#this is all i’ve learned from osmosis

[feartheoldblog]

Robbie, whomst is this gothic ghost band creature you speaketh of. Please explain I am curious and too lazy to open Google and your answer would likely be more entertaining anyway.

Okay to make things more entertaining I’m gonna explain in Souls terms.

(This is all my understanding btw I’m still a noob)

Ok the tldr is that they’re a ‘Satanic’ metal band.

Info dump time of the ‘lore’ (there isn’t really that much tbh a lot of speculation):

So, basically, they premise is that they’re part of a Satanic church that tries to spread the word the devil through performing in a band and touring. A more bombastic and involved version of Shabriri trying to encourage the tarnished to take on the Frenzied Flame. Alternatively, they’re like Velka worshippers that wanted to spread sin but haven’t been trapped in Ariamis or anything (yet, there’s still time tbh maybe that’s their next arc).

Basically, the presumed head of the church gets the title of Papa and it’s (up until recently) passed down to the sons of a certain bloodline. So you had Papa Emeritus Nihil who is dead and an awful father (he’s just like Gwyn fr fr). He is also both inside and in kahoots with Sister Imperetor. They’re like Yurt and Mephistopheles if they were Satanists. No qualms with murder. His son Papa Emeritus I got the role. I don’t really know what happened to him tbh I guess he was just bad at his job. Papa Emeritus II became Papa and he was kinda scary, he looks like the rapper Pitbull (or Patches with a ‘tache after a 5 day bender in Ibiza) without his facepaint. I think he was just shit at his job and wasn’t destroying churches and governments so he got fired as well. Then Papa Emeritus III came along (4’9” and horny). All three got murdered and it’s heavily implied/confirmed that it was Nihil and Sister (III got Vengarl’d specifically) so RIP to them. A bit of family murder fun! Like Godwyn the Golden, except with three old men instead of a Demigod. Then Godrick the Golden (Cardinal Copia) comes in and is basically in training to be the next Papa. Except he succeeds unlike Godrick. He’s also potentially the brother of the other Paps (with Sister as his mother) which is a bit awkward. He used that mirror in the Roundtable Hold (plastic surgery) to look more like a Papa so he looks totally different now 👍

The band members are called Ghouls/Ghoulettes (less fucked up versions of those imps that take you to Anor Londo). There’s not really any lore tbh but the fandom interp is that they were summoned from Hell. Sorta like dragging the Pthumerians out of the labyrinths and shoving a guitar in their hands.

Oh, also all of the Papas (except 0) are played by the same guy, just for different albums/tours etc.

Also this is my ugly son:

#THIS IS SO BAD IM SORRY 💀💀💀 #this is all i’ve learned from osmosis #if any info is incorrect that’s on tumblr user ghostholelover or something #they’re also rly hot and old #asks #ghost band

[hindahoney]

Hey - this is kind of an odd question, but I was wondering if you had any recommendations for books or articles to read to learn more about Judaism for someone who’s kind of Jewish (but not really)?

My mum is Jewish, but stopped practicing when she was a teenager, and I was brought up atheist - my dad’s family are Protestant. I basically don’t know anything about Judaism, which feels particularly weird because I know loads about Christianity, just through osmosis. And I’ve never met a whole branch of my family who are apparently very orthodox and live really near us in London. Anyway, I’d like to learn more, and don’t really know how to start? Or if I should start?

Thank you for your question. First of all, if your mother is Jewish, you are Jewish. You're not "kind of Jewish," you're not "Jew-ish." You're fully Jewish, and every movement of Judaism recognizes you as such.

Second, there are endless amazing resources for people in situations like yours. I wish I could say that it was more rare to have descendants of people who assimilated wanting to reconnect, but sadly it's not. I've known some people have found resources for converts to be helpful in reconnecting, so those are mixed in with my list as well.

MyJewishLearning is a great resource for really anything Jewish. I've found their articles to be pretty diverse in terms of approach, and they give perspectives of different movements on each topic.

Jewish101 Playlist - This is great not just for beginners, but for people familiar with Judaism already. They are talks given by one of my favorite Rabbis, Rabbi Mark Golub, about everything from how Jews view G-d, our relationship & struggles with Him, how sex is treated in Judaism, to Jewish holiday traditions & the meaning behind them.

Jewish Learning Institute - This entire channel is beneficial for learning about really any topic. They have a more frum perspective, but I think that learning the core observant values is really important when deciding which ones speak to you. It's also important for Jews to understand their more observant siblings, as many people don't and that ignorance leads to observant Jews being marginalized by their own family. By having that baseline understanding of the reasons behind why Jews do what they do, so that you can decide for yourself it that matters or can fit in your life. The video I've attached is about the survival of the Jewish people, a brilliant and moving speech given by Rabbi Y.Y Jacobson. I think this speech is sure to give every Jew a sense of pride and connection to their fellow Jew, which is vital when forming a Jewish identity. We're a tribe for a reason.

TY Channel Henry Abramson - Not a Rabbi but many people mistake him for one because he's highly educated (PhD). He gives very educational lectures on all sorts of Jewish topics, usually Jewish history. Peppers in some humor too, so he's entertaining to watch.

Unpacked - Gives crash-course type videos (entertaining, some animation, higher budget, etc) on issues that Jews face today, conversations Jews are having in the community, and Jewish history.

My Jewish Mommy life - Jewish vlogger who makes videos on the basics of Judaism, shabbat, holidays, etc. A good resource for anyone just entering the fold. Comes from a more reform background but does a decent job of explaining different perspectives.

Books

The Torah (Hebrew-English, also has Spanish, French, Portuguese. There are tons of versions online)

The Jewish Book of Why - This book is essentially a compilation of a million different questions commonly asked about Jews/Judaism and the answers given range in the interpretation of various movements.

Choosing A Jewish Life - Kind of a how-to guide in terms of choosing a Rabbi, synagogue, overview of basic Jewish concepts & movements, choosing a Hebrew name for yourself (You can give yourself one if you don't have one!!), and how to discuss with your family your decision to be Jewish, or more observant.

Jewish Literacy - ABSOLUTELY MY FAVORITE JEWISH RESOURCE. Can be read like a novel or an encyclopedia (like for referencing certain topics). I read through this completely and it is an amazing compilation of every topic from important Biblical stories and their Jewish interpretation, Jewish history from its creation to modern times, IP conflict, major Jewish historical figures, modern Jewish thought on certain topics. Genuinely, if you want to know something about Jewish tradition and practice, it's probably in this book.

To Be a Jew - Halachot (Jewish laws) around observance in daily life, their oigins, and why we do them. Guide for major and minor holidays, major life events, and an explanation of rationale for modern Jewish life.

Living a Jewish Life - Another why-to and how-to guide for Judaism in your daily life.

Helpful Apps:

Shabbat Times (Self-explanatory, you put in your city and it tells you what time Shabbat starts)

Jewish Chronicle/Jooish News - News around the world for what's happening to and by Jews

TorahAnytime - Like Youtube but for Jewish learning

Daily Jewish Prayers - Invaluable resource that explains when which prayers are said, provides it in transliteration, English, and Hebrew

CalJ - Jewish calendar. Great for knowing what the Hebrew date is and when/what times Jewish holidays start.

JVL (Jewish Virtual Library) - a bunch of Jewish books

Jewish accounts to follow:

Here's a very short and incomplete list of Jewish accounts I recommend following, because they post about Judaism a lot and give a good idea of what every-day Jews think about a wide range of things. They are really invaluable resources when it comes to learning from real Jews and I trust their judgment:

@shretl

@tikkunolamorgtfo (has been around forever, literally amazing)

@adoratato

@jewish-kermit

@spacelazarwolf

@magnetothemagnificent

@laineystein

@gonnauseanomdeplume

@hiddurmitzvah

@girlactionfigure

@rimonoroni

@anonymousdandelion

@starlightomatic

@unbidden-yidden

#jumblr #jewblr #judaism #jewish convert #jewish conversion #jewish culture #jew by choice #frumblr #jewish history #jewish resources #jewish stuff #jew stuff

[noodyl-blasstal]

number 9 or 19 for the prompt list for taakitz if you're feeling inspired? :)

Thank you so much for this prompt which is from this list (I’m still open to requests.) Sorry the reply itself is un-prompt (I spiralled), but hopefully you'll forgive me!

Read below or on Ao3.

--

Man, that’s going to stain…How’s it going?/ Well, haha, (doesn’t answer)

–

Kavitz screws all his courage to his sticking point and opens his eyes. He looks at the cake. He looks at his hands. He looks at the kitchen counter. They’re all still the same; bright red, unpleasantly sticky, and mocking him. The ‘icing’ could have at least had the decency to dry slightly in the air by now, but no, he’s made some kind of sugar based slime that is intent on eating everything - especially Taako’s worktops. 

Taako’s worktops… Taako definitely absolutely loves these worktops more than Kravitz. Kravitz knows this, everyone knows this, so why on earth had he decided to try his hand at baking at Taako’s house instead of his own? Maybe it was because he spent more of his non-death crime battling time here than anywhere else, he hadn’t spent a non-work night on the Astral Plane since well… hmm… and all his stuff was here, so it made sense, perfect sense. Or it would, if he hadn’t just committed a crime against baking, nature, and kitchens in general, there was no way Taako wasn’t going to notice.

He’s stuck, is the problem. He can’t operate his phone with his sugary murder hands even though it will absolutely be worth Sloane laughing at him if she can save him from this. Sadly it’s not like he can just go over there… although, no, actually, it’s exactly like he can just go over there! Kravitz reaches out his hand, and only winces slightly at the wet sound his scythe makes as it zoops into it. It’s fine. It’ll clean, and if not he can just tell people it’s blood and they’ll think he’s extra fearsome probably definitely maybe.

He cuts a very careful rift, if he can place it just right then… Kravitz leans his face gingerly into the rift and uses his nose to press the doorbell. He learned very quickly after Sloane and Hurley started dating that it was important to rift outside and wait for someone to answer the door. Sloane tugs said door open as he’s reaching his nose out to press the bell for a second time.

“Kravitz? What, and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck?” She folds her arms and gives him a look which means he’s definitely never going to hear the end of this.

“I need some help.”

Sloane raises her eyebrows.

“It’s a cake problem.”

“You didn’t!?”

“I…”

“Kravitz! After last time? And the time before… and…”

“I thought it might be different.”

“Because?”

“Taako’s good at baking.”

“And you figured cake osmosis was a thing?” Sloane’s lack of sympathy would be hurtful if she wasn’t entirely correct.

“On reflection, it wasn’t the best idea I’ve had in my life.” An understatement, but he doesn’t have time to properly catalogue this error right now. It can haunt him when he’s lying awake at 3am for the rest of his life instead.

“How bad is it?”

“It’s not sentient.” He’s remaining optimistic.

“Yet…” She mutters.

“I gave it a bit and it seems fine.”

“Uh huh.”

“I know that’s what I said last time, but I really think it’s okay.”

“If I had a gold piece for every time…” Sloane begins.

“Please just help.” Kravitz must sound pathetic enough because Sloane just rolls her eyes, and smiles fondly.

“Okay, are you coming to me or am I coming to you?”

Kravitz holds up his non-scythed hand.

“I’m coming to you,okay. Gimme a minute and a me-sized rift?”

“Thank you.” Kravitz nods and splices.

–

There’s a shuffling noise and Sloane opens the door again.

“Why do you even have a hazmat suit?” Kravitz tries not to feel offended, he doesn’t succeed.

“It’s not a hazmat, that would be overkill, it’s a tyvek.”

“And you have it because?”

“Do you wanna know?” The distinct edge to her question tells him he definitely doesn’t.

“Is it for work?”

“Yes.”

“The flower shop job?”

“Nope, and you said you don’t wanna know anything that you could be compelled to give up in a court of law so…”

“So I won’t ask any further questions and should instead be grateful that you’re coming to help save me and Taako’s worktops?”

“You got it on Taako’s worktops? Kravitz! I’m going to miss you.”

“I don’t know if he can kill me.”

“Here lies Kravitz…” Says Sloane as she steps through the rift. “... The bestest friend a gal could ask for. I’ll miss his ability to transport me without paying bus fare most of all.”

“Thanks Sloane, you always know how to make me feel better.” Kravitz says dryly.

“So you sure fucked this up, yeah?” Sloane looks around at the general devastation.

“The cake might be nice?” Kravitz points with a sticky hand.

“Mmhmm.” Says Sloane like she wants to believe him but can’t.

“But… it’s just… yeah…” He trails off.

“Have you tried anything yet?” 

“Er…”

“Water?”

“I can’t touch the tap.” Kravitz brandishes his free-hand. Tries for a second time to banish his scythe, fails. Maybe he doesn’t need to mention that specific issue to Sloane yet. “It’s really sticky.”

“Right. I’ll try water first. Do you have sponges you don’t care about?”

“As opposed to the sponges I do care about?”

