#we've trapped it in this potato

[kedreeva]

So, I've been playing phasmophobia with a friend of mine, and "playing" is a loose term really. My controls do not work well since I don't even OWN a computer mouse (and the live ones object to being plugged in), so I'm mostly good for dying if I go into the houses much.

But what I AM good at is standing outside of the house fetching items and throwing them over the threshold for her so she doesn't have to walk to the truck. I'm also good at monitoring things inside the truck, and watching the door to alert her when the ghost is hunting if she's where she can't tell, as well as when it's over so she can come out. I can also look up stuff online if we have questions, without her having to stop paying attention to the dangerous ghosts.

And, importantly, if we load the game under my name, it doesn't matter if she dies. She doesn't lose any items, because it's my load. We can still make a guess and go home safely.

She's taken, lately, to finding random objects to hand back to me. I take screen shots when she does this, and name them things that seem logical at 10pm in the dark, but by the light of day are less so when I don't remember putting them there. These are titled "Potato Face" and "Dogframe" respectively.

[steddieas-shegoes]

stay for a while

for @steddielovemonth prompt 'love is being late to work' and for @steddieholidaydrabbles pop-up event for Valentine's Day

rated e | 815 words | tags: post-sex afterglow, dirty talk, established relationship, domestic fluff

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

"You gotta go faster," Steve panted.

"I'm not the one riding me, sweetheart," Eddie replied, equally out of breath.

"Put your back into it."

So Eddie gripped Steve's hips and put his back into it.

When Steve collapsed on top of him, Eddie's cum coating both of their stomachs, they both sighed.

This was the first time they'd managed to have sex in nearly a week. Their schedules were awful lately, and any time they did manage to spend together was usually asleep.

But Steve managed to wake up before his alarm this morning and Eddie was already naked and hard and one thing led to another...

"I'm gonna be late if I don't get up and shower," Steve sighed.

He loved his job as a guidance counselor, but the early mornings sucked. Especially when Eddie didn't have to be at work most days until nine.

Maybe he could call in sick or something today.

"I could join you..." Eddie's teeth nipped his neck teasingly. "Work you up while you wash your hair. Suck you off until you can't feel your legs. Maybe fill you up again and lick you clean."

If Steve's cock wasn't trapped between them, it probably would have given a valiant effort at getting hard again.

"Babyyyyy."

"What?" Eddie kissed his jaw. "I just wanna make up for all the time we've missed this week."

"I know," Steve sat up and looked down at Eddie's sweat-slick chest. "It'll be better next week. I won't be on afternoon pick-up duty and won't have senior meetings to go to."

"And I won't be stuck at the studio with this fuckin' singer who thinks I don't have a life outside of him and his lackluster songwriting skills."

Steve smirked. "Tell me how you really feel."

"I would, but I wouldn't wanna ruin the afterglow, Stevie. You look fuckable."

"I look fucked. There's a difference," Steve leaned down to kiss his forehead.

"Not to me," Eddie pouted. "I could fuck you again. Real quick. Won't even know I'm there."

Steve snorted. "Why are you so horny this morning, Jesus Christ."

"Don't blame him. I just always want you. You're like a potato chip: one is never enough."

"Wow. What a line. I'm melting into a puddle," Steve's monotone voice was interrupted by Eddie's loud laugh. "I'm gonna go shower before you try something."

"But...we still have 30 minutes before you have to go."

Steve glanced at the clock, jumping up and yelping when he realized Eddie hadn't even pulled out all the way yet. "Shit!"

"What?"

"I have a senior meeting this morning! I have less than ten minutes!"

Steve tripped getting out of the bed, his legs still wobbly from riding Eddie for the last 15 minutes.

"Reschedule it!" Eddie yelled after him as Steve ran into the bathroom and started the shower. "Call in sick."

"Not happening! It's Hannah; She's freaking out about college applications as if she won't get in everywhere she applies and if I cancel, she'll spiral," Eddie made his way into the shower as Steve spoke, nodding along to his words, but focused mostly on the way the water was dripping down his body as he rushed to wash his hair. "And then I have a faculty meeting with the rest of the counselors to discuss how we'll implement the new afterschool senior study group because the school board said we can't legally call it a study group unless it's 100% sanctioned by the students, which is just incredibly stupid and also not even remotely important! Like, we're just trying to make sure they can pass their finals, why does it matter what we call it?"

Eddie leaned in to kiss Steve's lips softly, just enough of a brush against them to make him pause.

"Sorry," Steve sighed. "Didn't mean to ramble."

"You know I love when you do, Stevie," Eddie smiled at him, grabbing the shampoo bottle from the shelf to get started on his own hair. "I just hate seeing you so stressed. Kinda wanna help relieve that stress some more."

"Baby, I love you, but if you touch my dick right now, I will murder you."

"Ouch," Eddie clutched his hand to his chest. "Straight to murder over a little handjob in the shower?"

"If that's what has to be done for me to get to work on time."

Eddie sighed. "Fine. I won't touch you. But I'm gonna be sad all day about the lost moments we could've shared."

Steve finished rinsing off the soap on his body and turned to give Eddie a quick peck on the lips. "We can share some moments tonight. Promise."

"Okay, okay. Get out before you're late."

Steve was still late for work, but mostly because he still insisted on packing Eddie's lunch while he was in the shower finishing up. No job was more important than that.

[allwaswell16]

A fic rec of One Direction fics where they're neighbors as requested in this ask. If you like the fics, please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other fic recs here. Happy reading!

—Louis/Harry—

✦ so let's cross the lines we lost by thecoloursneverfade

(E, 165k, uni au) Harry and Louis have a complicated past, Niall throws too many parties, Zayn is definitely not pining, and Liam just wants everyone to get along

✦ Speaking of Marvels by navigator, quitter

(E, 100k, nanny au) AU. Louis is a nanny in suburban New Jersey, and the neighbors' son is home from college for the summer. It was supposed to be a fling.

✦ Light My Fire, Blow My Flame by @softfonds

(E, 98k, adaptation) the One Where…. Louis is a Broadway actor, Harry is a newly graduated lawyer, Liam is a radio DJ, Zayn is an English Professor at NYU, and Niall is a music producer. A Friends AU.

✦ to lure a hummingbird (you had me moonstruck) by brokenbeaks / @broken-beaks

(E, 81k, trapped au) An enemies-to-lovers fic where Harry and Louis are neighbours who are forced to get along due to the inconvenience (or convenience) of a broken lift.

✦ Little by Little by nonsensedarling / @absoloutenonsense

(E, 65k, omega/omega) Harry discovers figuring out who you are is more complicated than a potato metaphor.

✦ Enchanted by @brightgolden

(E, 25k, kid fic) Where Louis finally meets his neighbour. After a few conversations, he begins to realise he is too weak to resist the charms of the new mother and his six month old daughter.

✦ In Dreams by dolce_piccante / @haydolce

(M, 23k, secret admirer) AU. When Harry moves to a new city, his new flat come with a number of sweet, anonymous gifts and surprises that brighten his days.

✦ That's How I Know by @allwaswell16

(E, 19k, parrot fic) the one where Harry’s African grey parrot spills his dirty secrets to his very hot neighbor.

✦ please don't be in love with someone else by wildestdreams / @thelavendrhaze

(E, 18k, friends to lovers) the one where Harry and Louis are neighbors and there's a lot of overthinking, misunderstandings, Backstreet Boys sing-alongs, embarrassing moments in the hallway, and pining. They somehow still make it work.

✦ Cut to The Feeling by ishiplouis / @pocketsunshineharry

(E, 16k, fluff and smut) AU where Louis is a ghostwriter working from home, and Harry is his firefighter neighbour who happens to have the cutest dog on Earth.

✦ come on over, we've got something to share by @jaerie

(E, 12k, a/b/o) Even as an unbonded omega with a four year old, Harry had everything he needed. 

