I keep starting and abandoning posts that go into my drafts, as I try to stay tasteful about how fucking revolted this part makes me. Like, I'm legitimately unsure if the very relevant trauma I have is making me see things that aren't here
But first we see that Star Flower is trying to ingratiate herself to the group, just after she reappears from chapter 5. Chapter 5 is about how Clear Sky is still abusive towards his son, and she comes in after stroking his ego, stressing how alone she is, and appealing to how she'll be loyal unlike his child. (She glances over at Thunder, directly implying this.)
Now in Chapter 9, she's babysitting and trying to care for Milkweed's kits (in spite of discomfort from Milkweed), taking a wet sleeping space away from the others, and pulling more than her own weight "without complaint." Putting herself through harsh sitations to prove her worth.
All while trying to appear extra attractive to Thunder, and later Clear Sky. Basically every man in power who can "protect her"
Like, am I going fucking crazy? With how we later find out that Star Flower was "promised as a mate" to One Eye's subordinate Slash, is... is that hypersexualization? One of the extremely stigmatized symptoms of sexual abuse?
She goes to find Clear Sky alone to throw herself at his paws, and he's very quickly attracted to how she promises to perfectly obey him, have no needs of her own, and finally be the perfect servant that he desires
"I don't deserve your trust because I am dirt. I understand you because I also regret something. I'd die for you. I'll never betray you unlike those who have."
This isn't manipulation. She means this. The story is playing their romance sincerely. She's comparing "betraying" Thunder by telling her own father about an assassination ambush to Clear Sky's history of child abuse, physical assault, and murder
She believes she's on the same level as this; a monster who murdered a childhood friend in a fit of entitled rage. She was a victim of One Eye who really believes that the way her father used her means she "understands" this monster, deserves this treatment.
And Clear Sky LIKES that.
He likes that she will have COMPLETE FAITH in him. That she will follow him WITHOUT QUESTION. That she will OBEY his orders. That's fucking verbatim, that's THE TEXT!!!
WHILE HE'S STILL CRYING ABOUT "ive tried to atone every day" FOLLOWING THE LAST TWO BOOKS WHERE THE ONLY SHITTY THING HE DOESN'T DO IS MURDER INNOCENT WOMEN
Am I insane?? Am I wrong??? Am I missing something here???? Why the fuck is the fandom takeaway "haha sexy girl steals his dad." Did I read the same book
76 notes
·
View notes
Hey, you remember all those vague asks about someone angrily writing a Sans x Barnaby fanfic?
Yeah, well, I did it.
I'm working on the rest of the fic, gonna have at least 10 chapters with a bunch of lore sprinkled in between, but here, have this snippet for now:
All was peaceful in Home, as it always was. That's what Barnaby loved most about it. Everyone was friendly, playful, always willing to listen to his jokes (even if some of them were bad, and he got a tomato or two thrown at him in response.) He especially enjoyed spending time with Wally and Howdy, always willing to teach Wally a new joke or two, before using those new jokes in Howdy's Bugdega.
This particular afternoon, however, Barnaby was lazily lounging under a shady tree. Howdy was busy with some new stock in the shop, and Wally was playing a new complex game with an excitable Julie and a reluctant Frank. As for the others, Eddie was busy delivering mail, and Poppy was helping Sally with a new playscript. So, here Barnaby was, alone and letting out a loud yawn while coming up with some new comedy acts.
“Hm… maybe an airplane joke? Nah, nah, I've already made plenty of those. Something about bones? That could work, but how would I include the topic into an act…?” He mumbled to himself, putting a paw up to his chin in thought.
Then he felt the ground under him… shift.
Sink.
Slowly sinking deeper beneath him.
“What the..?” Barnaby looked down, confused as to why the grass seemed to be growing higher around him.
The sinking began to grow faster now, panicking the big beagle.
“W-Woah, woah, what's going on?!” Barnaby tried to scramble off the ground, but before he could, the grassy ground fell under him all at once. He yelped as he fell beneath the tree's roots, falling down a tight twisted tunnel. Barnaby reached his arms out, in the hopes of latching onto a stray root to climb his way out, but to no avail. He let out a grunt as his head harshly hit a rock on the way down, and his vision went black.
Barnaby didn’t know how long he was out for. However, he did know that, instead of waking up at the bottom of a dirt tunnel like he expected, he woke up in… a snowy forest?
“Ugh…” Barnaby groaned, wincing as he slowly sat up, rubbing the back of his head. With another wounded groan, he looked around in his new environment. The sky seemed to be replaced with a rocky roof, indicating that he was still underground, but… that doesn't explain the evergreen trees or the snow that seemingly fell from nowhere.
“… the hell..?” He mumbled, confused and unsure what to do.
“Hey, buddy.”
Barnaby stiffened at the sudden voice, turning around slowly. There stood a… a skeleton?
“I think you dropped this.” The skeleton spoke in a lazy voice, wearing a blue hooded jacket and a seemingly-permanent toothy smile on his face. In his left hand, he held Barnaby's hat, tilting it out to the beagle. Barnaby must have dropped it when he fell down here.
“Uh… thanks.” Barnaby hesitantly took the hat from the strange skeleton, trying to offer a friendly smile in response, before putting his hat back on.
“No problem,” the skeleton replied simply, putting his hands back in his pockets. “The name's Sans. Sans the Skeleton. What's yours?”
