walls of the basement lab. Opening the small metal door revealed a hand scanner that Jack quickly placed his hand on. After five seconds, a small compartment just above the scanner opened up. Inside was a small glass phial of thick, glowing green liquid. Liquid that Danny recognised.
Shit.
“This is what’s gonna power the portal after the initial launch,” Jack explained, his voice reverent as he cradled the phial in his large hands, “Ectoplasm.”
Ecto-what? Danny knew that glowing liquid. He’d only seen it once, but he knew what it was. He could say, with full confidence and  a puffed chest, that what his dad was currently holding was a phial of Lazarus Water. The color and consistency were the same as the Pits. The stuff even glowed like the Pit Water! It was terrifying that Danny had encountered any of the stuff this far from the Shadows, and he found himself taking several steps back toward Jazz.
“That’s, um, that’s-”
“Awesome, dad!” Jazz said for him, placing a hand on his shoulder and gently pulling him back. He was so glad she had because he was sure he was seconds away from freezing in place. “Danny’s getting tired, though, and I’m a bit hungry, so we’re gonna head back upstairs now. Is that alright?”
“Sounds great, sweetie,” Maddie waved the two off in a clear dismissal, “We’ll be up in a few minutes.”
Danny rushed up the stairs, waiting for Jazz in the kitchen. When she joined him she muttered, “Liar.” under her breath before closing the door. “So,” she said to Danny.
“So.” he repeated.
“What made you so freak out down there?” she asked, “Not that I blame you. That portal thing freaked me out, too.”
Danny shrugged. “Don’t wanna talk about it.”
“It’s not healthy to bottle things up, Danny.”
“I know, I just don’t want to talk about it right now,” Or ever. “Bad memories.”
Jazz’s expression softened. “Alright,” she nodded, “Do you want some chips?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m gonna go to my room.”
“You can’t hide in there forever!”
He was halfway up the stairs. “I can try!”
Translation 1 - Arabic :: I will always forgive you, brother. You were put in the worst possible situation and you did the best you could with the knowledge you had. You would have only jeopardized yourself if you went back.
Translation 2 - Arabic :: My best wasn't good enough. I knew you were still alive, yet I did nothing but spread the lie of your death.
Part 1 Part 3
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lil-lemon-snails · 5 months ago
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"I can't ignore what's under dancefloor boards, The rhythm of my heart a dead-as-disco beat, But I still move my feet, to slip out of this groove, I'm free" ~ 2econd 2ight 2eer, Will Wood, The Normal Album
I have been plagued with visions of LDR Sun every time I listen to this song and I NEEDED to get this out of my system @spadillelicious when do we get to smooch the boy pLEASE
v textless version and close ups under cut!! v
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coro-sg · 3 months ago
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They should meet
For context, this is kind of a continuation to my headcanon about Griefer hearing Cruel King’s voice!
Pilot (OC) drags him to Nirvana as a guess to who that voice may be and, well, their interaction goes well
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nemo-draco · 4 months ago
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Preview Snippet:
[MEMORY DEFRAGMENTATION INITIATED]
—Zzzztorry about what happened, Anon.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Please, look, look, at least let me apologize without walking away? I really didn’t mean to—Aaron’s just been having a rough time and I was worried about leaving—”
“It’s always the damn kid…Has it ever occurred to you that he might not be User-material?”
“He, He is. The kid’s great with coding, he’s got a good mind for the place, he just needs a little extra help—”
“This help seems to be coming at everyone else’s expense, I’m noticing. D.W. got a crash course in how to deal with a major network outage because, for all you claim that his coding is good, he’s phenomenally fucking bad at being consistent. Sure, he fixes things, but he never leaves notes as to how he did it, making it even harder for whoever else has to pick up the slack. And he’s not around when he needs to be, dragging you away and leaving everyone else in a bind. He’s in school, sure, but if this is too much, he needs to go.”
“I, I just don’t think it’s a good idea to drop that…right now…”
“Why? ‘Cause he’s thrown out some sob story about how oh, I’ll try harder next time, things are just so hard right now, really? Net, if there’s anything you could stand to do, it’s thinking about the place you built first and foremost. The kid doesn’t live here, he can go fucking home. For the rest of us, this is our home. And I’d rather it stay functional than trusting it to some fucking flake that can’t even be bothered to be here when there’s a problem. So, thanks for the fucking apology, but until there’s a change I’m probably still gonna be pissed and there’s not much you’re gonna be able to do about it.”
“…Yeah, that’s, that’s fair. And thanks for reminding me about the outage, I’ve gotta talk to D.W. too. Though, uh, you still gonna be free for Friday?”
“Last time I tried to avoid it D.W. forcibly dragged my ass down to the…clubhouse or whatever the hell it is, so, yeah, probably.”
“Alright, well, I-I’ll be seeing you, okay, An—USER LOGIN NOT DETECTED.”
“What. Net, NET! Fucking dammit, SEND OUT INVITES, DON’T FUCKING SHUT DOWN, NET!”
“USER LOGIN NOT DETECTED, SHUT DOWN PROCESS INITIATING…”
“Fuck, FUCK! D.W., GET UP HERE!” 
SHUTDOWN IMMINENT
“FUCK OFF IF YOU’RE NOT GONNA HELP! We need to go downstairs, Shutdown, help me!”
404 Error: Connection Lost…
“Yeah, no fucking kidding. Grab his damn legszzzt—
[DATA UNABLE TO BE PROCESSED, TERMINATE SEQUENCE?]
