Trying To Maintain A Consistent Work Schedule With A Workplace That’s “set Your Own Schedule” Is

stranger things s4 starters

❝ how are you feeling today? ❞   ❝ what have you done? ❞   ❝ you speak of monsters, superheroes. that’s the stuff of myth and fairytales. ❞   ❝ are you stalking me or something? ❞   ❝ i know it’s a lot of blood, but you’re going to be okay. ❞   ❝ it’s like you’re not even here anymore. it’s like you’re a ghost. ❞   ❝ i can only help you if you’re truthful. if you open up to me. ❞   ❝ it’s okay to not be okay. ❞   ❝ even with it staring you in the face, you can’t admit it. can’t admit you’re wrong. ❞   ❝ it’s just scary to open up like that. to say how you really feel. especially to people you care about the most. ❞   ❝ i think maybe a part of me died that day too. ❞   ❝ it looks like a fairytale. a dream. ❞   ❝ everyone looks at me like…like i’m a monster. ❞   ❝ you start to believe all the things they say. that this place is cursed. ❞   ❝ do you ever feel like you’re losing your mind? ❞   ❝ look, i’m just trying to turn that frown upside down. ❞   ❝ this year is my year. i can feel it. ❞   ❝ i’m afraid you can become lost in the darkness. ❞   ❝ why do you keep pushing me away? ❞   ❝ i want today to be about me and you. ❞   ❝ if they wanna find out who you are, they will. ❞   ❝ please, just go away. ❞   ❝ only by facing all of ourselves, the good and the bad, can we become whole. ❞   ❝ i play that moment back in my head all the time. ❞   ❝ so much has happened since you left. ❞   ❝ did i survive? no, i assure you, i am still very much in hell. ❞   ❝ you are scared. you’re tired. you are injured. ❞   ❝ you’re not what i thought you’d be like. ❞   ❝ i just want to say thanks for saving my ass back there. ❞   ❝ hey, we don’t need to do this. ❞   ❝ you think because you demonstrate some talent that you’re somehow immune to the rules? ❞   ❝ why is this on me? why am i the bad guy? ❞   ❝ never tell me the odds. ❞   ❝ i don’t even know how to describe it. i’ve never seen anything like it. ❞   ❝ there’s nothing to worry about. okay? ❞   ❝ sorry. didn’t mean to scare you. ❞   ❝ now, where does it hurt? ❞   ❝ this place and the people here are not what you think. ❞   ❝ i am different. i do not belong. ❞   ❝ so, um, are we just not gonna talk about it? ❞   ❝ just try to take some deep breaths. ❞   ❝ if i show you something, you wouldn’t tell anyone, right? ❞   ❝ people just change, okay? that’s it. ❞   ❝ you gotta stop pretending to be someone else. ❞   ❝ i was so excited to see you, it was hard to breathe. ❞   ❝ i’ll smile as i watch them die a slow, agonizing death. ❞   ❝ thirty seconds or i leave without you, okay? ❞   ❝ well, well. aren’t you a sight for sore eyes? ❞   ❝ i…i didn’t mean to scare you. ❞   ❝ looks like it’s gonna be up to us again. ❞   ❝ i’m sorry. i’m having trouble understanding any of this. ❞   ❝ i believe you are our best hope. our only hope. ❞   ❝ you’re bright red in the face right now. ❞   ❝ i think it’ll be easier if we’re a team. ❞   ❝ you can’t run from me. ❞   ❝ we’re running out of time here. the world is running out of time. ❞   ❝ everyone i love, i hurt. ❞   ❝ you don’t even seem nervous. i’m impressed. ❞   ❝ what if i’m not good? what if i’m the monster? ❞   ❝ do you flee or stand your ground and fight? ❞   ❝ in dark days like this, we need something to believe in. ❞   ❝ what you’ve been through, what you’re still going through…it’s a lot for anyone. ❞   ❝ i’m not moping. ❞   ❝ there’s not that many. we can take ‘em. ❞   ❝ you remind me of someone. someone i used to know very well. ❞   ❝ we have a big fight ahead of us. ❞   ❝ so, that is it? you give up, then? ❞   ❝ did you get some rest? i have a feeling you’re gonna need it. ❞   ❝ it’s okay. you can admit it. no more lies. ❞   ❝ sounds too good to be true, yes? ❞   ❝ you’ll have to excuse the staring. you’re a bit of a celebrity. ❞   ❝ do you really expect me to believe anything you have to say? ❞   ❝ the way you looked at me. you…you were scared of me. ❞   ❝ small world, isn’t it? it’s a small world. ❞ ❝ i promise i’m gonna stop asking this, but…you’re seeing that too, right? ❞   ❝ i’ve really missed that. your laugh. ❞   ❝ i will do anything for you. ❞   ❝ you have demons in your past. ❞   ❝ you have more important things to worry about. ❞       ❝ i actually thought you’d be kinda mean and scary. ❞   ❝ i don’t want you to go. ❞   ❝ i’ve given you everything you asked for. i’ve compromised my principles. i’ve risked my life. ❞   ❝ you didn’t think it would be that easy, did you? ❞   ❝ or what? are you gonna shoot me? ❞   ❝ they’re laughing. at you. they think you’re weak. ❞   ❝ i know. you’re frightened of me. ❞ ❝ like i said…we’re alike, you and i. ❞   ❝ who knew something so small could cause so much trouble? ❞       ❝ you know, i think there’s a part of you, buried somewhere deep, that wanted me to die that day. ❞   ❝ if you want to make it out of here alive, you must do exactly as i say. ❞   ❝ i understand the stakes quite well. ❞   ❝ you can’t hurt me more than they already have. ❞   ❝ whatever comes out of there…hold your ground. ❞   ❝ you…you’re not supposed to be here. ❞   ❝ you know you can talk to me. ❞   ❝ i know what it’s like to be different. ❞   ❝ you helped me. now i help you. ❞   ❝ i don’t believe in all that supernatural crap, all right? ❞   ❝ why are you staring at me? ❞   ❝ imagine what we could do together. ❞   ❝ the more you move, the more this is gonna hurt. ❞   ❝ no one ever comes out here. we’re safe. ❞   ❝ i’m going to try to forget you said any of that. ❞   ❝ my heart can’t take it anymore. ❞   ❝ for a while i tried to be happy. normal. ❞  

