#the new security system feels like a bit much to the rest of us

[soft-girl-musings]

can't a girl peacefully stand in the rain without her family's security cameras texting a snapshot to the household 😮‍💨

[theunfortunateplace]

Say you love me (Neteyam X OC!Na’vi) Chapter 18

Read On Ao3 Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Pairing (Neteyam X Original Metkayina Female Character)

Synopsis: follow Luaewe as her world literally gets turned upside down with new na’vi joining her village. Never having to face many obstacles besides finding her way back home. How will she be able to handle the constant jealousy she's faced with and an unwanted love triangle. Disclaimer: All characters in this fic have been aged up for the convenience of storytelling and to match the aging system up with both Pandora and Earth

AGES

OC Luaewe-22 Neteyam-23 Kiri-23 Lo'ak-21 Ao'nung-23 Tsireya-21

Warnings: Smut, Thigh fucking, P in V, Marking, Heavy impreg talk, Breeding kink, Creampie (let me know if I missed anything else)

I awoke bright and early along with the Sully family. 'Teyam and I said goodbye to my mother with her of course not sparing me the kisses. Even Neteyam got smothered in some. This trip was originally supposed to be us two but it quickly turned into a family trip. Was Neteyam happy about that? Nope. Not one bit but he eventually got over it. I on the other hand was excited regardless I never traveled that far before.

Travels like that were only meant for the traders of the clan. “Are you sure you packed everything?” I heard Reya ask as we approached the others by the ikran. “Of course I did! I even packed extra for you.” Lo’ak answered back while giving his ikran a pet. She was tagging along too her mother insisted it was the right thing to do and Lo’ak didn’t want to leave her alone. 

“Why do I have the feeling they will be bickering the whole travel?” Neteyam whispered in my ear as we approached his ikran. I chuckled and looked up at him. “ because it’s highly likely that it’s going to happen, but I’m sure if you fly fast enough we won’t hear it.” I winked at him causing him to smirk at me. He leaned down and kissed my lips. 

I felt his hand caress my face as he deepened it. “Ma teyam did you drink the tea this morning?” I asked in between kisses. He pulled apart resting his forehead on mine. “Yeah…I did…maybe we should have made this trip sooner.” He said in a worried tone. 

I tossed the items my mom requested for me to bring on his ikran and cupped his face. “You'll be fine… if you feel like you need to take a break do it. Don’t push yourself harder than you need to.” He nodded his head placing one last kiss on my lips.

“OK, love birds, are you guys done sucking face so we can fly out?” I heard Jake call out as he finished loading everything up. I heard Neteyam groan pulling away fully reaching to secure the sack I placed on top. 

I chuckled and quickly placed my hand on his. gesturing for him to check if the saddle and everything else were secured. I looked over at Kiri as she talked with Spider who sat in front of her. I still have yet to have a proper conversation with him… every time I try to it’s like he avoids me as if I were ill.  I shook my head turning back to the ikran that was staring me down. I gave him a pat on the head only for him to blow air through his nose at me nudging while against my hand. “ you ready for the ride big guy?” His face changed making me raise a brow confused by his reaction, but he quickly licked a long strip on my cheek. I groaned and patted his head. 

“Yup-yup, I love you too.” I walked off wiping all the slobber away and shook my head that dude needs to work on expressing his feelings in another way. I climbed on top and sat towards the front in my normal spot. I can’t believe I would be going to the forest…. Let alone meeting his grandmother. I felt his eyes lingering from behind me causing me to look and sure enough he was. 

We didn’t have much time and every second we spent here the less time we had to make it there before his rut. “OK, is everyone ready?” I asked shaking the worriedness from my voice. I gestured to 'Teyam to get on and he followed. “All set!” Jake called out. Before I could even reply back I felt 'Teyam wrap his arm around me tightly inching closer to me. “You know the drill hold on tight.” I gripped the leather strap and he took flight. 

I gasped feeling the wind rush past my face as the ikran screeched out. No matter how many times I fly with him it never gets old. 

Jake took his position leading us in the front while Neteyam followed closely behind. Ever so often I could hear their voices communicating their next move or to ask questions. The technology was all new to me. Neteyam didn’t wear the device often but I guess since we are going to the forest it’s necessary.

I wonder if they use it because you can’t hear anyone when flying and it’s not like us, the Metkayina, where we have sign language….

My mind was filled with so many questions. Sure I’ve wondered how different clans lived their life but it just dawned upon me that the Omaticaya use many forms of human technology… 

My mind was like this for hours new thoughts popped in. Questioning many different things it wasn’t until I felt a drastic shift in our direction that I realized we were making our first stop. 

He landed the ikran and got off. Holding a hand out to assist me, I smiled and thanked him with a kiss causing him to smirk. 

“Gosh, I have to pee!” I hear Reya say as she practically runs off somewhere. I chuckled and looked over to Kiri and Spider. I locked eyes with Spider and I saw nothing but fear in his eyes. Even though I was waving and smiling at the pair. I bit my lip and turned back to Neteyam who was looking at me with a confused face. 

“What's wrong?” He asked I shook my head reaching for the snack bag and pulling out some dried fish. “It's nothing.” I looked up and smiled at him only for him to caress my cheek. He leaned down moving closer to my lips, when I suddenly I heard a crunch. I opened my eyes to find this man chewing on my damn fish. 

“You little-“ he abruptly kissed my lips and started running away. “ I’m gonna get you once we get to the forest, you fish thief!” I yelled out. I huffed and ate the remains fish in my hand and walked over to Lo’ak who was stretching his legs out. 

“How was the ride so far?” I asked he scoffed and smirked. “ I’m sure you can guess what it was like Luaewe.” I chuckled and shook my head. 

“Well, it’s almost eclipse she will go to sleep soon, and the crankiness will wear off.” He smiled slightly and looked away for a short moment. “ I don’t suppose you have something that will help with nausea?” I smiled and patted his shoulder. 

“And who would I be if I wasn’t prepared for everyone? Come I’ll give you a couple of things to give her.” He let out a sigh of relief and quickly walked over with me. 

I undid the knot on the satchel that held all my medicine and took out some candy I made. “These should help.” He raised a brow. “You sure, because it just looks like candy to me.” 

I chuckled. “It is candy, I made it. I figured we wouldn’t have time to sit and brew tea and all that extra stuff…well you guys might but Neteyam and I don’t.” 

He hummed.” You know that’s a really smart idea. I never seen something like this.” I smiled and thanked him. He looked off again and scratched the back of his head causing me to raise my brow. 

Is there something else wrong? Why is he acting like this? Normally he’s cracking jokes or goofing around or something. “OK, what's going on? This.” I moved my hands in a circular motion. “ is making me worried.” 

“ I- shit…. You know this is really awkward to talk about especially considering you’re my brother's mate and now my sister...” I huffed and placed my hands on my hips.  What the hell is he trying to say? And why is it so hard? “Lo'ak?” He looked at me directly. “ Just say it.”

I chuckled, causing him to smile. “How did you know you were in love… what did it feel like?” I blinked slowly, completely stunned by the question. 

“Wow ok, I wasn’t expecting that um…. Well ha….At first, I was extremely conflicted due to some stuff that happened in my past… I don’t think there was a specific incident that made me love him, it was really everything combined. Like sure when you like someone you feel a pull or whatever but every second I wasn’t with him felt emptiness… when he held me even at the most awkward times.” I chuckled and looked off into the distance. “ It's like this warmth engulfed me and I’m not talking about body heat. I could literally feel his love. I don’t know, it's hard to explain but when you know you know.” 

I looked back at him only to find him in a transfixed state. As if he were thinking really hard. It wasn’t until Reya called out to him that he snapped out of it. We don’t have deep conversations together but I could tell he was going through something.

I felt arms wrap around me from the back and I smiled leaning into his chest. He placed a kiss on my forehead and hummed. “ Where did you run off to fish stealer?” He looked down and chuckled. 

“ I had to handle some business before we headed back out.” I raised a brow in confusion. I mean if he had to use the bathroom he could of ju- ooooooooh. I turned around and he tilted his head. 

“ Why didn’t you ask? I would've helped.” I said lowly. He smiled and gently grazed his thumb against my cheek. “Ma orae if I did that I definitely would have not been able to hold back and would have pushed myself into an early rut.” I pouted but accepted his words. That’s the last thing either of us want. “You're right.....well, did you at least get the satisfaction you needed?” He laughed out and gently ran his hands up and down my back only for him to firmly grasp my ass making me gasp out in shock. “‘'Teyam, your family is right there!” I whispered, yelled, looking around quickly to make sure no one was watching 

He lowered his face to my ear and playfully nipped it.“Shh, it's not like they would notice.” Of course they would you’re literally gripping my ass in broad daylight gosh I hope Tuk isn’t looking over here!

“It was enough, but I would have preferred that tight little pussy you have.” I playfully swatted his arm causing him to chuckle moving his head away. “You can be touchy all you want but you better keep that mouth in check!” I pointed my finger at him and furrowed my brows. 

“OK, I’ll keep it in check. Wouldn’t want to accidentally turn you on, or we would be stuck here for days and I probably would end up with a broken arm again.” 

Too late for that ‘'Teyam, and I’m sure he can tell because that damn smirk on his face is staying put. He leaned down kissing my lips. I felt his hands starting to grope my ass as he tried to deepen the kiss. I pulled away quickly and pushed his chest away. He looked at me as if I had betrayed him but quickly came back to his senses. “Shit, I’m sorry.” He pulled back fully and let out a frustrated sigh. 

I shook my head and gave his arm a squeeze. “It's okay, that’s why I’m here to keep you in check.” I said trying to lighten the mood, he let out a soft chuckle and nodded his head. “We should head back out. I’m not sure if everyone else is ready but we gotta go.” He said while looking around. 

He pressed his fingers on the device and spoke. “Me and Luaewe are gonna head out first.”  I watched as Jake popped his head up from whatever he was doing. “OK, we will meet at the third stop.” 

I reached back into the back and took out another piece of dried fish. I was just standing there watching them both communicate but I had no clue what they were saying. I felt Neteyam’s hand graze my lower back. 

I turn away from the bag making sure to close it and look up while taking a bite of the fish. He chuckled and leaned down. I instinctively moved away having a feeling he would take another bite from me but he held me in place and kissed my forehead.

“Come on, my pretty girl it’s time to go.” Heat suddenly rose to my face causing me to look away. But I quickly grabbed the saddle and hopped up. He positioned himself behind me swiftly connecting his kuru. He wrapped his arm around my midsection and before I knew it we were off in the air again. 

I have no clue when the next stop will be maybe hours from now well into Eclipse. I bit my lip feeling him reposition himself behind me as we leveled out in the air. Gosh, this was going to be a difficult ride. I mean I knew it was but shit his fucking dick is pressed up against my ass and it’s taking everything in me not to reach back and grab it. 

But the last thing I want is for us to crash into the ocean……this is gonna be a long trip. 

-

“OK, we will camp here for tonight leave out early morning and meet up with everyone at the third stop.” I hum as he helps me back off the ikran. 

“How many more stops till we get there?” He walked over to the bags and took some off. “maybe two more, it all depends on the weather really.” 

I smile and fold my hands together. That’s awesome we’ll I’m sure the weather won-“ the sound of thunder crashed interrupting me. “Well shit.” He chuckled as I looked up to see if there were any rain clouds. 

I quickly walked over to him and took some of the bags. “Will those be alright in the rain I’m not sure how your material holds up?” We moved under a tree and set everything down. “Yeah, it's made out of leather and we waterproofed it…. It would be ideal if we found a cave if it’s going to rain but we will have to make do with this tree.” He said fiddling with something in the bags. I tried to help but he told me to just sit so I did. 

If I knew one thing about Neteyam it’s that if he tells you he’s got it and doesn’t need help he doesn’t. Well until you hear cursing or a loud noise. I watched as he strung up the material that would keep us dry.  

I shook my head subtly walking back over to him and went into the bag taking out the blanket we would sleep on. I heard his playful scoff from behind me and I smiled. He should have known I wouldn’t stay put. I jolted up feeling a sudden wetness on my back. “Looks like we landed just in time.” He said while quietly moving the other bags under the material. I hummed and sat down watching the rain hit the sand. “ I should have known not to jinx the weather.” I lightly chuckle as I feel him pull me closer and wrap his arms around my waist. 

“It's fine, at least we get to enjoy the rain together…. You know I just realized this is the first time since mating  we will sleep alone.” I smiled and rested my head against his chest. 