✦ A Real Work of Art by @lululawrence

(NR, 11k, makeover au) the one where Harry calls on an old friend, the super popular Louis Tomlinson, to help him change his look to capture the heart of Logan. Things only mostly go as planned.

✦ You and Me and the Devil Makes Three by moodlighting

(M, 10k, bed sharing) AU. Louis moves in next door to Harry. Louis has a ghost, Harry has an extra futon and a crush.

✦ Just Your Jinx by @larryatendoftheday

(T, 10k, witch Harry) Harry Styles may or may not have accidentally jinxed his extremely fit new neighbor, and it's not so easy to make things right.

✦ Wanted: Dog Walker by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf

(G, 6k, silver fox Louis) Louis needs a dog walker. Harry answers the ad.

✦ I'll Keep You Warm by @parmahamlarrie

(T, 6k, snow storm) Louis is the kind of guy who keeps his head down and minds his own business. He’s lived on the same street for years and barely would recognize the buildings, let alone his neighbours. 

✦ Love Mail by @neondiamond

(G, 5k, strangers to lovers) the one where Harry and Louis keep mistakingly receiving each other’s mail (and also fall in love)

✦ Through the Wall (Through the Wall) by @taggiecb

(M, 5k, humor) "We live in adjacent apartment and one day I accidentally knocked a hole in the wall and into your living room. I'm really sorry oh my God you're naked" AU 

✦ Unplant by @hellolovers13

(M, 4k, trans Harry) Louis should've looked where he was going, then he wouldn't have to desperately try to save a little flower now.

✦ Heels Over Head by @kingsofeverything

(E, 3k, famous/famous) Louis Tomlinson returns from tour to find that his new next door neighbor doesn't realize his backyard is not completely private.

✦ an honest mistake by @disgruntledkittenface

(NR, 2k, humor) Louis has ridden the elevator with his neighbor all week. The first time they speak, there’s a misunderstanding.

—Rare Pairs—

✦ Now that you're here, I never want you to leave by WeAreTheLuckyOnes

(E, 17k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) the one where Louis's a drummer, Nick's a radio DJ, and Louis's dogs are menaces.

✦ Kind of Tough to Tell a Scruff (Stand and Deliver) by sunsetmog / @magicalrocketships

(M, 4k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) In which Nick moves north and Louis lives next door.

✦ Take a Piece of My Heart by cherrylarry / @beelou

(G, 4k, Niall/Shawn Mendes) The one where Niall invites his neighbor Shawn to a Valentine’s Day get together with his friends and maybe it’s a mistake.

[healthy-dude]

Why Blaming Carbs for Diabetes is Like Blaming Water for Drowning

Welcome to my post on why diabetes isn't just a sugary death sentence but a greasy one at that. Imagine your body is like a very finicky luxury car. You wouldn't fill its tank with maple syrup and bacon fat and expect it to run smoothly, would you? Well, your body works in a somewhat similar fashion—too much junk, especially fats, clogs up the works.

Here’s the breakdown for the medically uninitiated:

The Fat Trap: Think of saturated fat as the uninvited guest who crashes on your couch (skeletal muscles), refuses to leave, and blocks the door (prevents glucose from entering cells), causing a nasty traffic jam (elevated blood sugar).

Fructose – The Wolf in Sweet Clothing: Drinking your fructose in sodas is akin to trying to put out a fire with gasoline. It rushes in, overwhelms the system, and instead of being a quick energy source, it turns into fat. That's right, that sweet drink is more like a fat keg.

Cellular Traffic Jam: Here’s a fun fact — saturated fats cause a cellular traffic jam worse than Tokyo at rush hour. It messes up the whole energy production line, leading to increased blood sugar because glucose can’t get where it needs to go.

The Historical Angle: Historically, populations gorging on fats have shown more diabetes. Surprise, surprise. Meanwhile, high carb consumers (like the rural Chinese or Okinawans with their sweet potatoes) lived their days with hardly any diabetes. Maybe carbs aren’t the bad guys after all?

Sweeney’s 1927 Revelation: Since 1927, we've known that fats mess up insulin sensitivity. That's almost a century ago, and yet here we are, still debating whether to blame sugar or fat for diabetes.

So, what do we gather from this historic and scientific mishmash? Diabetes loves fat more than carbs. It's a lipid disease, mortals.

Advice from your not-so-friendly neighborhood nutri-student: Eat less saturated fat, dodge those sweet drinks, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll steer clear of the metabolic iceberg that diabetes really is.

Remember, when it comes to your health, sometimes the simplest advice is like Occam’s razor – cutting through the complexities to reveal a solution that’s, well, painfully obvious.

Stay healthy or, at the very least, try not to actively mess it up.

[jmdbjk]

Tumblr anniversary

It's been TWO years since I chose to take up residence here on this hellsite/app.

Last year, when I posted about my Tumblr anniversary, Jungkook had just dropped his thirst trap birthday greeting to Jimin. And Yet to Come Busan had not happened yet. No one was enlisted yet. We had no idea that we were about to have our hearts ripped out by Jin's enlistment announcement.

My, what innocent babes we were.

So much has happened since last October other than the afore mentioned Yet to Come Busan concert and Jin's enlistment announcement.

We watched the members emotional sendoff to Jin in December. We watched them do it again for Hobi in April. We didn't see but we know Yoongi has begun his service. We don't need to see it. We are pretty certain within the next two months we will be sending another 2 or 3 or maybe even the rest of them off to do theirs as well.

We got The Astronaut, Dreamers, Indigo, a Christmas song from Tae, Vibe, Face, D-Day (and a tour and I saw Yoongi!!), Angel Pt. 1 & 2, The Planet, another version of Jack-in-the-Box, Take Two, Seven, Layover, 3D and we anxiously anticipate Golden. What am I missing? More collabs that Namjoon did with others. We got so much music I can't remember it all.

We've seen the clothing come off of every member. Some more than others. But still. Chapter Two is not about taking their shirts off, as Tae said...yeah, whatever Tae... it is about transitioning to a more mature image including taking control of their professional and personal images, their bodies, their autonomy, their maturity and sexuality. And boy howdy...

We got a very complex and far-reaching BTS 10th Anniversary Festa celebration that took place across the world.

We got Kook Cooks, Flying Yoga, Wootteo, Suchwita, Namjoon on Big Brains and Many of them Sitting at the Same Table Talking (or whatever the name of that show was), Dior Jimin, Tiffany Jimin, Calvin Klein Jungkook, Valentino and NBA Yoongi, Louis Vuitton Hobi, Bottega Veneta Namjoon, Cartier and Celine Taehyung, dance challenges.

We inadvertently got Jungkook's TikTok through his own error and now we are pretty sure the other members INCLUDING JIMIN are lurking on all the soc med platforms.

We got so much Jungkook being himself. And we watched him go from being fine with his couch potato cushion existence to being Mr. World Traveler who can't stay in one place for more than a few days before he's off again to who knows where and adding to Jimin's list of things to fret over.

We got a nice quantity of sweet quality interaction of Jimin and Tae just yesterday. This healed me.

We have heard over and over how each member is anxiously excited to get back and hurry up and show us they still have it.

There has not been any lack of things to talk about. There has not been any lack of controversy. We've seen things we probably weren't meant to see and we've seen things that are dubious as to their authenticity and things that were obviously made for us to see.

Like one of those of flying bird flock murmurations, the fandom is shifting and changing, spreading out and coalescing and doing all this repeatedly as we navigate this period of time before they get back together in 2025.

I hope we don't run off the rails this next year and that we all can find some common ground so we can stand together at the threshold of 2025 in anticipation of their comeback.

And sooooo many more of you have chosen to follow my weird ramblings, rantings and odd posts. Thank you for taking time to give my blog any consideration.

[death---dealer]

Hi, Hi, Em 👋🏻

Three things I'd like to know about you (not anonymously tho haha)

Your favorite meal (I mean, I like food myself so why not ask!)

