#time to apply it to a minecraft world ^_^

[in-the-multiverse]

Now I’m thinking about how a wood carving culture would form on sbk

After figurines, they’d make wood accessories too. Necklaces, earrings, friendship bracelets with beads of different wood types. As time goes on, those become fashion and status symbols. Like, one month, carved rings are all the rage. “Proposals” become a way to ask for an alliance, partners in crime business, and everyone gets a good laugh out of it. When the rings get too crowded on their hands, they switch to putting them on necklaces. And then necklaces become trendy!

They come up with a bunch of designs, and hey, why not cute earrings to match? Or wooden framed sunglasses? Those can be any shape! Before long, there’s all sorts of carved accessories and home decorations everywhere you go, it’s as normal as living in the sky. Despite their abundance, there’s no shops for it. A few do sell every now and then, at a shiny price. They feel attached to what they make or get gifted. Every little thing is special

Someone gets the idea to make their own crown, and the others are like oh my god why didn’t I think of that?? Boom- crown season. Shortly after, people are making thrones. What’s a kingdom without a cool crown and awesome throne?

Wearing other wood types is an indicator on who’s buddy buddy. It’s like a big neon sign saying who trusts you the most. Petty disputes and victims of pranks means someone will swear off a specific wood because they don’t want to be seen showing off the enemy’s fashion, at least until they’re on good terms again. For a while, that’s pretty cut clear. But in the situation that one kingdom is fed up with another, wearing the “forbidden” type becomes a rebellious act. Because 1- it’s stolen, and 2- it’s saying they’re not afraid to retaliate >:)

If they wanted to take it a step further, in perhaps the biggest offence, it would be very twisted to publicly wear the rival kingdom’s crown

[krillrot]

least favourite of your very own minecraft headcanons

hmm ............. not sure if i actually dislike any of my fanon worldbuilding buuuuut

it's implied in canon lore but in my mc world the End just. inevitably decays to the point of (almost) complete abandonment. it doesnt cease to exist but eventually the islands erode over time and its nearly unlivable

as a result, endermen and enderlings begin migrating to the overworld (or nether) as their homeworld slowly dies off

it makes me sad but thats just how the end is!! its always been on its dying legs ever since the universe's creation and eventually everything will return to the void .. but that takes place over an IMPOSSIBLY long timespan to the point most mobs would be long gone by then (nor is it the focus of my oc stories)

GODD not to quote the end novel on main but like

"The Great Chaos came for everyone sooner or later. It would come for the whole universe someday."

also chaos' entire monologue is just so fucking good i think about it so often. just the concept of the void, pure nothingness, outliving everything and everyone is immensely fucked up to me

[crystalkitty1220]

Might have to scrap a fic idea because I thought the panic that came with time moving too slowly or too quickly was a universal thing, but now I'm realizing I probably have chronophobia and the fic might not feel the same to other people. Don't want it to drag on or feel rushed if readers won't get the same kind of anxiety the character's getting.

[whatkindofsouplsmp]

hotwaterduo ahh post

affirmations

-they should kill me

-they are going to kill me

-im scared because they are going to kill me

-they are going to kill me because i am scared

[eumppattv]

you’re so sweet ❀˖° ot7 enha 𖦹

࿔‧ ֶָ֢˚˖𐦍˖˚ֶָ֢ ‧࿔ cute things they do in a relationship

enha ୨ৎ reader fluff headcanon masterlist engene zone an: requests are open!

heeseung ۶ৎ make you cute messages on minecraft

as the gamer he is, heeseung spends a lot of his free time on his pc. as the boyfriend he is, he spends even more time involving you in said gaming as much as he can. that’s why when you agreed to play with him, he left you a cute message in your world made with your favorite colored blocks. as time went on, any time you joined his game, he would leave a sweet message outside your shared home.

jay ۶ৎ add your voice to songs

jay was obsessed with every thing about you, but he had to admit your voice had a different effect on him. there was one day where he replayed a voicemail you left him over and over again, smiling to himself in his studio. that’s when he had the idea to add the voicemail to a song he was working on. since then he finds his favorite voice messages and voicemails you’ve sent him, and adds them as intros or background vocals to his tracks.

jake ۶ৎ makes layla bring you things

we all know layla is well trained as it is, but jake decided to take her training a step forward. it all started the day he asked you to be his gf, he had trained layla to bring you a basket with flowers, chocolate, and a letter asking you to be his. since then he gets layla to bring you flowers, or he will give her your bags to bring down the stairs. once he even got layla to bring you coffee, and you still don’t understand how it didn’t spill. it’s the cutest thing ever.

sunghoon ۶ৎ take off guard pics of you

as the photographer he is, sunghoon can’t help but capture the beauty in life. and everything about you was beautiful. he would often bring a small camera to your dates, waiting for the perfect opportunity to capture your essence. like the time you were on a picnic and he took a picture of you petting a dog that ran up to your spot. or the time you were watching a scary movie and he caught you mid scream, although you argue there was no beauty in that one.

sunoo ۶ৎ arrange skincare nights

when it comes to self care, sunoo is the master. he often gave you advice on what products to use, but you would find it difficult to find time for yourself. so, he decided to have skincare nights once a week, where you would do movie nights with face masks, or play games while doing clay masks. he would even apply all his products on you, because he wants to take care of you.

jungwon ۶ৎ pretending to propose while on walks

early into your relationship you figured out that jungwon loved going on walks in his free time- and you decided to accompany him. on one of these walks, you witnessed a proposal and made a joke about how bizarre it was to him. since then jungwon randomly gets on one knee when going on walks, and you laugh every single time. sometimes he would even add a speech, and you would pretend to say yes.

ni-ki ۶ৎ put on music and dance with you

as the dance prodigy he is, ni-ki’s life is not complete without some music. he will shower with music, sleep with music, and when you’re around he will dance with you. you’ll be baking cookies, and he will put some music and pull you away from the batter for a dance break. he’ll guide your body around, moving you to the beat. there’s times where he will play one of his songs, and teach you a small part of their choreography, praising you when you get it right.

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[random-cockroach]

F*** my writing shyness, it will be bad and utter stupid mushy dumbness and I don't mind, because I need MUSHY AND TOO SWEET AND STUPID KISSES THROUGH THE SCREEN WITH CONFUSION

Swerve x Blurr silly short oneshot Reverse mecha au by Kerefon

Silly kisses inside the games is the normal thing for humans, Cybertronians don't quite have such interactive games, at least he never was interested in Cybertronian ones, Blurr doesn't know why he feels so shy over this friendly joke that he was perfectly pulling off in the real life by himself.

Blurr has been watching streams of Serving_Metal_Nerdulgist for over 1 year now. He still has no idea how he found this line since it didn't have registered ID in the interplanetary lists, but the streams on it turned out to catch all of his attention. Interplanetary streams weren't something new or interesting (most of them were boring stuff with their strange ugly food that they were munching with even more ugly sounds, some strange sports, absolutely wasteful dramas and other things), but this one he never saw before. It was a game, cubic game, vibrant, green, full of details, explorations, it was fascinating to watch someone explore a newly created endless world, go on adventures, kill interesting monsters and make creations out of blocks that looked strange as a separate but gorgeous as a one. He was making it look gorgeous.

He supposed it wouldn't have been so interesting if not the voice behind it, who always was sharing his thoughts and ideas. Blurr was listening to them and wondering how one comes up with such ideas while himself getting inspired thanks to it (he tried to make a little blocky house with melting metal, but ended up burning surface of his digits and "house" looked like nest of these Gazin ants with three mouths).

It became the part of his free evenings, the chat became his dream chat group come true with never ending different interesting topics about anything and everything. Not like he could properly write on "human" so most of the parts he was using translator. Translator kind of sucked because it had barely any idea what the "human" is as much as Blurr did (he supposed the cubic human inside the game was based on real humans) and AI was learning words and their adaptations pretty slowly.

Unlike the person behind the stream.

He learned fast and over the year almost became fluent in Cybertron. He said it was the power of nerds.

Blurr felt himself pretty happy (immensely gleeful) about the fact that Nerdulgist did so to talk with him, to be able to play and talk without the need to switch to chat typing (not like he could type with Cybertronian syllables anyway).

He was watching him when there were only a few people. To be more precise, first time he found him he also joined his game, since ID applied to the game too and Blurr thought it was open to join for everyone. Reaction of pure horror and sudden boost of comments applied it was not. But Blurr was spamming shift after smashing all the keys to find some way to show that he is… friendly? He perfectly knows about ban option in public places and he didn't want to be banned even if it wasn't a thing here (he found out later it was a thing indeed). Maybe Nerdulgist thought that being friends with someone who could join your game without host's permission is safer so he rolled with it. He still didn't get what the herobrine is though, some kind of hacking program? He isn't to be blamed for ID leaking.