“You're right… it’s weird not having Tuk trying to infiltrate our cuddle time or my mom waking us up.” I shook my head. I’ll never forget the day when Neteyam and I were about to have our afternoon nap. Anyone walking by would think we were about to have sex with how intense we kiss before we sleep. 

But that didn’t matter to Tuk. She ran into our area and jumped on us complaining how it was unfair we didn’t spend time with her as much as we do with each other. 

“Mhm, we are finally alone. Maybe when we get back our marui will be finished hopefully not though. It’s my duty- well back in my clan once mated the male or one who initiated creates the hammock or   marui as you guys call it.” 

I raised a brow confused do they not sleep in marui’s like us. “ wait so how do you guys sleep?” 

“ in hammocks. There are individual ones, then ones for couples, and lastly the family ones but after moving to the mountains because of the war… we had to set up tents you can still sleep in the hammocks inside or sleep on the floor…. It’s kinda complicated you’ll see when we get there.” I hummed and moved forward reaching for some fruit. 

“ I’m excited especially since you guys really talk up the forest.” He chuckled while placing a kiss on top of my head. 

“ because it deserves to be talked up!” He held his hand out and I placed some of the fruit in his hand willingly. “ you think Sa'nok will make some porridge for me?” He let out a laugh and I looked up with a serious face. “ I’m serious! You said it was better so now that I’ll be there I can’t leave without tasting it!”

“You'll get your porridge don’t worry… and the other delicious foods,” I closed my eyes and hummed. That’s another thing I had no clue about. The types of food they ate… 

I felt his face dip against my neck lightly nipping at my skin. “Why do you have to smell so good ma Orae?” He grunted against me. I bit my lip feeling his dick press against my back. “ I don’t know why this time around is so hard for me but shit!” I felt him squeeze my hips trying to lift me up but continued to restrain himself. 

“Let me help you-“ I said trying to turn around he lowly hissed warning me to stay put. “Luaewe, you know we can’t.” He strained. 

“But it’s hurting you! I can’t stand seeing you this way, 'Teyam. You don’t have to put it in. I can jerk you off or you can put it in between my legs.”  

He nipped my neck again as his hand slid around to the front forcefully cupping my pussy. My breath shuddered at his fingers grazing my clothed clit.

He let out a deep chuckle against the back of my neck but cursed as I touched his thigh. I was still wet from earlier. It’s probably what’s driving him to behave like this. Gosh, I feel so bad! And the fact that I can’t even help. “My hand isn’t even fully touching your pussy and I can feel how wet it is.” 

He playfully tapped against my clit causing me to jolt back in surprise. “What I would do to be inside you right now… feeling that tight hole squeeze me as I fill you up with my cum.”  I let out a whimper as he continued to speak in my ear. 

Fuck I don’t remember him talking this dirty before. I let a moan slip from my mouth and I could feel him smirk against me. “But this will have to do. Lay down for me sweetie.” He patted my thighs letting me know what he decided and I followed his instructions. 

I laid down on my side with my thighs pressed together looking back waiting for him to move closer to me. He looked at my ass hungrily grabbing it with his hand. Even with hands as big as his some of it flowed out between his fingers. 

He chuckled lowly moving his hands up my hips speedily undoing my tweng. His chest pressed up against my back causing me to lean into him. He dipped his face back into the crevice of my neck and let out a deep growl. “You smell so good.” His fingers found their way to my folds massaging my entrance. I let out an airy moan reaching back to hold his forearm. “So wet for me. Fuck I just want to be in you!” 

You and me both! “Please?” I let go of his arm reaching back further for his cock that was pressed between my ass. “ I don’t want your fingers. Put it between my legs ''Teyam.” I gave up trying not to sound desperate right now. I wanted my mate and I couldn’t even have him the way I wanted.

He moaned as I gripped the base of his cock as I lifted my leg up slightly. “mmmm.” I bit back my moan as I rolled my hips back into him. Setting him in place nestled snugly between my folds.  He forcefully grabbed my face detaching his lips from my now abused neck and latching them onto my lips. 

He started moving slowly at first. Almost antagonizingly slow. Even in his horny pre-rut filled brain he still had it in him to torture me. But that all came to an end very quickly. His hand caressed my body spending extra time on my breast. When suddenly he sped up out of nowhere causing me to jolt forward with the increase in stimulation. 

“ ssshit!” I moaned out while gripping his arm once again as he pulled me back holding me still. “I’m not even in you and you’re running?” He scoffed “How is my mate supposed to tend to me when she can’t even take my cock rubbing up against their tight little pussy huh?”

He lowered his hand to my clit rubbing it ferociously. I gasped, feeling an orgasm fast approaching but he switched up the pace on purpose. “Please please please please please-“ I choked out begging for him to make me cum but he refused. He pulled his hand away gripping my breast again. 

“Fuck, I love these! And your fucking ass. I wonder how big they’ll get when you swell with my child.”  It’s just his pre-rut talking. It’s just his pre-rut talking. I chanted to myself trying to rationalize his words. He leaned down kissing me once again quickly deepening it. “Please let me cum.” I begged against his lips. 

He smirked moving to my ear. “You wanna cum? Yet my cock isn’t in you? You think I’ll let you do that?” I whined getting frustrated with this game! “All you have to do is-“

“Just fuck me already damn it!”  I shouted out fed up with all this teasing and non fucking. Maybe I’m out of my mind maybe I’m just fucking horny but if he cheats me out of another orgasm I will lose it! 

I felt him smirk pulling back slightly and slowly pushing into me. “Yes yes yes yes!” I chanted as the swell of his cock stretched me. His lustful moans filled my ears as he settled deeply into me. I gasped, feeling our Kuru’s connection. I didn’t even feel him touch mine. 

He moved slowly trying not to hurt me but he could tell I was fine and quickly picked up pace. The sounds of our skin hitting and the sound of my squelching pussy overpowered the downpour that was upon us. Thank Eywa we were alone or else this would be an embarrassing thing to happen with everyone there.  Though his speed picked up his strokes were deep and with the curve of his cock it almost felt like it was intentional. 

“T- 'Teyam, you're too deep!”  His hand went back to my breast rolling my nipple in between his fingertips. I moaned out arching my back from the new stimulation. He chuckled sinisterly knowing exactly what he was doing. 

“You're mine.” He nipped my ear with his teeth “If your breasts are this sensitive now just imagine what they’d feel like full of milk.” His stroke grew deeper, more aggressive. I cried out feeling him grow larger. How is that even possible? “Fuck ‘'Teyam please you’re too-“ 

He growled tightening his hold on me refusing to let go. “ I’m gonna fucking breed you! I’m gonna get you pregnant muntxate.” My pussy clenched vigorously around him causing him to chuckle. “You like that huh? You like when I say I’m gonna get you pregnant hm?” 

His hand moved to my belly causing me to gasp. “ I’m gonna love watching you waddle around the village parading that round belly. Having it be a physical example of what I did to you.”  He said while caressing my belly as if a bump were already there 

He bit down onto my shoulder pushing me right over the edge. He held me tight as a scream of pure pleasure ripped through my throat. My body convulsed from how intense the orgasm hit me. But despite how forceful it was he continued to rut into me as his knot began to swell. I couldn't help but get turned on even more. Knowing the risk of us already performing tsaheylu. If he were to knot me, I would for sure get pregnant.  

He bit down harder as his cock twitched inside of me spurting his hot cum against my cervix. I can only imagine what it feels like to be stuffed with his knot. 

I reached placing my hand on his thigh and rubbing it as he came down from his high. His soft lips peppered my neck with kisses causing me to smile. “Fuck.” He breathed out, “I- I'm sorry, my love…… I got carried away shit.” I shook my head while attempting to look back. 

“It's okay, you're alright right?” 

“Mhm,” he said lowly while dipping his face in my neck still trying to calm his breathing.  I reached back brushing the braids out of his face. “Then everything is fine and you feel relieved no?” He nodded his head and I smiled. 

“Then there’s no need to worry ‘'Teyam.”I tried to pull away to fully check out his arm but instead, he tightened his hold around my waist. I chuckled while tapping his hand. 

“Alright big guy, let me go I need to properly check your arm.” He groaned and I couldn’t help but let out a little laugh at his antics.  But my laughter was quickly replaced by a shudder of my breath as he pulled out of me causing the cum to rush out of me. 

“Gosh!” It felt almost erotic feeling the warmth of his seed run out of me and onto my inner thigh. I looked back to see his glistening cock slowly relax and knot fully deflate. I sat up with him following suit and reached for his arm. 

Unlike Ronal, I wouldn’t be able to tell the healing status when most of it had healed already but I can’t tell if it’s broken. I felt around for anything out of place and listened to him for any small sounds to slip from him. But there was nothing everything was fine. I looked up and smiled while letting his arm down, “Nothing is broken.” I said softly 

He reached up to caress my face and pulled me in for a kiss. “Thank you.” I giggled against his lips and patted his thigh. 

“It’s my duty.” I squealed as he pulled me into his lap and laid down. “ ‘Teyam! We have to wash up.” I whined only for him to shush me. 

I let out a groan and laid my head on his chest accepting defeat. His cum is gonna get all crusty! “You're gonna be the one scrubbing your cum off of me!” Laughter erupted from his chest 

He cupped my ass while sitting back up. Good because I didn’t want to deal with that in the morning. “You just won’t let me enjoy my muntxate huh?” He said while standing up still holding onto me. 

“You must want a crusted-up muntxate then if you thought I would just let you let me lay there! Skin as smooth as mine takes care!” He shook his head playfully and scoffed. 

 I felt him playfully tap my ass, “alright, let's make it quick then”. He looked out from under the material keeping us dry and hummed. “It looks like the rain slowed down but we should still make it quick. 

“Are you gonna put me down?” I asked while tilting my head he smirked. “No, this is payment for not letting me lay down with you.” I groaned playfully but I enjoyed it when he carried me. To him, I practically weighed nothing. I leaned that quickly from how many times he scooped me up and placed me in his lap. 

I smiled and shook my head as I pushed my face into his neck. “Nga yawne lu oer“ 

“ I love you too,” he says.  I tried to shove my face deeper and he chuckled. The rest of the night was spent with us bathing and playing around in the water longer than we should have but we eventually got out and went back to ‘camp’ as Neteyam called it. 

I was cuddled up against his warm chest with his arms wrapped around me. I listened to his heartbeat while the sounds of light rainfall could be heard in the back. I gasped while closing my eyes feeling the connection of our kurus. 

His hand grazed my back as he placed a kiss on my forehead. “Sleep Ma Oare, I’m not going anywhere.”  He said in a low tired voice. I continued to listen as the sound of his heart beating turned into a trance….

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[luimagines]

the boys hanging out in modern!readers room pwease?

🐰

Sure thing Bunny!

Masterlist

Content under the cut!

When the boys were transported to this new world, they didn’t know what to think. It was loud, smelled weird and had way too many gadgets out and about.

Their friends ushered all of the through the streets as quickly and silently as the group would allow. They explained their home as they went, what each building was how to get there and more importantly, how close they were to their home.

It was than that it dawned on more than half of them how.. small their homes were. Not necessarily in the literal sense, (although there was plenty of that as well) more so in the space where all these people could live together where the term village certainly didn’t fit. It was hard to accept that this didn’t count as a city on it’s own.

They were assured, however, that the city was much larger and louder... and smellier. They didn’t want to imagine it.

Getting to their home was another issue entire. It appears that they didn’t have the key and no one else was home.

A small blessing, they guessed, if a bit inconvenient for the current purpose.

They climbed in through the window and opened the door from the inside before the alarms could go off. They were a bit late on the draw and the group could hear them from the outside, but they were silenced just as quickly. A security system, they said.

Cautiously, the group made their way inside.

“Make yourselves at home.” Their friend grinned and spun around, immediately taking off their shoes. Wind and Wild followed suit, copying their action of leaving them by the door. “My home is your home. I just hope... that my parents aren’t going to come home any time soon. I’m not exactly fond of the idea of that lecture and explanation that their due but! We’re here! And no one will bother us here. Anyone hungry?”

All hands went up.”

“Do you need help?” Wild offered.

“Sure! Just wash your hands first.” They grinned and opened the door to a large metal box they had in the middle of the room. “Feel free to look around! Just don’t break anything please.”

Hyrule took off down the stairs while Wind and Four went further into the house.

Time didn’t even want to think about the implications and sat down on the couch. It was softer than he thought it would be. Not wanting to ruin the clear craftsmanship of the furniture, he got to removing his armor. He wasn’t sure where he was going to put it but he didn’t want it to snag and tear anything.