What do you like to do in your free time and if you could choose only one to do for the rest of your life, which one would it be, and why?

Is there any anecdote/fact you want to share with us but no one has asked yet about it? (Really, it can be related to anything you want to share!)

Have fun tonight, enjoy your time and I love you ❤️

(this is me trapping you in a hug!) ↓

CLEM IM SO SORRY FOR THE LATE RESPONSE THIS GOT BURIED IN MY INBOX BUT I LOVE YOU SO BETTER LATE THAN NEVER WITH ANSWERING MWAH !!!

Favorite meal is definitely kurnik with a side of potatoes. IDK how to describe it in English other than it being a sort of Chicken Pot Pie but more dome-like on the top? LOL. My mom makes it for me, it's one of my comfort meals and she's adapted it to be vegetarian as I don't eat meat very often anymore. It's a shame I'm on such a strict diet otherwise I would devour one on my own, no hesitation.

Other than writing in my free time, I do a few other things. I read a lot, I play piano very avidly and I dabble in my Nintendo Switch ( Mainly mario kart, I kick butt LOL. Also have been re-playing Kirby and the Forgotten Land. I love the 3D nature! ) I want to be a full time writer though. It brings me such pleasure. maybe I should dust off my books I have floating around and actually try to publish something lol.

I'm genuinely really bad at talking about myself, but uh? I have over 40 Shinedown Band T-Shirts from the concerts I've seen them at ( about 14 total now ). I've got a cool ass video of some of them if you guys wanted to see it lol. I've literally seen them in what could only be described as a Gymnasium. Small venue, only about 300 or so people I would have to guess. I have gotten pics with their guitarist and their lead singer!

I go to their concerts with my brother, Alex. We've travelled to 5 states so far to see them, and we really want to see them in all of the continental US states. I'm v sad to not see them this year, first time in 10 Years I won't be seeing them and next time I see them, I might have a baby and that's so wild to me. Have some pictures lol.

[whumping-valentine]

🦌 Fawn and Hunter - Part 13 🦌

"Severin"

Content: Aliens, tornadoes, captivity, wreckage, uhhh that's it I think.

3,200 words

Hey hey, things are about to go fucking nuts, so buckle up!!!

We're at the point of the story where these parts become proper chapters, so expect these to be longer. Also expect these to come more frequently, as I want to finish this story by the new year, because I want Butterfly Blood to be out by that time. I desperately need to post about Val lol. I even have an interactive idea for it that I really hope won't flop I'm so excited.

(I don't really know who's a whumpee and who's a whumper anymore because these rolls are being tossed around to each other like a game of hot potato)

Anyways, enjoy!!! 👽

     Fawn stood in the shower with their forehead resting against the dirty tiles. They didn’t know how long they’d been here, but by now, they were mostly just defeated. One of the many, identical people would come down only once a day to feed them both, and then leave. They had no idea what they wanted from them. It was worse than prison. It might as well be one.

     All they had in the cell were a few mattresses and one bathroom to share. Honestly, it was better than staying at Hunter’s cabin. At least now both of them were in the same boat. Still, Fawn didn’t want to settle. They wanted to go home and put all of this crazy shit behind them. They couldn’t even have a proper shower, there was no soap or washcloths. All they could do was let the water rinse over them. At least their captors would bring them clean clothes every few days.

     Hunter knocked on the door, “Can you hurry it up, I have to piss.” They yelled loud enough to be heard through the door and running water.

     “Then piss on the floor.” Fawn mocked.

     “I hate when my past actions come back to bite me.” Hunter groaned, “You know they don’t like it when we use up their water. Do you want them to be mad at you?”

     “I want them to be something!” Fawn yelled back. “I’m bored and trapped with you of all people! I’ll use up their fucking water as much as I please. If they don’t like it they can just let me go.”

     “That's not how these types of people work, Fawn. I should know.” They said, and left them alone.

     Fawn exited the shower when the water began to run cold. The knobs squeaked as they were turned, and the white noise faded to silence. Fawn dried themself off and put on the last of their clean clothes. When they opened the door, Hunter pushed past them and into the bathroom. Fawn collapsed face first onto one of the mattresses.

     When Hunter left the bathroom, they too sat down on one. There wasn’t much else to do. Pure silence was held in the air for quite a long time, until Hunter interrupted it.

     “It's been a month, you know?”

     Fawn turned their head, “What?”

     “We've been here for over a month already. I've been counting.”

     “How do you even know when a day has passed?” Fawn questioned in disbelief.

     “They give us food once a day. So I've counted how many times we've eaten. It's 32.”

     Fawn rolled over onto their back, “That's ridiculous.” they rolled their eyes and folded their arms.

     “Be in denial all you want, but I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am. Though that might come from a place of denial, too.”

     “Whatever…” Fawn mumbled.

     “...You know-”

     “Hey, can you stop talking?” Fawn snapped.

     “No, I can't stop talking, how about that? God, stop being pissy for one second, I'm in the same boat as you are.”

     “I'm only on this fucking boat because you dragged me onto it. I'll be as pissy as I fucking want.”

      Hunter ignored them, “What I was GOING to say was, it should be time to eat again soon. That makes it day 33.”

     “I don't care.” Fawn spat. Hunter simply rolled their eyes and stayed quiet as they awaited food. It wasn't much different than the venison they always ate, werewolves were hunters, too.

     As the minutes ticked by, the sound of a door opening filled the air, followed by footsteps coming down the quiet, damp halls. Two of the cloaked pack members were each carrying a plate of food. Fawn shot up from their mattress.

     “You!” Fawn yelled at them, grabbing the bars of their cell, “Talk! Talk to me, right now! I'm tired of the silence! Say something!”

     The two looked at each other briefly before sliding the food under the bars. Fawn picked it up and threw it at them, “Fucking talk! I want you to talk!”

     Hunter pouted, “That was my food, too.”

    Fawn growled and grabbed one of the plates, throwing it at the wall like a frisbee right above Hunter's head. It smashed into pieces, and Hunter was genuinely startled.

     The two started to walk away, but Fawn quickly grabbed hold of their clothes. They took one of their arms and pulled it through the bars, holding them there. Hunter watched in astonishment while the other member tried to help free their arm. The two still said nothing.

     “Prove you can talk!” Fawn yelled, “Prove you can fucking talk and I'll let you go!”

     “We're under orders not to speak, now let him go.” A feminine voice said. Fawn let go of their grip as they recognized the voice.

     “You two are the same fools who kidnapped us in the first place!”

     “Look, okay, we’re just following orders.” Agnes said. “It’s not personal, it’s just what needs to be done to prepare for the apocalypse.”

     “I’m sorry, the fucking WHAT?”

     “I- agh- look-” Agnes grumbled.

     “No, no. You said what you said, you said apocalypse! This is an apocalypse? Of what kind? People getting turned into werewolves and vampires and keeping a bunch of humans for sacrifice?”

     “Well, no, but… kinda?”

     “Wha-”

     “No, look, we’re not talking about this. We never said anything-”

     “But you did, you did say things! You already broke the rules might as well keep pushing. You should keep pushing, come on, you want to, you want to tell!”

     Agnes groaned another sigh as she sipped her hand under her mask to rub her face. She took another deep breath and let out a sigh once more, and said, “What do you wanna know?”

     “Why are you keeping us here?”

     “I’m afraid we can’t say.” Agnes said.

     “Can you at least tell us who the fuck you are?” Fawn asked. Anthony and Agnes looked at each other, almost afraid and unsure, but gave a subtle nod, the both of them. They sat criss-crossed on the floor in front of their cell.

     “We’re werewolves, though that much you already knew.” Agnes said, “Ethel is our pack leader, and we wear the masks to hide our identities.”

     “Okay…” Fawn said, “But why do you need to hide? You’re out here in the middle of the forest. Hunter has lived in this forest for years and they’ve never even seen you before.”

