absolutely no one else:

dreamcatcher: follow us through our end of the world climate change human greed narrative OR DIE ❤️❤️❤️

(18+ | OCxOC | MxF/MxM) BE MY RP PARTNER OR ELSE >:(

its-a me, talia! 🖤 apologies in advance for the long post but i'm a writer, so i talk a lot. right now, i'm making a resurgence in the world of creative writing AKA roleplaying and pretending that makes up for my lack of inspo for my own novel ideas ✌️

with that newfound desire for more involvement comes the sad realization that i am in dire lack of long term rp partners. so... here i am i *pathetic loser shrug*

anyways, who am i?

age: 24

pronouns: she/her

timezone: EST

ok obligatory about me section time. i'm a trophy wife who has been doing creative writing since i learned the alphabet. my husband is navy and so its always an adventure. i have a bachelors degree in communications and have lots of experience with nonprofits and marketing! i have a doggo and 2 lovely sphynx cats and i am currently in a musical for the month of august! i am a huge nerd and although i have a lot of life changes coming up, i am hoping to balance out that stress with some awesome writing friends and stories! i'm mentally ill but who isnt and i'm an introverted extrovert, i would say.

what does writing with me look like?

first off, if you aren't open to OOC chatter then i'm probably not for you. i'm sure you're awesome but i am a very loving and excitable person who will want to fangirl and share inspo and get to you know as a buddy! the best part of writing collaboratively is the collaboration part for me so i love to plot, headcanon, and overall just go back and forth! 

reply speed: multiple a day/one a day/multiple a week (AKA it all depends)

average post length: semi-literate to novella, anywhere from 2-5+ paragraphs per post, scene-dependent but the more the better!

writing wise, i write third person, past tense and i'm mostly looking for m/m and m/f pairings. i love tropes and angst and drama. romance is a must but i also love adventure and building a fantastic story! i don't write characters that are labeled 'top/bottom' or anything like that, i much prefer to create charas for the story and explore all kinds of connections! i use realistic FCs or realistic art FCs in specific settings

genre-wise, i write slice of life/realistic, supernatural (vampires & werewolves), horror/thriller (think It or Stranger Things vibes), historical fiction, apocalypse/dystopia, sci-fi, and fantasy can be discussed as well but it's my least faves!

fandom-wise, i will write OCs in a fandom universe (unless its ron weasley, i will canon ron for you pshhhh). fandoms i know enough to write in would be harry potter, stranger things, it/stephen king, lord of the rings, maze runner, hunger games... yeah. that might be it? idk. you can always ask

triggers: i don't have many, but i try to avoid writing as/against furry, non-humanoid characters, ERP, non-cis characters (i don't have experience to respectfully write this), doubling, and poly relationships

kinks/limits: i prefer NSFW to only really take up 30% or less of a story, but i'm not against smut. i am fine to keep things vanilla or talk about preferences in DMs! i'm also fine to FTB. the most important thing is the story and characters to me

final thoughts

here is my writing sample and i'd loooove if you reach out and share one as well!

i am 👻 ghost-friendly 👻 but don't prefer it so i hope we can find a great story to connect on and write together! 

i write over discord and/or google docs. please send a message over discord and i can accept it if my DMs are still open!

discord: muppetmayqueen

feel free to reach out with an introduction on who you are and what made you reach out! i'll try to get back to you as soon as i can if we'd be a good fit! <3

Station Eleven

I very nearly tapped out - at the end of episode 1, I was dissociating heavily, remembering [redacted paragraphs on paragraphs of stream of consciousness trauma-dumping].

So you know by now that I was burned out on the post apocalyptic genre by my teens due to the ableism, misogyny and really bungled racial metaphors... but reviewers that I trust said this was different. Even so, I was going to drop this... but... uh since I was mentally spiralling thought maybe I could break it by pressing "next" and getting engrossed in whatever comes up... and boom: there was a disabled person front and center, not a skilled killer or doctor or anything superskilled, a disabled actor playing a disabled actor thriving in the future. If that had been in episode 1, it would have had me at hello. If there hadn't been an episode 2 on my hard drive, I was going to watch Dark City.

It's a hard sell, ten hours of people working through the wreckage of a pandemic with multiple timelines and puzzle pieces? But it's done in a way that keeps you hooked and not with cliffhangers and 'this is going somewhere eventually' mystery boxes.

I'm not going to lie, I was ready to drop it again by the middle, the type of person these kids had become due to their circumstances was reverting to the classic imaginary dystopia "primal state" (once supposed to critique the present state of affairs but has become a lazy trope). And then in episode 7, they turn that on its head. Our protag finds a way to forgive the child she was and we realize there is going to be real growth. Not just compounded trauma: healthy dealing with past, present and future fears.

The final episodes were amazing. And worth the 6 first hours which are not a slog because the pacing's good but still quite the emotional toil. You will probably cry at least 10–20 minutes of the finale if not a full 30-40 like me.

Miranda's arc and art is the backbone and heart of this show, she's already seen the end of her world, a pandemic is just the latest mess. That resonated with me and I suspect will for many of you, the ones for whom the pandemic was a huge deal but also at least your third time on the merry-go-round of human apathy to outright cruelty, getting your heart broken by losing people you trusted and facing bureaucracies designed to break you. I relied not just on art but seeing people who'd already felt like their world had ended before and gone through it who took this seriously with compassion not individualism guiding their actions and words. "Little apocalypses" like betrayal or poverty or a body falling apart.

And that's the story really, the art of people who've felt the world collapse and managed to put that into words and metaphors, it carries us. Shakespeare is used to heal multiple people's emotional wounds in this story but so does Miranda and her graphic novel.

This is the part where you go to YOURNAME.tumblr.com/archive/2020/12/ and look to see if you talked about any media that helped you during lockdown.

I recommend Station Eleven if you're looking for a twist on the dystopia genre, if you're ready to do a little exorcism on things you might not have dealt with yet (because it's ongoing *shakes fist*) and like stories written by women about women that also have a wide diversity of scope. A post apocalypse with no rape threats, no coercive pregnancies, no religious compounds with harems, no selling sex for food or shelter.

If you'd like to imagine TLOU's Ellie finds family with a travelling music and theatre group, deals with her attachment issues, is friends with her ex-girlfriends, learns enough emotional maturity to help others in crisis. This might be for you.

As always check doesthedogdie as there is violence, there is pandemic imagery, there is emotional violence and mental illness, there is a cult of traumatized children and teens who've grown up without parents and ethical frameworks and they're completely unfazed by death: that's some tough subject matter.

Can you believe we're two months into summer already? I didn't quite make it to ten books this month, but I hit my usual goal of eight for the bingo, and I'm happy with that! It's been a Month of Mediocrity, unfortunately, but I'm still really enjoying the Runaways comics, and Pumpkin is a super cute addition to the Dumplin' series. Also, three bingos, yay! Usually, it takes me until the last month to get even one. 😅

The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys by Gerard Way & Shaun Simon (dystopia/apocalypse) This was a quick reread to refamiliarize myself with the world and the characters, and I still really enjoy Cloonan's bright art against the grimmer dystopian backdrop. As before, Red/Blue and Korse have my heart. 4/5

Pumpkin by Julie Murphy (one word title) This is one of my favorite contemporary trilogies, and while I didn't love this one as much as Puddin', it's a really cute story with some fun cameos from past characters. 4/5

Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia (blue or yellow cover) I was hoping this would be a little weirder than it was, but it's a solid enough paranormal story with a supernatural being (firestarter) that isn’t often seen in fiction. 3/5

The Good House by Tananarive Due (on tbr forever) I started off really enjoying this, and it's got a lot of creepy Stephen King vibes. Unfortunately, like a lot of King, it's also a bit too long, and my interest flagged in the middle. 3/5

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones (non-american author) This was a little better than Castle in the Air, but all in all, this trilogy has been a major letdown since Howl's Moving Castle. Why are the characters just doing dishes and laundry for half the book? 2/5

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales (rom-com) I had high hopes for this after loving Gonzales's other rom-coms, but I forgot how much I hate reality TV. The setting and the drama wore on me quickly, but there's a cute wlw ship. 3/5

Runaways, Vol. 2: Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell (lgbtq+) I think I loved this even more than the first volume, and it definitely made me laugh more at what a hot mess of a hero team the Runaways are. Deanoru forever <3. 4/5

All These Bodies by Kendare Blake (paranormal) Again, I had higher hopes for what turned out to be a fairly run-of-the-mill paranormal story. I like the way it forces us to decide for ourselves whether vampires are real or not, but it's just so boring. 3/5

“Invasive Species”

I’ve been working on this idea for almost a year now. What started as a piece of two people in a post apocalypse scene turned into two children an overgrown landscape. Where originally I had ruined buildings and signage, I now have unnatural plant life.

I’m very happy with how this piece has turned out!

It was a big reminder that if the piece doesn’t work at first, take some time away, look at it again, and don’t hesitate to delete your art and try again.

#digitalart #digitalillustration #dystopia #scifi

Ten EcoLit Titles from Around the World

Fiction with a mind on ecology and environmental themes are one of my favourites. Further topics from animal rights, energy sources, to disasters and dystopian society have only become more and more relevant. So, from across the six continents here are 10 EcoLit titles. (FYI, I try to provide content notes for all titles I review in the links.)

  Children of the Sea by Igarashi Daisuke, translated by JN Productions, lettering Jose Macasocol

Adapted to an animated film in 2019, the award-winning five-volume-comic by Japanese artist Igarashi Daisuke, Children of the Sea is a bit of a mystery, with a somewhat nonlinear timeline. Further a gorgeous and mesmerizing tribute to the ocean and aquatic life as the ocean’s fish begin disappearing worldwide.

 The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-eun, translated by Lizzie Buehler

This the first translated book by Korean author Yun Ko-eun is the sort of trim ecolit novel that begs the question of just how dark, dark tourism can get. Yona Ko works for Jungle which specializes in travel packages to disaster areas. If that sounds rather problematic it also has a corporate culture that’s unsurprisingly very much the kind with a missing stair. So, the ten-year company veteran ends up on a review trip to one of the least lucrative destinations in Southeast Asia. A tropical island that decades ago was the site of a genocide and giant sink hole, now a lake. Initially coming off more as a paradise, the island however is hiding an all too deadly side.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

From the Noble winning Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, this novel is ostensibly a murder mystery. However, page by page Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead examines climate change, predation, exploitation, diet, and belief. The reality that man is an animal whose attempts to forget or detach one’s relationship and own position in nature is lethal.

  Eclipse Our Sins by Tlotlo Tsamaase

From Motswana author Tlotlo Tsamaase Eclipse Our Sins is an achingly lyrical novelette that appeared in SFF Clarkeswold Magazine, Issue 159 December 2019 (+ audio version). It presents an apocalyptic earth ravaged by climate change with a largely immoral mankind split in increasing class disparity. And abused Mama Earth is angry…

 Fauna by Christiane Vadnais, translated by translated by Pablo Strauss

Speculative fiction holds real life hallmarks of dystopia and apocalypse in this debut work of fiction by Quebecois author Christiane Vadnais. Delivering thought-provoking expressions of 10 interconnected cli-fi vignettes with a real strain of horror, it sometimes comes off as more for shock value. Yet, Fauna is nevertheless a title which can stay with the reader.

Gwen in Green by Hugh Zachary

Gwen in Green is a story beget from the brutal transformation of 1,200 acres due to construction of the Brunswick Nuclear Plant in North Carolina during the early 1970s. This sexy eco-horror pulp by Hugh Zachary, revived in Paperbacks from Hell, personifies not just nature but a decade.

  The Seeds written by Ann Nocenti and art by David Aja

Years in the making, this speculative eco-tech thriller comic by US journalist and writer Ann Nocenti with artist David Aja is an uncanny dystopian and, in many ways, strangely prescient book. There are aliens, misinformation, conspiracy theories and a toxic environment… Words don’t really do credit to the absolute eerie monochromatic colour scheme art either. One comic best to just dive into yourself. (BONUS: Ann Nocenti is also responsible for one of my favourite DC Comics illustrated by John Van Fleet, Poison Ivy: Cast Shadows.)

Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World edited by Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro, translated by Fábio Fernandes

Solarpunk is a genre that has grown, especially over the last decade. From a country that does in the real world have a high majority percentage of its energy from renewable sources, it is valuable that this 2012 Brazilian anthology is available in translation to not be forgotten in the canon.

(BONUS: Looking for something more hopeful and soothing? I highly recommend the Hugo award winning, philosophical, solarpunk Monk & Robot novella duology by US author Becky Chambers)

 The Story Collector by Evie Gaughan

A historical romance from an Irish author weaving local folklore, additionally this is a novel importantly about the human link to nature. How it helps people in some of the darkest times.The verdant wintry setting and time, as the light of the sun starts increasing, acts almost as a living character influencing its characters separated by 100 years, along with the consequences of man’s hubris and disrespect.

The Swan Book by Alexis Wright

Published almost ten years ago this post-apocalyptic novel from a notable Australian Indigenous author remains a vivid and powerful literary saga today. In a world devastated by climate change and subsequent governmental collapse, its Aboriginal main character Oblivia undergoing much suffering tries to achieve self-determination. Heavy, with an eye on history, full of dense metaphors, symbols including swans, and links with folklore, the text is well worth the effort and praise.

Book Recs

I was gonna do one of these at the end of the year, but I’ve somehow managed to read 26 books this year already (12 novellas, 14 novels), almost all featuring queer authors and/or characters so this is already a long list.

Note: There’s a few on here I was kind of meh about, but in most of those cases it was a ‘book might be good but it’s not for me so i’ll mention it to put it on people’s radar anyway’ type of thing. Insert the usual necessary tumblr disclaimer about all of this being only my opinion and your opinions are valid too etc etc.

In order of when I read them:

Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir - Fantasy novella from the author of gideon the ninth that’s a twist on the classic princess trapped in a tower waiting for a prince story. Quite fun. (novella)

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht - Dark fantasy about revenge and magic. m/m couple but like I said it’s pretty dark and twisted all around so definitely not a happy queer romantic story. My opinion was interesting premise that could have been executed better and probably should have been a full novel to embellish on the world building potential. (novella)

A Memory Called Empire & A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine - Probably tied with murderbot as the best things I read this year. Scifi, f/f couple, wonderfully done exploration of what it means to fall in love with a culture that is destroying your own. More of the many queer anti-imperialist books that have come out recently and certainly some of the best. The second one is a direct continuation of the first. (2 novels)

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson - This is the third in the Baru Cormorant series (The Masquerade) and was my favorite so far. The second and third book were originally one book that got split I believe and the second book didn’t stand alone as well (though was still great), but the third book really made up for that. Dark fantasy world starring a queer woc whose country and culture is destroyed by the imperial forces of that world colonizing and assimilating them. She vows revenge and decides to work her way up within her enemy’s ranks to enact it from within and bring an empire to ruins. Really really fascinating study of so many different aspects of our own world and the systems which enable and allow bigotry and how bigoted and violent narratives are used to control minorities. This is definitely a darker series and I was particularly impressed with some of the commentary on the racism prevalent in non-intersectional feminism as depicted through a fantasy world. Can’t wait for the last one to come out! (3 novels, 1 forthcoming)

The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells - There’s six of them--5 novella and a novel--and the first is All Systems Red. Told from the point of view of a self-aware droid/android that is rented out by a corporation to provide protection in a dystopian capitalist hellhole future that isn’t that unlike our current capitalist dystopia but is in space. Muderbot hacked the chip that controlled it and instead of going rogue just wants to be left alone to watch its favorite tv shows. Murderbot is painfully relatable and the books are both funny and poignant. Highly recommended. (5 novellas and a novel).

