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spinchip · 8 months

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NEVER THE DARK

Chapter 10

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Prologue - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9

WARNINGS for his chapter: Kai feels minor effects of alcohol withdrawal. Kai and Samira drink together, feeding Kais alcoholism. discussions of blood and passing mention of needles. Discussions of death and murder. Chapter art includes depictions of body horror focusing on multiple eyes

WE DANCE ROUND IN A RING AND SUPPOSE// BUT THE SECRET SITS IN THE MIDDLE AND KNOWS

They don’t leave immediately. In fact, Samira insists on dessert- which ends up being the petals off a sweet flower grilled and served hot that she doesn’t stay to eat.

“I have other things to attend to,” she says pointedly, “I’m the one that keeps this place running. I can’t shirk my duties to hang out with you every time you show your face, Birds. Even if we are best friends.” She grins teasingly at that before her face turns serious again.

“I’ll arrange supplies for your trip and have a room prepared for the rest of you.” She announces, standing with a clap. “You do not need to check in before you leave. Come back in one piece, Birdy.” She says the last part directly to him, pinning him with a stern look that’s soft on the edges.

Kai can’t help the creeping dread that blooms from the center of his chest, a malignant tumor of suspicion and worry that increases each time Samira smiles at Birdy. They were awfully chummy. Didn’t Birdy say Samira was bad news? Then why did they seem so close? The whole situation makes his skull throb. Or maybe that’s just his persistent headache.

“I will return with three funeral flowers.” He promises with a nod.

And now Lloyd is going off alone with the possible double agent. Kai’s only solace is that Samira hadn’t had the chance to speak to Birdy alone, so if he was planning on double crossing them she had no way to know who they were or what they were capable of. If it comes down to it, their elemental abilities might be the card up their sleeve that saves them.

“Wox will return to escort you to your room. For now- sit, eat, talk about me behind my back, I don’t care.” She sweeps out of the room, the click of her black heels fading as she retreats.

Kai rounds on Birdy, pinning him with a sour look he says, “So how dangerous is this mission you two are going on?” At the same time Nya asks, “What else can you tell us about the gauntlet?”

Birdy chooses to engage Nyas question first, “Nothing.” He says, angling his mask towards her, “I did not know the true origins of the armor. I was bluffing.”

“What?” Jay squawks.

Up on the Dias, Barath throws his head back and laughs. It’s a hearty guffaw, one that makes the Ninja jump since they’d completely forgotten the man's presence. He pushes his chair back and trots down the stairs, “Oh, that’s rich! She would be so mad!” He giggles, “Only you could pull off something like that. How’d you know she’d cut in?” He pulls out his chair and throws himself into it, forgoing a spoon to drink his cold soup directly out of the bowl.

“She is from Cloud Kingdom,” Birdy explains, “She cannot allow a story to be told poorly, not one that she knows well.”

“That’s quick thinking.” Nya praises.

Kai crosses his arms, “Can we get back to the matter at hand? Super dangerous mission, remember?”

“Yeah,” Uneasily, Lloyd laces his fingers together, “What exactly are we going up against?”

Barath speaks before Birdy can, “Poisonous gas!” He announces enthusiastically, “Caustic, acidic, deadly- it attacks living cells quickly, burns through skin and bone until you’re dead. Sad.” He takes a moment to make a sad face before snapping out of it, “Not immediately of course. There’s a time limit before it eats you to the point of no return. But it makes your head fuzzy, all disoriented until you can’t find your way out. It’s called the Graveyard, and for good reason! That’s where you’re headed.” He pokes Lloyd in the chest with his unused spoon.

Cole looks at Birdy, ”How are you and Lloyd supposed to go in there?”

“Lloyd will not be going in at all.” Birdy says firmly, “I will go in alone.”

“Birdy’s whole situation, whatever it is, makes him unusually resistant to the mist. Wish he’d let me put him under a microscope! Your mutation must be incredible.” Barath informs them with a dreamy sigh, “He can last longer than any other man brave enough to make the trip- hours, in fact. The mist will get to the point where it will start to eat at his clothes before Birdy here feels a tingle. Please let me dissect you?”

“No thank you.” Birdy lets him down gently.

“You’ve never seen his mutation either?” Nya jumps onto that piece of information curiously.

Birdy answers for him this time, “No.”

Barath leans forward to whisper slyly, “Only one person has seen his face and lived to tell the tale!” He sits back and lets a heartbeat pass, “That’s Samira.” He clarifies.

“We figured.” Kai comments dryly. “You look normal, what’s your mutation?”

“It’s rude to ask about others mutations.” Barath says blithely as he sets down his empty bowl, “Lucky for you I don’t care for manners!” He grabs the hem of his shirt and lifts it up to reveal a torso criss-crossed with scars upon scars, some fresh and pink and others old and faded. they’re big nasty looking things, as if his skin had been brutally flayed and torn.

He points right above his belly button where a teeny tiny protrusion is budding, just barely formed enough for them to be able to tell that it’s a little hand, “Extra limbs! Arms on arms, really. I grow them easy! And I lose them quickly, but it’s for my research so it’s worth it.” He puffs out his chest proudly, “I’ve pet some of the most ferocious animals the realm has to offer! Not without casualties of a few arms, but who cares about that when the pursuit of knowledge is a fine justification.”

He drops his shirt and goes for his dessert, chewing on the leaves absently.

An awkward pause passes, but before any of the ninja can break it the sound of clunky boots fades in. Wox thunders his way up to the cavern opening with a sour look on his face, “Oy, you lot ready to be shown to your chamber? It’s all nice and ready for ya.”

“Wox!” Barath greets pleasantly, “You’re overdue for a check up. Do let me look at your mutation sometime soon, yes yes!”

“Sure thing Doc. Maybe once I’m off duty as these trespassers babysitter.” He sneers the last word as the Ninja stand from the table and approach him.

Nya bristles, “We don’t need a babysitter.”

“No, you don’t, because you shouldn’t even be here. Samira should have thrown you in prison after she first laid eyes on you! But for some reason she likes you,” He swings his head around to pin Birdy with a yellow-eyed glare, targeting him with that last accusation, “Even after you-“

“If you want a rematch, Wox, all you have to do is ask.” Birdy says, but his voice is… off. Monotonous. Dead. It’s like Wox triggered a coldness in his demeanor that the Ninja hadn’t seen before, “Allow me to end this pettiness and stop wasting both of our times.”

The insult makes Wox’s lips curl to bare brutal white fangs, and he responds by crowding into Birdys space, “Oh you can bet this fight won’t be a waste, Butcher. You remember our first scrap, don’t ya? Not so cocky then, were you?”

Birdy takes a step back, and Kai can almost see him snap out of and shake off that chilling persona he’d just worn so easily. He knows for certain that Birdy doesn’t break eye contact with Wox out of fear. His mask tilts toward the ground in some deeper, more insidious shame or guilt, “I apologize for lashing out. We have made a deal with Samira. Please, escort us.”

Wox’s fur, which had stood up stiff and straight at Birdy's initial insult, lays flat again. He backs down too, stepping back out of his space “I spoke outta line too.” He says and even he seems surprised at his words, “Let me show you to your room.” He turns and marches out of the room. Birdy follows him and determinedly doesn't look back at the Ninja. When Kai glances at the others, he sees his own expression mirrored on their face. What was that?

Finally, they were feeling that same suspicion he was.

He leads them back down the hall to a fork in the pathway, taking them into the dark of the new tunnel without missing a step. He pauses briefly as they come upon another fork in the road. He motions to the left path and jerks his head at Birdy, “This is your stop. Down the hall to the left, you know the way. Ila is waiting for you two.” He glances back at the others, “The rest of you will follow me.”

Birdy looks at Lloyd for a moment before they both split off from the group. “Wait, Lloyd-'' Kai breaks away too, going to Lloyd's side. He pulls him into a hug, “Be safe. Don’t let your guard down.” He says it loud enough for everyone to hear, not hiding the dark look he shoots Birdy's way that promises swift and violent retribution if Lloyd comes back with a single hair out of place.

“I won’t.” Lloyd promises, “Don’t get too bored waiting on us to come back.” He gives him a pointed look that Kai knows means snoop around!

