#you can disable that horrible full moon lighting

[ocrosemagazine]

Artist: Kay Vasudevan ⋆｡°✩ ˚ ★ ੈ˳·˖✶ ✭・.・✫·˖✶ ✭・.・✫・゜・。..・✦⋆｡°✩ It's nice to formally meet you! I'm Anne Pichard, but most know me as Rose, curator and host of Rose Magazine. Thank you for agreeing to interview with me today!

Let's start with the introductions. Can you give me your name and pronouns? Ridley Murphy, she/her. Pleasure.

Tell me a little about yourself. What's your typical job like? Are you a model elsewhere? Okay, we’ll. I’m 26, I majored in physics in college, and I live with my dad and brother on a ranch. We do ranch stuff now. No modeling for me, I don’t actually do much of this kind of thing, being public-facing skipped a person in my family, heh. I teach kids about space at a planetarium in my hometown. I’d like to be an astronaut someday, when I’m able to find the energy. It’s hard, yeah? The kids keep me busy already, and I have to take a lot of breaks, but it’s fun. Its a fun job. I'm so glad you answered the call, what made you want to work with the Rose Modeling Agency? Honestly, because I was bored. I have a cute wardrobe, and I thought it would be fun. A bit cheeky of me to say so, I know, it makes me sound impetuous and disrespectful. Like I didn’t actually do my research. Honestly, I saw you were disability-friendly and thought it would be fun to try it out. I have um, some health stuff. Like, a lot of stuff. So it’s not often I find people who are like, cool with that. I don’t know anything about modeling, but I liked the vibe, yknow?

Is this the most difficult photoshoot you've done? What was your experience like during production? It’s not so bad! I don’t typically have many opportunities to like… have fun? Which sounds depressing, I promise it’s not! It’s just a busy life. I didn’t think it would be as complicated as it was, though. The makeup was the most taxing part. I have a mate who does her makeup and she keeps telling me she has to fit it into her day, and I thought, how complicated can painting your face be? I see now, haha! I owe the poor lass an apology.

Okay, now let's get to the looks! Tell me, who are you wearing? Was this top quality couture or did you design it yourself? Entirely thrifted, my friend. Upcycle by yours truly, and uh, a bit by my brother. He’s the creative one in the family, and a surprisingly steady hand at a sewing machine. The jacket is the centerpiece because I like it. It’s a goofy story. I found the jacket at a garage sale for some bloke whose house was full of bats. He really needed the money to deal with it, but I didn’t have money either, so I offered to deal with the bats myself. I did a terrible job! I was 17 and thought I could handle it. Old guy looks at me like I’m a pathetic little thing and tells me I can have the jacket if I wanted it so bad. I saved up to help him with his bat problem after, but uh, he had it fixed by then. Maybe that was off topic, but listen. Bat Guy is very important to me.

Of course, Stelliferous is the theme this year, but what inspired your look, your design? Normally I like pastel colors, weird garish patterns, that 90’s stuff. Nostalgia bait for people my age. But Bat Guy’s wife was really into astrology and the like. Her taste in tacky embroidered jackets really inspired my entire sense of style. I wish I learned either of their names…

Do you have any other upcoming projects after this? Now that you're an international model, I'm sure you'll be booked and busy soon! I don’t have any real modeling gigs after this. Hopefully next time I plan one I’ll be able to talk about what I’m wearing the night before I go to the Moon! It’s always been a dream of mine. It’s a bit hard now, what with all the doctors’ appointments and stuff. But someday! I’m going to go up there and steal a moon rock and lick it. I bet it tastes horrible.

Any advice you'd like to give your fans out there? Life advice, work advice, modeling advice? General life advice? Do what you want. Listen to embarrassing music. Wear those shoes that light up, or whatever. If no one gets hurt, who cares? Not me. Have fun. You’re bound to have a life of people telling you you can’t do things. Be spiteful. It’s funny. Modeling advice? I have none. I have no idea what I’m doing.

⋆｡°✩ ˚ ★ ੈ˳·˖✶ ✭・.・✫·˖✶ ✭・.・✫・゜・。..・✦⋆｡°✩

[technicallyswagpizza]

Harry: I’m not allowed outside after dark because I outshine all the stars and the moon so baby sea turtles always end up flocking to me. Alien: Fascinating.

I added @potato-ballad-sims​ moon replacement in my game!

[thefirstknife]

Sorry for the long ask, but as somebody who's recently been enjoying the tries revamp and the accessibility it gives to middling pvp players, I've been getting into the lore on the trials gear, and there's a lot of entries so I'm having trouble keeping track. I've mostly been interested in Sola, who only seems to come up a few times? She ends up torturing a guardian in the trials, looking for 'something inside them like in her.' It's interesting though, because the power she wields, (and seemingly seeks when Aunor catches her tracking an anomaly in arrivals) isn't described as darkness or stasis, but some kind of corrupted void light? I can't find mention of anything else like this, and I feel like there's lore entries I'm missing?

Anyways, Trestin, another trials guardian, gets killed unnecessarily viciously by Sola (I think, that lore entry mentions they're competing against Crimiq-5, who is on Sola's fire time, so this seems right) and later goes on to become obsessed with stasis, torture house salvation refugees as well as her own fireteam, and gets put down by Aunor as well. Is this a coincidence? Does Sola do what she does to Trestin because she sees the same temptation towards corruption? Or is it more direct? It almost seems like she passes it on, virulently, and I'm mainly wondering if that's something that has any other evidence when it comes to corrupted guardians. I figure you might know, I'm having trouble searching since some of it is trials gear, some isn't, and they don't all mention everyone's name

Took me a while to get the full info on this because I wanted to put all of the lore entries in order and they're kinda scattered around!

Okay, so, this story is told on Trials weapons lore. First batch was released in Season of the Worthy and then the sort of conclusion in Season of the Chosen. There's a minor update in Season of Arrivals on non-Trials gear (Temptation's Hook). The first batch of lore details a single Trials match between two fireteams.

One fireteam consists of Trestin, Yara and Sadhij. The other fireteam is Sola, Crimiq-5 and Katake. Roughly in some semblance of order, the lore on items is as follows:

The Summoner - This seems to be the start as it shows Trestin meeting up with her fireteam and going into the match. The one important thing to note here is that Trestin was apparently deeply affected by what happened on the Moon (during Shadowkeep and the discovery of the Pyramid) and seems to be resigned that the end is coming and that there's nothing anyone can do about it. It appears she was somewhat influenced by the Pyramid into despair and losing hope.

Astral Horizon - This is somewhere at the start of the match. Sadhij tells his teammates Trestin and Yara that he's going for one of the enemies (Katake). He charges with a shotgun and uses Thundercrash which completely obliterates Katake. No surprise there. However, at the end, there is a rifle shot and then silence.

Exile's Curse - This details the start of the match from the other team's perspective. We see the same event of Katake being Thundercrashed by Sadhij from the eyes of his teammate Crimiq-5 who warns Katake about being out of line of sight. Crimiq-5 witnesses Katake being obliterated.

Eye of Sol - Again from Crimiq's POV, he is standing in the back with a sniper rifle and he watches Sola attacking Trestin. He seems to be very distraught about this:

Sola had ripped through their previous opponents with off-putting ferocity, and Crimiq was ready for this to be their last match of the day. He looked over her through his scope. Sola's silhouette marinated in an eerie shimmer that distorted the air as she moved.

He shoots a warning shot at her position to keep the third opponent (Yara) in cover. Then he hears Katake's cry for help against the Thundercrash and aims there, killing Sadhij. That's the rifle shot at the end of Astral Horizon lore.

The Scholar - This moves us to Sola's POV, where it's described that she's torturing Trestin and telling her that she can feel "it" in her too. I assume that both Sola and Trestin were deeply affected by the Lunar Pyramid and were both in the early stages of corruption by it. Sola felt it in Trestin.

"So…" Sola's intent bit deeper, malleable claws that flexed against her prey's Light. They probed through blood and muscle to an umbral center. "…it's within you too."

After the torture incident, Saint steps in to end the match and reprimand Sola. He also reprimands Crimiq, but Crimiq says he doesn't want anything to do with Sola. This further angers Sola and she leaves, telling everyone they're "as good as dead anyway." Note the same kind of despair and loss of hope that Trestin exhibited even before she was attacked by Sola.

Tomorrow's Answer - This brings us a bit back to the final person who has a POV which is Yara who witnesses what Sola did to Trestin:

A violet shockwave pushed away the dust. Trestin knelt a few paces away, beaten. The Warlock bent her glowing hand into Trestin's chest plate, lodging a vortex grenade into her armor. Yara met her eyes and saw the Void overtake her. She did not hear the scream, or the splitting armor. She only saw flickers of Trestin break apart and scatter as the vortex ate away at her.

Sola lodged an entire vortex grenade into Trestin. Horrible way to die. Yara yells at Sola about Trestin not deserving that and Sola snaps back:

"None of us 'deserve.' It's about what you can get." The Warlock smiled and raised a hand of gnarled Void. "Brace yourself."

This shows how far gone Sola was. Definitely far more corrupted than Trestin. Presumably, Sola also finished off Yara in the match before it ended.

In Season of Arrivals, there's an update about this on Temptation's Hook. It's shown that Sola has been captured by the Praxic Order. The Praxics lead by Aunor know that Sola took another Guardian "to the outer system" and that they did not return with Sola.

I assume "the outer system" means Europa, but that's only because now we have additional information from Season of the Chosen. Since this is from Season of the Worthy, it could also mean that Sola and Trestin went out further into the outer system and met with the Black Fleet (the Black Fleet lurking at the edges of the system is mentioned in this lore). Sola also says some strange things:

"I learned the secret. The one your hounds have hidden away in that quaint little vault." Sola smiles red through split lips. "You're on the losing side."

"Do you think you have nothing to lose, or that I wouldn't take it from you? You're sorely, and soon to be regretfully, mistaken."

Sola spits in Aunor's face. "You have limits. You have masters." A twisted Light shimmers in Sola's hand as she moves to attack. "Enjoy hanging to death in your strings!"

This is probably referring to the presence of Darkness on Europa to which Sola and Trestin were either directly exposed OR they may have been told about it during their visit to the Black Fleet (depending on where they went exactly). It appears her Ghost was also exposed. Both Sola and her Ghost are contained by the Praxic Order: Sola killed and her Ghost disabled from resurrecting her.

The next, roughly chronologically would be The Messenger. Some time has passed. Aunor meets with Ikora about the problem of another corrupted Guardian who tortured Eliksni civilians, asking them about Eramis and how she accessed Darkness, as well as torturing her own teammates. It's revealed that the Guardian in question is still located on Europa and trying to access Darkness as well as that the Guardian's name is Trestin.

That leaves us with the final entry which is Sola's Scar. In it, we follow Trestin on Europa as she's nearing the Darkness obelisk, eager to get its power. She details how she betrayed her fireteam and what was driving her:

Over the radio, Lord Saladin's voice grew staticky: "Cabal incursion… Vex… up ahead." Without a word, Trestin's Ghost switched it off. There were others nearby to carry out the Iron Lord's orders. He wouldn't miss them.

She doubted anyone would—her ex-teammates least of all. She had betrayed them, or so Sadhij had screamed: "We're supposed to be the thin line drawn before the Darkness, you traitor!"

|| Thin indeed. So why not step over it? ||

Because they didn't have it in them. She checked. Cracked them both open and dug deep, just to be extra sure. But it wasn't there. That hunger, immense and buried, like the ocean under Europa's glacial crust. A riptide, undetectable from the surface, yet unrelenting in its pull. She never meant to betray anyone. She just wanted release.

|| Soon, you will have it. Soon, you will be freed. ||

She has brief memories of her fireteam, namely one of Yara's jokes. Darkness makes sure to tell her that such attachment is weakness. Just before Trestin reaches the obelisk, Aunor catches up to her and asks her to come quietly. Trestin disobeys and Aunor strikes her down with a sword.

I assume the name of the weapon where this lore is written, Sola's Scar, refers to the "scar" that Sola left in Trestin when she tortured her during the Trials match. Both Sola and Trestin seem to have been deeply affected by the Lunar Pyramid and it drove them to extremes which eventually led to both of them becoming corrupted and betraying the Light. It's interesting that in Sola's case, there's no Stasis involved: her Light was corrupted. Specifically her Void.

Not sure about Trestin and if she ever got Stasis and which other power and/or knowledge she was seeking from the Darkness, but either way the corruption of both of these Guardians came from the same source, entwined them together and eventually led to both of them being taken down by Aunor.

It's a really tragic story and the reason why I really like this type of lore about just some other Guardians and how they're experiencing the events we go through with in the game. Especially how it highlights just how much of an outlier the Young Wolf is and how things we do are really difficult or downright impossible for other Guardians to deal with. Both Sola and Trestin were victims of powers they could not handle.

[smilingperformer]

Discussing the good and bad of Pokémon Journeys: Part “Chloe”

Time to discuss about the character that is still keeping me on board with watching Pokémon (2019)/Journeys despite having, cough, some issues with it. Let's talk about Chloe, also known as Koharu.

TLDR; I like how Koharu is handled so far, even if I somewhat wish there was more of her, and I believe I know what the intention with her is, and that is to show that the journey to finding your dream goal can be an exciting one and with possible obstacles on the way towards it. More under the cut, Journeys abverted as JN.

So. Let's start with how I became to like her character the moment JN002 aired, but also how her debut in JN001 has become interesting part of how Koharu used to love Pokémon, but then grew out of it. Which to me, reminds of people who grew with playing Pokémon games, cards, etc, but then as they got older, they grew out of it.

Anyway, as we all probably remember, both Gou and Koharu attended the Okido Camp as kids, where BOTH of the eventually meet Mew. From the very beginning, we're let known that Koharu is a daughter of a promising Professor Sakuragi, who's acquainted with Okido.

And we're also let known that the two are friends from before the camp, and I assume their games at Sakuragi's Lab involved playing as Pokémon or other stuff. She most definitely loved Pokémon and her dad's work back then.

But then when we fastforward to the present day as Satoshi, Gou and Koharu are all 10 years old, we see that this attitude has changed in Koharu. She's no longer interested in Pokémon that much, and the only Pokémon she accepts near her is their family 'mon Wanpachi. For me, this was very interesting approach, even if the "not interested in Pokémon" was done before with May/Haruka back in Advanced Generation series.

Even with this interesting approach, she was a side/supporting cast instead of main cast, which honestly felt weird to me as she definitely had a story to tell. But as I've been watching other shows lately, I kinda came to realise her approach reminds me of mid-season additions to cast, even thou her appearances nowdays are just a BIT more frequent, when before her joining the Research Fellows, she appear very seldomly.

Anyway. In JN011 we finally learn that, she pretty much has issues with people's expectations and how everyone assumes her to be very much involved with Pokémon just because of her dad's work. Truly, this would end up affecting her affection towards Pokémon, thou it's possibly not the whole reason for losing interest. She even admits here she's not sure of what she truly wants to do yet.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of goal finding journeys, as they are very relatable to me as someone who took 20+ years to find out what I truly want to do for living, so Koharu wanting to find something instead of other people deciding it for her is very good lesson.

So what exactly is the approach with Koharu from this ep forward? Showing her see Pokémon in different, totally new lights, figuratively speaking. She's shown to take care of a Pidove who broke its wing in a runaway flight, helped her lil brother Sota's friend, Nami, attend to a small children's Contest, and went to a Fossil Exhibition with Satoshi and Gou to learn about fossils. And I feel like that, this fossil exhibition event is what truly rekindled Koharu's interest in Pokémon again. As we all remember, she truly enjoyed that trip, and she, for the first time, got to see Gou bond with a Pokémon, that was rampaging just moments ago. And this episode, accompanied with JN050, are why I am currently thinking Koharu's end goal will end up being related to fossils. It certainy would be an interesting approach for a female cast character, and I wouldn't mind her having a chat with some other character who's also involved in researching fossils... (cough Gary/Shigeru cough)

Anyway. All of this seemingly lead up to Koharu finally meeting her very apparent soul mate: Eevee. I know, that most people were somewhat (or even totally) annoyed by the fact that yet another pokegirl receives Eevee as their Pokémon, and that this is just boring. While I understand the sentiment, considering Koharu's character: Eevee is the only Pokémon that actually fits her. Koharu is out there still figuring out what she wants to be. What she wants to do. And Eevee is the most relatable Pokémon for that kind of character: Eevee can become eight, and I repeat, eight, different evolutions. That's pretty much the same as having different paths to choose from when deciding your goal. And this specific Eevee has also not yet decided what it wants to do. It refuses to evolve. While in-game one could say this is because of the g-max factor, I highly believe this is purely done for the purpose of making Koharu and Eevee relate on a very, very personal level. So instead of Eevee having the g-max factor disabling the evolution (because let's face it, it's only done so people won't accidentally evolve their Gigantamax Eevee), Eevee is kind of, constantly pressing the B button to prevent it.

Now: what has Eevee exactly given to Koharu's character? A lot actually. When before Koharu would try to deny interest in something or try to say she has something else to do instead of a trip, Eevee is there to push her forward to try things out.

Like in JN050, Koharu is trying to priotize her School instead of a Fossil trip to Galar, but thanks to Eevee, who wants to go, Koharu gets the needed push to go and try out new stuff. I very much adored this scene in this episode, due to encouraging the "try out new things" approach in life. From this point forward, we then see Koharu join in on other trips like the Diglett Farm (where she definitely shined in team leading and got to experience the farming and team leader approach) and the Glimwood Tangle trip, that Koharu herself prompted to her dad and the boys, instead of being asked to join. Which reminds me of something else btw.