They became game friends. It became Blurr's second favorite thing after winning races and outside races he was finding excuses to abandon wreckers to play Minecraft.

He was sure Nerdulgist also found his company pleasing. He was especially affectionate during the game today, it was a "chill stream day" (he was changing all the above blocks in the area on different colored ones to make something like clay forest). Over the year his followers count grew noticeably so now instead of non-stop chattery he could do non-stop question answering.

"Do I like Blurr? What a sil– no, stupid and offending question-"

Blurr's screen suddenly was filled with detailed cubic face skin of some, as he was told but didn't find the source, anime character, but with red hair, and then he heard a very characteristic and loud soft kiss in his audials.

"I love him, he is the man of my dreams, I would have built a home with him in real life and placed our beds next to each other."

Blurr saw that there was a sudden flood of comments but he urgently rolled out of the table with his digits to the face and he couldn't understand what Nerdulgist was saying. He felt his cheek plates warming up under digits. He did not expect it.

They were joking like this before, but before was much faster, more joking-like and Blurr was prepared, he could read mood good even inside the game. Here he was just caught off guard. And that wasn't because he found Nerdulgists' voice attractive lately due to hoarseness from his past sickness, no. And didn't notice after that that his voice actually always was quite attractive to him, no.

He was very good with physical contact and attention! He was the man of physical attention! He was expressing like this to the ones he considered enough to be pals.

He considered Nerdulgist his friend and he. Could. Do. Nothing. To show it! He reacts like this definitely because he can't find no "friendly hugging" functions and so he wasn't prepared for audial way of such acts. Acts of kisses? Not cheek kisses. When did they skip one part of the progress chain? Yes he wasn't prepared for it to be outside chat. If only he could somehow spend more time nuzzling with him so he could be prepared to steadfastly stand this affectionate attack! Sleeping on the beds next to each other didn't count.

"Blurr? Are you good?"

[Great_Cucumber: he probably passed out, you just kissed him, let him cool down]

[SweatNana243: Blurr ~ Come back, your man misses you~]

"Chat, shhh."

Blurr snapped out of his thoughts only when Swerve (Swerve said his name only to him and asked not to call him by his real name, so they were having fun by coming up with new strange names to "accidentally" say on streams) asked him on cybertronian if he is okay. Hearing it on cybertronian both deepened his warmness and got him back to his field of confidence. What is wrong with him? Two can play this game and he doesn't plan on losing!

Blurr: Yes, I am good, you have to kiss me longer to get rid of me

(The statement was absolutely true, he perfectly remembered his only few kisses he ever had in this life, he was drunk and it took noticeably more time for him to pass out. Of course he remembered real facts to apply to a silly game kissing, who doesn't?)

[Great_Cucumber: OOOOOOOOOOOO]

[Funtime90008: OOOOOOOOOOO]

[WBlurrNerdNation: OHOHOHOHOHOHOH GUYS]

There was a rich chuckle and chair creaking. "I'm going after my kissy plushie toy and I am about to measure your limits of hit kisses!"

[SweatNana243: your WHAT]

[Great_Cucumber: virgin spotted pointy finger]

[WBlurrNerdNation: I'm calling my friends, they can't miss it]

Okay, maybe Blurr wasn't as prepared to this. He rotated around in the search of something. Whatever. Something that also fits for a kissing practice, for no other reason but to not feel "attacked" if he also will do this dumb thing.

Blurr heard almost every possible transformer. Their voices became so common to him that when he first time opened interplanet stream with some ugly three mouths thing talking, the voice of that thing was disgusting, unusual, but mostly disgusting. Blurr was paying closer attention to people's voices, you could find so much information in them; and cybertronians' voices were consistent of precisely built in individual characteristics of waves. You could hear a silent static and a muffled echo inside throat. You could hear and sense the mood of the person if you knew how to do it. Organics? Their "static" voice cracks were grotty, they couldn't regulate their voices when they were loud, the sound was coming out of wet sources as if they were drowning. It was unpleasant. He didn't like noisy sticky figures.

Swerve's voice was… very pleasant. He guessed it had wet source just as organics, but it sounded dry, rich, vibrant, and when his voice was cracking up in excitement, it was contagious. When he was yelping and screaming on higher waves it sounded cute after his deep, slightly nervous bass. Funny even. He wasn't gulping after hours of talking like others did, he clearly needed water but he was too deep into explaining his new idea for the swamp area until his voice was becoming desiccated and he had to whispers while his chat was spamming "serve aqua".

Swerve indicated his return with two exaggerated smacking sounds of lips. Blurr laughed, nervously and generously. Swerve was a total maniac once he became comfortable. "Are you ready my handsome alien?"

Blurr managed to write "Wait a min dying laughin" before he clung to his knees with static laugh and burning cheeks. A cube person with strange skin was about to kiss him!

"I don't have the whole day, dear gringo, 1 minute and you will have to face me"

He clearly was in a very playful mood today as he said it in cybertronian to mock his viewers. It didn't help Blurr. Swerve's voice compensated all his hilarious looks. Where was his coolant?

Blurr looked around to check that the door was closed, he didn't want to die out of embarrassment. After making sure that there is no one sneaking on him (though the existence of guilty ghosts was especially believable right now) he braced himself and was looking at the screen.

Blurr: Deliver it (He meant "Bring it on" but translator didn't reach such levels of smugness yet)

Swerve seemed to lean closer to the microphone since the sound of skin pressed against the soft plushy was very clearly heard.

[Matador: SEND CREEPERS ON THEM WHILE THEY ARE BUSY]

[WBlurrNerdNation: SHUT UP, THERE IS RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPS]

[DBlurrNerdNation: WTF]

[JBlurrNerdNation: I will fight with mobs for the pride of their first proper kiss]

Okay. It sounded… soft. Blurr unconsciously touched his lips, he guessed his lips weren't as delicate as organics'… he had nothing to compare it with. Maybe jellied energon? He remembered his drunk kisses. They were soft for him but we talk about tender kind of leathers here. He felt frustrated but didn't stop listening and watching. That was an unusual sudden attention directed to him but he didn't dislike it.

Primus stop thinking about it with such seriousness it's a silly joke. From someone he found very nice to talk to. And listen to. Swerve is a great, very funny, smart dude. Silly a little bit, isn't it perfect? Oh, he heard a… breathing? Some fleshings had nostrils, looks like humans have them too and they are located above the mouth. And their breathing isn't as stable but very soft sounding. His vents suddenly clicked on to mimic the breathing rate, he gave up fighting with his processor. Sadly right now his attention was perfectly locked on one thing and was rotating only around arising from this event imaginations.

His imagination was too bright as he was imagining a presence on his lips. He closed his eyes and leaned in toward the sound. Then he opened them again and looked behind his back. No one was there. Thank Primus.

There were only a few bots who's voices he liked. Like, liked liked. But they were only transformers, never flesh organics. He might have liked liked liked this human's voice and vent (newly discovered breathing) more than all others that he liked liked.

Swerve budged from the microphone and made teasing chuckling sounds while still keeping hold of the plush. He was a streamer who felt like a scrapper in the metal pools after being sure that such jokes are good with Blurr.

"Still didn't fall under my obviously great and very expert kissing skills?"

[Great_Cucumber: you suck, I feel bad for Blurr]

"Hey what? That clearly was perfect! Not too long, not too short, with pauses, a little bit of teasing for the mood…" The microphone transmitted the sounds of his exaggerated hand gestures. Good microphone. "So what if it was only with plush? Do you not kiss your pets?"

[Great_Cucumber: I should be worried about your pets. But for your knowledge, my pomeranian kisses better.]

[WBlurrNerdNation: you are such a mood breaker, use your damn imagination, he wasn't kissing you!.. But yeah ah it sounded kinda gross actually]

"Chat. Chat, I hate you all and just for your knowledge, komondors are better than pomeranians."

[SweatNana243: look, he started mumbling under his nose, you all are so mean]

Nerdulgist turned away and got back to changing blocks while explaining all pros and cons of the bigger dogs compared to little ones. Blurr finally got back to his keyboard and mouse after his vents calmed down.

It definitely shouldn't have felt like whatever he felt but he couldn't help himself.

So instead he decided to not pretend to be dense and cool and started running laps around Swerve, shifting and jumping to lift their moods up. Worked perfectly, attention immediately switched and Blurr confused everyone with how getting pets where he is was kind of an illegal or kinky thing. They didn't finish what they planned because they saw turtles ashore and ended up breeding them while Swerve was talking about some cool mutated turtles, then just as usual they went back in their too gorgeous for Blurr's comprehension house with red and blue beds and orange and white carpets beneath them in the further room.