“Hey, Kravitz, do you remember who you live with? The man who cares about nothing more than his kitchen and nearly broke up with you when you scrubbed the cast iron? You think he doesn’t have opinions about your sponges?”

She has a point. “There’s some in the garage.” He starts to move towards the door.

“No!” Sloane grabs the back of his suit and pulls. “You stay here, we need to keep the crime scene secured. By which I mean you specifically. Don’t move.

It’s a good point. Kravitz is going to stay so still. “I can’t quite remember where they…”

Sloane’s gone before he can finish and back too quickly for him to think about in depth. There’s definitely no reason for that which relates to her ability to case a joint.

“I’m going to try cold water first in case hot water makes it harden… or, you know, go on fire.” 

“That was one time!” 

“One time too many, Kravitz. One time too many.”

He opens his mouth and shuts it firmly again. The ‘gift to science’ defence doesn’t really work when he still doesn’t know how he did it.

Sloane dabs gingerly at the very edge of the worktop spatter. They both lean away in anticipation. Nothing happens. “No explosions is a good start.” She  says cheerfully, as she walks back to the sink. “I’ll test hot now.” She repeats the leaning, runs the hot tap directly onto the red spot on the sponge.

“Is it helping?”

“Nope.”

“Soap?”

She tries. “Nope.”

“How hard do you think it is to replace an entire kitchen and also me in… er…” Kravitz glances at the clock. “2 hours?”

“If anyone can do it’s Magnus. Well… maybe not you. You could ring your Mum?”

“She’s not my Mum.”

“Then why did I have to get my parents to call her before I was allowed to come play and why did I have to call her Mrs The Raven Queen when I came to visit?”

“That’s manners.”

“So anyway, call your Mum.”

“I’m not calling my Mum… I mean. Fuck. Sloane! Stop laughing! Can you help me ring Magnus?”

“Why can’t you…” Kravitz brandishes his hand again. “Ah. Fine. Where’s your phone?”

Kravitz swings a hip towards her.

“Nope.”

“Sloane!”

She rolls her eyes. Hard. “It’s a good job I love you, you know that?”

“Like I haven’t earned this.”

“Hey, I’ve never…”

“Don’t make me bring up The Plantcident.” Kravitz side eyes her as she reaches for his phone.

“Urgh, you’ll never let me forget that, will you? I maintain it could have happened to anyone.”

“But instead it happened to you and I had to talk the bank manager down so he didn’t press charges.”

“It’s a good thing you’re so clean cut and know all the fancy words. Now, sssh... “Sloane holds his phone up to his ear.” … it’s ringing.” 

“Wait, how did you know my code?”

Sloane doesn’t answer, she just smiles unnervingly instead. Kravitz worries sometimes about how much and how little he knows her all at once.

Magnus picks up before Kravitz can ask any more ill-advised questions (because he definitely doesn’t want to know the answers to them.)

“Hello Magnus, I just had a quick…. Yes? Oh… yes… No of course I think he’s a very clever boy… No, it’s okay, you don’t have to put me on to hi… Hello Johann. Magnus says you did a very good job today. Well done… Magnus? … Magnus?... Johann, can you get Magnus?... …. … MAGNUS?” Sloane winces. Kravitz mouths a quick sorry her way. “Great! Magnus, I… No, don’t hang up, I rang because I had a question, you know the kitchen worktops? … Mmmhm, yeah, they’re incredible, how long did they take you to make?... Oh? A week? Wow… And that was quick?” Kravitz widens his eyes at Sloane, her face doesn’t give anything away. “... and if it was a rush order? Oh… it was? Wow. Yeah. Lots of intricate bits…. Mmm… yes, you’re right, it is a funny shape in here. Good point… okay, so if someone had say, for example, stained them, how would one go about getting that stain out?... No it’s not a sex thing!... Magnus!... Do you really want to know the answer to that?... I didn’t think so… Look, it’s a hypothetical question which I  need the answer to please?... Yes, haha, you’re right it is a good thing it’s hypothetical, Taako would be really upset yes, but if you could just tell me… you know, for the thought exercise, yes, right… It would depend on the stain? So if something was sticky and had food dye?... Magnus please, you have to focus… Okay… Yep… Water… nail polish remover… baking powder and vinegar… toothpaste… yes we’ll try that… yes of course hypothetically… no, please don’t tell him… Because nothing has happened. Everything’s fine. Sloane can tell you.” 

Kravitz gives Sloane a pleading look and she retracts the phone to speak to Magnus herself. “Hey Magnus, yep, all fine here… Ha, yeah, just playing a fun hypothetical game, you know how we do that… give my love to Julia and Johann... Yeah, thanks from both of us… Bye!”

“So water didn’t work, but we can try the nail polish remover and the toothpaste, and I’m fairly sure Taako has the baking powder and vinegar.

“Be right back.” Sloane’s gone before Kravitz can tell her where anything is.

He tries to un-summon his scythe again while he waits. Nothing happens. He tries again, double hard, it tries to leave, there’s a second where it might, but no. Stuck fast. The door creaks open slowly before he can try a third time.

“I didn’t even know it was possible to get magic stuck to you.” He sighs.

Sloane doesn’t reply.

“Sloane?”

There’s a skittering noise. No. Oh fuck no.

“SLOANE!” Kravitz yells, hoping she’ll hear him before whichever one of them it is can get themselves stuck too.

“Pss pss pss pss pss.” He keeps his arms well out of reach, and moves slowly towards the door.

It’s Tiny Taco, of course it’s Tiny Taco. 

“Hello there, why don’t you go back out into the hall? You can play with your toys and your friends. It’ll be so nice out there in the rest of the house, in literally any room but this room.” 

Tiny Taco struts confidently forward and rubs his head fondly against Kravitz’s legs. This is the most affection he has ever shown him. Kravitz fights the impulse to lean into it, it’s all part of the ploy. Maybe if he slowly shuffles towards the door?

“You yelled?” Sloane asks from the doorway?

Kravitz turns to look at her. It’s all the distraction Tiny Taco needs and he makes a break for it.

“No no no no no no no!” Kravitz tries to block him with his body, Taco dodges. “Sloane can you…?”

She tries, she does. She moves fast. It’s not fast enough.

Kravitz reaches out and grabs him.

“Kravitz!” Sloane thwacks her palm against her head. “You had one job and it was standing still.”

Taco’s already squirming in his hand, this is going to get ugly fast.

“Shout at me later. Help, please?”

Sloane sighs unnecessarily loudly. “I’m taking a photo.”

“What? Sloane, no.”

“Do you want my help or not?”

Kravitz knows better than to try and bargain with her. “Fine.”

“Smile!” 

Kravitz is not going to smile.

“Smile or I’m not helping.”

Kravitz smiles.

“Okay, what goes best with cat? Toothpaste?”

Taco wriggles again and digs his claws sharply into Kravitz’s arm.

“Ouch! Anything, just try.”

Sloane shrugs and brandishes the Aquafresh. “Brace yourself.”

It works, eventually. Kravitz has fresh scratches, but Taco has been pasted (and slightly snipped) clean and returned to the ‘anywhere but the kitchen’ exclusionary zone with enough Dreamies to buy his silence.

“One down. Shall we try it on the worktop or your hands first?” 

“The worktop’s more important.”

“Oh wait, your phone’s going.”

“Who is it?”

Sloane checks. “Taako. There’s a few missed calls too.”

Kravitz smiles as endearingly as he can manage. Surely Sloane wouldn’t stand in the way of speaking to his boyfriend, not after how much he helped when she was worried about telling Hurley. “Would you mind?”

“Fine.” Sloane holds the phone to his ear.

“Hello Taako! It’s so nice to hear from you, love, how’s your day going? … mmhm… incredible… I hope you told him off… Maybe not the words I would have used, but as you say, it’s your school… Another award? Congratulations! Very much deserved as far as I’m concerned… How am I? Oh you know, fine… My day? Nothing much, just missing you… You can’t fireball me through a phone dearest… No, actually I don’t think you should try, if anyone can it’s you..” 

Sloane prods him hard and makes a ‘wind it up’ gesture.

“Ow… I mean… How is your afternoon looking?... Wonderful… Anyway, I should let you go. I know you’re busy… No no, honestly… I’ll see you later, I know you have so much on… Love you… Goodbye, Taako!”

“Gross.” Says Sloane loudly.

“Shut  up, you love your girlfriend.” She doesn’t have a leg to stand on as far as Kravitz is concerned.

“Yeah, you’re not wrong… I was actually thinking of… Wait, now’s super not the time. Let’s try and fix… you know, all of this?” Sloane gestures to the whole of everything.

Kravitz nods.

The layer of toothpaste doesn’t have the same effect on the counter as it did on Taco.

“Nail polish remover?” Sloane asks.

“Yes, whatever you think.” Kravitz eyes the clock warily.

It doesn’t work either, although it does remove the toothpaste effectively.

“Vinegar explosion?” Sloane sounds more excited than he’d like her to about this option.

“Did Magnus say how much to use?”

“Nope!” She says, happily, shaking powder across the worktop.

“Maybe you should start with a test patch?”

“Uh huh.” Sloane looks him dead in the eyes as she pours vinegar over it all.

The fizzing is far more dramatic than it would be on a small scale, he’ll give her that. Especially when it turns red.

It’s unfortunate that it’s still going when they hear the door open.

“Home, I’m honey!” Taako shouts from the entrance hall.

“Hi Honey, I’m Kravitz.” Yells Kravitz, automatically.

Sloane stops watching the fizzening long enough to pretend to puke. Kravitz glares at her. He can be gross in his own home. Taako’s own home. He doesn’t live here. Obviously.

“Where are you, Kraveroo? … Oh, hey there hi hello, Taco, most precious baby angel, how’re you doing this fine d… KRAVITZ!” 

“Fuck.” Say Kravitz and Sloane in tandem. 

“I can’t believe he told, we gave him so many treats!” Sloane shakes her head.

“He hates me.” Says Kravitz, mournfully. “We should never have trusted him.” 

“Kravitz? Where are you and why have you given the cat a shit haircut?” Taako’s voice is hovering somewhere between pissed off and amused and Kravitz would love to be able to tip it over into the latter category. He can’t deal with being in any more trouble right now.

He widens his eyes at Sloane, sadly she’s doing the same right back.

“I feel like we’ve gotta let it fizz? That’s what’s doing the cleaning, right?” Sloane hisses.

“Yes. That sounds logical, but how do I?” Kravitz holds his free hand up.

“You could poke your head out through the door?” 

“What?”

“He can’t see your hands if you’re just a head at the kitchen door.”

“Of course, thanks Sloane.” Kravitz makes it all the way to the door before realising his error. “Er…”

Sloane sighs heavily and dashes over to crack the door open before retreating to the counter.

“Hello my love.” Kravitz shouts, head poking into the hall and foot firmly wedged to stop the door opening any further.

Taako careens round the corner. “Why’re you in the kitchen?” His eyes narrow dangerously.

“I’m just doing something. A surprise.” 

Taako doesn’t look any less suspicious. “What’s that smell?”

“Surprise smell.” Kravitz smiles his most reassuring smile.

Apparently it’s less reassuring than he thinks because Taako disappears, and, if the “what the fuck?” From behind him is anything to go by, blinks into the kitchen.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Sloane’s hands are in the air and her head’s swivelling frantically, looking for escape.

“Cha’boy hasn’t a clue what it looks like… what the actual fuck is going on in here?”

“There may have been a slight incident.” Kravitz decides that there’s not many routes other than honesty left at this point.

“Slight?” Taako raises a single, reproachful eyebrow.

“It’s not all of the things. Just some of them.” Kravitz tries not to sound sulky, he does.

“Why’re you holding your scythe?”

“Uh…”

“Why’re you red?”

“Er…”

“Did you try to bake?”

“No.” Kravitz replies before he can remember his plan to the tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. “I mean, yes. I did bake! The baking wasn’t the bit that went wrong. Look!” Kravitz points triumphantly at the cake.

Taako’s eyes soften for the barest moment. “It’s heart shaped.”

“It’s for you!” 

“And the red stuff?”

“I had to ice it.” 

“With?”

“Icing.”

“That you made from…?”

“I’m not actually entirely sure I remember.”

“Okay. Well first things first, Krav, Kraverino, beloved… you’re a skeleton. You, my guy, are made of bones. Meat you isn’t real.”

“Meat you isn’t real!” Sloane repeats. “I forgot.”

“Oh.” Kravitz unravels himself immediately and feels his scythe release into the ether, thank goodness. Not that he didn’t love it, but it’s a pain in the arse to lug around all the time, plus the drama of the reveal is always fun. “Thank you Taako.”

“Is this why you chopped Taco?” 

“There was an incident.” Says Sloane. “But I toothpasted him out.”

“And he only bit me twice!” Kravitz adds.

“See, cha’boy said you he was coming round to you!” Taako sounds genuinely delighted. To be fair, it is an improvement.

“So that’s one down.” Sloane says. “Just… this to go.”