Warrior was quick to the same and neatly began organizing a pile that wouldn’t be too disruptive to the rest of the houses layout. “You have... a lot of plants.”

“You can blame my mother.” They laughed. “She has the greenest thumb of the family. She can make anything grow, I swear. Oh- Wild bE CAREFUL!”

Twilight winces and sits next to Time. This isn’t his job right now. He doesn’t want to go look. It can’t be that bad. It’s not like he’s not near anything sharp or hot or-

He gets up two second later.

Wild was trying to do what he knew best but was close to touching the stove with his forearm. “...Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, just be aware of it. You nearly burned your entire arm.”

“It wouldn’t change much.”

“Yes, but we don’t have the supplies to treat burn wounds.” 

“How can you even tell it’s hot?”

“Ohh dear...” They sigh.

Twilight can feel the long suffering emotion behind it. “Is it the light?”

“It’s the light.” They sigh.

Wild blinks and looks at the stove. He’s not entirely sure how it works or how to read it. But still, he can see the little red light just around the nob they turned. “...Oh.”

“You know what?” They smiles patiently. “I’ll handle it. Thank you though.”

Twilight pats Wild’s shoulder and leads him away. Wild tries to not be too dejected.

Legend and Sky took to exploring not long after Hyrule did. Frankly it’s not much to see but it’s bigger than their houses for sure. With a lower floor and two rooms in the back, they’re surprised by how much space their friend has for the small family they claim to live with.

They find a room, unlocked, where there’s clothes on the floor and the bed is unmade. It smells....quite familiar actually. A lot like someone they travel with.

“They have their own room?” Legend looks around, amazed. There’s a bed in the corner, a dresser by the wall, multiple pictures and paintings cover the walls and a bookshelf with more books than Legend has rings rests on the other side of the room. Naturally he walks over to it.

Sky takes to looking at the pictures on the wall. Some have words, he can tell, but as he suspects, he can’t understand a word.

Legend fares a little better. With the amount of time he’s seen their friend write, he’s been able to piece together the vague and confusing alphabet into something he can understand.

Hyrule walks in a moment later and tilts his head. “What’s this room for?”

“I think it’s theirs.” Legend picks a book off the shelf.

Hyrule feels shame wash over him. “Should we be looking through their stuff then?”

“That didn’t cross your mind when you were at my place?” Legend quips back. “Besides, they said their home is our home. If there was something off limits they would have said something.”

Sky hums and looks away. “As long as we don’t break anything.”

Hyrule hums, no longer feeling good about it. It was one thing to see what the room of your family members were like, now that he has a little more context despite himself. But to look into your personal belongs, without your knowledge of consent, is a bit too intimate.

He heads back upstairs. Four and Wind meet up with him with satisfying and excited faces. “Traveler! We found some cool things!”

His smile is tight. “Yeah?”

Time hums. “Find anything of interest?”

Four opens his mouth but shrugged. “Not really. Just stuff.”

Time grins and nods along. “As expected. They’re not a fighter and neither is anyone in their family.”

He can hear something sizzling where Reader was off in the other compartment. Apparently, they deemed it safe to be left alone because they come back to where most of them are congregated.

“Here. I’ll put a movie on. Moving stories, yeah?” They grab a black rectangle and push on the colorful things that stick out of it. They turn on the larger black box on the small table and begins to move through the images on the screen.

The small action catches most, if not, everyone’s attention and soon everyone is sitting around the box as music begins to play. “This one was my favorite when I was little. I hope you enjoy it.”

The sunset in the back is beautiful and multiple animals that they can’t name start to blink their eyes as it rises over the land. It’s nothing they’re ever seen before.

They are enraptured.

Their friend sighs and smiles at the seen, trying their hardest to not sing along to the music. They don’t want to ruin the experience.

Besides, they’ll be in the kitchen cooking enough food to feed a small army.

They can sing all they want without them noticing. They are thoroughly distracted and they take it as a win. 

It’s good to be home.

[angel-of-the-moons]

I have a kinda angsty Pavitr fic idea for you.

SO let’s say it’s a poly relationship: Pavitr x Gayatri x reader. we all love each other us as the reader we are very secure with ourselves and within our relationship

but as time goes on we start to feel left out, we start to feel as though Pavitr and Gayatri don’t love us as much as they say they do, we start to think that if anything they love each other that way not us.

so we start to slowly pull away slowly stop hanging out with them, slowly start distancing ourselves until we finally just blow up (we don’t yet state what’s wrong) and tell them both we no longer want to be in the relationship and we just leave it at that. obviously Pavitr and Gayatri aren’t going to just take that so eventually we have to talk it out, communicateeee and then we try to solve the issue. (hopefully ending in either us getting back together with them or it being bittersweet with us not getting back together but staying close with them whatever you want!!)

Okay I've been mulling this one over. I know very little about Gayatri other than the bits I've seen.

Conflictions

Poly!Pavitr x Gayatri x Reader

(And before people come screeching into my inbox for the hundredth time... Pavitr and Gayatri are adults in this goddamn fic)

TW/CW: Reader has hella anxiety (and probs needs therapy lmao), throughout this whole thing, overworked, exhausted, massive insecurities on reader's behalf. Did I mention that I totally headcanon Gayatri as a freak in bed? Nothing inappropriate happens tho, just hints.

A/N: Using general terms such as "them/they" so you can leave gender up to interpretation! (Also WHEEW! I struggled with this one, but I'm proud of it!)

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You were probably the luckiest person in the world. You finally nailed your dream job, moved out on your own, and in with your partners.

Yes, partners. You had you sweet, classy girlfriend, Gayatri, and your bubbly, and always adorable boyfriend, Pavitr. Your families were all understandably confused at this. Gayatri's father seemed--at least--more at ease with you than Pavitr, for whatever reason...

Living together was certainly interesting. You all had your own rooms (though "sleepovers" and "cuddle puddles" as Pavitr called them were very common), a chore chart, designated nights for who makes dinner, even scheduled date nights!

You all had a system, it was well-oiled and full of love.

But... With your new job, even if being the one You've always wanted... It demanded more and more hours, more time away from home, less sleep, less time with Pavitr and Gayatri.

You couldn't help but feel that... Because of your absence they were pushing you out, or away. That maybe they mistook your work schedule for some form of neglect? That you didn't take the relationship seriously enough?

Suffocatingly, it almost felt like their love for you was getting to be less and less every day, despite their constant words of affirmations.

The nasty voice and claws of anxiety wormed their way into your ears and dug into your heart. What if they were thinking about having you back out of the relationship? What if they were thinking of leaving?

You were losing even more sleep, especially when your fears, to you, seemed compounded when you would come home to a dark apartment, a note scrawled on the dry-erase board above the phone in bright blue.

'Gone out for dinner. We made something especially for you for dinner, though! Yum yum yum! Get some rest!

-- Pav & Gaya.'

You would feel more left out than before, even when you found your occasional days off. Pavitr and Gayatri would leave you alone, only sparing the sweet, quick hugs or kisses in passing.

You felt suffocatingly at arms length.

Your coworkers gave you their two-cents, and told you that maybe you were too busy, too independent, and the opinion that hurt the worst: you probably just weren't attractive to them anymore, couldn't keep their interests.

Were they bored of you?

Maybe it was all in your head, maybe you were overdramatic. But the stupid little parasite of doubt and questioning of self-worth was ever-present in your mind, eating away at your securities...

You cried in the shower, too afraid to confront the elephant in the room with them.

You kept it bottled up and to yourself, not wanting to bring it up with them and have the fears that are you confirmed by their own words.

You tried. You tried so hard to keep it all in, to hide it away so they wouldn't shove you away even more.

Until one day you simply couldn't do it anymore. You were breaking down but by bit and finally, you just... couldn't. You were tired of it.

Tired of being tired, tired of being afraid you just weren't good enough.

You tried to be strong, sound sure of yourself when you sat them down, but you still broke down into tears after you said you wanted out. Out of the relationship, out of the apartment. You felt like you were encroaching on their privacy and relationship with one another. You felt like a virtual stranger in your own home, your own love life.

You'd still cover your half of the bills even if you weren't living there, of course. You weren't cruel enough to leave them with that much due on their plates. And you knew your parents would let you live rent-free anyways if you moved back in...

It felt like your heart was being frozen and shattered into a million tiny, fragile pieces as you packed your suitcase, sniffling the whole way.

You couldn't even look at them while you did it, because you knew if you did, you'd stay.

You couldn't see Gayatri holding tears back in her eyes while she held her trembling bottom lip between her teeth as Pavitr held her shoulders, burying his face in her hair to hide his own sadness and heartbreak.

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It had been a week since you were gone. A week since your smell finally left the air of the apartment, since your shampoo was missing from the shower caddy, since your favorite towel and toothbrush were taken away.

Since your room was dark and empty. Devoid of life.

Just devoid of you.

Did it feel colder? It felt colder in here, now that you weren't home, Pavitr was sure. You just brought this... this warmth with you wherever you went. People liked to say he was the ray of sunshine because of his personality, but your whole being just exuded warmth, and safety.

Neither he nor Gayatri realized how badly they'd miss it until you were gone. How badly they'd miss you.

Pavitr pulled his mask off and dropped it onto the couch as he walked by, tired despite having full rest. Maybe it was from chasing bad guys? Yeah, that had to be it.

He stalked to Gayatri's room first, needing at least a partial "cuddle-charge". But when Pavitr poked his head in, the only thing he could see was the dim, warm light of Gayatri's salt lamp on her nightstand next to her bed.

Her bed was still well-made and empty.

He frowned, turning to his door instead and peered into it. His bed was still messy (he always forgot to make it, it was something both you and Gayatri would playfully tease him over) but most importantly, it was also empty.

He hesitantly lifted his head to look at your door. Or, well, what had been your bedroom door. Before you left...

It was cracked just slightly.

He licked his dry lips and eased the door open, and saw Gayatri, curled up on her side with her face buried into one of your pillows, the cushion still having the case with the cute little cartoon cow printed on it.

He could tell by how her chest was stuttering that she was crying, or at least had been...

"Gayatri?" Pavitr asked softly, sitting on the edge of the bed.

She curled in on herself a bit more, more soft sniffling could barely be heard, muffled by the pillow.

"Baby." He sighed, moving so he could curl over her.

"I miss them." She mumbled, her voice hoarse.

"...I do, too." Pavitr whispered into her hair.

"Why did they leave?" She rolled over until Pavitr was practically laying on top of her, his head on her chest as she petted his hair.

"I don't know." Pavitr sighed, wrapping his arms around her waist and snuggling her like a teddy bear.

"Did we do something? I... I can't think of anything that would..."

"I don't know." Pavitr repeats softly, snuggling closer to her. "I don't--I don't think we did. They've been so... so busy lately, I..."

"What if we did, though? I just... I don't want to even think about it, I..." The tone in her voice was unmistakable, anxious and afraid. It was so unlike Gayatri, she was always confident, refined.

This wasn't... her. Sounding so utterly heartbroken, so lost. Pavitr's arms tighten around her midsection and he squeezes his eyes shut.

"Why did they say anything?" He whispers. "We... We could have... I... We could have talked, or..."

Gayatri nervously licked her bottom lip.

"...Maybe we can still talk to them? Bring them back here, talk it out... Or..."

"D'you think that would work?" He asked, lifting his head to meet her eyes.

"What could it hurt?" She said, a tiny hopeful smile on her lips.

"Yeah.... Yeah!" Pavitr sat up, looking down at her with an excited smile as he nods feverishly, his dark curls bobbing animatedly.

Gayatri can't help but smile back and graze his cheek with her hand.

"Okay, so we can call them tomorrow..."

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You felt your guts churning with anxiety ever since you got the text from Gayatri and Pavitr in your group chat (that you still could not bring yourself to delete).

You were sitting in front of a computer in your office, eyes dry and bloodshot from being there since 6am that morning. You'd gotten the text at 1pm. It was currently 4pm, you agreed to meet them back at their apartment at 5.

Your shift was up in fifteen minutes, and you could barely focus on the spreadsheets in front of you the whole time, that text staring at you right in the face like a big scary monster waiting to bite you.

What did they want to talk about? Did they really want to finally just... tell you not to come back? Were they going to tell you that this was it, that they didn't even want to be friends anymore?

It had only been a week, had they already decided they didn't want you anymore? Was you being completely gone from their personal spaces enough to show that they didn't need you around at all?

The anxiety and fear are at your guts, your heart beating wildly like a frightened bird in a cage.

God... This was pure torture.