For some months now Nerdulgist was ending his stream first and then was spending some more quality time with Blurr until their attention was switching to opposite directions and they were chatting on absolutely different topics while still listening to each other.

Wreckers still didn't come back. Blurr was lying on the berth and rotating some favorite events from today in his head. Usually it was the whole stream and everything they talked about but this time he mostly was remembering the breathing and soft touching of skin that he heard, it was something new for him and he couldn't calm down and especially couldn't understand why he couldn't calm down. He wouldn't mind sharing a room with such cool person. He decided to run around the ship outside until his processor got overheated. ___________________________________

Swerve on the other side of the screen flying in heaven because he finally found someone who passed his vibe check, on who he could pull off all of his affectionate impulses and flirty jokes. ___________________________________ IN MY DEFENCE! Swerve here is the human from the beginning in this reverse version and he technically in the surrounding where he can feel less alone, nerds are all over the world on Earth so I believe this version of him is so much more confident in himself. He is the man of a good talents and great social education and awareness. He has a job that he even if don't love but clearly enjoys and it serves a good and visible purpose, he gets home and releases all the stress in other activities he likes. And it is known that confident people (not in an arrogant manner) are more attractive so his jokes get like, [10 buff due to him feeling sure not even if about them but about himself saying them. And yes aghsfa I think he would have a deep voice with a bit of a high cracking during laugh and nervousness. And he screams like a girl when startled, then coughs and screams again but now like a real man.

Blurr for me is only the friendly flirting kind of guy who does so to make people comfortable. And he will understand his interest in romance way with someone only when other close friend of his starts friendly flirting with him and Blurr will have to reconsider some of his life choises. And I just wanted Blurr to have a panic first. And find more attractive different qualities in Swerve. Please don't look at me I didn't even write it enough fluff for my liking I am holding well.

[Also Swerve added "Serving" in his name after he has read too many isekai mangas with 127 words long titles]

[enflixx]

Letters from Stanford - Jake Sim

summary: You and Jake always planned to go to college together at University of Melbourne. When acceptance letters arrive, joy fills the air… until a secret Stanford letter changes everything. As summer passes, love is tested, truths unravel, and promises are made with trembling hands. When the day finally comes to say goodbye, distance becomes your new reality, but love doesn’t leave so easily.

genre: angst, just a little fluff

warnings: kisses throughout the fic

word count: 3,323

You were sitting cross-legged at the bottom of Jake’s bedroom floor, controllers in hand, and eyes locked on the TV screen. The two of you had been building a massive lake house in Minecraft for the past hour, trying to distract yourselves from the anxiety gnawing at your insides.

Jake’s room was dimly lit, except for the glow of the screen and the fairy lights hanging lazily above his bed. His knee was bouncing. He hadn't stopped fidgeting for the past ten minutes.

“Okay,” he said suddenly, glancing at the clock. 6:59 PM. “It’s almost time.”

You dropped your controller, heart thudding. “Don’t say that.”

Jake scrambled off the floor and flopped onto the bed, patting the space beside him. “Come on. We said we’d do this together.”

You joined him, your shoulder brushing his as you both grabbed your phones. The moment the clock struck 7:00 PM, both your devices buzzed at once.

Jake sucked in a breath. “Ready?”

You nodded, your fingers trembling as you hovered over the “View Decision” button.

“Three,” he said.

“Two,” you whispered.

“One.”

You both tapped your screens.

University of Melbourne: Accepted.

Jake let out a choked sound next to you. “I got in—wait—you too?”

You turned your screen toward him with a breathless laugh. “I got in! OMG I got in!”

Jake grabbed your free hand and pulled you into the tightest hug, both of you nearly falling back against the pillows in a tangle of limbs and joy.

“We did it!” he shouted. “OMG, we actually did it!”

You were both laughing, spinning in your own little whirlwind of excitement. He kissed your cheek, your nose, your forehead, completely overflowing with joy.

“We’re going to Melbourne!” he grinned, forehead pressed to yours. “Together.”

“Together,” you echoed, barely believing it yourself.

Then Jake hopped off the bed, still grinning. “Hold that thought. I need to pee or I’m gonna explode.”

You laughed and nodded, watching him disappear into the hallway.

The door clicked shut.

You turned back to your phone, thumb hovering over the unopened Stanford email sitting quietly beneath the one from Melbourne.

You hesitated. Then tapped it.

Your heart thudded as you clicked “View Decision.”

Congratulations…

The word blurred for a second as your vision went watery. You blinked, staring at the screen in disbelief.

Stanford.

You hadn’t thought you’d get in. You’d applied on a whim, just to see.

And now here it was, real and glowing in front of you. A future you’d never seriously planned for now opened like a door you hadn’t realized was unlocked.

Your eyes welled with tears. Not sad ones, not exactly. Just... big ones. The kind that came when the world shifted a little under your feet.

Suddenly you heard footsteps coming down the hall.

You snapped out of it and quickly swiped the tab closed, locking your phone and tossing it aside just as Jake returned.

“Miss me?” he joked, flopping back down beside you.

You forced a smile, chest still tight. “Always.”

He leaned into you, grabbing your hand again. “So, what do we do first? Start looking at apartments? I already bookmarked this tiny studio near campus with the biggest kitchen ever .”

You laughed, letting him talk about your shared future, your heart splitting in two. One part still with him. The other already halfway across the world, in California.

The summer passed in a blur of travel plans, shopping lists, visa applications. Jake was so excited, always talking about your apartment, your future, the way you’d decorate with little succulents and string lights. You smiled, nodded, made Pinterest boards with him.

But at night, you stared at the Stanford portal, wondering what it meant to choose something he wasn’t part of.

One warm July afternoon, Jake surprised you with dinner reservations at a cozy Australian-themed diner “to get a real taste of Aussie life,” he’d said with a grin that made your heart flip.

The diner smelled like woodsmoke and grilled meat, a haze of barbecue spice hanging in the air as the late July sun filtered through the tall windows. You and Jake sat across from each other in a vinyl booth, the table between you cluttered with half-unwrapped sliders, charred corn, and paper baskets of fries dusted with pink sea salt. Somewhere nearby, a child was laughing over a spilled milkshake, and the sizzle of meat on the open grill played like background music to a summer evening that felt too big to hold in your chest.

Jake reached for a fry, eyes glowing with quiet excitement. “Okay, so… don’t kill me,” he said, trying and failing not to grin. “I did a thing.”

You narrowed your eyes playfully. “Please tell me you didn’t try to book our flights without me again.”

“No,” he laughed. “Um.. worse.”

He slid his phone across the table. The screen was lit up with a listing, the apartment. Your apartment. The one you’d found during a late-night spiral of Pinterest boards and real estate blogs. The one with exposed brick and tall windows and a kitchen that made your breath catch the first time you saw it. Big, sunlit, clean counters, even a little breakfast island with hanging lights overhead.

“You’re kidding,” you whispered, leaning in.

“I made an offer,” he said. “And… they accepted. If we want it, it’s ours.”

You blinked at the screen. The pictures hadn’t changed, but somehow they felt sharper now, more real. The wide kitchen, all open shelving and clean lines, looked like the kind of place people filmed romantic comedies in. You could see the two of you in it, Jake cooking in the mornings in his ridiculous pajama pants, you dancing barefoot to some awful playlist while coffee brewed.

You looked up at him. “Jake…”

“I know I should’ve asked,” he said quickly. “I just… I saw it again and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That kitchen, the big window in the bedroom, the campus just down the street. It felt like us, you know?”

You sat back slowly, heart full and aching all at once.

“I just thought it could be home,” he added, voice softer now. “Our first perfect one.”

You didn’t speak right away.

You stared at the image. The bright white cabinets. The tall pantry. The way the light poured through the glass every morning.

You wanted it.

God, you wanted it so so much.

But not as much as you wanted to stop time. Not as much as you wanted to silence that quiet voice that had been growing louder since Stanford sent that email.

“Maybe…” you began, choosing your words carefully, gently. “Maybe we should look a bit more. Just to be sure. It’s a big decision.”

Jake blinked. “Oh. Yeah. Yeah, of course.”

He nodded quickly, lips pressing together in a tight smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re right. No need to rush.”

You reached for your drink to avoid the way his gaze searched your face. “Exactly. We’ve got time.”

He leaned back, tried to laugh. “Honestly, we might even find something with a bigger balcony. Or even a bathtub. Who knows?”

You nodded, the fry in your hand going cold.

The moment passed, at least on the surface. He picked up his burger again, and you made a joke about fairy bread being the pinnacle of Australian cuisine. The two of you slipped back into the rhythm of laughing, dreaming, talking about color schemes and who would be in charge of dishes. But beneath it all, the dream had shifted. The apartment was perfect. But for the first time, you weren’t sure if perfect was enough.