Winter’s Orbit - Everina Maxwell - This was a m/m romance novel with a scifi backdrop of royal intrigue. Generally I’m more into scifi with a queer relationship in the background than vice versa, so it wasn’t my favorite, BUT I think it was still well written and someone looking for more of the romance angle would enjoy it. Has all your favorite romance tropes in it, especially the yearning. (novel)

The Divine Cities - Robert Jackson Bennett - Three book series. I’m very conflicted about this one. Set in a fantasy world where an enslaved nation overthrew the country enslaving them and now rules over them. It’s a story of what happens after the triumphant victory and within that it’s also a murder mystery tied into the dying magic of the conquered nation. It also has a six foot something naked oily viking man fist fight a cthulhu in a frozen river. The second book was by far my favorite, mostly due to the main character being brilliant. My conflict comes from the fact I don’t feel like the story treated its women and queer characters well. Like it had really great characters but it didn’t do great by them overall. That and the third book didn’t live up to the first two. But still definitely worth a read, can’t stress enough how cool some of the world building was. (3 novels)

Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant - This might be the only one on here I disliked. It’s got a doomed boat voyage and creepy underwater terror and monsters and a super diverse cast of characters, but I just didn’t enjoy the writing style. While having a diverse cast is great, there were a lot of moments where it felt like characters were pausing to explain things about themselves that felt like a tumblr post rather than a normal conversation you might have while actively being hunted by monsters. I also bounced off all the characters. But a lot of people seem to have liked it so if you’re into horror and want a book with a f/f main couple then maybe you’ll enjoy it. (novel)

Dead Djinn Universe - P. Djèlí Clark - Around the early 1900′s, a man in Egypt discovers a way to access another world and bring Djinn and mysterious clockwork beings called Angels through. As a result, Egypt tells the British to get fucked and Cairo becomes one of the most powerful cities in the world. So Egypt, magic, djinn, a steampunk-ish vibe, oh and the main character is a butch queer woman who enjoys wearing dapper suits and looking fabulous while she investigates supernatural events. Her girlfriend is also mysterious and badass. And she has a cat. There’s three novella (one of which technically might be considered a short story) and then the first novel. You should absolutely read the novellas first (A Dead Djinn in Cairo, The Angel of Khan el-Khalili, The Haunting of Tram Car 015). Super fun and imaginative series. (3 novellas and a novel, more forthcoming)

River of Teeth & Taste of Marrow - Sarah Gailey - From the book description

“In the early 20th Century, the United States government concocted a plan to import hippopotamuses into the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This is true. Other true things about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two. This was a terrible plan.”

Queer hippo riders!!!! Very much a western but with hippos. Main couple included a non-binary character. Loved the first one. The second one I was more meh about due to one of the characters I was supposed to like having obnoxious man pain that a woman had to take the brunt of the whole time. Also there were less hippos. But queer hippo riders! Definitely read the first one, and they’re both novellas so no reason not to read the second as well. (2 novellas)

A Psalm for the Wild-Built - Becky Chambers - I may be the only person who hasn’t read the long way to a small angry planet at this point, but I did grab her new novella and I loved it. It made me want to go sit out in the woods and feel peaceful. The world it’s set in feels like a peaceful post-apocalypse...or diverted apocalypse maybe. Humans built robots and robots gained sentience, but instead of rebelling they just up and left and went into the wilderness with a promise that the humans wouldn’t follow them.The remaining human society reshaped itself into something new and peaceful. It’s the story of a monk who leaves their habitual monking duties to go be a tea monk and then later wanders into the wilderness and becomes the first human in ages to meet a robot. Very sad there’s no fan art yet. (novella, more forthcoming)

The March North - Graydon Saunders - This was such a weird book that I’m not sure how to explain it. The prose style is hard to get used to and I suspect a lot of people will bounce off it in the first chapter. There’s no third person pronouns used at all and important events get mentioned once in passing and if you blink you’ll miss them. Set on a world where magic is extremely common to the point that rivers sometimes run with blood or fire and the local weeds are something out of a horror movie and most of the world is run by powerful sorcerer dictators, one country banded together (with the help of a few powerful sorcerers who were tired of all the bullshit) to form a free country where powerful sorcerers wouldn’t rule and the small magics of every day folks could be combined to work together. The story revolves around a Captain of the military force on the border who one day has three very powerful sorcerers sent to them by the main government with the hint that just maybe there’s about to be a big invasion (there is) with the implication of take these guys and go deal with this. The world building is extremely complex and very cool...when you can actually understand what the fuck is going on. There is also a murder sheep named Eustace who breathes fire and eats just about everything and is a Very Good Boy and belongs to the most terrifying sorcerer in the world who appears as a little old grandma with knitting. It had one of the most epic badass and wonderfully grotesque battles I’ve ever read. But yeah, it is not what I would call easy reading. Opinions may vary wildly. I did also read the second one (A Succession of Bad Days) in the series which was easier to follow and had a lot more details about the world, but overall I was more meh about it despite some cool aspects. The chapters and chapters of the extreme details of building a house that made up half the novel just weren’t my thing. (novels).

The Space Between Worlds - Micaiah Johnson - In this world parallels universes exist and we’ve discovered how to travel between them, but the catch is you can only go to worlds where the ‘you’ there is already dead. This turns into an uncomfortable look at who would be the people most likely to have died on many worlds and how things like class and race would fit into that and what we would actually use this ability for (if you guessed stealing resources and the stock market you’d be correct). The main character is a queer woc who travels between worlds with the assistance of her handler (another queer woc) who she has the hots for. She accidentally stumbles on a whole lot of mess and conspiracy and gets swept up in that. Really enjoyed it. (novel)

Witchmark - C.L. Polk - Fantasy world reminiscent of Victorian England (I think?) where a young man with magical gifts runs away from his powerful family to avoid being exploited by them. He joins the army and fights in a war and comes home to try and live a quiet life as a doctor, but a murder pulls him into a larger mystery that upturns his life. Also he’s extremely gay and there’s a prevalent m/m romance. This one was a fun-but-not-mind-blowing one for me. (novel, 2 more in the series I haven’t read)

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon - This was one of those that everyone loved but I couldn’t get into for some reason. I tried twice and only got about halfway through the second time. It’s got dragons and queer ladies and fantasy world and all the things I like, but I wasn’t that invested in the main story (which included the f/f couple) and was more interested in the smaller story about a woman trying to become a dragon rider. There are few things that beat out a lady and her dragon friend story for me and that was the storyline that felt neglected and took a different turn right when we got to the part I’d been waiting for. But, I know a lot of people whose reading opinions I respect who loved it, and if you like epic fantasy with dragons and queens and treachery and pirates and queer characters then I’d say you should definitely give it a try. (novel)

Bonus: I didn’t read these series this year, but if you haven’t read them yet, you should.

Imperial Radch (Ancillary Justice) - Ann Leckie - Spaceship AI stuck in a human body out for revenge for their former captain, but that summary does not come close to doing it justice. Another one examining imperialism and also gender and race.(3 novels)

Kushiel's Legacy Series - Jacqueline Carey - This is two series, six books total, and starts with Kushiel's Dart. Alternate universe Renaissance-y Europe in a fantastical world where sex isn't shameful and sex workers are respected and prized. Lots of political intrigue and mystery. A lot of BDSM and kinky stuff too (the main character is a sexual masochist, oh and also bi!). I first read this series when I was fifteen or sixteen and it definitely made a big impression on me. Same author also wrote the Santa Olivia series which I’d also recommend. (6 novels)

The Locked Tomb (Gideon the Ninth) - Tamsyn Muir - I mean, if you follow me, you know. If you don’t follow me you still probably know. I’d have felt remiss to have left them off though. Lesbian Necormancers in Space. Memes! Skeletons! Biceps! Go read them. (2 novels, 2 forthcoming, 1 short story)

Books On My To Read List:

Fireheart Tiger - Aliette de Bodard

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water - Zen Cho

Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse

This Is How You Lose the TIme War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Ninefox Gambit - Yoon Ha Lee

Also, if anyone has any recs for scifi/fantasy books starring queer men (not necessarily having to do with a queer relationship) and written by queer men I’d love them. There’s a lot written by women, and some of them are great, but I’d love to read a story about queer men from their own perspective.

hmmmmmmmmmm maybe i’ll write an Introspective Musing Post about my relationship to religion and their depiction in stories because i’ve pondering about this topic lately

so for those who are reading this and DON’T know what’s been going on...  there’s this webcomic i fell in love with some years ago, about six years actually, that depicts a post-apocalyptic fantasy/horror adventure set in the nordic countries. it had, and has still, some very uncomfortable flaws regarding racial representation, and the creator has historically not dealt very well with criticism towards it. it’s a whole Thing. my relationship with this comic has fluctuated a lot, since there are a lot of elements in it i DO love and i still feel very nostalgic about, and like idk i felt like i trust my skills in critical thinking enough to keep reading. aaand then the creator went a teensy bit off the deep end created a whole minicomic which is like... a lukewarm social media dystopia where christians are oppressed (and also everyone is a cute bunny, including our lord and saviour jesus christ). which is already tonedeaf enough considering there are religious people who DO get prosecuted for their faith, like, that’s an actual reality for a lot of people - but as far as i can tell, usually not christians. and then there’s an afterword that’s like, “anyway i got recently converted and realized i’m a disgusting human being full of sin who doesn’t deserve redemption but jesus loves me so i’ll be fine!! remember to repent for your sins xoxo” and a bunch of other stuff and IT’S KIND OF REALLY CONCERNING i have, uh, been habitually looking at the reactions to and discussions around this, maybe it’s not very self care of me but there’s a lot of overwhelming things rn and it’s fantastically distracting, yknow? like, overall this situation is fairly reminiscent of the whole jkr thing. creator of a series that is Fairly Beloved, does something hurtful, handles backlash in a weird way, a lot of people start taking distance from Beloved Series or find ways to enjoy it on their own terms, creator later reveals to have been fully radicalized and releases a whole manifesto, and any and all criticism gets framed as harassment and proving them right. of course, one of them is a super rich person with a LOT of media power and a topic that is a lot more destructive in our current zeitgeist, and the other is an independent webcomic creator, so it’s  not the same situation. just similar vibez ya feel as a result of this, i have been Thinking. and just this feels like some sort of defeat like god dammit she got me i AM thinking about the topic she wrote about!!! i should dismiss the whole thing!!! but thinking about topics is probably a good thing so hey lets go. me, i’m agnostic. i understand that this is a ‘lazy’ position to take, but it’s what works for me. i simply do not vibe with organized religion, personally. (i had the wikipedia page for ‘chaos magic’ open in a tab for several weeks, if that helps.) i was raised by atheists in a majorly atheist culture. christian atheist, i should specify. norway has been mostly and historically lutheran, and religion has usually been a private and personal thing. it turns out the teacher i had in 7th grade was mormon, but i ONLY found out because he showed up in a tv series discussing religious groups in norway later, and he was honestly one of the best teachers i have ever had - he reignited the whole class’ interest in science, math, and dungeons and dragons. it was a real “wait WHAT” moment for my teenage self. i think i was briefly converted to christianity by my friend when i was like 7, who grew up in a christian family (i visited them a couple times and always forgot they do prayers before dinner. oops!), but like, she ALSO made me believe she was the guardian of a secret magic orb that controls the entire world and if i told anybody the world would burn down in 3 seconds. i only suspected something was off when one day the Orb ran on batteries, and another day the Orb had to be plugged in to charge. in my defense i really wanted to be part of a cool fantasy plot. i had no idea how to be a christian beyond “uuuuh believe in god i guess” so it just faded away on its own. when i met this friend several years later, she was no longer christian. i think every childhood friend of mine who grew up in a christian family, was no longer christian when they grew up. most notably my closest internet friend whose family was catholic - she had several siblings, and each of them took a wildly different path, from hippie treehugger to laveyan satanist or something in that area. (i joined them for a sermon in a church when they visited my town. my phone went off during it because i had forgotten to silence it. oops!) ((i also really liked their mother’s interpretation of purgatory. she explained it as a bath, not fire. i like that.)) i have never had any personal negative experiences with christianity, despite being openly queer/gay/trans. the only time someone has directly told me i’m going to hell was some guy who saw me wearing a hoodie on norway’s constitution day. yeah i still remember that you bastard i’ve sworn to be spiteful about it till the day i die!! i’ve actually had much more insufferable interactions with the obnoxious kind of atheists - like yes yes i agree with you on a lot but that doesn’t diminish your ability to be an absolute hypocrite, it turns out? i remember going to see the movie ‘noah’ with a friend who had recently discovered reddit atheism and it was just really exhausting to discuss it with her. one of these Obnoxious Atheists is my Own Mother. which is a little strange, honestly, because she LOVES visiting churches for the Aesthetic and Architecture. we cannot go anywhere without having to stop by a pretty church to Admire and Explore. I’VE BEEN IN SO MANY CHURCHES FOR AN ATHEIST RAISED NON-CHRISTIAN. i’ve been to the vatican TWICE (i genuinely don’t even know how much of my extended family is christian. up north in the tiny village i come from, i believe my uncle is the churchkeeper, and it’s the only building in the area that did not get burnt down by the the nazis during ww2 - mostly because soldiers needed a place to sleep. still don’t know whether or not said uncle believes or not, because hey, it’s Personal) i think my biggest personal relationship to religion, and christianity specifically, has been academic. yeah, we learned a brief synopsis of world religions at school (and i remember the class used to be called ‘christianity, religion, and ethics’ and got changed to ‘religion, beliefs, and ethics’ which is cool. it was probably a big discourse but i was a teen who didnt care), but also my bachelor degree is in art history, specifically western art history because it’s a vast sprawling topic and they had to distill it as best they could SIGHS. western art history is deeply entangled with the history of the church, and i think the most i’ve ever learnt about christianity is through these classes (one of my professors wrote an article about how jesus can be interpreted as queer which i Deeply Appreciate). i also specifically tried to diversify my academic input by picking classes such as ‘depiction of muslims and jewish people in western medieval art’ and ‘art and religion’ when i was an exchange student in canada, along with 101 classes in anthropology and archaeology. because i think human diversity and culture is very cool and i want to absorb that knowledge as best as i can. i think my exchange semester in canada was the most religiously diverse space have ever been in, to be honest. now as an adult i have more christian friends again, but friends who chose it for themselves, and who practice in ways that sound good and healthy, like a place of solace and community for them. the vast majority of my friends are queer too, yknow?? i’ve known too many people who have seen these identities as fated opposites, but they aren’t, they’re just parts of who people are. it’s like... i genuinely love people having their faiths and beliefs so much. i love people finding that space where they belong and feel safe in. i love people having communities and heritages and connections. i deeply respect and admire opening up that space for faith within any other communities, like... if i’m going to listen to a podcast about scepticism and cults, i am not going to listen to it if it’s just an excuse to bash religion. i think the search for truth needs to be compassionate, always. you can acknowledge that crystals are cool and make people happy AND that multi level marketing schemes are deeply harmful and prey on people in vulnerable situaitons. YOU KNOW???? so now’s when i bring up Apocalypse Comic again. one of the things i really did like about it was, ironically, how it handled religion. in its setting, people have returned to old gods, and their magic drew power from their religion. characters from different regions had different beliefs and sources. in the first arc, they meet the spirit of a lutheran pastor, who ends up helping them with her powers. it was treated as, in the creators own words, ‘just another mythology’. and honestly? i love that. it was one of the nicest depictions i’ve seen of christianity in fiction, and as something that could coexist with other faiths. I Vibe With That. and then, uh, then... bunny dystopia comic. it just... it just straight up tells you christianity is literally the only way to..?? be a good person??? i guess?? i’m still kind of struggling to parse what exactly it wanted to say. the evil social media overlord bird tells you the bible makes you a DANGEROUS FREETHINKER, but the comic also treats rewriting the bible or finding your own way to faith as something,, Bad. The Bible Must Remain Unsullied. Never Criticize The Bible. also, doing good things just for social media clout is bad and selfish. you should do good things so you don’t burn in hell instead. is that the message? it reads a lot like the comic creator already had the idea for the comic, but only got the urge to make it after she was converted and needed to spread the good word. you do you i guess!! i understand that she’s new to this and probably Going Through Something, and this is just a step on her journey. but the absolute self-loathing she described in her afterword... it does not sound good. i’m just some agnostic kid so what do i know, but i do not think that kind of self-flagellating is a kind faith to have for yourself. i might not ever have been properly religious, but you know what i AM familiar with? a brain wired for ocd and intrusive thoughts. for a lot of my life i’ve struggled with my own kind of purity complex. i’ve had this really strange sensitivity for things that felt ‘tainted’. i’ve experienced having to remove more and more words from my vocabulary because they were Bad and i did not want to sully my sentences. it stacked, too - if a word turned out to be an euphemism for something, i could never feel comfortable saying it again. i still struggle a bit with these things, but i have confronted these things within myself. i’ve had to make myself comfortable with imperfection and ‘tainted’ things and accept that these are just, arbitrary categories my mind made up. maybe that’s the reason i can’t do organized religion even if i found one that fit for me - just like diets can trigger disordered eating, i think it would carve some bad brainpaths for me. so yeah i’m worried i guess! i’m worried when people think it’s so good that she finally found the correct faith even if it’s causing all this self-hate. is there really not a better way? or are they just trusting she’ll find it? and yeah it’s none of my concern, it’s like, i worry for jkr too but i do not want her within miles of my trans self thANKS. so like, i DO enjoy media that explores faith and what it means for you. my favourite band is the oh hellos, which DOES draw on faith and the songwriter’s experience with it. because of my religious iliteracy most of it has flown over my head for years and i’m like “oh hey this is gay” and then only later realize it was about god all along Probably. i like what they’ve done with the place. also, stormlight archive - i had NO idea sanderson was mormon, the way he writes his characters, many of whom actively discuss religion and their relationship to it. i love that about the books, honestly. Media That Explores Religion In A Complex And Compassionate Way... we like that i’ve been thinking about my own stories too, and how i might want to explore faith in them. most of my settings are based on magic and it’s like, what role does religion have in a world where gods are real and makes u magic. in sparrow spellcaster’s story, xe creates? summons? an old god - brings them to life out of the idea of them. it’s a story about hubris, mostly. then there’s iphimery, the story where i am actively fleshing out a pantheon. there’s no doubt the gods are real in the fantasy version of iphimery, they are the source of magic and sustain themselves on slivers of humanity in exchange. but in the modern version, where they are mostly forgotten? that’s some room for me to explore, i think. especially the character of timian, who comes from a smaller town and moves to a large and diverse city. in the fantasy story, the guardian deity chooses his sister as a vessel. in the modern setting, that does not happen, and i don’t yet know what does, but i really want timian to be someone who struggles with his identity - his faith, his sexuality, the expectations cast upon him by his hometown... i’m sure it’s a cliché story retold through a million gay characters but i want to do it too okay. i want to see him carve out his own way of existing within the world because i care him and want to see him thrive!!! alrighty i THINK that’s all i wanted to write. thanks if you read all of this, and if you didn’t that’s super cool have a nice day !