[Y/N?]
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rexwrendraws · 6 months ago
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POPCORN PURGATORY 🍿💥 My contribution to the Lost Tales: A Tron Zine ( @losttalestronzine ) featuring my forever favorite program, Ram. Who knows what happens to programs after they derezz?
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lavandaea · 1 year ago
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smooth talker, powerful supernatural beings who are fluent in sarcasm and graduated from insufferable school being in love absolutely fucking whipped will always be my kind of thing.
I'm actually feral for that concept. Fight me if you dare.
Plus points if their partner it's as strong minded and colorful vocabularied/ eloquent as them.
Plus plus points if it's a love-hate relationship, full of bickering and unwanted feelings, DENIAL.
PLUS PLUS PLUS if they are a sad broken black cat (or smug orange, I won't complain) like who has lost all faith in humanity and could not care less about anything than themselves but actually the only thing they want more is some love and hugs and kisses. This being with or without their knowledge.
And then, their partner comes into their lives like saying "let me remind you how wonderful existing it's"
"Because I love you!"
"wait, WHY AM I JEALOUS?"
"what in the name of FUCK IS THIS APPARENTLY NAMED FEELING"
"Me?" points at themselves "with them?" looks at them doing the most weirdest thing. "Nah, there's no way".
"Who did this to you?" AAAAAAAAAAAA
The unbeatable "you are useful to me for this reason"/ I'm keeping you alive for this reason". At first it's true, BUT time goes on...and feelings are developed, they start using it as an excuse to protect them, to keep them close. To hide the undeniable truth.
UNTIL. THEY. DON'T. It's the moment they just want to be with them and could actually care less about what anyone says about it. They love this person and they want to make them happy.
It will always, always, always melt my heart the moment when A and B are looking at something really pretty, really nice and A says or asks "It's beautiful"/"Isn't it beautiful?"
And B that at first may have been looking at it says:
"Yes"
And then turns to A with that look of "I've loved you since the day I met you" to continue with
"It's beautiful"
I'll tell you, it never gets old for me.
PAST LIVES
SLOW. BURN.
SHARING HOUSE
SHARING BED
PARTNERS IN CRIME
TENDING WOUNDS
HAVING👏 EACH OTHER'S 👏 BACKS
THE ABSOLUTE LOOSERISM. I already kinda said it, but this is important shit.
GOING FEEERAL FOR THEIR LOVED ONE BEING HURT/ IN DANGER/ LOOKING FOR THEM (if I'm feral for this whole trope, I'm feral, for this one in particular) bonus points if glowing eyes, then you got me, entirely.
Being a soft squishy ball full of love but only with them. Fuck everyone else.
The two kinds of looks:
"Oh shit, I'm in love with you" look.
"I love being in love with you" look.
Please do and recommend more of these kinds of shows/films/comics, I will never have enough of them.
Oh, the hopeless romantic in me.
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psychology-department · 4 months ago
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Did you know that the eyes of frankenstein's monster are yellow, and that Frankenstein rejected him for it? Angela and Ayin's eyes are also yellow. The monster actively chooses to murder several people just to exact his petty revenge, blaming his creator for his actions.
The way Angela is willing to receive lots and lots of guests just to find the one true book, does that seem a little familiar to you?
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For whatever cause, the ends do not justify the means. They are both monsters of their own stories, until they both decide to break this cycle.
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iamnotshazam · 11 months ago
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Aragorn's surprised to learn Arwen is Elrond's daughter in the RotK appendices not only because elven lifespans means 'whoops, everyone just forgot the little mortal boy needed to be told Elrond has a third child!' but also because on the rare occasions when he heard Elladan and Elrohir talking about some girl named "Arwen," it was them talking about her in a familial way and in relation to how a boy like Estel would have felt about her - i.e. an annoying little girl: "augh remember when arwen threw our quivers onto the roof, all because we wouldn't play goblin tea party with her?" elladan says
"what is goblin tea party even supposed to be?" asks child estel
"making mud and sticks into little cakes and finding more creative ways to insult the other person," elrohir says
"and if you can't come up with a good insult, you get a mud pie to the face," elladan says. "what's she up to nowadays with grandma?"
elrohir says, "last i heard she was learning how to make lembas from three acorns, a burnt doily, and the ground bone-meal of a squirrel. grandma galadriel says you can never be too prepared."
"that's first age, trauma, that," elladan sighs. they go back to teaching estel how to follow deer trails and skin rabbits.
and Aragorn files this information away as 'ARWEN: Feral Sinda (Avari?) (Elven???) Girl-shaped Creature' that Elrond's family are for some unimaginable reason attached to. Then a decade later he sees Arwen through the trees and it's a ✨meet cute✨ cause he thinks she's like Lúthien, blah blah he's obviously smitten, he puffs out his chest and gives her his Big Boy chieftain name and title. She smiles and nods politely.
And then she says her name and relation to Elrond and Aragorn screams a little inside and has to scramble for pretending like he hasn't heard of her, or even that Elrond's family are immortal, in order to cover the shock that he would have expected her to come crawling out of the underbrush a wild preteen gremlin witch with twigs in her hair, and is instead the Ladiest Lady that ever Ladied. Confessing that her brothers have been sharing embarassing childhood stories with you, the mortal foster-brother, is not first date material.
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diioonysus · 11 months ago
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winter + art
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