It was late afternoon, the golden sun filtering through the window and casting long shadows across your bedroom. Boxes were everywhere, half-packed and labeled in your handwriting. A quiet playlist hummed in the background while the two of you worked side by side, sorting through his books, folding clothes, and deciding what made the cut for Melbourne.

You were kneeling beside the desk, packing paperbacks into a box labeled DO NOT BEND when Jake, searching for packing tape, reached over and grabbed a slim red folder tucked behind a lamp.

“Hey, what’s this?” he asked casually, flipping it open before you could stop him. His voice shifted mid-sentence, growing still. “Stanford?”

Your hands froze around a copy of The Secret of Us. The air thinned.

“Jake—”

“You applied to Stanford?” he asked again, slower this time, like he was trying to make sense of the words.

You sat back on your heels, throat dry. “I... yeah, i did.”

He looked at the folder again, then at you. “You got in?”

You nodded, barely.

A beat passed. Jake blinked, his jaw tightening, then loosening like he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to feel. He let out a short breath and took a small step back, the folder hanging limply in his hand. “When?”

You couldn’t look at him. “Same day as Melbourne.”

Silence. The kind that buzzes in your ears and makes your heart ache.

“And you didn’t tell me?” His voice was quieter now. Not angry, just... hurt. In total disbelief.

“I didn’t know how,” you whispered, fidgetting at the worn edges of the carpet. “I didn’t want to ruin everything.”

“Ruin what?” he said, then laughed short and humorless. “Us?”

You looked up. “I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t want you to think I’d just get up and leave.”

“But you didn’t even give me the chance to be proud of you,” he admitted. “You didn’t even let me in at all.”

You stood slowly, heart racing, words stuck in your throat. “I wasn’t going to go,” you said. “I swear, Jake. We planned this, and I meant it. I just... I needed time to figure it out.”

Jake shook his head, eyes scanning the floor around you like he was trying to ground himself. “You should’ve told me.”

“I know,” you whispered. “I was so scared.”

He looked at you then, really looked past the guilt, past the secrets. There was hurt in his eyes, yes, but something softer, too. A flicker of understanding.

“I wish you trusted me with this,” he said, voice low. “But... I get why you didn’t.”

You swallowed hard. “I’m sorry.”

He nodded, slowly. “You should go.”

Your heart cracked. “What?”

“I mean it,” he said, finally smiling, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “You got into Stanford. That’s huge. I’d never want to hold you back.”

“But…Jake—”

“I want you to go,” he repeated, gently this time. “Even if it’s the last thing I want.”

You didn’t realize you were crying until Jake filled the space between you in two steps and pulled you into his chest like he was afraid you might disappear if he didn’t hold on tight enough.

You clutched the front of his shirt, burying your face into the curve of his neck. “I didn’t want to lose you,” you choked out.

“You’re not,” he whispered, but his voice cracked. “God, you’re not.”

But it felt like you both were anyway.

His arms were wrapped around you, so tight it almost hurt, and still it didn’t feel close enough. You felt his chest hitch beneath your palms, his breath stuttering as silent tears spilled down his cheeks and into your hair.

“I hate this,” he said, his voice muffled in your shoulder. “I hate that I’m saying this.”

You pulled back just enough to see his face, his eyes red-rimmed and shining. “Then don’t. Tell me to stay. Tell me that we deserve that apartment together”

He stared at you, lips parted, like he wanted to. Like the words were right there on his tongue. But instead, he shook his head slowly, heartbreak carved into every line of his face. “I can’t. I love you too much to ask you to give up on something like this.”

A sob escaped before you could stop it. “I don’t want to go without you.”

Jake cupped your face in his hands, brushing away your tears with his thumbs. “You won’t be without me,” he whispered. “I’ll be there in every facetime call. Every late-night text. Every time you drink coffee and think it’s crap without me there to make it right.”

You laughed through the tears, and then he kissed you. Slow, aching, like a promise and a goodbye all at once. You kissed him back with everything you couldn’t say, everything you weren’t ready to lose.

When you finally broke apart, both of you breathless and trembling, he leaned his forehead against yours.

“We’ll figure it out,” he murmured. “Even if it’s hard. Even if it hurts. We’ll find our way back.”

You nodded, eyes closed. “You and me, right?”

His arms tightened around you, like he could still protect this fragile version of the future. “Always.”

He didn’t speak to you for two days.

No texts. No calls. No shared playlists or silly memes. Just a hollow silence that made your heart pound every time your phone lit up, just to close it every time it wasn’t him.

Then, just after sunset on the second day, your phone buzzed.

Ring Doorbell: Someone is at your front door.

You opened the app instinctively, and there he was, Jake, standing on your porch in a wrinkled hoodie and basketball shorts, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His eyes were bloodshot red. Not just tired, but swollen, rimmed with tears, and haunted.

Your heart seized.

You rushed downstairs and opened the door.

He didn’t say anything at first. Just looked at you like he wasn’t sure if he should be here. Like maybe this was a mistake. Then his face crumpled.

“I don’t want you to go,” he said, and his voice cracked like glass.

You stepped forward without thinking, wrapping your arms around him before the rest of his words could fall apart.

“Jake…”

He held onto you like he was drowning. “I tried to be okay. I really did. I thought maybe I could just… move on, pretend we’re still going together. But I can’t. I’m so fucking proud of you, but I don’t know how to be happy when it feels like I’m losing you.”

You pulled back just enough to look at him. “Then don’t let me go,” you whispered. “Tell me to stay. I will.”

He blinked at you, tears spilling silently over his cheeks. “Don’t say that.”

“I mean it,” you said, chest aching. “I’ll stay. Melbourne was always the plan. We were the plan.”

Jake shook his head. “No,” he said, voice soft but firm. “You have to go. Please go.”

“Jake—”

“No,” he interrupted, brushing the hair gently from your face. “You got into Stanford. You earned that. You don’t give up a life-changing opportunity because some dumb boy can’t keep it together for a few months.”

“You’re not some dumb boy,” you whispered.

He smiled faintly, but his eyes were still sad. “And you’re not some girl who settles for a smaller school for someone else. You’ve always been more than that. You have to go.”

You stood there for a long moment, forehead pressed to his, your tears falling freely now too.

Eventually, you stepped back and took his hand. “Come inside?”

He nodded, and you led him through the door, into the quiet warmth of your house.

You sat together on the couch, knees pulled up, wrapped in an old shared blanket that smelled like his cologne and dryer sheets. He rested his head on your shoulder, and you stroked your fingers through his hair like you always did when he couldn’t sleep.

“I hate that we have to do this,” he mumbled. “The distance.”

“I know,” you said.

“But we’ll make it work, right?” he asked, more like a plea than a promise.

“We’ll try,” you whispered. “We’ll call every night. We’ll visit. We’ll find ways to stay close, even when we’re far.”

His arms tightened around you. “What if it’s not enough?”

“Then we try harder,” you replied, kissing the top of his head. “Or we wait. Or we fall apart and find our way back. But I’m not giving up on us, Jake. Not now.”

Neither of you had all the answers. Maybe you never would. But in that quiet moment on the couch, your hearts cracked but still beating in sync, you held each other like maybe, just maybe, love could stretch across the oceans and time zones.

Like maybe, it would be enough.

The airport was too quiet for what your heart was doing.

You stood with Jake in the check-in line, the weight of your suitcase nothing compared to the weight pressing on your chest. He held your hand like it was the last lifeline he had, like if he let go, he’d lose you completely.

Neither of you spoke much. There wasn’t anything left to say that hadn’t already been whispered between your tangled sheets, or mumbled on long drives with the windows down, or even scribbled into notes hidden in each other’s bags.

But that didn’t stop the tears.

Yours came in slow, steady streams down your cheeks. His were silent, but his lips trembled every time you squeezed his hand tighter. People passed around you, families saying goodbyes, kids running in circles, airport staff calling for final check-ins, but it all felt so far away. Like the world was moving on and you were frozen in this endless moment.

“We still have time,” he murmured, though the line inched forward, traitorous.

“Barely.”

You rested your head on his shoulder. His hoodie smelled like your house, like him, like safety.

“I hate this,” you whispered.

“I know.”

He kissed your temple. “But I’m proud of you. So proud. I need you to remember that.”

You nodded, biting your lip so hard it almost bled.

When you reached the counter, your hands shook as you handed over your passport. Jake stood beside you the whole time, his fingers trailing down your arm like he was memorizing every inch. The agent smiled politely, completely unaware of the heartbreak unfolding across the glossy countertop.

As you stepped away, the intercom crackled to life.

“Final boarding call for Flight 127 to San Francisco. All remaining passengers, please proceed to Gate 7.”

Your body turned toward the gate, but your heart stayed behind.

Jake pulled you into one last hug, full and trembling. You felt his tears finally fall, warm against your neck.