He waves to the rest of them as he and Birdy finally disappear into the darkness.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Kai mutters, continuously glancing back at the path where they parted. Wox’s ear flicks like the words irritate him, but doesn’t comment.

“Birdy has been nothing but helpful.” Cole reassures him.

“I don’t trust Birdy.” Kai ignores Cole's words, running a hand through his Mohawk nervously.

Wox leads them through a series of elaborate interconnected tunnels going up and down and around so many times Kai’s not sure he knows his left from his right anymore. He leads them down another hallway filled with doors and stops at a random door, pushing it open with his foot. The room… is nicer than Kai was expecting. It’s huge and cavernous, with high vaulted ceilings and stone floor. This is no architectural craftsman ship to the walls, just smooth stone that rounds where it meets floor and ceiling. Several bed palettes are set up on the floor layered upon plush carpets and dry purple moss that insulates from the cold floor. There’s a low table on the other side of the room with pillows on the floor as seats, a pitcher filled with water and a stack of cups sitting on top for them. Thin fabrics are hung up around the walls to add a bit of warmth to the sterile walls.

As the Ninja file in, Wox starts on what sounds like a memorized speech, “As you are guests, you are permitted to leave your room at any time and use the amenities offered by the palace as follows: Restrooms, Public Bathhouse, Kitchen, and Library. At your request and with supervision, you are welcome to tour the rooftop garden or the Jelly farm. As your allowance to stay here depends on an agreement between another member of your party, you are not permitted to leave the premises until the deal has been completed. Caphishe?”

“We understand.” Nya nods with a tense smile, “Thank you.”

Wox ducks his head a bit, suddenly shy, “Ain’t nothing.” He says gruffly, looking away from Nya, “Boss asked me to make sure you all are settled, so call my name if you need anything.”

“Well, actually, I am interested in the Rooftop gardens or the jelly farm.” He’d already thrown himself down on a bed mat, but Cole sits up in curiosity at Wox’s words.

Tilting his head, Wox ruminates over the request, “Didn’t expect ya to want a tour so soon,” He admits, “I’ve a few things I’ve gotta tend to, but I can come back in an hour or two and escort you.”

“That’s… very kind.” Kai says slowly.

Wox seems to understand the implication of the words, “Samira appointed me as your lots handler. It’s my job, and I’ll do it well.” He crosses his arms but there’s no fire to the action, “We may be warlords, tyrants, and monsters but there are rules here we follow. It’s just how it is.”

He steps out of the door and does a casual salute, disappearing down the hall before they can ask any further questions. Nya makes sure the door is closed before turning back to the others.

“So this is bad.” She grimaces.

“That’s an understatement.” Kai crosses his arms, flopping back onto a random bedroll.

Cole lays back down himself, “We’ve trusted Birdy to get us this far,” he starts, “We just have to trust him to get us to the end.”

Nya busies herself by dumping the realm of madness water from the pitcher out in the corner and filling it with clean water they can freely drink. That done, she paces for a moment before rearranging the pillows on her own chosen bed. Kai stares up at the ceiling, thinking. He’d just let Lloyd walk away. It’s not like he could stop him- Lloyd was his own person, a whole grown man who could probably whip Kai’s butt in a fight if he wanted to (Damn chosen one special powers…) but the image of him disappearing into that dark hallway plays on repeat in his head. What if Lloyd didn’t come back? And Kai just let him go without a fight? With a stranger? He was being ridiculous, Lloyd could handle himself, especially against someone like Birdy. He would be fine. Kai worried anyway. FSM his head hurt, all he wanted was a drink.

A shadow passes over Kai's face and he opens one eye to Jay standing at the edge of his bedroll. He’s about to ask what he wants when Jay nudges him with his foot, “Scoot.” He orders, looking at Kai expectantly. When Kai stares at him too long he eloquently clarifies, “Scoot over.” with a firmer love tap.

Kai shuffles over and Jay collapses next to him, sighing as he melts into Kais warmth. It’s… nice. It’s been a long time. He puts his palm flat against Jay's back and tries not to think about Zane.

At some point, he falls asleep, because next thing he knows is Nyas hand on his shoulder shaking him awake. “Do you want to go with us to see the rest of this place? Wox is at the door.”

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Kai dislodges his arm from under Jay's head (waking up the man in the process if the sleepy ow! is any indication.) “I'm coming,” Kai shakes the remnants of sleep off as he stands up, stretching. He would be more snappy with her for waking him if he wasn’t instantly reminded of their predicament. That was the first substantial rest he’d managed to get the entire time he’d been in the Realm. These past few nights he’d felt so restless and off.

Cole lingers on the edge of the conversation. He waits a moment before saying, “You two looked cute.” Which he offers carefully.

“You should have joined us.” Kai says automatically.

Shrugging, Cole averts his eyes, “I didn’t want to ruin the moment.” He admits with a cough as Jay stands, finally dragging himself to the land of the living.

Frowning, Kai squints at him quizzically, “How would you have ruined it?”

Cole pins him with a bewildered expression, as if he can’t believe Kai would even ask. “Nevermind.” he says with a sigh, turning away.

“Hey,” Kai reaches out and takes Cole's elbow, “What’s up? I'm listening.”

“That’s a surprise.” Cole shoots back immediately.

Kai recoils at that, totally lost. Behind him, Jay is looking awkwardly between the two of them, just as lost.

“Let's just drop it.” Cole mumbles, “C’mon, Nya is waiting on us.”

They join Wox and Nya at the door, “Hey, you look nice.” Jay comments, “What's the occasion? Got a hot date?”

Wox, who’s fur has been freshly washed and combed, and who’s wearing a noticeably cleaner looking tunic and wraps, flattens his ears at Jay, “I always look like this. I appreciate hygiene and fashion.” He says with a scrunch to his eyebrows, as if attempting to read off a cue card in his head “And I have a sensitive soul.” He adds randomly, sneaking a glance at Nyas face.

Nya blanches, catching on, “RIGHT. Well! Why don’t we get this tour over with?” She guides Wox ahead of her, turning to shoot Kai a look that screams why me?

“Of course, my lady.” He snatches up the opportunity to link their arms, even if it’s awkward with his mutation, “I’ll start with the bathrooms-”

After a quick potty break and a snack in the kitchens, Wox motions to a large set of double doors, “The Library, but trust me, ya don’t want to go in there. The place doubles as Baraths study, and the good doctor is a bit… unhinged in his work. One second you’re stopping in to say hello and the next the fur on your face is burnt off as a result of one o his experiments.” He scratches at his chin fur irritably, “Let’s move on to the Garden.”

As they turn away, Nya shoots Kai a look over her shoulder before turning to Wox, “So, what do you like to do in your free time?” She asks sweetly, stepping in time with him.

Kai gets the hint as Wox’s attention is centered solely on Nya. He nudges Jay and motions back to the library and Jay connects the dots with a thumbs up. He slips away from the group to go poking around. The pattern repeats in the rooftop gardens, this time Cole gracefully bowing out to poke around the seed beds and strange plants. Kai is given the opportunity to snoop once they cross into the Jelly Farm.

The hallway they’re trekking down dramatically opens up to a massive cave, the ceiling vaulted hundreds of feet above their heads and the floor dropping away into deep black pits. Archways branch off the path they walk like intricate natural scaffolding, some natural but several more are manmade, all looping in on each other. Each pathway connects to others to make large round enclosures, and within each of these floats a massive sky jelly. They look even bigger than Kai first thought they were, the ghostly sheet-like bell nearly bouncing off the ceiling and the arms and tentacles glowing softly far beneath him. Railings made of steel and rope line each of the bridges other than certain access points, where workers covered in strange full body hazmat suits seem to be rappelling down the animals to collect the venom dripping from the tentacles.

Wox motions down a path towards the far wall, a little notch cut out, “That’s Samira's office. Off limits to anyone other than her.” He says warningly as Nya opens her mouth, apparently not smitten enough to bend the rules for her.

Which is Kais' cue to leave. As Nya prods Wox to tell her more about the Jellys, Kai splits off from the pair and expertly sneaks around the occasional worker or patrol before slipping into Samiras office. It’s a short hallway that leads to a heavy wooden door that he picks the lock open easily. Once he’s inside, he closes the door silently and gets to snooping.