“… Barnaby. Barnaby B Beagle.”
“Nice to meet ya, Beagle. So, what were you doing on the ground? Didn’t look like you were making snow-dogs or anything.”
83 notes
·
View notes
One of the reasons I think it's so important to foster intellectual curiosity and, ultimately, learning and a love for learning is how it subtly changes the very way you interact with and understand the world around you.
It's funny, because I spent time just to hunt and find a skull in Skyrim just so I could rotate it in my inventory and admire how detailed it was for five minutes, pleased about how I could point out and name individual bones (they even included the individual cranial sutures! Including my favourite suture (lambdoid suture)). I'm now trying to hunt for a skeleton so I can spend even more time admiring it. There's something funny and empowering about how the way I interact with things has changed with my learning.
If there is nothing else you do, learn. It doesn't matter what you learn, just seek out information. I know for some, a love of learning was almost punished in environments like school, so start out with things you are inspired by, things that deeply pique your interest. Learning isn't a punishment, it doesn't have to be scary. Whatever you want to learn about is worth the time and effort it takes to understand it.
36 notes
·
View notes
Canaan House Lab Notes
Second House Lab
Trial
Transference/Winnowing
Key
Claimed by the Ninth through completion of the trial.
Lab
Includes a laboratory , a training floor, guns, and a comfy sitting area with two beds, "separated only by a nightstand". Even so Gideon calls it "more lab than living space".
Theorem
"Transference" according to Harrow is "the utilisation of a living soul". Not quite reading someone's mind, but "borrowing perceptions". I believe it's necessary for step two of the Eightfold Word: "analyse [the soul]- understand its structure, its shape".
Third House Lab
Trial
Unclear
Key
Claimed by the Sixth
Lab
Presumably similar to Ianthe's room on the Mithraeum
Theorem
All things considered, probably "step six: consume the flesh".
Fourth House Lab
Trial
Unclear
Key
claimed by the Sixth
Lab
Wish we knew enough about Ulysses and Titania to jump to conclusions on what was inside.
Theorem
?
Fifth House Lab
Trial
Unclear
Key
claimed by the Sixth
Lab
WHAT kind of room did Alfred and Augustine have? Is it similar to his room on the Mithraeum, i.e. classy, elegant, and full of books and 'ancient' artefacts?
Theorem
?
Sixth House Lab
Trial
Psychometric; the molar leading to one of the skeleton servitors.
Key
Completed by Cytherea, some time before the Avulsion trial. Key later given to Silas Octakiseron; copy made by Palamedes Sextus and Harrowhark Nonagesimus.
Lab
Looks like "an open-plan bomb wreck... as though somebody had left the place in a hurry or simply been an unbelievable slob". (I'll leave it to you whether you think that's likely for Cassie and Nigella.) Tools, papers, a chin-up bar, and sleeping bags; no beds.
Theorem
Theorem appears to be related to Teacher and the skeletons, and the necessity of maintaining an energy source to do necromancy. I believe it's step one of the Eightfold Word: "preserve the soul, with intellect and memory intact" - since that's exactly what makes a "hideous corpses" so special.
Seventh House Lab
Trial
Unclear.
Key
Claimed by trial by the Fifth, and killed over it. Key hidden in Abigail, where Cytherea presumably had access to it; later retrieved by the third House.
Lab
Sparsely furnished, but lovingly decorated and painted. Rolled-up mattresses and embroidered quilts.
Theorem
According to Ianthe, the theorem corresponds to step four of the lyctoral process: "fix [the soul] in place so it can't deteriorate".
I would like to note here that I have no idea when the message was left on the wall. I don't think Cytherea would have had time for it before the Fifth were found... did she take the key out and put it back in at some point?
Eighth House Lab
Trial
Avulsion
Key
Completed by the Ninth, key passed on as per the agreement to Cytherea. Key passed on later to Silas Octakiseron, "for safekeeping".
Lab
Lab remains undescribed. But it's not like I'm salty or anything.
Theorem
Relatively safe to assume that it's "Step Three, remove and absorb [the soul]: take it into yourself without consuming it in the process."
Almost confirmed by Ianthe to be the final step, "hook up the cables and get the power flowing." (thanks, @fire-swift!)
Ninth House Lab
Trial
Unclear - but we can probably assume it's related to bones, so it's utterly fascinating to me that Silas even decided to attempt it.
Key
Claimed by the Eighth.
Lab
Never once seen by anyone, because Silas is an intellectual cretin and a dog in a manger.
Theorem
Could it be related to Harrow's conception or the tomb somehow?
--
For the record: I'm relatively certain of the theorems and how they correspond to the Eighthfold Word, but we only know the one Ianthe mentions for sure.
The parts I haven's assigned:
"Step five, incorporate it: find a way to make the soul part of yourself without being overwhelmed."
"Step seven is reconstruction - making spirit and flesh work together the way they used to, in the new body."
"Step Three, remove and absorb [the soul]: take it into yourself without consuming it in the process."
Which would have to go to the Fourth, the Fifth, or the Ninth respectively. Is Incorporation how Abigail manages to deal with the "savage" dead? Is Reconstruction how the Reverend Parents managed to modify an ovum on the chromosomal level? Does "absorption" refer to Isaac's blue-green sodium explosion?
Did John have his own lab, somewhere in there?
156 notes
·
View notes