“This isn’t goodbye,” you whispered, but it cracked as you said it.

“It feels like one,” he choked out.

“I’ll come back in December. I pinky promise.”

“I’ll wait,” he said, holding you like he’d never get to again. “I’ll wait for however long it takes.”

You pulled back just enough to kiss him once, twice, and again like you could kiss the goodbye out of him. He smiled, for your sake, even though his lips were shaking.

“Go,” he said softly, eyes red. “Before I lose my mind.”

You took one step back. Then another. You didn’t want to look away, but you knew if you didn’t go now, you never would.

So you turned.

And you walked.

And you didn’t look back.

But Jake did.

He watched you until the very last second, until you were out of sight, until the boarding gate swallowed you whole.

And then he broke.

His body crumpled into a seat by the window, hands over his face as sobs tore out of him, raw and relentless. Strangers passed by, but none of them saw him. None of them knew the girl he loved just left for another continent, or how he’d told her to chase her dreams even if it meant tearing himself apart.

He’d been brave for you.

But now, all alone in that airport, he cried like he’d never stop.

Because he loved you that much.

[project-lumen]

Have you ever wondered how the Life Series would look like as a videogame?

Then I bring to you…

Project LUMEN: APPLICATIONS OPEN!!

Ever wanted to relive the stories woven by the Watchers, exceeding the limits of what Minecraft is able to offer? How about venturing in a perilous journey full of twists and turns, and most importantly, loooooooooooore?

Well, why hello there! To kick off the start of 2025, Kori, Arto and Pinkie here, and we are proud to present “Project LUMEN”! Our newest scheme to conceptualize and develop a video game based off the traffic-colored hearts we are all so familiar with. An ambitious project, that’s for sure, and that is why we are opening applications to join our little team, right on time to welcome the new year! :]

(way more info under the cut, get ready)

Once a pile of jumbled, senseless ideas, Project LUMEN has evolved into a more fleshed-out collection of story beats and mechanics. An RPG-like game revolving around the tales within the Life Series, a collection of death games ran by the mysterious deities that call themselves Watchers. The player takes on the role of the Watcher Child (affectionately referred to as WC), following and guiding the Champions chosen by the Watchers themselves through challenges and enemies. Featuring unique leveling systems, DnD inspired classes, and, most importantly, the ability to impact the story with the choices you make… because, after experiencing all the Life Series seasons from both the Watcher and the Player side, maybe you’ll have a change of mind. After all is said and done and seen, the world is yours to shape, Watcher Child.

Right, so that’s a basic summary of the concept we have, now here’s a little preview of what we have written for the prologue :3

Chapter 0: ‘The Watcher’s Apprentice’

The player takes the form of a Watcher in training, an ageless child, the Watcher Child. The most powerful and ancient Watchers, unexplained cryptic creatures that live up to their name by watching all, talk about a new series of experiments they have been running, called “The Life Series”.

The only rundown that the WC was given was that a carefully selected group of talented players were asked to test their little Life game for them, where they each have only three lives. Whoever survives last, wins. There were no rules as to how they could play the games. The Watchers then add that they, along other WCs, will be observing from the viewpoint and thoughts of one of the players. This is so the WC can get an idea of the Watchers' work. Of course, our little WC was ecstatic and ever so curious about this new idea.

Fast-forward (and after a couple of tutorials showing off the bare basics of the battle mechanics in the actual game), now our WC was standing in a circle with other apprentices just like them. The Watchers then hold a deck of mystic cards in front of each of them, and everyone picks one. When the cards are revealed, our WC sees a glowing, red card with a person on it. The card simply said, "THE SUN".

Huh, I wonder who could that be…

Now, we get into the thick of it: who are we searching for to join our team? Well, there are some requirements that the potential members should fulfill, here’s a comprehensive list of key points:

We are mainly looking for artists to help us with designs, sprites, backgrounds and UI. Although, we also welcome any writers willing to help us with developing concepts and adding more ideas!

Every person who applies should be involved with the Life Series fandom, we want to build a team with people as passionate about this Minecraft series as we are!

When answering the Application Form, please type in your favorite type of flower (in case you do not have one, just write 'sunflower') in the "Anything else to add?" part, this is only to ensure you've read the announcement :]

Welp, glad you asked. The current plan is, while the applications go on for a week or two, constantly post pieces of concept art and just story bits on this blog, then all the people selected to join the team will be added to the blog as members. We plan to post updates, concept art, sprites and small lore drops periodically on that blog to hopefully garner an audience, and it will also be open for asks and suggestions so that, even if some users aren’t part of the team, they can still help bring this absolute beast of a game to life. Ideally we will work on a small demo experience first with placeholders and stuff to just get the mechanics right and get some testers, and after that, use all feedback, polish the art, deliver a beta version for playtesting, then fix the last details and then release the full version on itch.io, that’s our roadmap. :D (there's the possibility to also publish a browser version to Newgrounds with mobile compatibility tho, so mobile users do not fear!)

Well, Project LUMEN is a very, very hefty task, a big plan to undertake, and, in all honesty, too much work for only three people. Also, talking from experience, having other person involved in development has helped LUMEN to give gigantic steps, helping to ground ideas and give inspiration, now, imagine how far we could go if we had more people in this squad. We are not only looking for artists, we are looking for people whom we can brainstorm with and throw concepts around to polish them and grow the game even more. However, we also wish to keep the team directly working on the game fairly reduced, we are thinking 3–5 people more, but depending on the amount of responses we have, we might consider expanding that number.

The spirit of the game is to be made by the community for the community, we want to offer a quality game, and, by working together, we will be able to make Project LUMEN the best it can be. Though, you need to be aware that this project is solely fueled by the passion we have for the Life Series, and we will not profit off it at all. Please, take into account that this is likely going to be a months-long project, and only apply if you are willing to put in the effort in the long-run, that’s all we ask for.

On the bright side though, by joining in the developing of the game, you’ll be able to contribute to it as much as you’d like, change anything, add anything! You’ll have your rightful spot in the credits and probably a cameo in-game, the team may be small, but we know that, with the right people, we will be able to get it done (cleo is in the storyline too dw).

Application Form!

[thisiscarlatrying]

modern!ellie hcs

notes/warnings: this is my first time doing something like this.. 😭😭 i hope u like it🙏 also, ellie and reader are dating and a lil of loser!ellie... that's just the way she is 😞

not proofread i think, i'll try to make it as good gramatically as i can but no promises 🙏🙏 (english is not my first language forgive me 😭😭)

| CONGO, SUDAN, PALESTINE | DAILY CLICK | DON'T BUY TLOU |

modern!ellie who cuts her own hair.. she REFUSES to go to a hair salon, she says it's a "waste of time and money"

modern!ellie who is kind of into fashion, i think she'd dress like this or like this...

also i just know she LOVES LOVES LOVES jorts, when spring starts that's ALL she'll wear

AND you guys just share clothes, you steal all her clothes and she steals yours

modern!ellie who wears a LITTLE bit of makeup, just mascara and chapstick. highlighter for special occasions

also her lips are so dry... 😭 she applies chapstick every five minutes and is constantly losing hers so you had to get her a one of those BIG vaseline things because she wouldn't stop stealing yours

modern!ellie who is a cat girl. you guys have like three cats together and they all look like the both of you

also their names are you guys' ship names until you ran out of name combinations and the names you had to choose were something like "sardine" or "chicken nugget"

modern!ellie who just loves kids cartoons like adventure time or the amazing world of gumball

modern!ellie who is CONSTANTLY daydreaming about being spidergirl and swinging around the city (spidergirl!ellie hcs coming soon... 🤭)

modern!ellie who plays minecraft and stardew valley for eight hours straight

modern!ellie who LOVES youtube and can't have a meal without watching a video

i KNOW she loves sinjin drowning. I DON'T MAKE THE RULES 🤷‍♀️

modern!ellie who has an INSANE vinyl collection.. it's all divorced dad music but she also owns a few of your favourite albums for when you come over<3

modern!ellie who is a barista. JUST HEAR ME OUT OKAY. while she's studying in college or something she works part time at a cafe... picture her with her little ponytail (like 17yo ellie) and her sleeves rolled up... UGHHH😭😭 she's so fine i can't.

talking about college... modern!ellie whose major is something nerdy like physics, astronomy or engineering... or maybe even architecture since she likes drawing so much

modern!ellie who was BEGGING you to move in with her until you finally agreed.. your apartment is the cutest thing ever, i feel like ellie's decorating style would be something like this:

modern!ellie who loves cuddling SOOOO MUCH. she's so touchy, she just IS.

modern!ellie whose burps make the entire building shake. it's actually insane and they smell so bad like.. you can smell the subway meatball sandwich she had for lunch earlier that day 😭😭

modern!ellie who constantly brags about you being her girlfriend, she never shuts up about you. and all of her instagram and tiktok posts would be about you (except from her outfit checks, of course)

modern!ellie who loves those cliche robbing movies, do you know what i'm talking about?? like those about robbing a bank or a museum and there's this incredibly unrealistic plan that comes out perfectly... THOSE kinds of movies. she eats them up EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

modern!ellie who fights with people on the internet constantly 😭😭 she sees a comment on a tiktok video with an opinion different than hers? SHE'LL REPLY. and she's going to wait for HOURS for the other person to respond

modern!ellie who secretly loves laland. i said it.

modern!ellie who either sleeps for 12 hours straight or won't sleep for two days. there's no in between.

modern!ellie whose walk is so funny 😭😭 it's almost like she's jumping while she walks

modern!ellie who carries a picture of you absolutely EVERYWHERE

and your apartment is filled or pictures of both of you

modern!ellie who loves her friends. she makes those stupid tiktok slideshow trends about friends but posts them privately because she's embarrased about it 😢😢😢

modern!ellie who has a journal and writes every single thought that crosses her mind down. and when she doesn't have her journal with her she writes in her notes app

modern!ellie who secretly fucks with taylor swift's sad songs and cries to them

okay i think that's enough.. im getting a little too carried away 😭😭 lmk if you like them or if i should make a part two!!

