#threats of ongoing loops

[groupalpha]

(More of comic under cut)

[LIVE BROADCAST] - [ANNOUNCEMENT] COMMUNICATIONS MANIFEST to V#### UNKNOWN

CONNECTION IMMEDIATE AND SUCCESSFUL

CONNECTING TO LOCAL GROUP: GROUP BETA

ToOL: Wh... huh?

ToOL: Who... are you?

FoFT: Well well well. Something new in these boring cycles. Where have you all been hiding during this time?

OOP: ... You bring a strong presence. I can't tell what you are, but... you are something.

Group Beta: Threats of Ongoing Loops, Forecasts of Forgotten Truths, and Outsourced Onslaught Precision are now open for asks!

[memetic-trigger-hazard]

Trope blender strikes again!

Since the formation of the Justice League Dark to deal with supernatural threats, Diana had been acting as the team's 'Superman' for lack of a better term.

It was, however, not a position she was entirely suited to, as ironically enough when engaging supernatural threats she was better suited to the same role that Batman played in the Justice League, engaging with superior training, tactics and specialised tools while also acting as battlefield tactical command.

With the lack of any other candidates however, she made do. But not for long.

Thanks to a wandering little girl, Diana had gained a new cousin and uncle who were refreshingly free of the hubris of the Greek pantheon, as well as an unexpected (and terrifying) meeting with her Grandfather who was far different from the stories, she supposed death and a few millennia would calm someone down. She was pleased however to add some paternal family members she could enjoy calm moments with.

Her Uncle was willing to help, however his backlog from the previous King in addition to the repairs and ongoing negotiations for reparations with the United States government made her feel guilt for placing further demands on him.

Her younger cousin however was more than happy to "get out of the house", her Father's comments about the expansiveness of a TARDIS castle completely ignored.

Ellie was already training with her old friend Pandora (So many happy reunions) so Diana was more than willing to take her to Themascerya for an initiation to the Sisterhood of Amazon's. Danny was ecstatic that his daughter was making friends.

Now Ellie as Banshee is JLD's front line fighter and Diana is the tactician, a dynamic duo of their own. Diana is so proud of her little cousin.

Which is why today was very..... Strange.

~

Basically the JLD have to head to the Watchtower for some threat, Ellie is super pumped because SPACE and Diana is excited to take her smol bean cousin to the Watchtower for the first time.

Batman and Co arrive and Drama TM occurs because "Holy shit that little girl looks like a Talia with blue eyes", Damian starts accusing and mouthing off, Ellie freaks because her Dad has warned her about the League of Assassins, so she freaks and bails.

Diana is explaining who Ellie is, how they're related when Uncanny Valley Danny in human form comes out of a portal in his "Royal Casual" work attire. Loose jeans,button up with vest, fluffy slippers with a coffee mug in hand. He's facing Diana, paying 0 attention to who else is there beyond "cool space station".

"Hey niece, why is my daughter running through my castle screaming about killer birds?"

"Ah, I believe she is referring to Robin being a former member of the League of Assassins." Diana replies.

Batman and the rest of the Justice League are tense, assessing this possible ally who RADIATES power and death. Anyone affected by death can feel it like static in their teeth during a lightning storm. Those who have been into the Lazarus Pits feel safe yet the overwhelming urge to KNEEL BEFORE YOUR KING.

"Well shit, someone actually escaped from the Fruit Loop Supreme? Anyone who gets away from my asshole grandfather is alright by me." Danny replies as he turns to look at the various heros, taking a sip from his mug.

"Danyal?" A faint hopeful whisper as Damian takes his mask off to look at his Brother (HOW, HOW? HE LOST HIM HE'S HERE HOW?) His dead twin somehow here and changed so much.

*Slurp*

"Well shit, didn't expect this."

This entire time Bruce's brain is making crunching noises.

It's not the extra son that's apparently God of the Afterlives. It's not the granddaughter.

Diana is his son's niece. Bruce had sex with his grand niece. Barbara is right, he needs therapy.

[reality-detective]

Someone once said to me, “Do you always have to be so brutally honest?” to which I replied, “Would you rather I lied?” Which that kind of ended the conversation.

So I’ll be brutally honest with you now, I’m sick of it all!

I’m sick of Biden, Schwab, Gates, Fauci, Ursula, Trudeau, Macron, Hillary, Harari and all the psycho puppets that are being dangled on the world stage as some morbid entertainment, or rather psychological torture!

I’m sick of the LGBTQ narrative being shoved down our throats, of the transgender insanity, the ilegal immigrant invasion, the ongoing fearmongering with new pandemics, the constant threat of global war, the antisemitism narrative, the censorship, the ‘hate speech’ tyranny, the mRNA bioweapons and of the climate crisis bull shit!

I’m sick of humanity being stuck in this endless, nightmare of a loop without a resolution! Without justice! Without sense! I’m done with this shit show!

Always the same playbook, the same script, the same useful idiots, the same evil hands pulling the strings, the same narratives, the same psychological manipulation, the same false flags, the same lies from the media, the same ongoing madness! On and on and on and on…! Until when?!

When will people see? When will people realize that we are caught up in a matrix that exploits our ignorance and gullibility by capturing our perception as a means of control and enslavement? When will people recognise the patterns? The MO and the brainwashing techniques that they’ve been using for decades? When?

How many times must we endure the same narratives and events? The same divide and conquer strategies? The same color revolutions? The same infiltration techniques? The same provocations? The same ‘terrorist’ attacks?!

How many times before humanity finally realizes that we are psychological slaves with an almost fatal case of Stockholm syndrome? When will we acknowledge the problem? When will we start going to rehabilitation?

And no, you can’t say no! That response is not an option, unless we want to end up like that! So it’s about time we ALL try our best to wake up everyone! Speak up, share info, voice your real opinion, don’t be intimidated by the labels, be prepared to lose friends, stop caring what others may think and wage the flag of truth, of common sense, of righteousness and of kindness wherever you go.

Perhaps then we’ll get out of this sickening loop! It’s been going on long enough!

I'm just saying... 🤔

[neteyamslovrr]

HOW CAN I LOSE YOU?

summary: prmoised to a stranger Y/N takes flight and finds herself lost in the pandorian forest, only to be found by a omaticayan boy. who knew that strangers could fall in love so fast?

a/n: 5.7K WORDS bro that's more than my assignments. anyway i am incredibly proud of this fic and i hope you enjoy it as much as i do

──── ⑅*❀*⑅ ────

Heat rose through your body, fury filling your insides as the words your mother said repeated in your mind like an intoxicating mantra. You are promised.

Promised? Th only promise is your misery. To think it’s not even someone from your clan. A stranger, an outsider, unknown to you and you were meant to mate. The fury grew even thinking about it.

“Y/N? Respond please.” Your mother held her hands on your shoulder as you refused to look in her direction.

“What? I’m being promised to someone I don’t even know. Am I meant to be excited?” You spat venom at your mother avoiding her eye contact, swatting her hands off of your body.  

“Y/N! Do not speak to your mother like that!” Always chiming in when he wasn’t needed, that’s what your father did.

“Don’t treat your daughter like a peace treaty then!” You shouted back, a sharp finger pointed at your father’s chest. You started to walk backwards, hands shaking from the rage racking through your body. “I’m leaving.”

“No Y/N, you can’t leave now, we have things to discuss!” Your mother was desperate walking fast to match the fast pace you had created to reach your ikran.

“You have nothing to say to me.” Harsh words shot at your mother as you hoped onto your ikran. “Go, Lifo!” Shouting out your banshees name you took off, gusts of wind leaving your parents to stare at their fleeing daughter.

You couldn’t remember how long you had been flying, the ongoing replay of the fight with your parents and the doom of your near future plagued your mind. Leaving your ikran to fly into unknown territory, a dense forest filled with a loud glow that encompassed every lifeform.

Landing on a large tree you disconnected from Lifo, the glow was different to your clan, it was much more apparent, the plant life encompassing every step you would take.

Strolling through the forest, you wandered looking for any food or water, as the unexpected trip took a toll on your body, hunger brewing in your stomach creating soft grumbles that harmonized with the sounds of the forest. Inspecting all of the flora around you, you spotted a purple fruit. You only recognized it as the same fruit grew on smaller trees surrounding your village.  

Picking the fruit, avoiding the thorns on the fruits skin, you took a bite. The flesh of the fruit spilling into your mouth leaving you with an amazing taste and a wash of nostalgia. It was the exact same as home, bringing you back to times when you knew you could run freely and weren’t subjected to a life of misery, a life of lack of love.

A sudden crunch of leaves instantly got rid of the nostalgic feeling you had and replaced them with fear, subconsciously holding onto the knife in the loop of your loin cloth as your heart started to beat rapidly.

“Who are you?” A loud voice boomed in front of you. A tall man, braids reaching his shoulders and hand who also reached onto his knife stood tall across from you, his figure intimidating as he questioned you.

“I mean no harm! I am just lost!” You retracted your hand off your knife to surrender yourself to the man in front of you. “I am from the eastern seas, my ikran and I flew too far.” Pointing to your sleeping ikran in the treetops above the pair of you. The mans eyes softened immediately, you noticed a=how the bioluminescent glow of the forest made his features stand out like a flower in a desert.

“Are you alright?” The man asked coming closer, his hand now also abandoning his knife, knowing you were no longer a threat.

“Yes, just looking for food.”

“You cannot stay in the forest at night, you’ll die.” Panic rose throughout you as you realised you stood in such hostile foliage. Eyes immediately scanning around where you stood, conscious of the danger surrounding you. “Rest within my clan, you’ll leave in the morning.” He wasn’t asking you, more like a demand.

Nodding hesitantly, you clapped three times to wake Lifo up, watching her wide wings flap down to the ground to let you board her. “Please lead the way.”

He nodded, calling his ikran to fly high into the sky waiting for you to follow suit. “What is your name Ikran girl?” He shouted over the noise of the two of your ikran’s flying.

“It’s Y/N…what is yours forest boy?”

“Neteyam.” That’s a pretty name.

Upon arrival you watched as many people hustled to look at the newcomer. Two women rose to the front, the rest parting to make way for them. Assuming they were important, you greeted them with a bow. “oel ngati kameie”

The two repeated it before turning aggressively to the boy you knew as Neteyam.

“Who do you bring here?” An older woman asked, she looked wise. Maybe she was Tsa’hik?

“Her name is Y/N, flew over from the eastern seas and got lost in the forest, she is here to rest.” Neteyam’s voice was serious, his face stern, like a man of leadership. Who exactly had you run into in the middle of this forest?

“I see…” She replied, her eyes gliding over you. Frozen in the moment, her stare was intimidating but so was the hundreds of others that oogled at you. It made the hunger settling in your stomach turn into anxiety.

“Feed this poor girl!” A younger woman replied, coming up beside the Tsa’hik. She was thin, her braids similar to Neteyam’s, feathers adorning her hair, as a small child held tightly onto her hand.