“Have you tried, you know, magic?”

“Er…” There’s a long pause. A very long pause.

“I rifted to Sloane.”

Taako pinches his fingers at the bridge of his nose. “So just to clarify, neither of you, including you, handsome man, literally made of magic. tried any kind of mending, purifying,…” he lowers his hand to glance at the mess again. “... banishing?”

“Well…” Sloane starts, as if there’s any way to get them out of this.

“We rang Magnus!” Says Kravitz quickly. He can’t leave it all to Sloane.

“Ah, well if you rang Magnus, notoriously magical Magnus! Of course he would have thought to suggest all of the best wizardly crafts, he’s always casting spells, punch, chop, harder punch, Magical Magnus, we all call him.”

“Can you get rid of it?I think the fizzing has stopped now.” Sloane points at the still definitely-more-red-than-it-should-be counter.

“Can Taako get rid of it? This lowly idiot wizard? I suppose I can maybe see my way to trying, but what good could cha’boy possibly do against something so fearsome as icing?” Taako waves his hands dramatically. 

The red gets redder.

“Did… have you just made it stronger?” Sloane asks in disbelief.

“I meant to do that. It was just a warm up. Natch.” Taako’s voice doesn’t waver.

Kravitz tries very hard not to feel too smug. 

“Abraca-fuck-off!”

A small chunk disappears, but the rest remains just as vibrant.

“Fuck. That was high level too. Uh. Cha’boy’s out of ideas, have you called your Bird Mom, Krav?”

“She’s not my Mu…” 

Taako gives him a hard look. “Because, cha’boy’s just saying, these worktops, they’re good worktops, and it’d be a real shame if anything were to irreversibly stain them.”

“Taako, I can’t contact the god who oversees the natural order of life and death and ask her to take some time out to come fix… this.”

Taako raises an eyebrow.

Sloane gives him a look.

Kravitz snatches his phone back from her with his now blissfully un-gunked bone hands. “Fine, but I’m not communing, I’m texting.”

“She always rings you straight back anyway.” Taako says.

“Classic Mum behaviour.” Sloane adds.

Kravitz needs to spend less time with both of them, he refuses to be bullied like this.

His phone rings. “Hello M…y queen.” Kravitz glares at them both as they snicker. “We’re experiencing some issues with an, er, substance… No, not like that… No, we wouldn’t take anything that’s bad for us or the people around us… Thank you… Do you think there’s anything you can… yes. Yes, I know… I promise, this is the last time… I thought that maybe I’d be better… not just proximity… yes, okay, yes. Proximity… Thank you… I promise I won’t… I know I did, but this time I really mean it… Thank you very much… I love-you-too-bye.”

“What did your Mum say?” They chorus wearing their most pointed smiles.

“She’s going to have a look at it.” All of the fight has gone out of him. Kravitz has accepted his fate.

The counter shakes violently. Nothing happens.

It shakes again.

Nothing.

Kravitz’s phone rings.

He doesn’t want to answer. Less than anything does he want to answer, but he cannot ignore direct summons.

“Hello… yes… No… I can’t remember… I’m sorry… I don’t think… Okay. Yes. I’ll ask him…” Kravitz turns to Taako. “How attached are you to your kitchen?”

Taako narrows his eyes. “Very.”

“How would you feel if the counters had to be banished into a secure dimension?”

Taako’s mouth forms into a tight line.

“It may also not really be a question of whether you’re happy for it to happen or not because Raven checked with Istus and there’s a strand of fate which needs to be snipped right now…”

“So what you’re saying is that cha’boy’s losing a chunk of the kitchen he spent what feels like a century planning? That his best friend in the world hand crafted for him?” Taako presses his hand to his forehead and pretends to faint.

Kravitz opens his mouth and shuts it again. Guilt gnaws at him. He wants more than anything to fix this, but he doesn’t know how.

“Shall I tell Magnus you said he was your best friend?” Sloane asks.

“Take the counter.” Taako replies immediately.

“Taako, I’m so sorry.”

Taako smiles and waves his hand. “Honestly, Taako was bored of them.”

“But…”

“Magnus hasn’t really been challenged lately. I think he needs this. We’ll do it as a favour to him.”

“Are you…?” 

“Honestly, Taako made the kitchen with himself in mind, but it’s not just cha’boy living here anymore, is it?” Taako waves his hand flippantly.

Kravitz pauses. “I… Taako.”

“Tell her to do it now.”

His tone leaves absolutely no room for disagreement, Kravitz gives the answer.

There’s a brief moment of nothing, enough time for Kravitz to chance a tentative look at Taako. He meets Kravitz’s eyes confidently, doesn’t even flinch as reality twists around them and there’s a gentle pop. Kravitz doesn’t need to check to know the counter is gone. 

Taako smiles at him.

“I’m gonna head out. Kravitz could you…?” Sloane asks.

He cuts the rift without looking at her. “Thank you for helping.”

It seals behind her.

“I’m sorry.” Kravitz says again, because he is.

“You made me a cake.” Taako says again.

“Yes.” Kravitz replies, because he did. Regardless of everything else, he did.

“Because you wanted to fuck my kitchen up?”

“No! I, look, you made the me the pastries.”

“The date ones?”

“Yes. The ones from home. You spent weeks working at it and you didn’t even have a recipe, just me trying to explain a taste I can barely remember.”

“And cha’boy nailed it.” Taako grins smugly and Kravitz loves him in all his brash confidence.

“You did. You really did.”

“So you decided I needed cake too?”

“No one ever bakes for you.” Kravitz says quietly.

“Ango did that one time.” 

“Yes, that’s true. But it’s been ages and they got set on fire, and no one else does. You deserve it. You deserve to be taken care of right back.”

“Hey, Krav. Quick question, just a teensy smidgey one. Who got the shoe organiser after cha’boy kept falling over them?”

Kravitz tilts his head, uncertain what this has to do with anything.

“Go on, don’t get shy on me, who did that?”

“Me.” Says Kravitz. He’d been sick of worrying that Taako was going to fall over and get lost in a shoe pile and need help when he wasn’t there to give it.

“And who actually puts the shoes on the shoe organiser when cha’boy forgets?”

“Me?” It’s not like he does it all the time, just now and again.

“And who got the cats those extra perches to go round the walls because I was worried they were bored?” Taako doesn’t wait for an answer. “Oh, yeah, that was you too.”

“But…”

“Bones, you care for Taako in so many different ways, so leave the baking to the professionals because so help me fantasy Jesus if you wreck any more of our house.” 

“Our house?”

“Yeah. Now shut up and tell me what your perfect kitchen looks like so I can fix it.”

#Sloane and Kravitz are friends and I refuse to hear any different #Sloane #Kravitz #Taakitz #Taako #Background Magnus because nothing brings me more joy than one sided phone conversations with him #Can you guess which line made me laugh so hard I choked on my drink? #This went off piste and I had a great time #The adventure zone #TAZ #Taz balance #Tiny Taco is my favourite villain

[like-a-bantha]

Sleep Study

Summary: When there's no time for piloting lessons, you suggest a sort of learning-by-osmosis experiment to Tech. What could possibly go wrong?

Pairing: Tech/GN Reader (No Y/N)

Rating: T

Warnings: Language, not beta-read

Word Count: 6.2K

AO3 | Masterlist

Now, this might sound weird – maybe even a tad disrespectful – but bear with me.

I’ve recently begun piloting lessons with Tech and I couldn’t ask for a better teacher. He knows, while I am a proficient mechanic, I’m a total novice when it comes to actually flying, and the man deserves a medal for his patience with me. I’ll ask the same question five times and he only gets mildly agitated around the third, but he’s always been understanding. Not everyone can be a certified genius, after all.

So lessons have been going pretty not bad, I’d say; it’s the workload that’s been causing problems. Cid’s got us going from job to job with almost no breaks. Lately we’re lucky if we get half a rotation to stop and refuel, let alone catch our breath. We’re all exhausted. We’re all on edge. It’s gotten to the point where we’ve had to put a pause on the lessons for a few days just to keep up with general maintenance on top of the back-to-back missions. Thankfully, in those few quiet moments where we can get to that maintenance, I’ve been able to sort of keep up on my lessons thanks to Tech’s rants. And maybe, for whatever reason, my brain decided these rants were incredibly soothing on one particular sleepless flight. And maybe, who knows why, I may have fallen asleep just a bit. It didn’t seem like Tech was angry, or even upset. He was almost apologetic when he gently nudged me awake.

Today, after landing on Ord Mantell for an incredibly brief pit stop, Tech and I work in silence below the ship. He’s been quiet with me since my last accidental nap and I just can’t figure out how to voice how sorry I am without sounding — I don’t know. Disingenuous? And if I’m honest, how do I avoid sounding like a total creep? But we’re just working next to each other, neither of us saying a word, and it’s nice but it’s not us and there’s this massive knot in my gut saying well, it’s your own fault, don’t you remember? 

This silence is awfully comfortable. It really would be such a shame if something were to change that.

“Hey, Tech,” I jumped in without a plan and I’ve given up hope on this being eloquent in any way, at this point I’ll be glad if my question is at least somewhat coherent, “I’m sorry about,” I trail off a bit, I don’t want to finish that sentence actually, “I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but I just, I had this idea — weird idea — and maybe a request? Feel free to shoot it down, I mean, if it’s too much. Would you mind sending me the audio files of your lessons? Sorry, just, they’re really interesting but also relaxing and, and, maybe it can be a sort of experiment, y’know? If I fall asleep listening will I retain the information? Strange idea, sorry.”

Tech stares blankly, and when I turn to meet his gaze after giving myself a moment to reboot, he continues to stare blankly. His head is just barely tilted, and he wears a look somewhere between genuine confusion and borderline concern. With a slight shake of his head he finally responds, “Forgive me, I’m afraid I do not follow.”

If only there was a way to smash your head into a wall a few times without doing any real damage. I’d kill for that right about now. I could’ve just kept my mouth shut but no. Real bang-up job on my part.

“I, uh, I fell asleep the other day because – well, because I was tired, mainly – I don’t know, I just find your voice really soothing? Like, everything’s been really chaotic lately but listening to you talk about paralight systems made it,” I take a deep breath, no going back now, “ah, it made it a lot less chaotic. Like everything was quiet for a minute. Safe.”

Another long exhale. Tech’s still silent, processing, but his brows are raised now and his eyes have gone a bit wide behind his goggles. I can’t tell if that’s a good or bad thing just yet. It’s probably best to go against my gut and keep my mouth shut for a few minutes, but now the minutes feel longer than usual. Karked this one up a bit, I think.

“So you would like the audio files to… study?” I nod before he even finishes his sentence. “Or will you be using them to fall asleep?” I’m still nodding and it certainly isn’t helping his confusion at all.

“Both?” I shrug.

He raises his gloved hand inquisitively to his chin, and his face is blank aside from the visible pondering, and now I’m really starting to think I’ve karked it all up. I could’ve put more thought into it, taken my time both in the apology and easing him into the idea of sharing his pre-recorded knowledge, but instead I sloppily tossed all my cards on the table knowing I had a shit hand. And not just any shit hand, no, it’s an alarmingly weird hand. Just as I’m about to start spewing apologies his hand drops slightly from his chin, index finger extended, “An interesting experiment indeed. I shall transfer the files of our previous lessons as well as my own personal recordings.”

Huh.

Wait. “Personal recordings?” Why do my ears feel warm?

Luckily for me his face is buried too deep in his datapad to notice the tinge of red creeping up my neck. “Yes, before you joined our squad and long before our schedule became so hectic, I kept an audio diary of sorts. Detailed accounts of my findings on missions.”

“Cool,” Yes, I can feel how wide and dopey my grin is but I’m still riding the high of my botched opener somehow working and couldn’t care less. “I feel like I remember seeing you telling a bug facts about itself way back when I met you guys. Makes sense now.”

His brows immediately furrow as he finally pulls his gaze away from the glowing screen in his hands. “You assumed I was talking to the insect?”

Straight faced, I raise both my hands like I’m pleading innocent. “Hey, I don’t judge.”

I break first. My shoulders begin to shake, then my still-raised hands, as the laughter bubbles up. Tech isn’t far behind. We look at each other as we laugh and I can’t help thinking that if it were anyone else I’d hide my face, but it’s like I’ve just now realized turning away would mean missing this uncharacteristically uncontained joy. 

Normally I hate sleeping in my helmet. I know it’s for protection or whatever, but there are few things worse than waking up with a crick in your neck and the gnarly one-two punch that is the bed-head-helmet hair hybrid. Alas, I am dedicated to not only my experiment but also not getting mocked by Wrecker for the next week for listening to Tech’s lecture on, let’s see… “Botanical Symbolism in Folklore Across Kashyyyk”? Sounds interesting. But since I’m not on watch for another seven hours, I can actually take my time choosing rather than scrolling a few pages ahead to the B’s and picking the first one that stands out. I kept scrolling and skimming for a while, he must’ve sent his entire audio library to me; there are hundreds of pages and I’m barely halfway through the aurebesh. Then I’m suddenly scrolling rapidly back to the top of the page as if my subconscious just had a great idea that I’m simply too conscious to understand, and that great idea is to sort the files in chronological order.