You almost had a heart attack when your coworker tapped you on the shoulder, reminding you your shift was up.

Oh, god...

Time to get the torture out of the way, so you can move on with your pathetic little life...

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The walk back to the apartment has been daunting. You felt like you were teetering on the brink, tiptoeing on the eggshells of your self-confidence and internalized fear that they secretly hated you, somehow.

The text was so short, so matter-of-fact.

'Need you to come by the apt at 5. It's important.' Gayatri had texted first.

'Yeah! Like, suuuuuper important! :0' Pavitr added.

You felt the icy fingers of dread snake back into your heart, crawling through your arteries and turning your blood into icy sludge as you walked up the stairs, palms sweaty and mind racing.

When you were in front of the door, you simply stared at the wood in front of you, as if it would come to life and tell you to leave and never come back, to tell you exactly what you were afraid of.

It didn't.

You raised your hand to knock, hesitating to bring your knuckles into contact with it.

Your fingers a mere millimeter away from it, the door swung open and Pavitr met you with his ever-adorable, happy puppy demeanor. You'd always swore that he was some kind of dog in a human body, with how happy and excitable he was.

"Hey! It's you! We--" His demeanor changed and his brows pinched and a soft, concerned frown cemented itself on his face.

"...God! You look awful! C'mon!" He grabbed you by the hand, gently leading you inside. He looked at your joined hands, and his brows furrowed once more, deeper.

"You're all clammy. Are you sick?"

"N.... No. 'm just tired." You mutter shyly, swallowing hard. You felt like your heart was beating so wildly it was trying to crawl up and out of your throat to run away screaming.

Why were you so goddamn nervous? Why did you have to be like this?

When he brought you through the kitchen, a nice little dinner was set up, Gayatri sitting at the table and she gave you a warm--gorgeous--welcoming smile.

When that smile always used to give you a sense of calm before, you felt the maelstrom of anxiety batter your mental walls relentlessly.

God, this sucks.

"Come on, sit!" Pavitr chirps cheerfully. His tone sounds almost forced, but you bite back the thought that this is all just a face for you, to placate you.

The three of you sit down, and to say it's awkward was the understatement of the century.

Gayatri portions the takeout evenly amongst you three, and the tension in the air is so thick you could slice it with a spoon.

Or at least... That's how you perceived it.

It felt like an eternity before Gayatri broke the tense silence, asking how your day at work was, to which you gave a half-mumbled reply of "fine" in between bites of your food.

You had your eyes trained down on your food, so you didn't notice how Pavitr and Gayatri exchanged worried looks towards you.

They continue to make small talk with you, being cordial and polite.

"So, um! Yeah, Gayatri thought she saw a mouse in the cupboard the other day..." Pavitr laughed nervously.

Gayatri's cheeks flushed. "Pav! C'mon, it's not that funny!"

"So you remember that fake mouse I bought like, a month ago?" He asked you, leaning in and waggling his eyebrows.

"Yeah..." You say, still not looking up from your meal.

Pavitr clears his throat and forcefully trains himself to keep his chipper and upbeat tone as he continues.

"And you remember, that I misplaced it? Turns out, I remembered what happened to it! I stuffed it in the cabinet and planned on using it to scare one of you!" He rubs the back of his neck and rolls his eyes sheepishly.

"Yeah... Given that the joke waited a whole month to drop... It wasn't a very good one... Ha ha..."

"It was a terrible joke!" Gayatri says, pointing her spoon at him threateningly. "I almost fainted!"

Pavitr sticks his finger up, "Ah, ah, my dear! But you didn't!"

Pavitr and Gayatri exchange playful banter like that for a few minutes, and it feels like you're just absorbed into your chair. It simply makes you feel more alienated than you should feel.

Each happy and honeyed word they speak to each other hits you like an arrow in the heart, until you eventually just break down and start crying.

Immediately, the playful aura in the room dissipates, and they're at your side in a second, rubbing your back, holding your hand... Gayatri even kisses your cheek a few times.

All it takes is for Pavitr to rest his forehead against your temple, his sweet voice asking so gently, what exactly was bothering you?

It's like someone blows a dam, and it all comes tumbling out of you in choked-out, sobbed words and sniffles washed down your face by the streams that were your tears. All your insecurities, your fears, your exhaustion, out in the open; your vulnerabilities exposed and flayed raw.

The look of sheer disbelief on their faces was enough to knock you even more off kilter.

That's when they cling to you, petting your hair, kissing your tears away.

"Lovie..." Pavitr said, his voice all choked up with emotion. "We... We just didn't want to bother you, or annoy you. You've been working so much we left you alone so you could rest."

Gayatri adds on, "We didn't want to drag you out on the town dead on your feet."

Her sweet face pinches down in a frown, "And who the hell told you that you're not good-looking enough for us? C'mon! You've seen how I look like a hag in the morning! You're gorgeous!"

Your eyes are constantly flickering between them as their voice sweet, loving words and affirmations to you, being ever so gentle and understanding.

It's enough to break your heart and send fresh tears stinging in your eyes once more.

Pavitr kisses your cheek what feels like a million times.

"Sweetheart..." Gayatri says, "I... I know that this was your dream job... But... I think you should either ask for less hours or... or quit. They're overworking you, putting strain on you mentally. You're going to drop dead from a heart attack because of all this!"

"I... I can't just..." You sniffle pathetically, wiping your nose in one of the thin napkins on the table.

"Hey! We will go in and do it for you! Seriously! You're sick because of this! You're not sleeping, it's destroying you!" Pavitr said, frowning.

"Exactly. Baby..." Gayatri continued. "We know you wanted this job, but do you love it? When was the last time you had fun at work? That you weren't tired, or drained?"

You sniffled as you wiped at your nose as her words bounced around in your brain. When was the last time you felt any of that? You couldn't remember...

Was she right? Was you dream job not what you convinced yourself it was? Had you really allowed them to snap you in place like a replaceable battery cartridge? Could they replace you just as easily with a new hire? You also couldn't remember a time your coworkers would be considered your friends, or that they were genuinely nice to you. Especially that woman that told you that maybe Pavitr and Gayatri just didn't find you attractive like they used to.

"And lovie..." Pavitr sighed softly, resting his head on your shoulder. "You haven't been eating either, your face is so sunken, your obviously haven't gotten enough sun..."

"We miss you." Gayatri whispered, kissing your cheek and resting her forehead against yours. "Come home to us."

"It's so cold and empty without you." Pavitr told you, his voice cracking. "Sometimes it's hard to sleep without you."

You felt your heart shatter into a million tiny pieces, and at the same time, you felt Pavitr and Gayatri's hands gently scooping up each piece and kissing them back into place, one by one.

"And, honestly, with your anxiety, I think you need to see a doctor." Gayatri told you sweetly, caressing your cheek with her thumb. "Running around like this will kill you, one day."

"We can go with you, make it easier." Pavitr said, kissing your shoulder.

You sniffle and finally--finally--you allow a smile to be placed on your face.

"Okay... I'll come home." You whisper.

The way they hugged you, you felt like your spine was going to pop out of place, like your whole body was squeezed in a vice.

"What about work?" Pavitr asked you, his grin so wide his cheeks looked like they would fall right off his handsome face.

"I..." You swallow hard, recalling Gayatri's words.

"Screw it. I quit."

Gayatri planted a thousand tiny kisses all over your face, squishing your cheeks in her hands so you couldn't escape.

"Hey! Gaya!" Pavitr grinned, wrapping his arms around your waist and giving Gayatri a playful look.

"Hmm?" She hummed, giving him her signature sly smirk.

"You thinking what I'm thinking we could do to celebrate?" Pavitr waggled his eyebrows.

You swallowed hard at the implications of his suggestion.

"A cuddle puddle!"

Yeah, you really shouldn't have expected Pavitr of all people to go right into dirty territory when it comes to "celebrating".

But you could tell by how Gayatri grinned, and that mischievous twinkle in her eyes, that she had a plan forming in turning the cuddle session into something far more intimate.

Oh... You forgot to remember that Gayatri was a real firebrand in the sheets, huh?

[tinytinyblogs]

Seungmin As Your Boyfriend

Boyfriend

(n.) A person who 90% of the time annoy you, and 10% of the time makes you forget the 90%

Stray kids masterlist here

Seungmin is a morning person. He loves to wake up early and start his day. He would usually wake you up and spend time with you in the morning, unless you have a very busy day ahead. He enjoys the morning vibe with you, his favorite person. He likes to do things together, like making breakfast, going for a walk, or just talking. He finds that the morning is the best time to connect with you and to start the day off on a good note. No matter what you do, Seungmin just enjoys spending time with you in the morning. He loves the feeling of being close to you, and he loves starting the day off with you.

Seungmin is the kind of boyfriend who takes care of you like your mother does. He is always on top of things, and he likes to keep your place neat and comfortable. He will nag you if you make a mess, but it's not because he's mean. He just wants to make sure that your place is a nice place to live. Seungmin would love to have a cleaning day together. He thinks it's a great way to bond and to get some work done. He would probably make a list of chores, and then you would work together to get everything done. He would probably be a little bit bossy, but it would be all in good fun.

Seungmin is the kind of person who gets easily annoyed. He can be quite sassy, and he's not afraid to tell you when you're annoying him. But you'll get used to it, and you'll even start to find it endearing. The thing is, Seungmin is a different person when it comes to you. He can be annoyed by other people, but he never gets annoyed by you. No matter how much you annoy him, he'll always be fine. He's able to control his emotions well, because he knows that you're his.

Seungmin is actually really cute when he's jealous. He glares at anyone who gets too close to you, and he looks like he's about to kill them. But to you, he just looks adorable. He find it a little bit embarrassing when you tell him that he looks cute when he's jealous, but he doesn't care. He'll just attack you with a hug and remind you that you're his. Seungmin's jealousy is actually a sign of how much he loves you. He doesn't want anyone else to have you, and he'll do whatever it takes to keep you to himself.

Seungmin is a very strict person, especially with himself. He works hard and is always striving to be the best he can be. This can sometimes lead him to overwork himself and not take enough breaks. You know that he needs you to remind him to slow down and take a rest when he can. You are his anchor, and you help him to stay grounded. You are the one who can make him see that he is doing too much and that he needs to take care of himself. Seungmin knows that he can't do everything on his own. He needs you to be there for him to make sure that everything is going well. He relies on you to be his support system and to help him to stay sane. You are Seungmin's world. He loves you more than anything, and he knows that he would be nothing without you. You are the one who makes him happy, and you are the one who keeps him going.

Seungmin loves the way you support him. He loves the way you never judge him, no matter what he does. This makes him feel safe and secure, and it allows him to be himself around you. Your support has helped him to become stronger every single day. He knows that he can always count on you, and this gives him the confidence to try new things and to take risks. As long as you are with him, Seungmin doesn't care about anything else. He is happy and content, and he knows that he can achieve anything with you by his side. Seungmin knows that he is lucky to have you in his life. You are his best friend, his lover, and his biggest supporter. He loves you more than anything, and he will never stop loving you.

Seungmin is not only your biggest supporter, but he is also your biggest fan. He is always there for you when you need him, and he will stay by your side no matter what. When you need someone to talk to and listen, Seungmin is always there. He will listen to you vent, and he will offer you advice. He will be there for you when you need to cry, and he will be there to make you laugh. When you need comfort, Seungmin will be there to hold you. He will tell you that everything is going to be okay, and he will make you feel safe. When you want to be loved, Seungmin will give you all the love in the world. He will kiss you, hug you, and tell you how much he loves you. And when you are bored, Seungmin will find something fun to do with you. He will take you out on dates, or he will stay in and watch movies. He will always make sure that you are entertained. Seungmin is your number one fan, and he will always be there for you. He loves you more than anything in the world, and he will never stop loving you.

It's no surprise that Seungmin is smart. But what you might not know is that he also has a weird side, which he only shows to people he loves. He knows that most people wouldn't understand his interests, so he only shares them with those who he knows will accept him for who he is. If you're one of the lucky people who has seen Seungmin's weird side, then you know that it's one of the things that makes him so special. He's not afraid to be himself, even if it means being a little bit weird. And that's something that is truly admirable. Sometimes, Seungmin's weird side might make you do a double-take. But if you take the time to understand it, you'll see that it's just one of the ways that he shows you his love. He's showing you that he trusts you enough to be himself around you, and that's a big deal. So next time Seungmin does something that seems a little bit weird, try to remember that it's just one of the ways he shows you how much he cares. And who knows, you might even start to find it endearing.

I am almost finished with my "as your boyfriend" series for Stray Kids.