[mambodork]

Hi, me again! In the buttercup HOA au, does Grian need to eat in his code bodies? Or is he like one of Martyn's lore Watchers where he only feeds off of emotions? Or maybe every time he makes a new body, he cannibalizes the code of the old one if Scar doesn't need it for snacking? I assume Scar eats normally with the exception of occasional flesh, and Mumbo, being a sort of parasite, either can make his host eat to sustain himself or just slowly eats the host and changes them every once in a while.

Also is there a reason Grian needs to keep making new bodies, like the code can only hold itself together for a short while before it starts decaying, or maybe because he can't eat it starts to die and that'd why he builds new ones?

I did not, in fact, find motivation to write anything today because my roommates distracted me with watching pirates of the carribean, but the ideas have been bouncing around in my brain all day long.

Anyways, sorry for the ramble can you tell I'm obsessed with your aus <3

In concern of Grian eating... I really like Martyn's interpretation of it with the watchers feeding off of emotions. Would also explain why Grian loves to make games and pranks all the time since he primarily feeds on positive emotions. Although I do believe his primary reason is always to make his friends happy, the benefit of being able to absorb their happiness for his own gain is an added bonus. I like to think the more emotions he gets, the more powerful he can be. Meanwhile, if he doesn't get enough to feed, he'll just dwindle out and fade back to become part of the universe.

My headcanon for the Watchers are that they're the main force to drive the world so it can continue living by making things interesting. Consider it like a book or a movie or even a game. Nobody would play it if nothing good happens, and if they stopped playing, the world within that game would just stop altogether. This is the primary worldbuilding I use when using the concept of minecraft inherently being a game as their actual world. The watchers are creatures created by the universe to keep it going by rousing powerful emotions like sadness, grief, or happiness. In this note, I am also a firm "the watcher's are morally grey" believer. They simply have their own goals and do what it takes to get it.

I think you're quite spot on with Scar and Mumbo's way of feeding! Mumbo is definitely a parasite and I agree with the fact that he makes his host eat for him to eat aswell.

As for Grian's body, my current headcanon of it at the moment is that unlike normal players who treat the world as real life and bodies, etc, as organic, Grian has ascended when he became a watcher and could see the world as what it truly is (code, for simplicity). As such, he treats his body and how he uses it more like an actual minecraft skin. Normal rules of real life and logic that ground a player also don't really apply that much to him now.

For why he has to change it every few days or so... I just think that Grian is just too weak or simply doesn't know that much about code yet to make a sustaining body (think of him like a highschool intern developer that's still learning how to code). I like to think that Grian's current bodies are being held together by duct tape and glue 😭 he doesn't really know what he's doing yet, hence the body malfunctioning or just simply disintegrating back to the universe's code (at this point, he would just give the body to Scar for him to snack on. Just because it's all useless code to him doesn't mean that it's not organic fresh meat for Scar). I also like your suggestion on the body decaying because it couldn't eat... maybe this can also be integrated since the entire organic world & code stuff is separated much like the 4th and 5th dimensions. It would SEEM that the body is rotting due to lack of nutrition, but it could also be a code error on Grian's part, who knows :3

Tysm for the interesting questions and ideas !! These are all just my headcanons atm and you're free to take anything you want from it, or not use them at all ! Again, I really appreciate it that you're willing to expand on this world lol <3 take your time on it !

[sscardinal7]

Live stream happened, and we got some designs revealed! As well as a couple of information, but not anything major.

Miss conductor, not much of a surprise (but miss girl looks gorgeous as always)

And Node, who is sort of the main antagonist.

I made a prediction before, and April 21 hit,.. so I believe it is well due for an update by now.

While we did not receive nearly as much information as we were anticipating, a design still reveals much on the character itself when going through the lens of a general analysis. In this context, their abilities and name aid significantly in the status and essential depths of their character.

With what I can gather in my research, nodes play an important role in networking because they are the building blocks of a network, precisely the gateway for connection, direction, sending, creating, receiving, and storing data. It requires only software to connect to the network, and it can be run by completely anyone. Applying this knowledge with concept arts of the game and overall worldbuilding of the series itself—everything becomes a lot clearer.

So now, how can we apply this to Node?

Node's name is simple in itself, and it connects to their design as well. They are quite literally made up of nodes. One in their head and the other in their limbs. Their body is translucent.

Network nodes are categorical. Thanks to DJ, we got a helpful hint that incredibly reduced their types to a digestible and simpler layout.

Their name starts with i.

There are countless forms and types of nodes, the hint condensed it down to 2 answers, both starting with the letter “i”

Intermediate nodes

These include devices like routers and switches that help direct data to the correct destination while also receiving it. They don't originate or terminate data but instead pass it along to where it needs to go.

IoT nodes

loT (Internet of Things) Nodes serve as devices that establish connectivity to the Internet via a gateway, effectively enabling the integration of the physical world into the vast realm of the Internet. Within an loT ecosystem, these nodes function as crucial components for bridging the gap between the physical and virtual worlds. Taking charge of managing the entire loT system.

We had seen this ability before vía King's icons' staff, in which it only sucked in Minecraft mobs due to the strong force being their obligatory origin, overriding the game itself due to the overlapping icons.

In regards to King, he used this ability for the very destruction of the game itself, down to the code, reducing it to nothing but.. nothing for the sake of vengeance. Or at least what would have occurred if he did succeed.

way to go CG! Give credit where it's due

Despite this being marked with the intention of erasion and minimization, I think it's safe to group this as receiving and storing data. The two icons combined created a horrifically dramatized version of the force with storing and receiving, which created an incredibly overpowered demolishing force.

In Chosen, we had seen this ability before as well, as the constellations are seen right as he creates the gateway from the Outernet, which sounds awfully familiar. This is what you would refer to as an "extension to the digital world"

I think I can be able to safely group this to direction and creation.

From how I see it, it seems as though it's quite diverse in a fictional worldbuilding sense within characters.

And obviously, it won't be the last time we would see it. It seems as though we would be exploring this quite a lot.

In their cameo, Node is in an assumed line-up with all the major series antagonists.

But if you’re asking me, it seems as though our iconic antagonists appear to be rather victims of Node. Menacingly behind them, their abilities floating not far behind as they're stuck in a swampy substance. But that's just me.

Node's entire antagonistic ordeal is beyond my grasp, but I'm assuming their abilities and attacks surrounds the embodiment of network topology, which would mold and diverse into the connections of nodes. They possibly intend to screw up with the gateways that are responsible for the receiving, directing, and sending of data between various devices through communication links that are defined as network—with the basic visuals of concept art we were given.

(The gateway, ethernet tunnels, the train cough cough)

Node's goal and story behind that destruction remains anonymous, as the writing is still in early development. Regardless, food for thought.

[percyjackson-post]

I do not have the drive to be a fanfic writer, but I am constantly burdened with ideas, so I’m going to start posting some of these ideas in the hope that someone can love them in the way they deserve to be loved. 

ON THAT NOTE: PJO content creator AU! 

Annabeth: Building games, specifically The Sims. She’s constantly making these giant builds that push the game to its limits, but she also has a series where she helps people fix their builds and gives really helpful design tips.

Percy: Variety gamer, most people are watching him for his personality (and looks, let’s be honest here), so he doesn’t care too deeply about what he’s playing. He enjoys trying to break the games he's playing in really stupid but funny ways. He is the reason for A LOT of game bug fixes. 