“Yes mother.” Neteyam nodded, he looked at you and your frozen form. Laying a soft hand on your shoulder. “Come, your ikran will rest.” He started walking off even before you could process his words but seeing as he was the only person you knew in this place, it was first instinct to follow him around like a lost child.

He lead you into a tent, inside were fruit baskets and water stored in wooden jars. If you weren’t so shocked by the continuous new surrounding you would’ve rushed to the fruit.

“Hurry and eat, everyone can hear your stomach.” Neteyam said as he stood next to the fruit, picking one up to put into your hands. Picking the fruit out of his hands, your fingers brushed his palm slightly.

It shouldn’t have worked you up so much, but the static between the two of you evoked a small gasp out of you. Neteyam felt the touch too, he just decided to ignore it but seeing your overreaction brought a soft smirk to his face.

“Do not make fun of the guests Neteyam!” A girl pushed between the two of you, giving Neteyam a nudge. She was short, her hair messy and her voice deep.

“I was not sister!” Neteyam scoffed pushing his sister back. She let out an exaggerated gasp holding onto her arm dramatically.

Munching onto the fruit in your hands, you watched the pair of sibling’s bicker in front of you. You would’ve giggled at their antics if the anxiety of being in this new place wasn’t controlling every thought.

“Oh! I haven’t introduced myself!” The shorter girl turned to you curtly. “I am Kiri, Neteyam’s sister. What is your name?”

“It’s Y/N.” You said with you mouth full, face covered in a sticky sap excreting from the fruits skin.

“That’s quite pretty, your name.” You heated up, a compliment was rarely something you received.

“Thankyou very much.” You smiled at the girl, your gaze distracted by Neteyam who overlooked your conversation, a soft smile glistening over his face. It looked like was almost in awe watching the two women converse.

Neteyam shook his head, realising he left himself loose in his thoughts. Looking over at your messy face he was mesmerised, each of your features perfectly matched the other, you looked so soft yet sharp, so tough but so elegant.

He shouldn’t be thinking this, not as an Olo’eyktan, he had duties, responsibilities. He can’t develop a liking for another clan woman.

“Are the fruits…good?” He sounded so awkward, destroying the flow of the conversation between you and Kiri. Kiri snorted in response at her brother, she wasn’t dumb, she knew when a boy thought a girl was pretty, especially when its her brother making a fool of himself.  

You nodded enthusiastically. “They’re amazing, thankyou Neteyam.” You had finally finished the fruit, leaving your face and hands sticky. An uncomfortable feeling no doubt.

“I’m uh glad.” Neteyam responded, being slightly deterred as his sister left, poking him in the spine as she snuck out of the tent, leaving Neteyam alone, with this…girl.

“Why are you all the way in the forest by the way?” Neteyam asked suddenly, his eyes directly upon yours, looking into them, noticing the glint of sadness that washed over your pupils momentarily.

“I argued with my parents. Flew off in a rush and got distracted as to where I was flying. So now I am here.” You shrugged, taking a seat on the floor of the tent, your legs growing tired from your long journey. Neteyam followed your actions and sat down in front of you. Much closer to where he stood.

“Oh, I am sorry.”

“Do not be sorry, my parents should be the sorry ones, but you do not want to be burdened with the quarrels of my family.” A stifled chuckle escaped your throat as you looked up to see Neteyam listening to your ever word.

“I would not be burdened if you decided to talk about it.” His voice was calm, soft, a comforting feeling spreading through your chest as you heard his words.

“Thankyou.”

Neteyam nodded, as he patted just above your knee, a soft hand to comfort whatever grief was consuming your emotions. “Do you want to sleep, or would you like to continue to eat?”

“Uh, I don’t want to eat more than I am allowed to.”

“Well, are you still hungry?”

“…yes”

Neteyam shoved another piece of fruit in your hands. “Then you will eat.”

“Thankyou.” You smiled at him, biting into the fruit once again.

Neteyam was compelled by your presence, he had known you for merely an hour but the magnetic connection he felt as he was drawn to you was undeniable. Was he going crazy?

You noticed his heavy stare on you once more. It made you nervous, his eyes looking through you as you sat in front of him. His beauty was one you had never seen, he poise interested you. Were you attracted to this random man? You must be going crazy.

Chewing the food in a slightly rush you watched as Neteyam’s eyes awkwardly shuffled around the room to try and avoid making too much eye contact with you. With a small inhale you tried to gain the courage to break the awkward tension between you two.

“So Neteyam, you seem important around here, is there a reason why?” Your question surprised Neteyam. He had never met someone who knew nothing of his reputation within the clan.

“I am the future Olo’eyktan, my father is Toruk Makto.” You almost spat out the food in your mouth. You were speaking so casually with the son of Toruk Makto? Not even that, his firstborn son? He must have been staring because you were so informal!

“Oh! Son of Toruk Makto. I should have been more formal!” You rushed to stand up again to bow down to him. Scrambling to your feet with speed, you felt a soft grip on your wrist.

There Neteyam looked up at you, his eyes slightly…disappointed? Was he really that upset about your informalities?

“Sit back down Y/N, there is no need to be so formal.”

“Are you sure.” Your voice was quiet, eyes filled with confusion and hesitance as he nodded giving you the go ahead to sit once again.

“Yes I’m sure…just think of me as Neteyam.”

“Okay, I’ll do that…Neteyam.” He smiled at the sound of his name, the way you giggled as you said it, smile shining brightly in the soft moonlight that slipped through the tents curtains.

“What are you in your clan?” He asked, trying to keep the conversation flowing with you.

“I am the second daughter of the Olo’eyktan. Nothing special.” You shrugged, avoiding his hardening gaze. His hand returned once again to your thigh, an awkward attempt at comfort but still an attempt.

“You are a daughter of your clan’s leaders, that is important.” A stern statement filled with pride, his eyes softening while looking at you.

“Thankyou.” You said followed with a small yawn, eyes watering slightly. Your body was now feeling the fatigue of the long day that was now behind you.

“Oh, that reminds me, sleeping.” A soft chuckle left your lips in response to Neteyam, eyelids now starting to droop subtly. “This is my tent is where I usually sleep but if you would like you can sleep in here and I can sleep in my family’s tent?” He sounded so unsure, to suggest it as if there was another option as to where you could sleep safely.

“I do not want to kick you out of your bedroom.” You said shaking your head.

“But you are a guest you should sleep here safe.” A quick rebuttal

“Well, but this is your tent. This is where you sleep.”

“No, tonight it is where you sleep.” You sighed, pursing your lips together in response to Neteyams final remarks.

“But-”

“No” he stood up, now looking down at you. His figure looming over you intimidatingly. “You will sleep here tonight. If there is any trouble I am not far away.” He smiled at you, offering a hand to pull you up to his level.

“Are you completely sure?”

“Completely. Goodnight ikran girl.”

“Goodnight Neteyam.”

You both couldn’t deny the heat that rushed flowed to your cheeks. Neteyam stifled his smile as he exited the tent, as a smirking Kiri gave him a knowing look. This may have been the start of something terribly amazing.

It was now morning, a restless night filled with anxiety. The new sounds of the world around you, the mysterious moonlight shining into your eyes and to be alone in a brand new clan. It was terrifying.

Waking up for the last time as you decided it was an appropriate time to start off your day. Siting up you examined the tent around you, the small plants and flowers that littered the ground, and carved wooden pieces that were spread strategically around the tent. He must enjoy decorating you thought to yourself.

The curtain of your room slowly opened, a timid hand holding the edge, peeling it open to reveal Neteyam’s face. “Morning Y/N, did you sleep alright?” He asked closing the curtain again as he entered his tent. He looked down at your barely awake form, the sleep in your eyes and overall exhaustion on your face told him that you in fact did not sleep alright.

“It was fine, thankyou for letting me sleep here.”

“There was no way you weren’t going to, mum would have skinned me if I had not let a woman sleep in her own tent.” He chuckled at the thought, a hand being brought up behind his head.

“Either way, I appreciate it. I’ll have to go home soon though, my parents will send out a search party if I’m not back before todays eclipse.” Neteyam frowned, of course you had to leave. But why was there a tugging in his heart to ask you to stay just a couple hours longer, to talk to you longer, to be near you.

“Yes, but you should stay just a bit…longer.” Neteyam sounded so weary, cursing himself in his mind.

You stared up at him, you couldn’t deny that you wanted to be home, yet you had this growing urge to stay by this stranger. Why? Why did you crave his closeness?

“I guess I could…” His face brightened almost exclaiming in joy, but he choked down his urge to shout.

“Cool.” Cool? Oh, Neteyam you had to be kidding.

“Yeah…cool…” The awkward tension was once again returning as you looked away from the boy in front of you, fidgeting with his hands, rocking on his heels to pray something could meld the awkwardness in the room.

Getting off of your makeshift bed you stood close to Neteyam. Closer than any normal conversation would be. His breath was brushing past your ear as he looked down to see you mimicking his fidgeting.

“Would you like to explore the forest with me?” It was a fast, impulsive, brash decision to ask you that but seeing the way your eyes twinkled in response he felt no shame in being so forward.

“I’d love to.” Sharing smiles, you both enjoyed the now comfortable silence between you. A silence two would share in the pining plot point of a romance movie, one that asserts which two characters will be in love.

“Then let us go!”

That conversation led to you being alone in the forest with Neteyam. As he passionately explained all of the things around you, the plants, the animals. He knew you would have them in your clan, but he was enthralled in the spirit of teaching someone all about his life and culture. To have someone listen so intently to something he was passionate about.

“The forest is beautiful Neteyam.” You breathed out resting your back against a large tree trunk, one similar to the one you landed on the night before.

“I am extremely blessed for it to be my home.” His eyes were bright, smile across his face as his gratitude took over his emotions. He looked alluring to you, a sort of instinct drawing you closer to him, even though he was the one walking closer to you, a subconscious decision.

“Neteyam..” It was quiet but seeing him walk towards you unknowingly led him to stand very close to your front. His chest mere centimetres away from yours. “You are close…” Noticing your whisper he noticed how close he was, he was too busy focusing on the plants around him, he had walked right into you.

He froze when he saw your breath hitch, your eyes connecting as his broad chest momentarily brushed up against yours. “I am sorry, I shouldn’t be.” He looked down seeing your flushed cheeks and avoidant eyes. It intrigued him. Why were you so attractive? He shouldn’t think this.

“No, you shouldn’t.” Your eyes shot up to him, desire pooling in your amber orbs. The feeling was taking over your body, this longing for him. Why did you want this stranger so bad? You knew nothing of him other than the fact that your body was calling for him, begging for him.

Neteyam was now the frozen one, lost in your eyes. The desire you felt transferring to him as he felt his chest grow heavy from yearning. “Y/N…” Your name rolled off his tongue with ease, dripping in anxiousness.

Maybe it was to spite your parents, to find someone before you were mated. Maybe it was the overall intimacy of how Neteyam shyly loomed over you or maybe it was the fact that this man in front of you was the most attractive Na’vi you had ever came across and you were just a teenage girl…alone in the forest.