     “Yes, but you're seeing us now, aren’t you?”

     Well… I guess that’s true… What are you guys doing out here? And… Anaira. That whole thing.”

     “Anaira’s a vampire.” Anthony said, “And a really old one at that. Our pack and her colony are always fighting. See, the masks aren’t just to hide us from you guys, it’s to hide us from each other. We go out into town too, you know? And we don’t need to know if we run into each other.”

     Fawn looked to Hunter, “You really didn’t know about any of this?”

     Hunter put their hands up, “I swear to god.”

     “Really?”

     “Look, man, just because I live in the woods doesn’t mean I’m aware of some secret vampire-werewolf rival cult societies!”

     “Well- How do you know an apocalypse is coming?” Fawn asked the werewolves.

     “We can feel it. It’s… a feeling I can’t quite describe, like an intuition. I just know.”

     “We’re supernatural, and we can feel the energy in the air. It grows by the day. Something big is coming.” Anthony said, “They’ve been calling it the Great Human Extinction.”

     “Who’s they?” Fawn questioned.

     “Ah-! I’ve said too much.” Anthony yelped.

      “Alright, yup, Bye!” Agnes said, standing up, pulling Anthony away. “Nice chatting!” They left as quickly as possible.

     Agnes pulled Anthony all the way outside, “Really, Anthony?” She said, pushing him away from her. He almost fell over in the melting snow. “You told the humans about the Great Human Extinction?”

     “Hey, they were the ones who asked!”

     "That doesn't mean you have to tell them! We shouldn't have even been talking-! Just-" Agnes groaned a scoff, and took off her mask as she began ranting, “Look, Anthony, when mom and dad died-”

     “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know.” He took his mask off, too. “They told you you were in charge. Because I'm just the dumb one, aren't I?” He said bitterly.

     “You are not dumb.”

     “Sure, maybe not, but I am weak. And that might as well be the same fucking thing in this pack, huh?” he said bitterly, “Or I should say cult. You got us into a fucking cult, Agnes! But oh, you're the one in charge just because you're stronger!”

     “Anthony, I don't want to argue.”

     “You're the one who started this! Maybe if you don’t wanna argue then don’t start an argument. I should be the one calling the shots, I'm older than you.”

     “Yeah, by like five minutes.”

     Anthony groaned and quickly walked away. Agnes followed.

     “Anthony, don’t be this way.”

     “Maybe I wouldn’t be this way if you weren’t always so annoying and pushy and thought you were better than me.”

     “Anthony-”

     “You’re the one who got us into a cult.”

     “I thought I was protecting us!”

     “From WHAT? Vampires who just wanna peacefully drink from a river? From humans who don’t even know we exist? We can go out into town just fine, we only have to worry about shit once a month and now every single goddamn day is a nightmare controlled by a crazy woman!”

     “Ethel is the best chance we have at getting through what’s to come-”

      “You’re always talking for both of us! It’s always about US but it never actually is! It's about YOU! I don’t WANT to be here! YOU want to be here!”

     “I don’t want to be here, Anthony, we need to be here.”

     “No, you need to be here. Just- ugh- whatever, just- just drop it. I don’t care.”

     Agnes didn’t respond, and the two walked through the woods in tense silence. Eventually, they made it into town. They walked down the eerily quiet streets, the silence slowly being filled by shouts. The apocalypse preachers stood outside the gas station still.

     “They're really still going at it, huh?” Agnes said, “I'm surprised that they can feel it, too.”

     “What makes you say that?”

     “If they couldn't they would've dropped it and moved on by now. But they're still going.”

     “Bold of you to assume that when flat earthers are still around.”

     “Yeah, but nowhere near how they used to be. Besides, they're actually right this time. This isn't flat-Earth or anti-vax. It’s the actual end times. Well… for them at least.”

     They approached the convenience store to get some snacks, only to find it was shut down.

     “Oh, the store closed down.”

     “Why?”

     “Low on staff, it says. Gas station’s still open, though. Come on, let’s go to the cafe. There are less people there, anyways.”

     Anthony shoved his hands in his pockets as he followed her down the street. The cafe was probably one of the nicer buildings in town, which is saying quite a lot since it’s not in too great a shape itself. It had a nice, old rusted sign above the dirty double glass doors. Light blue paneling covered its sides, faded, peeling, and covered in dirt. They walked inside, the bell dinging, and the pleasant scent of coffee filled the air. The televisions were playing some generic talk show on low volume, and despite the grime and rather depressing atmosphere, it was cozy and comforting. 

     Each got a cup of coffee and a pastry. The siblings sat in silence by a window, the air maybe forgiving and understanding. They never really got along, but they tried. They really did.

     A sudden, horrible siren blared throughout the town. The television beeped, and a warning appeared onscreen.

     WARNING: A TORNADO HAS FORMED IN THE WOODMAR AREA. SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

     The people around the cafe shot looks of confusion and fear at one another, looking uncertain of what to do. The few staff workers ushered everyone down into the basement while the warning siren continued to blare. Winds were rushing harshly outside, blowing street signs from the ground, ripping bushes from their roots.

     The basement was musty, cold, and damp. The dull yellow lights illuminated the room in an eerie fog. The people around were anxious and confused over the suddenness of it. It wasn’t even windy outside, but now they sit huddled underground, listening to the vigorous storm that raged above, muffled through the walls and earth.

     After a while the sounds quieted down, leaving them in silence, no one talking, just waiting. At one point the power went out, and they were all left in complete, uncomfortable darkness. After an hour, the radio deemed it safe to leave, so one by one they walked back up the stairs. The damage was… strange.

     Strange as in, how could one tornado do all this? The cafe was mostly fine with some rocks and street signs breaking through the windows, glass scattered on the ground. Power lines were strewn across the streets, tangled in bushes and vegetation. The telephone poles were knocked down, much like the trees that were ripped from their roots. The twins slowly started to walk down the streets as they took in the wreckage.

     “What could've caused a tornado to form out of nowhere?” Anthony questioned.

     “They don't call in the apocalypse for nothing, Anthony. It probably wasn't natural.”

     “What, so it was some kind of un-natural natural disaster?”

     “Yeah, probably.”

     “Okay, then by what?”

     “How should I know? I'm not the one organizing the apocalypse.”

     “Whatever.” He said, and the two walked through the town in silence. There were a lot of other people coming out to observe the damage, more people that either had ever seen in the town at one time.

     Eventually they ventured back off into the woods. Most of the snow had melted now, leaving the ground cold, wet, and muddy. A large cloud of smoke in the air caught Anthony's attention as he went to peek through the bushes.

     “A-Agnes?” he stamped.

     “What?”

     “You might wanna come take a look at this…” he said, shaken. Agnes ran over to him and peeked where he was looking over the bushes.

     There was a large crash, or what looked to be one. A giant, muddy rut dug through the earth, scattering trees, ripping them up from the ground. Farther down the horizon, they could see some kind of metal object. It may have been small in the distance, but from the destruction it felt, they knew it was huge.

     The twins looked at each other, and without a word they hopped down the hill, level with the rut. The destruction was unlike anything they had ever seen before, it was out of this world. The rut was so deep they'd get stuck in it if they fell down.

     As they approached the large object, it grew bigger and bigger, even more so than what they thought. Now with it up close they could see the blinking lights, buzzing cut wires, sparks flying off the broken machinery, smoking into the air. Metal was thrown all throughout the area, one part of it missing an entire panel that had fallen off.

     The pair peeked inside, where they saw an unfamiliar creature rummaging through a crate in a panic. There was a blinking, broken hologram of a screen flickering in the air. The creature got up and turned around, staring at the two with wide eyes.

     They were about six feet tall, and had three large, purple eyes. Their skin was a greenish purple, and they had four arms, with four sharp fingers on each of their hands. They had a tail, a pair of antennae, and their legs were bent in a more animalistic fashion.