Frank: First-person shooter, he’s easily one of the best in the world at his chosen game, and people love watching him wipe out entire lobbies in minutes. However, none of his commentary matches his playing style. He’s often talking very calmly and doing things like ranking his favorite ice cream flavors as he solos an entire team. 

Hazel: Farming simulator, this is not an “awww Hazel is so sweet <3” post. That girl is an absolute menace and has the most unhinged commentary. She’s only in this for the horses; the chat is stressed as she avoids every objective and focuses only on raising the horses.

Leo: Minecraft, I’ve convinced myself he would be an absolutely insane redstone builder, and you can’t tell me otherwise. He’s brilliant and has an ability to make the most impressive machines, but 90% of his commentary is awful jokes followed by screaming as he realizes he messed something up. 

Jason: Open-world action-adventure. I just know in my soul that he would love the Spider-Man game. He’s great at the actual game but spends most of his time walking around the map as he essentially roleplays as an npc.  

Piper: Storytelling—I am not confident in that title, but I mean games where you get options that change the outcome. She is intentionally choosing the wrong option every chance she gets. The only logic she’s applying to her decisions is whatever choice she feels is funniest. Her chat swings back and forth from encouraging her insanity to begging her not to do something like tell the love interest she thinks they’re hideous.

Anyway, I’m imagining a Percabeth AU where Annabeth and Percy are up for the same award, like best streamer of the year, and as they publicly fight about who should win, they slowly fall in love behind the scenes.

[datapacks]

So here's the idea for how to utilize the portals in the Ancient City without making them just lead to another dimension. I've had this idea for a while, but only just started to seriously think about how it would work, but make it so that when the player crosses the portal, they gain a new ability of sorts- they can see the secret machinations of the world, a spirit world.

When a mob attempts to spawn, it will first check to see if there are any spirits nearby. To the average player, these spirits will be intangible and invisible; placing a block over one will simply prompt it to move to a different location. For players who have been through the ancient city portal, though, they could intentionally move (or remove) these spirits, making a way to reasonably stop mob spawns in total darkness, or even intentionally boost mob spawns in certain locations. This would apply to hostile, neutral, and even passive mobs.

When a block attempts to age (oxidization, crops growing, trees sprouting, grass spreading, etc), as it stands right now, this uses the RandomTick system. RandomTick could be set locally though, again using these spirits. To the average player, this would rarely have any impact on the game, aside from certain areas seeming to grow crops slightly faster- to players who have been through the portal, they would have the option to move these spirits around to increase their farm yields, or even to stop crop growth altogether.

These spirit entities, for the most part, would effectively be particle spawner entities, rather than individual entities; while the individual spirits move freely from the source, that would make the source entity itself much easier to pin down and move. Otherwise, there could even be entire new hostile mobs that only appear to (and only attack) players who have been through the portal.

There could reasonably be entire structures that the player cannot see nor interact with unless they've been through the portal, but players who have can break these blocks, placing them wherever they would like. To players who haven't been through the portal, it could seem like players who have are simply walking across air. There could be entire swathes of decorative blocks & plants that could be crafted with echo shards to make them visible to the naked eye, or to otherwise make it so that an unassuming location becomes beautiful to those able to see it.

One final addition I would want to add is Solar Eclipses; during a solar eclipse, some of these spirits would be visible (though still not necessarily tangible) to the naked eye. This would be a way to ensure that players at least know about their existence, if they haven't been through the portal.

Removing the effect could be as simple as dying, like any other status effect in the game. To regain it, players would simply have to go through the portal once again.

We already have multiple instances of blocks specifically that only certain players can see under certain circumstances (barriers, light blocks), as well as the particle system allowing particles to be per-player, so if this tech was expanded to support block collision and entities, it would work out pretty well I think. This would add an insane amount of customization to the mechanics of minecraft, & I think any one of these features would be a really fun addition to play with. Imagine going through the gateway and seeing an entire city's worth of spectral villagers that have been in the ancient city this whole time.

[cigarettesaftersae]

cream puff - 01 cherry blossoms

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ Series: shidou ryusei x f!reader | contains : fluff, (slight)angst, a bit suggestive(its shidou.), highschool au, troublemaker shidou, reader loves baking, spring :P, warning is shidou

masterlist

Dear diary, who knew today would be something special. I consider maybe a small life, with a big fluffy protective dog and a garden of pink flowers with my baking recipes lying around to be a life that I’d settle for. But in a world where people will settle for anything just to say they have something could make my words mean nothing. That wouldn’t apply to me I hope. Anyways, today was strange, life is strange because why did Shidou Ryusei give me a milk box?

Cherry blossoms fall onto the cement ground, unfolding loves stories whist it aim it's arrow with might to any of those unexpected. Lingering rainy air, blooming flowers, the eye of the moon and for this, your story, now slowly becoming. One petal falls onto your face as Lui, your best friend catches up to you. Out of breathe, she lands her hands on her trumblung knees to calm down. “You walk..too fast” she breathes in and out hastily

“I don't want to be late come on” you rush Lui, her hand in yours now as you ran towards the school building

“Look we’re not even late”

“Better being early at least” you remark, whispering as the teacher took her usual attendence

“Shidou ryusei…shidou ryusei?” She repeats waiting for a ‘here’ but everyone and everything to simply nothing is completely silent. “Not here..” the teacher mumbles till interrupted with a blast upon the door sliding open too rough. “Yo..here” Shidou grins a smirk as the other teacher behind him throws him in deeper to the class “He was trying to skip in the art room” They say with a lingering annoyance hince in their tone,

“Late again Shidou Ryusei”

“Mm, I see that” he remarks in sacrasm which made the teacher wince in a ‘tsk’

“Go Sit down”

“Mmm no.”

“go to your seat

“I don't like where I sit”

“Well life isn’t fair, stop making things complicated and go sit down in your seat”

Shidou continue to refuse, his rebellion making time pass by faster than you thought. Wasting the fabric inch of time as the two bricker. Pushing back your seat, the ends of the chair goes aganist the floor causing a loud rub from it. Capturing their attention and putting a pause in their qurel. “He can take my seat.” You say with a soft demeanor, not wanting any trouble. Your seat was positioned at the window not in the front but not in the back, right in the middle, making you have a great view of the school grounds and the cherry blossoms that fade in the wind. It had to be convincing enough for Shidou Ryusei right?

Well, it sure was because now you’re in the way back as your friend sits in the front. You could see he was clearly messing around, not paying attention to the lesson, and maybe he was even playing minecraft on his phone, hidden by the table as a blindspot. You could see he was fighting a couple of mobs, his sword fighting them till it popped up a ‘You died’ and a respawning button. Causing him to joint in anger, making the teacher notice something off. Another argument between the two start again and you almost groan at this just wanting the day to past by already.

-

“Did you really have to give up your seat for him?” Lui groans, slumping into the chair next to you.

“If no one did anything, it would’ve just kept going,” you reply, brushing off the regret creeping into your tone. Both of you sit in the cafeteria, isolated and insignificant in a world of billions—a pair of small losers in the grand scheme of things.

“Yeah, but it’s… Shidou. What’s worse than that?”

Before you can respond, a voice cuts through your thoughts like a blade. “What is worse?”

You both freeze. The unmistakable voice belongs to none other than Shidou Ryusei himself. He drags a chair across the floor with an obnoxious screech before plopping down directly across from you. The troublemaker of the school, a human hurricane of chaos, sits there with a box of milk, which he casually places on your plate.

You’re at a loss for words—speechless, in the truest sense. Shidou hasn’t done anything to you directly, yet somehow, he’s already gotten under your skin, as if causing psychological and mental chaos is just second nature to him.