Arcadia

➜ Words: 9.6k

➜ Genres: 50% Fluff, 50% Angst, Dystopia!AU, Utopia!AU

➜ Summary: In a new era, the human race has largely been eradicated through warfare and disease. You are one of the few left, living in the forest and making use of the wild. Or at least that's what you think until a man quite literally crashes into your home.

cr.

It happened in the afternoon.   A deafening noise from the sky. A thin whistle that crescendoed. Louder than what you’re used to hearing. Ringing in your eardrums. It shrieked horrifically — rumbling the ground — roaring through the silent forest. And you looked up to see a streak of white in the sky. Immediately, you dropped the animal in hand, abandoned the trap at your feet and ducked your head.   But the explosions never came raining down on your skull.   Instead, it happened in the distance. An explosion that made the evening sky spark bright white.    It took a full minute for it to die down, for the smoke to fade into the horizon as if nothing occurred a moment ago. Yet, you stalked the fumes and commotion, crept in the shadows. You knew better than to approach foreign things, to approach clamor and potential danger.   But the forest had been quiet for so long that it provoked your curiosity.    What you found past the shrubbery and trunks of spruce is a giant white cylinder with rounded edges. A capsule. So white that it burnt to the back of your eyelids, in no way natural whatsoever. But the colour had been marred by dirt and foliage after it crash-landed. The mud and ground hugged it, molded against the shape after it quite literally smashed into the Earth.   Before you could approach the thing and investigate, there was another noise. An unfamiliar whirring. It made you flinch and stumble back, taking refuge behind the trees.   But as you peeked out, you saw something crawling out of the open compartment. A groan.    Someone.   You hadn’t seen another person in years.   Immediately, you stepped forward and he saw you. Eyes darting to look into yours.   He was in stark white clothing from top to bottom, pants that stopped too short at his ankles, a shirt that was cut awkwardly and too small for his broad shoulders. It was vivid against his dark hair and golden skin, almost made him look ridiculous. But you supposed at the time you didn’t look any better — ripped jeans, dirtied boots, a worn jacket taken years ago from some loot and your hair tucked into a baseball cap with a logo too faded away to discern.   “I-I won’t hurt you,” he stutters out, putting up his hands. “I...I’m Seokjin. I’m part of the rescue fleet of Arcadia.”   Arcadia?   The man, Seokjin, sighs after your ongoing silence. “Sorry. Of course you wouldn’t understand me. I,” he enunciates slowly and points to himself. “Am. Friend.” His hands wildly form a heart for you to see and then he points at you with his left while still making wild gestures with his right. He tries to smile brightly. “I. Help. You—”   “I understand you,” you deadpan with an impassive expression.   The man is visibly taken aback, eyes rounded as his mouth opens and closes comically. “Y-You can speak?”   Your arm lifts and your index finger points at his head. “You’re bleeding.”   ... .. .   He looks around the interior of the tree house like a lost child, seated on the floor and waiting for his parents to return. It’s a meager shack made of alder, large gaps for windows, tattered backpacks stained and collected in the corner by some pairs of shoes and an old radio. There’s a fishing line hung diagonally across the room and above his head, used to dry clothing. But he finds himself drawn to the radio and crawls over to try to switch it on, tugging on its antenna, turning the dials.   Yet, all that answers is noisy static.   “It’s been broken since a long time ago,” you pipe up, nearly startling him to death with your sudden presence. But you had simply climbed up the ladder quietly. “I’m still tinkering with it.”   Seokjin sets the radio down. “I have a device similar to it. Thought this one would work.” He pulls out a black and thick rectangular piece of plastic from his back pocket and you scarcely recognize it.   “A walkie-talkie?”   “Kind of. It’s called an Erewhon device. State of the art technology, even if it looks chunky. It transmits radio waves without any limit of range and it syncs to one other device. No third can ever join or hack into it. I use this one to communicate with my base. Or at least I usually would, if the thing didn’t break in the crash.”   You don’t understand anything he’s saying, so you chalk it up to gibberish.   “It stings.” Seokjin sharply inhales as you apply pressure to his wound. But the ache soon alleviates when you wrap bandages around his head. “What’s your name?”   It’s your last roll of bandages.    “Y/N.”   It’s not like you to be so generous or welcoming towards a stranger. The nature of your upbringing and life has ingrained an innate suspicion to anyone who isn’t yourself. But there’s a characteristic about the man in front of you that doesn’t make you doubt his intentions.   It must also be partly because you’ve been on your own for so long and your inner subconscious is willing to dance with danger if it means having some kind of contact with another. But whatever the case may be, you don’t feel wary of Seokjin even if you should.   “Are...there any others?”   “Other humans? There hasn’t been any for years.”   “There’s….just you?”   “Just me.” Until now. “Where did you come from?”   “I come from a place called Arcadia. It’s a utopian society just off the Zion mountain and Elysian Fields,” he says as if you know what those places are. “It has everything and it’s where the remaining people have gathered for years. I actually rescue people like you who are still alive and bring them back. How...how did you manage to survive on your own out here?”    “I just do.”    “How long have you been here?”   “I don’t remember. The apocalypse happened when I was young.”   Seokjin makes a noise of acknowledgment like he understands. “It happened when I was seven.”   “I remember celebrating my fifth birthday in an underground bunker with my parents.”   He doesn’t ask where they are. If they aren’t with you now, it’s safe to assume your parents are dead like his are.    “I had a lot of people help me along the way, a lot of people who died,” you say, “I’ve been in sanctuaries and communities until they fell. Everything was only temporary. So, I’ve been on my own for a while.”   “Arcadia is different,” he says with bright eyes, breathy voice full of wonder and hope. “It’s where the new world is beginning. I can take you there.”   “Isn’t your flying machine broken?”   “You mean my Xanadu Shuttle?” Seokjin scratches the back of his neck and chuckles. You notice how the tips of his ears turn scarlet. “Actually, it was my first time taking it out that far. I’m kind of new to all this. But don’t worry! When it crashed, it sent a notification to headquarters and gave coordinates, so they should find me soon. I’ll try to fix my Erewhon device too.”   You don’t pretend like you know the things he’s referring to. “Are you hungry?”   “I have dried pemmican!” He lights up as if remembering and pulls a transparent wrapped bar from his back pocket. You wonder what else is in those endless pockets of his.    Seokjin must read the puzzled expression on his face since his smile widens. “Want to try it?”   “Sure.” You rip open the wrapper and you’re met with a dark red and gray block, and a meaty scent that makes you slightly nauseous. But you’ve eaten worse before, so you take a bite.   Seokjin instantly laughs when your expression wrinkles up. “It tastes better the more you eat it. Promise.”   “It’s awful.” There’s a temptation to spit it out the window, but afraid that it might be considered rude, you swallow it down and quickly hand back the monstrosity to him. “Do you want rabbit?”   “Sure.”   … .. .   It’s odd to eat a meal with someone — an experience that you’re unable to pinpoint your last memory of. It’s rather mundane, but mundanity has long been a privilege in this era.   “You can sleep in the tree house if you want.”   “Where will you be?”   “I usually like to sleep on the forest floor anyway.” It isn’t a lie. One of the few things you love is drifting off while gazing at the stars, that the last thing you see is the sparkling horizon before it’s blue again when you awake. “How many people are there in Arcadia?”   “About twenty five hundred people so far.”   So far. But if what he tells you is true, then it’s a big settlement.   As if able to see how he’s piqued your curiosity, Seokjin continues, “It’s an amazing place and we’re completely self-sufficient. There’s an agriculture industry that’s growing and greenhouses underground that gives us all the food we need. They developed a water filtration system as well and it’s connected to the mountain springs nearby. There are pods that people live in, schools that kids can go to, jobs, medicine— you’ll see when I take you back.”   “I never said I was going with you.”   “What? Why wouldn’t you?”   You don’t answer.   … .. .   “Morning.” You watch as he climbs down the ladder and nearly slips off. It’s an amusing sight to see his hair in a disarray and his eyes swollen beyond recognition. “Glad to see you’re finally up.”   Seokjin, on the other hand, is baffled at how you’re already moving so energetically. “When….did you get up?”   “Since sunrise. Changed your bandages too, if you didn’t already notice. I’m getting breakfast prepared. There’s a stream down this path that you can wash your face in. Collect water for me while you’re at it.”   You hand him a silver pail.   Walking off, Seokjin finally gets a good look at the forest. It’s quiet, save for the chickadees he notices in the thin branches of the spruce, twiddling as he passes and the woodpeckers hammering against the alder. There was just enough rays of light bursting through to allow the saplings to flourish and shrubs to overgrow. And the verdant green almost blinds his vision with how vivid it is. He’s never been so surrounded in nature before — never has it encapsulated him completely.   When Seokjin returns, he’s more alert than before.   “Thought you got lost for a second. You can set the water over there. Do you want to help me look at my traps?”   He follows you and nearly steps into a trap before you yell at him. But he’s amazed. You’ve designated a whole section full of traps made of loose string and branches, and when he asks, he learns they’re treadle snares to drowning snares.   “They don’t yield a lot of food. It depends on the season, but it mainly depends on luck.”    “What do you usually eat then?”   “I have some canned stuff from the cities, but there’s a lot of berries and herbs around here that are edible. I’m in the process of growing some basil and tomatoes too, so I never really starve out here.”   Seokjin is astounded. You can see it on his face, but you don’t know why that is. It’s not like any of these things are impressive. It’s just things you learn once you’ve lived out here long enough.   “You’re making a fire now?”   He watches as you take out a curved piece of wood with string attached and another piece that’s pointed at the end. You saw it back and forth on some more wood and Seokjin watches the smoke, how the friction creates the heat, how you transfer the embers to tinder.   “Is this how you always make fire?”   “Nowadays. At the beginning when I still had materials, I would use batteries and steel wool. Even flint and steel. But the bow drill method works fine. I save my matches for when I need them.”   “That’s incredible. Is this what you do? I mean, collect food and make fires.”   “I guess.”   “Do you do anything else? Do you ever get bored?”   It’s an interesting question — boredom. A privilege in itself to be bored rather than worried. Though you suppose that in this quiet forest with no one else, it’s a wonder how you never went insane. But while loneliness sporadically plagues you, you’ve never necessarily felt isolated or deprived. It’s always been this way. You’ve learnt to adapt to it. Humans can handle more than they think when push comes to shove.    “There’s always something to do. Whether that’s upkeeping the tree house or making more traps or planting. But sometimes in the summer, I go exploring for a few days. Into the cities. There’re lots of places I haven’t been. It’s a good opportunity for me to get seeds, food, and clothes, so I’m never….bored.”   “Wow, t-that’s...that’s impressive.”   “There’s nothing impressive. It’s just the way things are.”   “I...went to Arcadia in its early days,” Seokjin explains, “It was established twenty years ago, right after the apocalypse began, so I’ve never really got to see the outside world.”   “They don’t let you leave?”   “It’s not that. It just isn’t safe to. Actually, that’s why I wanted to join the rescue fleet. It gives me a chance to see the outside world.”   “You haven’t even seen anything yet. If you want….I can take you somewhere. Better than this.”   “Really?!” Seokjin’s eyes widen, irises practically glistening.   Your lips tickle, threatening to upturn. “Sure.”   … .. .   Past the stream and thicket is a clearing. A meadow of daisies. It’s overgrown grass that reaches to your knees, white petals spilling over with yellow centers filled among them. The sound of insects buzzing and circling through the field is heard as the sun beats down. You found this place a good year ago and while it doesn’t serve much of a purpose, you left it undisturbed.    The apocalypse was a catastrophe, but it did a lot for nature.   “This….this….” Seokjin is breathless, unable to force a coherent word out. He looks over at the blue horizon that seems to steal the land as the abundance of flowers overwhelms his senses.    “It’s beautiful, huh?”   He stays silent, taking in the sight in front of him. He has seen a vase of flowers at best — most certainly not a boundless field of them. Not like this. Not in the entirety of his life so far. Not in a way where he could inhale the fresh air, count clouds, memorize the azure shade of the sky, and not where he is unable to see where the end or the start is.   Seokjin is overwhelmed, and he realizes why the choice to stay remains. Why you would refuse his offer of coming back with him to Arcadia. A part of him also wants to stay here. Where freedom lies.   “I’m sorry,” he murmurs while still taking in the sight. The colours are so rich that he feels regretful he couldn’t see it sooner. “I didn’t mean to push you to come with me.”   “It’s okay. I’ll come with you.”   Seokjin finally peels his eyes away from the scenery to gaze at you.    Yet you continue to look forward. “You made me curious about this Arcadia.”   And the corner of his mouth turns into a smile.   … .. .   The next few days are spent with Seokjin — noisy at your side, but it’s entirely invited.   He goes back to his vehicle, his so-called fancy Xanadu Shuttle, and tries to contact his people. Much like your radio, there’s only static on the other end when he flips and fiddles with switches and the lights eventually die off. He messes with his Erewhon too, the little walkie-talkie device, though it’s to no avail. But Seokjin never becomes discouraged. He remains optimistic, a rarity in today’s climate. The man has no doubts they’ll come for him and even reassures you.   In the meanwhile, you show him how to start a fire, how to collect berries and certain plants, and he helps you sharpen the knives you have. But the man looks away when you have to kill the animal you trapped and he makes you kill the bugs that land on him as well. It’s a bit ridiculous and outlandish, but frighteningly natural how quickly he falls into place and adapts.   You forgot what it was like to have someone with you. To be able to talk to someone.   … .. .   “Are you ever lonely?”   Seokjin asks one night when he’s laid on the grass, arms tucked underneath his head and staring up at the stars by your side. He copied you after several occasions where he found you like that. You immediately heard the gasp that left his mouth the first time he laid down. It’s beautiful enough that he’s unconcerned with insects and doesn’t get up until you chide him to.   “Sometimes. Then I think about how people are more trouble than they’re worth.”   He grins. “Why do you say that?”   “People mess up things and always have their self-interest at heart. Learned it after I had a gun pointed on me by someone I thought was a friend.”   “I’m sorry.”   “It’s alright. Just the way things are. Anything to survive, right?”   “Is that why you’re on your own?”   “Partly. It’s hard when people die too. I’d rather not deal with that.”   “Why’d you agree to help me then?” Seokjin asks after a moment. “If people always mess things up.”   “I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone. I thought talking to you would be worth the risk. And it’s not like you’re not messing things up. I’m leaving with you, right?”   Seokjin grins, meeting your eyes. It goes quiet and then you pipe up again—   “I do sing sometimes to myself. Helps keep me sane.”   “Like what?”   “I don’t know.”   “Show me.”   You outright scoff. “No.”   “Please?”   A sharp exhale later, you start mumbling, slurring words together in some obscure melody. Your voice is rigid and stiff, out of tune even to your own ears. But you’ve heard it from your parents before. It’s some jingle on television back when electricity still worked.   Instantly, Seokjin starts laughing.   “Hey, it’s not my fault I don’t know the lyrics!”   “No, no, i-it’s amazing, please continue!” Seokjin squeaks out in the midst of a giggling fit and the corner of your own mouth twitches into a subtle smile.   … .. .   Unfortunately, these simple days don’t last long. Seokjin continues messing with his Erewhon device whenever he gets the chance — banging it on the tree house wall much to your dismay, curling up with it using a screwdriver kit he got from his capsule — and one evening, it suddenly comes alive.   There’s the sound of static and someone’s muffled voice.   “Hello?! Code White. R-six-four-three. This is Kim Seokjin from fleet seventy two.”   “R-four-......three-nine.”   It’s difficult to discern, but that’s all the other line says before the device goes silent again.    You look to Seokjin, anticipating dejection and disappointment. But instead, a grin spreads into his cheeks and his eyes crinkle ever so slightly. “Y/N. They’re coming soon.”   … .. .   It’s a morning of checking for traps, of hearing the orchestral songs of nature, of holding your breath as the breeze whisks through the strands of your hair. You’re tip-toeing to the simple snare laid on the ground when the familiar, deafening noise returns to the sky. A thin whistle that crescendos. Louder than you’re used to hearing. Ringing in your eardrums. It rumbles the ground, roaring through the silent forest. And you look up to see a streak of white in the sky.    It’s a larger white vessel with glass windows around. So white that it burns to the back of your eyelids, in no way natural whatsoever. And it descends to the same place Seokjin crash-landed.   Seokjin finds you and the two of you venture through the forest and shrubby towards it.   There’s a whirring and a compartment opens. Three different people step out, dressed in that unnatural white much like Seokjin is, pants and shirt cut off oddly. They look at Seokjin with smiles and incredulous expressions.   “I can’t believe you actually crashed.”   “It wasn’t my fault, JK!” Seokjin whines immediately and then quickly greets the other two females who he’s evidently less friendly with. “Amber. Lizzy. Good to see you too.”   “This something I expected from Namjoon or even Jimin, not you,” the shorter-hair girl named Amber huffs out as she playfully shakes her head.   “At least he’s safe,” Lizzy says with a smile. “Saves us from having to transport him back in a stretcher. But….who’s….that?”   Her eyes dart over to you and the other two strangers follow her line of sigh, re-directing their attention. Then their mouths drop open, eyes widening in surprise, having not seen you there.   Seokjin steps aside, allowing the light to shed on you. “She’s a lone one.”    “A-A lone one…?”   “Are you okay? Do you need help?” Amber whispers softly, lowering herself to meet your height and connect your eyes with hers as if you were a wounded animal. But then light flashes beneath her irises and her brows furrow. “Right. She might not know how to speak. Where’s my translation devi—”   The corner of Seokjin’s mouth tilts. “She does.”   You step forward, directly underneath the canopy spotlight coming through the spruce, walnut, and alder. “My name is Y/N.”