Or he would have. He stalls once he turns around to face the room and there, sitting on her desk, is a nicely bottled dark liquor that calls his name. He swallows thickly before snatching up the bottle and immediately uncorking the top- it smells like some deep spice that doesn’t exist in Ninjago, tantalizing and exotic. He brings it to hover at his lips before his rational brain bonks him on the head. No! Now is really not the time, Kai! He scolds himself, setting it down with a thunk and rounding her desk to get a look at the paper stack there. He doesn't read a word of it, glancing back up at the drink.

A taste couldn’t hurt. All he’d wanted since entering this realm was a drink- it was all he could think about. He deserved it, didn’t he? For doing so much? For putting up with that stranger? He flips over the glass that was next to the decanter and pours himself a generous glass before he can think. He dilly dallies again, swirling the cup. He really shouldn’t. He stares at if for a long time, longer than he cares to admit.

He puts the glass down and shifts a stack of papers to the side- it looks like Samiras personal notes. He paws through the pages and grimaces as fresh ink streaks his fingers, lingering on each page until a specific word sticks out to him. The page was dated a handful of months ago.

Birdy scared me today. He lashed out after I confronted him about Farley, I thought he was going to hurt me-

Kai doesn’t process the words, his eyes skittering back over to that drink. He licks his lips. Fuck it.

As he picks up the glass to take a drink, the door opens.

Samira doesn’t look surprised to see him, but she does raise a brow at his actions. Nobody says anything for a long moment before Kai slowly sets the glass down, hand twitching towards the handle of his sword that he kind of can’t believe they let him keep, “Calm down.” Samira rolls her eyes, stepping over to a cabinet shoved against the wall and pulling out another glass from the top drawer, “I’m not upset.”

“You’re not?” He asks as he watches her pour herself a glass.

She sighs and it's a put upon thing, “You’re a ninja. It’s in your nature to snoop, and Wox is woefully easy to distract.” She tips back the drink and savors the taste, “Though I figured I'd find this room ransacked for information, not… used as a refreshment bar.”

He winces but picks up his cup again, “Yeah, well…” He doesn't have anything to say so he just swallows down a gulp of whisky-adjacent liquor.

“Hey,” She warns, “This is for sipping. Savor it.” She orders. When he obliges, she doesn’t quite smile but she does nod her head back towards the main room, “Take a walk with me.”

It is an exceptionally smooth drink, spiced and warm. It still burns going down, but it's a good burn. Kai feels like all his headache and lingering irritation melts away with each sip.

He falls into step beside her as they drink together. She swirls her drink in her cup as people call out hellos to her, “It was chaos when I first came here.” Samira runs her fingers lightly over the rope banister, “You may think my methods are harsh, but please remember who I am dealing with- these people have been exiled for grievous crimes. They cannot think I am soft. My strength as their leader is what makes this place run so smoothly.”

“...Okay.” Kai doesn’t know what to do with this conversation.

She motions him along another path, taking him down a hallway into a room filled with machinery. Vials of paralytic poison sit to one side with several people working around the humming contraption. Kai and Samira watch as bottles upon bottles of glowing pink liquid are fed into the assembly line. It chugs and churns until a measly five perfectly round pink marbles come rolling out on the conveyor belt at the end of the line. Samira picks one up, examining it, “There was no community, no society- just violence and lots of pain.”

“Mutations are hard on the body, Kai. uncomfortable at best, agony at worst.” She keeps the marble and leads him back out to the jellys. She walks up to one- this Jelly is older. Its bell lay flat and thin across its head with scars and tears along the edge, it’s missing a few tentacles and several lures, and it’s a few shades duller than the other animals that fill the room. It’s floating lower than all the rest too, the luminescent tentacles it has left drag across the floor so far beneath their feet. Samira leans against the rope confidently, “I saw Miss Emma here use her poison on a horse-“ She starts, patting the animal on the head where the poison doesn’t seep, “Paralyzed it and ate it right up, and it gave me an idea. She numbs you first, before she eats you. If I could use her poison, refine it just right, maybe I could take that numbness and use it to take away that pain.” She holds up the marble- the pill, “And with a bit of help from Barath, I did it, and I built Oasis around this thing right here. It’s amazing how easy it is to bring people together when pain is out of the equation.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Kai asks with narrowed eyes.

She sobers up, sipping at her whisky, “After all I’ve been through, Red, I know pain. I can see it.” She takes a moment to really study him, “You’re in a lot of pain, Kai. Aren’t you?”

He looks away, down at the glass he’s suddenly gripping so tight his knuckles are turning pale.

“That’s why you chose to drink instead of looking for information, isn’t it?” She looks at him kindly, face the very picture of a supportive and worried mother.

Kai’s not sure why his hands are shaking or why he suddenly feels so exposed and vulnerable- maybe because he hasn’t been able to drink since they came here, and he’s been deprived of the usual escape into intoxication, but he finds himself talking before he can think, “His name was Zane. He died saving me and I… I was too helpless to do anything to help him.” he blinks down at his cup. He should stop drinking. He throws the rest of it back like a shot anyway.

“Here.” She says gently, handing him the pill, “It works just as well on emotional pain.”

He looks up at her suspiciously, “You don’t want anything in return? I just saw how hard it is to make these.”

“Oh Kai,” She smiles and pushes the pill into his hand, closing his fingers around it herself, “The first one is always free.”

Barath doesn’t blink from where he’s huddled at his desk, writing chicken scratch in a leather-bound notebook when Jay slips in. There’s no way he doesn’t notice him, not with how his large desk directly faces the door, or how Jay immediately side steps into a stack of books and sends them thumping to the ground. For a place Wox had called the Library, there’s not much library happening. There are a few shelves lined along the wall, sure, but most of the books are piled into sections on the floor while the actual shelves are filled with notebooks, files folders, and active experiments or samples. Jay carefully avoids looking at the clear front glass container packed with bags of blood.

That’s the first time Barath addresses him, “Squeamish, Jay?” He sounds more subdued than he had at dinner, the energy in his private lab more serious and careful than the looseness of Samiras grand hall. “It’s quite normal to feel that way. Not used to blood?”

Jay approaches the desk that Barath still hasn’t looked up from, “I’ve dealt with blood plenty, but it’s not something I can get used to.” He laughs awkwardly, “blood belongs in the body, not out of it.” He jokes.

“You would be surprised, perhaps, at how prevalent hemophobia is here. I’ve drawn blood from warlords, serial killers, and much worse who close their eyes as I prep the needle. Seems a bit backwards, doesn’t it? I suppose it's different when it’s their blood.” He finishes his entry in the book and flips it shut, finally looking up at Jay, “I’ve never been frightened of blood! It’s fascinating, really, especially the samples I've seen here. So unique. Would you like to see?” already he’s stood up and strode to the fridge, pulling out a drawer filled with blood cultures neatly labeled.

“Uh, I'm- it’s okay! Really. I mean it.” He laughs nervously, “Uh, shouldn’t you be more careful with those? Whoever organized them is probably gonna be ticked off.” He adds on, raising a brow.

Barath continues to paw through the samples, humming as he picks up a few possible candidates before casually tossing them back. The neat labels on top juxtapose his haphazard actions, “I organized them.” He says blithely, finally picking out a sample he liked and slotting the draw back into place with a slam, “I have never cared much for consistency, Jay. That's why I chose to come here.”

Jay feels his jaw drop, “You chose to come here?”

“Of course!” Some of that energy from dinner spills into his body language, a pep in his step as he approaches one of the large sheets in the room, “Look around you, Jay! This is a veritable garden of Eden- a buffet for the mind. This world is ever changing, ever growing! I’ve learned more here than I ever thought possible. What I thought I knew in my home realm has all been dashed away by this realm's chaos. What I thought I knew yesterday will be wrong today. How delightful!”

He pulls away the tarp to reveal a mechanical monstrosity, several tubes and knobs, cords that lead into a strange metal box. There’s blinking lights and baubles and it takes Jay too long to realize it was a microscope. “I am on the front line of an uncharted world, Jay. My books, my papers, my research is the first of its kind. How thrilling! What ecstasy!” He slots the blood sample into place.