[fascinati0nstr33t]

WELCOME TO ANOTHER HEADCANON SHITSHOW🗣️🔥

ARCANE CHARACTERS AND THEIR FAVOURITE VIDEO GAMES

this was requested by @beast-master-talks 🫶, so here it is pookie

Jinx

Splatoon & League of Legends

as mentioned in my first headcanon post, Jinx would be a Splatoon enjoyer

based on her weapons, the Heavy Splatling would be her go to weapon

if not, then the stringer or the dualies

she’s a Deep Cut enjoyer, 100%

enjoys the chaos of the game itself

would spam the taunts and squid party whenever she splats someone

plays with ekko

finds the salmons ADORABLE

is a toxic player…most of the time

and that also applies in League (i haven’t played it-)

would main herself

ultimate trash talker in both games

she just enjoys a game where she can absolutely demolish anyone

honourable mention: Borderlands

Viktor

i need him-

TLOZ: Twilight Princess & Minecraft

i think viktor enjoys open-world games rather than more action packed games

(i’m pretty sure his voice actor harry lloyd said something about zelda in a video)

Twilight Princess would be his favourite out of the other games mostly because of the general aesthetic and how it’s one of the more “darker” games of the franchise

THIS MAN WOULD BE FASCINATED BY THE TWILIGHT REALM, I MEAN-

the fact you can pick up cats is also a bonus

now on the calmer side, minecraft

it’s serves as a distraction

he has a pond of axolotls in honour of rio

has banned jinx from his server cus she blew up his wolf “on accident”

has lost his mind over the redstone

Vi

Street Fighter & The Last Of Us

Street Fighter is pretty much a classic in fighting games, so i think it’s something Vi would enjoy

has had a crush on at least ONE of the female fighters

would use ryu, a known character in the game

has played against Jinx, never doing it again cus they almost tore each other apart

NOW, IN THE CASE OF TLOU-

clickers and bloaters stress her the fuck out

died around 4 times in a row during the first encounter with a bloater

even though she could have weapons or even bricks at her disposal, most of the time she fights with her bare fists

died trying to speedrun the stealth sections because she didn’t have the patience

ellie and joel’s relationship hit a bit too close to home with her

i think she would take a break from the second game after joel’s death, no literally, it would leave her absolutely broken

Caitlyn

Life Is Strange & Fire Emblem

Caitlyn would enjoy Life is Strange due to its theme of moral choices

i think she’d be a bit thrown off by the more supernatural aspects of the game, but she’d enjoy nonetheless

she’s pretty much canonically a detective figure

so i think she’d be pretty satisfied if she manages to uncover something beforehand

has talked about the game to vi, in the same way a fnaf fan would explain the lore

NOW AS FOR FIRE EMBLEM (i know, i’m hilarious-)

the overall aesthetic of her design and the Kiramman house just gave me the game’s vibes, y’know?

the customization of the unit’s skills or classes would appeal to her

the lucina allegations from vi only worsened when she started playing

Ekko

Animal Crossing & BOTW

HE WOULD HAVE THE BEST ISLAND, I KNOW IT

has invited heimerdinger over, sometimes even asked for advice when it came to designing

if he was scammed by tom nook at some point, yeah, get ready for “the boy who shattered the console”

Goldie is his favourite villager (she’s mine too)

built a community similar to the Firelights

now for BOTW, Ekko would be absolutely mesmerised by every single location and sight (minus the guardians)

Rito Village reminds him of the hideout

did try to fight Ganon without the necessary equipment but lost

dyes everything green or brown

a little timebomb thingy, he would name one of his horses after Jinx/Powder, especially if it’s one of the blue horses

gets irritated when the stable won’t accept a peculiar horse (skeleton or lord of the mountain)

bonus: tony hawk pro skater (i don’t need to elaborate)

Mel

Sims 4 & Pokémon Scarlet

she would make the most beautiful houses

her sims would have absolutely LETHAL face cards

however, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be absolute chaos from time to time

assassinating her sims would amuse her tbh

YOURE GONNA HAVE TO HEAR ME OUT FOR POKÉMON-

she chooses either fuecoco or quaxly as a starter

her team is full of the most GLAMOROUS pokémon i just know it

gardevoir would be on there for sure

has a shitload of coins and diamonds for evolution

Jayce

(he looks like a wet dog here-)

Detroit: Become Human & FIFA

the story of DBH would have him hooked

just the entire theme of technology would have him interested

but similar to himself, he would have good intentions yet make the most dogshit choices

he would try getting the “good” ending

similar to my headcanon of him quoting Captain Falcon, he would, unironically, say “28 STAB WOUNDS” out of the blue

Jayce is a fife, i just see it that way

despite the game being far more straight to the point, he would enjoy it casually

again, COCKY

if he’s playing with other people, then things will get heated

his team is Barça, it just is

bonus: he plays minecraft with Viktor

I THINK SOME ARE MORE ACCURATE THAN OTHERS BUT EITHER WAY I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS!

[fulltidalwavecomputer]

oh goodness guys I think I figured out the Lethe protocol... uhhh so. remember into the mind?

Notice Chris's patient number? Seems random at first but remember it for later. Andrew pointed out that it could either mean he's the 239th patient, or its on the second floor like in hotel rooms. So that would make him the 39th patient on the 2nd floor.

If we go back to lethe protocol, where Chris is tampering with Andrew's save files/memories, he's referred to as [SUBJECT136] by the system. It's quite random that this was chosen instead of his like username or something, because doesn't this imply the protocol applies to multiple subjects? Why would Chris need access to over 100 people's saves/memories?

It also has similarities with chris's designation at the hospital. Both are 3 digits long, both have a 3 in the middle, and if you turn the 6 upside-down it becomes a nine. Then it hit me. If andrew is right about the hospital room numbers working like a hotel, then that would place room 136 in the same ward below 239. I did wonder why it wasn't 139 instead for a bit, but that led me to think of numbers appearing differently in reflections, particularly in lakes or other bodies of water. I'm imagining Chris staring down at Andrew from the spirit world like he's peering at the surface and maybe submerging his head to interact with the mortals for a brief time. (I'm only remembering now that Lethe is named after a river so uhh... even more relevant ig)

Anyway, it doesn't end there. Remember the fixing room? A lot of people speculate it meant electric shock therapy or something, but I'm beginning to think they are wrong.

It never says here that Chris died in the fixing room, just that it failed and he failed. Then it says his body was found in the well one morning when previous books document his experiences with being called there. At first I thought they buried the body there because he died and they wanted to cover it up, but based on the wording I think he killed himself just like Smiler. Also we don't know how many days passed between this book and the last since none of them are dated. Let's look back to LetheProtocol.mp4:

Yeah... tbh that pretty much confirms it actually. I forgot about this line. The Fixing Room = The Lethe Protocol. How Chris made it in minecraft to tamper with his friend, idk. But remember he's a technical guy who likes to push the limits of what can be done in minecraft. He's also likely received a supernatural advantage from being a digital ghost, so suspend your disbelief.

Also note the name of the hospital. "Desiderium asylum". It's a fancy latin word related to longing, specifically longing for something lost. Lethe meanwhile means forgetfulness or oblivion, the river Lethe existing in greek mythology as a place in the underworld that would wipe a persons mortal memories if they drank from it. These two words stand out in the ARG as odd, considering most people would have to look up their meaning to understand them. Therefore, I think they are related. After all, is it a cure for grief to simply forget and move on?

If that doesn't convince you, there is slightly more evidence I found. When Andrew first visits the asylum, its worn down and made out of... bricks and mossy cobble, huh. Like there are other blocks but I'm realising now that maybe it hints that Chris/Smiler built it? Together?

But after Smiler catches up to Andrew, the place changes completely before we learn Chris was the patient he's been reading about, the appearance of the asylum completely changes to look clean and white.

It's not identical to the place in LetheProtocol.mp4, but it is somewhat familiar especially with the doors and corridors. Also look at the lil blue rose in Chris's room <3. I think the starkest similarities is that both structures have these potted hedges inside.

For comparison:

Also, there was another mystery that plagued me.

What do these numbers mean in relation to Andrew's memory/save file data? Are these years? Individual save files? Didn't Andrew's old world with Chris get corrupted (I was wrong they did go missing, my bad-) and not deleted anyway? Why choose door 11? In fact he seems to hestitate before doing so. Is it age, because then Andrew would be 16 years old and Chris erased his memories of being 11 for some reason?

Then I realised...

Guys, I don't think he just forgot those videos existed and couldn't see them on his channel, I think they either got unlisted for a bit or just straight up deleted in-universe. I wasn't there if they got unlisted at the time as part of the arg so idk, comments section didn't mention anything about it. But like... season one canonically doesn't exist anymore I think 😭. If I'm right about the numbers lining up, then somehow Andrew's memory is tied to his videos too?? I guess Chris erased his memories of making those videos along with the videos themselves, though I will say... after the latest video at the time of typing this I don't think the world itself actually got deleted :3. Too many memories for Chris as well, ig. He may have just hid it somewhere... which begs the question, what does "save data" actually refer too? Both Chris and Smiler seem to be able to upload to the channel and edit videos as ghosts, so like... did he target only the memories of those 11 videos/gaming sessions?

I could ramble even longer but eh I think I get my points across. Dunno if anyone else has thought of all this before, probably, but if you didn't know then here it is, all in one place.

After a bit more thought, I do think there's a reason that the Lethe protocol chamber device only seems to have 16 rooms. It's not lore related, rather a reference to 16 bits in computing. Minecraft isn't 16 bits but eh. It's the best I could come up with. Chris might've built it as a 16 bit operating system or smth. Also I doubt he'd need to erase more then 16 minecraft episodes from Andrew's memory/channel at at time. If he needed to erase more, say like 20, then he could just run the 16th room and then the 4th or some other combination.

For some reason each room has a passcode on the ceiling too, like a pin number. I could try and work out that later but for now, I think I'm happy with my findings.