     They stared at each other for a concerning amount of time, no one really knowing what to say. Agnes finally asked, “What are you?”

     “I- uh- I shouldn't say-”

      “You’re an alien!”

      “Wha- no- alien? No, this- I- this is all just an illusion! Nothing is real, uh-” He turned around and quickly continued looking through his stuff once more, pulling out a can. He sprayed them with it, but nothing happened.

     “Hm. I don't think whatever that is works on werewolves.” Agnes said. The alien sighed in relief.

     “Werewolves! Oh, not humans. Thank The Council.”

     “So, then, alien, huh?" Anthony asked, "What’s your name?”

     “S-Severin. I'm- from Ieartinia. I'm an Ieartin. The Council-”

     “Yada, yada, yada, that's a plotline for book 7 of a different series.” Agnes said, “What's your goal, to conquer this place?”

     “Well, yes, but-”

     “That's all I need to know.”

     “Oh, wow.” Anthony said. “That's… quite a ruling system. I think I can relate.”

     “No! That's not my goal, it's The Council's, I'm just- oh, I'm just like all the rest! They're sending multiple invaders over, I'm just one of many. I trained so many years for this day and I already blew it by crashing my spacecraft. Oh, I can't let this news get back to them, they will literally kill me! Publicly!”

     “Are you the one who caused the tornado to blow through here?” Agnes asked.

     “Well, some of my gadgets might've caused the weather to go weary…” he said. Anthony took note of how scraped up he looked. His blood was bleeding green, and he looked quite dizzy.

     “Woah man, sit down.” Anthony said, directing him to a tree stump.

      “Anthony! Why are you helping him? He’s a part of the, you know, apocalypse?”

     “So are we! You think we’re excluded from it? Anyone who isn’t a human is a contributor.” He focused his attention back to Severin, “What are you going to do now without your ship?”

     Severin shrugged, “I dunno. Wait for the other invaders to find me and take me back to The Council where I’ll die for being a disgrace to the Empire, or whatever. Doesn’t matter anymore.”

     Anthony took off his cloak and wrapped it around him, and pulled his mask from his bag.

     “Wha-” Severin questioned.

     “You can come with us.” Anthony cut him off. Agnes shot him a wide-eyed look.

     “Anthony! If Ethel finds out-”

     “Oh, screw Ethel! I’m not here to please our fucking cult leader. I’m tired of listening to her, aren't you?”

     Agnes folded her arms and averted her gaze. Anthony sighed and looked to Severin, “Do you want to give it a chance?”

     “I… guess so. I don't really have much else I can do.” He looked at his broken ship.

     “Okay. We'll give it a go. But if anyone in our pack finds out what you are, they’re gonna use you as a sacrifice. So pretend you’re one of us, and don't let them catch on. Occults stick together, yeah?”

     Yeah, apparently.

     Unless they're a vampire.

Sorry if the meta reference to my book series broke your immersion, I just can't help myself lol

Taglist: @parasitebunny @whumpy-wyrms @fruitypinapple00 @otterfrost

Lmk in the comments if you want added or removed !

Thanks for reading !! 💕🦌

Likes are greatly appreciated; let me know you liked it!

[golbrocklovely]

ooh what went down in the snc fandom today? i promised xplrvibes i’d only get my meat and potatoes from you two from now on… im tryna be good lol

- aussie anon

well we've had some continuous updates thru out the day but i'll give the quickest of run downs. some of this not snc related, but fandom adjacent.

jc caylen search history popped up during one of his livestreams where it showed that he has searched up his girl friends' leaked onlyfans pics, and also specifically tara yummy's feet...... he hasn't said anything about this as of yet, but it is very, very weird.

zach justice, who is a creator that's friends with snc and tara, is getting cancelled for being racist?? imma be honest i know nothing of it bc i literally don't care about him lol but that's what i heard

then last night k/la girl (sam's girl, in case anyone forgot) went live last night and played a bunch of old snc songs, like the trap house music, love for hire, skin. shit like that. ppl were trolling her and trying to make her play kat's music at one point too

and now TONIGHT k said she wants to go live with m AND just posted a tiktok not that long ago kinda (possibly) making a joke that she doesn't care if kat is apparently making tiktoks about her lol

it's all very messy and childish, but very funny to watch. not the jc or zach shit, but k being petty towards this fandom... ngl i kinda love it sksks

and that's what you've missed on GLEE

[iciatheguardess]

psst. nows your chance to elsie rant about the current events if you want to

Rant? Hmmm... I dunno where to start

(Btw, all of this is /silly and not meant to offend anyone at all)

I'm so fucking glad they're almost done with this shit, because shit is happening to EVERYONE. I can't believe how calm the 2nd floors been so far and I'm thankful for it- and I'm glad there was rubble blocking the way because they all need more items and checkpoints before getting to her. Also the angst, JESUS CHRIST THE ANGST. If you haven't seen my separate post about Icia sleeping (I'll find it if you want or you can hunt for it yourself) and seeing her friends back in tbdk then you know damn well there's something SEVERELY wrong happening with Icia and if ANY serious shit happens then HOOOOOOO boy God bless everyone's souls because that will NOT be fun. It's not even just her though- like. Spoilers. POOR FUCKING VERIE AND ARTHUR, LIKE JESUS CHRIST THEYRE EACH OTHER'S LOST FIANCE AND SHE DOESNT EVEN FULLY KNOW IT AND HES JUST WAITING SADLY WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING IF SHES EVER GONNA REMEMBER. I'm really proud of Clara though, especially with being able to put her mask back on for the play. Lance and Raina are freaking me out a little. I know we've seen a bit of Lance and fighting really isn't his style but I've said this before and I'll say it again, seeing one of them for a long time and not the other FUCKING SCARES ME. And also, please someone get Stitch some therapy, that guy is basically going rabid with some of the stuff he's doing to himself and others, he is NOT mentally suited for this, no offense.

THATS NOT EVEN ALL. The dungeon party for me has been nothing but a whole lotta "WHAT????" Bc FIRST everyone falls asleep and gives into the trap just like that and Elsie and I are screaming into pillows for that to not happen- THEN BOB SHOWS UP WITH LEAFY AND MAGE I THINK? Idek if he's still there now but oh my god I can NOT wrap my head around this. ALSO IF I SEE KOPI AND KUMO AND THAT DAMN MEME ONE MORE TIME- well I guess I can't be mad bc they're each others support rn and that's really what everyone needs in this hell forsaken place at the moment. Someone also needs to really, really give Dusk a hug. I think she should make a rage room accessible to everyone in the circus, everyone needs that place.

Other than that I'm loving how creative the rooms and bosses are. I'm really hoping we see more Aoki bc he's so sweet and cute and someone get that man a gf right now, bring some happiness into his life. I'm also loving how creative I can be with the very, very long asks I'm writing for each room. I'm loving slipping bits of lore into Icias character. Yall don't know what I got planned or what Imma do if I get the chance. What I DONT love is how FAST MY FUCKING APPETITE DISAPPEARS THE GODDAMN MOMENT I SEE HER IN ANY ASK. Or if I see anything that has to do with Northeast, Raina and Lance, Stitch, etc. It's not fun being abt to eat a delicious bowl of cheesy spicy potatoes and seeing a notif and suddenly my appetite is like "HAHAHAHA ADIOS" because I get so anxious and excited that sometimes it literally makes me nauseous.

That's all I can remember rn. So far, 9/10, having lots of fun, have definitely cried a few times.