Arcadia. It’s protected by a dome-like structure reminiscent of glass, but as one of the strangers narrates, it’s supposedly a magnetic force field to protect against natural disasters. The place is ruled by tall buildings like the cities, but unlike it in the sense that they’re not decaying. They haven’t turned brown under wear and tear, don’t have moss growing on the sides of it. Rather, there are patches of green in between the paved pathways, flickering screens that are seemingly floating mid-air, masses of people walking past one another.    It’s a utopian society, they tell you. But you’re not sure what that means.   “Welcome to Arcadia,” the voice from above speaks rigidly.   The door whirs as it opens.   And white is all you see. White floors. White walls. People dressed in white. The white lights burn your vision as you stagger out, being aided by the strangers who were onboard with you.   They welcome you. Tell you they hope this place could be your refuge and new home. And you’re taken immediately by strangers until you begin thrashing, calling out to Seokjin until he consoles you. He promises that they mean no harm, that he’ll see you soon, and it’s enough for you to be relieved.   They lead you away, give you a new set of white clothing that are soft to the touch and a bin to place your old clothes in. You feel vulnerable as you strip from your grimy clothes and trade them in.   You’ve never been able to afford to hold onto sentimentalities. But it’s hard to let them go.   … .. .   “Hello—” The doctor glances at his clipboard. “You must be the new refugee, Y/N! Oh right, they call it newcomer now, not refugee. Anyway, nice to meet you, I’m Jung Hoseok. I’ll be assessing you today and setting you up to live in Arcadia. You understand me, correct?”   “Yes, I do.”   “Excellent! Makes things easier for me if we can speak the same language. But feel free to tell me if you want me to slow down. We’ll take things one step at a time.” The man grins brightly and sits on his stool, spinning around to a thin screen on the desk. “We’re going to be doing some tests together today, so I can figure out what I’ll need to help you with and we can make sure your transition is as smooth as possible.”   “Okay.”   You knew a doctor once. She was similar to him, whimsical as he seemingly is, until she had to amputate her own arm and then bled to death.   “Do you have any questions?”   “Not really.”   There’s an eye examination done until you tell him you don’t know all the letters of the alphabet. He switches to pictures afterwards and is enthused as he tells you that your eyes are apparently fine. He makes you lay down and open your mouth to examine your teeth. You spit into a vial, have your blood drawn. You step into a white capsule with black bars twirling around you. He shows you a picture of your bones and scanned brain with the excitement akin to a child’s afterwards.    And he asks too many questions.   “So you mainly ate rabbits, berries and other plants? Fascinating.” — “How often do you sleep?” — “So your bowel movements were pretty consistent?”   You miss Seokjin.   … .. .   “Seokjin, can you please tell us what happened on the fifth?”   The commander, chief, supervisor and several others are seated on the other side of the table.   “Yes. I was dispatched to forty one degrees, twenty four point two eight minutes north. Halfway there, I….became distracted by the scenery, and went off course. I became alert again when the shuttle skimmed along treetops. The console received a malfunction notification and I subsequently crashed into a forest area.”   “The maintenance record shows your Xanadu Shuttle was updated on the second of the previous month?”   “Yes.”   “Then do you accept responsibility for this incident?”   “Yes, I do.” There’s no point in putting up a fight. All the evidence is all in the machinery and Seokjin had made no attempt to hide it.   “I’m interested in the girl you rescued,” the Commander speaks up, tapping his pen on his clipboard. “When did you come into contact with her after you crashed?”   “After I crashed, I exited my Xanadu Shuttle and caught sight of her standing amongst the trees. I think...the accident got her attention and she came to investigate what it was.”   He nods and the people on the other side of the table look around at one another. There are soft murmurs and Seokjin stays quiet through their deliberation, keeping his eyes on his own report.   After a minute, it simmers down.   “The panel appreciates your honesty and integrity, Seokjin. In spite of your circumstances, you were able to rescue someone who will become a valuable member to our society and such a thing should not be overlooked. However, the crash was ultimately on your part and as such, you will have to be put on probation for a period of two months. The panel will also require that you retake your license class. Do you agree these actions are necessary?”   Relief washes over him. Seokjin thought this was it. He was anticipating that he’d lose his job.    “Y-Yes. Thank you.”   “You will have to pass your license class.”   “Yes, I will.”   “There is one more thing I would like to discuss with you, Seokjin,” The Commander speaks up. “I spoke to our Premier and Minister prior to this meeting and we came to an agreement that it would be in the best interest of everyone involved if you could foster the newcomer you rescued. Typically, as you know, we house newcomers for a while and monitor them. But she...seems to be a special case.”   The Chief furrows his brows. “Yes, she was isolated, wasn’t she?”   It’s known to all that the lone ones are usually the people that are most unstable. The ones with animalistic behaviour as a result of living in the wild and being socially deprived. The problematic ones. But they’re wrong. Seokjin doesn’t outright refute his own superiors, yet he’s certain that you don’t have any of those issues. You’re not violent. Uncivilized. Barbaric.   “Usually people are found in groups or clusters.”   “Exactly that. But it seems like Seokjin has built a rapport with her. It might lead to a smoother transition if there’s immediate integration. Or at least, it’s an experiment we want to try. He has a calm temperament as well which makes him an ideal candidate to attempt this new method. Would you be willing to house this newcomer for a period of time, Seokjin?”   He doesn’t need a second longer to think about it. “I wouldn’t mind whatsoever.”   ... .. .   Seokjin finds you and almost bursts out laughing with how relieved you look.   “Jin!”    He doesn’t mind the nickname either.   “I haven’t seen you in a while.” Hoseok twirls around with a blazing smile, his white coat fluttering with him. “But I have a feeling you’re here to see my little guest and not me.”   “You’re right.” He enters and stands by your side. “Has everything been alright?”   “Of course!” Hoseok interjects before you can answer. “I’m one of the best doctors here, what do you take me for? We had a very fun time together, right, Y/N?”   “Uh, sure.”   “I’ll take it.”   Seokjin smiles and looks at his old friend. “Is there anything…?”   “She’s healthy. She’s been taking care of herself well. Nothing that’s too concerning.”    Hoseok's eyes meet yours and he grins. “You’re approximately twenty to twenty five years old. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like you have any family here in Arcadia, but you don’t have any diseases, so that’s something to be happy about! Minimal dental work that needs to be done. Blood pressure is good. You have a slight magnesium and iodine deficiency, but nothing dark greens, whole grains, fish and eggs can’t fix. I’ll give you some vitamins to be safe and some medication to avoid illnesses you’re potentially susceptible to in Arcadia.”   “That’s good news,” Jin exhales.   “You’re also healthy enough to have children!” Hoseok announces and if possible his grin widens. You blink at him and he quickly reads your confused expression. “Right, you might not be aware but it’s one of the main ambitions of Arcadia to repopulate society. People with the most compatible genes get paired together into family units. Depending on how your integration goes, you might get paired up in a family unit by the end of the week.”   “What?” You’re reeling. Starting a family and having children are things at the very back of your mind, not even in the realm of what your thoughts are, and you’re not sure what to think at this news.   Jin sighs at his friend. “You’re freaking her out.”   “Am I? Sorry,” the man laughs and looks at you. “Don’t worry. No one will force you. It’s just...highly suggested and recommended.”   … .. . “That’s the dining hall.”    “What do they serve?”   “On Mondays, there’s quinoa. Tuesday is this dried beans dish. So on and so forth. Don’t worry, there’s poultry too, so there are eggs and chicken breast which you can order. There’s corn, milk, cheese and a selection of fruit too. They also serve protein powders you can mix with water that gives you the same nutrition value.”   “It’s not like...that stuff you gave me, right?”   “You mean pemmican? No, it’s better. Or at least I hope so.” He smiles. “Everyone has the same food. Sometimes during celebrations though, they serve different things.”   “There’s not much privacy, is there?”   Seokjin follows your line of sight to the glass buildings where you’re able to see the people working on each floor. “I guess not. I’ve never really thought about it.”   You suppose it’s something to get used to. “Are...people staring at me, Jin?”   “Don’t mind it. It’s not everyday we get a new face around here.” Right as he says that, you lift your head to discover your face plastered on one of the screens at the top of the building as if you were a wanted criminal. Seokjin laughs. “News spreads fast around here.”   “I bet it does,” you mutter, a bit unnerved.    “It’s a nice place if you follow the rules, trust me.”   “What happens if someone breaks a rule?”   “Well, there’s a focus on restorative justice for small crimes. So people often do community service or talk to victims or the people they affected and try their best to fix their mistakes.”   “What about big crimes? Like if you killed someone.”    Yet, Seokjin stays silent for a moment. “They disappear.”   Your brows furrow, not sure what he means. But he doesn’t elaborate and you don’t push for an answer, uncertain that you want to know more.   Arcadia isn’t as you expected it to be. When Seokjin told you stories, part of you anticipated it being lesser and merely blown up in proportion through his evident love of this place. You had predicted a community ridden with suspicion, like many of the sanctuaries you had been to before they inevitably collapsed. Leaders suppressing their people. Scarcity in resources.   Another part of you expected an otherworldly universe, full of gibberish and things you didn’t understand. Much like the technology he carried with him or the shuttle that crashed in the forest.   But what is presented in front of you is a sort of familiarity in a changed background.   People like you know them, except courteous and independent.   “This is my housing unit.”    It’s a blinding white, two stories with the top floor off center and extended off the right side. It looks like two boxes haphazardly stacked on top of each other with giant pane glass windows at the front.   “It’s not much but it’s my home.”   You nod as your eyes drift to his lawn — a tiny patch of grass that surrounds the path leading up to the front door. As if entranced, you launch forward towards it. But it feels different underneath your feet, past the soles of your shoes. The soil isn’t soft. There aren’t any lumps, no grip when you try to root yourself into it.   Seokjin notices your reaction. “It’s artificial grass.”   “What does that mean?”   “It’s fake.”   “Fake? You can’t get real grass?”   “Guess not.”   The interior of his home is less white than all of Arcadia. There are mismatched cushions, wooden tables and bookshelves, fake yellow flowers on his marble kitchen counter, paintings of oceans and cities placed on the wall next to photographs of himself growing up. You glance over the knick-knacks lining the shelves, snow globes and postcards, tiny things you’ve always seen lying around shops in the decaying towns, but never paid much attention to.   “Sorry. It’s a bit messy.”   “No, I like it.”    He shows you to your room, an empty one down the hall. It’s much less decorated than his living space and he quickly excuses himself to tumble back in with heavier blankets and proper pillows. “Had I known you were coming, I would’ve had everything already set up!”   “I don’t think any of us knew I would be here.”   He laughs. “That’s true.”   You walk to the window, taking a peek outside to the white city that towers over and covers the blue sky, the tiny patches of grass that alleviates the brightness of Arcadia, the flying shuttles hovering past the paved paths.    “You’re probably tired, right? Do you want to rest a bit? I have a few things to do, so…”   “You don’t have to worry about me, Jin. I can take care of myself. Probably.”   Seokjin ends up shutting the door after promising he won’t take long. But it’s the first time in hours that there’s finally silence. And you allow the quietness to simmer down on you as you take a seat on the edge of the soft bed that sinks underneath your weight. You stare at the sheets, the white walls and floor, the luminescent sunlight streaming through the windows.   You’re not sure how you feel.   … .. .   You stare down at your slab of white meat, so white that you wonder if everything in Arcadia is dyed in this blinding shade. It’s something you might have to ask Jin, even if it’s a bit ridiculous.   You’re just not used to having meat that isn’t charged by the flames of a bonfire. But still, you tear it with your fingers and when you bring it to your mouth, it tastes dry and heavy — like it’s fake.   “This isn’t very good, is it?”   “It isn’t?”   Jin blinks and you lift your head. Immediately, your eyes connect to a stranger who instantly turns away and it occurs to you that people are watching.   “Don’t worry. It’s because you’re not using utensils. Here.” He hands you a metal stick with three prongs at the end and another one that’s rounded. Understandably, it’s awkward in your hold, hurts in your grip. It goes silent as you fumble with it. The chicken breast almost flies off your metal tray.   “It’s okay.” He smiles at your visible frustration and reaches over to slice it with a knife. Jin gently takes your hand holding the fork and pierces the piece. “Like this, see? Not too bad, right?”   “It would be easier with my hands.”   He agrees, “It would be.”   “Hey, you’re Y/N, right?” A familiar red-head comes prancing up to the table and steals a seat next to you. “I’m Lizzy. We met on the Xanadu Shuttle, remember? I was the one telling you all about the history of Arcadia?”   “Yes, I do.”   “This is Namjoon. He’s one of our robotics engineers,” she introduces a gawky, strapping male with framed glasses. He takes a seat next to Seokjin.    “A pleasure to be of your acquaintance. I’ve heard quite a lot about you in the past two hours or so. I am friends with Hoseok. He doesn’t indulge me in much information, he told me he received a great person of interest in his office. I believe that person may be you—”   Seokjin interrupts his ramble, “Namjoon.”   “Don’t mind him,” Lizzy laughs, ignoring the two men as she leans over the table to intrude into your personal space. “How are you getting settled in? Everything okay?”   “Yeah. I’d say everything’s okay.”   “I heard you were living with Jin now. Tell me, is he as messy at home as he is at work?”   “I am not messy,” he protests.   “Only a little,” you divulge her with a small smile.   Namjoon smiles. “I heard you crashed. Glad to see you’re still alive and well.”   “Thanks.” Seokjin’s eyes roll as his voice drips of sarcasm. “I’m sorry you couldn’t use my body for your next humanoid robotic experiment.”   “Not now, but in due time,” the other man teases then turns to you. “It’s a shame you’re partnered with Seokjin. He can be quite clumsy and forgetful. You’ll end up becoming his handyman like I am.”   “His first time he got into a Xanadu Craft, he broke the console,” Lizzy tells, making your mouth upturn.   