“Neteyam. Forgive me for this.” Crashing your lips against his your eyes shut tight as your hands travelled up his chest to rest behind his neck. He froze, eyes wide as he felt you upon him. Your touch burning as your hands travelled up and down his body.

Accepting your affections, he closed his eyes and continued to kiss you. Lips latching onto one another as he pulled your into his body, his hands wrapped around the small of your back, thumbs digging into the flesh of your hips.

Starting to lose your breath you broke away from Neteyam’s lips. Meeting his heavy breaths and intense stare. “Neteyam-” cut off as he smashed his lips into yours again. This time it was feverish, his body craving you, to taste you lips and feel every part of your body.

You let out small whimpers as Neteyam’s hands travelled down to grab your ass, his hand resting on the flesh. If he was in his right mind he would’ve been repulsed by his lewd actions but in this moment he craved you, and the sounds you made just drove him closer to insanity.

As hands roamed and kisses grew more desperate you and Neteyam separated, hands laying softly on each other as chests rose in sync, breathing loud and eye contact strong.

“Neteyam, I am sorry. I should not have done that.” The feeling of desire soon turned into shame, not being able to look him in the eye, too embarrassed about what you initiated. Neteyam was still, his face showing none of the feelings he was experiencing.

He longed to taste you again, but he knew it was wrong. He had duties to uphold as leader, he couldn’t kiss whomever he pleased. But you were just so intoxicating.

“No.”

“What?”

“Do not be sorry. I kissed you back. I wanted you so badly. No. I want you so badly.”

“Neteyam, I met you yesterday and I’m leaving today. I shouldn’t have been so impulsive.” He forgot that you had only known each other one eclipse. It felt like eternity. He also forgot that you were meant to leave, you weren’t here forever. This was a mere coincidence, meeting you in the forest was a coincidence.

“Come back then.”

“Huh” You stared up at him, you knew what he said. You just wanted him to repeat himself.

“Leave and come back. We can visit I just…I want to get to know you more Y/N. I don’t want to kiss a girl to never see her again.” Neteyam’s hands had rested against your cheek. It didn’t feel like you had known him for hours, more like years. An old couple reuniting, lost souls reconnecting. That is what it felt like.

“Neteyam…how do I explain that to my parents?”

“Don’t.”

“You are being a bit delusional.”

“I know I just… this is stupid. You just want to go.” His ears flattened against his skull, a prominent frown etched onto his face. You sighed holding onto the hand that laid against your own cheek.

“Neteyam. I want to get to know you as well.”

There it was. That was the start. It was the beginning. You both felt something click in your heads that day. That this is what is right, despite it feeling so wrong.

You and Neteyam had now been visiting each other twice a week. You would fly out on long ‘training hunts’ to understand new waters you have explored but in reality you were in the Pandorian rainforest, sat against a man’s chest as he played with your hair. It had become routine now. It was now habit to see each other.

It felt like true bliss. It let you escape from the impending doom that was meeting your future mate. It felt disgusting to think of living with someone other than Neteyam by your side. Thinking about it made you queasy but most of it made you feel lonely. Knowing one day you would have to say goodbye to Neteyam as your family had trapped you into misery for the benefits of clan’s over their own daughter. However, you didn’t think you would say goodbye to Neteyam this way.

You sat on the tree where you met Neteyam. You decided to pick that one as its large waterfall next to it made it easy for you to know where you were as you barely knew your way around the forest.

Early morning is when you would leave your clan meeting Neteyam as the sun starts to move towards peak. This morning however felt different. Neteyam who usually was there before you was nowhere to be seen. It worried you wondering where he was. He didn’t forget or something did he? No. That is stupid Y/N, you cursed yourself.

Being in the forest alone was scary, not knowing all that resides it made you sensitive to the smallest noise. That’s why when Neteyam emerged out of the heavy foliage you had your knife out ready to attack.

“Y/N? Why is your knife out?”

“You scared the crap out of me Neteyam.” Putting your knife back into the loop of your loincloth you pulled your hands down your face in embarrassment. Your heartbeat now starting to calm down as Neteyam gave you a soft embrace hoping to calm your anxiousness.

“Sorry…I was late talking to my family.” You didn’t realise before because of the adrenaline but Neteyam’s voice was sorrowful. The usual playful tone changing into a melancholy tune. But what alerted you the most was his tear-stricken face. Puffy eyes and dark cheeks.

“Neteyam…have you been crying?” you rested your thumb against his cheek, wiping the residue of tears off his face.

“It is nothing”

“It is definitely something…” your concern grew larger as he looked way from your gaze, obvious he was hiding the new set of tears welling in his eyes.

“No. It is not.”

“Neteyam please-”

“NO Y/N! I- I can’t talk about it. I just want, I want to stay next to you.” His voice cracked, in turn cracking your heart. It ached to see him hurt.

“That is okay baby, come here.” He crashed into your arms, falling onto his knees to smoosh his face into your torso. You could feel the wetness of his tears near your belly button but ignored it to continue soothing him, patting his head softly.

As you sat down to meet him on the ground you noticed his more recent tears. It pained you. What was troubling your boy?

“Nete you can tell me if something is troubling you…”

“I don’t want to lose you Y/N.” The sentence was unexpected, making you widen your eyes as Neteyam continued to let his tears fall out with a stone cold face.

“But I am right here.” A lie, you knew you would be taken away at some point, but you would tried to push it down. Enjoy the time you had with Neteyam, but for some reason he was the one cutting it short.

“No Y/N…I have been promised. I-” he paused to calm himself down, his hand gripping onto your thigh roughly. “I am to mate with someone for my clan. It is my duty.”

“What.”

“Y/N please, I had no say in this.” Your lip quivered, eyes starting to water as you gazed up to the already crying Neteyam. The pain in your body felt crippling, like your heart had been plunged out of you. Small sobs coming out of your mouth in a soft whisper as Neteyam muttered constant apologies to you.

Your chest felt heavy, your body felt heavy. You felt like you were tied down, stuck on the ground you sat on, stuck on Neteyam who hung onto you as you continued to cry in his embrace.

“Neteyam. Does this mean we never see each other again?” His heart shattered at the thought. He had fallen in love with you. Everything you did he wanted to be there with you. He craved you and you craved him. But now you were grieving him and grieving whatever could have been.

“I do not want it to be.”

“But is it.”

“Yes.”

The quiet sobs turned into loud ones as you clawed onto Neteyam. He whispered sweet nothings into your ear as he rocked you back and forth. He tried to have a little composure but hearing your pained voice broke him. He had broken you.

“I don’t want to let you go yet Nete. I was planning on never letting you go! Why did this happen!” you had this secret fantasy in your mind. That one day you and Neteyam would mate, that you would come to your home, denounce your parents promise over you and live happily with Neteyam.

But no. You were now both tied to loveless lives. Constantly yearning for each other while being with one whom you never craved like you craved each other.

“I am so sorry my love. I wish I could do something, but I am stuck.” You nodded, you were in his exact position. You couldn’t blame him. But you wanted to scream, cause a ruckus and demand for Neteyam to stay as yours. It drove you insane. Who was going to be the girl that kept you away from your Neteyam. You’ll skin her, kill her, slit her throat if it meant that Neteyam could still be yours.

“I know…let’s just enjoy our time together” it felt like a knife to the heart, like a final goodbye those last eight words. But Neteyam understood. He knew that this was a goodbye. That all good things had to come to an end but that didn’t make the thought of never having you in his arms again not the most painful thing he had ever thought about.

The ride home was the most painful thing you had ever done. You didn’t stop crying until you reached home, your throat itchy and head pounding. You wanted nothing more than to lay in your hammock and cry. To stay there until it was your time to mate and be miserable forever.

Flying into your home you would’ve thought your parents got the message that you were not to be talked to. But who were they to care about your feelings? So they barged into your room, gasping at the state of their sorrowful daughter.

“My child what has happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” You grumbled facing the opposite direction to minimalize the embarrassment you felt of being caught crying.

“We should tell her.” Your fathers voice rung in your ears, making your body go cold. You couldn’t handle anymore bad news, not after this.

“Tell me what.”

“Your mate is to arrive here tomorrow.” Your body heated up, feeling as if your head was on fire with rage. You didn’t even get time to grieve your romance before you were shoved into the hands of a stranger?

“Are you fucking kidding me.”

“Do not speak to us that way.” Your father tried to discipline you, but your rage was nothing compared to him.

“ARE YOU KIDDING?! I DON’T WANT A MATE I WANT TO BE ALONE. FUCK!” You voice was raspy and loud, sure the entire clan could hear you screams.

“You do not get a choice in this. It is for the clan.” You looked into your parents eyes but all you could see is betrayal, how is this fair?

You didn’t have the energy to fight this any longer. Without Neteyam, your purpose was gone. How was anyone meant to fight for their love when their love had been stripped away from them.

“Fine.” Your mother looked at both her mate and daughter with concern. You had given up. “I don’t care anymore, because it is obvious you do not.”

“You brat-” Your mother coughed loudly to stop your father. Sharing glances, you all looked to each other.

“Thank you daughter for doing this.” Sneering you looked directly into your mothers eyes and then to your fathers.

“I am not your daughter.” Their faces had fallen, the same emotion Neteyam had when he first saw you earlier. They had no right to be upset. Not when they chose this.

As your parents left without a word, you curled into a ball, folding in on yourself trying to shy away from the burden of grief and love tugging on your heart. The pain was indescribable, like someone had taken your heart and diced it in front of you.

That morning your mother had put you in your best attire. A top adorned in red beads and yellow feathers that represented your ikran was placed on top of you. Your usually loincloth had been replaced with one of prettier colour and material, more delicate to look at. Lastly, your hair had been let out, reaching past your shoulder blades as a yellow flower was stuck behind your left ear.

“You look beautiful Y/N.” Your mother had her hands over her mouth adoringly. “Doesn’t she look wonderful?” she asked your father as he replied with a proud nod.

A horn was sounded. Here they come. Entitled pieces of shit, thinking that they could mate into your clan. This wasn’t fair, you just wanted to see Neteyam. You wanted to cry in his arms, yet here you were walking out into the crowd of people. Drums being beat as horns blew. You tried to look poised, to try and look like you weren’t writhing in anxiety of who this man would be.

There flew in three ikrans. Why did it look so familiar? Why was the flashing colours of these animals bringing you back to siting in the forest with your love. You must be going insane.

“Neteyam te Suli Tsyeyk’itan! Welcome! Toruk Makto! Welcome!”

What.

No.

This cannot be happening. But it was.

There he stood in front of you. Just as frozen as you. The quiver of your lips came back as you saw him stand in front of you in disbelief.

“Neteyam?” He walked towards you slowly, reaching his shaking hand out to you. You paced towards him, wrapping your hand around his and bringin it to your chest. “It’s! It’s you!” you felt as if you were to burst in relief

“My love, it is you?” Neteyam’s free hand came to caress your cheek, his heart was sparkling, he felt a weight being lift off his shoulders the minute you came into view.