[softpine]

lmaoo i actually saw a post about how to properly censor images; because AI can just remove black bars now and read what's underneath, you have to actually delete the part you're trying to hide and THEN add the black bars on top just to denote that you removed something. i obviously don't care about confidentiality when it comes to something as silly as my sims story, but it's good to know for anyone who works with important web documents!! soooo you're gonna need more than x ray vision because those words are not on the photo anymore :P

mmmm cornbread and mac & cheese sounds so good, i would love to try baking it on top to make kind of a crispy casserole texture. i love to crush up potato chips and put them on top of avocado toast :D ohhh and i love dipping french fries in vanilla milkshakes

ANYWAY MY CHARACTERS (can you tell i'm hungry fjskjds) i think stevie has a remarkable ability to eat really nasty things just to make people laugh but otherwise she eats normally. elaine will try any of those novelty desserts like bacon dipped in chocolate or fried oreos because she has a sweet tooth. asa & beth being vegans can put together a meal from the most random forgotten food at the back of the cupboard. oh and casper will eat THE weirdest food when he's bulking up lmao because he's naturally skinny so his goal is just to pack in as many calories as possible; drown a ham roast in mayo, add shots of olive oil & eggs to protein shakes, cover salmon with peanut butter, etc etc. nasty stuff lol

@morrigan-sims lmaoo i believe your word, don't worry ;-; i love that you have such solid memories because i do the same thing with the media i love (like the day i started watching supernatural with my friend because our school had a half day due to a big snow storm in 2012 fjskjd) so i'll take it as a huge compliment that you remember where you were when you started reading frozen pines! thank you so much for all your kind words 💖 i've just been feeling insecure for reasons that have nothing to do with any of the lovely people who read my story, but the love i got in response to that post made me so happy anyway!! i can't say thank you enough, especially to you in particular because you've always been SO kind to me and i appreciate everything you've done for me 💗💗 i hope you have a wonderful day morri!!!

my bad i didn't see this until thursday fjksjds 🐪

i'm so sorry if i forgot to answer this or if i did answer it and i just can't remember, my memory has been BAD bad lately but this made me so happy to read!! thank you so much for spending your time with my story 🥺 i really appreciate it 💖💖

i'm also sorry if i forgot to answer this ahhhhh :( but that's a good question!! most other ghosts we've seen don't have enough consciousness to even realize that finn is different from them, let alone be jealous of him. they're trapped in their own little worlds with no awareness of their surroundings. it's really bleak :(

[inconsistentcharacterizationcomp]

Also for the Wheatley propaganda, the developers literally admitted in The Final Hours of Portal 2 that they hadn’t thought up an ending for the game yet and they were nearing the deadline so they had to delay it. They admit that the writing quality wasn’t there and that they were having pacing issues so Wheatley’s character motivations leading up to The Part Where He Kills You is abrupt and doesn’t make much sense.

They actually managed to swap GLaDOS and Wheatley’s personalities entirely if you look at the unused lines in the cutting room floor, with GLaDOS saying “We need to ESCAPE now. RIGHT now. RIGHT NOW right now. Fine. SOON. Take your time. No pressure. Oh! Alright. LOTS of pressure now. Actually, I think we're about to die. Any last words? [thinking] Why don't I go first? Hmmm. Regrets.... regrets.... this is hard... Hundreds of test chambers. Thousands of test subjects. At least half of that number filled to brimming with neurotoxin. It's been a good run. Regrets, regrets... Oh! One time, I... No. No, I did kill all of them. Nevermind.” She’s literally using the same speech patterns as Wheatley.

And Wheatley, for some reason is deciding to resort to murder just because Chell isn’t satisfying his robotic drug addiction anymore and he found better test subjects? “You’ve probably figured it out by now but I don’t need you anymore. I found two l it’ll robots back here built specifically for testing.”

Wheatley is far too emotionally invested in Chell to want to resort to murder for such an apathetic reason and his boss battle clearly shows that. Wheatley is HEAVILY emotionally invested in Chell if you actually listen to his boss battle dialogue. He’s upset and hurt and betrayed because he thinks that Chell doesn’t care about him and that she was just using him and planned to throw him away when he outlived his usefulness to her:

"We've had some times, haven't we? Like that time I jumped off my management rail, not sure if I'd die or not when I did, and all you had to do was catch me? Aaaand you didn't. Did you? Oh, you remember that? I remember that. I remember that all the time. And we would have talked our way out of it. Except you forgot to tell me you'd MURDERED her. And that she needed you to live, so the only available vent for her rage would be good old crushable Wheatley. Yeah... Little details that I remember. Easy little tidbits you could have used to save me from getting crushed if you'd cared, which you didn't, obviously. And still do not."

"Enough! I told you not to put these cores on me. But you don't listen, do you? Quiet. All the time... Quietly not listening to a word I say. Judging me. Silently. The worst kind!"

"Oh! remember the time I took over the facility? Greatest. Moment. Of my life. But you? Just wanted to leave! Didn't want to share my success. Well, so you know, I would be HAPPY for you if you succeeded... Apart from right now, obviously."

"Am I being too vague? I despise you. I loathe you. You arrogant, smugly quiet, awful jumpsuited MONSTER of a woman! You and your little potato friend. This place would have been a TRIUMPH if it wasn't for you!"

"And another thing! You never caught me... I told you I could DIE falling off that rail and you didn't catch me... Didn't even TRY. Oh! It's all becoming clear to me now. Find some dupe to break you out of cryosleep, give him some sob story about 'escaping to the surface', squeeze him for information on where to find a portal gun, then, when he's- when he's no more use to you, he has a little ACCIDENT, doesn't he? 'Falls' off his management rail, doesn't he?"

He would not try to kill Chell for not being useful to him. He would try to kill her if he felt personally threatened by her, which is clearly the case if you listen to his dialogue during the conveyor belt where he tries to encourage Chell to kill herself because he’s afraid of having to fight her:

"I'll be honest, the... death traps have been a bit of a failure so far. For both of us. I think you'll agree. And... you are getting very close to my lair...”

"So. Boom. Better offer, here is... just kill yourself! Y'know? It- Lot of effort, isn't it? Walking all the way to my deadly lair, when there's a perfectly serviceable death option right there. Again: Not a death trap, not a death trap. Your death would be entirely voluntary. And very much appreciated."

"Plus, I have put a lot of effort in getting this lair ready for you. So it would certainly teach me a lesson if you simply died, painlessly, twenty feet from the door. I'd be furious. I'd be like RRRRR. I got my just desserts. No more than I deserve. But, uh, teach- Why not teach me a lesson by- by just jumpin' in the ol' masher?"

He even says at the start of the boss battle that he watched the tapes of Chell killing GLaDOS and that he wasn’t going to make the same mistakes. Cold and uncaring apathy is not a driving motivator for Wheatley- especially not with Chell. FEAR AND COWARDICE are his main motivators! The inconsistency here is that Valve couldn’t think up the ending on schedule so they rushed through the pacing, incidentally gave Wheatley a motive that makes far more sense for GLaDOS and neglected the fact that he’s motivated more so by cowardice rather than cold and apathetic utilitarianism like GLaDOS.

.

[fightabear]

I am pretty sure the Weiss's whole speech in dirge was recorded from Nero and Hojo due to collecting data and he did not care about Omega. Even in Opera Omnia he does never mention the Omega thing. Just a power that makes him strong.

yeah sorry! let me clarify what i meant.

weiss' speech is definitely a pre-recorded message, but given that it reappears during remake i feel it's just - kind of up in the air as to which of them says it? like we've got three different weisses running amok now.