While Gou is shown to be very knowledged with Pokémon, Koharu is shown to know more about other fields like how plants grows, and what kind of soil is good. This is from either school lessons or from her experience with taking care of the school flowers. She could possibly be considered a good student, and btw, I very much like the approach of not making her a school dropout once she started joining in on research trips, and instead takes homework to accomodate the fact that she's missing out on lessons. This isn't unusual in real life, so I'm glad JN is actually showcasing this approach with both Koharu and Gou. Thou with Gou, he's pretty much always absent, haha.

Now, her latest episode with Kikuna was an interesting one. While Koharu's main point in the episode was kind of to be the angel of love for Kikuna (which failed horribly, love you Kikuna <333 ), I'd say there was another reason for her being in that episode with Kikuna: it was to let her learn of the possibility of meeting possible pitfalls in one's dream goals. That lesson was in Kikuna's story about how she almost gave up in becoming a researcher due to a mess up with an important presentation for a conference, but found the strenght to try again. It's part of reaching your dream goal a lot of the time. Even Koharu's mom, Yoshino/Talia, gave her the story of how she originally wanted to be a mangaka, but gave up on the dream and instead approached something similar. These are all very important life lessons in how working toward one's goal can either fail, or come accoss obstacles. It depends on the person whether they'll end up switching the goal to something else, or strive to go forward to get past the obstacle. As someone who had exactly Koharu's mom's experience longside having to take a long while to find one, I appreciate that Koharu's journey has been about learning the good and bad experiences of working towards a dream goal.

Now: has this storyline been executed well? Imo, it has, but it ain't perfect, as there are some parts where I'd like to see some improvement on.

One of them is with how it's sometimes unclear as what kind of character she is counted as. Is the a main character alongside Gou and Satoshi now? Is the still supporting cast? Is she a lower tier main character that won't appear every episode still? The latest option would appear to be the case, but it's not often that simple to see.

There's also the case of Wanpachi seeming like it was teased to be eventually becoming Koharu's first partner, but instead it ended up being Eevee. I think for most, before JN049 aired, people assumed Wanpachi didn't belong to anyone exactly and thus was free reign. But, as JN049 confirmed, Wanpachi belonged to Sakuragi himself. Which is sorta funny, as Wanpachi clearly loves him the least, haha. So, what exactly do they intend with Wanpachi? I think, that in time it'll eventually switch owners to Koharu, as it clearly loves her the most, but the journey there is still on-going.

Now, here's something interest to think about: I think Koharu not being in every episode has actually been benefitial for her, as she never gives me the feeling that she's taking anyone's time for herself, and her involvements in stories fit quite well. My current favourites for her are definitely her team leading in Diglett episode, which is JN052, and the Galarian Ponyta episode (JN055) where she clearly showcased that she's able to handle herself in sticky situations. Which is quite a beautiful detail, at least to me.

Now to quiiickly note her dynamics quickly, let's talk a bit about how she is a big sister. Like, for real. She's got a baby brother in Sota/Parker, and the two do seem to have good relationship going on. However, I really want to see more of this! There's way too little of it going on right now, and it's mostly been typical siblinghood. I'm so glad there's still full on family aspects in JN, which is what I loved in Sun & Moon so so so much, but I want to see more. MORE! MORE-

I already talked about how I enjoy her dynamics with Gou and how their childhood friendship is showcased so well, and yet I still grave to see more. The two know each other well, and Gou always, ALWAYS respects Koharu, while Koharu ain't afraid to tell what's on her mind to Gou. Thou, she also knows that Gou would judge her if she were to ask about Pokémon bonding tips. Dyamn.

Now: I want more of Koharu and Satoshi. The two def seemed to have a bit of a "uugh who are you don't talk to me" approach, but it naturally faded as they went on their first trip to Nibi City's Fossil Exhibition. And they've been in good relations since I'd say.

Also to quickly note, I love how Koharu has been mentioned in couple scenes as being the character who's taught them first-aid or told about jealousy and how one should take Pokémon's feeling into consideration (even if this latter one should be obvious to Satoshi but, I digress, Satoshi was way too focused on Riolu and just assumed Pikachu would be fine since they've been buds since forever).

There's also so much more I still want to learn about: how exactly did she meet Gou and why she decided to be friends with him, does she have other friends besides him (because I would assume so but she's never shown with anyone else), give us an episode that's focused on Koharu & Sota, let her see Satoshi battle as well (afaik, she has NOT), let her meet Alola Squad + other past companions, and oooh there's so much I want her to do and I see so, so much potential in her character and I really really REALLY hope the writers don't screw her up.

Now is that all I wanted to talk about regarding Koharu... I guess so. As you might have figured out by now: I almost have no issues with how Koharu is written. She's enjoyable to watch and, suprisingly, I find the pace of her story-telling pleasant and not too fast nor way too slow. Could it do well with a bit faster pace? Possibly, but due to me seeing her as sort of a mid-season addition akin to how Precure or Digimon do them, I'm fine with this approach. Considering the current pace, I think she'll end up finding what she wants to end up working towards to by the end of this year, or early next year. And, despite how many might fear, I highly doubt it will be Contests. As it's pretty clear JN isn't out there to promote mainline games feature-to-feature, but instead cherry picks stuff it wants to do. I'm still quite certain, that she'll end up becoming a professor of her own fields, possibly of fossils (which, considering DP's Underground feature, could fit very well in promoting this feature of the remakes). Maybe even become a team leader of a fossil researching team, as she definitely showcases the skills for it, for knowing soil, fossil digging and again, team leading. And I totally didn't figure this out while writing this post. :'D (I totally did.)

So. I believe I'll end this post here, as this is already quite long by now and, honestly, there's not much left to talk about. It really feels good for me to talk so positively about a character in JN, as it's no secret that I ain't the biggest fan of the show. However, Koharu's approach speaks to me personally, very well, and I so, so look forward to seeing how her journey ends up going, and where it will lead her.

So who's up next on the list of discussions? I think you guys can guess it.

And it's gonna be a doozy one. Oh man oh man.

Thank you so much for reading if you came this far, have a fantastic evening/morning/whatever, and take good care of yourselves!

This was Smiling Performer aka Aleira, signing out! PEACE!

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 268: Please Don’t Tap on the Glass

Previously on BnHA: Dabi revealed his true identity to Hawks! His real name is actually [sound of semi truck horns blaring]. What’s that? You didn’t hear me? I said it’s [sound of dolphins chattering]. You really need to listen better. Anyway, so Dabi set Hawks on fire a bunch of times, and Hawks had some flashbacks indicating that Endeavor saved him when he was a small child, and just when it was starting to look like we might get our second tragic death chapter in a row, Tokoyami showed up to defend his mentor! Meanwhile in Jakku, Miruko remembered that even though kicking ass is fun and she’s really good at it, she still had a job to do, so she sped off toward Ujiko’s little hideaway, getting stabbed and impaled a bunch of times along the way and losing an ear and shit (I very much look forward to the cyberpunk robot-limbed Miruko 2.0 that we had better fucking get once this arc is over). Fortunately Endeavor showed up to help her out! Anyway, so absolutely no one was talking about this last week, but the chapter totally ended with Miruko about to bust open Tomura’s bacta tank with a badass roundhouse kick, so, uh. Shit might be about to go down you guys.

Today on BnHA: Shit does indeed go down, but at a very languid pace. Ujiko apparently built Tomura’s holding tank out of Nokia phones and kevlar, so even though Miruko gets a few good kicks in, she ultimately doesn’t do more than just crack it. So now the tank is just standing there leaking ominously while Ujiko sobs for no reason and we all ponder whether or not a 75%-charged Tomura will be any less doom-harbinging than the full-fledged deal. In the meantime we’ve got Girl Noumu thinking strategic thoughts and chucking acid at peeps; Crust still doing absolutely nothing; Endeavor not doing that much better to be honest; and Mic and Aizawa ready and raring to go kill the old man who turned their dead buddy into a sentient Einstein-Rosen bridge. Obviously I’m all in favor of this last bit, but I’m also on team “Mic and Aizawa not dying horribly” though, so. I do have some concerns here.

full disclosure, I’m very sleep-deprived for various reasons related to various things which can be broadly summed up as Just 2020 In General. so anyway, I’m dealing with it, but I’ve noticed that my rate of typos and errors and such has shot waaaaay up in this past week or so, so I’m just putting that out there that you may find some weird shit in this post! maybe I will write the same sentence maybe I will write the same sentence multiple times, or or the same word twice in a row by mistake, or use the completely wrong word. you are more than welcome to point this out and I will not take any offense and will indeed be grateful because I’ve apparently gone blind to it all! anyway so how are you I hope everyone is well

anyway! the chapter is early (god for all I know it’s been out for hours already. HOW FAR BEHIND AM I) so I’m recapping it early so that I will have more time to play Animal Crossing and fish and craft all of my troubles away. speaking of which Horikoshi, you had better not bring me any troubles this week, I am not in the mood do you hear

good fucking lord

is all of that Miruko’s blood??!? god, she’s even better at bleeding than everyone else. now hold up all you excited vampires, you all can get in line, I was here first

by the way Endeavor, I gave you a pass last week because your entrance was so fucking raw and you saved my girl’s life and that was really neat my man. but now that I’ve recovered from my shock and awe and am ready to be sarcastic once more, I just want to say... welcome to the party, guy. did you stop for drive-thru on your commute from the other side of the planet. were you simply not immune to the bizarre 5th dimensional time-stands-still effects of March 2020. are you curious at all how your son has changed during these past 20 years, and by “son” I am referring not to Dabi, but Shouto. are you looking forward to meeting all of Shouto’s children. are you excited to be a granddad. anyway thank you so fucking much for finally making your way down to this lair with all the speed and haste of a federal appeals process

and I see Crust is still fighting this guy after six decades

(ETA: I would be more upset about the scan quality here, but let’s face it, nobody actually cares about seeing this in HD. I’m sorry Crust.)

and we’re really expected to believe this is the very next ranked hero below Miruko. could it be that the hero ranking system is actually flawed. don’t tell me. I’m just as shocked as you are

seriously??

are we really going to stop and chat with Geriatric Hero: Crust over here. really. far be it from me to tell you how to do your job, Number One. but I’m just saying, I’m pretty sure he does still have... let’s just check... one... two... yep, two arms. not that I’m saying your system for prioritizing which of your fellow heroes to help out should be based off of the number of arms they have. but also I am saying that

OH SONNY BOY

is that a two-page panel of Aizawa Hatake Kakashi Shouta and his loyal husband Screaming Man leaping into the fray to take on some high end Noumus with their bad and sexy selves. I think that’s exactly what it is. are we blessed or are we blessed. Aizawa I’m pleased to see you haven’t aged a day and are looking just as fine as ever in this the year 2045

oh wow Endeavor I thought you had incinerated it

why wouldn’t you incinerate it. please incinerate it. did you not learn your lesson. please don’t start taking your cues from Dilly Dally Hero: Crust over here

oh wow

and yet Miruko was kicking all of their asses like they were made of plywood. really though guys. only number five. okay

Aizawa’s shouting that he wasn’t able to erase that last Noumu who was impaling Miruko because his vision was obstructed. that’s okay Aizawa, that’s why Endeavor is hopefully about to incinerate him

oh snap here we go

again, one has to wonder what kinds of interactions with rabbits Horikoshi has had in his troubled young life so as to influence his writing of Miruko’s quirk in such a way. did you at some point get rabbits confused with... I don’t even know. polar bears?! not that I’m fucking complaining holy shit

anyway, so just a friendly reminder that if Miruko dies here I will in fact push the button which triggers the hidden ejector seat built into Horikoshi’s office chair. he will be missed. but he had a good run

ho lyyyyyyy shit

so... Miruko I love you but... then why would you break the fucking vat apart with your moon-powered legs. Miruko. Miruko are you listening. oh shit she’s missing an ear I forgot. oh shit. oh shit

MIRUKO I LOVE YOU SO MUCH BUT WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU JUST KICK THE BALD MAN IN THE LAB COAT INSTEAD goddammit well it’s been nice knowing y’all

well then. so this is happening. this is really happening. at least she saved us all from having to face the 100%-charged world-ending Tomura somewhere down the line. instead all we have to do is face the 74%-charged Tomura right fucking now. so that’s. ...I wonder how Tokoyami is doing

holy shit!

leave it to Girl Noumu to be the smart one. for a minute I thought maybe Ujiko had given her Ragdoll’s long-lost quirk. but then I realized that this isn’t a quirk at all, this is just her being smart and using her Big Noumu Brain. anyway so I’m preemptively sorry for having to root against you, Girl Noumu

so now she’s pondering how to disable Aizawa’s quirk. meanwhile I just remembered that we haven’t seen her quirk yet I think. please let it be something good

oh snap she ran away and made it out of Aizawa’s sight range oh fuck

the fuck is up with this thicc fucking Girl Noumu page I can’t tell wtf is going on

LOL OH SHIT

NOT TO WORRY GUYS SHE’S JUST SHOOTING BIG GIANT GLOBS OF ACID AT EVERYONE. can anyone tell if Endeavor has incinerated this Noumu yet down in the middle panel on the left. what is the fucking holdup

and now there’s a big double page of Miruko shattering Tomura’s Noumu Vat, and I can’t quite tell, but it looks like her eyes might be rolling back in a way which I decidedly do not like

(ETA: nah on closer inspection we’re good.)

didn’t she just do this like four pages ago. and how the hell did Tomura suddenly jump from 74% to 75% in like .2 seconds

oh thank god she’s still awake. but now she’s being dragged back now by the Noumu’s bone appendage things because Endeavor SERIOUSLY CANNOT GET HIS FUCKING ACT TOGETHER LONG ENOUGH TO FUCKING LIGHT ITS BRAIN TO ASHES ALREADY, LIKE SERIOUSLY THOUGH. WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF THAT TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING FAST AND THE DIFFERENCE A SPLIT SECOND MAKES

Miruko if we make it out of this alive, I’m promoting you to number one. Fatgum will be number two. the only two pro heroes in this arc who have actually impressed me at all. shame on the rest of you. shame

so now somehow or some way Miruko is being flung into Endeavor at the speed of light

I don’t understand this at all. did the Noumu retract those bone whips back into its body superfast while dragging Miruko back with them and somehow it managed to avoid being hit by her projectile body but Endeavor took the impact straight on. this doesn’t make any kind of sense to me with my admittedly rudimentary understanding of physics. but then again it is a fucking manga so I’m not about to call NASA and ask them if this could really happen. so this was a waste of a paragraph I guess!! my bad!!

swear to god this is like the fifth panel of Ujiko just screaming. please just stop. what do you have to be worried about anyway? although if Tomura suddenly went crazy upon awakening and just straight up killed you for no reason, that sure would be delightful! that wouldn’t happen, though. or would it

WHAT IS THIS FUCKING FISH TANK MADE OF

IS THIS A TUBE OF GLASS OR A FUCKING FALLOUT SHELTER

ENDEAVOR I’M GLAD YOU’RE CONCERNED ABOUT MIRUKO BECAUSE I AM TOO, AND ALSO IT’S ALWAYS NICE TO SEE THAT YOU DO HAVE A HEART, BUT ALSO MAYBE JUST LEAVE HER FOR NOW THOUGH, SERIOUSLY??

though on the other hand it’s already too late to stop this inevitable tide, so maybe at this point they should all just get the fuck out of there instead. at least Miruko did her fucking job and saved you all from having to face the invincible unstoppable version. that’ll be a real comfort to everyone when he’s out laying waste to the countryside, I’m sure. but still

-- oh no

the boys heard that. listen you guys, I want Ujiko to die as much as anyone, but I’m gonna need you to not go anywhere near Shigaraki fucking Tomura now or ever. please. do you hear me?? you two still have both of your ears goddammit I want some acknowledgement

-- NO!!!

(ETA: is that. a fucking Tomura dialogue bubble. something stirs in the east. a sleepless malice. the eyes of the enemy are moving.)

THE MANGA GIVETH AND THE MANGA TAKETH AWAY nooooo from 20 pages last week back down to the usual 17. I got spoiled. I expected too much. sob

so now we settle in to wait two weeks to see if Mic’s piercing tones can shatter this fucking adamantium tank like a wine glass. I’m not sure I’m ready for the Noumuraki Tomuracalpse you guys. then again by this point I’m braced for just about anything though so bring it

[the-velveteen-victorian]

Hi Elle! I used to follow you on your old mega-popular tumblr. I really love your new one. :) I know that you've lived in a "super spiritual" community for several years now (not sure if you want me to publicly say the place). What is the community like? Is it more bad than good? What are some strengths and weaknesses of the place/people? Thank you! I've heard mixed things and really respect your insights.

Haha I knew I would get this question one day! If I could title my response, it would be, "Why I've Chosen to Keep My Distance from the New Age Community in the American Southwest." I info-dump and write novels, so get ready! =)

I think there is something to be said for defining things neutrally for yourself overall. Fortunately, I've been able to easily do that in this instance due to: 1. Being introverted and not "needing" a big community experience and 2. Having wonderful friends all over the globe that I am able to interact with all throughout my year. With that being said, if I am being 100% honest and real with you, I truly believe that the new age community where I am is more toxic than good. Here is why. I will have a positive note at the end.

A quick preface: I am not calling out any particular individual(s) and will not be naming names.... quite frankly, there are just too many and I'm not here to humiliate people. Secondly, these traits can take place in ANY community, spiritual or otherwise. But these are things that I feel a spiritual community should be more self-aware of... and sadly right now, they are not.