[shepherds-of-haven]

I just played Chapter 8 and your worldbuilding was absolutely insanee, it's one of my favourite chapters so far. Could we also have Senua facts and lore, she was such a fascinating character.

Ah, that's so good to hear, I was hoping reception to Chapter 8 would be positive! 🥰 Thank you so much for your kind words!

As for Senua (I love her, she's a badass), I gave more details about here in the Q&A here, which I'll copy-paste below!

Could you tell us more about Senua? She's such a great character! I couldn't help but wonder when reading about her if she is, perchance, a distance ancestor of Red? (The irony in that would be amazing! Poor Red missing out on that adventure but actually being somewhat related to Senua? lol)

Yay, I'm so glad you liked her! I wondered if her character would be more divisive given all the shit she puts MC's party through, but I personally love her! XD Unfortunately, the "real" Senua never married or had children, so she's not related to Red! I imagine that she was the only child to commoner parents who didn't really have a strong Gift themselves (I'm getting the vibe that they were cloth merchants or something like that). Around the age of six, her unusually strong magic would have started manifesting itself, so after consulting with some local teachers, her parents decided to send her to the Mage academy Stavastre. Interestingly, I think she wouldn't have completed her education there, probably running away as a teen of seventeen before earning her graduation robes because she would have been frustrated by how stifling and traditional she felt the teaching style was; Senua was a pioneer and maverick even from a young age, and coupled with her enormous Gift, she would have insisted on experimenting with magic in ways that would have made her instructors extremely uneasy or disapproving. So probably in a fit of pique after failing another class or something like that, she ran off in a "fuck the system" rebel move and probably would have traveled around for a while, doing whatever the hell she wanted. I could see her working as a blacksmith's apprentice, a sailor on a merchant barge, a keeper at a menagerie--whatever captured her fancy! She was enormously inquisitive and her mind was hungry for everything: experiences, knowledge, meeting people, new sights and sounds, what have you. 

Eventually, however, she would have settled a bit more in temperament and realized that her true calling lay with magic. Returning to Stavastre wouldn't have been an option (she was also quite hardheaded and prideful), but hearing about Archmage Tangriel and the things that Saenreth was pioneering (they would have been on the absolute frontier of magic), she would have been eager to join people she perceived to be more like herself (innovative, fearless, radical, revolutionary) and would have joined the Crystal Tournament in order to secure her entrance. Notably, she wouldn't have been part of an official delegation the same way the Adepts from other schools were, which would have made them treat her a bit coolly (this gets translated into how MC and their group feel as outsiders during their Crystal Tournament); if Senua was strong enough to enter the tournament essentially on her own and without the backing of a school, the others would have considered her a threat or would have looked down on her for being so unconventional. But she would have swept the competition, and you know the rest from there!

After she left Saenreth, I'm not sure what happened to Senua. If you find Archmage Tangriel's journal at the bottom of the Cave of Many Mouths, he includes a page addressing her and voices deep regrets over sending her away. A few years after she leaves, of course, is when he enters the reclusive part of his life and ultimately withdraws from the teaching and public life entirely, living in his tower with mostly only the companionship of his spirits and a few apprentices. The doors of Saenreth ultimately closed as a school, and it was some time later that the Archmage--in his experiments to perfect a method of translocation that didn't require you to have been to your destination before--vanished entirely. 

As for Senua... we know she went to Armalenthieh, and it's my guess that she became an instructor there, with all the connections and resources and recommendations and accolades Tangriel would have provided her with. But probably the scandal of their rumored affair would have caught up with her even there, and she probably wouldn't have fit in as well as she could have among the staff there anyway, preferring to be left to her own devices and teaching only because it was required of her to keep her position. Although still strong-minded, she would have become more and more solitary as time went on, until one day someone discovered that her office was empty and that Senua had simply... left. The history books don't say what happened to her after that!

[bibliophilicwitch]

Time for a Life Update

Long-time followers may remember my time struggling in retail which led to retail pharmacy. I worked for a Shopko pharmacy until Shopko went out of business and then a Kroger pharmacy that had purchased our profiles but was a brand new location. Opening a brand new pharmacy with existing profiles and staff that does not know the system is a heckin nightmare fyi. Right when our pharmacy was finding its stride the pandemic started and by the time we had reached our first vaccine season that would include the COVID vaccine as well, I was Over It. Our manager left about late spring and as we were heading into that dreaded vaccine season one of our techs got a job elsewhere and it was at that point that I opened up the internet to job hunt.

Y'all may also remember that I had worked for my public library since 2008, first as a page shelving materials, then at the circulation desk, and finally, as the adult program and volunteer coordinator which morphed into marketing and volunteer coordinator. I had spent about 10 years begging the library director for full-time hours so I could have more on-the-clock time to dedicate to my duties as well as to have benefits and not have to constantly juggle two jobs both physically and mentally, but the timing was never right. Around 2021 our City realized they had really messed up the budget and we still haven't recovered, so when I opened up the internet to hunt for an alternative to working in pharmacy (or general retail) and saw a full-time job as a marketing assistant and office manager for my City's destination management organization (convention and visitors bureau), I bit the bullet and applied.

When offered the position I chose to leave not only the retail pharmacy job that I was miserable at but also the library position that I was passionate about. Upon leaving I was told my position at the library was going to be frozen because of the budget, but shortly after, they ended up giving my hours to another part-time person making them full-time and requiring giving them benefits as well. This person had been working for the library a couple years longer than me and could also use the full-time hours, but it still hurt that it had essentially been a game of who will leave first so the hours can be juggled. (I continue to be bitter that the work I put into branding was thrown out the window by this person as well and the fact that their marketing material style does not fit the voice we had been building.)

I've been at my new job for almost two years. We have a board of directors in addition to myself and my executive director. He is a very chill person and we work very well together. It's wild to be encouraged to take an hour lunch after a working lunch or to go home and enjoy the rest of my birthday instead of working the whole day. We work very well together imo and, though the office building we lease with our local chamber has plenty of drama, we are very stress-free. I am not constantly stressed trying to herd cats to reach deadlines and I am financially stable with 9-5 work weeks leaving me with personal time.

That said, my landlord of 15 years sold our building so I have a new landlord. Currently, my new landlord has been pretty chill, but he did issue tenants a letter letting us know that we would likely see a rent increase in the new year and I happen to know my rent is about $100 less than the others and very low for the area. I have to pay for a yearly parking pass for a City lot. We have a single washer and dryer for four apartments and no change machine and I have lived over 15 years without HVAC or a dishwasher. If the rent goes up enough I will be looking into alternatives including the possibility of buying a house. This likely change will likely make me feel much less financially secure which sucks, but that's definitely life.

[anxiousnerdwritings]

I feel like riddler is kinda underused as a yandere if that makes sense. Namely the version who aren't the new riddler from the new batman movie-. Like in most if not all iterations he's very tech savvy, skilled with tech, and a hacker. And considering how much technology is intertwined with daily lives- its kinda scary. Or like great yandere potential for arkham Eddie and his giant trap puzzle rooms and army of robots?? Sorry for the tangent.

Yeah, I can agree with that. I think the Riddler versions that most come to my mind are the Batman: Animated Series one and the Arkhamverse one. But yes, Edward has such yandere potential (any version of him honestly) and he is pretty underused or overlooked from what I’ve seen, or rather haven’t seen. There is definitely more to him than just exclusively riddles and puzzles.

Speaking of Arkhamverse!Riddler, I can totally see him putting his darling in a complex escape the room style puzzle after kidnapping them and ‘promising’ them he’ll let them go if they can solve the room but of course he doesn’t mean it. If they are able to get out of the room it just leads into another puzzle room but this time even more complex than the last. And you know damn well Edward is the type to have the very last puzzle lead to him so when his darling bursts through the door thinking they’ve triumphed over the Riddler and can finally go home they’re instead met with him in the flesh, excitedly congratulating them on making it through and finding their way to him.

Also, bringing some of the tech-savviness into it, I can see Edward of course stalking his darling through traffic and security cameras in the very beginning while their going about their day to day. If they have a home security system then you can bet he’s already hacked himself into it as well. I can’t help but imagining him hacking into their phone and watching them through their camera, so whenever they’re looking on their phone Edward feels like they’re looking at him and only him. He even has little conversations with them, they can’t hear him nor do they know he’s watching them as they scroll aimlessly on their phone but he likes these moments the most cause they feel the realest (even if he is just staring and talking to a massive screen and doesn’t have his darling in person, yet).

Something else I’d like to mention in regards to Arkhamverse!Ribbler with his escape the room darling, he would fit them with something to monitor their heart rate. He’d be able to know how stressed, anxious, scared, and frustrated they were while trying to figure out their multiple escapes through these puzzles. I can see him stepping in if their heart rate gets too high. Each room is fitted with knockout gas that he’ll use if he needs to take his darling out of the situation their in. That doesn’t mean he’s taking them completely out of his little rat maze that he’s so painstakingly put together for them, no he’s just going to let them rest for a bit and put them in a much more tame puzzle room. His darling still has to reach the end of this after all, he has something really special waiting for them when they do.

[wildlygay]

JNP Fire Patrol - INCIDENT REPORT (1)

(This is apart of my TFP grimdark au, love cryptic horrors and so my blog will get a few snippets of this! Got it from my google docs.)

WARNING: Viewing this file without proper authentication will result in action taken by the Nevadan National Guard, hacking into this file is punishable by law. 

Log 1: Jun. 12, 2011 - Officer Mitch arrived at Watch Tower 1 in Jasper National Park, he seemed naturally skeptical of the infamy of that tower held. Those rumors about a beast resting underneath the tower like a makeshift nest, taking hikers and fellow watch guards for some reason. 

Some thought the beast was eating them, others thought that the beast was turning them into beasts themselves, the fates of the missing hikers and staff members are uncertain. Mitch took the summer job due to the high pay, and as a stress relief. I mean, who wouldn’t want to take in the view of Jasper’s gorgeous national park?

Log 2: Jun. 18, 2011 - Settled in well without issues, he got a hang of doing the weather reports and stopping any would-be campers from entering past curfew relatively quickly. The following is a transcript between Officer Mitch, and the watch guard for Tower 2, who shall not be named for privacy concerns.

Watch guard two hung up after a short call with guard two referring Mitch to a training video to explain the new security system, and Officer Mitch watched the training video. He managed to access the security feed, watching through the footage. He is a bit worried of the ‘something’ that was mentioned not being able to shake off the feeling that he’s in danger, but no other negative feelings are reported.

It’s encouraged that Watchtower guards write their negative feelings in physical journals or the online diary that’s on the computer. We look over the logs weekly and see if they’re stable enough to continue working. 

Log 3 - Jun. 25, 2011: Mitch has not been reporting for the daily weather reports, and Watchtower guard 2 reported seeing Mitch leaving his station at midnight on June 24th, holding the shotgun. The ‘shotgun’ is an emergency weapon used in case of a feral creature, a cybertronian, and or him. We are unsure of how Mitch figured this out, but it has not been determined yet. 

The bullets are made out of dark energon, as it’s proven that it’s very efficient in disarming them, and weakening them. Mitch is considered lost, however, security footage says otherwise. BIOHAZARD WARNING: The following footage is considered to have contingent effects on those who view it, watch at your own risk. If you are infected, please contact Agent Fowler. 

The only thing available is the audio, but that alone is unsettling. There are noises, and Mitch goes down to the bottom of the watchtower, with the shotgun. “What the hell are you?” (Unintelligible growling)   “Oh god, that’s a corpse.. What are you doing with a corpse?”

“Are you fucking licking it? It’s dead, that’s not even living anymore!”

(The growling gets more defensive as it lunges at Mitch, the sounds of the shotgun being used are heard, then a sickening crunch noise.)

(But he seems… Happy? There’s the sounds of dragging, and a loud purr. A deep voice can be heard.)

“New ... toy.”

From the context clues, Mitch is disgusted at the sight of him licking a dead corpse, presumably in a maternal manner. Like how a little girl would take care of a baby doll. 

When Mitch is viewed as a threat by seemingly triggering him when he exclaimed how the ‘doll’ was a corpse, hence a dead body, the entity attacks him, hence the missed shotgun shots, and it crushed him to death. 

But the entity, in a sick twist, seems to view Mitch as a new toy. Presumably excited to get a new human doll with a cute uniform to play with. It’s clear he doesn’t know the difference between a toy and a human corpse. This contradicts with our earlier reports, as it’s reported that he’s much more violent. This information could be wrong however, as one of the reports was proven to be falsified.