“It is me.” Neteyam’s lip quivered as he sucked in a short breath, trying desperately to not look as if he was a madman. “Kiss me.”

“What?”

“Kiss me Neteyam.” He complied, lips melting together in a harmonious union. Love mixed with the salty tears on both your cheeks as he held you closely to him. You kissed him deeply, ignoring the stares and confusion around you. He was here right in front of you, you would never let him go again. Never.

──── ⑅*❀*⑅ ────

hope you enjoyed please comment and reblog and like I appreciate it so much !!

[originalaccountname]

Hiiiii for the fic recommendations do you have ones that have a story ( like a mystery, treasure hunt, a case fic, etc)

sooo many (in no particular order):

A Doll's House by Abyss_In_WonderLand_likes_sexy_cannibals (M, 45k, Dazai and Chuuya get stuck in an ability-space created to test partnerships and they must overcome all the challenges to get out)

picking a flower that blooms on the heart for you translated by burgundytshirt (M, 44k, Chuuya suddenly gets hanahaki and dies from it, only to wake up the previous morning in a time loop, and sets on to understand what is going on)

the liar’s house translated by burgundytshirt (M, 19k, Atsushi, Kunikida, Dazai, Chuuya, Kajii and Akutagawa get stuck in a literal haunted house where refusing to answer truthfully takes away one of their senses)

a kick in the teeth (a kiss with a fist) by refectory (T, 7k, Chuuya wakes up in a strange facility with Gin and can't use his ability, they sneak around and beat up people until they figure out why they're here)

To the Undying by SenZen_Travers (T, 7k, Chuuya has been captured on purpose to defeat an enemy and Dazai comes to get him so they can beat up people)

Ephemeris by Seedus (G, 12k, mission fic + character study, Chuuya accidentally displaces Dazai across space and time to save him and has to get him back)

On My Knees (Looking for the Answer) by A_Zap (T, 65k, mission fic + character study, plot alternates between present day trying to fix the situation and people remembering past experiences with Chuuya)

Illustrations of Lying by writingfromtheshadows (M, 49k, for context this one is from 2017, so a whole year before Dead Apple, BEAST, Fifteen, etc, AND YET! Dazai never got to Oda before he died and instead killed and replaced Mori as boss, with Chuuya as his right hand man. They are both having a horrible time, and then a new threat appears to make things worse)

Interpretation of Dreams by AnonymousStory77 (M, 15k ongoing, no it's not finished but I still love what it already has to offer I'm including it)

Bonus round:

Build Upon The Ruins by izanyas (E, 73k, Pacific Rim-inspired AU that actually has Kunikida as the main POV as Dazai's new partner after Chuuya was severely injured, but POV alternates between a few people, including Yosano and Dazai, and yes, it has skk and disabled Chuuya)

[theshiftingwitch]

Shadow work for beginners:

The easy way to dive in.

In my previous two posts, I explained what shadow work is and how you can use it to manifest your desires.

Now, I'm going to tell you how to use to as a complete beginner.

The first thing you must understand is that shadow work is not just journaling or talking about your issues. It is deeper than that.

Shadow work is patter recognition.

You're going about your day, and you see or hear something that sends you into a spiral on negative emotions, a bottomless pit of despair if you will.

You want to pull up your journal or your diary and rant all about that thing that happened. Cool. Do that. But don't stop there.

In order to stop repeating the cycle, to break the loop, if you will, you must find out what about that event that triggered you in the first place.

Because yes, you were triggered by it.

Was it a word? A tone? A memory? An action?

What made you have such a strong reaction?

Once you figure that out, look back to other times in which the same trigger happened, to when you had the same reaction.

One memory? Good.

Two memories? Great.

Three memories? Even better.

Four memories? I'm so sorry. You don't have to pull it all up, just identify the trigger.

Now you have a bank of information relating to similar events in your past.

That is pattern recognition.

Okay, now I know all of this. What the hell am I going to do with it?

Now is the hard part, because you see, I told you shadow work isn't just about journaling and ranting. But don't worry, you got this.

Once you identify your trigger, and you know the negative consequences it has on your mental health and emotional wellbeing, you nip it in the bud.

You have to set firm boundaries.

Whether with yourself or with other people, your goal is to minimise the chances of being in a situation that would light up that trigger again.

Someone said something you didn't like, an ongoing joke at your expense? You make it clear that you will not tolerate that anymore and that if they insist on doing it again you will be cutting them out.

The trick here, is to go through with the threat if your boundaries are crossed.

Someone took advantage of your time or energy and you felt used or disrespected? Make it clear you will not be used for free labor again, and go through with whatever ultimatum you give.

You have to keep your promises to yourself and other people.

You also have to remove yourself from any and all toxic environments.

Have you ever heard the saying "you can't heal in the same environment that made you sick in the first place"?

Yeah, you have to prioritise your wellbeing, and if that meant leaving behind a toxic environment, then so be it.

I recognise this might not be easy from the get go, but it is something to consider. With strong boundaries and the ability to prioritise yourself, leaving, in time, will be easy.

So, let's recap:

Shadow work for beginners is the recognition of patterns that trigger you. Find out what or who is causing you emotional trauma, identify the trigger, set strong boundaries, and if all fails, leave.

I hope this was helpful, and if you need something more substantial to star with, I have a shadow work book for beginners with easy prompts to get you started.

[is-this-a-valid-iterator-name]

Are these valid iterator names? The last one probably isn't but I'll slap it in anyways XD

Endless Beyond

Thirteen Elder Stories

Eight Crashing Tides

Last String of Life

Twelve Far Away Dreams

Ruby Skies by Sapphire Shores

Extracted Prism Sunsets

Threats of Ongoing Loops

Forecasts of Forgotten Truths

Outsourced Onslaught Precision

Sunrise Solar Starlight Lunar

last can probably be turned into an ancient name

these go hard. puts them in my mouth as per the validating ritual

[sharky857]

Gamer Bond

PREMISE: Long time no posting a fic in here. Yep, I wrote one, which can also be found on my AO3 (if you have an accounjt over there).

I may or may be not slightly Amir-starved since the mall has gone POOF until this coming winter, and I felt a mild mighty need to write a self-indulgent and cutesy ficcy.

Besides Ao3, you'll see it also by clicking/tapping "keep reading" in this very post. Enjoy~!

(Minor warning for explicit language -thanks, Damienne- and past bullying -thanks, Amir's brain-)

--

Lately there had been a lot of visitors in that mall.

Like… A lot lot.

Seemingly, he couldn’t really care less. None of them had seemed like a threat this whole time and his other squad mates had been overall chill as well. Besides, most of them would hang out nearby the stage, dancing and vibing to the only, forever-looped, On-Lyne’s song.

But he too had spotted them nonetheless with the corner of his eye, while sprinting non-stop from an arcade game to another. Despite the overall semi-darkness, it had been quite hard to miss them, especially the glowier ones.

Some kept on showing up with their own “warframes”, as if they’d wanted to keep their real identity a secret or something, while others were there in person; sometimes it was only an adult, some other times a lone kid. And a few had been bold enough to show up in pairs.

Like these two young ladies.

For some reason, apparently so far only Eleanor knew of the real nature of these “visitors”, given how she would reassure them that their “secret” was safe with her.

However, these two seemed not fussed by being seen together. One was a scrawny kid with her mahogany hair side shaved except for some long, straight locks to each side of her face and some kind of ponytail to match, dressed mostly in a dark olive green. The other had only a different-looking outfit, but the colours were identical, as well as the hairstyle.

They too were clearly two faces of the same coin, like any other of those “visitors”, but they also didn’t give a crap about being seen together like that. If anyone had ever tried to inquire them, the pair could’ve merely said that they were “big sis” and “lil sis”, as they would often refer to themselves also when they were on their own.

= = = =

“Psh, isn’t that guy too old for games?”

Amir had barely heard the scoffing remark an imposing redhead had just whispered to the unknown black Gyre next to them.

The technician couldn’t help but have a quick flashback of his own childhood and some bullies.

Mocked for the bouncy legs and restless hands. Teased for being a weakling with little to no stamina. Taunted for being a geeky nerdy loser. Scoffed and scolded for making “weirdass and annoying noises”. Shouted at for seemingly not paying attention in class.

Enough!

Dear brain, don’t you fuckin’ dare to go there again! Different times. Past times. Gone times.

‘Sides, both those guys and those teachers were probably one with the Techrot by now, while he was still Amir Beckett and getting the jackpot of those neat superhuman powers, which also improved his own stamina greatly.

Haha! Who’s the geeky nerdy loser now?

With his own confidence restored and without losing his focus on the ongoing games, Amir was about to scoff right back at the pair standing on the entrance, when…

“Aren’t you too young to be judgemental grumps?”

A young woman with a hairstyle to match that of a young girl next to her asked nonchalantly as she stepped into the arcade room from another entrance.

“Ugh, you two must be real unfun at parties.” The shorter kid next to her crossed her arms. “Just… kindly piss off.”

The other duo stood agape for a brief second.

“… Watch your mouth, scrub. Unless-”

“Unless what, fuckwad?” Both “Damiennes” took a single step forwards, which made the others two instinctively take a step back.

“You really wanna go?” The shorter Damienne cracked her knuckles with a feral grin. “I’ve heard that Uncle Teshin’s place is lovely to visit this time of the day.” She added, referring to the “Conclave”, where all Tenno could spar with their own peers.

The redhead was about to snap right back, when a small nudge from the black Gyre caught their attention.

The warframe brought a bent hand midway between her own collarbone and the throat, then moved it back and forth a couple times while slightly shaking her head.

Just forget about them.

The dickhead only cast one last glare at the other duo. And then, without saying another word, they stormed away with the warframe silently following suit.

“Yeah, go back to the nursing home, asshat.” Damienne scoffed, before getting a nudge from her own Drifter.

“Now don’t push it, lil sis.” The older counterpart hummed, albeit with an amused smirk.

“Ungh! This violent video game is… influencing my emotions! Societal norms… eroding! Morality… subsumed! I. MUST. KILL!”

Amir’s small ramble brought the attention of the two back inside the arcade room.

There was quite an amount of arcade machines in there, most of them functional, but two in particular seemed to be so very good to cause the technician to constantly dash back and forth between them.

Amir had figured a way to get his clues for when to go from a game to another.

Whenever he would hear his character taking damage in the fighting game, the technician would send the ball as high as possible inside the pinball and then instantly dart to deliver as many blows as he could to the AI-controlled opponent on the other arcade game, all while keeping an eye -or better: an ear- at the sounds coming from the pinball machine itself. And when he would hear the small ball hitting some specific bouncers on the pinball machine, Amir would perform a combo that could leave the opponent momentarily stunned, and then immediately dash back to the pinball.

And of course, usually all this would also require all of his focus.

“Ohh… He really needs to teach me how to multitask like this!” Damienne remarked, observing the other in action.