********ATTENTION: There is a big content and trigger warning here: There will be mentions of sui****, sexual *******, and gaslighting/narcissism, terfs, eating disorders, and other things that could be very upsetting. Proceed with caution and stop reading if you find yourself getting stressed, triggered, or deeply upset.*********

1. Malignant narcissism and community insulation from constructive criticism. I have never seen such a ubiquitous display of malignant narcissism in all my life in a collective, save for some conservative Christian environments in my growing up years. Go onto almost any youtube channel for the Sedona community and you will see very few negative comments… why? (And I have watched this for a long time) Almost ANY criticism of anyone’s channel or blog is instantly removed. There was a time when people who simply noted that some of these small “influencers” were saying toxic things were sent cease and desist letters. The community is very tight knit and displays many marks of a cult. One of these indicators is that they all protect each other and hype each other up on their channels and blogs, while labeling ANY criticism (healthy or not) as someone who is being “triggered.” The younger part of the community cares about looking perfect and having everyone worship them, but has very little spiritual substance. It’s always about who did the alien thing “before it was cool” or “who can do a backflip off of a steep cliff without breaking their neck because their synchronicity is on point.” One youtuber said once that she only wanted to hang out with “pretty” people because they were purer expressions of the divine. The older generation expresses narcissism by assuming they know more than everyone else. Good luck having a conversation on controversial topics with any of them. They are right, you are wrong. If you argue, you are “triggered” and “seeking for truth.” If you don't believe that there are reptilians on the moon with a secret base, you've drunk the kool-aid. Not a good environment to foster open sharing and knowledge. The men have a particular problem with this when it comes to topics of sex and intimacy. If you are a woman and don’t want to “surrender” to your partner (in a lot of vague and unclear ways), you are out of alignment with the divine feminine. Most of the men believe that they should be allowed to "hunt" (look for sexual partners/spiritual twin flames) and that women should do everything in their power to be softly feminine so that they can sync up and recognize each other's souls.

2. A full denial of science and medicine. Look, I get it. We all want to solve our own medical dilemmas and use herbs to cure all ills. I try to solve any (non life threatening) health issues I have the “natural” way first too… often, I have great success! The problem comes when the community rejects all western medicine, most science (that doesn’t affirm their beliefs) and any medical opinion that has… actually been to a real medical school. There is a strong anti-vaccination movement coupled with the belief in using yoni eggs religiously and doing colonics every week (though science tells us this isn’t a great idea overall). I used a different type of yoni egg for awhile to see what would happen, but trust me, your pelvic health is going to be better without them. You will be judged harshly for going to a “mainstream” doctor to get antibiotics for a serious infection and will most likely be gaslit into oblivion regarding “what you did to attract” your infection etc.

I have midwifed for many years now and have extensive “mainstream” training to be able to do this legally. Once, I was working with another midwife on a mother who was having her first baby. The laboring woman had an ideal birth in mind like most people do. Long story short, I discerned while she was laboring that the baby was in intense distress and that the mother was displaying very concerning signs of a life-threatening condition. When I insisted on calling an ambulance and getting the woman to the hospital, the other midwife said that I was interfering with nature. I explained simply that if we didn’t get said woman to a hospital, the baby would most certainly die and the mother’s life would hang in the balance. Her response was that: “Some babies don’t deserve to live and I shouldn’t invite karma by interfering with nature’s course.” I called an ambulance anyway and the mother was taken for an emergency c-section. The mother was very disappointed about not being able to follow her birth plan. However, after the birth (she and baby ended up being okay thank goodness) she sat down with me personally and thanked me for making the decision I did. She said that one of the doctors explained that if I had waited another hour, both she and the baby would be dead. Apparently, this other “midwife” had also had her license revoked a year before for endangering a different laboring person and child. This sounds like a stand-alone freak incident, but I can cite 15-20 other situations just like this one where life-threatening emergencies were viewed as opportunities for good karma and growth… and that western medical intervention would invite bad karma.

Regarding science, if you point to the fact that jade yoni eggs are likely to cause an infection, most of the new age community will scoff and say that they don’t trust science (the logic being that science once explained volcanos as angry gods or something and now cannot be trusted overall). If you don't wear blue-blocking glasses anytime you look at a screen, apparently you've already succumbed to mind control. You get my point… It’s so bad that the new age community is willing to endanger people’s lives and place the blame on the victims for being out of alignment with synchronicity. This one bullet point could be talked about for hours.

3. A lack of discernment and victim blaming. Many have heard about Bentinho Massaro and his crew from that time when they swept through Sedona a couple years ago. The core of the Sedona community started blindly following him… some of them wanted to boost their online platforms by being associated with a well-known figure. Others wanted a guru… and others were just curious and got sucked in by his charisma. All one had to do was google him. He has allegations of physically beating his followers, gaslighting people, torturing animals in his childhood, and ignoring the fact that an alarming number of his followers commit suicide. With all of this knowledge at our fingertips, the popular new age “influencers” went so far as to get in polyamorous relationships with him, validate his platform, and gaslight people who, sadly, committed sui**** because of certain things he said in his teachings. It was insane. Now, many of the people who followed him try to pretend it never happened or that they had no part in it. Many of them claim to have “gifts of the spirit” and to have stellar discernment.

One of the people who got into a polyamorous relationship with this person did an Instagram post where she basically said that if someone is being r*ped they should show their attacker love and surrender to what is happening so that they could experience unconditional love and come back to the "light." I honestly couldn’t believe what I was reading at first when I saw it. The part that was heartbreaking was when I read the comments and watched people (not just women and men) berate themselves for “fighting” while something terrible happened to them in the past. A few of them were teenagers. I made it a point to personally message the ones I was able to, and thankfully, a good number did respond positively. This exact issue has occurred on youtube channels, blogs, and in-person encounters. I’m just citing ONE online instance of this horrible, misaligned belief. Keep in mind that the person who did this post abandoned her disabled child with a family she barely knew to pursue a sexual relationship with Bentinho.

4. TERFS/anti-LGBTQ/anti-feminism. This falls under the categories of relationships, sex, autonomy, and social issues, but expands into much more overall.

A chain of videos came out a couple years ago where about 5 women in the new age community each did a presentation on what was wrong with the “divine feminine” these days. They were saying that women had been erased because they were not conforming to gender roles or seeking out conscious relationships. They all referenced that “women are angry” and basically said it was wrong for women to feel this way and that angry female energy was throwing our whole environment out of balance and even contributing to global warming somehow. They empathized with toxic people/men/known violent incels and said that women needed to get over their traumas and be more available for the divine masculine to show up. They dehumanized women by saying they shouldn’t be expressing anger, glossed over sexual a******, and blocked everyone in the comments who took a stand against what they were saying. The general consensus is that feminists are just angry women who need to get over their trauma.

Many people in the new age community also believe that if you incarnate in a particular body with certain biological parts, you incarnated that way for a reason. Changing it extensively is to erase “the spiritual lessons you were supposed to learn.” Basically, they stand against trans people, nonbinary people, gender nonconforming people… etc. I can go deeper with this if you want, but that is the gist of it without writing a novel within a novel.

Most of them take an active stance against intersectional feminism and use exclusive language to shut out anyone who doesn’t conform to the binary. A few of them are more passive-aggressive about how they do this: refusing to show any support for the LGBTQUIA+ community or mention social issues at all, even when someone is pointing out that they did something hurtful or offensive.

5. Appropriating Indigenous cultures and using past lives as an excuse. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard a white new age person say that something is their “spirit animal” or seen one wear Native American/indigenous headdresses to tight-knit community events, citing that they were “Native American” in their past life and that they are entitled to use these symbols, items, and cultural lexicons because of it. (Not that this is the main point… but they tell trans people that they shouldn’t be trans or insinuate that people should conform to the gender binary because they incarnated in a body type for a reason… but make an exception for themselves culturally? Super hypocritical.)

A couple of “woke” guys from the new age community walked around for awhile saying that the Hopi had adopted them into their “tribe” and that the were given Hopi names. I spoke to a few Hopi people about what was happening and they were shell-shocked. That is not something that they do for one thing, and for another, they had never even heard of these people! Thankfully, the behavior stopped after the two men were confronted about it, but this kind of thing happens all the time in various ways. There is a new age store here with a racial slur in the title… bring it up to the owner and she’ll kick you out and launch a smear campaign. Tell one of the white new age women that just because she studies “different traditions” doesn’t mean it’s okay to do rain dances or perform indigenous rituals (Native American, Australian, and others) without permission and they’ll blacklist you. I think many of the new agers operate within this Trojan horse of “I want to accept and validate all cultures”, but do not actually care at all about indigenous voices, feelings, or opinions. Many of them talked a lot about collective trauma in our nation during Black Lives Matter, but wouldn’t actively support it in any way themselves.

6. Let’s talk about mental health. This could go under the science and medicine label, but I think it deserves its own paragraph. Boy is mental health stigmatized in the new age Sedona community…. Real mental health professionals are painted as people who just want to “drug” you and keep you controlled. People with mental health struggles are instantly blamed. “Hell is just a state of mind, you need to change your mind,” is a phrase I have heard more often than not. Ancestral healing, umbilical healing, and random reiki sessions are somehow supposed to take the place of a licensed counselor.

A huge chunk of the “spiritual” community supported a pseudo-therapist who (without any scientific basis) was preaching that any woman who wasn’t sure if she wanted to have children or not by the age of 25 was toxic and needed to be ostracized because “something is wrong there.” A bunch of people believed it and re-posted/shared the teaching.

Another instance occurred where an unlicensed “hypnotherapist” without so much as a bachelor’s degree in anything was using questionable methods to hypnotize clients. During one session a person experienced a severe PTSD flashback and panic attack. She was not brought out of the hypnotherapy session properly or cared for. She ended up having a mental breakdown and having to spend time in the hospital. The charlatan who was treating her said that the client was willfully unresponsive to treatment and refused to confront her demons…

Anyone who is on anxiety medication, anti-depressants or anything else to support their well-being and mental health will be judged aggressively and most likely verbally confronted at some point if they are open about being on medication. The charlatans will throw essential oils into your space saying that they can cure anything. Others will try to get someone to talk to a new age leader in the “inner circle” and attempt to persuade the client that western therapists/psychologists just want to drug people and ignore the spiritual cause of unrest. They’ll cite earthing, crystals, vaginal wands, special teas, dietary habits, and color therapy as causes and answers to everything…. All while regarding victims of sui**** as unfortunate souls and lost causes etc.

7. A summary. I need to sum up other issues here quite quickly or I’ll be typing all day. XD Many of the women here are terrified of gaining weight or looking older. They hide behind the thinning veil of “health and veganism” to justify their worrisome habits to feel sexually appealing to supposedly “woke” men. Disordered eating and terror of eating one granule of processed sugar permeates the consciousness. You can be judged for anything from buying pokemon cards to eating legumes…. of all things. Most of the men are sexual predators who prey on younger women, rely on narcissism as a personality type, and don’t let anyone get a word in edgewise when their opinions are challenged. Many of the women validate these behaviors and blame themselves when they get hurt citing “spiritual growth” as a silver lining to cure all traumas. I would say that 95%+ of the people in the community present a perfect picture of themselves online while having crumbling relationships and failing inner lives. You might see a post or video about “conscious uncoupling” of a spiritual "power couple" and then find out later that someone was in a relationship with a narcissistic predator or was experiencing physical abuse. Sadly, many of the victims gaslight themselves in the uncoupling announcement. Many people here are predators in other ways… they might launch a health business that uses essential oils to replace therapy. There are con artists all over the place who can range from simply overpricing their wares in alarming ways to trying to entrap people in “business contracts” that devastate their lives. I have had personal UFO experiences here and do personally think that extraterrestrial life exists, but I would NEVER try to manufacture a fake experience… One of the UFO tour guides was having people hide out in the desert and flash lights into the sky while people on the tour wore special glasses. Then she was charging an arm and a leg to channel “spiritual messages” from the e.t.s for her clients and saying that if they didn’t receive the message, something bad would happen to them. This is the fluffiest and lightest post I could possibly do to communicate how bad it is in the “spiritual community” here. This is only the tip of the iceberg.

The good news? Sedona is so much more than a toxic new age community. It is GORGEOUS and it does have many good, healthy/normal people here. =) I have had such a beautiful experience in this place and can’t say enough good things about it. I have easy access to healthy foods, endless nature to explore and bask in, and a growing community of people who call the new age community out on its toxicity. I read what I want, play Animal Crossing without blue-blocker glasses, regularly enjoy going to listen to goth music at my preferred venue (I’ve been demonized for this lol), and eat what makes me feel good. My partner and I have had a beautiful and successful relationship for nearly a decade now and create amazing memories every day. We have good friends all around the world… and I have a solid, BIG group of academic colleagues/friends locally who DO ethically cite their sources and contribute positively to science and higher learning. If you’re into paleontology like me, you are in fossil heaven! =D If you love astronomy or astrophysics, we’re in a dark sky city! There are so many cool things to do from playing in LOTR-worthy waterfalls, to sampling delicious vegan creations, to playing DnD on red rocks with your friends while a *real* UFO passes by overhead. Get yourself a smoothie and organic wrap from one of our incredible food trucks and drive out into the desert while listening to Nightvale with your love or your friends. =)

If you ever want a list of must-do’s while visiting, let me know. I’ve got your back! The point is that I just harped on the negative above, but the good news is that you can completely avoid all of the junk. Keep it or scrap it when it comes to the Sedona new age community? I say scrap it. But you can still pursue your spiritual interests in healthy ways here while enjoying all the yummy creature comforts that the Verde Valley has to offer. I hope this helps and if just one person comes here and has a safe experience because of my thoughts, then every moment I’ve spent writing this was worth it. =) <3

[mandareeboo]

Unfinished Work #32: “Nightmares” (Completed Chapter)

Last one for the night! This one is actually finished, but the writing is outdated and I never was confident in posting it when I wrote it. Another Ivypool story, but this one set in a sort of personal hell, where she confronts her inner demons with some help from an unlikely source.

———————————————————————————————————–

Ivypool wasn’t sure what she was running from, exactly, but she didn’t stop. Darkness pressed in from all sides, suffocating and lifeless. The only sound she could hear was the sharp smack of her paws on the thin layer of water that seemed to take up the ground, still save for when she startled it.

She knew this was a dream. Ivypool’s mind had never fully recovered from spending almost every night in the Place of No Stars, and she suspected that was why everything was so dull in sleep. So empty. That didn’t make things any less scary, though she did her best to keep her fur flat.

Ivypool could always be hurt in her dreams, for so, so long. Why would that change now?

The fire in her chest forced her to a halt. Ivypool squeezed her eyes shut and focused on breathing. Long and deep, that’s it. Can’t show any fear.

She wondered what would happen if she slept here, then decided against it. The warrior wasn’t sure exactly where ‘this’ was, and she never wanted to chance it. Ivypool got to her paws and started moving again, this time at a slower pace.

It was impossible to tell what was up for down here, left or right. Could a cat turn around without realizing it? Probably. The silver-and-white tabby she-cat kept her eyes ahead. If she died lost, she at least wanted to have died doing something.

Blossomfall must still be sleeping, Ivypool thought. That’s why she hasn’t woken me up yet. Fine. I can wait.

She forced her mind onto happier paths than the one she was jogging. Once Blossomfall woke her up, they could go on a dawn patrol together. Squirrelflight always assigned an ex-Dark Forest warrior or two for that time of the day; she appreciated how energetic and chipper they were.

After that, she would share some prey with Dovewing and Briarlight. The disabled warrior always had a funny story to tell about Jayfeather and Leafpool, and that would cheer her sister up a little. Purdy might join in; he loved telling that story about Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Breezepelt getting chased by dogs.

Hollyleaf. She frowned. I’m so sorry.

Evening hunting or border patrol from there. Ignore the looks Harespring or Ratscar would give her from across their respective borders, if they were even there. Maybe Cloudtail could give her some tracking tips. Share tongues with Whitewing and Birchfall, avoiding her father’s eye and mother’s questions. Polity dodge Spiderleg if he got too close.

I can do this. I can wake up from this.

The void didn’t so much as twitch.

A brown pelt flashed out of the corner of her eye. Ivypool froze, claws slithering out. The warrior tasted the air; the stench of RiverClan was light, but still there. Hawkfrost. It would be just like her ex-mentor to haunt her after dying twice.

Something peatier nearby, much stronger. WindClan? Ivypool cautiously broke into a trot. She didn’t catch any signs of a second pair of paws following her. Can a ghost of a ghost even make sound?

The brown flash was back, growing as she moved. It gained shape through her beating paws, coming into focus like a bug buzzing closer to your eyes. Ivypool went into a full-on sprint, this time to speed up the process, and soon another cat ran beside her. His one black ear came into color last.

Antpelt.

Guilt slammed her like a warrior in a territory battle. Ivypool slowed and stopped, falling into a sitting position. Antpelt blinked at her from a few mouse-lengths ahead, gaze expectant.

Does he want me to run with him?

“I can’t do this,” she rasped. “Not again.”

Antpelt slowly sat down.

“You’re dead,” she told him. “Hawkfrost killed you, and I destroyed what was left of that. I ruined you.”

“I’m dead, but I’m not forgotten,” Antpelt meowed. “This is the place where the echo of memories go. You’ll never forget me, will you, Ivypool?”

Ivypool stared at her paws, then at him. What was left of him, anyway. “I wish I could.”

“But you can’t,” Antpelt replied reasonably. “And this is who you remember me as- the cat who tried to give you room to stand after falling over in training. Why is that? Why focus on this part of me? You could’ve made me cruel and bitter, but you didn’t.”

“I don’t know,” she meowed hopelessly. I wish I did. “Maybe it’s just to make myself feel worse?”