Me: don’t come here expecting romance with Veric, he doesn’t often fall in love very easily

Me sitting here at almost 4 am already thinking about romantic or borderline-romantic shipping:

also if you date him I hope you like spices because cooking is his love language and in this house we ain’t unseasoned

Me: don’t come here expecting romance with Veric, he doesn’t often fall in love very easily

Me sitting here at almost 4 am already thinking about romantic or borderline-romantic shipping:

Very gentle reminder for this late-night dash that there's nothing wrong with being as kind, patient, and understanding to yourself as you are with your writing partners. There's nothing wrong with taking your time, taking breaks, or being selective in where you do and don't spend your energy while you're online.

* QUOTES ABOUT DEATH PROMPTS ,

i'm not afraid of death; i just don't want to be there when it happens.

i'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way i want to.

don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life.

what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?

someone who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.

i don't want to die without any scars.

death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities.

i had been dead for billions and billions of years before i was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.

even death has a heart.

death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.

paris is the only city in the world where starving to death is still considered an art.

it is a curious thing, the death of a loved one.

no one really knows why they are alive until they know what they'd die for.

everybody is going to be dead one day, just give them time.

we all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up.

delaying death is one of my favourite hobbies

life isn't fair, it's just fairer than death, that's all.

we're born, we live a little while, we die.

the first time you meet someone special, you can count on them one day being dead and in the ground.

i was always holding onto people, and they were always leaving.

life is pleasant, death is peaceful: it's the transition that's troublesome.

if there are no dogs in heaven, then when i die i want to go where they went.

we are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones.

a thing is not necessarily true because someone dies for it.

i do not fear death.

when i look at my life and its secret colours, i feel like bursting into tears.

don't feel bad, i'm usually about to die.

they died that day because their body had served its purpose.

many that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life.

why do people want to pretend that death is sleep? it isn't.

no one here gets out alive.

promise to give me a kiss on my brow when i am dead, i shall feel it.

the dead can survive as part of the lives of those that still live.

one lives in the hope of becoming a memory.

when he died, all things soft and beautiful and bright would be buried with him.

kill me, if you’ve ever been my friend, kill me.

to me, the thing that is worse than death is betrayal.

i like grit, i like love and death, i'm tired of irony.

how shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?