Jay can’t help but be drawn to the machine like a moth to flame. It’s not exactly well put together- the welds are a bit ugly, the machine is over engineered and clunky, but it’s clearly far more advanced than the microscopes Jay had seen in Ninjago. “Did you build this?” He asks, ghosting fingers over mis-matched metal.

Barath grinned with all his teeth, “It took a while to figure it out. I admit, I took some of my old equipment for granted.” He had years here to try new things, and the cobbled together mishmash of it showed. “Are you sure you don’t want to look? The way the mutations affect the blood is quite a show.”

It’s tempting, but Jay felt a little queasy just thinking about it, “I… didn’t come here to talk about blood.”

With a shrug, Barath looks into the barrel himself. He takes a moment to adjust the knobs, “I know that.” He says, picking up a small trigger stick and holding the button. There's a series of several flashes and the box next to the microscope hums to life, printing off several sheets of paper, “You came to snoop.”

Jay blanches, “W-What! No way, I just wanted to- Wox led us on a tour, and the library is free for us to use so- so-”

Barath leans away from the instrument to smile at Jay, “I’m not angry, Jay! Come now, you really believe that Samira, Wox, and I don’t know your intentions sneaking off from the tour like you did? Do you really believe Wox, one of the more fearsome and brutal warlords of Chima, didn’t notice the party getting lighter? We are criminals, Jay. We expect this!” He grabs the stack of papers and scurries back to his desk, taking out a quill and ink so he can begin to carefully label and date each image he took of the blood.

“Oh.” Jay says simple. There’s a pause, “So you don’t mind if I poke around?”

Barath looks up from his work and sizes Jay up for a moment. He takes a break from labeling the papers to lace his fingers together on top of his desk, “I’ll do you one better: Any questions you have, you are free to ask. My mission is the pursuit of knowledge first and foremost, and I will share that knowledge whether Samira wants me to or not. I will tell you the truth!”

Well, that sounds a lot easier than flipping through books all night. He moves another stack of books off of the chair in front of Baraths desk and sits, twiddling his thumbs.

“Well?” Barath prompts.

“I uh… don’t know what to ask.” He admits.

That seems to baffle Barath, “You’re in a world where people grow multiple eyes and it rains acid, and you have no questions whatsoever? Where’s your whimsy?!”

“Okay, okay! Um… So, Samira, is she like- the original banished person? She was here first? Is that why everyone listens to her?”

“Oh, no!” Barath leans back in his far more comfortable looking chair, “Samira is far from the first! But you won’t run into any of those- we call them the Ancients. They are gone now. Dead, mostly, or lost to their mutations long, long ago other than- well.” He gets a sparkle in his eyes, “I have this theory on mutations- it’s physical of course, but I believe a great deal of how and why you mutate depends on the strength of your character and will! The stronger your constitution, the longer you keep your sanity.”

“The last of the Ancients was alive just a handful of years ago. It’s a name you know! Birdy.”

“Birdy…? But Birdy is still alive.”

Barath grins, “The Birdy you know is alive, yes, but he didn't just take that mask from her. He took her name as well- of course, that was not her true name, just the moniker she went by here. She had an iron will and never once bowed before anyone, even at her lowest.” He shifts back to Jay's original questions, “Samira is the leader of Oasis because she is good at bending people to her will, at figuring out exactly what people want, what they need, and how to use that to control them. Samira made these people rely on her, and how she has all the power.”

Jay picks at his nails, dread filling his stomach as he thinks over Baraths earlier words, “Did Birdy- current Birdy... kill the old one?” He asks, feeling a cold wash over him at the idea that Lloyd was out with a murderer.

Barath takes a long moment to think, “Perhaps I should tell you all I know about Birdy.” He says, suddenly solemn, “But you must be warned- this is not a conversation had lightly. Can you handle this truth?”

“I have to know.” Jay says firmly.

Barath begins to speak.

“Oh!” Ila says, startled.

Cole spins around to face her, feeling a hot flush of embarrassment that she’d caught him playing in the dirt in one of the garden's grow beds, “Uh, I wasn’t doing anything weird.”

She laughs a little, stepping into the greenhouse more. The garden sprawled up one half of the palace roof (mountain top?), stairs leading from one platform to the next. They were on the second platform out of three where several large greenhouses took up nearly every available inch of space other than walkways, “You just surprised me,” She says lightly, “I took longer than normal to clean up the kitchen, I thought I would have missed you.”

That seemed… weird. Did she know he would be there? Maybe Wox told her they were going on a tour..? “Were you trying to miss me?”

She pauses too long to be anything other than strange, “No.” She says finally, “Do you like the greenhouses?” She asks politely.

He drops it uneasily, “It’s cool in here, yeah. I’m not familiar with any of these plants, though.”

“I help tend to the garden, I could probably give you a quick rundown.” She offers, stepping up beside him to examine the plant he was in front of.

“No, that’s okay- but I was wondering… If these Funeral flowers are so important, why don’t you grow them here?” He gestures around, “Instead of making dangerous trips into the Graveyard?”

“Oh, well,” She turns around and sits on the edge of the wooden planter, “Funeral flowers don’t produce outside the graveyard, despite our efforts. We tried filling a greenhouse with the fog but it never lasts, and the plants never flower. In fact, come with me!” She stands again and beckons him to follow with one of her tentacles, leading him out one greenhouse and into the next. They weave between planters until they come upon an ordinary looking bundle of green grass. It looks like it would be right at home in a field on Ninjago, “Here they are. Funeral flowers.”

“These?” He squints at the plain green things.

“I told you, they won’t flower. Usually a flower stalk would be right in the middle of these with a white bud, but no matter what we try they just don’t grow outside the graveyard.” She sits down again, “They’re strange, delicate plants.”

“So now you have to trek into the mist for them.” He nods.

“We didn’t used to have to go so far,” She admits, stretching each of her tentacles out like she's working out a sore muscle, “They used to grow right on the edge of the mist- big patches of them. Barath was the one who discovered them. We didn’t know what we know now, and we picked them without thought- but Funeral plants don’t survive a rough harvest. We yanked the flowers, and the roots died, and now we have to travel deeper and deeper for them.”

“What’s so special about them?” He finally asks, sitting next to her.

She tips her head to the side, looking up through the glass ceiling at the swirling red sky, “It’s a cure.” She says seriously, “It reverses mutations, brings back fingers and skin as long as you're not too far gone. One plant is enough for thirty pills, each enough to significantly improve mutation symptoms. One pill can buy you nearly anything you could ever want here, that’s how valuable they are.”

Cole whistles low, “Wow.” He looks at Ila, considers how human she still looks, other than the tentacles, “You’ve had one?”

“Three total over the years.”

“Samiras had a lot more than that, I'm guessing.”

Ila shrugs at that, “I’m sure she has, but I don't know exactly. Samira has looked the same for a long, long time, so I think she uses her supply to regulate instead of cure.”

“Birdy?”

“Birdy has never accepted a cure pill.” She tells him, “He’s got some issues about that stuff.”

Cole quirks a brow, “What, does he not want to owe Samira anything?”

“More like he doesn’t think he deserves good things.”

There’s a pause as Cole chews on that. Birdy had been nothing but understanding and kind to them, even listening to Cole's input when he had it. He hadn’t seen a dark side to Birdy other than maybe his earlier interaction with Wox, but everyone was so certain he was this dangerous, unstable guy. Even Birdy himself.

“What can you tell me about Birdy?” He asks finally.

“He’s courteous and polite,” She starts, “He always offers to help me clean the kitchen, or even cook. He does favors without asking for anything in return.”

She stops, and Cole waits.

“And?”

“...And he’s hurt a lot of people.” She forces out, and then begins to talk.

Nya hangs off Wox’s arm and tries to keep him talking, both of them marching along random hallways as he tells her about the construction they did to reinforce the walls along this particular corridor, “This whole place was a nest, once. Like a termite mound, but for some other animal- we don’t know what. It was long abandoned when Samira laid claim to it.”

She hums along, prompting him to go on when they round a familiar hall. The hall with their room in the middle- Nya glances behind them and there are no Ninjas in sight, “Why don’t you show me the library again?” She asks, leaning against him with a bright smile.

He rumbles out a low laugh, “I like ya, Nya, so I’ll let you in on a little secret.” He leans in a bit, “I know your friends aren’t behind me anymore.”