Namjoon swallows down his food before asking, “If I may be intrusive, Y/N, is it really true that you were alone? In the forest, I mean.”   “I...was.”   “How long were you alone for?”   “I’m not sure. I think maybe two years.”   “And before that?”   “I...uh...traveled around and met different people.”   He leans forward. “And what happened to those people?”   “Well, some...passed away and others went somewhere else.”   “What did they pass away from?”   There’s a loud scraping of a chair against the tiled floor, grating to your ears. “I’m stuffed. Aren’t you, Y/N? I think we should head back now. Sorry, Joon, Lizzy. Might have to cut your questions short there. Maybe you can ask more next time.”   “Oh, alright then.”   They bid you farewell and Lizzy waves with a smile. As you exit, you look at Seokjin. “Thank you.” He saved you from answering, from bringing up memories you had no intentions of returning to.   Yet he smiles and then looks away, feigning ignorance. “For what?”   … .. .   They’re wrong. It’s not a shame at all to be with Jin at all. If anything, you think you’re quite fortunate. Ever since you’ve met him, he’s proven himself time and time again to be thoughtful and considerate — traits that you thought were gone in this era. But it’s him who makes it easier to deal with these changes, to enter into this new world.   … .. .   “I thought you were gone,” he says, looking down at you with a smile. You’re laying on his lawn in the middle of the night in bare feet. “I knocked on your door and then searched my whole house.”   “Where did you think I was?”   “I don’t know.” Seokjin plops down on his artificial grass, stretching out his body and laying beside you like all those times before. “I was worried. I thought something happened to you.”   “I’m sorry.”   “Don’t be.”   “I couldn’t sleep.”   It’s quiet as the pair of you look to the sky with your hands folded on top of your stomachs. The lamp posts nearby casted warm glows on your visages. The warm breeze making his cheeks rosy. Yet, none of you can see the stars — not with the light pollution of Arcadia, not when all the buildings were towering so high and covering it, not like out there in the middle of the forest.   “Remember when we were in the forest, Jin?”   “I do. I remember that one time, you didn’t completely put out the fire and my pants almost set on fire.”   You giggle and Jin relishes in the sound. “I apologized for that and who told you to sit so close to that spot?”   “Hey, I just wanted to be next to you.”   You remember the nights when you were able to drift off while staring at the horizon and how you were awoken by the first blush of dawn, sunlight coming through the trees. You have a feeling it’s going to be a long time before you have an experience like that again.   It’s going to be a long, long time. If ever again.   “I feel homesick,” you whisper, finally being able to pinpoint your emotions and it’s the most honest you’ve been since you arrived. “I don’t want to be paired up with anyone or have kids.”   Jin reaches out and you feel his hand against the back of yours. He holds it, clasping it tight. You shift and your eyes meet. “Don’t worry. They can’t make you do anything you don’t want to.”   You trust him.   … .. .   “If you want, we don’t have to eat in the dining center anymore. We can eat at home.”   The corner of your mouth pulls. “Is that allowed?”   “I’ll find a way around it,” Jin promises.   … .. .   “Please, Hoseok.”   “You know that’s not how the system works. There’s not much I can do anyway.”   “But you can put in your recommendation.”   He’s silent in contemplation. “She’s compatible with you, but more so compatible with others. Plus, she’d assimilate better with someone stricter.”   “I want to protect her. She’s my responsibility. Pair her with me.” Seokjin won’t let you be paired up with someone else in a family unit, expected to stay together and have children. He’ll keep his promise to you and be with you until the end — it’s also his selfish wish to be with you.   The other man sighs. “I’ll make a note of it, but I can’t promise anything.”   … .. .   You’re unfamiliar with the devices at hand — the kitchen appliances with automated voices that speak when you come close, the machines with tens of buttons you can’t read. They’re all things you once overlooked when you scrambled for remaining supplies.   “Is everything okay?”   “I’m trying to heat this up. You said I could use it, right?”   “Yeah. Here.” Seokjin comes behind you and takes your hand, guiding you where to press. “Click this button and then this one.”   You don’t understand technology at all. Even the television is odd, an overload on your senses.   “What do you think?” he asks, watching your reaction in amusement and how your eyes are as wide as the screen flashing against your face.   “It’s...a lot to take in.”   “That’s okay. Do you want to go outside instead? We can, if you want to.”   You glance out the window. “I’m fine here. I’m not used to there being so many people.”   “How about we work on some more worksheets?”   “Again?”   Jin laughs and the sound is tinkling. “You have to learn eventually. Come on.” He pulls you up and is happy to sit next to you at his kitchen table to teach you how to hold a pencil, how to write each letter and answer your questions.    You’re a fast learner. Today your strokes are smoother and you learn how to spell his name.   … .. .    Seokjin often knocks on your door before going to bed to bid you goodnight. Yet he seldomly finds you there, where you’re supposed to be. He wonders if you’re outside on his lawn again, but instead, he discovers you standing in his living room. You’re gazing out the window quietly with an unreadable expression.   “Is there something wrong?”   You turn around with a small smile. “I’m just a little homesick.”   He joins you, staring out at the city and the lampposts lined on the paved paths.    “How do we go outside, Jin? Not just outside, but beyond the dome.” To the forest again.   “Most people aren’t allowed outside because it’s dangerous. You would need to have my job or something similar, and that’s after you graduate from a three year program and pass several exams.”   It’s quiet and neither of you look at one another or speak when you reach over, discreetly taking his hand into yours. Seokjin laces his fingers through yours and squeezes.   He’s the only reason you can starve off the longing sewed uncomfortably in your chest.   ... .. .   In the following days, he receives a notification. The leaders are interested in you as a newcomer and extended an invitation to the party. So he helps you pick an appropriate outfit and the two of you enter with your hand looped around his arm as he reassures you.   “You must be Y/N!” The strangers, leaders of Arcadia, welcome you with tall bubbling glasses, one of which that you receive from a waiter. It tastes disgusting, but you try to not let it show on your face.   “It’s good to see that you’re getting yourself accustomed to Arcadia. I see you’re with your future partner this evening.”   The man laughs boisterously while you exchange expressions with Seokjin.   “That’s supposed to be a secret,” the woman beside him chides.   “Right, right. The postings of the new family units go up on Friday. My apologies for ruining the surprise, but I assume it is a happy one.”   You look up at him, gazing meeting Seokjin’s at once. The relief is overwhelming and what follows is a kind of excitement. Part of the weight lifted off your shoulders and Jin smiles tenderly. He leans in close, whispering in your ear so you’re the only one who hears—   “You shouldn’t look at me like that in a place like this or I might just do something about it in front of all these people.”   It’s bold. Unexpected but you know with the heat that rises into your face, it isn’t unwelcome.   “Y/N, is it?” The intimate moment is intercepted by other individuals approaching in blue attire, form fitting dress simple and modest. “You must be the newcomer! I’ve heard so much about you.”   “Yes, how has your transition been? Are you finding everything accommodating?”   You hope they don’t come close enough to feel the warmth radiating off your cheeks. “Yes. Arcadia has been very welcoming to me.”    They smile. “It’s so fortunate you can understand us and we don’t have to use those translating devices.”   “You were alone, correct?” another asks. “How did you fare in the wild like that? How did you manage to even eat?”   “I trapped animals like rabbits and squirrels and roasted them over fires.”   Laughter is suddenly roused all around you.   “Aren’t you glad you don’t have to do such a primitive thing anymore?”   “What I’m curious about is how you’re still alive without any radiation poisoning.”   “I used a radon detector. It was given to me a long time ago by an older woman who was with me. She died.” Automatic silence sweeps through the crowd. You clear your throat. “But I used it when I traveled through the cities.”   “I see.” Some are fascinated while others aren’t. “How preserved are these old cities?”   “Most buildings are still relatively in-tact. There are abandoned cars and buses too, but they’re useless without fuel and everything’s been raided, so there’s not much left. It’s one of the reasons I started to live in the forest.”   “Poor thing,” someone sympathizes, “Someone should’ve rescued you sooner. You wouldn’t have to suffer so much.”   “I didn’t suffer.”   They’re taken aback, clearing their throats and moving on from the subject. A man directs to the refreshment table — all the while Jin pulls you closer to him and away from the prying eyes of Arcadia.   … .. .   Later on in the evening when Seokjin’s gone to relieve himself, you meet an old man seated alone at the table.   “I was outside too,” he croaks. “Until two years ago.”   Your eyes find his — past the wrinkles are bright irises — and you remain silent.   “Many things happened that the people here would never understand. But my biggest regret is coming here willingly. Arcadia offers many things,” he says, “it has everything but one.”   “Freedom.”   … .. .   The words stick to you. Like flies to honey. Or the magnets on Jin’s fridge. They don’t cease from your mind — a plague that spreads, a pollutant that you can’t shake off no matter how hard you try.    Jin worries about you, but he doesn’t ask. He knows every time he does, you’ll reassure him that you’re fine.   So one night, he takes your hand and shows you to his television.   “Put this on.” He hands you a black, heavy device and smiles at your visible reluctance. “Trust me.”   You slip it on top of your head and it sits comfortably over your eyes, obstructing your vision in complete darkness. Headphones are put over your ears and you discover both of your senses of sight and sound are completely disabled. “What are you doin—”   The words die upon your tongue the moment the machine flickers on.   There are chickadees chirping and woodpeckers digging against the bark. The sound of insects flapping their wings in the beating sun and the whistling wind intensifies. You see the forest, a forest. Canopies of spruce, walnut, and alder cascading light to the verdant floor overgrown in shrubbery.   A cry chokes in your throat, but then it bubbles into laughter instead. You jump up and down.   “I see it. I see it!” You whirl around, looking in each direction. To the blue horizon and the sound of the rustling leaves.    Your home.   But when you take it off, it’s all gone. You’re shrouded in darkness with Seokjin’s features barely discernible. You’re trapped in the very utopia you had followed him to.   And you cry.   For the first time in his presence, for the first time in a long while, sobs break through your frame at what you’ve lost — what you’ve traded in, what you’ve given up. Jin embraces you, arms wrapped around your frame, trying his best to keep you whole.   “I want to go back.”   … .. .   Jin makes it easier to be in Arcadia. He gives you reason to become accustomed to it. He makes you wish you wanted to stay. But he’s not enough to dissipate your constant wistfulness.    He isn’t the solution to your plaguing dilemmas, but you’re glad he doesn’t have to bear that burden.    You wouldn’t want Jin to harbour the hardship of being your fix.   … .. .   It’s in the dead of the night that Seokjin comes out of his room and finds you. In the dark, you’re seated on the floor with your knees folded to your chest and the virtual reality headset slipped on top of your head, over your eyes and ears.   You’re taking it all in. The orchestral songs of nature, the birds and leaves, the swaying of the grass and flourishing shrubs, bathing in the warm sunlight you cannot feel.    He sees you, but doesn’t say anything, merely turning away.   At same time, you feel the presence of another and slip the device in time to catch his retreating backside.   “Jin,” you call out for him, knowing you’ve been caught.   He hums, turning around and the two of you look at one another.   “I’m sorry.”   The dark-haired man smiles tenderly. “It’s me who should apologize. I’m the one who brought you here selfishly.”   “It’s not your fault. I’m the one who agreed to some and I’m...the one having trouble adjusting.”   “That’s not it. The problem is you’re not where you should be. Home. Not my home. Not Arcadia. But your home. “   You stand and he meets you halfway.   You press your face to his shoulder and he embraces you. “I’ll help you go back,” Seokjin murmurs against your hair. “I thought you would be happy here, but I don’t want to keep you against your will.”   “Come with me.”   “You know I can’t,” he whispers in spite of your soft-spoken plea. “I have a life here. Like how you can’t leave yours. Arcadia is my home. It always will be.”   You hold him closer, shutting your eyes to savour the moment. “Won’t you get into trouble?”   “I’ll find some way.” The corner of his mouth turns. “I always end up fine. You will too.”   … .. .   The year’s posting goes up and just as the man had said, you and Seokjin are paired together. The two of you hold hands as you look at it, taking your time to read it over. It’s slow, but you understand nonetheless.   You’re congratulated by those around him, people you recognize and friends you have yet to know. It’s fortunate it worked out that way, but it’s still bittersweet, knowing of your upcoming departure.   And that same night, five hours past twelve, Jin takes you across Arcadia. The white shuttle is ready when you arrive in the dark and you scarcely recognize its scratched paint and dented surface. It’s the same one that he crashed in, the one that took him to you.   “I programmed the path back. It’ll go automatically without you needing to drive it. And once you close the door, it’ll come back on its own. I’ll erase the data’s history. Take this.” Seokjin gently places the sling of a heavy bag on your shoulder. “There are clothes in here, blankets, medicine, a first aid kit, some canned food and seeds of new plants you don’t have. It should help you out.”   Tears threaten to spill from your lash line. “Jin. Wait.”   Hope blooms within him, wondering if you’ve changed your mind, that you want to stay. But he knows having such selfish desires won’t help him, so he puts them away. Just for a moment.   He tries his best not to hang onto you, to hold you down.   “It was because of you that I could even cope so well. You made it so much easier for me. I...I…”   But Jin lets his greed slip.   He closes the distance and kisses you senseless. The man swallows your soft gasp and comes to cradle the back of your neck as you ease into him. You relish in the gentle touch, his tender affections and taste one another’s lips. It’s bittersweet, yet he pulls away with a faint smile.   “You should get in.”   You nod, pulling away from him. Everything the two of you wanted to say has already translated through the kiss.   Still, you take every moment you can and look to him. “Thank you, Jin.”   The doors whir as it closes. He gazes at you till the very last second, till it shuts. The thin whistle diminuendos as it lifts into the air. He watches the shuttle fade from sight and when the sun lifts at the first blush of dawn, what’s left is a streak of white in the sky.