Not getting a response from her older counterpart, the Tenno looked around, only to find “big sis” standing in front of the free pinball machine, silently staring at it. Had she been a Kavat, her pupils would’ve been fully dilated too.

The whimsical music… The mechanical sounds… The way those smooth and big buttons felt under her gloved fingertips… The clicking noises of the flippers in motion… The light show…

Something had definitely clicked inside older Damienne’s head, something real good that had just tickled her inner gamer soul just right.

That was gonna be a blast and a half to try out!

There was only one, small catch: apparently, the machine wanted to feed off some “coin”. Which neither Damienne nor Damienne had any, for obvious reasons.

“Uhm…” The Drifter turned to Amir, trying to talk fast before he would zoom once again to the fighting game. “Is there any way to fire this baby up in an alternative way, besides coins?”

As expected, first Amir zoomed to the fighting game, dashing back to his pinball machine a moment later; without breaking eye contact with said machine, he swiftly released a tiny blue spark right into the crack that would usually accept coins.

That second pinball machine immediately stirred to life, and a small, metal ball was released on the launching ramp, ready to be, in fact, launched.

“There you go, sister.” He hummed. “A little zap, and... infinite credit! No more insert coin!” The other explained with a mischievous grin, before pondering something.

“Not that we could insert coin. We have no coin.” He added. “Once we had coin, but now Aoi has smooshed all the coin.”

“Coinnnn.” Amir muttered to himself as he dashed yet again to the other game.

Damienne nodded her acknowledgement, not fazed in the slightest by what others would’ve described as “a weird quirk”.

Both herself and her younger counterpart -who had silently taken a note to bring “Zappy” along as well, next time- were already quite used to all sort of “peculiar habits” from their friends and acquaintances.

“Thanks, Amir. I owe you one.” The older Damienne smiled warmly.

“No biggie.” The other answered the moment he sprinted back to his own pinball machine.

There was only a brief pause where he zoomed to the fighting game and back, then he added: “How d’you know my name, anyway?”

“A lil’ lady snitched on you.” Damienne jokingly referred to Aoi, as her own Drifter -after getting more accustomed to all buttons and levers of the pinball machine- started her own game, unable to wait any longer.

As if to confirm the words of the younger Tenno, the familiar voice of Aoi reminding Amir “to hydrate” echoed all the way from the long gone music store.

“Oh… Aight.” The technician nodded as he dashed from a game back to another for the who-was-even-counting time.

“Hmh, I noticed she says so a fuck-a-ton lot of times.” Damienne hummed. “You… did remember to hydrate, right?” She took a small step forwards as she leaned slightly towards the technician, while being careful not to stand in the way of his zoomies. “Riiiight?”

“I… can’t really recall right now.” Amir replied with a hint of awkwardness.

“Bruh, how long have you even been in here?” The older Damienne inquired, barely moving her gaze from the colourful lights.

“Uhhh…”

No, he wasn’t ashamed to admit that he’d been in there for literal hours. Amir honestly had not the slightest clue how long he had been (hyper)focusing on those games.

“Good question.”

“Well… No matter. Damienne to the rescue!” The Tenno mimicked a superhero pose, then trotted to a corner of the arcade room, where she had spotted a couple of vending machines.

“Ahh… I haven’t fixed those yet!” The technician warned the kiddo.

He didn’t need to divert his gaze from his games to know what the other was intended to do, as those vending machines were the closest source of “hydration”.

“Oh, no need to wait for a fix.” The other hummed back.

“Hold up! You… fixed everything in here?” The Drifter counterpart asked as she stared at the ball bouncing between a bouncer and another. “Must’ve taken you forever!”

“Eh, not really.” Now from the fighting game, Amir shrugged lightly. “It’s all basic wiring, nothing too fancy. Even a rookie electrician could’ve done the job, if we had any around. Maybe the biggest challenge have been those speakers near the stage. Wasn’t really as easy navigating through all that techrot over there.” He went on as he dashed back to the pinball, then grinned as he kept his gaze firmly on the ball. “But hey, I did it! Although now we’re kinda forever stuck with that literal brainrot of a song. But I don’t really mind it, Aoi seems to enjoy it, and the others seem to just ignore it.”

“It-it-it~…” The technician chanted under his breath for a brief moment.

“Dunno if I can say the same for Quincy, though.” He then resumed like nothing happened. “His little target practice corner is right next to that stage… Still low-key waiting for the day he’ll snap for good and use the speakers as alternative targets.”

Amir’s small rambling was momentarily covered by the noise of a couple of hard kicks against the side of one of the vending machines, followed suit by the unmistakable noise of soda cans hitting the floor.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” The younger Damienne hummed as she picked the cans up and trotted back to the pinball games.

Seizing the opportunity of her own ball bouncing close to the upper side of the pinball, for a brief second “big sis” Damienne simply stared at her in a quizzical manner: why didn’t “lil sis” just make use of “that Void fuckery beam”?

The answer came to the Drifter shortly after: Damienne had just wanted to grab a few cans, not to blow a vending machine sky high.

“Hmmm…” The Tenno hummed pensively, staring at the cans in her arms.

“What’s the matter?” Her Drifter inquired, resuming her game.

“Hmmmmm…” The other hummed again, until it hit her. “Ah, I knew something’s still missing!” Damienne eventually replied, then left the cans neatly on the edge of the Drifter’s pinball machine and darted outside the arcade room, while shouting “I’ll be right back!”

= = = =

Straws. That’s what was still missing. Straws to drink from the cans while keeping on gaming non-stop.

It wasn’t just any straw; “lil sis” had rushed to the Pizza Byte place and grabbed a handful of the silly-looking ones with intricate hoops.

No, the Tenno didn’t care about them looking silly.

…

Okay, she had picked them also because they were kinda cute.

But the main reason was practicality, as those were much longer than the regular straws she had first fished from behind that counter.

“Is there any flavour you may fancy, sir?” The younger Damienne held the cans of soda high enough for Amir to have a glance with the corner of his eye, while jokingly pretending to be some kind of waitress from a fancy restaurant.

“Grapes, please.” The other answered.

“I don’t like raspberry.” He then grumbled under his breath as he moved back to the fighting game. “Tried it once, and my whole body wanted to curl up in a miserable ball of pain and suffering.”

When the technician made his way back to the pinball, there was a grapes-flavoured soda can open and ready to be chugged. Silly yet practical straw included, of course, which “lil sis” had also made herself sure to match the colour to the scribbled grapes on the side.

“There you go, buddy. I now declare you out of the dehydration danger zone~”

Amir cracked a shy smile.

“Thank you.”

He then cast a very fleeting glance at the “big sis” right next to him, as her younger self opened a can of strawberry soda for her own Drifter -setting a “silly straw” in a pink colour in it-.

“And… thanks for earlier as well.” He murmured, referring to the way the two Damiennes had dealt with the other duo.

“No biggie.” The other hummed, returning his smile. “Some people just need to learn the concept of minding one’s own fuckin’ business.”

“Oh, definitely.” The other agreed.

A mild tugging recalled older Damienne’s attention, cutting the conversation short.

“Sooo… When is gonna be my turn?” The Tenno asked expectantly.

“When this big sis will lose this ball.” The Drifter answered after a brief pondering. Then smiled smugly “Which might take a while. I think I’m getting the hang of this baby.” She added teasingly.

With the corner of her eye, the Drifter caught a glimpse of a mischievous smirk on the other’s face.

“Don’t even think about it, or I’ll get back at you.”

“You know I won’t lose this easily~” The other hummed back.

“Hmmm? I don’t recall the Ludoplex has a pinball game installed.”

“The- what?” Amir asked.

“Ludoplex.” Both Drifter and Operator answered simultaneously.

“I got it a while ago from Simaris.” The latter then added. “It comes with a small handful of games. They aren’t much, but they’re good.”

“Though the Happy Zephyr one always makes me want to chunk the whole thingy straight into the Void…” The former grumbled.

“Yeahhh, that one is the bad shit.” The younger Damienne agreed. “But Wyrmius and Framefighters are the good shit. Especially Framefighters.”

Then she turned to Amir. “You know what? Next time we’ll visit, I will bring the Ludoplex!” The Tenno grinned. “If you like beating the shit outta a bunch of programmed bots,” Operator Damienne nodded briefly towards the fighting arcade game to underline her words, “you may definitely love beating the shit outta other players. Framefighters is fully PVP.”

“Is that an invitation to party?” The technician hummed with a small smirk as he dashed back from said fighting game to the pinball machine, mimicking the stereotypical manner of speech of some main character from a generic action movie.

“Yup!” Both Operator and Drifter answered simultaneously once again.

“Aight… Count me in, girls!”

[rin-and-jade]

Here's the continuation about dissociation! Call it part two, because im going to talk about the what's and why's when you're still dissociated despite active approach in attempt to 'sober' up.

Not all people can tell they're dissociated, so if you'd like a simple list of how it can look like when you're not educated yet, please visit here (part one) and come back.

What should i do about this?

When you tried grounding and other techniques out there yet it's still not resolved, i highly advice you to stop pushing through and take the second act of waiting it out. Though this can be done improperly which could cause dissociation longer than needed, so, here are some things i have collected myself during those times:

Minimize stressors: extra stress allegedly became the main reason in being dissociated longer for us. If it's possible to fix, or ask someone else to do it, or postpone to catch a breather then you should do it before the executive dysfunction catches up and overwhelms you even further.

Engage in comfort activities: be it treating yourself a dessert or watching markiplier videos, this will help you in staying calm and serves as a distraction from the detached feeling. It also feels much better than just sitting down and go blank as your hands look weird as ever so yeah you get that.

Slow down: its suggested to do fewer things when you're dissociated, it is not your maximum capacity to function at this moment so focus on the important tasks for now and take it easy because other things can wait, such as replying messages (because i tend to struggle and forget) and doing work (this blog, as an example)

Safe place: get yourself comfy, put some songs as you burrito in a blanket,, you could also talk to your close ones. Anything that makes you feel safer and if you're currently at outdoors, going to a favorite place helps,, if not just use headphones/earbuds to keep the bustling noise at bay as you have your own bubble now.

Why do i dissociate often or have long periods of it?

There are some causes (not completed) that i had ruled out such as:

Ongoing stress

Dissociating as a coping mechanism

Neurobiological factors

Defensive approach from the brain after exposed to triggers or threats, and is usually defaulted as first

Please make sure to search for the cause thats keeping you in a dissociative loop, as it can become disruptive and impacts life quality if left alone. You could also list what sorts of things trigger dissociation to prevent it happening more often in future, practicing a healthier/better coping mechanism will also lessen the severity of dissociation thus making it more easier to manage. have a good day guys!

- j

[officialleehadan]

Thirty

Looping Souls

+++

Thirty loops in, Tiago had learned a lot about how to manage his time loop with reasonably good efficacy. He knew who the attackers were, although he still hadn’t managed to track them back to their employer. He knew their passwords for their phones, and who was the best shot on the team. He knew when he had time to eat, drink, and go to the bathroom.