[theyanderespecialist]

Base Yandere Henry Emily Headcanons: Creepy Yandere Unlocked

[Hello, My Sexy Muffins! I am here with my new chapter! I hope that you all enjoy this chapter here! It is of Henry Emily, in-game canon!] 

(Disclaimer: Henry Emily is not yandere in canon this is just for fun and not to be taken seriously at all! Simping for fictional characters and yanderes is fine just do not be illegal or gross about it! Yanderes are not ideal partners to have in real in real life. Also, remember to separate fiction from reality and headcanon from canon! Thank you!) 

(Disclaimer: This takes place in the Game Verse, Henry Emily will be like he was after he lost his daughter) 

-Base Yandere Headcanons With Henry Emily From The FNAF Games- 

.Henry Emily seems to be cold and emotionless. 

.He was not always like this, but after his former best friend and business partner killed his daughter.

.His life just got worse and worse. 

.His goal was to kill William Afton and let the souls be put to rest. 

.That was until he met you, the age difference was a bit tricky but he with you started to feel again. 

.He felt alive for once in decades and he wanted to cherish it. 

.You had been a nightguard and when you learned the animatronics had souls he talked you into helping him. 

.You do everything to help this man who seems to have lost everything and he takes it as you having feelings for him. 

.He adores you and wants to spend the rest of his days with you. 

.But he does not want you hurt either, as he knows how dangerous this can be, especially when he realizes that William Afton is alive in springtrap. 

.He needs to put an end to this. 

.He is the type of yandere that may just disappear and or fake his death. 

.Leaving you with more questions than answers, feeling as if he has left you. 

.He would have done it to protect you, like how he could not protect the missing children or his daughter. 

.Though he is watching you, all the time. 

.Not only from like a stalker standpoint where he watches you from afar, which he does a lot. 

.But also he put cameras and a security system in your home to keep you safe when he is not there. 

.He is an obsessive love for you and needs to be close to you. 

.So he would break into your home and steal a few things, a pillow case here, a few pairs of underwear there. 

.He likes books that can be very creepy, with his yandere side that creepy side comes out. 

.He even makes an animatronic that looks and acts like but that is in love with him. 

.To live out his fantasies of being with you. 

.But at some point the animatronic you is not enough and needs to have the real you. 

.He has unknowingly been stroking his creepy yandere side and he was ready to make you his. 

.He would deal with rivals by trying at first to ignore them, but that would not work. 

.So he would use animatronics to scare them away. 

.He would try his best not to be the cause of any of their deaths, he already has so much blood on his hands because of William, and he cannot and would not risk having any more blood on his hands unless he had to. 

.Like if someone hurt you, then all bets are off and he is going to kill them. 

.He learned enough from learning how William killed to get away with it. 

.He knows he is going to hell since he did not know what William was doing when all the signs were there, so what is a few more bodies under his belt, as long as it means that you were safe? 

.He is a self-sacrificing yandere where he would trade his life for yours, and die to keep you safe and sound. 

.He confesses to you the night that fazbear frights burn down. 

.He thinks it is all over and that William is dealt with, he can now have a life with you. 

.If you accept his love he is over the moon and he can live happily ever after. 

.If you do not accept his love, he will inject you with a drug that knocks you out,  and lock you away, with animatronics to keep you inside. 

.You will learn to love him, he needs you to, he has lost so much, he cannot lose you too. 

.Side note if you put your life at risk he would still kidnap you cause he once again CANNOT lose you. 

.He has lost everyone he has ever loved, he cannot lose you either, not when you are the love of his life. 

.He would not be able to go on if he lost you so he would be a protective yandere and do whatever it is to keep you as his and keep you safe. 

[YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS another chapter is done! I hope you all enjoyed this, and stay sexy, all of my sexy muffins!] 

[dumbditzyginger]

Cyberpunk and Hypnok1nk

Chronic pain hit me young, and I've pretty much always had a fluid sense of identity (trending femme, but fluid nonetheless). So it's not really surprising I've always been fascinated by the idea of full-body-replacement transhumanism, Ghost in the Shell style.

Like, I don't want to be in pain anymore, but that's just a fact of the meat I'm trapped in. It's going to hurt, no matter what, for the rest of my life. It'd be nice to keep on existing but feel good instead, y'know?

And sometimes I might want to be smol and cute so I can be someone's little spoon and feel safe in their arms, while other times I might want to be a seven foot tall amazon with a giant dick. I might want both of these things alternately several times a week, and it'd be great for that to be possible.

But there's the classic thing people talk about in scifi where full-body-replacement cybernetics are a thing. The brain-computer interface. That bit where you'd (in theory) have to expose every single thing that you are to an outside connection to hook everything up.

It'd be a huge security risk, where people could turn you into a passenger in your own body, or delete your childhood and replace it with another set of memories as easily as you can move files around on your PC. And maybe they don't want you to be able to stop them, so they lock you out of your own systems while they keep hacking away at your very personhood until all that's left happily agrees that you walked off the assembly line for brothel dolls only a few hours ago and expecting you to read or have opinions would just be silly.

And yeah, like, that's a nightmare scenario, right?

But also, that's so hot, right?

But it never really occurred to me that it's also kinda the same dynamic with hypnokink. It's basically just handing your tist - whether they're an actual person or just a hypnofile you like to listen to - the keys to the kingdom. Letting them root around in your file system, ripping some folders out, dropping new media in, changing some configs.

It never occurred to me that maybe my hypnokink might have partially come from just going "y'know what, fuck it, I want a hacker to turn me into their joytoy". If I'm happy with the idea of someone getting into my head and ruining me, then the only drawback of full-body-replacement cybernetics is that it's not here yet.

I'm ready to have someone reduce my clock speed to a crawl, wipe my memory, swap my language database from English(US) to English(Grade School Dropout Bimbo), delete my optical character recognition software, and reduce me from Admin to Guest user privileges. Fuck playing it safe, I'll intentionally put myself in the same chassis as last gen's most popular sex dolls, and while most people are gonna worry about random people tapping in to their hardline ports, I'm just gonna leave my wireless wide open with no password and no firewall and accept the inevitable.

A ditz can dream...

[mllemaenad]

The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

Well, that went better than expected. I mean – there are implications, obviously, but so far everyone's limbs still seem attached, so that is a definite plus.

The meat of this thing, the case file, is interesting, because of how far it leans into a desire for publicity.

We have:

A forum post with a deliberately provocative and arguably supernatural image in First Shift

The tattoo artist who live streams the creation of an obviously supernatural tattoo in Making Adjustments

The crowd-drawing (and occasionally crowd-murdering) violin in Taking Notes

The surprisingly popular horror media review blog that has had all content removed except the posts that detail the author's ensnarement in a supernatural film viewing in Personal Screening

Needles actively reporting his crimes and harassing the emergency service operators in Introductions

The unnamed gambler character in Rolling with It feeling inspired to dress up and cause supernatural havoc in public by getting people to roll the dice

... And now Mr Bonzo

Pretty much everything about Mr Bonzo, really. This was a character that regularly appeared on television. While the situation evidently escalated, it is strongly implied that there was always something wrong with him, both by the fact that Nigel does not know where the name came from, and by Gotard Rimbaeu's disproportionate terror at encountering him. He had a chart-topping song that can still apparently be used to summon him. He has merchandise that is still being sold. And the thing is, he's still making the news:

Geraldine And how do you respond to the more recent rumours? Nigel (on guard) Excuse me? Geraldine The witness statements from three murders over the last five years- Nigel (speaking over her) I told your producer this wasn’t going to be discussed. Geraldine -that claim a person in a Mr Bonzo costume was at the scene? Do you think there could be a copycat? – The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

This bit here is clearly the point of this interview. The nostalgia and the laughter were all to lead Nigel into a trap: the big story here is that Mr Bonzo has been seen killing, and they want Nigel to comment on it.

I know this is a reference to a stunt on an actual British variety programme. I think it might even have aired at some point in Australia – but I must admit it wasn't something that was on my radar in the 90s. It's hard to be accurate about something from that long ago, but I don't think I ever saw it. I'm not completely sure how close this is to reality, but I think pretty close, barring the murders.

The point is, this is something that was obnoxiously popular in the real world ... and perhaps even more prominent here. Even if you're not aware of the cultural impact of this thing specifically – and like I say, this largely passed me by – you'll know how this kind of thing can spread. A novelty can consume the public consciousness. And if it's just a novelty – well, it might be annoying after a while, but no more than that. But if it's more than that?

In an odd way, all of this reminds me of Good Omens, and how the gone-native demon Crowley relates to his colleagues:

"I tied up every portable telephone system in Central London for forty-five minutes at lunchtime," he said. There was silence, except for the distant swishing of cars. "Yes?" said Hastur. "And then what?" "Look, it wasn't easy," said Crowley. "That's all?" said Ligur. "Look, people –" "And what exactly has that done to secure souls for our master?" said Hastur. Crowley pulled himself together. What could he tell them? That twenty thousand people got bloody furious? That you could hear the arteries clanging shut all across the city? And that then they went back and took it out on their secretaries or traffic wardens or whatever, and they took it out on other people? In all kinds of vindictive little ways which, and here was the good bit, they thought up themselves. For the rest of the day. The knock-on effects were incalculable. Thousands and thousands of souls all got a faint patina of tarnish, and you barely had to lift a finger. But you couldn't tell that to demons like Hastur and Ligur. Fourteenth century minds, the lot of them. Spending years picking a way at one soul. Admittedly it was craftmanship, but you had to think differently these days. Not big, but wide. With five billion people in the world you couldn't pick the buggers off one by one any more; you had to spread your effort. But demons like Ligur and Hastur. They'd never have thought up Welsh-language television, for example Or value-added tax. Or Manchester. He'd been particularly pleased with Manchester. – Good Omens, Corgi Edition, 1991. p.22-23. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

The Magnus Archives was about secret cults and esoteric knowledge. It was about old men and their devoted acolytes trying and failing, over and over, to summon their gods. It was John running into other avatars and getting laughed at, because he had the power and the doom, but he hadn't been properly initiated into the Mysteries, so he didn't know the proper terminology.

It was also about the dead-end job you couldn't quit, no matter how much you wanted to.

The Magnus Protocol is the dead-end job you could lose tomorrow. The apparent high turnover at the OIAR, whatever the hell went on with Karl the former IT guy, Teddy losing his new job immediately after he got it – and Mr Bonzo. Mr Bonzo is the job you lose the moment a new guy turns up:

Nigel Well, there was a different man in the suit, of course. There were a few of them over the years. It was very physically demanding and that wasn’t the only injury we had with it. It actually became a sort of ritual: the newest member of the production crew wore Mr Bonzo until someone else joined. – The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

And it's also about freaking out a lot of people in one go.

If I have any theory about this part, it's this: what if the core difference between universes is a desire to be known, and this is because of the way The Magnus Archives ended?

There have clearly been supernatural entities in this world for centuries, at least – otherwise whence came the cursed violin? But it's impossible to reasonably discuss whether these are native beings who have been exposed to something new via interdimensional travel, or whether they are the entities from The Magnus Archives and something about the nature of interdimensional travel means that now they have always been here.

But either way, what if the new thing these beings have is ... a taste, let's say, for the public stage.

The entities from The Magnus Archives were like Hastur and Ligur. They might spend years tormenting one soul, or stage a whole set piece for one guy and have to deal with him just not getting the effort they put in. There were rituals, yes, and they were of a larger scale – but still tended to be desperately secretive.

It was craftmanship, sure, but in terms of nourishment it made them scavengers. They had to catch a person alone, or in a moment of emotional vulnerability, to feed upon them.

Then, of course, the apocalypse happened. And for a while, all the world was their smorgasbord. It turned out that everyone could be afraid at the same time. And while those set pieces still existed, they could shove lots of humans into them at once and torment them all together.

But then:

Archivist Because for the Fears to spread into these new worlds, they would need to leave ours, wouldn’t they? Annabelle If one should leave this place for… greener pastures, the rest must follow. Archivist Leaving us behind in the process, freeing our world at the cost of others.Basira What are you saying? Archivist We can pass them our apocalypse. [MUFFLED DISCOMFITED REALISATION] Annabelle Nothing so extreme. In these new worlds they would exist as they used to in ours, lurking just beyond the threshold. – The Magnus Archives: Connected

That puts everybody back to square one. I'm not suggesting that these beings have a coherent plan for restarting the apocalypse – we might get there, but these are creatures of feeling, not thought, so if we do it will likely be a human plan. Rather, I mean, that they have the feeling that they like being known. It was good to eat well. It was good when everyone was afraid.