“Nobody remembers the good,” Antpelt tsked. “Nobody remembers the good Tigerstar did, do they? He pulled ShadowClan out of sickness and made it into the Clan it is today. Without him, ShadowClan might not exist anymore. That’s why StarClan named him leader. But nobody cares, because the evil outweighs the good. So why do you see the good, Ivypool? Justification? Do you think suger-coating what you’ve done will make the cat you became in the Place of No Stars any better?”

Ivypool didn’t respond. Just remember patrol. The taste of fresh-kill. The blood is gone. I washed it out of my fur moons ago. Don’t look down. It’s gone. It’s gone.

Antpelt was by her side, setting a thin paw on her shoulder. His meow was surprisingly gentle. “There’s always a place for you here, you know. With the memories. Wouldn’t that be better than fighting at every turn?”

His touch was cold, sucking the heat out of her pelt. Ivypool had the sudden, sinking realization that she couldn’t fight him, couldn’t find it in her being to see agony screw up his muzzle a third time. How many times do I have to kill this cat before he finds peace?

“We could be Clanmates again,” he pressed. “Don’t you want to go hunting together, like Brokenstar promised we would?”

“I…” Ivypool had forgotten how to speak. She couldn’t even remember how to hunt. The name of her Clan. Was this really a dream, or was she dead? Was it both?

“I thought ThunderClan cats were more stubborn than this.”

It all suddenly snapped back into place, the cool voice ringing in her ears. Antpelt hissed and drew away. Ivypool’s head jerked up.

A golden she-cat sat on a small island, her tail wrapped neatly around her paws. The spotting on her pelt was a pattern she’d never seen in ThunderClan before. The she-cat had a proud, almost blank look to her muzzle.

“Why did you stop fighting?” she asked. “Surely you aren’t planning on just giving up?”

“I’m sorry,” Ivypool meowed in a daze, trying frantically to collect herself. “Do I know you?”

The golden she-cat’s ears pinned back, eyes narrowing almost to slits, lips drawing back to reveal a sharp set of front teeth. “Show some respect. I didn’t come to this dingy place for sass from a cat barely old enough to stumble out of the nursery.”

“Oh. Sorry, Leopardstar. I didn’t recognize you.”

To be fair, it’s not like Ivypool ever got to see her this way. The Leopardstar she’d known was fierce and ambitious, but her body had been declining. She still remembered the way her bones had jutted out of her fur. The only reason Ivypool had been able to place the two as the same warrior was the way her anger flickered in her eyes, the sharp and brutal way she spoke. This was the she-cat Crookedstar had left to lead RiverClan, all right.

Leopardstar accepted this with a nod. “The gift of StarClan is powerful. That creature with you- why are you listening to it?”

Ivypool glanced at Antpelt. The WindClan cat glared at Leopardstar suspiciously. “I owe him that much.”

“You owe him nothing,” she rumbled. “This is not a cat- something to pay respects to. This is simply a bad memory. It can hurt you, but it can’t drag you down unless you stop fighting. Join me on solid ground.”

Ivypool hesitated, then slowly padded forward. Leopardstar stood and moved back to make room for her assent, but when she tried to crawl on Ivypool’s paw went right through.

“I can’t.”

“You don’t believe me, then,” Leopardstar countered. “Fine. I’ll bring you up myself.”

The leader jumped from her perch with a powerful spring, landing beside Ivypool without a splash. The golden she-cat moved to stand between her and Antpelt.

“Is this how you want to be remembered?” Leopardstar demanded. “As the warrior who gave up?”

“What’s the point of fighting if you’ll never win?”

“The point of fighting?” Leopardstar asked. “To feel the fur rip beneath your claws. To bleed. The screech of warriors. The point of fighting isn’t to win- it’s to feel real. This,” she flicked her tail at Antpelt. “Isn’t real. None of this is real.”

Ivypool hesitated “If none of this is real, how do I know you’re any different?”

Leopardstar opened her mouth, seeming to consider her words.

“Leopardstar.”

Neither she-cat jumped, though it took all of Ivypool’s concentration not to. Out of the shadows pitter-pattered a lankly blue tom with torn ears.

“You look like Mistystar,” she said.

“I suppose so,” Leopardstar agreed.

“Thank you.” The tom dipped his head. “I’m Stonefur.”

Suddenly, the leader’s voice turned sharp. “You are a memory of Stonefur. I speak to Stonefur often enough in StarClan to know the difference.”

Stonefur didn’t answer. Antpelt watched them.

Leopardstar turned her back on the gray-blue tom, facing Ivypool with a mildly ruffled air. “Are you really going to abandon your Clan for something like this? This place isn’t worth losing all of that.”

Ivypool turned her mind back to ThunderClan. Her Clan. What would Dovewing say if she knew about all of this? Whitewing? Birchfall?

Antpelt finally stepped forward. “Are you really going to believe the word of the leader who helped Tigerstar?”

“You’ve made a horrible, disgusting mistake,” Leopardstar meowed quietly. “I know how that feels.”

“She killed me,” Stonefur- but not really- growled.

“But this isn’t where it has to end. You can move forward from this.”

“She ruined her Clan.”

“There are cats who love you.”

“You’re better off dead.”

“I need to believe I’m really good.” Leopardstar looked oddly vulnerable to Ivypool. She could count every star in her pelt. “I need you to trust me, or nothing will matter. I’ll have done all of this for nothing.”

The memory of Antpelt, fading and lifeless, stuck her, and continued to strike her even as she stepped forward. Antpelt hadn’t been for nothing. The Great Battle hadn’t been for nothing. “I want to try.”

“Then let’s climb,” Leopardstar grunted, turning to the invisible land, which had stretched into a long cliff. “I’ll start.”

Every ledge was agony. Ivypool felt like her fur was on fire from where it touched the surface. Nevertheless, neither she-cat made a sound.

Ivypool glanced back. Stonefur and Antpelt were staring up at them. Leopardstar crossed the ledge and reached down to pick her up by her scruff.

“You remind me a bit of myself,” she muttered around the fur. “Perhaps a bit too much.”

“And that’s why you came after me?”

“No cat deserves to drown, no matter what Clan they are. Now wake up.”

“I can’t,” she admitted. “Ever since the Dark Forest…”

“I’ll help,” Leopardstar returned, and claws raked down Ivypool’s muzzle.

Ivypool woke up with a tender cut along her face. It was still too early for dawn patrol, and Blossomfall was warm against her side. She slipped out of the warriors den and stared up at the stars until dawn.

[blxckdamask]

Trashcan’s Fic Rec: July ‘19

i know this is really late but i was busy so i couldnt really get this done. an yway,,, yall know the drill by now,, this has a bunch of bnha (mostly bkdk) and some rairpairs aswell as some drarry, odaat and b99.

BNHA Fics:

{bakudeku}

Roadmap of Our Lives by erza_mikazuki | 4k | 1/1| nsfw | emotional sex | body worship | scars | fluffy smut is my shit ngl

When Izuku's insecurities about his scarred body hit him full throttle, Katsuki is there to show Izuku just how beautiful scars can be.

4 AM Inquiry by SecretKiwi | 3k | 1/1 | established relationship | marriage proposal | fluff | this fic is how im tryna be 

Katsuki's reflection above the sink stared back. Eyes still drowsy with a hint of a shadow beneath them. Hair more of a mess than he would prefer, but he was plenty awake now.

All because of Deku.

~

Katsuki reflects at 4 am.

Happy Pride by PrinceTriscuit | 2k | 1/1 | getting together | gay fluff | coming out | wholesome 

Pride has always had a special place in Midoriya Izuku's heart.

Love For a Friend by Jessica14 | 2k | 1/1 | magic au | ghost izuku | protective bakugou | angst with a happy ending | idk how to summarize the tags just read it its so fucking good

"I trusted you and you had me murdered!” Midoriya wailed, anguished. Bakugou twitched focusing on the spell that made him capture Midoriya's soul.

“Shut up! You got yourself killed!”

“I didn't! You said you had my back and I thought you had it! But you didn't! Kacchan! My body!” Midoriya cried as he watched Bakugou lug his limp body through the forest.

This is what happens when Bakugou tries to become best friends with Midoriya again.

Say It Again by bkdkwritingsdump | 2k | 1/1 | angst | quirk mishap | angry izuku | established relationship | guilty bakugou 

Katsuki doesn't know what's wrong with Izuku. Is he mad? What is he mad about? What did Katsuki do!? All he knows is that he can't let Izuku break up with him. Not while they're still keeping their relationship a secret.

Or

Izuku forces Katsuki to apologize for everything he's ever done to hurt him.

Best Friends by artindistress | 13k | 2/2 | fem!deku | best friends au | getting together | minor izuchako | fluff | friends to lovers | this shit is so fluffy im in love

Bakugou and Midoriya have been best friends since... well, since either of them could remember. But both harbor unspoken feelings for the other, will this be an end to their friendship?

Foster-Mates by bkdkwritingsdump | 32k | 15/15 | hybrids au | cat!katsuki & dog!izuku | getting together | tw past abuse | tw self harm | angst | angst with a happy ending | eventual nsfw 

Izuku, a dog hybrid, has lived with his owner Toshinori, a retired hybrid psychologist, his whole life. He takes on some of the shelter’s most difficult cases as fosters, and so Izuku has learned to be the best foster-mate possible for scared and abused hybrids. At first, Katsuki, a cat hybrid who’s been kept in a tiny apartment nearly his whole life, seems just like any of the other awful cases they’ve seen, but somehow, Izuku and him grow a lot closer than usual over the course of his stay. Eventually, the question becomes: could he stay forever?

bellflowers by vannral | 15k | 4/4 | hanahaki disease au | getting together angst | angst with a happy ending | unrequited love (kinda) | eventual fluff

“Izuku knows what the Hanahaki does. He knows what his options are, and sure, they aren’t great. In fact, they’re pretty horrible. The list is short and daunting. There are still flower petals on his pillow."

In which Izuku has Hanahaki Disease, and Katsuki's furious.

TFW Your Roommate Brings a Baby Home by Hotshott (Artemystic) | 5k | 1/1 | friends to lovers | fluffy fluff | baby used as a plot device | this is just pure fluff guys its great 

And you're crushing on him, and he's just so cute, and the baby's cute, and what's a guy to do, anyway?

family dinners by luciimariiellii | 1k | 1/1 | family fluff | friends to lovers | pining for days | this is so cute i love 

Ever since they were little, Izuku and Katsuki’s families have had family dinners. It’s just them and their parents, and that’s fine. Until more people get dragged in. (And try to set Izuku and Katsuki up.)

for twinstars week day four - family

{todobaku}

cold, hot and so damn soft by orphan_account | 7k | 1/1 | established relationship | light angst | fluff | romance 

It started from a normal evening to a small argument that made them go on vacation that made Katsuki realize that he wanted something more from Shouto.

The Shitty Parents Squad (series) by YinYangZodiac | 8 works | 15k | tw child abuse | tw domestic abuse | caring characters | ooc kinda | this is very soft but very sad and im so in love with this series 

Bakugou, Denki, Midoriya, Momo and Todoroki all end up in a McDonald's one early morning. A suggestion of a movie and a credit card reveal later and the teens are off to spend the day together.

They all know that it's Todoroki's father's credit card, but none of them care.

Eyes Aren't Always Windows To The Soul by Alienqueen42, TheLibrarian9 | 1k | 1/1 | deaf!bakugou & blind!todoroki | emotional hurt/comfort | heavy angst | light fluff | getting together 

Bakugo and Todoroki both find themselves living together with disabilities, helping each other get by. In doing so, they fall in love.

{rairpairs & other ships} 

staring into our bright future by wonduhhwoman | kacchako | 9k | 1/1 | quirk mishap | future and present uraraka swap bodies | established relationship | developing relationship | fluff 

“You haven’t changed at all, have ya?” he observed, pinching her cheek affectionately.

Ochako batted his hand away from her cheeks for the second time that morning, wondering if he had a thing for them. “That doesn’t even make any sense, Bakugou. I’m from the past. Of course I haven’t changed.”

“Makes perfect sense,” Bakugou countered, closing his teeth around a bite of eggs. “You were doing this same shit yesterday morning.”

-

My entry for the day 2 prompt of Kacchako week: otherworldly.

Five Times his Service Dog helps Shinsou and One Time Bakugou does by SupaKawaiiDesu | bakushin | 7k |1/1 | tw panic attacks and disorders | hoh!bakugou | fluff | college au | strangers to friends to lovers | fluff | light angst | fluffy shit we fuckin stan this rairpair

Bakugou watches with something akin to affection when Shinsou starts playing with his dog until she jumps all around him and is barking excitedly. He has never seen the both of them so content before. The Sergeant is always so concentrated at College grounds, either that or she’s calm but still looking out for him. Bakugou has seen them during lectures, at lunch at their usual table, during their ways to Bakugou’s dorm and to Shinsou’s apartment off campus, he has seen them through their late-night-skyping sessions and in countless pictures on Sergeant Barkowitz’ Instagram. He has seen their best but not their worst, and that makes Bakugou wonder if he’ll ever be such a great companion to Shinsou like the Sergeant is.

A Hero's Goodbye by Gentle_Love_9 | erasermic | 1k | 1/1 | death fic | major angst | somehow fluffy as well?? | bitches i cried so fuckin hard when i read this omf

"Shouta could have never imagined reaching this point in his life. He honestly expected to die at some point when he was younger, alone somewhere in an alleyway, killed in action during his hero work maybe."

Instead he's in a warm hospital bed and surrounded by some of the people he cares most about.

On These Unsteady Legs by Spider_Lilly | erasermic | 4k | 1/1 | shinsou and eri centric | hurt/comfort | angst with a happy ending

Shinsou Hitoshi had never had a family before, and he refuses to screw it up. But when a villain attacks him and his new little sister, he may have lost the only family he's ever had.

We love and respect Bakugou in this house (series)  by Bakudont_be_weird | bakudabi | 5 works | 54k | tw rape/non-con | abo | alpha!dabi & omega!bakugou | very nsfw | stockholm syndrome | mpreg | fucked up fluff | angst with somewhat of a happy ending ig | ngl this ship is suppose to be fucked up and problematic but this series is really fucking good if you're into fucked up fics

Bakugou never wanted to be mated. Especially not to a villain but it didn't look like he had any choice in the matter. The only question now was: will he ever escape?

OR,

The author loves Bakugou and loves to make him suffer so Dabi kidnaps him and forces our favourite blasty boy to become his mate. It goes from bad to good to bad and back to good.

Days in a Crucible by doop_doop | bakuiida | 40k | 9/9 | kidnapping | emotional hurt/comfort | getting together | developing relationship | acquaintances to lovers | mentions of past todobaku | ptsd

While working together as pro heroes, Iida, Bakugou and Todoroki are taken captive. The situation is strange: none of their Quirks work, and they aren’t tortured or killed – in fact, they never see their captors. There is nothing to do but wait.

Things are tense between the three of them, but Iida finds the situation bringing him closer to Bakugou than he thought possible. But who knows how this will change things between when they get out…

Pet Names by BluePlanetTrash | bakuiida | 4k | 2/? | quirk mishap | ooc | flufffffffff | overuse of petnames | #LetBakugouBeSweet2k19 | iida calls bakugou sugar and thats all that matters

Quirk: Infatuation - The user of this quirk affects two people by touching them at the same time, they then fall into a state of infatuation with each other; they could be affected by this for up to a week.

Iida and Bakugou get affected by an infatuation quirk that makes them be sweet to each other. So sweet, that it could give you cavities. Warning: This story will contain an excessive amount of pet names, hence the title.

Other Fandoms Fics: 

Portrait of a Young Girl by trishjames | drarry | 8k | 1/1 | established relationship | trans!teddy | internalised homophobia | family feels | light angst with a happy ending

Recently married, Harry and Draco are tasked with raising a four-year old Teddy, whose emerging gender identity brings up an array of questions, fears, and revelations for them when they realise that Teddy might be transgender.

Over the Moon and Up the Duff by hdmpregmod | drarry | 4k | 1/1 | established relationship | mpreg | fluff | harry is a little shit

When Draco learns he's pregnant again, he blames his husband. Harry, however, couldn't be happier.

Boyfriends From College by Impossibly_Izzy | peraltiago | 1k | 1/1 | bi!jake | established peraltiago | jake dated schneider and john mulaney | self discovery 

Jake dated two guys in college, but doesn't realise until he introduces one of them to Amy.

broken compass, still moving forward by confessionofaking | odaat (no pairing) | 1k | 1/1 | trans!schneider | coming out | misunderstandings | trans schneider stans come get yalls juice

The family learns a secret about Schneider

lemongrass and sleep, apple juice and peach by riverblujay | odaat (no pairings) | transgirl!alex | self discovery | coming out | syd is a great friend 

alex said the far scarier sentence that at the same time was more comforting than anything the teenager had ever heard before. “she,” alex mumbled under his- no, her- breath, voice beginning to choke up, “was sitting on her bed, in her room. her,” he- she, she- sighed and spoke just a little louder, just a little surer. “her name is alex, and she’s a girl.” alex smiled to herself, so small it was probably barely considered one. she didn’t care; she finally felt whole.

or: in another world, elena isn't the only alvarez daughter (but it takes alex some time to figure that out)

[winterpower98]

How Donald could become Paperinik in Ducktales

I had a silly idea on how Paperinik could be introduced in Duckatels and after thinking about it for a while I decided to make a comic out of it. But since right now I’m trying to survive university this little project will probably be moved to summer, in the meant time, have this very poorly agglomeration of notes that I have.