He was starting to figure out who the attackers were.

Now that he knew what time they arrived at the tower and began their attack, he could tap into the city’s cameras using Eric’s code, which he got the day he first called the code of the time loop. He couldn’t take notes, but his memory was good for information like codes and tactics. Less good for other things, but for now, he didn’t need much else than the ability to memorize information, since he couldn’t take notes.

“I need someone with better access to the city’s information network,” he told Eric. They were searching through the cameras. The attack on the tower had been handled easily, since he was able to warn the team it was coming. There were other problems, but the team was aware of them, and now he was trying to solve the ongoing mission of the bright flash, which he suspected was some sort of bomb, that was likely already in the air. “Who’s the best?”

“You want the ultimate best, or who I know we can raise?” Eric asked, and pointed to the camera. “There, that’s the van pulling up to the tower. Let’s see if we can figure out where they came from.”

“Tell me both. I may need one to find the other.” That was, Tiago was learning, the only way to manage these loops. It wasn’t about a plan for one loop, it was about a plan for all the loops. He needed every possible resource he could find. “And how much better is the best, than the one you know we can raise?”

“It’s Conatus,” Eric said and passed Tiago the coffee pot when Tig reached for it. He didn’t actually like coffee very much, but for now, the caffeine and the routine was helping steady him. The name was a surprise Tiago knew Conatus by reputation, but the psionic had been largely inactive in the Powered stage for years. He was still a villain, still very much classed as a threat, but he almost never appeared in uniform. “He’s made an absolute fortune on villainy, then turned to what we suspect is shady investments, legitimate investments, and probably some other white-collar crime. Last I heard, he did contracting with other villains sniffing out traitors in their ranks.”

“Mind reader, right?” Mind readers were tricky. “Telepathy?”

“He’s got most of the mental Power suite. Telepathy and telekinesis are the most powerful, but he might have some precognition too, and we suspect he’s an empath. He may have other Powers that mask under the big ones.”

Not good news. No wonder the team had never gone after Conatus. A high level psionic was difficult prey for everyone, and if he really did have a little precognition, surprising him was almost impossible. Certainly, Tiago’s former owners wanted him to stay away, but that was because they were afraid Conatus, and all other psionics, were too much of a risk to Tiago’s mental conditioning.

They were probably right. A good mental blast or two might well have knocked him loose.

At least it wouldn’t be hard to prove his own honesty to someone who could read minds.

“How do I find him?” that was the bigger problem as they traced the assault vehicle backwards through the city. It wasn’t a lot, but if they could figure out where that attack came from, maybe they could find out who ordered it. “does he have a base in the city?”

“That’s the problem, no one knows,” Eric explained. He was keeping careful notes Tiago couldn’t take them with him, but he would memorize them before the day ended. “Your best bet is Eyes-High. She’s a technopath, and while she isn’t as good as Conatus, or as well-connected, she’s easier to find.”

“Can she help me find him?”

“Maybe, if she can’t do what you need.”

There was no telling and they both knew it. With something as predictably unpredictable as a time loop, what Tiago did or didn’t need changed by the day. For now, however, he needed information. If Eyes-High could give him that much, he could do the rest himself.

On a whim, he ran his fingers over his soulmark. The black words that had given him strength even during the worst of his conditioning. The proof that someone, someday, would care. Would give him whatever he was asking for, without making him grovel for it. The words were raised ever-so-slightly, much like a real tattoo would be. He knew every twist and bump of them after years of tracing them in he pitch black of his cell, when they were all that kept him sane.

He wondered if he would meet them before he broke the time loop. He hoped not. They wouldn’t remember it.

“Let’s contact Eyes-High today,” he said rather than voice his thoughts. “The sooner we code her in and let her know what’s going on, the better. If she can help, good. If not, maybe she can get me to Conatus.”

“I know I won’t remember this in the next loop, but keep me updated,” Eric said, and clapped Tiago on the shoulder. Tiago suppressed the instinct to fight back against the friendly blow, and kept his eyes on the screens instead. “You might have to do this on your own, but we’re all here for you however we can be. Remember to lean on us when the going gets hard and take days off.”

“Hard to relax when I know when I die today.”

“You have to. If your mind breaks, our chances of getting out of the loop get harder,” Eric said seriously and turned towards Tiago. “Tig, you have to rest. Even you can’t keep going forever.”

“Hopefully I won’t have to,” Tiago said, but he was warmed by his friend’s kindness. “let’s finish up here. Seems we have a call to make.”

+++

Looping Souls: (FULL COLLECTION)

Fifty-Seven (Subscriber Only!)

Fifty-One

Three

Twelve

Thirty 

Thirty-Nine

Fifty-Two

Fifty (New!)

+++

MASTERLIST

[lord-squiggletits]

For the Salty Asks (forgive us for the avalanche, if it's too many you can pick your top three): 2, 9, 10, 11, 13 (Optimus), 20, 25 (IDW1), 26

uhhh honestly I feel a bit like a hermit who's out of the loop on what's popular/unpopular so some of these might be completely off the mark but here we go

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

Mmmm I think most of my brotp's aren't shipped as OTPs to start with, so I dunno if I have any that fit this question.

Guess the closest example for me would be OPli/ta. I don't actively platonically ship them but I think platonic is way more interesting than romantic. I don't like the fandom's interpretation of romantic O/Plita at all + I feel like as one of the original "token woman" Autobots, I'd like to see Elita unshackled from Optimus as a love interest, esp because any official interpretation of them is probably gonna be written extremely heteronormatively/token romance between an action hero and The Girl. And the fanon version of them that's Strong Independent Girlboss Elita with whipped simp husbnad Optimus is just as boring and gross.

I just don't like the vibes and would rather them have some sort of friendly or regular relationship together.

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

IDW1 Slide, who I've gone into detail about my hatred of in several posts, but the TLDR is that she comes off as some kind of mouthpiece character? Not a mouthpiece as in for the author's beliefs, but it literally feels like she only exists to shit on Optimus and call him a piece of shit. Her dialogue is so cheesily written ("literally fascism" is an actual thing she says) and her bitching/lack of cultural comprehension about Cybertronian history is so prevalent, that for a long time during my IDW1 reading I was genuinely confused as to whether she was supposed to be some sort of parody/strawman/mockery of someone IRL (her character comes off almost EXACTLY like an anti-SJW stereotype of a screeching harpy calling everyone she dislikes a fascist, and it's only Barber's very obviously left-leaning writing in other parts of the story that told me that definitely wasn't the intent). So then I was wondering "okay is she gonna like, randomly become evil and turn against the good guys because she's just that petty? I mean she spends all of her time bitching about how Optimus/the Autobots/Cybertronians in general are the worst ever and she also hates humans too so I mean maybe? Half of this story already doesn't make sense so I can see it happening."

Thankfully that didn't happen, but like. Slide is so goddamn annoying and ignorant and gets way too much page time dedicated to her angry monologuing (in Unicron aka the finale of IDW1 there's literally a whole half page panel of her bitching about how Optimus is an evil tyrant while Trypticon is dying behind her and it comes off as a poorly timed, bad taste joke). The narrative treats her like she's some important individual whose feelings are important and valid, but she's fucking annoying. Any sympathy she was meant to garner is canceled out by badly written dialogue and the fact that she's a Literal Nobody of a character who seemingly only exists to bash the decades old, beloved legacy characters. For the sake of, idk, talking about how fucked up Cybertronians are that they just shrug and move on when people die? Bc apparently it's some sort of sin to be numb after 4 million years of war (and war that's literally still ongoing while Slide is bitching) and just soldier on trying to get through it? God forbid that a military hierarchy fighting to keep neo-Decepticons and various other alien threats from colonizing Earth be run like a military in which orders have to be followed, people die, but you still have to keep fighting anyways? Idefk man I just hate Slide so much she's basically the embodiment of all of the bad aspects of Barber's writing personified.

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

Mutineers arc in MTMTE/LL. I feel like (whether due to early cancellation and/or JRO wasting time on too many side plots to give it its full depth), I dislike how the mutineers were basically boiled down to pure evil morons who are the most disgusting, despicable evil ever and the only reason the mutiny had Good Guys (TM) in it was because they were horribly misled and not because, you know, the mutiny was 100% a valid thing to have happened as retaliation against Rodimus and Megatron's captaincy.

Like, I'm not opposed to the idea of Getaway and his cronies being assholes (I personally thought Getaway was a GREAT slow-burn, puppet master villain/anti-hero), I just dislike how the quality of their writing degraded from MTMTE to LL. Felt like they (Getaway in particular) got passed the Idiot Ball and then the actual reasons behind the mutiny were never addressed, it was kind of just "oh Getaway died horribly so we're all friends now and we forgive each other and Rodimus/Megatron will just go back to being captains now."

11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

You mean besides IDW Optimus because anyone who's been on my blog for like 5 seconds knows he's my biggest problematic fave skldfjskd

Uhhh I guess in the spirit of the previous question, Getaway. I feel like the fandom's hatred for him is overblown mainly bc it's a combination of Tailgate/Cyga/te fans going "HE GOT IN THE WAY OF C/YGA/TE AND ALMOST KILLED THAT PRECIOUS CINNAMON ROLL" and Rodimus or Megatron stans going "Getaway hates my fave?? But my fave is a good captain and deserves the world HE'S EVIL MY FAVORITE IS BEYOND CRITICISM OR REPROACH GETAWAY IS THE EMBODIMENT OF EVIL."

Like to me it seems as if the hate for Getaway isn't normal dislike or even people hating him because he's a well written villain. It feels weirdly like ppl really take Getaway's actions personally and hate him with the kind of passion you normally see reserved for actual real life horrible people. Or they like, see Getaway as an obstacle to [favorite character]'s happiness and not as an individual who, before the quality of his writing tanked, was actually an interesting character who maybe even had good points? It just feels like people mainly hate Getaway because he's the antagonist to more popular characters/ships and so they project their defense of their faves into virulently hating him.

13. Unpopular opinion about (Optimus)?

Honestly 90% or more of the fan content I see for Optimus is really boring/uncompelling to me, or really just comes off as out of character. It's either Optimus being reduced to an accessory to be shipped with someone (usually turned into some sort of moe cutesy uke type) or him being turned into.... idk some permutation of "feral irresponsible gremlin" or "One Of The Good Ones (TM)" or "anxiety-ridden damsel who needs to be rescued by his lover" or, in some circles, "character I project my issues with authority onto and try to frame as evil for things that aren't even evil."

Idk how to specifically describe it, it's just... a vibe? Most of the Optimus content I see doesn't actually feel like him at all. It feels like it's Optimus/Orion in name only, who got so separated from canon and distorted by fanon/flanderization/shipping/porn stereotypes that he now only vaguely resembles the character he's supposed to be.