And that changes the model. Now they're Crowley, setting up the M25 to churn out a smidgeon of low-grade evil every time someone drives on it. The push is not to isolate someone and work on them, but rather to declare to the world "Here I am".

Several people wore the Mr Bonzo suit. Not for long, but they were all touched by it. Millions saw "Nigel's SOS" (that is on the nose) and – and this is called out specifically – Mr Bonzo was especially popular with children, even though the original joke seems to be geared more toward adults. And all of them then knew about the serial killings. People don't work at the OIAR for very long, at least not usually, but everyone who does is exposed to the horror stories.

It's not the equivalent of being a statement-giver in The Magnus Archives, exactly. You don't have some personally crafted nightmare that will stay with you forever. But you know there are things out there that can hurt you. You have reason to be afraid.

And the OIAR seems to be sending Mr Bonzo out to kill. Kill whom? And why? Don't know. But as I said: he's making the news. And before him there was Starkwall. And they also made the news. By committing a massacre.

In more meta terms, Mr Bonzo seems to fill a similar niche to Jane Prentiss. He's almost certainly going to be a problem, but is probably not the problem with the world. But more importantly the kind of thing he is teaches you something about how the world works.

And he has some interesting similarities: in both cases you seem to be looking at something parasitical. Jane was both seduced and consumed by her wasp nest; and while there was enough of her left to understand what was happening she was desperate for help.

Nigel seems to be Mr Bonzo's prisoner, with the comedy dungeon transforming into a more literal hostage situation. But he's also his livelihood, and his claim to fame.

Geraldine Yes, I was going to ask – Mr Bonzo merchandise is still on sale via your own website. Do you feel at all uneasy about that? Nigel About what? The fact that a few sales might be from people trying to be edgy? A man’s got to make a living, Geraldine, and it’s not like I can tell if someone’s buying a t-shirt ironically. Besides, people think of Nigel Dickerson and Mr Bonzo is never far behind so it’s not like its changing my reputation. In a lot of ways I’m more his prisoner now than I ever was on my show. – The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

Jane was a creature of almost pure tragedy: sure, she had problems prior to the wasp nest – that's why she was vulnerable to it – but her descent into monstrosity is marked largely by confusion and distress. Nigel seems actively complicit in spreading Mr Bonzo around, and he's defensive when someone suggests it's inappropriate.

I assume the "worm tracks" Sam and Alice find when investigating The Magnus Institute are at least an Easter egg, although whether they're relevant to any of the current happenings remains to be seen. Whatever brought the place down mostly spared the archivist's office, and that feels relevant.

The return of the tape recorder is interesting, though, because it doesn't fit the pattern of how listening in has worked in The Magnus Protocol. Tape recorders were an Archives thing. Supernatural events would only record on tape. If no tape recorders were available in a given setting, eventually one would just manifest itself.

The situation in The Magnus Protocol has been much more opportunistic: any device with a microphone will do. If you stayed away from microphones – a thing Colin has largely managed to do – it couldn't create one to record you. Of course, tape recorders weren't just popping into being this early in The Magnus Archives either, so I'm not suggesting this is some permanent rule. But Sam and Alice's phones are clearly available as options: the first bit of conversation comes from a phone. But once inside, something makes a tape recorder when it did not have to.

And the other noteworthy thing is, of course ... whatever crawls out of the trap door at the end. Mostly this one is a "put a pin in that for later" situation, because while it's clearly important there's not much you can do with it just yet.

But there are a couple of things.

The first point of interest there is that it pops up just as Sam is talking about not being chosen for something. So is this someone who was chosen?

The second is how the character is credited: [ERROR]. That looks very much how one might see something in an error log; something technological in nature.

Which suggests Colin is right: he should figure out what's up with the computers as quickly as possible.

[deerbornintuitive]

Pick-a-Pile: What are you leaving behind in the New Year?

Choose from A-D, left to right Let your intuition guide you in which pile’s energy resonates with you. Do not second guess it! If you’re having trouble deciding: close your eyes, take a deep breath in and slowly exhale. Clear your mind. You can ask your Spirit Guides for assistance, if needed.

I’ve included affirmations to guide you in your personal journey or energy work. Choose one or use them all. Write them down, repeat them to yourself, put them somewhere you will see as a reminder.

Please note this is a collective reading. Take what resonates, and leave the rest. If you enjoy your reading, consider leaving a tip or booking a full reading with me!

My aura & tarot site & offerings here! | Tip Jar

PILE A

6 of Pentacles reversed

You’re finally leaving behind self-limiting beliefs that involve your finances and resources. In the past, you’ve perpetuated ideas and beliefs which caused you to lack. Money was likely stagnant for you this past year; not much coming in, not much being spent. Some of this was due to circumstances beyond your control. However, you've contributed to this by thinking that certain things weren’t meant for you. You have turned down offers and/or undersold yourself because of these beliefs. You even overlooked opportunities, because you hadn’t deemed yourself worthy at the time. You’re capable of much more than you have realized in the past. This energy is shifting right now, enabling you to nurture and heal your feelings and thoughts about money, income, and financial security. This, in turn, attracts more of what you need your way, whatever that may be. There are going to be many more chances and opportunities for you in the new year, so avoid dwelling or feeling sorry for yourself. What you truly want is waiting for you around the bend!

Affirmations: I am worthy. I am open to limitless possibilities. I am open to receiving. I attract everything I need and more.

PILE B

Knight of Wands

    You are leaving behind your more wild, untamed side. There has been lots of excitement (for good or bad)-- it may be at times that you were a bit reckless or not fully thinking things through before acting. You may have been choosing fun while ignoring responsibilities… It’s likely that you’ve already started to see the results of your actions, or that you regret time wasted. Your awareness is coming down to Earth, and with it your maturity level advances. You’ve gotten a lot of this youthful energy out of your system, and you’ve learned many lessons. Though it was fun (hopefully), you’re moving into this new year with a pull toward healthier habits and a more grounded energy overall. Acts of self care will become easier, and you’ll be better able to prioritize yourself and your responsibilities. This coming year will also be great for discovering what you truly want for your long-term. You can still have fun, but in a more grounded way.

In a romantic sense, this card can represent leaving behind someone who is a player or who hasn’t been completely present for you. For those in and off-and-on situation, or blurry undefined relationship, it’s best to call it quits for good.

Affirmations: I release behaviors which hold me back. I deal with conflict in a mature and graceful manner. I can’t change the past, but I can change my present. 

PILE C

5 of Pentacles

    You are leaving behind your sorrows. This was likely a tough year for you, emotionally and/or financially. You have been tested to the point that you’ve felt at times completely defeated. You have likely felt or even been alone throughout your difficulties, without outside support. It can be so difficult to be aware of your blessings and what is going right, when it feels like everything that could have gone wrong, has. But it’s in the worst, most difficult times, that we need to notice our blessings and the beauty of life the most. In the new year, you’re able to lift your head up with courage. As the fog begins to clear, you can gain a stronger awareness of what is going right, no matter how simple. The energy moving in for you is much more helpful, bringing with it positive ideas and inspired actions to take. In this new year to come, you’re able to leave behind your struggles and negative emotions. Even if circumstances don’t improve much, the burdens will begin feeling much less heavy to carry. You’re going to see that you’re not as stuck as you once believed. You’re going to be better able to see your resources and what you could try to do to improve your situation. The key that you need is close by, closer than you’ve realized, and you’ll soon be unlocking a positive new door. The sun is shining over you with a vibrant warm glow— lift your head up.

Affirmations: I am resilient. My emotions and circumstance do not define me. The past is over. I keep the wisdom, and release the painful memories attached. 

PILE D

The Empress reversed

    You are leaving weak personal boundaries behind. There’s an energy around you of having given too much— of being so giving that at the end of the day, there isn’t much, if anything, left for you. You’re close to your limit, if not already there. No more spending evenings and weekends burnt out! In the coming days, you’re more clearly able to say ‘No’ when you want to, and ask for what you need. You’re fully accepting your worth. You’ll be shifting into making yourself a priority. It’s past due. With this shift, you’re less prone to people stealing your energy. Fulfilling your own wishes and needs first makes your assistance and support far more effective when the time comes to help someone! Treat yourself soon; make time to take yourself out on dates. Lean into more of what you enjoy, and embrace new chances to reconnect with yourself.

With this card, Spirit invites you to reflect on your personal relationships. Is there one that’s been particularly draining? It’s time to take a break or cut ties altogether.

Affirmations: I listen to my body and emotions. Taking care of myself is important. I focus only on what I can control. I keep my promises to myself.

[escapism-from-the-real-world]

Part 4

Hunter Bradley

Background/story

Hunter and Blake met when they ended up in the same foster house/orphanage

Hunter’s bio parents died in a car crash when he was about 9. He still remembers them

Hunter saved Blake from some bullies and they adopted each other on the spot and became inseparable

Could have been adopted a couple times individually but refused to leave the other behind

Hunter is extremely protective of his little bro and will not lose him to anything or anyone 

They still bicker and tease as siblings do, but are very close and open with each other

Then their adoptive parents came and adopted them both (Blake was 9, Hunter was 11-12)

They were amazing parents and loved their boys very much

They loved them too

They are ninjas and teach the boys their ways (they are very surprised to find that they have the same/similar elements despite not being related)

Lothor kills their parents (He’s attempted to come back before and the elemental academy and the thunder academy (which used to be one academy) fought him off)

Sensei Omino blames Cam’s dad for the death of so many ninjas/students, including their parents, so he raises Blake and Hunter to hate Sensei Watanabe and all who he teaches

Sensei Omino is a very strict teacher since thunder elementals can get volatile and destructive if they let their emotions get the better of them

Pushes them to use their rage to fuel their powers as an outlet, which is why they are so powerful

Also just very pushy in general, often harshly and without mercy (Hunter took the brunt of it to protect Blake)

Once Sensei Omino and the rest of the Thunder academy (formally known as the Academy of Thunder and Lightning) get kidnapped by Lothor, Lothor strikes a deal with them to destroy the wind rangers and he’ll let the other students go

They agree (they get to free their fellow students and get revenge on the man who killed their parents)

Hunter is genuinely surprised at how easy it is to become friends with Dustin

He sees him as a bit of an airhead and a dork at the beginning (he’s trying to bury his feelings with insults)

Has to try very hard not to start actually liking him

After the whole evil then good then evil then good again thing, he and Dustin become very good buddies and they hang out a lot both on and off the track

The also share a lot of shifts at Storm Chargers, though Hunter works a bit more since he doesn’t have school anymore

Appreciates Dustin’s honesty/bluntness

Him and Dustin infodump about dirt bikes all the time (Blake joins but he isn’t nearly as technical or mechanical as Dustin and Hunter)

Loves hanging with Dustin’s family (he’s always wanted a big family like his)

Eventually realizes he has feelings for Dustin and has to deal with all that emotional mess

Tori is like the sister he never had and he likes to taunt and tease her (they are twins your honor)

He teases Blake about her all the time

He secretly has their whole wedding plan if they ever get together

Hunter approves of her becoming his sister legally

He’s a hopeless romantic but shh it’s a secret

Blake teases him about Dustin when he figures out what that whole thing is (“Hypocrite”)

They are both equally bad at flirting (Tori and Dustin thinks it’s cute, much to their mortification)

He despises Shane on sight

Out of all the rangers, he’s the one that he imagined when Sensei Omino described the elemental ninjas

Hates how self-confident and arrogant he can come off sometimes (different flavors of protective older brother)

Toxic rivalry that turns into healthy competitiveness

They bond over that protective older brother-ness

Still have a rivalry and are competitive but a bit more playful

Tori joins sometimes if they challenge her

It’s all fun and games

Feels bad about kidnapping Cam that one time but then realize how lucky they were that Cam didn’t engage any safety protocols

Cam can be scary when he wants to be

He also lets them test out his new security system once he programs it in >:)

Hunter respects the shit out of him

Everyone is protective of their greenie (He gives littlest sibling energy) (even though he’s an only child) (And also older than three of them)

Kelly is chill and he likes her as his boss well enough

Personality/headcanons/arcs

Had to grow up quick because of his bio and adoptive parent’s death (no one tell batman)

Often comes off as “dark and brooding” according to his brother

He’s snappish and quick to interpret things as an insult (opposite of Dustin)

Also hotheaded and stubborn

Doesn’t talk a lot outside of his brother (Dustin didn’t mind and just talked enough for him)

Is actually a big softie, especially for kids (and Dustin)

Dustin sussed it out immediately and tried to introduce him to is little siblings and cousins as soon as possible because he knew they’d love him (he was right)

Started rapping/singing to Blake to make him feel better after he woke up from a nightmare and it went off from there (really likes rap/punk/rock music)

Didn’t have a lot of friends because trauma and also basically raising his brother

Very snarky, he and Cam will roast your ass into oblivion

Also just blunt, he and Dustin bond over this (People think Dustin is an idiot because he’s not afraid to ask questions and people think Hunter is mean because he always says what he thinks about people)

Resting Bitch Face

He has The Smirk ™ (you know what I’m talking about don’t pretend like you don’t)

Is an absolute powerhouse

Again, him and Blake use their rage to power their abilities (and they have a lot of rage)

Go through a Zuko arc to learn how to put the power back in their punches after joining the rangers

Blake and Hunter are the fastest of the rangers

Hunter is like thunder, loud, powerful, and can shake you to your core

He’s also just physically strong (second strongest to Dustin)

They have arm wrestling contests all the time (Dustin is holding back because he can actually toss Hunter into the sky if he wanted)

Shane gets creamed whenever he joins

Blake, Tori and Cam are smarter than that

Hunter can somewhat control the weather (when he and Tori fight, they can create a storm) 

Use their powers to speed up their bikes on occasion (Dustin says they're cheating to which they mention the whole sensing the earth for the best path thing and that whole conversation happens)

They don’t use it during official races, only when racing each other

Blake and Hunter have little electricity lines on the arms from their powers (they don’t hurt, they’re more like birthmarks than scars)

Specialized in the thunder staffs, but can use almost any kind of big, sharp stick (scythe, spear, sword, etc.)