So Donald is a prisoner of the moonlanders and Uno free him

Uno is still an android and was created by Everett

Corona was attacked by evronians but wasn't defeated

The evronians kept attacking the planet and Everett, as scientific leader, had the responsibility to create something to use against the evronians

and that thing

is Uno

BUT he doesn't know

all Uno know is that he was created to help Everett

(also Korinna and Juniper exist as well as Serifa but they aren't evil)

For some reasons, Everett when away from Corona and disappeared

Uno took one of the family spaceships and went looking for him

In the spaceship, there is another "weapon" that Everett and Uno where working on (Uno thought was the actual weapon but he didn't know it was aboard)

During Uno research, he lands on the moon for repair and is soon captured and mistook for an earthling

In the prison Donald and Uno chat, Uno will say why he was traveling in space but not what he is. I think Uno would be a bit unimpressed and simply not care for the duck

They easily escape

Donald had kept an eye on the guards outside and their routine

Once he shared his info with Uno the droid just when "okay" then preceded to change (imagine it like how Sari change but a bit smaller for now) and ripped apart a wall

he changed back and looked at Donald "you're coming or what?"

Poor Donald took a second to understand what just happen before his eyes XD

"That was cool but what the duck!?!?"

The two take a while to find Uno ships and get onboard

They just get out of the moon that an evronian ship appears from behind the light side of the moon (because if I remember correctly the moonlanders are on the dark side)

Uno and Donald are in the cockpit of the ship, looking at the new ship that just appeared in front of them (Donald Uno) "What is that?!" "Remember those alien I told you about?" "It's them?!?!?!"

Uno laves the command of the ship to the AI on board and proceeds to go to the door

"Stay here" "Where am I supposed to go?! Wait where are you going??" Uno leaves without adding a word (because of course he's dramatic)

Donald can see the android through the cockpit, he's now full Sari mode)

Uno is a tough android and manages to beat down a few purple vampires but things become quickly overwhelming for him

btw I forgot to mention that the ship has no weapon on board that's why Uno when out

Donald looks around the ship to see if there is anything he could use to help his new friend

and stumble upon what looks like a spacesuit whit a shield?

Alien technologies who the heck knows

He wears it and goes out

At first he just rages and punches the absolute heck out of two evronians who were near

With the arriving of the new threat, a good couple of evronian moves from Uno to Donald, allowing the droid to better defend himself

But Uno can also now see what exactly is happening and when he sees Donald with the suite he doesn't know if he's yelling at the duck for his stupidity of going out of the ship or using what is probably a weapon of mass destruction

Uno and Donald starts to bicker with each other while fighting and Donald accidentally use the crusher (or whatever the name of the extendible punch is)

He gets the hang of it pretty easily and Uno is impressed! This duck actually knows how to defend himself

The evronians are defeated and the coward back in the ship

Donald: this is not the worst thing that has happened to me.

Uno: no?

Donald: mind control plant demons. That's the worst.

The two get back in the ship and Uno goes back to yelling at Donald for what he did

while arguing Donald or Uno (dunno who yet) can see that that little ship wasn't the only one but there are, in fact, a dozen more all direct to earth

Donald starts to panic because oh my god my babies!!

Uno understands the situation (after Donald made every horrible scenario he can think of out loud) and directs his ship towards Earth

Uno's ship is smaller and faster than the evronians one so they get to Duckburg pretty quickly

Uno lands the ship not far from McDuck manor, but far enough that Uno can activate the ship disguise, camouflaging it whit the forest around

Donald (still with the PK suite) and Uno run to the Manor and are immediately stopped by Beakley

She asks what is going on and who are this two duck (The PK suite also has the black mask and a voice distortion so Donald doesn't sound like himself)

there isn't enough time to explain tho, the evronian managed to land and are now terrorizing the city, McDuck Manor included

in the back yard of the manor, Scrooge, Della and Dewey whitens the arrive of the purple alien and it doesn't take long for Webby and Louie to join them

in the city, Fenton and Huey take cover from the attackers and quickly run towards the Manor to retrieve the Gizmo duck suite (I can't remember if Fenton need the suite to be near to hear the vocal command or not)

Back to the backyard Scrooge, Della and the kids are dealing fairly easily with the Evronians

Beakley arrives followed by Uno and a worried Donald

Webby and Dewey gets distracted by the two new arrivals and almost get hit by an evrongun

Donald (or PK at this point) use the shield thruster to get to the alien and hit him hard in the beak, he then lands in front of the kids ready to defend them (and this is also where I started my mini animation)

Uno also gets ready for a fight and the entire McDuck-Duck family, now with the addition of a droid, is ready to kick some space feather

during the fight, Gizmoduck and Huey manage to emerge from the Manor and help the rest of the family

in the end, the evronians are defeated and they retreat (like in the first PKNA comic)

but as soon as the aliens are gone the kids, followed by Gizmoduck, starts to submerge Uno and Donald of questions "Where do you come from?" "are you an alien too?" "can you turn into a giant robot?" "can you do a backflip?" "what is your suite made of?"

Donald is very confused on how to respond especially because Is that Della!?!?!

So Uno takes mater into hand, literally

He grabs Donald and activates the shield thruster and his own thruster, bringing both of them into the air and directing them towards the camouflaged spaceship

Gizmoduck is soon behind them, and he's still asking questions on how any of that stuff works or was made

Uno uses an EMP gun on the armored duck, disabling his flight system Fenton crashes into some tree but thanks to the suite he doesn't get hurt

as soon as Uno and Donald land near the ship Donald gets angry at Uno and demand answer

Uno explains to him that he can let Mister Everett works fall into the wrong hands and ask Donald to give back the suite

Donald does and then he angrily stomps away from the ship, towards the Manor and his family

the next day Donald goes back to him with a pie to apologize

along the way, Donald starts questioning the pie "Does he like apple pie?" "WAIT! Does he even need to eat??"

When he reaches the ship Uno is repairing the vehicle since it got damaged when he "landed" on the moon

I'm not sure what would happen next, the only thing I know is that Uno finds some evidence that Everett is on earth and that's why he stays

I also got an idea on why Everett needed a specific material

Uno is the weapon against the evronians but he's not "The weapon" until he goes to a specific mode

Said mode is powerful but it drains Uno energy quick, consider it like Baymax Override mode in the Big Hero 6 series

so Everett needed a specific type of mineral to sustain that amount of energy drain

[tisfan]

Take this Job (And Shove it Out the Airlock) Chapter Two

Title: Horrible Working Conditions Square: R2 - quarantined! Warning: space opera Pairing: WinterIron Summary: So... Tony meets his co-worker and it goes about as well as can be expected. Also, Tony doesn’t like being told what to do. We knew that, right? I mean, like, we all knew that. Link: AO3

For @tonystarkbingo

“So, what’s the deal with this guy?” Tony was staring at the man in the glass cage, although if someone had held a laser blaster to his head and asked him why, Tony might not have been able to say.

The man was, to start with, chained down tighter than a life pod in an asteroid field; the collar around his neck was attached to solid beams that were set into the floor, and his arms were stretched out, caught in heavy cuffs. He was forced onto his knees, head tipped slightly back to keep the collar from choking him, his hair thick curtains on either side of his face.

Despite that, there was a terrifying amount of power in the man’s body; thick thighs, powerful shoulders. He looked well and truly contained -- not even including the fact that he was inside a durasteel glass pod -- but also that there was more than enough reasoning for it. He was half naked, chest gleaming with sweat, his feet were bare. He should have looked vulnerable.

He didn’t.

But even that aside, the man had an arm made of metal, probably adamantium or a titanium alloy, based on the color. It was capped on his shoulder, surrounded by thick, pink scarring. Some of those scars looked as if the man had tried, more than once, to claw the arm off.

It was a lovely piece of tech and Tony had a sudden itch to put his hands on it. “Involuntary bodily modification is against the law,” Tony said, softly, aware that Fury hadn’t answered his commentary.

No one answered that one, either.

(more below the cut)

And on top of that, the man was gloriously beautiful, face like an angel, combined with just the right amount of attitude. He had a mouth made for kissing, a cleft chin, and eyes the color of blued steel. He was utterly, unspeakably perfect, and there was an ancient sadness in his gaze that made Tony ache to do something for him.

“Hey,” Tony said, louder this time, “what is he in here for? Who is he? This is my team member?”

The man’s gaze snapped up to meet Tony’s, despite the fact that the duraglass should have shown him nothing but his own reflection from the inside. Despite the fact that he should not have been able to hear Tony from the inside.

“This,” Natasha said, her voice barely even carrying to Tony’s ears, but the way the man’s gaze shifted, Tony knew that he could hear, “is the Winter Soldier.”

Tony licked his lips. “Oh.”

“I see you’ve read the files.”

“Hasn’t everyone?”

There were people who didn’t think the Winter Soldier existed. He was the whispered rumor behind every big hit, and every bagged bounty. The Winter Soldier, one of the galaxy’s most notorious bounty hunters; he wasn’t the bring ‘em back alive type, either. If someone could afford him, and the Winter Soldier took the job, a target better start putting away money for his funeral expenses.

Not much into mercy, the Winter Soldier.

Or failure.

“I don’t do that anymore,” the Winter Soldier said. His voice was low, smoother than silk, and darker than coffee. Lightly accented, and Tony couldn’t place it.

“We need you to fix him,” Fury said.

Tony choked on air. “Excuse me?”

Fury tapped his flexi, shooting files to Tony’s device. “The arm’s Hydra make,” Fury said. “We need you to take it off, disable the remote, any trackers, and download any data stored. Depending on what we find, we might need your help destroying it. We’ve got a lab set up in a detachable pod for you--”

Tony could read between the lines; the device was likely rigged to explode on any tampering, and Fury wanted to be able to eject the Winter Soldier, arm, and mechanic, in a single button press.

Lovely. “Good to know I’m considered expendable. You’re really not selling me on this whole team idea.”

“Me, either,” the Winter Soldier said, and he looked at Tony and he fucking winked.

“This whole press-ganging thing sucks balls,” Tony said. “Are you gonna be awake for this, sunshine? Or do we need to knock you out? I’d prefer you to guide me through the whole arm thing… helps to have an expert opinion. But I’d also like to keep all my teeth.”

“Smile for me.”

“Huh?”

“I want to see if your teeth are worth it,” the Winter Soldier said.

Tony plastered on his press smile. He’d done it for decades, pretending to be happy when he was anything but. Sometimes, even he couldn’t tell the difference.

“I want th’ arm gone,” the Winter Soldier said. “They-- they did this to me, an’ I want it gone. Can you make a new one?”

Tony shrugged. “I’m Tony Stark,” he said, “and if you read the newscasts at all, you don’t need me to answer the question.”

“Stark?”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

“I’ll let you do the replacement.”

“Great. Let’s get to it, then, let him out, come on, chop chop,” Tony said. “Time’s wasting.”

“They really do not trust you,” Tony said, because they’d moved the duraglass cell entirely into the detachable pod.

“No,” the Winter Soldier said. “And they’re right not to. I can’t always control myself.”

“Sounds like a you-problem,” Tony said. The door slid down behind him, locking him in the pod-cum-workshop with the Winter Soldier. I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with me.

“All right, let’s see what we’ve got to work with. Tony sent a command out to his nanites that he’d left aboard Fury’s ship. Everything got very, very dark for a moment, and then, a vibrating clang echoed through the pod. “Pod detached, stealth activated.”

“What are you doing?”

“Well, glad you asked Winter Cupcake,” Tony said. “I love the sound of my own voice, so-- let there be light, God said, and there was-- Light.”

The pod’s lights came back on, and he pulled up several external screens. “The first thing these fuckers forgot is that you can’t trust a Stark not to meddle. I don’t really like being told what to do, either. That one’s a me problem, so we’ll just have to deal with things as they come.” There was more to it than that; Tony didn’t quite trust Fury, but he also wasn’t sure about the Winter Soldier. Better one person dead than hoping that Fury could push his damn button in time.

“So, here’s the deal, I hope you’re into enlightened personal interest, because otherwise, this trip is going to end really damn quick. I have dropped us off Fury’s ship, I’ve got manual control over the escape pod, and if my nanites detect my heart stopping-- they’ll vent the atmo from this pod, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. Scorpion and the maiden, we both die. Got that?”

“I understand.”

“So, I don’t kill you, you don’t kill me, that’s the basics, here. And, astonishingly enough, Fury did trust me with a full, working pod, and a complete workshop, so, if we want to move this from ‘where can I drop you off’ to some sort of ‘how can we help each other,’ I’m eager to hear your suggestions.”

“We’re not going to go get Steve, then?”

“Steve?”

“Captain America,” the Winter Soldier said.

“Big bounty, I guess?”

“Probably, but that’s not why I asked. He’s… I knew him. He’s my friend.”

Tony blinked, and then he blinked again. “Wait, wait, what--”

“Steven Grant Rogers,” the Winter Soldier said, “is my best friend.”

“Holy shit, you’re Bucky Barnes,” Tony said. Well, that set all of Tony’s plans on end. Bucky Barnes, holy shit. He punched the release button for the duraglass cage, letting him go immediately.

Bucky rubbed at the back of his neck as soon as his arms were released. “Thanks, that was gettin’ tiresome.”

“Right, okay, then. Uh… let’s get that arm off you, okay?”

Bucky gave Tony a smile and it was like the sun coming up. “Let’s do that, then.”

“Things are never easy,” Tony muttered, tapping his fingers against the control panel, “but this is even worse than I imagined. And for me, that’s saying a lot.”

“Good imagination?”

“Bad luck,” Tony retorted. “Every time I think it can’t get worse, the universe says challenge accepted.”

“So, how bad is it?” Bucky wasn’t looking at his arm, staring instead up at Tony, which was somewhat disconcerting, since his eyes were blue and beautiful, and he wasn’t showing any fear. Someone strapped to a bomb ought to at least be a little concerned, right?

“Well, if my math is right, and my math is always right,” Tony said. “This little bit of nothing you got powering this prosthetic, if it’s removed improperly, could wipe out several large continents on Earth VII. It’s pure, solidified, cosmic energy. I don’t know where they got it from, but I hope to Tesla and Einstein that they don’t find any more of it. Why they’d use it to power your arm instead of duplicating the properties and building a bomb, I don’t know.”

“I am a weapon,” Bucky pointed out.

“Yeah, cupcake, I get that, but you’re also one man, and you’re not invincible.”

“Try me.”

“Yeah, no, I don’t think we’re going to be doing that today,” Tony said. He was barely breathing and his hands weren’t shaking at all as he used microforceps to remove the fleck of cosmic energy. “I think they made this from the same material as the Tesseract.”

“The thing that powers your heart?”

“Not quite the same, mine’s based off-- details, details. And, well, mine’s a lot safer.”

“So safe it’s killing you.”

“Point. But it’s not going to blow up and destroy half the moon,” Tony said. He dropped the power source very carefully into a gel suspension. “We’ll keep this.”

“Even though it’s a bomb?”

“It’s a bomb that runs your arm, and can power my heart,” Tony said. “Or, you know, run a space frigate. What I’m saying is, too dangerous to throw in the trash, and we might as well use it.”

“I can’t decide if you’re brave or foolhardy.”

“Is it too much to ask for both?” Tony wondered as he pulled out the various attachments. Now that Bucky’s arm wasn’t going to explode, it could be safely removed.

“What’s gonna run the new arm?” Bucky asked, sitting up and looking at the cap end where his arm used to be. Most people would be deep in dysphoric panic by this point; people not being used to having their limbs removed, but Bucky seemed almost calm.

“Thought you could wind it up in the morning, like an old-fashioned toy,” Tony said, then laughed. “Oh, that was excellent, I should prank you more often. That was a great expression there, Barnes.”

“Seriously, Stark, I’m leaning toward foolhardy.”

“You wouldn’t be the first,” Tony said. “But no, at least for the time being until I can get something more efficient, you’ll be charging off the nacelles that power the shuttle. Should be able to run for about eighteen hours, and then you’ll need to plug in for an hour or two. You can do it while you sleep. It’s not ideal, but it’ll work.”

“What if we need to be off the shuttle for more than eighteen hours?”

“Well, that’ll suck, won’t it?”

“Like a goddamn black hole,” Bucky said. 

[dicecast]

Intro to Vampires

Throughout the world, there are many different forms of blood sucking creatures who prowl in the night, so many that many suspect there might be some  larger link between them all.  If such a thing is true, the default though is vampire, creatures who are so legendary that other creatures are regularly mistaken for them.  These undead creatures are a scourge on the world, and even a single one can destroy an entire community through their transmutable bite. 

Strengths of all Vampires

Increased Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution.

 Vampires are extremely strong and fast. Claws: Vampires gain vicious looking claws which they can use to murder you. 

Undead; Vampires have all the immunities that vampires have, they can’t be affected by mind effecting spells, they are immune to poison and disease, resistant to cold, supernaturally tough. 

Can See Perfectly in the Dark: Vampires, regardless of what they were in life, are incredibly skilled Regeneration:

Vampires heal extremely quickly from most wounds, which makes defeating them extremely difficult. They can regrow limbs in a matter of mins. 

Damage Reduction: Normal Weapons don’t do much damage to Vampires, their flesh is supernaturally strong.   Powers (not all vampires have access to all these powers

Blood Drain: Vampires can heal themselves via drinking blood, and the more powerful ones can use blood to resemble enhance their own powers. They must drink blood from a living target and the process, while not painful for the victim, will leave them extremely exhausted at the end of it.

 Dominate: Vampires can mind control somebody by making eye contact with them, though the effect is temporary. How powerful the control is varies on the vampire in question. 

Slave: The most powerful vampires can have a specialized slave, called a Vorlog, a mortal who is utterly devoted to serving them. Vorlogs gain some special powers of their own.

Shapeshifting: Vampires can turn into a bat, a wolf, or a rat, more powerful ones can turn into Dire versions of each, or even swarms. Children of the Night: More powerful vampires can summon swarms of bats, rats, or wolves to serve them. 