She jumps away, fully expecting him to be angry at their trickery, but he doesn’t seem bothered at all. Nothing happens for a long moment, they just stare at each other, “...You’re cool with that?”

“We expected it.” He says simply.

“Oh. huh.” She runs a hand through her hair, “Well, thank you I guess. I’m just gonna…” She motions to her door awkwardly, stepping over to it and going for the handle.

“Nya, wait.” He takes a step towards her, “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Oh, Wox.. um, i’m flattered but I don’t…”

He snorts at her attempt at a gentle rejection, “Don’t worry, darling, that’s not what I was going to say.” He debates for a moment, “I was not lying before, I do like you, Nya. You remind me of someone I once had the privilege to love, but there is no room in my heart for anyone but my better half.” It occurs to her suddenly that all his earlier nerves around her had simply... vanished. He was... pretending? So that she would think she had the upper hand..?

She feels her confusion show on her face, “Then…?”

His face grows serious, “The people of this realm are not good people. I know that, I've seen many of them at their worst… But Birdy is by far one of the most dangerous people here. It is wise for you to cut your losses and leave him, for your own sake.”

“What are you saying?” She feels herself turn pale, sweat beading on her forehead.

“Banishment to this realm is rare now. It doesn’t happen anymore, the people here now are all that there will be. Ever. Yes, we all have our dark and violent pasts, but there is an honor code between us all now- we don’t kill. We fight, we hurt, we steal and we lie, but we do not kill. Those that do are exiled, made to live in the deserts and wastelands… But Samira likes Birdy, so she allows him to break some of our rules. He should not be here, Nya. He is a murderer.”

Kai pockets the pill, unsure about taking it. He wants another drink, But Samira seems less inclined to share her liquor. They walk together for a while longer in silence.

“Birdy and I are not friends,” She says suddenly.

Kai looks over at her, confused, “Huh?”

“He is a valuable asset to me, but we are not friends. I protect him because it is in my best interest to stay on his good side… but I see myself in you, Kai and I must be honest with you. I have to warn you.” She says seriously, coming to a dead stop in a dark corner between the scaffolding walkways.

“Warn me? About Birdy? I knew he was bad news!” He huddles closer to her, eager to uncover the truth.

“You have good instincts, Kai. Bad news is an understatement.” She motions him to follow her and she quickly leads him back to her office, pouring the both of them another glass of whisky to steel her nerves before she lays everything out on the table for him. “This is a place for the realms worst villains, Kai. You don’t know the kind of horrors I've listened to people brag about- but what little I’ve learned about Birdy has eclipsed those stories completely. He was the Emperor to the Never Realm, and while he was in power… he destroyed crops, leaving his people with nothing. His dungeons were always empty because he killed his prisoners before they ever stepped foot in a cell. Devastation, wanton destruction, massacres, genocide- he took part in it all. He didn’t even bat an eye. He decimated his land for power, Kai.”

Kai feels dizzy, sipping at his drink so the burn will center him. Sure, he wasn’t the most trusting, but even he wouldn’t have expected that type of laundry list for the soft spoken Birdy, “But he seems…”

Samira looks down at her cup, face pinching in sorrow, “Not too long ago, only a year and a half at most… he came into Oasis drenched in blood. He had a traveling companion, a fox from Chima…” She looks up at Kai, anguish in her eyes, “He wasn’t a threat to anyone, Kai. Farley wasn’t even supposed to be here. Birdy slaughtered him- we never found his body.”

Kai shook his head because that just… it couldn’t be. Not Birdy. It didn’t even sound plausible!

Samira reaches into her desk and pulls out a photo- it’s obviously old, not taken by a modern camera like the ones from Ninjago. It shows the market on the outskirts of town, filled with people. Ila is at the center of the photo smiling sweetly. Samira points behind her, at a figure in the crowd.

“Look.” She says urgently, “Really look.”

It’s a fox, slender and young, but everything else falls away. Kai’s vision tunnels. Strapped to the foxes hip is a unique copper dagger, blade curved and wickedly sharp, with an amber stone embedded in the hilt.

It’s the same dagger he’d seen Birdy use almost every day since they’d met.

The same dagger he’d used to prepare meals, to shred wood for kindling, to cut away stubborn vines so they could easily walk along the forest path. It’s the same dagger.

“That knife belongs to a dead man, the mask belongs to a dead woman. I know he killed Farley, he told me himself. He’s carrying around trophies, Kai…and I am scared to think that you or any of your friends might be next. I believe you're safe for now- he wants you alive for some reason, it’s important you are alive… but wherever he’s leading you… I don't know, Kai. I worry the next time I see him, he’ll be wearing red. Another trophy.”

Kai swallows down the rest of his cup and shakily pours another.

Birdy was a murderer. A monster.

And Lloyd was alone with him.

#ninjago #lego ninjago #kai ninjago #jay walker #nya ninjago #cole brookstone #zane julien #lloyd garmadon #ninjago never the dark #ninjago au #alcoholism #blood #needle mention #death #murder #samira: i love manipulation !#multiple eyes #body horror

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hanafubukki · 2 years

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NEW ART NEW ART

LOOOK AT TTHHHEEEMMMMM

They all loook so good

BUT LOOK AT MY DIA MEN AHHHHHH

Lilia looks so good on here Omg please the way he’s staring?? Ahhhhh skdjdjdkf the way he gazes at you those those eyes and that hand sksdnmfdm

And malleus front and center and looking ready to use magic

Then you have sebek ready to lecture you but he looks so cute and adorable so it’s fine ajsnsjd and then you compare HIS BUILD TO SILVER?!?!

Sebek is more broad shouldered and silver more thick anddodjjdfjf ahhhhhhhh

Silver is buff in his own way but…silver, that baton, the way you have it held 👀👀 skdjdjdjdnfkff please sir, lilia what have you been teaching your son??

#hanas thoughts #diasomnia #malleus draconia #lilia vanrouge #twst silver #sebek zigvolt #twst merch

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blakegopnik · 1 year

Photo

THE FRIDAY PIC is “Newspaper No. 3,” a 1961 work by the artist known as Chryssa, from a wonderful series where she took bits of discarded printing plates from the newspaper industry and stamped their images onto her paintings. The piece is from the Guggenheim’s collection, and is now in the long, long overdue show called “Chryssa & New York,” at the Dia Art Foundation space in Chelsea. I gave a lecture there last night on the important relationship between early-’60s works by Chryssa and by Warhol.

Here — in rather telegraphic form, I’m afraid — are some of the ideas I proposed:

1) That Chryssa, a rising art-star with a Guggenheim solo in the fall of ‘61, had a direct influence on Warhol, still completely unknown. And that this influence centered on an “alloverism” that took details direct from the world and spread them evenly across the surface of a picture.

2) That in postwar American culture, this alloverism was strongly associated with femininity and female creativity. Lucy Lippard, answering the question of whether there was such a thing as “woman’s art,” cited “a uniform density or over-all texture, often sensuously tactile and repetitive to the point of obsession” — as she would have seen in works by Chryssa but also by Yayoi Kusama, Ruth Asawa, Agnes Martin, Louise Nevelson and others. (Not of course because they were born with two X chromosomes, but because they were gendered female at that particular moment in Western culture.)

3) That Warhol could adopt such a feminine aesthetic as a counter-establishment, avant-gardist move that was also wrapped up in what his homosexual identity meant — to him and to straights — at that moment in cultural history.

4) That this “feminine” alloverism was closely linked to ideas about textiles and the decorative — concepts that threatened the manliness of what passed as “serious” fine art at the time. In a Life magazine roundtable that discussed a Jackson Pollock painting, doubters compared it to “enchanting printed silk,” to “a pleasant design for a necktie” and to “a panel for wallpaper” — all code for “it looks too feminine.” Which many AbEx paintings manifestly did, by the standards of the time — hence the exaggerated machismo adopted by Pollock and his defender Clement Greenberg, as a defensive move. “That such pictures should escape collapsing into decoration, mere wallpaper patterns, is one of the miracles of art in our age,” said Greenberg, with a good dose of special pleading. (And yet Greenberg chose to title one of his favorite Pollocks “Lavender Mist” — the name also of a pale purple flower very popular at the time.)