(was it weiss, or was it it an early attempt at possession from ai!hojo? or now given the introduction of ai weiss it raises the question as to whether or not it was ai weiss being hacked by hojo and that's why that weiss has the flash forward because his data was what was used to make the speech ) i just wonder if it was meant to be something else. i truly don't think nero would be okay with hojo using his brother's image and constructing something from it, so ig it's possible that hojo is playing some really fucked up 5d chess by using ai!weiss to fuck with nero's head even harder.

but knowing them, and honestly even how it's kind of worded, it's also entirely possible that the dalmation duo decided that they were going to film a super edgy speech declaring their intention to wage war on shinra and the surface itself. like it's just vaguely worded enough that i could see that. and then it languished because a goddamn building fell on them and it ruined their christmas massacre plans. and then shinra fell in on itself.

it just falls into that same ???? when did this happen and for what purpose ??? nero did you really need to play this speech on all wavelengths and make your brother the most wanted man on gaia? and it slides back into the question of what the tsviet's overall plan and motivation was before, yknow............ a building fell on them and trapped them.

i have a lot of lingering questions. such as why weiss opted to act when he didn't have a plan to save himself. how did he plan to lead deepground once he was out? what we see of him as a character runs so weirdly counter to the speech that he gives. he kind of goes out of his way to spare people if he doesn't have to harm them and keeps his eyes locked firmly on deserving targets.

my best assumption again comes down to what little remains from online mode + some cut lines. like... nero being kept in absolutely abysmal conditions and seeming to be nearing his breaking point was probably a motivator, and the opportunity to get nero out presented itself and weiss took it without considering that nero is fucking insane and literally can't survive without him and can, would, and does spit in the face of his sacrifice to bring him back from death because he and lucrecia have those strong desperation parallels.

and the brothers of them just started playing hot potato with death.

anyway, tl;dr - i mostly say that i don't know for sure what weiss' intentions were because it's possible he got an elevator pitch of the plan (nero being like okay nii-san i've GOT A PLAN TO SAVE YOU and then not telling him shit about that plan beyond what he needs weiss to do to make it work because nero excels at lying by omission ) but i think hojo was the ultimate mastermind, nero was the fucking unhinged nightmare goblin desperate enough to make it work, and weiss was just along for the ride and is now wandering the final fantasy multiverse and is very concerned that nero is either very dead or is running around loose and has no babysitter.

[ashes-in-a-jar]

The Sheridan Tapes episode 98

Those scientists are so stupid lol it's kinda funny how they're in hell and are like "ma'am this is classified where is your identification"

Lara, Adrian and the guys fighting Morrison and his soldiers inside Oslow was a little hard to listen to without the transcripts, so much was happening. Poor Lara, hope the rest will make it out of there. Same as Maria Kate and Ren with their own personal fights against Morrison's illusions.

Also the time traveling, explaining random things that have happened throughout the seasons, even way back when in season 1 is insane. One day I'll put an order to which episodes were referenced in this whole thing. Wonder if the reason why Anna didn't just leave through one of those doors was because Sam wasn't there to help her.

Amy turning out to be having her own selfish plans and trapping Anna in the source in the process is so predictable, she always sounded unhinged and desperate. It's very funny how easily she can scoop Sam up and throw him around like a sack of potatoes xD

We've got a canon Sam physical appearance!!! "He’s about… [Anna gestures] yea high, bit of a scruffy beard, long hair about—"

Love Sam lurking in past Oslow and making fun of his past self for being amateur and weak without noticing it's actually himself he's making fun of lol

The well dumping him in his and Allen's past living room is just a fun little cherry on top of an insane episode

[catsafarithewriter]

A/N: PART 19 of the Bedlam au! In which Baron and Muta finally garner some answers!

X

Baron doesn't know how much time has passed when they eventually stumble across the tale of the Beldam.

It's in a scroll of feline legends, stories collected by rumour and hearsay, this one recounted by a stray cat, in his roaming between worlds.

"The souls the spider collects call her the Beldam, Baron reads aloud, "and it seems to be the closest thing the monster has to a name. In all my travels, I have never seen anything so reminiscent of the monsters told in my kittenhood, as is to be found in the Beldam. She is a kind of witch, nearly fae in her love of games, and resides almost entirely in an adjacent world of her own making. When she does venture out, it is only to lay her traps – button-eyed dolls mimicking her prey – through which she watches them.

"Just as well we left it back at the Bureau then," Muta remarks. "Wouldn't want it to know we're onto it."

"It would explain the strange magic in the doll. Once she has collected enough information," Baron continues, "she then alters her world, weaving puppets which pose as improved, or perhaps idealised versions of her prey's friends and family, using them to create a..." and he falters, if only for a moment, "wonderland kind of life."

"Doesn't sound too bad," Muta says.

"When her prey has fully fallen for the other world, the Beldam offers them the chance to stay forever," Baron reads, "if they allow buttons to be sewn over their eyes."

Muta gags. "I take it back. No wonderland is worth that."

Baron's stomach turns in quite a different way as he sees the next sentence. "This done, the Bedlam is free to take the soul of her victim. What she does with these souls, I do not know. I am only grateful that her appetite seems to be limited to human children, and I have encountered only one who has managed to escape her grasp."

The ensuing silence hangs heavy between them.

"That's it?" Muta asks. "No 'here's her one fatal flaw' or 'kick her in the left ankle and she'll go down like a sack of potatoes'? These things always have a weak point."

"If she does, our author here hasn't seen fit to include it."

"What about the kid who got free of her? How'd they do it?"

"It doesn't say, Muta," Baron says, frustration creeping in, despite his best efforts. "Perhaps they saw the Beldam for what she is, perhaos the Beldam made a mistake, I don't know. All I do know is that it seems she has turned her attention onto Haru."

"We don't know that for sure," Muta says. Even he doesn't sound like he buys his own words. "I mean, all we've got is a weird ragdoll, yeah? Doesn't mean it's the Beldam."

"A ragdoll with strange magic, a missing Toto, and a Haru who still seems to be vanishing off to join the Bureau, despite the fact that none of us have seen her since she left."

"Yeah, but... she's smart. She wouldn't, y'know, just blindly trust some button-eyed doppelgangers, would she?"

Maybe she would if she was pushed, Baron thinks, and he has to barricade his heart off from the barbed regret of his treatment of Haru. If he hadn't barred her from the Sanctuary...

"There's one way to find out," he says instead. "Set a tracking spell on the doll and follow it back to its place of origin. If this Beldam is the cause, we'll know."

[cozza-frenzy]

The Magbox Christmas Speech (or something like it)

So it's been a little over a month since anybody new showed up in the system. If there is anyone else to find, now is obviously not the time to find them... so for all intents and purposes, this may as well be it. Putting this under a cut because it's long. But if you want to know what life has been like as a system since we discovered ourselves 6 months ago, go on ahead.

I've seen things happen in our inner world that you wouldn't believe. The ways our mind acts out the struggles between parts, the struggle to redefine ourselves, to try and find meaning in something that's been suppressed for 35 years? We don't just tell ourselves a story, we live through it. We drink deep from the well of our subconscious, we feel the arms of our loved ones around us as much as we feel every blow in a fight. I've tried to fight it and our brain won't let me. It just makes things more and more real; taking away control over things like my in-system ability to change size, and feeding me dizzying sensations of rising and falling in our body until I get pulled "out of front" abruptly. And I know, once I'm no longer looking through the eyes but stuck in that far-too-real dream, that I'm either too big to touch our "control desk" or I'm too small to reach it.