I don’t have to scroll back very far at all, Tech wasn’t kidding when he said he only stopped his audio diary when the work started. There’s one titled “The mountainous planet of Guntcania 5” from a few days before we last left Ord Mantell. We’d been sent to loot a newly abandoned Imperial shipyard, driven out by a group of formidable freedom fighters whom we were told were not in it for the profit but the valiant cause. Turns out it was both. I remember Tech quietly commenting on the geological formations to no one in particular. I remember standing a bit closer to hear his comments. I fell asleep just shy of eleven minutes after hitting play.

He caught me in the kitchen not long after I woke up, both of us beelining to the instant caf.

“Thought your shift was over,” I grab two packets from the drawer as Tech retrieves two mugs from the cupboard, “Want some of that herbal tea instead? Get some rest, maybe?”

It’s nice, these quiet moments with him. I’ll watch the kettle, if that old saying is true maybe I can buy us a few more of those moments.

“I have yet to decrypt the schematics from the refinery,” With a heavy sigh he sets the datapad down on the countertop, his shoulders hang and his exhaustion is visible, “Once I’ve completed that and analyze the data I will rest. Until then, I will stick with caf.”

I give a sympathetic smile, “Y’know, I’d offer to help but I think that isn’t exactly my area of expertise.”

“I would more than appreciate the company,” Tech interjects, and by the look on his face I think it took us both by surprise. “If you would be so kind as to join me, that is. Though, if you have duties you must attend to I completely understand and–”

My surprise quickly melts into a warm smile. “‘Course, Tech. I’d love to.” And his face softens in turn. And then there’s a beat where we’re just standing there smiling at each other. Then another. And another. Have you ever seen a tooka knock a cup off of a table and jump at the sound of the crash? Now, imagine that but instead of a tooka it’s two mercenaries, and instead of the clatter of a cup it’s the kettle coming to a boil with an abrupt screech. I think we’d find it much funnier if we weren’t still in the vast realm of half-asleep. Right now, it’s just enough to elicit a soft chuckle at most.

Tech retrieves his datapad as I fix the caf. “Have you begun conducting your experiment? I’m sure you’ve already seen, but I have transferred all of my files from the past year or so, I’m interested to hear your findings.”

It’s enough to slow my movements, brain power diverted to processing his question as I reach for the milk at half speed. “Oh. I, uh, I played the one from Guntcania 5. Didn’t last long, though, I was out by the time you got to regional climates.”

“You were with us for that mission. Perhaps choosing a mission or topic you are unfamiliar with would better prove your theory.”

I nod once before turning to join him, a steaming mug in each hand, carefully placing the caf in front of him as I sit. “Realized as soon as I woke up. Any recommendations for tonight's file?”

He names several from memory as he works on his own task, giving brief descriptions of each without giving away too much — that could skew the results. I add them all to a separate folder, sorting them in order of how excited Tech seemed at the topic.

Of course, things got hectic again and I didn’t have time for experiments – I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been listening to those files, though. Five rotations, a standard week’s worth of sleeps and dreams in the tune of Tech’s voice. I’m waking up well-rested despite sleeping only a handful of hours at a time. I’m practically begging the force to fry some wiring or call off a job to spend even just a few minutes with him. I’m starting to think I may have a problem.

Cid called while we were out hunting down puffer pigs for one of her clients. Hunter walked away with the holoprojector about halfway through the conversation, he later told Omega this was to avoid scaring the animals but Echo and I overheard the real reason. That’s another ten credits in the swear jar. When we get one, that is; right now it’s sort of just an honor system. Next mission – big client, big payout, big enough to hack away a good chunk of our debt and take a couple days off – was called off at the last second, she’d try talking to the client again but, right now, and I quote, “He ain’t budgin’.” We’re still on call, though, and flat broke after our last refuel, so this is really just the galaxy’s worst vacation. Hunter’s hushed and extensive vocabulary perfectly summed up our feelings on the matter.

I was going to try to get some rest on the way back to Ord Mantell but puffer pigs are noisy enough in a relaxed state, toss six of them in a cramped starship and toss that starship into hyperspace and you’ll start to realize noisy doesn’t even begin describe it. Poor Hunter’s locked himself in the ‘fresher, of course Tech installed some sound dampening element to the audio relay in his helmet, but that can only do so much. Omega and Wrecker tried calming the animals to no avail, they’ve resorted to tossing bits of ration bars at them as – I’d say tasty, but eugh – edible bribes. Echo and Tech are arguing over something; it’s small, I think, but I’m too tired to step in and mediate right now. What was supposed to be a short flight felt like years.

“Never thought I’d be happy to be back here, but it sure beats being stuck in hyperspace with these things,” Echo says quietly, carefully lowering the crate in his arms, making sure not to wake the puffer pig that had just fallen asleep. I gently placed the crate I was holding right next to it, maybe when they wake up in this new place seeing one another will calm them down. Or they’ll freak out together.

“Between you and the puffer pigs, I must choose the latter,” Tech mutters, still snippy after the long journey, Echo and I turn to look at him in unison.

Echo’s expression is that of a brother who’s accustomed to that sort of teasing, flat and unphased. Mine, however…

“Hey,” I do my best to keep my voice down, “Not cool.”

Echo’s expression is no longer unphased. It is phased. There’s confusion, surprise, the hint of a smile; he seemed as tired as the rest of us before, but this clearly perked him up. Usually when I step in on these little disagreements I remain as unbiased as I can but I am now, very clearly, taking Echo’s side and now he’s visibly interested in seeing how this plays out. I know I still look hurt by the comment that wasn’t even about me. And Tech, his shift in emotion is visible, I could see him process his remark and my reaction, and his furrowed brows loosen as he looks between the two of us.

“You are correct,” Tech nods once, looking to his brother, “Apologies, Echo, I did not mean that.”

After a moment, a smile graces Echo’s face, “I’ll accept that apology.” And gives his brother a solid pat on the shoulder on his way over to the bar.

“I get grumpy-tired, too, I know how it is,” I bump him with my shoulder, an attempt to break a tension that was not there.

“You do not seem grumpy right now,” Tech breathes out a laugh.

I shrug, “Well maybe I’m not tired right now. Maybe I’m just–” My body decides this is the perfect time for an unsuppressable yawn. “Maybe I’m too tired to be grumpy-tired.”

Tech hums, “A valid theory, it seems.” With a tired chuckle and lazy nod I glance around the near-empty bar. Wrecker and Echo sit at the counter with their drinks while they recount the mission to Cid. Hunter’s setting up the cot for Omega, who is already beginning to fall asleep at Cid’s desk, before he joins his brothers. “I am going to head back to the Marauder and get some rest if you care to accompany me.”

“Yes, please, a quiet ship and sleep sounds like heaven right now,” He stands aside, allowing me to lead the way out of the parlor after saying goodnight to our squadmates.

The cool air of Ord Mantell is enough to keep me awake just long enough to carry myself back to the ship. I hear the ghost of a laugh beside me as another yawn takes hold of me. “I fear you may have conditioned yourself, the sound of my voice alone seems to be putting you to sleep.”

Turns out I’m not too tired for a good laugh, “Yeah, keep talking and you’re gonna have to carry me the rest of the way.”

“I assure you, I was trained to carry men twice my size across the battlefield, I can manage.”

“Right,” I nod, later I’ll blame my dopey smile on exhaustion, “Hey, wait, why men twice your size?”

“It is standard protocol.”

“No, like, isn’t it a one size type of deal? Clones and all, y’know,” He stares blankly at me. “Well, yeah, a few exceptions, but broadly speaking it’s just the one size.”

“I see,” Tech says, and I’ve got this look like I just beat a holochess master, “Your exhaustion has caused a state of delirium. Perhaps this means I’m forced to carry you the rest of the way to best keep you safe.” A barked laugh escapes me at that. “Very well.”

Wait. “Wait! No, no, I’m good! I’m up! I’m awake!” And I am, very much so now as I pick up my pace to evade capture. After my laughter subsides I slow my steps to a walk, and Tech quickly catches up, as we traverse the familiar streets of Ord Mantell.

The Marauder’s ramp lowers with a hiss as we approach. “Dibs on the sonic,” I call over my shoulder as I scurry towards the refresher, Tech makes no protest and takes his time boarding the starship. Our water supply, while it is thankfully abundant these days, always seems to be stuck at the average human body temperature – no warmer, no colder – but at least the cycle itself doesn’t last long at all. A full-body shower only takes about three minutes in the sonic, Republic standard for conservation of resources and time between missions according to Tech. While it is efficient, I do miss a good boiling hot, thirty minute shower to tell the truth; I’d never tell the squad that, though, I’m grateful for what we’ve got.

The chime of my datapad sounded halfway through the sonic’s cycle and I emerge to find a message from Tech. A new audio file and a handful of recommendations. I dress myself with an all-too-giddy smile. After hastily gathering up my things from the ‘fresher I elbow the door control, ready to shout my thanks to the clone and surrender the now warm ‘fresher to him. Instead, however, I am met with the clone himself, standing in front of the doorway, datapad in one hand while the other is in position to knock on the now open door.

He retracts that hand quickly, though, he still looks as if he’s about to say something but nothing has come out yet.

I decide to take the lead. “Hey, thanks for the message. ‘Fresher’s all yours.” 

His parted lips form a smile. “I- you are welcome.” But when I exit the refresher and step to the side he makes no move to enter. “After reviewing a handful of files I found those to be most interesting, I hope this helps your experiment.”

My grin widens, “Thank you, Tech, it’ll definitely help.” He nods just once with a smile before retreating into the ‘fresher. Maybe I stared at the door just a second too long. Maybe I even let out a quiet little giggle before heading over to my bunk.

I can hear the sonic start as I finally turn in, scrolling through highlighted files on my datapad while I try to get comfortable on the flat old mattress pad which always proves to be an impossible task. My sights lock in on a file between two of Tech’s suggestions labeled “Repairs and Maintenance”. Do I already know the in’s and out’s of most starships? Of course. Do I still learn something new everytime Tech talks about the in’s and out’s of the Marauder? Of kriffing course. Perfect.

The sonic’s still running when I put my helmet on and hit play, and I’m promptly out like a light.

I wake with a stir when I feel something plush fall on my helmeted head and open my eyes to see a large hand reach down and grab the offending object. Wrecker whispers an apology as he gingerly retrieves his Lula after dropping her into my bunk. Still half asleep, I can’t decide if that sorry was for me or the doll. The guys are back.

With a quiet, sleepy groan, I roll onto my side and pull my knees to my chest, blindly reaching for the datapad behind me. Waking the device is a mistake as I am instantly shocked by its brightness, my eyes snap shut and I dim the screen. I’ve moved onto a new recording, it seems. This one is titled “Atmospheric Changes of Taccoh”, about five minutes in. Taccoh was one of my first missions with them, I remember my excitement at how well we worked together as a team. I’m not usually good on a team, but clicking with these guys was just easy. It just felt right.

“—they seem to be adjusting rather well to mercenary work. I must say, they are quite the knowledgeable mechanic and are proving to be a great asset to the squad. Wrecker’s comments on their romantic interest in me are, in my opinion, absurd. Though I would not be opposed to such interest, I find the probability highly unlikely. Their interest, as I’ve observed, lies both in their work and the pursuit of knowledge. Qualities I find most admirable, as well as —“

Pause.

The heart rate monitor on my dimmed HUD glows an ominous red as the number rises.

Oh god. Kriff. I found Tech’s kriffing diary.

I pry the helmet from my head, foregoing any attempt to fix my surely frazzled hair, still damp from the fresher, and swing my legs over the side of my bunk to sit up. My whole body is tense, my knuckles pale from the force of my grip on the durasteel frame. Fresh air. Yes. Fresh air would do me good right now, I’d say.

The room seems to spin as I fumble for my boots and the sheer volume at which my mind screams nearly drowns out Echo, half-asleep and confused, staring at me through squinted eyes from his bunk.

“You alright?” His tired voice repeats.

“Yes, yeah,” I answer, all too quickly, “just need some air, is all. You okay? You good? Sleeping okay?”

Echo’s brows furrow, he shifts slightly to face me properly, “I was,” he suppresses a yawn and I hurry up with my boots, “but then you shot up like you saw a ghost.”

My laughter is quiet but crazed, and I can barely hear it, “Ship’s not haunted, Echo, go back to sleep.” 

I stand to leave but the quiet call of my name stops me in my tracks, I turn to face the sleepy clone. “You sure you’re alright?” 

“I’m fine,” I try to make it sound convincing but I know it’s a sorry attempt, “really, get some rest. Be back soon.” His gaze remains fixed on me for a moment longer before he shuts his eyes, nodding before settling his head on the pillow once again. I let out a portion of a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding as I hurry out of the ship and into the crisp night air of Ord Mantel.