5) That, in 1961, Chryssa took up the challenge presented by an alloverism that was derided by the male art establishment for being tied to decorative “women’s work.” And she did that by daring to bring her feminine alloverism into collision with the all-male culture of the American newspaper.

Chryssa always talked about her first encounter with the “vulgarity” of Times Square — then still the home of the New York Times — and about how it led to her artistic awakening. The landmark series of newspaper paintings that came out of that encounter show Chryssa proudly planting her flag — a cloth allover covered in patterns — in the midst of that distinctly masculine vulgarity.

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ashleyfableblack · 1 year

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WOO-HOO! A final update on an amazing piece of art, In the artist's own words-

"I'm so excited, I've been working on them for over a year, I've moved with them like three times and it's just taken forever 😩 I thought they would never get out of the ugly phase for a minute there, but now they're here, they're queer and beautiful!"

Check out Morgan's gorgeous rendering of these lovely loving ladies vs my original ink n paper image.

So here they are 💜💚💜 My favourite couple of royal gals and the heart n soul of "The Eternal Courtship" series, Queens Twilight and Chrysalis Sparkle. A tender moment between the lovers reproduced in 3D by the fantastic "Sculptures by Morgan.

To gush over this wonderful piece for a few details I felt really stuck out and loyalty to source material-

In The Eternal Courtship, traditional, pre-Equestria pony customs for marriage vary between the tribes. A token is exchanged. Earthers wear a braid of their partners mane or trimmed fetlocks. Unicorns wear a enchanted trinket of precious metals. Pegasi wear a flight feather tied in their mane. Twi, being an Alicorn and a queen, Chryssi decided to do all three. She's an emotivore, incredibly ancient and EXTREMELY sentimental, so she tends to latch onto feelings and not let go. 😊💚👭

In the source image, the flowers and their colors represented the friends present at the wedding temple dias in the order they stood. The bronze\gold bells are Discord- the officiate, followed with Rarity, AJ, Dash, Chryssi, Twilight, Pinkie, Flutters, Starlight n Trixie.

It may seem a minor point but the pearl-white base.

Twilights idea for her reign is very different from the previous Equestria. Rather than focus on the ponies and teaching other races to think and value as they do, she plans to work with the other cultures of the lands, viewing their history, morés and worldviews as equal in worth, learning from each other. With her wife, The Diarchy plans to build a New Canterlot at the center of a Union of Allied Species, with the 3 tribes and True Changelings forming the backbone. To honor Celestia's original charter, the white light of her Equestria is the base of their crest, broken into the rainbow of light which is the varied species of the land.

Big Finish- They added LEDs. Sweet Lucy's Lady-bits. They added LEDs. 🌈💙💜💙🌈

This is just... *chefs kiss* 💋😁

SO glad to see this finally come together. 💚 If you want to snag a custom build of your own hit the sculptor up. "Sculptures by Morgan" on Facebook and Twitter.

Big love to all y'all out there. 👭💚💜💚👭

#mlpg4 #mlpfim #friendship is magic #sculptures by morgan #eternal courtship #twilight sparkle #queen chrysalis #lgbtq #love #twisalis #lesbian #my art #sculpture #ashleyfableblack #alicia van hammer

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garadinervi · 1 year

Photo

Alfred Jensen: Concordance, Edited by Lynne Cooke and Karen Kelly, Essays by Lynne Cooke, David Anfam, Michael Newman, and Maria Reidelbach, Dia Center for the Arts, New York, NY, 2003 [Exhibition: September 20, 2001 – June 16, 2002] [Leo de Goede Books. © Estate of Alfred Jensen / ARS, New York]

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writersclubhq · 2 months

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era abril, e as ruas de port haven finalmente podiam se colorir após um longo inverno. e, todos anos, para celebrar e marcar a chegada da tão aguardada primavera, um pequeno festival era realizado no centro da cidade. o lugarejo se enchia não só de cores, mas também de aromas e festividades que celebravam a renovação da natureza e a revigorante energia primaveril. ao longo dos três dias de festividades, os moradores e turistas eram convidados a se envolver em atividades ao ar livre promovidas pela prefeitura, desde piqueniques tranquilos no parque municipal até trilhas para observação de aves migratórias que passam pela região. oficinas de jardinagem também eram ofertadas por profissionais da cidade, ensinando aos seus participantes técnicas de plantio, dicas de jardinagem sazonal e construção de arranjos florais. além disso, o festival também era marcado por seus concertos ao ar livre, trazendo seus artistas locais como criadores da trilha sonora que acompanhava a pequena feira que acontecia não muito longe, com comidas, arte e artesanato à venda, oferecidas pelos comércios familiares e estabelecimentos da cidade, que faziam questão de montar seus estandes e oferecer o que de melhor tinham para a população e os visitantes.

informações ooc:

em ic, o evento começa no dia 01/04, e termina no dia 03/04. em ooc, o evento dura do dia 02/04 ao dia 16/04.

as atividades ofertadas pelo festival são: piqueniques e trilhas para observação de pássaros no parque municipal; oficinas de jardinagem no port haven center; concertos ao ar livre e feirinha no centro da cidade.

as interação não precisam ser, obrigatoriamente, nos locais relacionados às atividades. sintam-se livre para explorar a atmosfera primaveril da cidade como um todo!

a partir do horário dessa postagem, edits ou povs dos looks dos seus personagens já podem ser postados, se assim desejarem.

edits, starters e tudo o que for referente ao evento deve utilizar a hashtag "writers: spring festival".

não se esqueçam também de utilizar as hashtags "writers: starter", "writers: edits" e "writers: pov", caso se encaixem.

por fim, espero que se divirtam bastante! qualquer dúvida, estou à disposição.

#writers: eventos #writers: spring festival

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soukeyed · 1 year

Text

my cool and epic oc masterpost

(names from left to right: nebula, lynn, ember, dia, z, mercury)

link to their folder on toyhou.se, but honestly this post is probably a more comprehensive source of info

hello hello i was gonna make one of these sooner or later! thank u to @loveismine for asking abt them this was the motivation i needed LOL . also tagging @eqqbyte @harvsbian since they asked :]

STORY SUMMARY:

my oc universe (3 years unnamed and counting!) is set in a universe where most people die twice; the first time, you come back with powers based off of the way you died (or rarely something completely unrelated,) the second time you die for real. this brings with it a bunch of new cultural norms; middle and upper classes have ceremonies to achieve specific powers, lower class families sometimes save up for these ceremonies and bank on having one child with practical powers to support them through work. ptsd from the 'first deaths,' especially if youre someone who was put through a specific ceremony for it, is extremely common but largely dismissed. etc etc there's a lot of pointless details i've thought out

the story is centered around nebula - one of the many 'children' (test subjects) of the very very corrupt government - her wife lynn, a pretty normal woman who works as a model, and lynn's childhood friend dia (and HER sister ember) who resents nebula because . . . : )

nebula is keeping secrets, notably her actual origin and why she and lynn even met to begin with; when ember gets kidnapped during nebula and lynn's wedding, the entire plot kicks off.

CHARACTER SUMMARIES (UNDER THE CUT):

WARNING: all of these discuss death a lot given the story's themes, more specific warnings are given per character

NEBULA

art cr. me + me again + mocakola on toyhou.se / gallery

WARNING: includes discussions of child abuse/child death

one of the few legitimate children to her science-obsessed parents, nebula was involved in their government research since she was a child. the government intended to create an army of extremely powerful individuals, and to do this carried out a series of experiments to see just how random someone's powers could be - and if powers could be specifically engineered to manifest in a certain way.

to nebula's parents she was just another test subject, so she was given the name NE-004 and at five years old left to suffocate in space as part of one of their experiments alongside a group of other children. she came back to life with gravity powers; she can alter the gravitational field strength of any object within a 1km radius, as long as it's within line of sight. this wasn't the intent of the experiment, and so nebula was deemed a 'failure' and spent most of her life until around 19 growing up in a government facility with dozens of her 'siblings', being trained in combat, weapons etc. so she could still be useful in the future as a guard. it was dehumanising, isolating, and nebula and her 'siblings' were often subject to abuse from eachother or their handlers, or painful/invasive experiments from the facility's scientists.

nebula was sent out as a sort of spy when dia's family caught the attention of the government (more about this in ember's section, but ember's powers manifested in a unique way that the government wanted to research.) her mission was to get close to the family, gain their trust and eventually obtain the information the government needed more discreetly.

and then she met lynn.