The world is limitless.    You have learned of such a fact at a young age, traveling from desserts to mountains, finding all the hiding places and safe spots that others had claimed no longer existed. But they did and you’ve sought refuge in this forest, found a home amongst the rustling foliage and canopies ruled by spruce, walnut, and alder. There was just enough rays of light bursting through to allow the saplings to flourish and shrubs to overgrow. And without the presence of others, you could listen to the woodpeckers hammering against the wood, the wings of insects fluttering about.   Everything was the way you left it. Unchanged from the time you left like it was waiting for you.   It’s as if Arcadia and Seokjin was a fever dream. Except the mementos brought back with you reminds you otherwise. You dig into your bag, looking through what he’s given you, everything he picked out that he knew would help. But you discover something special at the very bottom.   It’s a black, thick rectangular piece of plastic reminiscent of a walkie-talkie, synced up to only one other without a third in between.   You hold the Erewhon device to your lips and press the side of the button.   “Hello.” There’s a pause. “My name is Y/N.”   Silence follows.   But then there’s the sound of static and someone’s crystal clear voice.   “Nice to meet you. I’m Seokjin.”   A wide smile spreads into your cheeks.

The OC list

Not Necessarily in order of my most well loved characters:

Zero!

This boy is my arcane trickster that just wants to be a wizard! He really doesn’t like the rain and his reversible clothes to make thieving easier~

Attien!

Funky elf boy of questionable ethics. As I have said before he is a mage, he practices necromancy to a probably very unhealthy degree. His familiar is a snake called Iris. He has no practical skills unless it is done with magic. Extremely over-dramatic.

Zachary is a Mage trying to not be a mage and failing

He is a character I have created for my fiction Of Blood and Bodies, that takes place in the Dragon Age universe! @livjnoodles​ drew him for me~ <3

He is a mess and a mage and trying really hard not to get attached to people for a lot of reasons. I am sorry this is super vague. He is scared of horses and spiders though! He also kinda works as a mercenary and odd job doer extraordinaire.

Art by liv!

Story found here

Chi

I have had this character for years, since grade 9, I think, and that would have made me 13-14 and I am 26 turning 27 at the time of making this post, how fun. She has gone threw a lot of changes since then. 

Roman Blackwall

MY NERD AND HOW I MET LIV! He loves books, was a half vampire and had a Thrush familiar that could shape change into a deep gnome, named Carrion. Roman was the only true neutral person in the party and it led to some interesting occasions of “why are you doing that?!” because murder hobos.

Bonus @livjnoodles​ Drawing of him~

Del

My first ever d&d character who will forever hold a special place in my heart. He was a draconic sorcerer~

I do not have any art of him, i never really drew him...

Corlin Tyrell

I love my little lord boy! He is a teenage mess though soooo fun times. He is for a game of thrones game that I tentatively play right now because of Anxiety. Liv drew him for me though~ <3

Art again by liv~

Gabriel Rossi

My dude is for a story that was written back in my first year off college because I was stressed AF and needed an outlet. He is for the KHR story and i am proud to say I am re-writing this story ^.^ Story found here

Also Zachary but not the Mage

This guy is for a game called Cosmic Patrol XD gosh it's fun to play. Very loose, very silly. He is a tech guru and made a super computer at 8 and a ship engine to go with it!

Larp Characters because these count:

Coal AKA Birds

This was a character that I played in larp called Dystopia Rising for a while before it became too expensive to go. He was my big soft boy that could eat people and did in fact eat eyeballs on more than one occasion. Also organized tea times while at games with him it was fun.

Doctor Maxwell

Also for Dystopia Rising, I was finding Birds to be to warm *his costume required full skin coverage* So I started to play this strapping man. He is technically a sentient undead. >.> but also a MD doctor!

I have also had characters for Vampire the Masquerade and Werewolf the Apocalypse! I do not remember their names…

The old but maybe i should go back to:

Jessie

Back in the day I watched naruto…. She exists and needs a new name and stuff because let's be honest this is weeb trash. I do however still like her character design.

Other OC’s that exist but I have no real attachment to anymore:

Grimselit

A golem that is also a mime

Immeral

My former drow bard. He was a cause of a lot of anxiety so I stopped playing him. Not a fun time. Though in the time that I did play him I did learn a lot about Fake It Till You Make It. Though Immeral as a character is horrible.

No art for him

Sanya Alexieve

A pathfinder monk that i can’t even remember what he was for. He was a snake man of some kind

nadda no art

Imal

A ifrit fire dancer! He was fun to play and had a really cool tattoo

what are some of your favourite svt fics? currently or ever, i don’t care!

anon ! sorry this has taken me so long to answer. but get ready for a ton of fic recs because i love talking about my favorite pieces

1. enouement (jeonghan) by @chanhao-s -- if i had to pick one fic on tumblr, this is the one i’d pick. this piece is probably my favorite fic on all of tumblr, and not one of my favorites, but my favorite, and i don’t say that about anything in life. it’s an absolute must read. the world, the characters, the plot, the descriptions, the progression -- it’s all to die for. the concept itself is so amazing, and the characters feel so real and so flawed. both jeonghan and mc in this have their own sort of redemption arc and it’s just so beautifully done. i rec this fic to everyone because i love it dearly. i have no other words, just everyone go read this fic!!

2. almost (mingyu) by @yoontothemoon -- this fic is another one that i rec to everyone because i love it so much ! op’s writing is to die for, the way they describe emotions and feelings and atmosphere sets such a special tone and immediately pulls you in. the writing style and descriptors are so unique and creative they make my heart jump. i’ve never read a fic quite like this one, so i find myself coming back to it routinely. again there’s no way i can articulate the love i have for this fic; another must read!!

3. this ocean is yours, (chan) by @swyllh -- honestly all of sara’s writing is my favorite, such a criminally underrated writer, the way they use description and dialogue to set tone and establish setting completely kills me. sara’s writing inspires me so much. specifically why i love this fic is because its an apocalyptic setting but at the same time it sort of doesn’t feel that way. the entire fic relies on the circumstances of that world and yet the impending doom almost feels skirted around. (i don’t think any of that made sense, but it’s really an amazing fic). also the fic has this open ending that changed the whole way i looked at writing endings (like i said sara’s writing is a huge inspiration to me). and also the use of the questionnaire and the bucket list of sorts is so incredibly creative and it just blew my mind the first time i read this fic. 

4. overrated (jeonghan) by @lxveille -- another writer on here whose entire mlist is perfection. veille has a ton of fics that i adore (like that one minghao apocalypse fic or the jeonghan idol-verse piece) but something about the fic i mentioned absolutely stole my heart the first time i read it. it’s! so! amazing!! to begin with the dystopia world that’s established in this fic is just *chefs kiss*. but also, the progression of the relationship and subtlety in the writing just makes my heart go crazy. i adore this fic. and the use of the words and their definitions as line breakers is so masterful, an absolute work of art. the words she chose to use and how she twisted their meanings to fit the circumstances and fit the characters... it obliterates me. again i have no words to describe how much i love this fic, one of my absolute favorites. 

5. the darkest shade of blue (jeonghan) by @minghaoss -- where do i begin with this fic, the way eros wrote this piece made my jaw drop the first time i read it (and the second and third time too) its almost like she had me in mind while writing cause i swear it’s like it’s been catered towards my specific taste. my heart feels like it’s sinking just thinking about this fic. the repetition, the structure, the motifs -- all of it has me on the floor in tears. its such a wonderfully written piece, reads like poetry too, oof i just love it!

6. the morning after (jeonghan) by @dinoshaur -- this fic somehow always surprises me every single time i reread it which is unsurprisingly quite often. sha’s writing here is just so tasteful, and it makes me remember what an amazing writer sha is. the entire concept isn’t necessarily one that’s new or unique, but the way it’s written makes it feel like something never seen before and something undiscovered. jeonghan and mc’s dynamic and their dialogue is so entrancing and it makes me so soft for them. another truly wonderful piece!!

note: i apologize that these are all basically jeonghan fics but i have a major soft spot for him in fics, honestly it’s probably half the reason he’s one of my biases now lol

also anon i recommend looking through my fic rec tags #mi amor: fic recs and #mi amor: faves because you’ll find even more amazing fics there (i’m not sure that these links will work on mobile, but you can find them in the tags of this ask too!)

SPN Dystopia Bang 2020 Master List

The bang is over for 2020, but here are all the amazing stories and pieces of art that were created for this year.

Please do pay attention to tags and warnings below and when you click through. Also, please remember this is a multishipping friendly bang, and so the stories here are across a range of Supernatural ships.

You can also find all stories in this year's bang over on our AO3 Collection.

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Title: Bite The Hand That Feeds Author: hit_the_books Artist: Anyrei Rating: Explicit Ships: Castiel/Sam (Sastiel) Expected word count: 20k Major warnings and tags: Graphic depictions of violence Summary:

Two centuries ago, a great cataclysm hit the Earth. Monsters poured forth from a tear in reality, and the insidious energy from this rift turned much of the Earth into wasteland. Humans now survive in a handful of guarded megacities, like New Lawrence, while some live out in the wastes.

But what if there was a way to finally close the rift for good and save the Earth?

That’s what Castiel hopes when he happens upon Sam Winchester, a powerful psy—a human mutated by the energies of the rift.

Yet other psys have different plans. The cult of Azazel sees a newer, deadly future for the tear in the world and the rest of humanity.

Banding together with Sam’s brother Dean, Castiel and Sam set forth to heal   the world once and for all, along with some help from old friends.

The Plan? Survive. Save the world. Fall in love. Link to story Link to art -

Title: I’m All Yours My Love Author: DWImpala67 Artist: EmmaTheSlayer Rating:  Mature Length: 33121 Pairings: Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles Warnings: No Major Archives warning Apply Summary:

They live in a world where a love marriage was a taboo and more so for male carriers. Jared is one of them. His father has arranged for his marriage with Jensen Ackles, whom he doesn’t know from Adam. Unfortunately for him, he falls in love with another man. He’s happy and they keep it under wraps until they can seek Jared’s parents’ permission. But, his secret is exposed and his guy is sent packing and Jared is married off to Jensen Ackles forcefully to honor his family name. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to forget his first love and move on.

Jensen Ackles was a romantic. He always believed his married life would be one full of love and belonging, of togetherness. He took one look at his husband and fell hard and fast for him. His husband is the single most treasured and important person to him in the entire world. He’ll do  anything to make his husband happy. But what he gets instead is a husband who’s given his heart away already. So, Jensen decides to help his husband find his true love. Only, Jared has other ideas… Will Jared get his happily ever after? Or will they both find something to soothe their battered soul?

Link to fic: Archive Of Our Own Link to art: LiveJournal - Title: A Town Called Rhoda Author: smalltrolven Artist: MidnightSilver Rating: Explicit Length: 24,937 Pairings: Sam/Dean, (Dean/Original Binary Character) Warnings: Brief mentions of past torture, enslavement. Summary:

It’s the end of the world, and Dean believes Sam is gone along with the rest  of San Francisco. When the nukes began to fall they were separated by hundreds of miles, and now there’s no point. He tries his hardest to move on, living in a small town in the redwood forest of Northern California. This is the story of what happens when Sam eventually shows up after enduring an epic journey just to reach Dean.

Link to fic: LJ or AO3

Link to art: AO3 -

Title: Brother Take My Hand Author: MidnightSilver Artist: MissJenniferB Rating: Explicit Length: 40K Pairings: Sam/Dean Warnings: sentient animal sex (Sam and Dean are wolves), Sam is 17 at the start of the fic, attempted non con, Magical roofies, minor character death, canon level gore and violence (please read tags) Summary: All Sam has ever known is Yellow Eyes’ rule and life within the Pack, but he is sure there has to be more.

The young wolf questions everything he’s been taught. Why is he the only one fascinated by old ruins? Is human nature really so evil that it justifies using other creatures as slaves? And why can no one else see the benefits of using hands?

Dean loves Sam but he doesn’t have any answers. In fact he wishes Sam didn’t have so many questions.

On the summer equinox fate will force Sam to make some choices and Yellow Eyes is already showing far too much interest in him. So what will the young wolf do when he has to choose between the Pack and his conscience?

Link to Fic

Link to Art

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Title: The Sounds of Hope Shall Never Fade Author: Hannah-deserved-better (Hannah_girl) Artist: Duck (majesticduxk) Rating: Mature Length: 14,215 Pairings: Hanstiel Squared (Castiel/Hannah/Castiel’s female vessel/Hannah’s male vessel) Warnings:  Abuse, torture, medical experimentation, attempted artificial   insemination, captivity, pregnancy, emotional trauma, psychological trauma, Evil!Sam, Evil!Dean, major character death (sort of) Summary: Castiel and Hannah fall into an alternate reality where they encounter their counterparts in this world. Castielle (Castiel’s female vessel) and Hana (Hannah’s male vessel) have endured decades of torment at the hands of these humans. Castiel and Hannah meet Sam and Dean, but these aren't the Sam and Dean they know. They are a twisted, cruel, uncaring version of their real-world counterparts and they see the angels and their powerhouse supply of angel grace as commodities. The Angels power their underground world after a comet strike destroyed life on the surface. Now, this small underground civilization, one of many all over the world, has running water, food, power, and other necessities all powered by angel grace. Sam and Dean will do whatever it takes to hold onto their four precious powerhouses, and have long since given up on caring about the comfort of their angelic captives. Castiel, Hannah, and their counterparts must endure endless medical experiments, painful grace extractions, and deplorable living conditions, and somehow they must find a way to survive because the future of heaven may hang in the balance.