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

Ahahaha I don't really go into the realm of pure ships honestly, plus this is the war criminal fandom where pretty much every character has killed people or committed crimes or is just generally scarred by war so uhhh

Idk I think Thundercracker/Melissa is a pretty hinged ship? They get along and cope surprisingly well with all the shit that happens. There's no angst or betrayals or misunderstandings or enemies, they're just very respectfully together. Sdfklsajfksd

25. How would you end (IDW1)/Would you change the ending of (IDW1)?

Honestly, I'm pretty satisfied with the ending of IDW1 on both sides of the story. On Barber's side I would've preferred if every single planet including Cybertron didn't get fucking eaten leaving them all stuck on Earth together, and I would've also kept Trypticon alive while... minimizing Slide's role, to say the least. I don't have a problem with Optimus' ending bc I actually think that Optimus' arc in Unicron is like, one of the few 1000% good things Barber wrote for him it's just. It's pure Optimus in his best form.

On JRO's side I would've cut out the last panel with the alternate Lost Light and left it ambiguous as to whether the quantum jump successfully copied the ship or not. I dislike the vibes of the canon ending that implied that everyone moving on with their lives (almost universally to new and exciting and happier places) was the "sad" ending and going on a permanent road trip is the "true, happy" ending. In the author's notes I think JRO said that he wanted to give the readers an ending that would allow them to imagine their faves continuing to go on adventures, but I think compromising a good ending to a story to appease fans is fucking stupid + fandom has never needed permission or approval from the author to write alternate, happy endings. So why ruin a poignant, melancholy ending about how endings come with new beginnings and sadness/nostalgia can be mixed with hope and happiness by going "sike lol they're all living happily ever after on their space cruise."

Also I wouldn't have randomly killed off Ratchet for no reason because like. What was that even supposed to accomplish. I'm no stranger to writing major character deaths but like. He just fucking died of disease off-screen and that was that??? Why, like what was the narrative/symbolic purpose of that besides just making the ending more sad? Maybe to emphasize how going back to Cybertron was the "bad ending" and the quantum Lost Light is the "good ending" since on the LL Ratchet is still alive? But see the paragraph above for why I don't like that.

26. Most shippable character?

The most shippable character to me is whichever character I think is the sexiest, because if I think they're sexy it makes me want to ship them with everyone. "Guards, fuck that man for me" etc etc. Lmao

[groupalpha]

were your creators like "OOP" when they made you, precision And Loops, were you made to be a "TOOL"? g get it-

ToOL: Huh?

OOP: PFFFT! PROBABLY!!!! They had to re-enforce my structures legs because of all of my tests!

[amazing-spider-man-book-club]

The Amazing Spider-Man #2 (1963)

Published: May 1963

Containing: "Duel to The Death with The Vulture!", "The Uncanny Threat of The Terrible Tinkerer!"

Introducing: The Vulture (unnamed), Professor Cobbwell, The Terrible Tinkerer (unnamed)

Synopsis: Peter solves his and his aunt's financial issues by realizing he can take photos of crime sprees committed by The Vulture, but gets too close to the action and is forced into battle as Spider-Man. Peter suspects something is strange about an anonymous tech repair man and investigates only to stumble upon an alien conspiracy.

Read alongside us here:

@frankendykes-monster : Hoo boy, between now and up to #15 or so, it's going to be a nonstop parade of introductions of major Spider-Man villains. Ditko's design sensibilities were already assured with Spider-Man's costume alone, but we're now seeing about eight victory laps. The Vulture in some ways feels like a throwback to 1940's super villains with very simple motivations (gotta rob banks you know) and powers (flight!). But the green feathers and simple design of it literally just being a bird suit with only his head and hands exposed is glorious.

Peter takes a breather this issue as we now develop the ever-so-popular "Peter sells pictures of Spider-Man", or, just pictures of The Vulture in this issue. Jameson is such an unscrupulous hack that he's ready to buy photos after a single conversation with Peter, and at non-contract rate of "don't ask me how I take these photos and don't credit me." It's been long enough since our last post that I'm actually blanking if the Daily Bugle was brought up in #1, but Jameson is the publisher of NOW Magazine. Won't last long. Only three issues of Spider-Man in and we're developing some running tropes: Peter is a science student, Peter is mocked by Flash Thompson, Peter tells Aunt May don't worry about money, Peter is still learning the ropes on how to be Spider-Man, etc.

I'm delighted that Peter has his own little lair for his Spider-Man stuff in his bed room. One thing that's never addressed with the character is that he has a utility belt *underneath* his form fitting costume, and his wrist gauntlets have the web-shooting nozzle that peeks out from right behind his gloves. Ditko gives us some nice diagrams of how it all works so the audience is never out of the loop. What's fascinating about Peter's ongoing character arc is that we still aren't at a superhero "proper" stage. None of Spider-Man's actions are motivated by altruism, he's still just in the red enough to be concerned about the rent more than anything.

Slowly but surely the world gets accustomed to superheroes. Stuff like crowd shots of people reacting to one of The Vulture's robberies makes a comic like Marvels feel inevitable. Both The Vulture and Spider-Man have to account for how the other would react before they even meet each other. This is still an era of comics where "world-building" meant "introduce more characters" so the plausibility of people's actions makes it all the better.

Ditko is really flexing his artistic skills by this point. The splash page for "Duel" is jaw dropping in terms of its weight and perspective and The Vulture is so fully realized in close-up. This is our first issue with a Marvel Comics logo proper in the upper left corner on the cover, here just a profile of Spider-Man, a concept designed by Ditko to give more brand unity to the comics line. Spider-Man is still red-and-blue on covers but these early issues' internal coloring has settled on faint purple? As his secondary color? It won't last long, but it's a bit blah.

Another solid issue overall and...wait...oh yeah the second story. Hm, this one is strange. While #1 gave us two stories that threaded closely together, this is definitely the b-story, the backup. Spider-Man having to stop an alien invasion feels like something that Ditko would shoot down after it was proposed by Lee but this made it all the way to print in the way it did. The Terrible Tinkerer feels like the hardest villain introduced in this run to get a read on, mostly because the "less is more" approach concerning his motivations, origins, appearance, etc. are all left out. He won't be returning for well over 100 issues a decade from now, so this would be a good opportunity to say "well they can't all be winners" if the character hadn't made it into Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) in a minor role.

@duel1971 : More pieces of the mythos fall into place here – we’ve got the introduction of an iconic villain and Peter adopting his gimmick of taking photos as Spider-Man and selling them to J. Jonah Jameson. This story is mostly fun action without too much that I wanna dig into, but I do love that we get Jameson yelling “Get me pictures of the Vulture!” as the first version of his catchphrase.

Feels worth noting that Peter continues to shine as a scientist and inventor in this early story, creating a device that disables the Vulture’s wings.

“The Uncanny Threat of the Terrible Tinkerer”: God, I love this one. Instead of a new costumed supervillain we’re treated to a short alien invasion story featuring a mysterious old man called the Tinkerer. It’s such an atypical Spider-Man story in the grand scheme of things, but at the time of its writing, there was no such thing as a typical Spider-Man story. Putting aside the fact that Peter has and will continue to mostly fight gaudy criminals, this story meshes well with his character. The focus on Peter’s scientific ability opens up the door for a tale of weird science and aliens. The actual science fiction element of it isn’t given much development given its brevity, but it’s a great little story and glimpse of what could have been.

[theofficersacademy]

Once, there was a girl. She had a mother named Helike, a father named Poliades, a brother named Perses, and a home called Lilium. Here, she had lived, and here, she had lost. First, her father to illness. Then her mother to war. One of her mother's comrades-in-arms agreed to take the girl and her brother in, driven in part by guilt, and so a broken family became whole again.

The war with the Nabateans remained an ever-present threat, however. For children, peace was easy to believe in, and the girl had carried that idealized vision of her childhood for as long as she could, until - when the destruction finally reached her - it festered into resentment and hate. A savior in white had come with promises to protect, and she had believed him, idolized him and his ideals, internalized his bitterness toward their enemy, and turned a blind eye to his failings when not even bold ambition could save her home.

A part of her died the day Epimenides urged the people of Lilium to evacuate. From the hill overlooking the city, she saw flames, and stoked her own heart with them. Celephais returned with news that all was lost. Perses, gripped with restless fervor, left for the frontlines. Brokenhearted and despairing, a scattering of refugees sought asylum in a nearby town.

But the Fell Star would not let them rest, and sent a flood to wipe out the rest of Agartha. The girl witnessed the death of friends and family, her own adoptive brother among them, and yet was chained by her helplessness. She could do nothing but move on with the scraps of her family in search of a place to hide where a Goddess could not find them.

Even more starved along the way. Others died to exposure. Celephais relied on her great affinity with magic to give some aid to her hurting countrymen. She developed illusions, painless dreams, places where one could reunite with loved ones again, and then an idea occurred to her: between life and death, they could hide. Nestled deep within the Ruthalia mountains, Celephais perfected the technology that would allow the remnants of her people to finally rest and be happy.

The girl was not happy, however. And eventually, the others trapped in the dream turned restless and unhappy as well. They desired to live. Only one of them managed to escape.

But not completely. The girl, ravaged by loss and hatred, made a deal to satisfy her need for vengeance.

She didn't notice the threads looped around her limbs.

"You have cut them." The book closes. Your vision floods with light.

- - -

You wake up in the ruined remains of Rusalka in the eastern part of Adrestia, far from where you had begun your journey. Most of you are heavily battered, but by some miracle you are all alive. There is one other person in your party now: a thin, weak Pasithee, barely alive as well. There are no signs of the bishops who had led you into the illusion. They have disappeared without a trace, so you gather your belongings and help each other limp back to the monastery with your new prisoner in tow.

  — Apollyon Ouranos, end.

　

Closing Procedures (please read carefully!)

The events of Apollyon Ouranos are over! You have all escaped from the illusion, although your bodies and minds still bear the scars. You feel as if you narrowly escaped death. The tears in the sky have closed and Fódlan appears to have returned to normal. When you return to the monastery, you find that you have a year's worth of letters from home waiting for you. Had this been an illusion this whole time...?

You are free to continue any Apollyon Ouranos threads you have ongoing, and you may start epilogue threads if you wish. These posts will no longer count toward the grand prize though.

　

Discord

All event channels will be closed on February 7th, so save what you want from them before then.

　

Prizes and How to Get Them

PARTICIPATION PRIZE.

All muses who made at least one IC event post automatically received the participation prize described in this post.

GRAND PRIZE.

The prize package below will be awarded to any muse who reached a minimum of 10 IC event posts. As a reminder, pre-departure interactions do not count towards the event.

Be sure that your posts have been tagged appropriately.

Knowledge Gem: A special gemstone that grants a drop of knowledge to the user. (One free skill point towards the user’s skill of choice.)

Two event-limited prizes from this list. (Your muse must have the corresponding rank to claim)

And a special item from the illusion you leave behind: 　　　　— Gospel of Zayin: Grants +0.5 strength/magic 　　　　— Gospel of Pi: Grants +2 speed 　　　　— Gospel of Theta: Grants +2 dexterity 　　　　— Gospel of Tau: Grants +2 max HP

CLAIM SCHEDULE.