My feet take me to Cid’s. She shut the sign off but I can hear the jukebox from the street, no luck kicking out the regulars for the night, it seems. My feet then decide to take me down the stairs. Then to the bar.

“Great, I try to kick two out and a third appears,” the trandoshan huffs from behind the bar, “If you’re looking for dark and broody and the kid, they’re sleeping. Not sure how, these two bozos won’t shut up.” She shouts in the direction of the booming jukebox and patrons as she pours two drinks before sliding one to me.

“Hey, can I get your take on something?” I down the drink, extending the cup in a silent request. 

She glances tentatively first at my now empty cup, then at her own drink, before quickly finishing it to pour us each a second round. “Depends.”

“On?”

“Tell ya after I hear it.”

I laugh into my drink. “This stays between us.” She laughs into her drink. “Or I can just finish my free drink and leave.”

“Fine, fine. Between us.” She waves a dismissive hand. “But it better be interesting or these are going on your tab.”

My brows furrow, I nod just once before finishing my second drink, and the second the empty cup makes contact with the sticky countertop I blurt it out, “I listened to Tech’s diary.”

She waits for me to go on, I wait for her to be a voice of reason. Neither of us get what we’re looking for. “Alright, you found Goggles’ diary. And?”

“And?” I echo, incredulously. “I accidentally listened to some really, really personal stuff that I can’t un-listen to, what do I do? Do I tell him? What, do I say ‘Hey, Tech, so the learning by osmosis experiment was a bust but a little birdie — you, you’re the birdie — told me you had a big ol’ crush on me, for, like a while, so I just wanted to —‘ I don’t know what I want. Kriff, this is bad, isn’t it?”

Cid stares at me like I’m a three-headed mythosaur for what feels like hours, I try to calm my breathing, try to take a sip from my already empty cup. I’m only pulled out of my thought loop by the howl of Cid’s laughter. It even manages to pull Bolo and Ketch’s attention away from the jukebox, if only for a second. In all the time I’ve known her, I’ve never heard Cid laugh so hard. My look of shock remains even as her laughter subsides.

“Good one, kid. You almost had me for a second there.” She gently wipes a tear from the corner of her eye, but the laughter returns when she notices my expression is unchanged. “Oh, you’re serious?”

“Obviously I’m kriffing serious! Cid, I’m kind of in deep shit here, I need advice, I don’t need you laughing in my face!”

“Oh, relax, it’s not like you didn’t know. You idiots have been pining over each other from day one. Didn’t think Goggles would make the first move, though, I owe Muscles ten credits.” She mutters, though clearly still amused.

“I didn’t know! Force, how would I have known!” I put my head down on the bar with a sigh. “So, what, everyone knows and I’m just the last to find out?”

“Got it.”

All I can manage is a dramatic groan.

“Just talk to him, what’s the worst that can happen?”

I don’t even need to think about it, “I say exactly what I said before, weird him out, and go back to working by myself because he never wants to see me again.”

“Yeesh, try living a little sometime, kid. It’ll do you good,” Cid cringes into her cup, “Talk to him. Trust me.”

With a roll of my eyes I extend my empty cup one last time, Cid fills it without a word and I down the drink before leaving the empty glass on the bar as I stand, “Those were on you, I could’ve gotten better advice from Bolo and Ketch.”

“Can’t argue with you there, they’ve been together as long as I’ve known them,” She rinses out the empty cup and tosses it into the washer. “He’s crazy about you, kid. Just tell him how you feel.”

Cid’s words play on repeat in my mind as I wander the now empty city streets. Talk to him right, easier said than done. What if he’s not ready for a relationship? What if I’m not? We’re already so busy, will we really have the time? What if this changes our dynamic irreparably? What if I lose my closest friend?

It takes hearing someone call my name to pull me from what could’ve been an eternal thought loop. I’m back at Cid’s, a weary Hunter stands below the glowing sign, his arms crossed and he somehow looks both concerned and amused, “Going for a fourth lap around the block?” My lips part as if I could form a response but I come up short, opting to shrug instead. “Care if I join you?” I nod and we walk side by side, allowing silence to settle between us.

“Thought you were asleep,” I break that silence. Better to get it out of the way now, I figure I know where this is going.

“Not with all that noise,” Hunter lets out a deep sigh, he must know he could just power the damn jukebox down and get some rest. “I don’t know how Omega does it, that kid can sleep through anything.”

“She’s exhausted,” I let out a sigh of my own, “We all are.”

“Cid’s focused in on this puffer pig client, that’ll buy us some time to regroup, rest up.”

“Good. That’s good.”

Hunter nods, the silence that follows is not as easy or relaxed as earlier. He breaks it first, “I’m assuming you know what I’m about to say.”

“Yeah.”

“What’s the plan?”

“Talk, I guess. Can’t not now, huh?”

“That’s your choice,” He stops walking, catching me off guard, I stop a few paces ahead and turn to face him, “Never thought I’d say it, but I’m with Cid. The happiest I’ve ever seen him is when he’s talking to you. I get the feeling the same goes for you.”

I bite the inside of my lip, suppressing the smile that threatens to light up my face. Not the time. I nod, crossing my arms, “It does.”

“Good,” He smiles this warm, genuine smile before his serious sergeant demeanor returns, “Don’t let it get in the way of the job.”

“Copy that.” I give him a mock salute, to which his head drops with a tired laugh before his ears perk up. I raise my eyebrows in question as he turns his head in the direction of the parlor.

“Music’s stopped,” Hunter takes a step forward, extending an arm to pat my shoulder before retreating. “Get some rest.”

“Thanks, Hunter.” I give a little wave and watch as he retreats to the now quiet bar down the dimly lit street.

I begin my walk back to the ship, my mind still racing but not nearly as catastrophically quick as before my chat with Hunter. He’s probably still asleep, and I’m not planning on going back to the ship to wake him up and talk about this. My best bet would be to shoot him a message, ask if we could talk when he wakes up. Word travels too fast with these guys and the last thing I want is Wrecker bragging to his brothers about how he put his money on Tech and won. When I reach for my datapad I find the pocket is empty. Of course. I pick up the pace, almost frantically trying to recall whether or not I locked the device in my hasty departure. Odds aren’t looking great, though.

I take my boots off at the bottom of the ramp and tip-toe up in bare feet. Two out of the three men aboard are light sleepers and the last thing I want is to wake them as if I’m some teen sneaking back home after a party. Quiet as a mouse droid, I make my way back to my bunk as Wrecker’s snores reverberate through the durasteel walls. I’m greeted by my helmet, tossed haphazardly next to my pillow, but no datapad. Uh-oh. I glance into Echo’s bunk and find him sleeping, but the bunk above his, Tech’s bunk, remains empty. You’ve gotta be kriffing kidding me. Back to my tip-toes, I make my way to the kitchenette first, also empty, then the cockpit. The control panel is dimmed and all of the seats turned forward, if it weren’t for the tell-tale glow of a datapad screen I’d have thought Tech had simply vanished.

Without a word I join him, only releasing a quiet sigh as I sit in the copilot’s seat. He doesn’t look up from the datapad, its screen displaying the evidence of my discovery in bold text. “I didn’t intend to include such personal files.”

“Yeah, I didn’t intend to listen.” He nods before handing me my device, our gazes still not meeting. I take a turn staring at the display, rereading the title of the file over and over as I continue, “I fell asleep listening to ‘Repairs and Maintenance’, woke up to this one.”

“I, again, must sincerely apologize for any discomfort this finding has brought you, I was not planning to tell you in such an impersonal manner.”

“How did you…” I trail off, he was fast asleep when I left, I never pegged him for the type to pretend to be asleep and his quiet snores sounded so real.

“Echo woke me up, it was shortly after you had left. He said you appeared to be in a state of shock, I found you’d left your datapad open on your bunk.”

“That checks out.” Now that I’m here with him I can almost find the humor in the situation, I even manage a quiet laugh, “I’m sorry I flipped out, I just wasn’t expecting to wake up to that, I guess.”

He finally turns to face me, “You have nothing to apologize for.” “Neither do you,” I retort, meeting his gaze with a smile. I can almost see his thought process before his mouth forms an ‘o’ shape as he realizes the meaning behind my words. I continue, regardless, I heard him spill his guts, it’s only fair I do the same for him, “I feel the same way, Tech. I have for a while. Come to think of it, maybe I always have. Your feelings didn’t scare me, the possibilities did.”

He cocks his head in question, “Possibilities?”

“I’m scared of our dynamic changing, I’m scared I’ll kriff it all up and lose you. I’m no good at this kind of stuff and the last thing I want is for our relationship to suffer because of me,” I ignore the tears beginning to form in my eyes, turning my attention back to the viewport. Tech’s gaze, however, remains locked on me.

A hand reaches out, resting gently on mine, his thumb ghosting across my shaking fingers, “My darling, the fact that you are willing to voice these fears should be evidence enough that you have nothing to worry about. You contain a level of emotional intelligence that will never cease to amaze me. Should you choose to act upon these feelings, I assure you, we will be just fine.”

My eyes meet his, I don’t notice a tear has fallen until he reaches his hand up to wipe it away. When he notices how I lean into his touch, he cradles my cheek ever so gently, and I shut my eyes to savor the feeling, letting a warm smile wash away my worried frown. I rest a still-shaky hand upon his, opening my eyes to meet his once again, “What do you say we figure it out together, then?”

“A wonderful idea, darling,” Tech closes the small distance between us, placing a kiss upon my forehead. I can feel his smile. “However, I’ll need to review my files before you continue your experiment.”

I pull back, a look of faux shock on my face, too giddy to feel the real thing right now, “You mean there’s more?”

“Frankly, an embarrassing amount, perhaps we will review them someday but I’ve taken the liberty of deleting the more… risque files from your library.”

I’m glad the door to the cockpit is closed, otherwise the volume of my laugh surely would’ve woken both Echo and Wrecker, “Risque?!”

“I would greatly appreciate it if you refrained from mocking me,” Tech sighs, the mirth in his tone evident.

“Maybe that can be the next experiment,” I laugh with a smirk.

“Mocking me does not sound like an experiment I would have any interest in partaking in, thank you very–” His mild offense fades away in realization, “Oh. An interesting experiment, indeed.”

A/N: Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed! As always, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated, I love hearing your feedback! Part two will be posted soon <3

#the bad batch x reader #tech x reader #tech x you #tech tbb #hunter tbb #echo tbb #the bad batch & reader #star wars x reader #reader insert

[livmadart]

Psst, hi there! I've been following your Cain Instincts AU for a while and I love it! I noticed there's no Amuro (yet?) though, and I'm wondering how will Arsene react to him, especially after what happened in the Bell Tree Express case (and maybe Queen's Bangs too, if you've read it. Manga file 1076-1078 fyi).

Have a great day!

Hi!! Very happy you like this AU! There is a VERY good reason Amuro hasn’t appeared yet, and it is because I am watching detco for the first time ever and haven’t gotten to his appearance yet ahahah

When I DO finally meet him he will most certainly appear in this AU but for now please have this drawing of him from memory with all of the information I’ve learned about him, mostly through osmosis. Am I even right about all this

#asks! #dcmk #amuro tooru #is that his name #I know he also goes by #rei furuya

[sawtual]

what is dungeon meshi even about all I’ve gotten from osmosis is that someone died but she got better

well first you should definitely try giving it a read! but its a dnd esque fantasy manga(/anime) about this group of adventurers who are traveling into the depths of a magical dungeon to find and revive a lost member of their party, and along the way they have to eat monsters and learn about the dungeons eco system in order to sustain themselves and survive. but the story is a lot more nuanced and complex than that, and takes a turn fairly early on thats very fun ^_^ so I'd reccomend giving it a try!

#asks #anon

[maybestoryideas]

The Sirens Sing - Octavinelle & Diasomnia x Reader

Author's Note: Inspired by @tokyomaru's dare to write about the dorms overhearing Reader's siren-esque voice. Octavinalle's song is "Witchcraft" by Frank Sinatra, and Diasomnia's song is "The Party Goes With You" by Ryan Scott Oliver Word Count: 1.7k

Octavinelle

A strange emptiness fills the Mostro Lounge as the last of its patrons pay their tab and meander out the door. The music and ambient noise stop the atmosphere from becoming downright oppressive, but you’ve grown too used to hearing the stream of collective chattering students. As it is now, the lounge can best be described as lonely.

All the more reason to finish sweeping as soon as possible. Going from table to table, cleaning up all of the bits that have accumulated over the day. It’s not a glamorous job, and that’s fine.

Halfway through the job, the song playing overhead comes to an end and another one begins.

Those fingers through my hair

That sly come-hither stare

That strips my conscience bare

“It’s witchcraft…” You’ve heard this song as many times as you’ve spent evenings sweeping up the Lounge; it’s no surprise you’d learn the lyrics through pure osmosis. And just like the Lounge, it has that swanky, Jazzy swing. You lean on one foot to reach the back corner of the booth.