It's not all bad, though. We've learned to co-operate with the whims of the subconscious and reap the rewards, finding sanctuary, finding community, finding wonders we've never lived but often dreamed of. I've eaten fruit that tastes like chocolate pudding, dived into streams and caught fish with my teeth, dug up sweet potatoes with my hands and roasted them on a bonfire. I've danced in a moonlit field, on the deck of an airship, and at a spiraling rave in another dimension. I've jumped into a carbonated lake in a volcano, been on a low-gravity spacewalk, and flown through the clouds of what we call Dreamscape. I've seen the magenta moon rise for the first time over the Village Green like a flag of victory, and the Deepwoods so full of glowing flowers - how our system interprets hope - that it looked like it was on fire. We have a pub, a park, a cafe, an arcade, a ballroom for celebrations, we have an adult-size "funhouse" full of things to climb and ballpits to fall into. We've dined under a sky full of stars and seen it light up with fireworks. Our world is equal parts magic and mundane. But I've also held the parts of us that never got to grow up, as they cried and screamed and revealed horrors we'd long forgotten. I've felt one of our own try to jump on my back and control my actions like a puppet, because they were the one keeping the system suppressed, and they were convinced everything had gone to hell because of me. I've felt the sheer existential terror of a deeply blurry front, where everything you know gets lost in the fog, and you suddenly realize you don't know who you are. I've seen alters try to tear each other apart with teeth and claws, try to ruin our realspace life by hurting other people, try to hurt our shared body because it feels like there's no way out. I've wept over what happened to us and what we never had, knowing that the ones who made us this way would never believe us, never mind apologize for what they did. And I've enacted Operation Kaiju; a contingency plan we hoped we'd never have to use. I've grown to a huge size, and faced down the giant amalgamation of every bit of trauma that didn't get to form an alter over those three and a half decades, that was so big it could only manifest as a place inside our head - The Red Forest. Full of eerie silence, an endless layer of fallen leaves on the ground, trees with white bark like stripped bones, always cold but devoid of wind or snow. And after it trapped one of us inside it, the first thing that alter said on getting out, covered in cuts and scratches, was "don't go in there, it hates us". It hated us because how dare we do this, how dare we pull ourselves away from it so it becomes less and we become more. And I've shouted at it, screamed at it as it rose up out of the world and tried to claw at us, told it no, you can't have them back. They are mine. I don't want to fight you but I will not let you take them from me. And I've put my hand on the wall that kept it separate from us; comforted it, listened to it, until it was finally ready to lay down peacefully and let itself die in order to become the rest of us.

I've known joy and I've known fear, and so has everybody else. I've seen the paths between our domains crumble from stress and cut us off from each other for weeks. And the system raised its voice in song, as one, to tell me they're okay, because we will never be alone again and that is a promise. There is no going back. And now, at the end of the year, we're here. Who knows what our system will look like in a year, or in 10 years. Over the course of the rest of our shared life. We've desperately searched for our missing parts together over the past six months, and now that search could very well be coming to an end. Our total headcount, 39, doesn't seem like it'll go up but might actually go down. This has already happened three times; Roxxy fused with Rosie and gave us Roxanne, Rakugaki and Charlie became Anarchy, Yvonne and Harvey created Nocturne. Maybe more will happen, maybe they won't, but whatever their choice is we know that nobody will ever go dormant again if we can help it. There will never be a time where someone faces such overwhelming despair, they go to sleep and hope they never wake up again. But here's to the start of a new chapter. Here's to moving forward as one and as many at the same time. We're done digging in the depths for whatever hurt might lie in there, and we don't need to just survive any more. We don't need to keep settling for something to kill more and more time, feeling neither highs nor lows, expecting nothing and never being disappointed. We can do better. We have to start figuring out how to thrive. Happy Holidays, from all of us to all of you. - Terry & The Alters Of The Magbox System

[litcityblues]

'The Short Victorious War' --A Review

In my review of the last book in this series For The Honor of The Queen, I was hoping that Weber would start to push against the boundaries of the very solid, excellent formula he had developed in the first two novels of the Honor Harrington series. Not because it was bad- in fact, the first two novels are excellent starting points for the series and introduce you to Honor Harrington and give you a really good grounding in who she is as a person and what kind of commander she is, while only throwing down some hints here and there of her past, the politics of Manticore and it's Navy.

Now, with the third entry in the Honor Harrington series, we begin to see Honor develop more as a character- get glimpses of her home planet and family life. But we also get more insight into the People's Republic of Haven, actually seeing the inner workings of their politics and not just their navy. Does Weber get away from the 'rinse and repeat' of the first two books? To a certain (and welcome) degree, yes. I have a sensation, a prediction perhaps that he's laying the groundwork for a thorough break out into new territory with the next book, however, before I find out if that's true, we've got to get into the meat and potatoes of this volume, The Short Victorious War.

This volume opens with Honor at home on Sphinx, still recovering from the events of the previous book. The eye she lost defending the Protector's family on Grayson has been replaced with an implanted one that she's still getting used to but looks a little better than the eye patch she had to use at the tail end of the last book. She's also- and I like this a great deal- reflected and healing on another level as well and that's coming to grips with the immense casualties she has presided over in the first two books- first at Basilisk Station and then at Grayson.

However, because this is the Honorverse and our heroine needs something to do, the People's Republic of Haven has other ideas. Economically, they're in trouble. They don't want to go to war with Manticore, but they have no choice. It is decided that a short, (hopefully) victorious war is just what they need to calm their domestic situation. So, they begin to launch provocations at key points along the frontier with Manticore, hoping to provoke something.

Given the rapidly deteriorating situation, Honor is given a new assignment- command of the Navy's flagship, the Nike. She's the flag captain, which means she serves under Admiral Sarnow and they are sent to Hancock Station, a critical base for Manticore along the frontier. She is reunited with her old friend Michelle Henke from the Naval Academy who serves as her executive officer.

Her new ship, the Nike has some growing pains in the form of a flaw in one of the fusion reactors, which keeps Nike from getting her full operational runout when she arrives at Hancock Station, but reintroduces Honor to the senior engineering officer of Hancock Station, Captain Paul Tankersley.

Honor had met him before- at Basilisk Station serving under Lord Pavel Young, her hated enemy and would-be rapist from her Academy days- because of that connection, she does not initially warm to him, but eventually they warm to each other and kindle a romantic relationship with on and other.

The situation along the frontier continues to deteriorate, but by chance, Manticore happens on a stealth sensor platform that Haven has been using to gather intelligence on their forward deployments and manipulate them into responding to create weak points where they can attack in force. Once Manticore realizes that, they decide to do some manipulation of their own, setting up a nice juicy trap at Yeltin's Star to try and draw Haven there, but that leaves Hancock Station undermanned and underdefended.

Sarnow's fleet, unfortunately, includes some old enemies, including a Houseman, a relative of the diplomat Honor slapped around on Grayson (and when she slaps, she slaps, so it wasn't a small matter) and arriving to help is Lord Pavel Young.

However, overwhelming odds are where Honor Harrington shines and her unconventional tactics help Sarnow and his fleet hold off a vastly superior Havenite force long enough for reinforcement to arrive and deal them a crushing defeat, but not before Young panics and orders the fleet to scatter and refuses to get back into formation. Manticore's victory is overwhelming and Young finds himself removed from command, placed under arrest, and sent back to Manticore for a court martial. Tankersley is promoted to Captain of the List and ordered back to Manticore for reassignment.

On Haven, the government is overthrown by radicals, the entire government is killed in an airstrike using the shuttles of the Havenite Navy, which the radicals then use to blame the navy and form a 'Committee of Public Safety' to govern and begin a military and political purge to cement their rule.

Overall: This was exactly what I was looking for with this series. After a couple of novels of dancing around potential conflict with Haven, the two sides of this series get down to brass tacks and see the two actually scrap. But, more importantly, after planting some seeds and scattering some hints here and there throughout the first two novels, we begin to see some green shoots of character development, and new plot branches and possibilities start to emerge and it's exciting to see.

This is also the first novel where we get different points of view. Weber takes us behind enemy lines to Haven and their government. We see different commanders and Admirals all along the front line, including an especially heart-wrenching scene when a Manticoran ship on convoy escort duty sacrifices itself to give the convoy time to escape- the Captain leaving her husband and daughter behind on the convoy ship while she makes the ultimate sacrifice to get them to safety.

We also see Honor at the start of the book, spend some time healing from her physical and mental wounds which I thought was an excellent and needed touch. Honor has been through the wringer a bit at the start of this novel and acknowledging the heavy, heavy burden of command and the costs in human lives that have come with it is really important for her character development and makes her feel less like a heroic archetype of a Naval commander and more human and real as a result. This feels like a pivot point for the series so far I'm excited to see where we go next, but suddenly, the formula of the first two books has been left behind and the possibilities ahead of these characters and this universe are very interesting indeed. My Grade: **** out of ****