(art cr. orpiiment on toyhous.e)

lynn was dia's best friend; the two were basically inseparable, so she was the perfect way to get closer to dia's family without seeming too suspicious, especially to the now paranoid and distrusting dia herself. with lynn, nebula felt for the first time that she was being treated like an actual person; her own emotions were clumsy and her social skills awful from her lonely upbringing, but the two of them quickly fell in love and got engaged.

all the while, lynn had no idea of nebula's origins. neither of them liked to discuss their families, so she had no real reason to suspect. but in the background nebula's superiors were getting impatient. two years passed and with no helpful information gained in all that time, they sought to resolve the issue themselves.

which leads to ember being kidnapped at the wedding.

LYNN

art cr. iouquie on toyhou.se + mocakola on toyhou.se + furei on toyhou.se / gallery

WARNING: includes discussions of child death (drowning) and references to csa

grew up as the oldest sibling in a large working class family; had to take care of her siblings a lot while her parents worked toward the promise of a proper ceremony for her when she became a teenager. lynn's family intended for her to gain fire powers since they were pretty practical + versatile, and as a result set her and dia up on playdates so they could become friends and eventually train eachother's powers together.

at the age of 11 she drowned. as a result she gained the power to turn her hair into water to its roots; something her family obviously didn't want for her. lynn's relationship with her family broke down over the years, not helped by her coming forward about the actions of a 'family friend' from when she was younger and made all the worse when they didn't believe her. she left home to live with dia's family at the age of 15; she still considers dia's parents more family than anyone else.

passing school with alright grades, lynn went into modelling and quickly picked up traction thanks to her looks and powers. she met nebula a little into her career; they bonded strangely quickly, and despite dia's distrust of nebula lynn proposed to her anyway. her life was going good.

in reality, lynn's self esteem was extremely low; her powers were weak and good for nothing except aesthetics (especially in comparison to nebula and dia's), she still felt guilt over 'abandoning' her family, she felt stupid and naive for letting herself be manipulated as a child but refused to kill her trust in people for it.

all feelings that would spiral out of control after the wedding, and after nebula would be forced to admit the truth.

DIA

art cr. zidanetribal on toyhou.se / gallery

pretty tame middle class upbringing; her mothers both worked for the government (relatively low level civil servants though.) went through a ceremony at the age of 13, just like her parents had before her, and came out with horns and a devil-like tail that could materialise fire (she doesn't use the horns often though because they singe her hair lol) and also severe nightmares but that's supposed to be normal.

pretty upbeat and flippant about most things but is fiercely protective of her younger sister ember, especially after the media attention her family gained in the wake of ember's powers manifesting. she shelters her pretty severely in an attempt to protect her and this definitely won't come back to bite her.

EXTREMELY mistrustful of nebula from the start; mostly gets along with her for lynn's sake. her hatred reaches a peak after the wedding and in the main events of the plot.

not a lot to say about her tbh? i love her though : ) if there's a character whose pov you'd be reading from itd probably be her

EMBER

art cr. yuchino on toyhou.se

dia's younger sister! more of a side character but she is plot important. very sheltered upbringing (much moreso than dia since ... dia is very overprotective lol) very nonchalant about like.. everything, she doesn't have much of a filter but it usually doesnt get her in trouble because shes not a mean person to begin with. underwent the same ceremony dia did at age 13.

the clawlike hands (she can summon fire w them) are the manifestation of her powers; this got her and her family media attention because this was the exact same way her mother's powers manifested - an extremely rare occurrence the reason she gained the attention of the government. this was one of their points of research; if there was a link between family members' powers and if there was a way to ENSURE family members had the same powers. this of course leads to them sending nebula out and later ember getting kidnapped.

art cr. that_pitt on twitter + me + aquacanis on toyhou.se / gallery

i dont pick favourites but shes my favourite LOL. the girlie in my pfp!

scientist working for the government; plays a VERY minor role in the actual main story. her side story with her and mercury however is very dear to me. i'll just dump her toyhou.se profile link here because it has all her backstory etc written out anyway.

MERCURY

art cr. redline on toyhou.se + cookedshrimp on artfight + aquacanis on toyhou.se / gallery

WARNING: includes discussions of child death (via stabbing)

her and z's stories are like integral to eachother so i advise skimming z's backstory before this at the very least but i cant stop you lol

leader of the most high-profile resistance against the government. had a relatively happy childhood that was cut abruptly short when she was out with her family one day; they were mugged, and at 12 years old mercury was stabbed to death alongside her parents. she came back to life with the power to manipulate metals and was almost immediately bought into a prestigious school to train her powers, fully funded by the government. meanwhile her younger sister (being at home w a babysitter at the time) was put in foster care; their relationship was distant, though not from lack of trying on mercury's part.

mercury quietly grew to hate her powers; they were the reason she could barely see her sister, the result of her family's deaths, and yet they were treated like a blessing by everyone around her. at the same time they were the only advantage she really had in life, and in a way the last thing her parents had given her - so she trained like hell and graduated with top grades lest it all be for nothing.

somewhere along the line in high school she met z and they fell in love; z was smart and easy to talk to and about the only person she seemed to be able to have a real critical conversation with about their world - what these powers meant, why they happened in the first place. they both ended up in one of the country's top universities; funded and used personally by the government to scout new talent.

and then, at the start of her second year of university, z vanished. no goodbye, no texts, nothing.

mercury spiralled. she dropped out and searched desperately for z long after anyone else had accepted her death, devoted her life to that and nothing else and barely took care of herself at all. along the way she stumbled across forums; huge networks of people whose loved ones had vanished in the same way. then, even smaller networks talking about how they'd been working for the government months before and now their so-called 'employers' were acting like they'd never existed.

the rebellion was never meant to be what it became. it started as a sort of support group; a shoddily made up forum mercury created herself where people could freely discuss their loved ones and what might have happened to them. the group grew massively, countless stories of the very same circumstances; people digging up whatever proof they could, all manner of people contacting mercury asking how to help, offering funds, even those wanting to seek their own justice - and mercury can't say her encouragement of it was entirely selfless.

the grief had to go somewhere physical. over the years mercury's group outgrew it's original shitty webpage and became something else entirely. but despite being branded as the resistance's leader, most of its build-up felt out of her hands; she managed the funds and tracked members, sure, but she was never a leader. she couldn't give speeches or motivate any emotion but anger. violence was the language she spoke best, despite it all.

she never forgot about z. every time they raided a government facility or uncovered some new documents she looked for her face.

she found it, eventually - on the side that she'd been fighting against for years.

despite that, mercury still loved her. z was one of the only things she had left to love and she clung to her with everything she had. noone knew, of course, because the consequences for either of them would be deadly, but they still got together frequently. despite everything z had done, despite everything mercury knew she'd been capable of and despite how much they fought, now.

mercury is a minor character in the main story; she becomes a sort of mentor figure to nebula and her and z's relationship is sort of a parallel/worst case scenario of nebula and lynn's. i love her very very dearly.

if you've read this entire thing: thank you so much! have a mercurz image dump because they are truly everything to me.

(by redline on toyhou.se - right img is my current pfp!!)

(by aquacanis on toyhou.se aka the goat of mercurz art. they never miss)

(by twgp on toyhou.se . i just . explodes.)

tysm again if you took the time to read this entire thing. i love you and you are so cool

#my ocs #ellie talks #long post #umm feel free to ask any questions bc i love talking about them (if you couldnt tell OMEGALUL)

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walkingdetroit · 4 months

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Garfield Street

As a new(ish) Detroiter, I'm always exploring new streets and discovering hidden gems along the way. After checking out MOCAD last year, I kept walking down Garfield Street to see what else was along my path.

You've probably seen the fluorescent "Everything Is Going To Be Alright" sign outside Woodward's Museum of Contemporary Art, but did you know there's an entire alley of shops and cafes along Garfield?

I stopped into Seva after visiting the DIA on Friday after hearing about their vegan Coney Dog. Although it was a rotating item and no longer on the menu, I opted for a bowl of soup and their vegan garlic bread. Seva has a great Happy Hour from 4-6, featuring half-off appetizers and drink specials.