And I’ve got no defense for it

The heat is too intense for it

“What good would common sense for it do?” The carpet cushions your feet as you move about the lounge, gently swaying back and forth with the beat.

‘Cause it’s witchcraft

Wicked witchcraft

And although I know

It’s strictly taboo

“When you arouse the need in me, my heart says ‘Yes indeed’ in me. Proceed with what you’re leading me to,” You tap your toe, not so much sweeping as much as you are carrying the broom around.

It’s such an ancient pitch

But one I wouldn’t switch

“‘Cause there’s no nicer witch than you.” Hopefully Grim’s not waiting for you back at Ramshackle.

“Jade, Floyd!”

Both twins turn to face their boss and housewarden as he approaches them with a stride too quick to be comfortable.

“I was checking the numbers for today’s earnings and we’re coming up short again. I’m going to need you to help me search the lounge.”

He moved to grab the door, only for Floyd to step in front of him with a smile.

“Sorry, Azul. You can’t go in yet.”

“What? And why not?”

“‘Cause the show’s not over.”

“What are you talking about? What show?”

“Heheh, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to let you see.”

Jade carefully pushed the doors, just enough that all three of them could comfortably look inside.

There, in the middle of the lounge with a broom in hand like a microphone, was you.

“‘Cause it’s witchcraft. That crazy witchcraft. And although I know it’s strictly taboo,”

Floyd looked down at Azul and laughed.

“Yeah, Koebi-chan’s got some pipes.”

“I’m surprised this caught you off guard, Azul. Haven’t you heard them in Music class before?”

“Of course I have!” he snapped.

But this was very different from listening to you sing a few bars for a class. A little rough around the edges - especially the low notes - but strong and swept away in the moment and uncaring about your nonexistent audience. A song for yourself just for the sake of singing.

“It’s such an ancient pitch. But one that I’d never switch. ‘Cause there’s no nicer witch than you!”

The song quickly comes to an end and Azul’s already wracking his mind for any way he can hear you sing again. Do you need help practicing for Music class? Perhaps you’d be willing to sing at the lounge? He’d rather not resort to a contract, but if the price is right…

Floyd flings the doors open, slamming them against the wall with a loud WHAM!

“Koebi-chan! You sound so nice!”

Both you and Azul jump at the sudden noise and he’s not sure what he should be more concerned over. The very likely probability that Floyd broke something again, or the look you’re giving the three of them. You make that decision for him.

“How long were you all listening in on me?!”

“Well it would be rude to interrupt such a splendid performance.”

The compliment makes your face go a little red. But, judging by your expression, compliments were not what you wanted to hear. You frown and march over to the trio, still holding the broom. Maybe it’s because of the height discrepancy with the twins, but Azul seems to be the poor soul in your sights.

“N-Now let’s not do anything hasty, (Name).”

You shove the broom into his hands and point at a nearby table with a little pile of money stacked on top.

“You forgot to collect a tab. And since you’re all so eager to stick around, you can finish sweeping; I’m going home.”

You shove past Azul and storm out of sight. Jade goes to collect the bill while Floyd grumbles and grabs the broom from Azul, who’s only got one thing on his mind.

That lounge singer idea is looking more and more attractive.

Diasomnia

Another week, another visit to the Light Music Club. Your once-a-week break from all of the classes, chores, and hijinks heaped onto you by others. With a little plate of snacks and a cup of tea - brewed by Cater this time - you sigh and let the days worth of stress dissipate.

“Hey, (Name),” Kalim starts, “I know you’re not an official member of the club, but do you play any instruments?”

“I used to when I was little, but I grew out of it. I am in Music class, though, so I still do a lot of singing.”

You realize your mistake too late as Kalim’s eyes practically light up.

“Oooh! Can I hear?”

Cater briefly looks up from his phone to gauge your reaction, while Lilia watches with an amused smile. The fact that you’re sitting with three good friends isn’t enough to stop the anxiety from bubbling up in your stomach.

“Eh, well… I mean, I’m more used to singing in a group than by myself.”

“Aw, please? I bet you sound really nice. Just one song?”

And now Kalim’s pleading. It’s hard enough saying ‘No’ to regular Kalim, but when he starts sweetly asking you with that innocent smile and eyes.

“Fine,” you sigh, deflating a little in your seat, “But just one song, got it?”

“Got it!”

You went through the mental playlist of good songs, and yeah- that one’ll work.

You sat up and cleared your throat.

“We don’t speak of names and places*. Why should we?”

BZZT-BZZT!

The sound of a buzzing phone breaks through the silence of Diasomnia’s lounge. Confused, Sebek takes the device from his pocket and checks the screen. He nearly screams when he sees it’s a message from Lilia.

‘Sebek, is Malleus with you?’

The Young Master? He looks up from his phone, just to double-check that, yes, he’s still reading at the table and hasn’t disappeared in the few seconds Sebek looked away.

‘Yes! Silver and I have been with him all afternoon.’

‘Why do you ask?’

‘Is there an emergency?’

‘Are you or Waka-sama in danger?!’

It’s a miracle the screen doesn’t shatter as Sebek furiously types out his responses.

‘No need to panic, Sebek. Though your concern for our safety is greatly appreciated. I just want to show you all something. I think you’ll enjoy it.’

A little video pops up on screen and Sebek sighs in a mix of relief and exasperation.

“Waka-sama!” he shouts, grinning a little at the sight of Silver being jolted awake, “Lilia-sama has a video he wants to show everyone!”

“A video?” A look of confusion crosses Malleus’ face before he sighs, “Very well, let’s see it.”

He starts up the video and joins the others at the table.

“…And I’m left with all the messes.”

It’s you. Malleus could recognize that voice anywhere, even before the camera pans up and shows you sitting there. Singing.

He gets closer, practically leaning over Sebek’s arm.

“Cleaning up for vows in gold, our fraught affair turned solitaire. Wishing to take back merely one of my ‘yes’s, aching to be yours and have my story all retold.”

“Is that (Name)?” Silver asks, peeking over Sebek’s shoulder for a better view, “Where did he get this footage?”

You continue singing to someone offscreen with a little smile. Absolutely wrapped up in the song. The sound of your voice echoes through the room. Each word and note carrying bittersweet sentiments. Malleus and Silver are properly huddled around Sebek and his phone, not that the first-year is objecting. He’ll have to save this video for later.

“And when we’re dancing nose to nose, darling, do you suppose- oh darling do you suppose… this party could be just us two? And I your wife? Oh~ the gayest party, sad but true. It’s true. The party goes with you.”

Sebek’s pretty sure he just felt the metal phone case buckle a little under his grip. From over his shoulder, he can feel Malleus staring intently at the screen.

All of the power in your voice disappears into something softer as you repeat the line. “The life of the party, in the party of my life.”

A beat of silence, and suddenly Kalim appears from offscreen and practically tackles you.

“That was so good!” he cheers, “You have to join the Light Music Club now! Please?”

His laughter cuts through the air, breaking the spell you had inadvertently woven. Silver chuckles at the sight, but Sebek can’t bring himself to be as amused.

You laugh, “Sorry, Kalim. You asked for one song and you just got it.”

“But you sound so nice! Right, guys?”

“Totally!” they hear Cater agree.

“Oh, absolutely,” Lilia says, “The club would be lucky to have such a gifted addition.”

“Heh, well I’ll think abo- Wait, are you recording this?!”

The image becomes a blur accompanied by the rush of wind and a mix of laughter and yelling. Then the video cuts off. Before Sebek can message Lilia, the device is plucked right out of his hands.

“I want to watch it again,” Malleus said, randomly tapping the screen.

“W-Waka-sama, allow me!”

Silver watches the first-year try to coax Malleus into giving the phone back, all with a nervous smile. Perhaps they should go pay the club a visit next week.

-

Notes: As a massive fan of music, musicals, and song-fics, the urge to turn Octavinelle's story into a full-blown production is so damn tempting. The first verse for "The Party Goes With You" is 'names and faces', but the lyrics were supposed to be 'names and places' and Ryan only noticed this when he heard official recording and went, "Do you think it's too late to fix it?"

#Twisted Wonderland #Octavinelle #Diasomnia #Jade Leech #Floyd Leech #Azul Ashengrotto #Lilia Vanrouge #Sebek Zigvolt #Malleus Draconia #Silver #Twisted Wonderalnd x Reader #TWST x Reader #TWST Jade #TWST Floyd #TWST Azul #TWST Lilia #TWST Sebek #TWST Silver #TWST Malleus

[outofangband]

language in Angband

My Angband World Building and Aftermath of Captivity Masterlist touch on this a few times and I’ve talked specifically about Maedhros and the languages of Angband (which I go into more later here too)

but I definitely want to do a full post on it and I wanted to compile my thoughts from various posts too!

Names and titles in Angband 

Note: this is obviously a purely fantasy setting however control over language and culture is absolutely a method undertaken by real life groups and governments and weaponized against marginalized communities. The languages of my culture for example have a history of being intentionally obscured, demonized, or even banned. I just wanted to say this both to acknowledge and to warn that this has the potential to hit home in this regard. Access to one's language and culture is a right.

First, an incomplete list of languages spoken:

-Avarin language and its many dialects and Primitive Quendian, in pockets of older thrall families that were never transformed or never fully transformed into orcs -Older/proto Sindarin: see above

-Earlier versions of Sauron's Black Speech including the formalized Orcish tongue which has its own alphabet, that which is used most commonly in Angband.  -A distortion of Valarin that Morgoth uses among his Maiar (primarily in giving orders to the higher ranking Maiar) -The more organic orcish blend of the distorted language of Morgoth's Maiar, Primitive Quendian and several Avari tongues. This was created by the first elven prisoners of Angband during and after their transformation into the first orcs (in larger pockets of both elven and orcish populations, usually non fighting sections of the orcs) -Later Sindarin and Noldorin Quenya  (rarer, among some groups of prisoners and more isolated throughout the fortress)

Most common in the fortress is the orcish blend that more heavily drew from Elven dialects, the formalized Orcish Sauron utilizes, early forms of Sindarin, and Morgoth's Valarin with the formalized Orcish being perhaps the most used and the language most if not all prisoners pick up on at least some. It is also the language most heavily associated with Angband and with The Enemy by the outside. It is this that elves hear from their enemies during attacks and raids and it is often this that the few escaped prisoners who make it home will sometimes be heard speaking and will be stigmatized for.The developed alphabet is what many thrall brands use, especially those given to designate specific roles (there are examples on my branding overview post).  Though Morgoth's Distorted Valarin invokes dread upon its evocation, it is far rarer for elven prisoners to hear or learn any of this.

Many prisoners especially in the mines, forges and kitchens learn the formal and informal Orcish tongues through a combination of osmosis and direct instruction by older prisoners and sometimes higher ups or orcs who have been assigned to work with them. That most are unlikely to understand the instructions and speech around them adds to the atmosphere of fear and chaos. Abandoning their own languages and picking up on that of their captors becomes incentivized for survival. Though of course it is a difficult task and there is no formal instruction.

It’s important to note that specifically the less formal blend is constantly evolving as prisoners who were not directly taught certain words guess or pick up words in context and occasionally these might be incorrect interpretations or translations that are passed down and it leads to still more branches of this already mixed language. What a word means in the forges might have evolved differently in the mines until a prisoner is transferred from one place to another. Words from original languages are added and changed and substituted when necessary. 

For example a word for blanket might be passed on as meaning clothing or warmth.

Language in Angband, as I have talked about more extensively, is an area heavily controlled. I talk about this on my post about trauma and freedom and on many of my Angband World Building posts (namely my post about supplies, rules and punishment and in individual sections of the fortress on their respective posts) but speech among the prisoners is heavily policed and often punished and this very much includes what language is used in what places at what times. 

Control of language and control of information are intrinsically linked. I mentioned that formalized orcish has one of the only alphabets used in the fortress. Very few prisoners are taught to read and write in this (though some are if their captors deem it necessary for their duties). Even the many who are branded with letters from this alphabet may not know what those letters represent. 

Prisoners are often punished for talking back, for speaking their own language, for praying or singing,  for verbally comforting others, for sharing or even having information that they should not, for simply talking when they had been ordered to work, etc.

It’s what I always inevitably return to with Maedhros; I cannot over emphasize the devastating effects of being in an environment where one cannot enact any effect on their environment by their words. The utter helplessness this inflicts on the prisoners has devastating effects that last well beyond the physical walls of the fortress. 

Advocacy, even decision making, becomes extremely difficult, even terrifying.

It would be incorrect to say that there are eyes upon each being in the fortress at all times, secret words are possible but they are dangerous and the atmosphere of mistrust organically created and intentionally reinforced means most are reluctant to even attempt them.