Link to fic

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Title: When Worlds Collide Author: LilyAnson Artist: AnyRei Rating: General Length: 18500 Pairings: Mick Davies/Arthur Ketch, Matt Anderson/Hilary BeckerWarnings: No warnings really apply Summary:

Ketch is halfway across the country when the Croatoan virus break out. Worried about his boyfriend he races as fast as he can to find out if Mick is still alive or not. Upon arrival he finds something new. A strange, floating object, seemly made out of what appeared to be glass shards hovered nearby.

Matt is a traveler from the future bent and determined to save his world. If that means he has to use the people around him, so be it. That is, until he falls for one of his fellow teammates. Now he must decide whether or not saving the potential future is worth losing the one person he's ever loved.

Otherwise known as what happens when dinosaurs and the supernatural meet.

Link to fic

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Title: Fabulous Monsters Author: ellispark Artist: nickel Rating: Mature Length: 10k Pairings: Dean/Castiel Warnings: Canon-typical violence, references to torture and brainwashing, references to war crimes Summary:

It’s been a year since Dean last saw Castiel — a year since he was captured and reprogrammed by the angels, trained to be a torturer. When Charlie escapes the angels, she tells him Cas can still be saved.

Dean rushes to Cas’s rescue, unsure of what he’ll find. Will Cas be the loyal friend he lost, or the emotionless killer the angels turned him into?

Link to fic

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Title: WEDLOCKED Author: spnsmile Artist: oddsocksandstuff Rating: Explicit Length: 50k+ Pairings: Castiel/ Dean Winchester Warnings:  Noncon, graphic violence, torture... Summary:

Dean Winchester, the leader of the Southern Resistance, makes a decision to stay in the capital keeping his brother alive, meeting his new husband with a promise to never break.

Castiel Novak, a Skywalker, has just returned to Discordia from his trip to outer space. Trained by the best Capacitors from VOLTS, the paramilitary officers, he finds himself with a new mission— to connect with a rebel and transform him into a submissive member of the society.

Can Castiel convince Dean to stay by his side? Or will he turn against the society threatening Dean?

Link to fic

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Title: Feathers On My Breath Author: navajolovesdestiel Artist: kuwlshadow Rating: Explicit Pairing: Dean/Castiel Warnings: Drug use Summary: The world following the apocalypse was a very different place than before. After Sam said yes to Lucifer, after he and Michael had fought the final battle, the angels won. They retreated to heaven after locking Lucifer away again, sealing heaven.

There were a few angels who were left behind, trapped forever on earth. Some humans had survived. They lived in small groups, foraging for food, medicine, necessities. But human beings are resilient. They prospered, grew in numbers as babies were born.

One thing they all had in common was their hatred of angels. If they ever trapped one it was swiftly put to death, or worse.

Link to Fic

Link to Art

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Title: Fields of Freja Author: Emblue_Sparks and tfw_cas (punk-is-notdead) Artist: shealynn88 Rating: Explicit Length: 65k+ Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester (Past Dean/Benny, Claire/Kaia, Sam/Eileen) Warnings: MCD (Dean only), Graphic Violence, Juvenile Soldiers, Juvenile Deaths Summary:

Bolivian-born Dean Winchester is a seasoned soldier, having served courageously in the rebellion against an immortal and tyrannical visionary. Yet his greatest fight begins the day his life ends. Dean awakens to a beautifully winged, albeit sardonic man, claiming him for Valhalla. Only problem: Like Helheim is he going. Not until Sam's safe from the Bright One in New Lebanon, tech beacon of the broken world, resting within the arctic circle.

As the only male Valkyrie in existence, Castiel Sigurd is an outcast tasked with purpose, yet denied companionship. Called to claim the only soldier to refuse the honor of Valhalla, intrigue paints his otherwise colorless eternity. Castiel journeys with Dean to find Sam, who's been lost to the winds for years. With nothing but a clue-filled journal and an oath to ascend upon 'mission accomplished,' Dean embarks on this last harrowing quest, experiencing adventure beyond his wildest fantasy and heart's desire along the way.

Link to fic

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Check out the SPN Dystopia Bang 2020 AO3 collection here!

gamers have no rights

SEIZE THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION

Oh and Minato actually using crude (like he always speaks very politely)  speech for the last big shot was a good moment. i rather like minato  and you can  see how dear kaburagi is to him. Minato gets Kaburagi put on mod duty instead of being destroyed or sentenced to life at the waste facility. Minato then stops Kaburagi from getting destroyed a second time and even keeps his avatar which would have gotten him killed. and he does all this without Kaburagi asking him, without Kaburagi ever knowing. Minato in the finale then risks annihilation to see kaburagi in the finale and is willing to gamble his life by staying in deca-dence to execute the plan. if he hadn’t helped, kaburagi would almost certainly be destroyed by the bubble wipe. Minato just wants to be near Kaburagi and be a part of his life. me in the distance: “gaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy”

when the admins threw donatello into the poop jail, did no one think to take the arm gun?

Yuzuru Tachikawa  has a lot of good stuff. death parade, mob psycho 100 II, assistant director for zankyo no terror.

once a limiter is released, can you put it back on?

http://decadence-anime.com/en/ incase the website ever goes down and i have to use the wayback machine

5.5: ok so i did forget the part where they say that Solid Quake and the other mega corps manufacture the cyborgs. ah and the cyborgs are also property of Solid Quake. real last stage capitalist dystopia. and some cyborgs’ job is to play the mmo. Like the company mandates download of the game upon cyborg activation. yeah if solid quake has the resources to manage a population of squishy monsters and have absolute control of all matter in the bubble they totally could have dealt with the air pollution on the rest of the planet. There’s also at least 4 other structures/companies on the planet. I wonder what they are up to. i was wondering about the ruins, so they were made as set pieces/background art for the post apocalyptic story.

so cyborgs did originally have their roots in biological humans. but currently and all the ones we see are assembled by Solid Quake. I wonder about the cyborg cores, they have the same green glow as oxyone. And one of the characters (minato? kaburagi?) says that cores aren’t controlled by Solid Quake, so the cyborgs have free will.

So I doubt minato ever switched departments though I guess its possible, meaning when he says he wants to fight along side kaburagi again he means this metaphorically, he wants to be able to once against work towards the same goal as kaburagi side by side. Also Minato calls Kaburagi “Kabu” no honorifics or anything and the subtitles bastardize this into just “Kaburagi”

they ended up making a game that involves throwing around a cyborg core. isn’t that a little...

Though everyone helped out a little, the finale was all about helping kaburagi where as I would have preferred something like everyone working and changing the system rather than kaburagi having a chat and the deca dence system letting him do what he wants. but I suppose that’s a hook for season 2. So seen on its own deca-dence has a good solid ending but not a spectacular one. But I am so glad it has a good ending, you don’t know how many shows have gotten my hopes up in the first couple episodes only to fizzle out and flop. I am so happy this show stuck the landing even if there was a little wobble.

I watched all of Deca-Dence in one sitting and wow do I love this show. It's just a good solid show. There's no weak point, each episode is solid, the writing is good, the animation is striking, and most importantly the show holds itself together throughout its entire run.

funny thing is. When I first saw the promo material for this anime back in spring of 2020 i went like ”ugggg not another one of these” where the remnants of humanity fight against annihilation at the hands of some monsters like shingeki no kyoujin or kabaneri of the iron fortress mostly because I’m been thinking a lot on compassion for the Other and a lack of that combined with propaganda about how the Other is a threat to the existence of the in-group forms the basis of a lot of modern facism and white supremacy groups that justify their existence against an imaginary threat use this same kind of logic framing themselves as the last bastions of humanity (whiteness) against a monstrous other (muslims, immigrants, ethnic minorities, usually people of color/not white people). Now the premises of humanity fighting against annihilation by monsters in of itself isn’t necessarily racist, but after a year where violent racism exploded against asian americans and BLM had a lot of attention, my mind can’t help but be in that space. However by the time I watched Deca-Dence on January 25, 2021 I had completely forgotten everything and anything about the show. All I remembered was some people crying about it on tumblr and twitter whose posts I skipped over once I realized they were about a show I hadn’t seen. So I went into this with a completely blank slate, I didn’t know that this was scifi, or that there was a giant fortress city, I didn’t know that Kaburagi was featured in the promos alongside Natsume, and I didn’t know we would be fighting monsters. But the first episode was just so well directed that I was excited for a second one despite the premises, and also i was still processing that last shot when i clicked the next episode button. It was the second episode that sold this show for me.

Oh I totally forgot to talk about natsume’s arm and how the show handle’s disability. Also I don’t have a prosthetic so take this with a gain of salt. Natsume occasionally feels self conscious about her prosthetic arm since people will comment on it and it adds barriers in her life, disqualifying her from joining The Power and making it more difficult to adjust the nozzle on her pack. She has added struggles in her life that others don’t, but the show never portrays her as lesser for it, its just something she has to consider and work around in her life. The line about how its not her weakness, but her power was a good line. And she literally turned it into a weapon, that’s so cool.

Corporations generate capital for the enrichment of their shareholders. But in the world of deca-dence there are no shareholders at the end of the pipeline. The machinery of the capitalist firm continues to spin, squeezing out as much cheap or free labor as possible, and acquiring assets, but for nothing and no one. Its a system made to benefit the Few, but whose beneficiaries no longer exist (or at least we never see them in the anime). The exploitation of the Tankers and cyborgs serve no purpose but to continue the existence of Solid Quake and its system.

dissonance grieving tankers at funeral to cyborgs chatting about how fun the last raid event was. bright cartoony artstyle to the dystopia of neoliberal capitalism (and the labor camp). the cheery game trailer and company intro style exposition for the apocalypse.

The reason the ending was only good instead of spectacular is because it doesn’t engage with the themes laid down in earlier episodes enough. The ending provides an emotionally fulfilling ending for its characters but only a lukewarm one for late-stage capitalism. There’s two narratives going on in Deca-Dence. The personal narrative told through Natsume and Kaburagi about learning to try again, improve yourself, make your own decisions, live on your own terms, and push your limits. Then there’s the secondary narrative about overcoming structures and systems of oppression. The anime team did a great job at the first one, but kinda meh about the second one. When we are introduced to the people of Deca-Dence we see them stratified into classes like Gear/cyborg and Tanker. However this is a false narrative perpetuated by Solid Quake to maintain its control of both groups, after all Solid Quake owns both the cyborgs and the Tankers as literal property. Ideally the Tankers and cyborgs would realize the divide between them is false and team up to tear down not only Solid Quake but the systems that allowed mega corps to exist in the first place and build more equitable and just social systems. And we do get some of this in the ending with changes in how Solid Quake is run (no more punishment of “bugs”, got rid of the gulag), but all this is shoved to the background. Essentially management and company policy changed but the fact that the corporation or its structures exists, didn’t. I can't tell if its deliberate or not though. Its common with single cour anime to leave dangling plot threads as a bid to the funding for a second season and most of them never do. So I can see it like that, but eh I still never liked this approach. Its also a limitation of the single cour instead of being produced as a 24 ep anime where they would have had lime to develop that second narrative.

Profound Member Post - April 2019

Header by @cryptomoon​​ and is available on merch from her redbubble store. You can use all those fancy emojis (and more!) on our Discord Server!

The Masterpost is open for all creations by ProfoundBond members which are posted in entirely during that month.

MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS FOR APRIL 2019! (sorry for the late one!)

Masterpost below the cut.

MaggieMaybe160 - @maggiemaybe160​ - MaggieMaybe160

Love is a Random Wednesday

400 word fic for a one word prompt based on the word "Love"

Tags: Extreme Fluff

SFW

Regarding Us

(s12e11 Fic) Dean's memory is quickly fading. As Sam and Rowena scramble to find a way to reverse it, Cas tells Dean their story.

Tags: Major Character Death, Fluff and Angst, Grief and Mourning

SFW

No Way to Heal

Remember that handprint Castiel left on Dean’s shoulder? Dean can feel it flair with pain when Cas is in danger.

Tags: Major Character Death, Unrequited Love, Angst

SFW

Be My Superman

Steve is a total dork. Cute, but completely off limits and not at all Dean’s type. He either forgets to take off his work vest, or just doesn’t care. He’s constantly wearing that royal blue polyester vest that could blind anyone if the sun hit it right. His nametag is always pinned just perfectly over his chest, declaring him “Steve.” His dark brown hair is combed, parted on the side, and gelled in place. His eyes are the most stunning part of him. They’re a gorgeous blue that shine and Dean tries not to look for too long because he’s also pretty sure Steve is straight.

Tags: Canon Divergent. Two Sided Love Triangle. Fluff and Angst. Sick Dean Winchester.

SFW

The Eldritch Horrors and Dean 

(post episode s14e14) Michael is gone. The bunker is calm. Cas finally comes clean to the Winchesters about the deal he made with the Empty. While Dean deals with this news, Amelia Bedelia, the Eldritch Horror, is freed and starts to wreak havoc all over Lebanon.

Tags: Major Character Death. Angst and Crack. Murder. Horror.

SFW

The Size of Our Rainbow

Dean and Cas try out a new dildo on Cas because it's too big for Dean. Fic for Pic exchange with my friend.

Tags: Size Kink. Bottom Cas/Top Dean. Porn Without Plot. Anal Sex. Blow job. Rimming. Dildo play.

NSFW

With art by @demonfleet​

April Fools in the Bunker

It's April Fools Day in the bunker. With the Winchesters and their pranks, will Cas and Jack live up to the prank wars? This bunker is in a war zone.

Tags: Crack Fic. April Fools Day Pranks.

SFW

drawlight - @drawlight​ - drawlight

Terminus Est

The gates close every night at the final, ninth, toll of the bell. Nox. They have never failed. Dean has forgotten the time and is outside. No one survives a night out past the gates after Nox. That is the time of darkness; that is where the Others walk.

Tags: Post-Apocalypse, Android Castiel, Forbidden Love, Medieval Analogue, First Time, Alternate Universe - Dystopia

NSFW 

shealynn88 - @shealynn88​ - shealynn88

Are We Human

Set generally mid-S5. "Dean glances over, wondering how much time it takes for light to bounce from Cas’s cheek to Dean’s eyes. How long for Cas to be seen. And if that light ever makes it back to whatever is inside that human vessel he carries around like another trench coat."

Tags: Stolen Moments, First Kiss

SFW

LeafZelindor - @leafzelindor​ - LeafZelindor 

The Scent of You 

Cas really has a thing for Dean's smell, he just hasn't told Dean that. Stealing his clothes might not be the best answer, but it'll do for now.