Spider Climb: Vampires can climb on walls like spider man

Silence: More powerful vampires can suppress any noise that they make. 

Advanced Shapeshifting: The most powerful vampire vampires can turn into a shadow form or into a nightmare which can enter your sleep. 

Senses: Most powerful vampires have a freakishly good sense of smell, hearing, and smell. Weather Control: The most powerful vampires can control Mist Forms: Some vampires can turn into mist

Coffin: Some vampires when killed, don’t truly die, but instead take on a mist form when they die and return to their coffin. The coffin must have soil from the land of their birth scattered inside it, and if it is destroyed then the vampire will simply die. If They return to the coffin, they will be able to restore themselves in 3-9 nights of rest. To kill them permanently, you must go to the coffin, stake them, and burn them at least. 

Energy Drain: The touch of some vampires can drain peoples abilities (Stats) per hit, requiring a restoration spell to get them back. Every time they drain from you, the vampire gets more powerful

Life Drain: The most powerful vampire can drain life itself (Levels) from a target with a touch, becoming much more powerful in the process. Anybody killed from this power rises as a vampire Thrall. 

 Dust Form: Vampires can turn into Dust and harm everybody around them for a short period. Necromancy: More powerful vampires can create armies of zombies and ghouls as lesser undead bound to serve them

.Spells: The most powerful vampires can cast necromancer spells 

Weaknesses (More powerful vampires might not have all of these weaknesses)

Sunlight: Sunlight is universally damaging to all vampires, beams of light will burn their flesh and direct exposure will kill them in a matter of seconds. All but the most powerful vampires can last no more than a few mins in direct sunlight before being destroyed

.Fire: Vampires are extremely weak again fire, and their skin burns much easier than human flesh, due to their decayed form. Damage taken via fire cannot be regenerated.

 Silver: Silver is a holy metal and burns vampires in particular. A weapon with some silver alloy will hurt then just like a normal weapon, but a weapon made of silver is devastating to them (Deals double damage). The more powerful ones can’t be killed by this method but disabled.  Damage from silver weapons cannot be regenerated. 

Undead: They also have all the weaknesses of undead, positive energy, or Holy/Radiant/or Sacred damge. Future undead hunters be warned, they are resistant to Clerics ability to Turn undead. They also heal from negative energy. Holy, Positive, Radiant, or Sacred Damage cannot be regenerated.

 Stakes: A stake through the heart will kill lesser vampires and paralyze the more powerful. However getting a stake through the heart is difficult, and usually requires them to sit stii so you can hammer it (aka not like in buffy) 

Heart: A non stake weapon hrough the heart will paralyze any vampire, though only until it is removed.

 Deprecation: The weakest vampires can be killed if their head is cut off. 

Garlic Repels them but doesn’t harm them 

Mirrors: They lack a reflection and it’s a sure sign of their true intention. Invitation: They cannot enter a house without invitation from its owner. Doesn’t apply to public buildings

Water: Water burns lesser vampires like acid, more powerful cannot cross rushing water. Even vamprires who can shrug off having water splashed on them will die if totally submerged. 

Rest: Vampires must rest one day for every three full days they are active, for at least 12 hours. More powerful vampires might make this one day for every week, but Vampires do still need rest Blood addiction: If vampires cannot access blood, they slowly start to break down until they transform a feral monstrous vampiric creature. 

Holy Items: Holy Water, Holy Oil, holy wafers and holy symbols all burn their flesh

.Crosses and Crossraods: Crosses can drive a vampire back and vampires can be paralyzed at a crossroad. 

Sacred Music: It is said that there are some songs composed in the Heavens that when performed cause vampires to slowly burn from the inside. It is known that any chime made with a silver bell will hurt vampires, though not kill them. 

Roses: White Roses can burn a vampires flesh. 

Herbs: Healing herbs harm vampires. Vampires cannot easily pass a line of mustard seed, hawthorn can force them to reveal themselves, Holly bushes prevent a vampire form rising, and Foxglove can cure a victim of dominated. 

Moonlight: While not as harmful as sunlight, the light of the full moon can disable some vampire powers. Iron Spikes: If driven into their body, it causes them to slowly become paralyzed unless removed. 

Society and Reproduction

Vampires are undead, powered by Negative Energy and the spark of the Neverborn, and thus don’t have a true society as such. Instead they are pale imitations of the person they once were, and like most undead are extremely limited in terms of their psychology. As a rule, they don’t really grow as people and are usually trapped in the same mental framework as when they died, or they degenerate further into some sub human characteristics. Most vampires can put on a façade of humanity, but it is just that, a façade, and underneath that appealing looking mask is a soulless monster that exists only to feed. Unlike other vampire like creatures (Kindred, Cainites, Opir etc), “true” vampires are rarely subtle about their nature, as they are walking corpses kept moving by negative energy, with red eyes, corpse pale skin, and dark energy emerging from their pours. Vampires almost always dwell in hierarchy, each vampire usually has a group of lesser vampires serving it. Vampires are bound to serve their ‘sire’, in a general form of slavery. How vampire relate to humanity and servitude depends on the type, which will be summed up here. Vampires are created in one of four way, life drain, feeding, curse or  necromancy.  Sadly, vampires aren’t just limited to their bite in creating minions, those killed by their life drain power in combat will rise again as vampire spawn, semi-feral vampire slaves who exist only to serve their masters. Spawn aren’t mindless, but they effectively exist as extension of their masters, lacking even the self awareness to realize how horrible their own existence is. Should their sire die, spawn will go into a seizure, and they will either be destroyed or ascended to a full vampire Thrall. 

Vampire Thralls:

These are the least human of the vampires, created not through feeding but instead through direct exposure to negative energy. IF the “Create Greater Undead” spell is cast on a corpse, the soul is dragged back from the afterlife and trapped inside the body against their will. However to their horror, the negative energy that animates them takes on a life of their own and controls the body, leaving the soul trapped forever as the negative energy spirit pilfers through their memories and force them to witness their body being used for ill purposes. Any good person wishes to destroy thralls, as the spirit is trapped in what is their own form of hell forever without hope of release. Thralls are effectively a new personality, module on the most negative feelings of the host, and while they are intelligent, they are hardly subtle, appearing utterly inhuman. They lack any of the sophistication or charm of their greater brethren, instead they are openly dedication to the elimination of life.  Thralls actually don’t need to feed very frequently and can go into periods of hibernation that can last decades if they choose too. 

Standard Vampire (Sometimes called Master Vampire or Greater Vampire):

When one imagines a vampire, this is the standard. These vampires are created by having their blood drained by another, and are bound to their power.  When they are being drained, they have a choice, they can resist the process, or accept the vampirism. Those who resist become these, the original soul has been twisted against its own will to become some mirrored horrific version of itself. They can look superficially human but they can only maintain this disguise for a short period of time. They tend to come off an extremely unstable when they aren’t held in power by their masters, usually hunting down and torturing their loved ones to death in the most horrific way they can. However if one of them hasn’t drunk blood yet, a greater Restoration spell can cure them of their affliction. 

Elder Vampire

(an elder vampire and 2 vampire spawn)

These creatures embraced their curse and thus are the only vampires who still possess their own soul. Once they are transformed, they have some time to renege on the choice either through a greater restoration spell or suicide, but once they consume the blood of an innocence (Usually a child) they are toughly damned and can never be cured. Their existence is one of constant pain, only finding temporary reprieve when they drink the blood of the living, but this physical pain is nothing to the self-loathing that dominates their existence. This self-hatred is usually spat out upon the world and they are usually bitter, cruel, and egomaniacal, hoping to make mortals suffer as they suffer inside, for they hate mortals. Looking at the living, they can only see what they lost, and what they desire. In theory, Elder Vampires are Free Willed, though few take up this choice, instead choosing to embrace their curse by making sick “families” of other vampire slaves and ruining all that mortals value. These creatures have a reputation for being needlessly ego maniacal, and making mistakes that allow others to destroy them (monologue, letting enemies go) for perhaps, deep inside, they hope to be destroyed and hate what they have become.

Ancient Vampire

Most vampires are created by others, in a parasitic cycle of undeath and sorrow. Some however, embrace Vampirisms willingly. Though necromantic magics or dark pacts with entities, whatever the cause, these creatures knew sought out vampirisms and embraced it. It is they who first brought the curse and it is they who stand at the center of the worse vampire nests. Their goals vary but it almost always involves the mass enslavement of the living. Legends speak of an ancient ‘Empire of Night” where the Ancients ruled over mortals who existed only to provide blood for their masters. These creatures are toughly damned and seek to destroy goodness itself, raising themselves in opposition to any form of justice of righteousness. 

Other Species:There are other Forms of vampires who exist in the world, not tied to the hierarchy

Vampire Mist

If a vampire is staked for centuries without blood, their body rots away but their “essence” becomes a sentient hostile mindless mist which seeks out others in hopes of destroying them. Vampire LordAny time of vampire (Except spawn) who lives long enough will come to possess the powers of a vampire lord, as the negative energy within them grows more powerful. Not really a form of vampire so much as a greater version of what already exists.

Nosferatu

Nobody knows what creates these horrific monsters, but they the epicenters of diseases and plague. Hideous and utterly alone, these creatures dwell in dark places, resenting the world until they and their rat servants emerge to spread epidemics. They lust after the most virtuous of mortal women, but fear them, and it is said that the blood of a pure hearted women can destroy them (does not refer to virginity). 

Dracula

Legends speak of an ever older species of vampire, created before the Ancients themselves. These creatures are created by a Curse, one uttered in the time of greatest sin. The most powerful form of Vampire it is said (except maybe Nosferatu) these creatures are simply more hideous version of what they were in life, cursed to embody their own sins forever.

Final Notes

For any want to be vampire hunters, beware.  The world is vast and its mosntesr many, and there are many creatures who resemble vampires that are something else entirely.  Opirs for example might resemble vampires but they aren’t undead, instead they are exemplars who have taken over the hosts body, and are much weaker.  Kindred are cursed creatures who have an alien psychology and body from, while Vamypires are simply mortals afflicted with a disease.  Nothing is simple and the world resists reduction, always be wary about what it is your are truly fighting.  

[lalscreamingintothevoid]

Just need a place to write how i’m feeling right now. It’s akin to writing a letter and not sending it, except i’m sending it to a blog with no followers (or maybe it’s a bit like a diary entry)

Basically, I feel kind of like I’m having a bit of a mental breakdown. I was walking home from work today and I just started crying. I started dissociating a little bit just staring up at the moon (I think it’s full tonight) and I was listening to some music. Then, I just started crying.  

There’s not one thing in particular that’s bothering me, but it’s just like, you know, everything. 

At work, I have to work almost every night with a person who doesn’t do anything and then complains nonstop about his health issues and what other people are doing. I know WAY too much about his issues that I never asked to hear about. Keep in mind that he’s like 50 and I’m 20. 

He literally makes me make all the worst orders (we have these ice cream things that are kind of like blizzards from dairy queen, and they’re horrible to make). He was off doing something and an order for an iced mocha came in and so I started making it because it was on the same ticket as another thing that I had just made. I really enjoy making coffee. He saw me start to make it and told me that he could make it, to which I replied that it was fine and that I like to make coffee. He kind of sighed and said okay, but then he was standing directly over my shoulder and telling me what I should be doing differently to make it. He then just grabbed the cup I was using and kind of just took over making it even though it was supposed to be my thing. 

Like he has health issues and I think would technically be considered disabled, now, I don’t have any problem with people with disabilities working, I have a problem when all they do is complain about it and force me to do all the work that they should be doing. This is a food service job, so you need to be on your feet for hours at a time and, legitimately in the qualifications, you need to be able to lift 50 pounds. He can’t even lift like 10. In the same building, there’s a cashier job where you just get to sit for the whole shift and not do anything except ring people up. He constantly is complaining about having to stand for that amount of time and takes so many “water breaks”, so just transfer him to that area.

I get paid minimum wage for what I do ($12 an hour here), he gets paid like $16 an hour or something like that, and I’m doing literally all the things that he should be doing. There are only 3 weeks left in this term, but I’m legitimately so fucking close to quitting because of him. 

Then, we have school. Online classes do not vibe with me. It’s so easy to skip classes and the most I’m hoping for in all of them are B-s and probably a C. If I get a C in two of them though, I’m going to have to retake the class because I need to pass with at least a B- in order to complete a program I’m doing. I think I can do it in at least one of them, but I’m not sure about the other. I literally have gone to like 3 classes this whole term. 

I also have a huge project due tomorrow that I haven’t really started on. I don’t know how exactly that’s going to go, but I have about 24 hours to get it done. I also apparently have a quiz in the class that I never go to as well as putting together a teaching demo and also get materials to tutor this guy as part of the class.

And the last big thing is just my roommates. I’m literally the only one who ever cleans anything. Yesterday, I wiped down the front of the fridge, and when I came in today to make lunch, there was a huge drip down the front of it and it’s just like... There was also a huge coffee stain on the counter that someone had just decided not to wipe up. I have to physically ask for someone other than me to vacuum even though we made an agreement at the beginning to swap off who was vacuuming each week. If I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done. 

One of them is also just apparently incapable of turning off a light. Literally the electricity bill has gone up $15 a month per person compared to the last person who lived here. It’s absolutely ridiculous. It feels like every time I come out of my room, the light is on, even if it’s broad daylight and the light absolutely makes 0 difference. 

I just have to make it through 3 more weeks though and then I’m moving out. I’ll still have to pay rent, but you know, whatever, I don’t care anymore. I just cannot be the only one actually cleaning the apartment. Once I’m gone, they’re gonna have to realize how disgusting it will get with no one cleaning up after them. I feel like I’m their mom or something and I don’t like it.

[midnighttmarauder]

Masterlist

Masterlist will be updated every month! Gif is not mine, credits go to the owner!

Marauders Era 

All Marauders

The Final Countdown Reader isn’t happy that it’s her last day at Hogwarts. The Marauders decide to sing The Final Countdown to cheer her up.

Concert Reader, Lily, and the Marauders sneak out to go to a Weird Sisters concert.

Bully: Part 1 // Part 2 Reader gets bullied, so the Marauders come in to help her.

Nox Terrorem Reader has nightmares every night, and can usually handle them. However, one night, she just can't handle it alone. 

Loopy Reader gets injured at quidditch practice. The potion that Madam Pomfrey gives reader makes her a little loopy. 

Sirius Black

Smile Sirius has a beautiful smile, but when he gets a letter from home, it disappears. Based on the prompt: “I’ve never seen a smile die so fast”.

Deaf Sirius doesn’t know that reader is deaf, and with James’ help, tries to ask her on a date.

Home Reader and Sirius move into their new home.

Runaway Sirius runs away during the Christmas holidays and goes to reader’s house for comfort.

Fever Sirius takes care of a sick reader.

Beautiful Sirius cheers reader up when she is feeling less than beautiful.

Daring Reader finally grows a pair and tells Sirius that she likes him.

Betrothed Sirius and reader are both being forced into arranged marriages. It might not be as bad as they originally thought.

Nah, She Didn’t Reader, Sirius, and Remus tell Harry about his parents and reminisce about their days at Hogwarts.

Love Sirius loves the reader, but she doesn’t love him in the same way.

Piano Reader plays the piano, and Sirius falls in love with the way she plays. He eventually teaches himself how to play a few simple songs for her birthday.

Cupcakes Reader makes cupcakes for Sirius on Valentine’s Day.

Baby Reader wakes to an empty bed and an unusually quiet baby.

Sleepover The Marauders are forced to sleep in reader’s dorm because somebody dropped a bag of Dungbombs in their own. When the heat isn’t working, reader and Sirius share a blanket.

Slytherin Reader is a Slytherin and is dating Lucius. When he accuses her of cheating, Sirius steps in.

Just Like Your Father (Daughter!Reader) Reader is a mini Sirius, and it drives McGonagall crazy.

My Best Friend’s Brother Reader is forced to make a decision when she discovers that both Black brothers are in love with her.

Not Having It Reader is James’ twin sister, and he is not having it with her relationship with Sirius.

Walkman Sirius steals reader’s Walkman, and she catches him dancing to her favourite Prince song.

Wheelchair Reader is in a wheelchair and thinks no one will love her because of her disability. Sirius proves her wrong. 

Touchy: Part 1 // Part 2 Reader is only touchy with a very few select people. What happens when Sirius becomes one of those people?

Makeup Sirius is already in love with reader, but when he sees her without makeup, he falls head over heels.

Red Dress Based on the song Red Dress by MAGIC!

Summer Love Sirius stays with reader over the summer holidays instead of going back home.

Insufferable Reader thinks Sirius is childish, and he thinks that she’s stuck up. After being paired up in potions class, they find that they don’t hate each other as much as they thought.

St. Mungo’s Reader and Sirius grew up together, so when she gets sick and is sent to St.Mungo’s, he loses his mind.

Daughter Sirius returns from Azkaban and discovers that he and reader have a daughter that looks just like her mother.

Reckless Sirius and reader are part of the Order, and he has just realized his feelings for her. Not knowing how to interpret/act on them, he begins to act reckless and compromises their mission. Once back to safety, reader lays into him for his stupidity. 

Merry Christmas Reader spends Christmas holidays with the Marauders at the Potter’s home.

Wildcard (Daughter!Reader) Reader is Sirius’ daughter and was raised by his parents. They think that she is a “perfect pureblood”, but when Sirius escapes from Azkaban and finally meets her, everybody discovers that she is a rebel just like her father.

Photographs Sirius is showing Harry some of the Marauders’ old photographs when they come across one with the reader in it. She was Sirius’ girlfriend, and he has a flashback to the night she died.