Temporary or permanent removal of speaking ability through hypnosis, spell, damage to vocal cords or removal of the tongue is not an infrequent event. A small number of prisoners are modified in this way prior to any infraction as a preventive measure or because their role is best served in silence (these will be elaborated on in more detail on an upcoming post)

Unless work necessitates exchange of instructions, which will be monitored by higher ups most of the time,  an elven prisoner is not necessarily placed with others of their kin of who speak their tongue and in fact, separation is not uncommon. One might go for years or decades without hearing their original language. Punishments for speaking out of turn, even and especially harmless words of comfort such as song, cultural stories, and prayer, are also not uncommon.

Knowing any elven language is not a requirement for being in charge of slaves in Angband (except in cases where prisoners are used for specific or precise enough work that instructions are clearly needed). Sometimes prisoners who have been there for a long time are given permission to speak to newer captives to inform them of rules or give them instructions. For the most part conversation in the mines is heavily policed but plenty of the slaves there have worked out systems of how to avoid detection if they choose to risk it, the overseer to elf ratio is pretty large. (as in many elves per overseer) These older prisoners are both loved and hated by their kin.

Case studies:

Maedhros learns a blend of the formal Orcish and mixed Orcish tongues. Some he picks up from context, some he’s instructed in. I’ve talked before about how him speaking these after his rescue becomes the subject of rumors and speculation. Maedhros is also among the few prisoners who learn any of Morgoth’s Valarin, albeit only a few words and phrases. I have a few other post about this but I think so much about Maedhros’s knowledge of Angband and the ways it is both vital and also highly stigmatized and his knowledge of the languages of Angband, even so incomplete, is absolutely part of this. I have one post here but I always, always want to talk more about this!

Rog becomes well versed in both formal and mixed Orcish during his time in the mines. Through contact with older prisoners he learns phrases of the Avari tongue as well as other Eldarin dialects. He loses a lot of these during his time after Angband, due to lack of practice and the stark differences in the languages he does use. 

Gwindor learns some phrases in mostly the mixed orcish. Unlike Rog he was not recognized as an authority in the mines and largely sought to be ignored

Húrin learns a few phrases in the mixed and formal languages but mostly forgets them by the time of his release. He does occasionally hear Morgoth speak his distorted Valarin but learns very little and intentionally tries to forget it (unsuccessfully)

#the silmarillion #maedhros #angband #gwindor #Húrin #Rog #in the iron hell #musing and meta

[strawbubbysugar]

Hello, it's me again (sorry) I have a lil' question (well, 2, not related, but I'm curious). As always, I'll understand if you don't answer this...!

I never saw you answer a comment over AO3, but I see you answer many Asks here, so I wanted to ask about your preference. Would you prefer reactions/comments about your fic over here or over AO3? I know it sounds weird, sorry, I was just curious if there was a reason or not (either way, I understand. It's really just curiosity, no judgment at all).

Second question because I'm way too curious for my own good ; you said you were Canadian, right? (Maybe I remember wrong...?) Do you speak French too ?

Hello!! :3

I’ve been trying to answer more comments on ao3 lately!! I don’t have much of a preference- I’ll say that if you just wanna say something nice or something that you noticed & you don’t want a response, comment on ao3, but if you have a question or you want a response, send an ask here! :D

I am Canadian yes!! :) I don’t speak much french just rly simple stuff that we learn in elementary school. But I can read a lot of french stuff just from the fact that everything in Canada has both English and french on the box so I’ve learned it from osmosis Hsdgs

My favourite thing about French is that ‘sans’ is used when something isn’t in it, and so when I look at a box of something ___-free it’s ‘sans ___’. :)

Sans gluten. Skeleton bread.

#ask #personal

[oswlld]

oswlld's monthly wrap up: january

note: i am trying something a bit different this year, so bear with me as i figure out how i want to format this. i wanted to spend more time sharing what i consume, beyond what i rb, and put my thoughts in one place. these posts are okay to rb

--

The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin [started 11/03, finished 01/23] This was originally a dnf from 2023 that i decided to pick up again. My entry point into her work was The City We Became and fell in love with her voice. With Fifth Season, however, I felt like I loved parts of the story but didn’t fall in love with the sum of the whole. I will go more into why in the tags because it will touch on spoilers (mildly!) I still gave it 4⭐️ in storygraph. — The Moth Presents: All These Wonders, Catherine Burns [started 01/05, finished 01/31] I bought this collection from Half Price so long ago, I’ve forgotten what drew me in. Probably because of the Neil Gaiman foreword. I had not heard of The Moth so I went into this blind. Some of the stories made me wish I heard it live and feel the story breathe and beat with the audience. 4.25⭐️ in storygraph.

Flavorful Origins, Netflix [started: 09/28, finished 01/04] I watched s1/s2 in 2023 at various pts of the fall/winter. Finally wrapped up s3 in January and caught up. Unsure if its a complete series or ongoing, but I do hope to return to the series in the future if they do upload more seasons. This series reminds me of the YT channel Liziqi, where they take one ingredient and unravel the techniques and related dishes by region. A great palate cleanser amongst all the other shows I typically gravitate towards. — Last Twilight, GMMTV on YT [started 11/10, finished 01/26] The only show I watched in real time, as it premiered week by week. If I solely focus on the January episodes, for the sake of this post, I can’t say I was happy with the way the final act was handled. If I look back on the whole of it, it’s still really special to me. In fact, there are episodes that still stand as the very best in television, THE BEST. Still licking the wounds inflicted by the finale, though. — Moving, Hulu [started 01/08, finished 01/30] This lured me in by process of dash osmosis, which is the very best brand of entry pt. I am O B S E S S E D with this show, I am singing its praises! It soothed the scars left by the show Heroes. Amongst all the action sequences, espionage, and high school drama is this huge heart beating loud and strong. Lee Mihyun, the way I love youuuuu, the character you are 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼 Guys, she saved January for me.

Chevalier, Hulu [watched on 01/14] The short runtime (well, short for the current landscape of cinema) did give me pause. I think some of the emotional beats could have been deepened if given 20 more min of his involvement in the rebellion. I think I wanted the betrayal to really cut me to the bone, but it felt like a papercut. — BlacKkKlansman [watched on 1/31] At this point, I would follow John David Washington’s career to the very end. I love his natural charisma. I want to see him go thru alllll the situations and wish this movie gave him a lot more room to breathe. Laura Harrier took me by surprise, portraying the BSU president Patrice. The story came to a very mild end and felt very tame, but the suspense held its own.

Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever), Noah Kahan [first time listening] I originally learned about him when I was in my Lizzy McAlpine hyperfixation last year and heard she was a feature in one of his songs. And then I discovered a duet Noah did with Hozier and knew I had to spend time this month to sit down and really digest his album. WHOA MAN, this is one of those formative moments when music perfectly aligns with my current state of being. Take that as you will. Current top 5: Come Over, Strawberry Wine, Northern Attitude, Halloween, Your Needs My Needs — Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 [relistening] what else is there to say, this is a mandatory yearly listen when it becomes below 0 outside. When I saw this show live, it was a January date as well so this relisten really got me spiralling. These two albums got me Feeling 🧍🏻‍♀️ on my walks.

Minecraft [game, on Switch] I got this game as a christmas gift and was where I spend most of my waking hours outside of work. I enjoyed watch MC streams on twitch and knew I would enjoy playing on my own. I get it now, I am soooooo late to this game. I think and dream Minecraft. My mountain house and harbor builds? Immaculate. They basic, but immaculate. Now I’m in my fishing era, esp when I have Stick Season playing in the background (nothing else mattered when the sun was rising and the song The View Between Villages played in the bg, it was a religious experience). — Lethal Company [game, on Twitch/YT] My entire month has been hopping from one stream to another, lobby after lobby. This game is so fun to watch and witness how all the mods evolved as time went on. I don’t think I myself would play the game myself, as I am a bit of a scaredy cat, but watching my fav groups play has been a highlight.

#oswlld 2024 wrap up #mine: edits #the fifth season #the moth presents #flavorful origins #last twilight #last twilight the series #moving kdrama #chevalier #blackkklansman #noah kahan #natasha pierre and the great comet of 1812 #lethal company #minecraft #MILD SPOILERS REGARDING FIFTH SEASON: #last warning mmmmmmmmmm ok cont #one of my main draws in any media is a good ensemble cast of characters #so i really loved how the world was being told from what i had assumed was 3 pov's #when the name reveal dropped my heart was shattered #what i had thought was a people i grew to love it was a PERSON #i know it something i shouldnt nitpick on but still #what do you guys think of this monthly wrap up thing? #i rarely put my thoughts into writing so it's actually been cathartic and kinda scary to share this with you #feb and mar will be so packed as I will be catch up with some award season nominations

[bookishbethanyerin]

• arc review: fangirl down •

As a fervent fangirl, I will admit that I was nervous about this book, where a golf fangirl gets the opportunity to be her favorite player’s caddie.

I was worried that it would lean into the cartoonishly delusional extremes that fangirls are so often (and usually wrongly) associated with. That even though Tessa Bailey was at this book’s helm, it would be at best cringey and at worst deeply insulting.

But y’all – any concern I had evaporated by Chapter Two.

Though Josephine is a true fangirl – devoted to Wells Whitaker, the bad boy of the pro golf world who is in a downward spiral – she’s never solely defined by just that. And Tessa does an incredible job of not just capturing, but balancing, the reality of being a fangirl of an athlete. Sure, Josephine will admit she thinks Wells is hot, but that isn’t the reason she loyally supports him – she’s a golf expert who loves how he plays and what he brings to the game.

And Wells is a self-sabotaging mess who will take every thought you might have of a preppy, fratty, pro golfer MMC and light it on fire. He is grumpy and brooding and mouthy and really funny and such a fangirl defender and he falls so hard and so fast, and omg, you’ll love him.

With “Fangirl Down,” Tessa delivers a classic sports comeback story in a (very, very steamy!!) romance book package that is cute and clever and sexy and so, so satisfying.

Tropes to expect:

⛅️grumpy x sunshine

🥰he falls first

🌶️spicy bets

🖤touch her and 😵

😈morality chain

If you follow golf or have learned about it through osmosis (like me!), there is a moment in the third act that will have you going, “absolutely no one in the golf world would do this,” but, I mean, it’s fiction, so I didn’t stay too hung up on it.

All in all, I really loved this – in fact, it may be my favorite thing I’ve read from Tessa Bailey. (Yes, really!) And to think, I went in worried!

4.75🌟

3🌶️

⛳️An enormous thank you to Avon Books for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy! Fangirl Down will be out February 13th!💕

#book review #arc review #fangirl down #tessa bailey #romance books #books #book recommendation

[nordic-language-love]

I have a day off today, so I’m ducking in to tell y’all a little bit about how things are going!

I’ve taught my first classes! Most of them I’ve had another teacher assisting me, but yesterday I did my first solo class. It was... okay lol. One of the boys disengaged the moment I said I don’t speak Japanese so they have to speak English, and proceeded to yawn audibly through all activities and pretend to be asleep when spoken to (which I put on my lesson report form, so the regular teacher will hopefully tell him off haha).

On that note... Japanese kids really are like any other kids. Everyone said to me before I went, “ohhh I bet Japanese kids are so well-behaved and respectful!” I can assure you they are not lmao. Some are, others are little terrors.

I’ve had some really wholesome moments. The other day during one of the younger classes this one boy (~3 years old) was mostly a little terror, running around all the time and hiding in the corner. But then during story time he sat in my lap and directed me to hold him. Then later in the lesson he went and hid in the corner again, so I went over to him and asked if he was okay. And he just snuggled into me, so we spent the rest of the class like that.

So far 4-5 year-olds are my favourites to teach. You can be so fun and silly with them! Sure, they don’t want to sit down and do things, but I’ve found some useful hacks already (pro-tip: if you let them rub things off the whiteboard or draw a shape for answering questions correctly, they’ll suddenly be very, very attentive)

I enjoy this kind of teaching a LOT more than teaching on italki. The lesson prep I have to do is minimal and all time outside of teaching is my own, basically. Not to mention it’s much more active and I don’t spend my life hunched over a desk!

Speaking of free time, I spend most of it studying languages and it’s awesome!

My Japanese level is definitely improving. My speaking not so much, but my comprehension for sure. The kids do speak Japanese in class, both to each other (obviously) and to me, and I’m rapidly getting used to certain words and speech patterns.

I can also now more or less get through interactions at train stations and konbinis! I even managed to ask a police lady for directions the other day (go me being so panicked about being late for my train I didn’t even care that my Japanese was broken af. Literally like, if I don’t at least try to speak Japanese rn I’m going to miss my train and be late for my classes)

I’ve learned that despite being in the country, active studying is really important. I’ve not learned anything through pure osmosis; I’ve only learned through active studying and then having the immersion reinforce it. So yes, my level is improving because I’m in the country and surrounded by the language, but I have to put in the effort first.