While you're in the neighborhood, check out Sugar Hill Clay and the N'Namdi Center!

#midtown #midtowndetroit #nnamdicenter #sevadetroit #vegan #vegandetroit #museumofcontemporaryartdetroit #mocad #detroit #walkingdetroit #carfree #urbanism #walkability

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kiwibirdlafayette · 2 years

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starborne kingdom of dianite HC/AU aka i have constant mianite brain and need something to fill the lore void in my heart

[ID: character map of the Mianite characters as starborne. Across the top from left to right is Mianite, Mot, Dianite, Patricia, Ianite and Spark. A pink arrow points down from Dia to Jordan. Purple arrows connect Jordan (counterclockwise) to Tom, Tucker, Sonja and Waglington. To the right of Jordan is Scott, below Ianite and Spark. Below Scott is Martha the Mystic and Prince Andor. to the right of Andor is Capsize, Skipper Redbeard and Rupert the Gray together. end ID.]

hi welcome to the brainrot dump. i have a lot of stuff but I'll try to keep it as coherent as I can. I've left out some details for plot related reasons and so I don't ramble on too much, but feel free to ask if anything's confusing aaaaaaaa please be nice also

This is essentially Origins lore that frames it as a Mianite alternate universe based on Jordan's canonical lore where OSMP!Jordan is the son of "Jack"/Dianite, king of all Starborne + Ianite and Mianite are Dia's right hands, Tiem Reester is together and well, Starwizards are a thing, c!Syndisparklez is canon, Capsize is a space kraken (glow squid), and the S2 gangs all here. (also disclaimer ive only seen about 70% of S2 so those characters are very transformed)

some stuffs inspired by @ingapotejtoo artz <3 and ft. the design for the queen and the "scott son of Ianite" element by RedTriangleRich on twitter! who are both very cool and I love so much <3

ay. lets gooo. time to be the historian i made my starsona out to be

Royal Court of the Starborne

Consists of three siblings born from the first Ruler of the Stars- Mianite (the eldest, resembling an older star), Dianite, and Ianite (the youngest, resembling a new star) and their relations. Instead of the eldest being designated as the crown prince by the ruler at the time, it was designated by a red coloration shown at around 10-ish human years (time works differently on the Homeplanet), which happened to be the second born, Dianite.

Upon becoming king, Dianite designated his siblings as high class nobles, each having a jurisdiction over an element of the Starborne society- Mianite for infrastructure, and Ianite (later alongside her former mercenary- now husband Spark Conway from the moon-planet of Ruxomar (see below)) for history and the arts.

Dianite is married to Queen Khailani (name translated from this arbitrary language to the english name Petunia ) from the former kingdom of NVIDIA (now currently under the control of her EDIT: former lover who is secretly in alliance with the DMCA) who had been at war with Dianite's kingdom for years. The marriage was supposed to indicate a formal alliance between them, but most of the citizens view Pat as a traitor and still wreak havoc once in a while.

Dianite is also in a secret relationship with Mot, a Moonborne/former solider now groundskeeper cause Dia's relationship with the queen is very much open, i'm sure she's got people too wink wonk

Prince Jordan "Captain" Sparklez is the crown prince and son of Dianite (and someone not quite the queen) I don't have much lore for him since he's a canon character in Origins but I like to view him as a very insecure prince, one who is very skilled and can carry with him outward confidence but deep down is very scared, and isn't sure he's quite the guy for this job

Scott Smajor is the lost son of Ianite and Spark, currently living on the Overworld (as his canon character does). In summary, a surprise attack by NVIDIA led to him being flung into a wormhole at around 16ish Earth Years where he lived a nomadic life with a lost memory of the homeplanet before, yknow. origins During this time, he was presumed to be dead by Ianite, who went into a period of grief that led to her supernova-ing in the center of the city. Spark keeps hope, and hired Capsize and her crew to scour the galaxy to find him

Friends of The Prince

Awe yeeee tiem reester is canon baby

In this universe, they're basically the prince's group of friends who he's known since the academy (and who only stick around cause he treats them as equal, and are some of the few starbornes who don't want to be friends with him just cause he's the prince). They get into shenanigans all the time and Sonja built them a little hangout room in the castle with Jord's permission

Tom Syndicate is a member of Dianite's royal guard, a "knights of the round table" kind of designation to the guardsmen that Dia considers the most loyal and he trusts (as they tend to be in closer quarters with the royal court). he's a funky little dude who's a Moonborne (see below in factz) and takes his job as Jordan's "official-unofficial bodyguard" very seriously and they definitely kiss also

Tucker Jeriicho is Mianite's "right hand man" and former solider turned war strategist cause he's just that good at what he does >:] He's practically at Mianite's side at all times, and to some extent is treated by Mianite as the son he never had.

Because Mianite is infrastructure, he works a lot with one of Mia's chief architect Sonja Firefoxx, a Sinnochait starborne (basically meanin she's got ears and a tail made of space lava matter) She works mainly on castle expansions and room design

Sonja works hand in hand with the Fyerians, a group of specialized Starborne builders capable of reality manipulation to create blocks from star matter- basically the wizards- Matt, Tom, Phil- from FyreUK

Waglington is considered a Fyerian, but is moreso a Starwizard, a different kind of star magic user where a solar flare embedded a more powerful form of the central star’s power into their core; they are capable of stronger attacks and regenerative magic. He helps Sonja with making mockups and also does his own little magic stuff with alchemy

Moonplanet of Ruxomar

Within the solar system of the Homeplanet, there are other planets/bodies all under Dianite's jurisdiction, but ruled by lords/ladies, and Ruxomar is one of them. Ruled by Lord Helgrind (a gold colored moonborne) Ruxomar is considered a city of mercenaries and magicians, the most famous of such being the two children of Helgrind, Lady Martha and Sir Andor.

Martha is a Sinnochait (like Sonj) and a Starwizard and is known as a famous writer of starmagics, whose works Wag has been a longtime reader of. Due to of the rarity of Starwizards, she is the only other one he knows of. Andor, on the other hand is a feathered starborne and a very well trained archer. He's had his eyes on the royals for years, a little mystery ye for why

Space Pirates/Former DMCA agents

The current enemies of Dianite's kingdom is DMCA Agency, a kingdom with close proximity to NVIDIA. However, due to the nature of the DMCA, many starborne/citizens defect- and most famously of them are Capsize and her brother Skipper Redbeard.

After having served in the DMCA's agency for years, Capsize led a revolution against the leaders and was permanently damaged while fighting against her ex-fellow guards, and has a scar that allowed the spirit of a space kraken (the space version of a glow squid) to enter her core during the clearing of the species from the kingdom. It basically became a part of her that she can basically 'summon". pretty fitting when she became a full time pirate for hire, and useful. Jordan finds it annoying though that the kraken lives on in her when they spent so long eradicating the species

Redbeard is a corrupted starborne; the particles flowing off the side of his face are alike to the tail of a comet- also a side effect from their altercation with guards.

Wears an eyepatch because he quite literally has no eye there anymore. Rupert wears an eyepatch in solidarity, and because the person they purchased it from was only selling it as a pair

Rupert the Grey is a pirate friend they met along the way and is made up of asteroids; could perhaps be considered a “Astroborne”; isn’t really the origin of a starborne as the others are

Random Starborne Factz (bonus for fun)

The Homeplanet is a nebulous; but solid planet like structure that encircles a Central Star, which gives the Starborne their power

When starborne are born, or after a temp death/supernova, energy from that central star (replicated by stars in the sky from origins canon) emits an energy force that uses a pseudo-type of gravity that holds their solid forms together (the stability of balance for the human-like appearance combined with the star matter)- This is what starwizards can manipulate for healing

Because of this, in the event of eclipses or solar flares, it effects that stability/the way of using that star energy. Eclipses result in a Moonborne (who are less stable in varying levels depending on the stage of the eclipse; more susceptible to damage) and solar flares are how Starwizards are born

any way thats it. wowza

#origins smp #origins smp headcanons #origins sparklez #mianite #mianite AU #starborne kingdom of dianite au #origins smp worldbuilding #AU worldbuilding #captainsparklez #lafakiwi talks #verdigris musings #tiem reester #captain capsize and crew #starborne worldbuilding

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