Cheap Thrills Sirius takes reader on a fancy date, not knowing that she prefers just chatting over a butterbeer. 

Light and Dark Reader shows Sirius that everyone has both light and dark inside them. Loosely based on the song Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade. 

Nightmares Reader always sleeps next to Sirius to keep his nightmares away. One morning, he decides to tell her how special she is to him.

Can’t Help Falling in Love Sirius cheers reader up by singing Can’t Help Falling in Love.

Too Far Sirius and reader just can’t seem to get along. When Sirius crosses a line during a heated argument, it’s up to James and Remus to come to the rescue. 

Pregnant Reader finds out that she is pregnant shortly after graduating.

Drunk Secrets (Drabble) Sirius might be drunk, but he's not quite sure. Based on the prompts: “I said I had an idea. I never said it was a good one.” and “I think I might be drunk, but I’m not sure I’d know either way.”

I Don't Like You (Drabble) Reader and Sirius argue and reader says that they hate him. Based on the prompts: “Would it kill you to knock?” and “I don’t like you...I love you.”

Meet Me (Drabble) Based on the prompt: When parting, Characters agreed to meet at a certain place at a certain time in a certain number of years.

Panic Reader has a panic attack and Sirius helps her feel better.

Oblivious: Part 1 // Part 2 Sirius and reader are childhood friends who grew up with the same kind of parents. Reader is in love with Sirius, but he’s oblivious to their feelings and flirts with other girls. When reader gives up and moves on, Sirius realizes his feelings. 

O Tannenbaum  Reader teaches Sirius how to decorate a Christmas tree the muggle way. 

Overworked Reader and Sirius get into an argument because reader has been working themselves into the ground and neglecting their boyfriend. 

Compromised (Potter!Reader) Reader gets kidnapped while on an undercover mission, and Sirius will stop at nothing to get her back. 

The Muggle Side Snippets of muggleborn reader showing Sirius the highlights of their muggle side: math homework, movies, and bath bombs.

Twelve Years  Based on the prompt: “After all this time, you still can’t look at me?”

It’s Yours  Based on the prompts:  “I’m pregnant”, “The baby…it’s yours”, & “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything”.

Quidditch Squabbles (Drabble) Based on the prompt: “Somebody’s in a bad mood.” “Somebody needs to shut the fuck up.”

Hospital Wing Visits (Drabble) Based on the prompts: “Don’t leave me” & “Don’t be stupid, I’m not leaving you.”

Niece (No Pairing) Sirius returns home after escaping Azkaban to find a little girl living in his brother’s old room.

Double Date Reader and Sirius end up on a horrible double date and realize that the person they’re meant to be with has been in front of them all along. 

I Love You A Latte Based on the prompts: “Running your fingers through someone’s hair while sitting next to them on the couch” & “Getting them a coffee just the way they like it” from 50 Wordless Ways to Say “I Love You”.

Secret Marriage Reader and Sirius try to keep their marriage a secret, but it’s hard to keep secrets from Harry and the Order of the Phoenix

Full Moon Reader is Remus’ twin sister and has always felt guilty that she managed to escape a life of lycanthropy. During a particularly bad full moon, she can’t get rid of the feeling that something is wrong, so she follows the Marauders out into the night.

Canis Major (Slytherin!reader) Reader is the only girl in school who seems to be able to keep up with Sirius’ flirting. When Sirius finds her stargazing one night, they find out that they have more in common than just their charm.

James Potter

Under the Weather  James takes care of an ill reader.

Birthday James is determined to make reader’s birthday as special as possible.

Quidditch Reader is trying her hardest to make the Gryffindor quidditch team. When James notices her struggling, he offers to help. 

Don’t Go (Sister!Reader) AU that James lives on October 31st, 1981. His twin sister is not so fortunate.

Caecus Reader is blind and does not believe that anyone could ever love her.

Go Away: Part 1 // Part 2  Reader is heartbroken that James is still in love with her best friend. Based on the prompts: “Get out.” and “Just go away.”

Just a Cut (Drabble) James comes back from an Order mission looking a little worse for wear. Based on the prompts: “Let me help you.”, “You look like hell.”, “You’re a terrible liar.”, and “It’s just a cut, really.”

Chicken Soup (Drabble) James is sick and reader makes him a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Based on the prompt: “I don’t like you and you don’t like me, but you are going to eat this chicken noodle soup and go back to bed or so help me God I will drown you in NyQuil.”

Consequences Based on the song Consequences by Camilla Cabello, but with a happy ending.

First Steps  Harry takes his first steps when reader and James least expect it.

Remus Lupin

Tell Her Remus tells Sirius that he’s in love with reader and asks him what to do.

AC/DC Remus is in love with a Hufflepuff who is a hardcore AC/DC fan.

Perfect Based on the song Perfect by Ed Sheeran.

I Know Reader overhears the Marauders talking about Remus’ “furry little problem”. 

Jealous When a Slytherin flirts with and begins to annoy reader, the green-eyed monster pays Remus a visit. 

Cancer Remus notices that reader hasn’t been feeling well for a while and talks her into going to the hospital wing even though she insists she’s fine. However, she receives a life-changing diagnosis.

Pipe Down (Drabble) The day after a full moon is always rough. Based on the prompts: “Pipe the fuck down, asshole.”, “Why am I not surprised?”, “What did you just say?”, and “Who gave you that black eye?”

MRI  Reader is terrified of getting an MRI.

Drunk  Remus gets a little too drunk at a party and reader takes care of him.

Mind the Bump Remus and reader tell the marauders and Lily that they’re having a baby.

Golden Trio Era

Harry Potter 

Twin (Sister!Reader) When Harry discovers that reader’s boyfriend is abusive, he steps in.

Courage Harry works up the courage to ask out reader who is a Slytherin and Blaise Zabini’s ex. 

Fred Weasley 

Astronomy?  Reader is a Slytherin and thinks that things with Fred could never work out because of their opposing houses. George sets up a plan to prove her wrong.

Mixed Up  Reader is tired of always mixing Fred and George up. 

George Weasley

The Burrow  Reader helps George degnome the garden.

Inked Reader loses a bet and is forced to show George her tattoos.

Weasley Twins

Troublemakers Reader is Hermione’s little sister and helps the Weasley twins with their pranks.

Neville Longbottom 

Brave Reader teaches Neville that bravery isn’t the absence of fear, it is acting despite your fear.

Draco Malfoy

Whatever it Takes When reader is captured by Voldemort, Draco promises to do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

I Dare You (Drabble) Part 2 Pansy learns a new spell and is eager to try it out on reader. Based on the prompts: “Do it. I dare you.” and “No! Don’t hurt them! Hurt me, leave them alone!”

Possessive Someone is flirting with reader and Draco does not like it.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Newt Scamander

Around the World Newt and reader try to go on a relaxing vacation, but the creatures in his case have other ideas.

Alec Lightwood 

Flowers (Alec x female!reader) Based on the prompt: “Sometimes I steal flowers from your garden on my way to the cemetery, but today you’ve caught me and have demanded to come with me to make sure the ‘girl is pretty enough to warrant flower theft’ and I’m trying to figure out how to break it to you that we’re on our way to a graveyard”.

Something to Tell You (Alec x parabatai!reader, Malec)  Reader is Alec’s parabatai, and when she comes back from being stationed in Idris, Alec has something important to tell her about Magnus Bane.

Early or Late? (Drabble) Alec comes home from a meeting either very early or very late. Based on the prompts: “It’s too early for this. Go back to bed, sweetheart.” and “You’re the only person I wanted to be with tonight.”

Steve Rogers 

Safe Haven Steve and reader share a floor in the Avengers compound. When Steve has a nightmare, reader is quick to comfort him.

Bucky Barnes 

Good Enough Based on the prompts: “I can take care of myself.” & “I’m never going to be good enough, am I?”

[docfuture]

The Maker’s Ark - Chapter 41

     [This is a chapter from my latest novel, a sequel to The Fall of Doc Future and Skybreaker’s Call.  The start is here, and links to my other work here.  It can be read on its own, but contains spoilers for those two books.  I try to post new chapters about every two weeks, but there will sometimes be short stories and vignettes if I don’t have a new chapter ready.  The next chapter is planned for the week of November 27th.]

Previous:  Chapter 40

      There were tasks that Flicker shouldn't rush.  She had discovered when she was quite young that she could only build or repair a machine so fast, or things would start breaking.  And it was a good idea to take the effort to clean up and put all her tools away afterwards.  She was still working on better ways to do something similar while assimilating her high speed mind.  It was slower than stuffing everything into her flesh brain as fast as she could, but it helped with a whole set of chronic problems.       But she finally reached a stopping point, so she slowed down and returned her awareness to her physical surroundings.       "Better?" asked Donner in the dimness of the bedroom.       "What?"  Flicker hadn't realized he was awake.  "I'm fine, just done for now.  How could you tell?"       "That deep breath and sigh."       "Ah.  It's a relief to get all my gestalt memories transferred into my human mind in an orderly way.  Learning's bio-gestalt crew helped me out with some tricks for that.  They've kind of adopted me, since I don't have a bio-gestalt group of my own.  They're really nice.  But I'm feeling all talkative now."       "It's fine.  I figured you'd have a few more things to say."       "Yeah.  I'm sorry you got scared by the nuke.  Black Swan explained why she timed things so Journeyman and I weren't on Earth.  And didn't warn us.  I can tell you some of it.  There was a lot she didn't tell me, because that would be against the EDU rules on custom she's following, and because-- Well, anyway.  If you're interested."       "I am," he said.  Flicker could make out his grin in the faint light from the window.  "But I'd listen even if I weren't.  Talking when you're ready is part of how you cope."       "Fair enough.  So, it's really hard to arrange a believable alibi for me.  Hard for Journeyman too; he's not as fast, but doesn't have to worry about closed doors.  But doing something conspicuous, all day, on a moon of Jupiter, works for both of us.  And that was politically handy for Black Swan because of what happened in Russia."       "Because of who died?"       "Because of who didn't.  You know the guy calling for calm on that vid bit all the news programs showed?"       "The deputy assistant foreign minister, or whatever?"       "He was the highest ranking government official who knew picking a fight with Black Swan was stupid, and apparently was the only one with a reliable phone for a couple of hours.  So he's acting president now.  And will probably stay that way for a while--he won't start any wars, no one really hates him, and everyone will be afraid to try to assassinate him."       "Because of Black Swan?"       "Partly.  But partly because of me.  He was their superhero liaison person, I liked him, and people know it."       "Wait, you know him?"       "He was the diplomat I called to calm things down whenever I upset the Russians.  I talked to him after my Moon dance--I think you heard part of that.  He's not particularly honest, but he hasn't personally done anything horrible, and he's funny and good at defusing things.  So he's probably as good as they can do for now.  I'm not sure--I'm bad at politics compared to Doc, let alone Stella and Black Swan.  But do you see why a lot of paranoid people in shock might think I had something to do with him becoming president if I didn't have an alibi?  Black Swan wants them to blame her, not me."       "Ah.  Yeah."       "Another reason for the timing was so that no one could ask me to stop Black Swan disabling all those missiles.  I wouldn't have done it, but it saved me having to say no, or worrying about it.  A third reason was because anyone thinking of waiting until I'm off Earth to try something now has to worry about Black Swan being three moves ahead of them.  So I didn't stay upset at her for long."       "Reasonable.  But you said Journeyman was still pissed."       "He was upset about a bunch of other things, too.  One is Black Swan's fault--some Russian and Eastern European magicians are suddenly unemployed and want to talk to him urgently.  And other people want to talk to him about them, also urgently.  And he needed to brief Stella about some weird stuff those new aliens tried to do.  He needs some time.  That's why I came here to decompress.  Sorry about the short notice."       Donner grinned again.  "I had DASI set up a 'Flicker warning level' alert for my phone a while ago.  Works pretty well--I wasn't surprised.  And Journeyman is still kinda recovering, isn't he?"       "Not physically.  Lif did a good job of healing him.  But he's stressed because he needs to arrange for the tricky part of making the black hole--getting the construction subspace right.  So there's this book he has to master that's been giving him nightmares."       "Whoa.  Like a Necronomicon or something?"       Flicker laughed.  "No.  But he's a magician, not a physicist, the book is Chandrasekhar's The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes, and he's going to have to use it like a spellbook when he's changing the spell.  DASI is helping him, but it's still scary."       "Everything about making a black hole is scary to me.  I mean, you're going to be carrying it around, right?  What if you drop it?  And where are you gonna put it when you aren't using it?  It's not something you can stick in the garden shed with the lawnmower."       "I don't plan to use it anywhere near Earth.  And if I did, and dropped it, I'd just have to catch it again at apogee on the other side of the planet.  I might have to dig a hole, but going through the Earth wouldn't slow it down much at first.  It would only be a big problem long term.       "Storage will be a bit messier.  Journeyman should be able to make a different subspace for it that I can open without destroying.  Probably.  I'm still practicing.  But Doc pointed out that the subspace will heat up, because the hole will be radiating and the radiation won't have anywhere to go.  So I might get a big blast of energy when I pull it out if I haven't used it for a while, unless Journeyman pulls off another trick."       "Hoo boy.  I can see why he's having nightmares.  I'm just glad I can help you with yours."       "About that."  Flicker took a deep breath.  "I don't know much about the music stuff, but when Osk talks to you about healing, listen.  I'd have recovered full function in my hand a lot quicker if I had.  And if she asks you to practice, practice.  Because the person you're practicing for could be me."       "You think you might get badly hurt fighting whatever is coming?"       "I don't know.  But Golden Valkyrie told me something that gets scarier every time I think about it.  I could win--and still have my flesh and blood body be gone, because the energy levels just got too high.  Osk and some others are helping make arrangements in case that happens.  But they might need your help putting me together again.  You can call my mind back."       "Oof.  Like after I screwed up and Skybreaker took over your body?"       "The emulation, yeah.  But this would be harder, because Golden Valkyrie is gone.  She won't be pushing things in the background, like she has for most of my life.  It would be up to you and whoever else can help."       Donner was quiet for a moment.  "Practice.  Got it.  I can do that."       "Thank you."       Flicker put her arms around him in the darkness and just held him for a while.       *****       Doc awoke in the darkness, alone.  No nightmares--but a lifetime had given him a dark appreciation of them; reality was almost always an improvement.  Not so much, lately.       It was possible that his old nightmares were gone for good.  The last try had yielded a few garbled fragments that were possibly relevant--Europa instead of Europe, a black hole singularity instead of The Singularity--but nothing predictive.  Nothing he could use to plan.  And Stella was right; he'd structured his life around the direct and indirect information in them to a degree that required adjustment when they stopped.       He ran his set of post-nightmare self checks.  This was still data--Stella was spending the night in an EDU ship in orbit, therefore her physical presence nearby was not necessary to stop whatever mix of the old nightmare signals were still arriving.  She had given up on finishing their talk after Journeyman's interruption.  Morning would do.       Tonight had hadn't been an ideal time for the separation test, but when was?  Emergencies didn't wait their turn.       And it was past time to start planning for the consequences if it became politically untenable for the Director of the EDU to stay at his headquarters.  It was officially Deep Kingdoms territory--Sealord had made it his embassy--but the US government could revoke that.  Not unlikely, if there was a war.  Doc might have to move, too, but his options weren't the same as Stella's.       He checked the clock.  1:30 AM and he was wide awake, nightmare or not.  There were other preparations to make.  Also overdue, since causing unnecessary stress for the Director of the EDU made what should have been a personal decision--not.       He had data--important data--that he was perhaps not giving the weight he should.  Because... Well that was the question, wasn't it?  He was just as good at rationalizing as he was at rational thinking, and over-optimization could be a deadly trap if he moved out of the region of relevance.       No time like the present.       "DASI?"       "Yes, Doc?"       "Any pending alerts?"       "No."       "Estimate a bound on the chance Flicker will do something dramatic or transit a portal in the next two hours."       "Less than 1%."       "Well then.  Set alert interrupt level red plus.  Exception: Breakpoint.  Secure instance, nightmare privacy level.  Engage mindscreens."       "Verified."       "Emergency timeloop guard;  I'm thinking of a number--give me a four digit random integer."       "9291."       "No match.  Good.  Set probability manipulation canary, timeloop canary, oracle canary."       "Set."       "Okay, we'll give Breakpoint a little bit to see if he gets a sudden urge to call and warn me I'm about to make an apocalyptic mistake."       Doc picked up the headset from the nightstand and called up the appropriate notes from the secure section.  He hadn't even looked at them in a long time.  This wasn't going to be pleasant.       "Any changes?" he asked.       "None so far," said DASI.       "All right.  We're going to do a psychological bias renormalization, including nightmare context integration.  Primary known change: Golden Valkyrie is no longer wearing the Skystone.  Starting changed assumption: Golden Valkyrie is currently causally unlinked from Earth.  No preconception whether she will return to this worldline, if it survives.  Secondary changed assumptions:  Her last words to Flicker and Journeyman, and any consistent bias changes you've seen since the removal of my primary block and the loss of my top-level augments."       "Noted."       Safe travels, Fairhair.  If you did give me a parting gift, I hope I'm not about to throw it away.       *****       Alep could finally verify the target as he closed, despite the distortion.  His mind was sluggish from the damping needed to properly perceive this unnatural worldline, but his body was not.  His weapons were ready, and he repeated the command for the others to follow--after all the rigors of their voyage, the goal was finally within their grasp.  Baht was shouting something, but the quantum froth stole her meaning.       <Alep!>       <Gem!  Where are you?  You must-->       <No.  Consult your anchor core.  Now.>       <We don't have time! The target will-->       <The target is not here.  Consult your core.>       Could the distortion be that bad?  The damping made it hard to think.  Alep slowed reluctantly, to send the necessary attention inward to his causality anchor core, his safety self.  And found his perceptions shifting as he did.  He stopped, then followed Gem back to a nearby simply-connected space, where Baht waited.  He tasted their concern.       <Another damned echo!> he said.       <Yes,> said Baht.  <Was there self-echoes, too?>       <A self-echo and an entire false target line.>       <At least we know we're in the right domain,> said Gem mordantly.       <This domain is a maze of twisty little worldlines, all subtly different!> said Baht.       <So much looping cannot be natural,> said Alep.  <The inhabitants have weaponized their own worldline topology.>       They were close to the target--and far.  How far was hard to tell.  Causality drift meant they each had to renormalize periodically, assisted by the others.  The return to self was not always smooth, and Alep had waited longer than he now knew was advisable.       <Harnessed it, certainly,> said Gem.  <But weaponized?  I sense more than that, in the patterns.>       <It killed Explorer's Aspect,> said Baht.  <I am certain of it.  She was trying to map the hazard.  She did not lose focus, she kept it too long--until drift and madness finally took her.  The same could happen to us.>       <We should go back,> said Gem.  <This tangle maze cannot possibly propagate over a domain boundary, so it is no threat.  And no parasites will escape either--they would get pulled in and eaten, just like Explorer.>       <No,> said Alep.  <We will follow the probe echoes.  We are not alone--we can assist each other, and endure that long.  When we reach the primary line of the probe eater, we will end it, and return.>       <What there is of us by then,> said Baht.  <We are no longer who we were.  The ages here have changed us.  My own anchor core tastes strange.>       <But you have not lost purpose.>       <No.>       <Good.  We go on.>       *****       Doc looked up from his handcomp as Stella entered the room.  Sunlight streamed in from the windows, and service bots had arranged a selection of food for her if she was hungry for brunch after her flight.  Doc had already eaten.       "How are the Xelians and the Grs'thnk?" he asked.       "Quite well," she said, and sat down across from him.  "Hiri is a proper pessimist--he's been helping with the emergency shelters for the support ships.  They weren't designed for the Moon's gravity, but he knows some tricks to minimize damage from that.  Cheered me up a bit.  But the Grs'thnk Auditors noted the lack of experience of modern Earth nations with definitively ending wars lost by sudden governing authority death."       "Well, Black Swan called attention to that problem in a way that's hard to ignore," said Doc.  "I'm sure the US continuity of government people will have a few questions for me when we finally meet.  DASI said everyone in their working group is taking her prep briefings very seriously, which is an encouraging sign."       "Oh yes.  So.  Have you accepted that you are no longer on the critical path for black hole construction, if you ever were?"       "I have."  Doc looked down, then back up.  "I did a proper psych bias recheck last night."       Stella raised an eyebrow.  "A full one?  You look like you got at least some sleep.  Although--"       "I took everything apart, but I haven't put it all back together yet.  I knew we'd have to go over most of it again, anyway."  He gestured at his cheekbone.  "The bruise is from sparring with robots very early this morning.  That let me sleep afterwards."       "Interesting.  I'd have expected you to go to your workshop."       "I took three steps and already had an idea for a contra-anthropic timeloop-powered deadzone bomb that would be lethal to anything that lives in more than four dimensions from two universes away.  And another one for a hunting portal Journeyman could open for me that would require a black hole to permanently seal to preserve loop consistency with Golden Valkyrie's predictions."       "That seems excessive."       "I doubt I'd actually be able to build it.  But even trying would be a very bad idea.  Self-destructive anger was the good reason for my old cognitive safety block.  Much wiser to go beat up robots for a while instead."       Doc looked down again.  "I think I've done pretty well working with you professionally.  Personally...  'I'm sorry' isn't close to enough.  The entity collective that synchronized my coherent nightmares was, on average, an utter bastard.  I've been finding surprising and unpleasant ways I've let that shape me."       Stella smiled wryly.  "Well, we have time to talk.  A day of unavailability will be politically useful for me.  Ashil's portal work seems to be going well, Flicker and Journeyman are resting, and DASI, Three, and Learning can handle anything else that comes up.  And fixing the problems is more important than fault.  I had personal issues long before we met."       Doc snorted.  "This whole timeline has issues."       Stella looked thoughtful.  "Yes.  But I do find that hunting portal idea of yours interesting."       "Oh?"       "Just thinking about distractions, traps, parasitism, and what Golden Valkyrie did the last time she was pregnant."