Also, the general level of English in Japan is not high. I’ve been spoilt by travelling around Europe where I can usually find someone who speaks broken English well enough to help me if I’m stuck (or if not then I can communicate in broken French/German/Spanish), and coming to Japan and being lost at a train station and literally not being able to communicate is a HUGE motivation to get good at the language quick!

I LOVE Yamagata! There was a snowstorm the day after I moved in and I feel like I live in a winter wonderland. I can see the mountains almost everywhere I go in the city. It’s not a busy city, and every train ride makes me feel like I’m in a Studio Ghibli movie. I love it I love it I love it.

I also love the dialect here! It’s easy to understand and it’s kinda musical!

My personal supervisor (PS) is awesome and has been super helpful. I’m so grateful! A lot of people from my training course have said that their PSs haven’t given them much/any orientation, whereas mine helped me set up my internet and a Japanese bank account as well as went over my schedule with me and ensured I did at least a week of teaching with someone else in the classroom before I was on my own.

I’ve only met 3 of my colleagues, but they’re all nice. One of them lives in my block and we’ll teach together for two days next week. Another of them loves the snow and the cold as much as I do, and I think we’ll get on super well.

My flat is tiny. It’s basically one room! But it has loads of storage space and being as small as it is means it’s super easy to heat (which is fortunate, because it was -10ºC the other night).

The tap water tastes great! In Nagoya it tasted so fucking weird I couldn’t even drink it. But here it’s awesome.

I’m enjoying trying new things! I’m going through all the different candies/chocolate brands at konbinis and supermarkets and I’ve hardly had the same thing twice since I got here (including bento). This is super different to how I was in the UK, where I was stuck in a routine and knew what I liked and didn’t want to go out of my comfort zone.

So yeah, I went from crying and wondering if I’d made a huge mistake the first 2-3 days of being here to absolutely thriving less than a month later. I’m so happy right now, truly living my dream, finally able to flourish and grow in a way I always knew deep down I could.

#victoria's big japan adventure #and now to continue enjoying my weekend away from my laptop <3

[apollos-boyfriend]

i know absolutely nothing about cpurpled (or even just purpled in general) except what i've learned from u through osmosis just by following but i Am obsessed w/ them and i just want u to know that. i'm going to be thinking about the chess post for days. ohhh he thinks he being so Clever he thinks he's doing what's necessary but all he's doing is jumping through hoops he's holding up himself. there is no obstacle there is no pit to climb out of he's there already and he just doesn't See it. hannah knowing him well enough to see what he's doing and also to know that he can't be convinced to operate in any other way regardless. oooughweueasugh

anon i’ve been staring at this ask for the past 5 minutes in awe that you know nothing about cpurpled because like. you have a better grasp on him than 95% of fic writers i have seen and i’m not even joking. that’s him exactly. he is his own worst enemy. he has dug his own grave with his own hands, but he firmly believes the shovel was in the hands of his enemy. he’s self destructive in a way he never sees. his demise could’ve been avoided, but he was so adamant and set in his ways that he only exacerbated his end. and to him, it was always for some bigger reason. he was doing this for a goal. but the goal was never set by anyone other than himself. he could’ve stepped away at any time, saved himself the pain and isolation and months of suffering. but he never does. and he’d do it again, in the end. because he’s too blinded by his own ego and rage to see the truth. the way out was in front of him all along. no one stopped him from taking it but himself.

#muse talk #anon #genuinely like. i want to frame this. #i am kissing you on the mouth this is exactly them #ultra fave

[goldensunset]

there is another pokemon rival who gets worn down by the player constantly defeating them! Hop from gen 8 gets all sad and discouraged after losing over and over and it doesn’t help that his brother is the champion, so he has this whole arc where he ditches all his usual pokemon (including his childhood bff wooloo 😔) and tries using stronger ones. it doesn’t work and eventually he learns the power of friendship is more important than winning or something idk I never played the game. Kieran’s live joker arc is still way more compelling but I thought you’d like to know about this guy too

yeah!!! i know and love hop. i’ve only played the first 40 minutes of gen 8 myself (everything else i’ve learned through osmosis) but that was more than enough for me to feel bad for this guy tbh. constantly living in his brother’s shadow and all that. i don’t think there’s a single photo of him in his family home it’s like all covered in leon’s stuff like sheesh. what i’ve heard about hop is that he just gives up eventually and aims to be a professor even though apparently that came out of nowhere. that for sure qualifies as ‘getting worn down by the player’, and i was thinking about him while typing that, but like. getting worn down and giving up is just sad. it would be cool if it’s bc he realized he really did have a secondary dream that took precedence but otherwise it’s just the short end of the stick for him. i wish hop had been treated better by the story :(

way more compelling is kieran stubbornly refusing to let go of his dreams even if they seem out of reach and potentially destructive, then probably taking drastic measures towards them. and wow is that so in line with the overarching theme of sv- having a dream, chasing a dream, then having to reevaluate what it’s worth to you once it gets to a dangerous point. others have said this better than me. but the primary and most drastic example: blindly pursuing a reckless dream is what got sada/turo killed, isn’t it?

but liiiike. doubt anything that bad will happen for kieran unless he gets involved with the (/a) new legendary in the indigo disc that has crazy powers or something. i mean regardless they’re not gonna kill off a child character of course but i mean like i don’t know if i think kieran will get himself into any material danger on his quest to become stronger. but at the bare minimum he’s probably going to ruin some relationships. but then again wouldn’t it be so good if he actually did get manipulated by some insane higher power and did something drastic in exchange for strength. ok that’s besides the point but i would like to see it

the point is yeah chasing his dream might lead him off the deep end and i hope it does. i hope they don’t chicken out on this. especially given that his desire is, frankly, not very noble. my personal takeaway is that by the end it’s not even about ogerpon but it’s about revenge on the player. like he just has a vendetta now. that is suuuper interesting. idk if even your typical real official pokémon villain has ever had such a personal reason to hate the protagonist. ‘darn meddling kid!’ vs ‘you lured me in with the promise of friendship and then lied to me took everything from me and stomped on me’. like dude…

#i know this ask was about hop i’m sorry i’m bad at staying on topic today but kieran on the brain… #asks #thanks anon #pokémon #sv dlc spoilers #kieran #teal mask/indigo disk

[katasstrophy]

Do you have any hcs for Kaiser and/or Ness backstory?? I'm worried we won't have that much time left with them so I've been pondering, and Ness def gives me only child, middle class (maybe upper middle class), and lonely childhood vibes 😔 I feel like part of his obsession with Kaiser and a big part of his personality is accepting any and all crumbs of affection and recognition, which leads to an easy dependence on a sole model. I like to imagine though, while he didn't get to spend the most time with his parents especially as he started school, that he used to go mushroom and truffle hunting with his mom. I also see Ness as someone who likes or used to train as an ice skater!! I think it suits him and would be helped/lead to his flexible ankles. Also, has some kind of music background whether it's playing violin for a bit or being a choir boy.

He and Kaiser def have major theater kid energy, but I also see Ness as a lit nerd!! Used to be a bit of a snob about it too the little shit but he likes classics, mystery, and fantasy. Def see him as a LOTR fan while Kaiser doesn't know LOTR or Star Wars lmao.

And I think it'd be cute, if their friendship started more normally (though...who knows smh), that Kaiser and Ness used to talk about plays and musicals together. I think Ness would be a tragedy and romance fan (Cyrano de Bergarac, Medela, Titus Andronicus) while Kaiser loves EVERYTHINGGGG but is ofc a huge proponent of the classics, and is very pretentious about his personal meta and deep takes on them.

Also, between the two, only Ness knows some video games. Not a lot, but I think he would have played nintendo games like Kirby, Legend if Zelda (fave), and Mario and would know MegaMan, DOOM, some Resident Evil and such. I see him being given game consoles as a kid to make up for his parents not being there for him, which worked but the intent pushed Ness away from really enjoying video games to the fullest. But I think he'd have a soft spot for a lot of OSTs from different series, and with time, I think he could be a horror game fan but only now and then.

Meanwhile, Kaiser is like...bankrupt when it comes to video game knowledge and references. Anything he knows is from brief osmosis from being an attention seeker as a kid trying to make friends by lying out of his ass. If he ever were to play video games as a young adult, I think he might be interested in MMORPGs but his attention is short with them and he gets pissy if he's not instantly amazing at it. Which I see happening a lot bc I think video games would be a weakness for Kaiser lmao.

Sorry this ran rather long!! Ty for your time!!

hi nonnie!! no worries at all my apologies for replying so late. i have like, a few headcanons for our unhinged bastard münchen duo but some of them i plan on exploring in fics later on so i’ll be keeping those selfishly to myself for now sorry <3 but i feel like kaiser and ness won’t disappear on us any time soon!! we’ve already been with them for quite a while, and after the ubers game we’re still getting the pxg france match, so there’s plenty opportunity for us to learn about their backstories. imo they’re such interesting characters that it would be a waste - and if i can be so bold, bad story writing - not to explore their dynamics further in the manga. so i’m sure we’ll know more about them in due time!! but yeah it’s kinda criminal that their blue lock wiki pages have barely any trivia on them :((

sadly i’m not very well-versed in either theatre or video games but it seems like you def know your stuff!! and that’s really the beauty of hcs - that if it feels right for you why not own it? i can tell you’ve put a lot of thought and effort into mapping out their childhood and interests :)

so let me leave you with this lil brain nugget i’ve been pondering about: i really do wonder if it was ness who made kaiser into the self-obsessed bastard he is today. i feel like kaiser wasn’t born with a superiority complex. he was always good at football, but never thought too deeply about it until he met ness. ness was the original egoist. i mean, from his current skill set, he still surpasses isagi in many aspects. so it was ness who was really good at football, who didn’t have an equal until he saw kaiser play and it shattered his entire worldview, because just like isagi, he realised kaiser embodies that “perfect form of soccer.” and he made it look easy, effortless. so ness became obsessed and decided to devote himself to kaiser, who measured up to be the best in his eyes, and thus, slowly, kaiser started believing himself to be the emperor that ness made him out to be. wouldn’t you develop a god complex if someone was constantly at your beck and call and praised you for it? defended you against everyone who tried to stand in your way but ultimately failed? i’m pretty sure that’s not how their story will go but it is an intriguing food for thought no? (okay now that i'm reading this back it's low key giving a reonagi foil lol but i still stand by it)

i also wonder if kaiser’s rose tattoo has anything to do with his desire to leave bastard münchen but being unable to do so as of right now, hence the thorns symbolising that he is “shackled”. which means he’s looking for something or someone to set him free by “unlocking” the keyhole on his left hand. my guess is that isagi is definitely involved in that process somehow but we shall see!

#—ping! new message from (anon) #phew haven't done blue lock meta theorising in a while hehe so this def worked the cogs in my brain a bit #i'm also a bit behind on the manga so hopefully i'm not just talking utter nonsense lol #blue lock #michael kaiser #alexis ness

[thebibliomancer]

Earth X #0

On top of What If? I’ve also started Earth X.

Despite the name, it’s not necessarily an X-Men thing. Or… the Krakoa era has been slapping X on anything. Maybe the title has been reused.

But Earth X is what happens when Wizard magazine challenges Alex Ross to make up a dystopian future for Marvel since he’d done that for DC with Kingdom Come.

So Ross drew some concept art and came up with an idea of Bad Future where the entire population of Earth had gained superpowers.

This proved such a hit with fans that Marvel commissioned an actual Earth X comic from Ross.

And Earth X the comic made such an impact that its concepts keep finding their way into the 616.

My amazing powers of osmosis have only learned me some general ideas of the book. Usually the bits that get re-used in main Marvel continuity. So I’ve wanted to dig into it for a while.

And now I am.

This is an issue zero which usually means a prologue. Earth X is the possible Bad Future of the Marvel Universe. So a prologue for Earth X is the history of the whole dang Earth.

As narrated by the Watcher to Aaron Stack, Machine Man. After rapturing him through a Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. And stealing his skin.

Uatu also insists on calling Aaron X-51 instead of Aaron.

So Uatu is kind of a dick in this. I mean, someone blinded him and he’s missing his stories on Earth. So that’s why he kidnapped Aaron. To be his seeing eye robot.

You’d think he’d ask in a nicer way.

But instead, he’s a dick.

He dehumanizes Aaron. He ignores his questions. He gets mad that Aaron isn’t reacting the “right way” to this big historical recap. He criticizes Aaron for applying his morals to cosmic entities.

Also, he appears on a giant screen, looking like a Zordon for some reason.

The thrust of Uatu’s big historical recap is that the Celestials came to Earth in several “hosts” to genetically nudge humanity and plant a “seed” in them that would one day grow them beyond the level of gods.

This seems relevant to the Earth X concept of a future where all humanity has gained superpowers.

So. That’s the prologue to Earth X. Aaron Stack will be observing Earth and narrating to a blind Uatu. An Earth X where humanity has apparently bloomed.

Why Earth X?

What does the X mean here? Issue 1 better explain that to me.

#Earth X #liveblog #uatu the watcher #Machine Man