Tags: supernaturalkinkbingo2019, scent kink, pining,

NSFW

CrowleyLovesUSUK - @crowley-loves-usuk - CrowleyLovesUSUK

A/S/L

When Dean Winchester’s fiancé announced that she was pregnant by another man and walked out, Dean swore off relationships. He couldn’t even bring himself to have casual sex, with the notable exception of a single eye-opening night. Three years later, Dean’s brother Sam has had enough. A sibling argument leads to Dean signing up for a popular dating site, ‘A Profound Bond.’ When Dean’s first match opens their chat conversation with an outdated query, Dean has to decide if he can move past the other man’s awkward 1990s introduction, and finally take another chance on love.

Tags: Alternate Universe-Modern, Explicit Sexual Content, Explicit Language, Online Dating, Light BDSM, Spanking, Top Cas/Bottom Dean, Dirty Talk

NSFW

nickelkeep - @nickelkeep - nickelkeep

Like Home

Castiel's twin sister Hannah is getting married, and as the Man of Honor, he's been along for the Bridal Show and Wedding Planning ride. After talking about the last one with his best friend/roommate Dean, Dean suddenly wants to tag along (mostly for the free food). Can Cas handle pretending to be engaged to his best friend?

Tags: AU - Modern Setting, Fluff, AU - Roommates, Pining, Mutual Pining, Wedding Planning, Minor Angst, First Kiss, Castiel and Dean need to use their words. SFW

Anteros

Dean is stuck on some research for a book he is writing. Thanks to some help from his friend, he is able to get an audience with the premier expert of Greek Mythology. Part 2 of the Reincarnation Tales series.

Tags: AU - 1910s, AU- Reincarnation, Past Lives, Immortality, Memory Loss, Mythology References

SFW

Blue-Eyed Guy

Cas froze as the singer broke into the chorus. He had heard that song only an hour ago. It should be a brown-eyed girl.

Tags: Fluff, Light Angst, Pining, First Kiss, Singing in the Impala, Singing in the Shower, Songfic: Brown-Eyed Girl, Love Confessions, SPN Song Challenge Bingo SFW

MittensMorgul - @mittensmorgul - MittensWraith

Worst Case Scenario

Their lives have always masqueraded as works of fiction, but for anyone they've ever interacted with, there's a scarily high chance that someday they'll discover the strangest events of their lives have been immortalized in a moderately obscure series of pulp horror novels. For Sam, Dean, and Cas, this is old news. For the people who've learned the truth, it's often a life-changing experience. Here's the story of a handful of those lucky... yeah, let's call them lucky... people whose lives intersected once upon a time with the Winchesters. And the stories they get to tell the Winchesters.

Tags: Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Humor, Case Fic, wherein team free will becomes the case, Post-Canon, Sam's Orange Jacket, The Winchester Gospels (Supernatural), Sharing a Bed

NSFW

Darmys - @darmysasagiri - Darmys (Pillowfort)

Long Road Home - Home Is Where The Heart Is

Sam and Dean Winchester along with the crew of the Royal Sovereign are renegades. Their only hope lies across the fabled Highroad. There, in the birthplace of humanity they face treachery and madness, all in the quest to find a home. This is the third part of a massive space opera trilogy. Based on the original work of Alis A. Rasmussen.

Tags: AU - The Highroad Trilogy, AU - Space Opera, Past Benny/Dean, Past Dean/Nick Munroe, Robot!Baby, Canon Typical deaths, Canon-Typical Violence, Period-Typical Racism, Referenced Past Rape/Non-con

SFW

A Bite to Remember 

Alphas can't mate Alphas, everyone knows this, or do they?

Tags: Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Alpha,Alpha!Cas, Alpha!Dean, Mating, Bites, Come Inflation, Top!Cas/Bottom!Dean, Messy Bottom Alpha Dean, One Night Stands

NSFW

Jemariel - @jemariel - Jemariel 

Chicken Soup for Breakfast

Written for a Two AU prompt challenge: Werewolf AU + Sick fic

Tags: hurt/comfort, werewolf!Cas, sick fic, SFW

iCeDreams - iCeDreams

Look at this Food (Isn't it Neat?)

Dean swims up to shore and steals one of the best things he's ever tasted.

Tags: Little Mermaid Elements, Fairy Tale, Mermaid Dean, Hamburger

SFW

Dive Bars, Beers, and Names

Castiel isn't usually asked for his name, but when he does, he certainly has opinions on how he's called.

Tags: Walk Into A Bar, Sassy Castiel

SFW

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

blueeyesandpie - @blueeyesandpie - blueeyesandpie

No Right to Ask, No Reason to Give

Existential dread totally pairs well with spontaneous love confessions. Right?

Tags: Episode 14x20 coda, love confessions, canon compliant, angst, canon typical violence

SFW

Time is a Flat Circle

Lineart headshot of Castiel from sharkfish's Riptides.

Tags: Castiel, drug use (marijuana)

SFW

For a fic by Sharkfish

Wandering Angel

Illustration of Castiel from MaggieMaybe160's Wandering Angel.

Tags: Castiel, grief, past MCD in fic

SFW

For a fic by @maggiemaybe160

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Carrieosity - @carrieosity - Carrieosity (Pillowfort)

Castiel, in Loco Parentis

Some days at Castiel's library are harder than others. (Prompt from saltnhalo: "Fantasy AU with librarian Cas.") Notes: Based on an actual event at my own library, to me personally. (Though with less magic involvement.)

Tags: Librarian Castiel, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fluff, Fairies, Libraries

SFW

One for the Books

When Castiel is selected to serve on an award council for the national library association, Dean couldn't be more proud of his amazing boyfriend. He had no idea what was about to happen. (Or: Castiel apologizes for nearly burying them both alive in piles of books with a promise and a question.) Part 5 of the "Understanding That Reference" series!

Tags: Librarian Castiel, Mechanic Dean, Libraries,Books, Fluff and Humor, Marriage Proposal

SFW

Make a Little History, Baby

When Dean chose his thesis subject, he wanted to capture someone else's fascinating story. He had no idea it would turn into a story of his own. (Tumblr prompt, anonymous: "What about archivist Castiel and grad student Dean? Maybe they finally meet after corresponding long-distance when Dean finally gets a small grant for travel funds for his dissertation?)

Tags: Archivist Castiel, Graduate Student Dean, Alternate Universe - College/University, Gratuitous History, Self-Indulgent, Long-Distance Friendship, Friends to Lovers

SFW

Hear Him Calling for my Soul

Castiel's soulmark was heartbreaking; Dean had no soulmark at all. Of course, at the end of the world, nobody's paying attention to soulmarks at all any more, let alone what they might mean. (Prompt, from holy-tax-accountant: "apocalypse/soulmate? Destiel or DCJ - Please and thanks so much")

Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Human, First Meetings, Deaf Character, Deaf Dean Winchester, Soulmarks

Payback is a Bitch, Jerk

Dean and Sam have been embroiled in a prank war for most of their lives. Some things are off-limits, though. Luckily, Dean's new coworker might have a solution. (Prompt: "Prank War/Nurse (or hospital) AU; Destiel!")

Tags: Alternate Universe - Hospital, Alternate Universe - Human, First Meetings, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Bees, Fluff and Humor

SFW

10 Monster-licious/Horror animated series on Youtube!

I felt that in order to fill the void in between art and updates on Mouse, I should post other stuff to my blog and promote people/things that I love. So here’s a list for the monster lovers and horror-hounds who want some animation in their lives:

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Children R Skary – Katy Towell

I’ve talked about this channel a lot and that’s because it genuinely creeped me out back in the day (and even now). It’s animation is simple but it frankly shocks me that Katy Towell isn’t one of the Newgrounds legends given her knack for visual storytelling.

Basically Katy writes short horror stories and poems and then animates them. There’s no cinematic universe or anything to it. Just short horror stories. They feel so cinematic and sophisticated. I WISH I WAS YOU KATY MARRY ME!!!

Lenore the Cute Little Dead Girl – Roman Dirge

Like Invader Zim, this is a show I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with. It was made in the 000′s and features that mean, random, cruel-for-the-sake-of-cruel kind of black comedy you’d see on shows like Billy and Mandy. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the art style or the main character - a little undead girl and her various strange playmates in a dilapidated mansion - a lot.

The World of Stainboy – Flinch Studio + Tim Burton

Another love/hate 2000s series, based on Tim Burton’s “The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy”, and starring the late great Glenn Shadix. I admit it has some of Burton’s signature dry anti-humor at it’s best, but it also features Burton’s most mediocre par-for-the-course writing with Stainboy being bland and the world just being cruel to these deformed or special needs kids just because.

I will admit, Burton’s sloppy, choppy style does lend itself very well to limited animation, so for one of these early era internet toons it’s probably the best looking.

Salad Fingers – David Firth

WARNINGWARNINGWARNING: This cartoon is disturbing.

If you somehow haven’t heard about it, Salad Fingers is about the life of a deformed man living in what appears to be a post-apocalyptic landscape where he talks to hand puppets and unknowingly eats people.

It’s not only squicky prime nausea-fuel, it’s also serious ASMR with the way Salad Fingers talks.

I’m not a big fan of the series but I knew people were gonna be ticked if I didn’t mention it, and I have a lot of respect for David Firth!

Mystery Skulls Animated – Mystery Ben and the Mystery Team

Tumblr’s darling…who’s third installment came out this last year.

It’s the tale of some millennial Scooby-gang expies traversing their town looking for ghosts, and a ghost that wants revenge on one of them, set to the tune of a different song from the techno band Mystery Skulls.

These music videos are beeeeautiful. The overarching story, while fun, makes it a little hard to just hop into any entry in the series. At the same time I love how these guys take these kind of unrelated songs and puts them in a new context with a plot. Also color coding at it’s finest.

The Vampair Saga – Daria Cohen

My currently favorite animated YT series, now on part 4. It’s a series of music videos about two vampire enemies-with-benefits, the Duke of Vaults and Missi, going back and forth about how awesome they are or how much they hate the other.

Originally the first short, ft. Volatire’s “The Night”, was a solo college thesis project but now it’s expanded into this series. Oh yeah, did I mention that these are animated by one person?

Autodale – Dead Sound

If you’ve spent any time on youtube browsing through weird/dark/creepy+student animations you’ve probably seen at least one entry of this series. Autodale is easily the most beautifully rendered and cinematic series on this list. As for plot, it’s a standard 1984-ish dystopia sci-fi story that I don’t know if I want any more of it explained or if it’d be better leaving stuff vague and open to interpretation. 

Raised by Zombies – Guy Collins

I found this series be accident. What a delight!

This is my kind of zombie-apocalypse: sympathetic zombies, a sweet yet somber tone, violence and gore that somehow never feels too nasty to show to a kid and would be fine playing online. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of it until now. I HAVE SO MANY MONSTER LOVING FEELS!!!

Llamas with Hats – Jason Steele

I have a feeling you’ve all seen the original short, which is more dark comedy than horror, but I think that as a collective series FilmCow/Jason Steele’s “Llamas with Hats” is kind of a masterpiece. Granted it was probably more moving to watch as the series actually unfolded, but still -what an ending there Jason!

Ghost House – Jason Steele

If you can call this an animated series then it counts....and it’s easily my favorite FilmCow creation. He really is the kind of artist I strive to be: the kind making cartoons about a man and ghost horses with sexy ghost butts in a ghost house (that description will make more sense if you watch the whole series....kinda....).

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R.I.P “I’m a Monster” ;_;

BWAHAHAHA

This series was not only cute but very very child friendly, The gist was that a famous cryptid, mythological beast, or monster from literature would give you a quick run-down of their background and abilities. They didn’t just stick to vampires and werewolves either. They made shorts for Almas, Bunyips, Black Shuck, Herne the Hunter, and the DC Demon Cat. THEN THEY DISAPPEARED AND THE ONLY EXISTING EPISODE I CAN FIND IS THEIR ONE ON MOBY DICK:

Now Available in PDF and print from DriveThruRPG: The Art of Werewolf: The Apocalypse: A Visual Guide to Werewolf 20th Anniversary Edition!

The Art of Werewolf: The Apocalypse: A Visual Guide to Werewolf 20th Anniversary Edition

Violence is an art form, if it’s practiced, perfected, and put on display. That’s what we tell ourselves when we cut servants of the Wyrm into slices. We celebrate their destruction, but how that destruction is delivered is the art.

Shifting from Lupus to Homid and everywhere in between: That’s art, too. The stretch of skin, crack of bone, and pop of ligament. Art can be shocking, terrifying, gratifying, euphoric, and transforming, for Gaia is all these things and more.

We are one with the world, the Umbra, and all the Gifts the spirits, Gaia, the Wyld, and even the Weaver bestow upon us. They are a part of us. We are a tapestry, a collage, a piecemeal portrait of fragments, colors, and bloody shades. 

We’re a savage kind of art form, but our lives are still art.

And, like the best art, our lives are precious, rare, and might change the world.

All you have to do is act as an audience to our display. Allow us to show you our art.

“Swampy” Fischer, Bone Gnawer Galliard

The Art of Werewolf: The Apocalypse includes art from:

Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition

W20 Skinner

W20 Rage Across the World

W20 Umbra: The Velvet Shadow

W20 Book of the Wyrm

W20 Tribebook: White Howlers 

W20 Shattered Dreams

W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook

The Art of Werewolf joins our existing The Art of Changing Breeds: A Visual Guide to the Fera.

The Scarred Lands expansion for Expedition is now available for purchase from DriveThruCards!

Battle new Titanspawn enemies, earn new lore-filled loot, and play as new adventurers from Scarred Lands.

A 50-card booster that expands Expedition: The Roleplaying Card Game into Onyx Path’s world of Scarn.

Includes:

21 new enemies, including gorgeous art by the amazing Chris Gebhart

13 new abilities

10 new loot cards

6 new adventurers

3 new official quests for epic adventuring

Unlimited playtime with community quests and GM Mode

REQUIRES EXPEDITION BASE GAME + HORROR EXPANSION, available at expeditiongame.com

Sales

DriveThruComics is serving up two bundles in support of ConTessa: the ConTessa Bundle of Comic Awesome includes a copy of Exalted: Tale of the Visiting Flare, while the ConTessa Bundle of RPG Awesome includes a copy of Aberrant 1st Edition.

Scarred Lands products for Pathfinder (the Scarred Lands Players Guide and The Wise & The Wicked 2nd Edition) are upwards of 90% off from Indie Press Revolution! Both products are an incredible $5 each!

Kickstarter Update

The Kickstarter for Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition launched yesterday, and hit its $25,000 funding goal in just 10 hours! We’re currently at $28,589, or 114%, with a month to go. Thanks to our 558 backers! We haven’t hit any stretch goals yet, but we’re well on our way!

Did you miss one of our previous Kickstarters? The following Kickstarted products are still open for preorders via BackerKit:

They Came from Beneath the Sea!: They Came from Beneath the Sea! rulebook

Trinity Continuum: Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Dystopia Rising: Evolution: Dystopia Rising: Evolution rulebook

Realms of Pugmire: Pirates of Pugmire

Vampire: The Masquerade: V5 Chicago by Night

Exalted: Lunars: Fangs at the Gate

Chronicles of Darkness: Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras 2

Chronicles of Darkness: The Contagion Chronicle

Geist: The Sin-Eaters: Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition

Community Spotlight

The following community-created content for Scarred Lands has been added to the Slarecian Vault in the last week:

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?

The following community-created content for Realms of Pugmire has been added to Canis Minor in the last week:

Morty Corgi’s Scroll of Mysteries is the first Onyx Path Community Content we’ve activated for print-on-demand!

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?

The Storypath Nexus is now open! So far Scion content has been unlocked. The following community-created content for Scion has been added to the Storypath Nexus in the last week:

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?