Next:  Chapter 42

[ayellowbirds]

on the Deities of Qarqa

The recent bit of side story was the first time I overtly named any of the deities the people of the land worship. This was because, while Cypora’s Guide to Becoming an Evil Queen is a story based in Jewish folklore and culture, I didn’t want religion to be the focus of the first novel. My background is super agnostic (comes from being from Commie stock, yanno), and my sense of Jewishness isn’t informed by devotion to G-d.

So, neither is the world i’ve devised. 

The people of the land are a people of a covenant, yes: their ancestors swore to honor no one god above all others. Some interpret this more conservatively than others, and there are those who devote their lives to learning of even the most minor, obscure deities in order to offer proper attention to them. There are endless debates about how this relates to the monotheistic Icosan religion of the Icarian Empire, and at what point something counts as honoring one above all others. Many make the argument that the covenant applies to the people of the land as a whole, and individuals may have a patron deity, and so forth.

A list of but a small number of prominent deities follows:

Avzaman/haShantah Epoch-Father/The Year

The tireless embodiment of the passage of time, god of mortality, aging, and renewal. Turner of the wheel of the five seasons, who is also the feminine embodiment of the year, a relaxed and contented figure bearing great tusks. Both aspects and forms are one and the same being, even when appearing separately and acting in opposition to each other. In leap years, Avzaman rests while haShantah labors, and it is said by some that her work in these years is greater and more productive than Avzaman’s in all others together. Avzaman’s tusks point downwards into his bear, like a walrus, while haShantah’s rise upwards, like those of a hog or mammoth.

Baal’apar Lord Dust

Else called Al Bey, the fertile and barren earth, embodiment of useful soil and the act of creation and the work of art. A golem who became a living human before there was history or words, and the first to be killed at another’s hands. Achingly, horribly handsome, at all times not yet living, living, and deceased, or else according to the season.

Baal Tsachor The Strange Moon

Patron of loups-garous, bandits, outcasts and the disabled. The moon of loneliness, said to appear as a man with a full bosom, skin of a deeper black than any human, and hair of silver. The embodiment of those nights when the moon howls back, and the god of deep, dark nights where the moon hangs high. He is enjoying tormenting the Icosans.

Chamah Queen of Locusts

A goddess of the sun, especially at its highest, hottest times. She is heavily associated with the droning of cicadas during the hottest months of summer, and is a goddess of both life and death, illness and abundance. The final, ultimate judge above all others.

Choiot Life/Serpents

Choiot is said to be eighteen-handed, though whether this means on a single form or as nine figures with two hands each depends upon who you ask. The goddess embodying life as a force, she is prayed to for health, fertility, safe birth, long life, bountiful crops, and many other things. Her form is an interwoven mix of humans and snakes.

haGevurah The Lady

Embodiment of random chance, the most beloved and loathed of deities, said by some to be the one whom to you must not pray, and by others to be the most rewarding. Golden and shadowed, in the likeness of a shedah.

El Guerko Yunus Devil of the Deep Sea

A god feared among sailors, the ruler of the bottom of the parts of the ocean too deep and dark for any human to swim to and survive. A vast, shaggy entity with eyes like two great lights, he is both dreaded and somewhat esteemed as a companion, and some rare prayers speak of him favorably. He is at once a god, a haint, and a se’ir, a capricious dybbuk who can be of impossible size or tiny enough to squeeze into the smallest canoe.

Imatevah Mother Nature

The embodiment of the natural world and of uncorrupted green spaces, as well as the reclamation of ruins and urban space by nature. Equally gentle and terrible, she is said to often appear as no less than twice the stature of any human. 

Layli Night

Red-skinned, dark-eyed goddess embodying the dark hours, as well as the lights set against the darkness. Hers are the screech owls, and she shelters all in a warm blanket or a cool sheet. Beautiful and awful, her teeth are brown with blood.

L’vanah The Birch-White Moon

The moon of mystery and the illuminatrix of dark nights, the weaver of the tides and the snarer of the Icosans who keeps them trapped away from the world. A special patron of women regardless of the circumstances of their birth. 

Malkath Ha’Shamayim The Queen of Heaven

A goddess of love, war, royalty, family, the sky, livestock and plants. At once the bride, the mother, the maiden, the matron. Many-faceted, many-winged, her nature is both deeply personal and ultimately unknowable.

Q’dushah Holy One

The first thing in all of time to die, and the embodiment of death as a force. Q’dusha is said to have a true name, but it is never to be spoken amongst the living. She appears as a lion-headed woman whose hands and arms are made up with henna, and whose nails and teeth are as sickles. A patron of those whose love is forbidden or secret, and a protector of victims of sexual assault, she is followed by a band of twenty-eight bloody-mouthed beasts.

General Yodlebeymer He of Fir-Frost

A god of winter chill whose breath marks windows around the world, especially known in the north. Once simply known as Yodlebeymer, he became involved in the campaigns of the outlanders to battle the Icarian Empire, often riding out in all his terrible white-haired might astride a bull moose, and rose to an esteemed military rank.

More content is coming this week, but if you’d like to see illustrations, writing, and development continue into next week, feel free to click here to donate! Every cent ensures that everyone gets to see new content, and a higher total per week will mean even more created in the following week. Check here for the whole breakdown. 

[squishyglitchies-art-cave]

Kamil

Full Name:Kamil Jericho Botros

Reason or meaning of name: His first name means 'perfection', 'acolyte', 'light red' and 'attendant at a ritual', used as a unisex name. His last name means Small rock; form of Peter. Meanwhile his middle name means,City of the moon; In the Bible, Jericho was the City of Canaan that was destroyed when its walls collapsed.

Nickname:Dylon Catogan

How'd they get it?:It was given to him so people wouldn’t be needed to have a difficult time to pronouce his full name, so he kept his name like this to hide his real name also so people can say it normally.

Age:28

Date of Birth:May 3rd 1991

Zodiac:Taurus

Species:Demon Mix.

Gender:Male

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

When did they realize this?:Around his young adult years, he realised this when he literally fell in love with many people time to time. Not mattering what or who they were.

Nationality:Arabian

Hometown:Akhmim, Egypt

Current Residence:Los Angeles,California

Occupation:Pet shop owner

For how long?:2 years or so

Do they like his/her job?: Yes for the most part, kamil usually loves all the animals he has up for sale, and usually keeps in touch with anyone who adopts them so he can visit. Also so he can check if their being treated properly, since if not he has to take them back.

Salary:$49,542 per year Abilities:Able to summon around 4 more sets of arms,able to shift into a large wolf like creature with a skull head,can manipulate smoke,and fire. Kamil also has the ability to additionally become invisible, it can only work for 1 hour before needing 1 hour to recharge. What animal best represents them?:A protective mother wolf Hand-to-Hand capability:He can manage himself fairly well due to having 5 sets of arms, given when he wants to, although he does have sometimes a difficult time trying to keep a leveled head when using hand to hand combat. When did they start learning?:Around the age of 10, he had began to learn from his mother since she moved out of their hometown with him, leaving his father behind due to their relationship being on the rocks at that rate. So she was able to actually get a friend to get her tickets for her, and her children to america. Kamil was taught to fight by his mother just so he didn’t get hurt as much by bullies at school, mainly for self defense for the most part. Who taught them?:His mother Weapons training:He is usually more comfortable with a sort of large sickle, as well as mainly using a spear that splits into two spears. He became well with working with the weapons, he just rarely uses them due to his half skull face usually scaring off anyone who was gonna try and steal. When did they start learning?:8 years ago. Who taught them?: A old friend of his, he doesn’t wanna give off details Physical strength:7/10 Speed:5/10 Planning:3/10 Powers: Instability=5/10 controllability=5/10 Family:he has a single mother with twin sisters, he usually watches over them when his mom calls him over to watch them. Any significant ancestors?:None to his knowledge Grandparents (describe relationship):His grandparents passed before he was born into the family,so he barely knew the two. But what his mother tells him was that they cared for him 24/7 when his mother had to go to a hidden area of the desert, so it was a fairly normal relationship although he doesn’t remember them. Aunts/Uncles (describe relationship):He is fine with most his aunts and uncles, but there are a few that don’t meet eye to eye with him because his soft and cuddly nature. His few aunts and uncles who disliked him usually would tease and taunt him, mainly to they could make him leave but he would just leave the room while they talked. Parents (describe relationship):He was distant from his father due to his slight abusive interactions with kamil, he’s more attached with his mother due to her always watching over him whenever he played with other kids. As well as trying to always make sure he wasn’t being picked on, so she watched over him while she was invisible. So it was a close relationship with his mother, but a lacking one with his father Are they still together?:no, his father and mother divorced around when his 9th birthday came along. Birth order:Kamil, His twin sisters. Siblings (describe relationship):Kamil always watches over his siblings, making sure nothing bad was happening in the household. Making sure nothing horrible was happening behind his back, although sometimes there were fights they always forgot about them the next day. Relationships Are they a virgin?:Yes Have they ever cheated on a partner?:No Has a partner ever cheated on them?:No Who was their first crush?:A young angel he met in high school, but was rejected and degraded. First love?:He hasn’t had one yet Have they ever been married?:no Are they in any kind of romantic relationship?:None at the moment Who is your characters closest friend?:A tall werewolf girl, named marigold How did they meet?:They met at his pet shop, she was buying a blind python from him and they just chatted up a storm, luckily not causing a large line cause of it. Why do they get along so well?:Marigold and Kamil love talking about animals, art, aswell as video games. They also like telling each other some tea, aswell telling one another about some very hilarious jokes or talking about dnd memes. Favorites Favorite foods:Chicken Teriyaki,Salmon,Strawberry parfait, and baby back ribs. Least favorite food:Pickles. Just. just pickles. Favorite color:Turquoise Least favorite color:Dark yellow Music:Fall out boy Literature:Mainly likes the genres of Sci-fi,fantasy,and graphic novels. Smell:He loves lavender cause it helps him sleep Feeling:in his own words “super duper fluffy fucking blankets” Season:Winter. Note - “I like wearing long scarves, they make me feel like harry potter” Pets:Lizards,frogs,rats,snakes,dogs,cats,and most importantly… HORSES. Place:Large beaches Favorite sport(s):none exactly. Favorite Sayings:“What sets you apart can sometimes feel like a burden and it's not. And a lot of the time, it's what makes you great.” — Emma Stone. Possession this character values most: A old music box. Why is it so important to them?:It helps him majorly cope with his loneliness with having to not live with his mother no more, so he likes listening to it since it was a gift from his mother before he left. Physical Characteristics Height:7’5 Weight:138 Body build:Fairly muscular, but not exactly a majorly buffed out. Eye Color:Silver. Glasses or contact lenses?:Contacts. Hair Color:Long messy as hell platinum hair Type of hair:Long and messy, but slightly brushed enough to look at least sort of presentable

Hairstyle:No exact style. Complexion and skin tone:Slightly Pale tan Note- He’s planning on dying his hair cause of it.

Any particular blemishes?:None for the most part. Shape of Face:Somewhere around a diamond shape face. Scent:Usually he either smells of flowers, or smells like a giant dog ((If he doesn’t shower after work)) Voice:Sort of soft spoken, but also deep and gravelly Mannerisms:He has the mannerisms of things such as sometimes biting his hair during stress, giving side glances whenever suspicious, as well as pacing over and over when listening to music, and Fiddling with his tongue piercing when bored. Health:Fairly healthy, although still has slight health problems due to his half skull face. Style:Elegant whenever going to parties,dances, and dinners, but whenever outside and at work his style usually is soft and comfortable as well as lazy looking.

How do they walk?:He either slouches or walks with his whole body straight, he can’t describe why he just does it either slouching or upright. What are their Nervous Tics:Fiddling with his tongue piercing, biting his hair, twiddling his thumbs, and also biting his finger abit.

Usual Body Posture:His body kind of droops a bit when standing still, and he keeps his head low so he doesn’t draw much attention. Do they have any disabilities?:Not for the most part, aside from not having another eye. Speech patterns:He always has to take deep breaths when he begins to speak, and when he stops he kind of mutters his last word he was gonna say. Preferred Clothing:Large soft sweaters with a cardigan, large jeans, and some boots. Sometimes a hat if he feels the mood for it, but it’s rare.

Intellectual/Mental/Personality Attributes and Attitudes Did they go to school?:Yes. Where?:Los Angeles What did they learn?:What normal kids do, as well as going to college for Veterinary medicine,animal science, and abit of biology. Did they complete the curriculum?:yes. What were their grades like?:mostly C’s and B’s Native language:Arabic Do they know any other languages?:English,French,Egyptian and Spanish What is their strengths?:His lack of being bias in situations, not having too much of a rough time with his past, able to care for children, can keep a leveled head in an argument, and does the best he can for his friends Weaknesses?:Scoldings by his mother, ice, Teasing about how he is weird, disliking of him being a demon mix,as well as his sort of lack of rest. Manner of Writing:Sort of sloppy writing that is at least readable and not too messy or fancy. Any Mental Illnesses?:Insomnia Character's short-term goals in life:Keeping healthy so his mother doesn’t worry. Character's long-term goals in life:Trying to get a relationship and get married, and have kids.

((I apologize if this is long and confusing, or may infuriate some of you. I am slightly new to writing full on things like this, so it is very difficult to actually explain all of this in detail))