Please send the masterlist an ask to claim your event prizes during the allotted days for your team. Claims sent outside their respective windows will be deleted.

2/1-2/2: Regular claims from the January activity point, mastering classes, etc. This does not include ranks gained from the Knowledge Gem, so please wait if your claim requires that. 2/3-2/4: Team Zayin participation, grand prize, knowledge gem ranks. 2/5-2/6: Team Pi participation, grand prize, knowledge gem ranks. 2/7-2/8: Team Theta participation, grand prize, knowledge gem ranks. 2/9-2/10: Team Tau participation, grand prize, knowledge gem ranks. After 2/10: Regular claims resume

The submission period is from 12:00AM EST the first day to 11:59PM EST the second day. We at least need to receive it during this time frame. Use the clock in the Masterlist’s sidebar to double check the date and time if you are not sure.

If you miss your window to claim your Participation or Grand Prize, you forfeit these prizes. Do not procrastinate.

If you missed the initial 2/1-2/2 period to rank up with an activity point, or if you claimed your grand prize but forgot to rank up with the Knowledge Gem, please wait until after 2/10 to send in these regular claims.

HOW TO SEND IN CLAIMS.

When sending claims, please send separate asks for event-specific claims vs. regular claims, even if the regular claim is due to the Knowledge Gem.

Event specific claims: participation prizes (including rank chart picks), personal skills, grand prize claims Regular claims: activity point rank up, knowledge gem point rank up, class access/mastery

As always, please feel free to ask any questions!

- The House Leaders

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

I am sorry I am going to disagree on a couple of these.

First, it was normal for pjms to be upset about jimin not winning. I saw them calling out that k account for misguiding k army. I don't understand how calling out fans for not voting = hating on jk winning. It would have been best to ignore them and let them deal with it, instead of constantly quoting them or replying to them with "You'll jealous jk won", or "you'll hate jk won" or whatever. No, cause what do people think the response from them would be?

Secondly, why are jikookers always in pjms' business but snoozing when jjks were tagging military accounts? Didn't see any of talk against it.

Everytime pjms or anyone in the fandom says "jm didn't get xyz" and others are like oh that's jk shade, ur hating jk, u hate jk's success or whatever. Can't even talk about jimin not getting something coz apparently now that's hating jk. I am so tired of jikookers and jjks.

Can we not twist everything into hating jk. This constant inserting of jk and victimizing him is getting annoying.

Do you want to know how I see it? I think both the previous anon that I posted and you (and a bunch of similar asks that I got in the meantime) are both right. What is impossible - because of the current climate and how a fandom works - it's more difficult to see it. For now, being in the middle of it, is about taking sides. It's a ongoing fight that sees no end and fans need to choose.

What you and the other anon are doing is simply expressing your views on the situation, which are determined by the online spaces which you inhabit. And again, you're both right. I'm not trying to say there's no factual reality here and each group/person is building its own (although we do that to some degree, but it's not about that), but that the things we see on our timeline shape our perception.

If I say that it shouldn't be a competition when it comes to bullying, harassment and hate towards an artist, I'd be reminded that Jimin has it worst (trust me, I know all about it). If I do take Jimin's fans side and how they see it, then someone will come and tell me that they are saying awful things about Jungkook as well. And when it comes to shippers, in this case jikookers, they'll take a side depending on who is their actual bias or choose the easiest route if they consider themselves army. Now, where does that lead us? Nowhere, because we'd be stuck in a loop.

From where I'm sitting, it looks like everything that is happening today is the result of the mentality bred by a fandom that operates like a cult and influenced by label propaganda. BTS is seven and all are treated equal brainwashed the fans in the first stage, which was the perfect recipe for solo fans as they know it is impossible. We all do. Army is following company narrative, as always. If the main goal was for the last 6 months to focus most of their attention on the Golden project, then army will follow. They will always follow. Of course they listened to that account who tells them how to vote. Of course they listen each time an army uses the solo narrative excuse. I mean, aren't we all tired of the same 20 words used in this fandom in different variations? It is a limited vocabulary, used by armys, solos, shippers and what like. It amounts to nonsense and nothing because of it and no one listens to one another. It's complete madness. And they all talk shit and they threat these guys in the most horrible ways when ultimately, I believe that at least in some capacity, that behavior is the result of how this fandom came to be in the first place and how the company has it in its grip.

[akechi-stole-my-heart]

My Persona 5 Fics

Regrets, Broken Trust, and Stardust - 9.9k+ words (ongoing longfic)

With the successful execution of their plan to change Niijima Sae's heart and deceive Akechi Goro, the Phantom Thieves have overcome their most dangerous obstacle yet--but one obstacle still remains. Akechi has yet to let the name of his boss and their ultimate target slip. The Thieves are at a loss for how to proceed, until one Sakura Futaba reveals a game-changing discovery that may unravel the secrets they seek.

Akechi Goro has a Palace.

-

Akechi Goro Lives and befriends the Phantom Thieves. Akechi Character Study. Rated Mature for themes. Abuse; Suicide. Akeshu/Shuake.

Insanity's what kept us sane - 6k+ words (ongoing longfic)

One November evening in 2016, an unlikely trio is sucked into a mysterious alternate world both like and unlike the Metaverse they are familiar with. There they find themselves opposed to the ruler of this world, a troubled young woman called Guernica, who has the power to drive people mad with her art. Thanks to her abilities, the Royal Trio are forced to face the most terrifying enemy of all: themselves.

-

Rewrite of Tactica's DLC Repaint Your Heart; Royal Trio are brainwashed by Guernica and their masks are forced off prematurely. Brainwashing; Mental Breakdowns; Suicidal Ideation. Royal Trio focus, Mostly Gen.

code violet - 158k words (complete longfic)

code violet: an emergency code that can be called by any person who is a witness to a violent incident or a combative individual that poses a threat

The engine room confrontation goes down a little differently when one Yoshizawa Sumire is there, hiding in the shadows.

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A two-shot that ballooned into a Royal Trio longfic. Sumigoro-centric. Canon Divergent - Akechi Lives. Slow Burn Akeshusumi Polyship.

joker's wild - 3.1k words (one shot)

joker's wild: a phrase used to refer to the use of the joker played as a wild card; unpredictable, chaos

Akira has to convince Akechi to join the Phantom Thieves, but nothing he says seems to reach him. He's got one more card up his sleeve, but not the courage to play it.

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A companion piece to code violet that covers a missing scene from chapter two. Rated Mature for intense making out; Roleplaying; Dom/Sub. Akeshu.

Actualized - 5.9k words (one shot)

Akira has betrayed him. He's betrayed everything, become just as bad as that cursed doctor. Goro won't stand for it. He can't stand for it.

If he has to face Maruki alone on February 3rd, he will.

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The Ideal Ending from Goro's point of view. Heavy Angst; Hurt No Comfort; Suicidal Ideation. Akeshu/Shuake.

Idyll - 2.3k words (one shot)

"Something is wrong, Akira."

"Whatever do you mean?" says Akira, sounding utterly unconcerned. He continues to hum under his breath, a permanent smile etched on his face. The picture of perfect contentment. "What could possibly be wrong?"

Blood dripping thick and red into his drink at the Jazz Club. Empty gray eyes. Goro blinks. The images disappear. "Something is wrong," he says, quieter.

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Pseudo-sequel to Actualized (though reading it first is not required). Psychological Horror; Heavy Angst; Hurt No Comfort. Mind the tags. Akeshu/Shuake.

Awakened - 2.9k words (one shot)

Akechi Goro is dead, in every way that matters. It's time that Akira avenged him.

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Conclusion to Actualized and Idyll. Angst; Hurt No Comfort; Major Character Death. Akeshu/Shuake.

you're so far gone, but i'm not leaving - 10k words (one shot)

Akechi Goro has one goal—live until election day.

Akechi Goro has one goal—make Shido pay.

Akechi Goro has one goal—

Akechi Goro—

Akechi…

Akechi Goro has one goal—live happily forever with his boyfriend.

Akechi Goro has one goal—escape.

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Time loop of the day Akechi Goro dies. Angst; Suicide; Memory Loss. Akeshu/Shuake.

reaper - 5.5k words (one shot)

Futaba visits Mementos alone on a whim and senses something strange on her scanners. Curiosity gets the better of her, and well, you know what they say about curiosity.

But Futaba's never really cared for that particular saying.

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Futago siblings/friends, set in the Third Semester. Fluff and Angst. Background Akeshu/Shuake.

weak to ice - 5.7k words (one shot)

Akira takes the Phantom Thieves ice skating in celebration of Haru's eighteenth birthday. Goro's displeased for one simple reason--he's not too fond of the idea of wasting a day on frivolities when Masayoshi Shido is still out there, awaiting his punishment.

And Goro doesn't know how to ice skate. There's that, too.

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An exploration of Akechi's self-worth issues. Canon Divergent; Hurt/Comfort. Soft Akeshu/Shuake.

remember that you can't save everyone (remember that you have to try) - 2.0k words (one shot)

At first only silence greets him. The sound of fabric shuffling. Perhaps Kurusu merely called accidentally in his sleep, and there's nothing to be concerned about. But then there's a sniff, and something that sounds like a quiet sob.

"Kurusu-kun?" he tries.

Silence. Then, a very soft and quiet, "...Yeah."

"Is everything alright?"

More silence. An even softer, "No."

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Takuto receives a call from Akira after Akechi dies. Angst; Survivor Guilt; Savior Complex; Mentioned Suicide, Alcohol Abuse. Gen.

heart(less) - 2.6k words (one shot)

Sophia sacrifices herself, and Akechi Goro has some belated realizations about himself, the heart, and the AI he underestimated.

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Sophiagoro friendship, Strikers but Akechi is there. Features Sophia, Goro, and Ichinose. Gen.

white raven, black swan - 5.5k words (one shot)

A collection of scenes taking place during Persona 5 Tactica's DLC Repaint Your Heart

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What it says on the tin. Sumigoro focus/friendship, Royal Trio. Gen.

drop dead - 3.2k words (one shot)

Kasumi is a bit overwhelmed. Infiltrating a Palace with a ruler who seems to know so much about her with Kurusu-senpai and an Akechi Goro who's acting more than a bit out of character is...somewhat stressful.

But she'll be okay. After all, she'll always have her senpai to help keep her head on straight.

...Right?

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Sumire deals with her feelings toward Akechi during the Royal Trio infiltration. Bad Girl Sumi; First Kiss; Trauma; Temporary Character Death. Akeshusumi Polyship.

giving the game away - 5.3k words (one shot)

Sumire wants to tell her parents about her boyfriends. Goro constructs a plan that is absolutely foolproof...for anyone but the fools he's surrounded himself by.

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Future domestic fluff with Royal Trio. Secret Relationship; Akechi Goro Lives; Making Out; Knifeplay (sorta of, not really). Akeshusumi Polyship.