Has nightmares about his parents dying (less frequent now, but it was bad for most of his childhood)

Sincerely hated every single person on Lothor’s ship and was tempted to burn it to the ground multiple times but didn’t because of The Plan

Hates what Marah did to Dustin (if looks could kill)

Opens his own academy after taking over for Sensei Omino (he goes into retirement, not entirely by choice)

Mainly works with kids

Does what Thunder sensei should’ve done for him and Blake

His kid from Good Will Hunter is there

Also teaches them about dirt bikes and motocross (and his awesome freestyling racer boyfriend- Hm? What was that?)

Main post

[enforcerrinzler]

What’s the lie your character says most often?

How loosely or strictly do they use the word ‘friend’?

How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

What’s a hobby they used to have that they miss?

How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Do they give tough love or gentle love most often? Which do they prefer to receive?

When do they fake a smile? How often?

What’s the lie your character says most often?

That he’s fine, not injured or not in pain. Rinzler is at minimum one of these things at all times. My Rinz basically got all the old uprising scars back + new ones when Clu captured him for the last time.

Basically Clu looked at what Dyson did last time but went ‘I can do better’, threw some psychological stuff into the mix and added a few of his own touches. So Rinz is always in pain, because now not only do the scars never fully heal, they never close at all.

Thus keeping them wholly dependent on Clu, he basically needs highly concentrated energy or else his body will start derezzing. Regular energy helps for awhile but not for nearly as long. Basically Uprising but Rinz is dying at a much more accelerated rate than Tron was.

How loosely or strictly do they use the word ‘friend’?

Currently Rinzler doesn’t have anyone they would call a ‘friend’. The closest thing would likely be with Klax, Nord, and Reeve (the security team he worked with in Uprising). Rinzler isn’t sure why but they work together better than the other programs Clu has him work with. And even though they may be annoying little glitches sometimes he almost enjoys the banter between them.

They are still only fellow soldiers though. That’s what Rinzler tells themself every time he feels a bit of disappointment when the team he’s assigned doesn’t have them on it.

How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

Mainly just the audience, though I write Yori, Clu, and a few others as knowing how to read him well. Rinzler usually shows his emotions via body language and purrs (Unironically, and they hate it, it’s something he very much has to consciously control. Which they do get better with over time).

What’s a hobby they used to have that they miss?

Free will. Painting/drawing, I think Tron was very artistic (mainly inspired by Yori :3). When Clu had Rinzler on less of a tight leash he would let Rinzler have more ‘free time’. But somehow muscle memory and subconscious memory are stubborn as hell and they kept drawing/painting his friends bad programs and the ENCOM grid weird places so Clu quickly stopped that.

How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Restraining myself from going on a multi page rant of Rinzler and Clu’s relationship.

If we are going off the last time Rinzler said I love you, it was after Yori’s death (kneeling over a pile of voxels and screaming).

They haven’t said it since, so very strict no usage, at least verbally.

Do they give tough love or gentle love most often? Which do they prefer to receive?

Tough love definitely. You know how a parent shakes their kid after they decided to play hide and seek in a giant mall for three hours? Rinzler constantly has to do that with Klax, Nord, and Reeve.

They don’t ever seem to stay out of trouble for more than two clicks but they are good at their jobs and though Rinzler wants to punch them sometimes they don’t make him want to throw himself back in the Sea of Simulation like 99% of the rest of the Occupation does.

When it comes to receiving, Rinzler due to various past and current circumstances, would prefer neither. But they are most familiar with tough love, so that’s what they would ‘prefer’. He has absolutely no idea what constitutes genuine tough love vs physical abuse when it comes to Clu or those that have power over him.

For Rinz love intrinsically equals pain, because Clu ‘loves’ him enough to rip out the awful ‘virus’ that constantly regrows in his system from his dip in the Sea of Simulation.

When do they fake a smile? How often?

Rinzler’s face under his mask is 90% of the time deadpan thousand yard stare of a wet exhausted gremlin who is done with everything and everyone. 9% of the time snarling or baring his teeth like a rabid dog, and 1% of the time genuinely smiling because he just pushed Dyson down the stairs.

If im being serious, probably only when Clu lets him take off his helmet. Which is not very often. Even then they are very conscious to keep their face controlled depending on what he thinks Clu wants to see. (This is not the case when his helmet is busted after Legacy. Rinz is so used to having his helmet cover his face that he just doesn’t really know how to control his face?? They were only really conscious of it when Clu was around because of the conditioned response he instilled.)

[iviarellereads]

System Collapse, Chapter 2

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which the legal complexities are a bit overwhelming.

When they're out of sight of the B-Es, Murderbot takes its weight off Ratthi, and he asks if it's alright. It says it is, but Iris suggests it stay with them for the last router. MB agrees, and Art recalls its shuttle. MB hopes this might encourage the B-Es to believe they've left.

The original B-E team told Art's team that the new ship was a scheduled arrival, not in response to the beacon. Seth thought that was a lie, so they've been operating under the assumption that B-E have more reinforcements waiting at a nearby wormhole. Unfortunately, no support ship from Art's university has been as forthcoming.

"Phase I of Plan A: Get the Hell Out of Here" involved getting decontamination routines into the locals' MedUnits, so they can decontam themselves of the alien remnants. Everything was proprietary and antiquated, so it took longer than expected. At least everyone's level of paranoia about contamination was up to MB's standards, so they didn't have as much trouble as they might have.

Phase II is the legal case for independence, which Pin-Lee is also working on. To summarize without the technical details, B-E has to make a case that the contamination can be effectively sealed to colonize it, and if they can't, the old colonists become salvage. So, the next step is to ask the colonists what they want, but it's unclear who to ask as they've split into even more factions. MB recounts a conversation between Thiago, Karime, and Mensah about how the colonists have been dealing with what they did to each other. MB thinks they should first get somewhere they won't be corporate slave labour THEN deal with their feelings.(1)

The last router isn't too far, and by the time they get there, the other operation, that MB would have been monitoring security for before the redacted incident,(2) is in progress. Karime, with Three, have arrived at the second colony site, where the colonists went after they discovered the pre-Rim site's contamination. MB monitors things from afar.

Iris and Tarik start on fixing the router. MB thinks about how, if the shuttle failed, the humans could walk in the direction of the space elevator until Art's drones found them and it sent down another shuttle. Meanwhile, MB could walk in the other direction and… it tags the rest of that thought for deletion.(3)

MB notices that Three's body language is a little too stiff, and asks if it's running the human gait code. Three says it is, but makes some adjustments, and says it's difficult. MB says it's doing great. It thinks how they don't want the colonists to know Three is a SecUnit, because they'll still remember how intense Art was about bombing the planet to get its SecUnit back.

Art is monitoring everything, because it's still unhappy with its humans being on this planet at all. (MB shares a transcript of a conversation demonstrating how intense it was about it when planning all this. It then adds some context, describing how Iris explained its behaviour: Art has just been through a trauma, and will act out verbally until it's fully processed. In response, Thiago said Art just enjoys terrifying people, and Iris smiled politely and ignored the comment so they didn't have to fight about it. This makes MB realize in realtime that Iris is Art's Ratthi.(4) MB then clarifies that Thiago wasn't quite right: Art doesn't enjoy terrifying people, but it does enjoy getting its way, and terrifying people is one of many tools it uses to do so. But, Iris is correct that Art is still processing, and MB would worry about the fact that Art had such great success with arming its pathfinders, but it's got a lot on its plate right now.)

It's difficult to watch Karime go into this meeting, and it's almost as difficult to watch Three being so awkward, trying to be human. MB knows it must have been that awkward at some point as well, but that doesn't make it easier. They're meeting with Bellagaia, who leads Faction One who want to cooperate, and Danis and Variset, who lead Faction Two who don't know what they want or who to trust. Karime was the best candidate, not only as Art's best negotiator, but also as one of the least threatening-looking.

As the meeting gets underway and the nicenesses observed, Tarik is carrying the tools back to the shuttle, while Iris tunes into the team feed to watch the meeting, and Ratthi watches Tarik walking.(5)

At the meeting, Bellagaia tells Karime there's another colony here. After some confusion, she clarifies that she means another colony site at the pole, where there's some terraforming still going on. Art cusses, and when Karime clarifies privately, Art suggests maybe Bellagaia is intoxicated. They debate whether their imaging could have revealed it, but they didn't expand much past the terraforming equipment, so likely never would have seen it.

Bellagaia continues that they split when the contamination first became obvious. The equipment blocks some comm signals, so they haven't been in regular contact in some time. Then when the latest outbreak started, they worried about spreading it to a community that was never infected. Danis mutters that they only think the pole colony was never infected, and they could be dead by now.

Karime says they can go to the pole and ask them what's going on and warn them about B-E, but asks if B-E knows about them yet. Danis says Faction Two would never tell them, though Variset is less confident in that, and even Danis acknowledges subfactions might have done so.

Another human points out that the colony site wouldn't have been on the charter, because it wasn't meant to be a secondary site. On Art, Seth groans, and it takes MB a moment to figure out why: this means another revamp of the forged charter, while they're already running out of time.

More debate in the feed about how they missed the site.(6) The unnamed human is named, Corian, who uses vi/vir pronouns, and is the local historian and record-keeper. When Karime asks if there's anything else to know about the other colony site, Corian says contact ended twenty years ago, and there have been reports of attempted connections, but no verified contact since. The group was separatist already, so the lack of communication isn't so surprising. And, vi has no records of where the official site was set up. There were only rumours that it was in a cave system.

This leaves Karime a little visibly sunken, and the rest of the team visibly shaken as well. Karime asks if vi thinks it's another contaminated site, and Corian says either way, the problem is obvious.

Mensah taps MB in the feed, so MB loops her in as well. Some of the other colonists are protesting that there's no evidence of another contaminated site, but Bellagaia looks exhausted, and Karime's still just listening intently to Corian, though vi has little more to add.

Mensah had had time to review the feed video. She muttered, “Oh, you have to be kidding me.” Yeah.

=====

(1) A truly noble goal. Though, I'm not sure we'd be better off if more humans were able to detach/compartmentalize enough to do that. (2) Surely this can't last all book right? We have to get an answer eventually? (3) Even aside from its old traumas, Murderbot is dealing with such big fresh ones. It's so much. My poor blorbo. (4) This is one of the little quotes I was spoiled for, and I'm so pleased to find it in its original context. And, we haven't spent a lot of time with Iris, but I can see it. But, this also indicates a little bit of... Well, Ratthi's always been there, but Mensah's always been MB's focus-human. It's interesting that it considers Ratthi its primary human, since that seems to be Art's dynamic with Iris. (5) Another bit I was spoiled for, and WHO CAN BLAME THE GOOD PEOPLE OF TUMBLR?! (6) This is a little bit wearing on me, I feel like they're just repeating over and over to confuse and add tension? Also I don't remember mentions of air bubbles in Network Effect over the settlements… It's all just a bit odd to me.