fear not death for the sooner we die, the longer we shall be immortal.

love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone.

if by my life or death i can protect you, i will.

i know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow.

much of what was said did not matter, and that much of what mattered could not be said.

people living deeply have no fear of death.

if you live each day as it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right

we who think we are about to die will laugh at anything.

belief is the death of intelligence.

what could i become if i stopped worrying about death, about pain, about anything?

you never got used to it, the idea of someone being gone.

if i die, i will wait for you.

if you gave someone your heart and they died, did they take it with them?

grief can destroy you, or it can focus you.

death is a strange thing.

cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.

older men declare war, but it is youth that must fight and die.

i could die for you, but i couldn't, and wouldn't, live for you.

whoever said that loss gets easier with time was a liar.

personally, i'm trying to avoid lots of death, but you guys have fun!

the funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective.

the truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.

yeah, all things live forever, though at times they sleep and are forgotten.

it is not death that you should fear, but you should fear never beginning to live.

you can not die of grief, though it feels as if you can.

people leave strange little memories of themselves behind when they die.

death is a stripping away of all that is not you.

we may not get to choose how we die, but we can chose how we live.

it doesn't make a damned bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead.

enjoy life, there's plenty of time to be dead.

death is the only god who comes when you call.

to live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how i would like to live.

Veric’s situational husband might be making an appearance on tumblr and if he does Veric is gonna become the most annoying motherfucker in the world

Since I’m thinking about it—a little more on Veric’s prostheses.

Normally, when he’s back home in his atelier or, recently, tutoring only his most recent apprentice, he’ll use his wheelchair instead of his prosthetics, which is... just a practical thing, really, because the workshop is already equipped with a lift operated by arcana machina, so he just needs something really basic but sturdy that will get him around the place when he’s low-energy and doesn’t have to expend a bunch of effort to maintain it. There are maybe a handful of people who’ve even seen the wheelchair or know that he uses it, and that list includes his current apprentice Iseult, his old Army Mage™ friends Vallareo and Isonandra, and his field-of-study peer/rival Elian.

Outside of that, though, even though they’re pretty much always concealed by his clothes when he wears them, his prosthetics are well known and even something of a legend because of the circumstances surrounding them. A lot of the mages that fought in the war have stories that were spread around in the aftermath, and Veric’s in particular is about the rough-hewn legs of diamond he made for himself in a desperate attempt to fight beside his friends, which... is more accurate than he’ll acknowledge, admittedly. Before then, arcana machina that served as prosthetics only tended to work as short-term replacements for smaller limbs like fingers and such, just because it was difficult to find reliable and sturdy materials that possessed types of arcane power that easily mesh with the natural power of a human body, meaning that the cost of even cheaper materials meant it usually wasn’t worth bothering at all if they couldn’t reliably work long-term. What Veric did was nothing short of a miracle, but after the war he had plenty of time to actually refine the prosthetics into something more resembling actual limbs in both shape and operation, outside of the colors and runes and the like, and though it’s still not a widespread use of machina, the incident did contribute to legitimizing machina prosthetics as a concept. Appearance-wise, they actually have a quite elegant form, lined with shallow veins and runes inlaid with aquamarine and hemimorphite, white and light blue stonework that glows faintly in darker atmospheres.

He usually tends to wear or at least carry shoes with him so that he doesn’t damage “finer” floors like tile and whatnot, but if he’s traveling out in the wilds? He will quite literally go barefoot. Black diamond is a powerful and now somewhat rare resource in arcane science and here he is literally trampling prosthetics made of the stuff through the dirt and mud because it’s convenient and he can do what he want.

more intense vibes (or smth idk they’re just vibes)

emotional? angsty? fighty? yep. check, check, and check again. bon appetit!

“ go. ”

“ stop this. ”

“ let go of me. ”

“ you’re gonna have to make me. ”

“ please don’t do this. ”

“ don’t make me do this. ”

“ you have no idea what i’m capable of. ”

“ don’t you dare. ”

“ i wouldn’t do that if i were you. ”

“ i can’t do this. ”

“ i won’t let you do this. ”

“ i’m not gonna let that happen. ”

“ go! get out of here! run! ”

“ i’m not what you think i am. ”

“ don’t get in my way. ”

“ revenge won’t bring peace for you. ”

“ you always knew this would happen, didn’t you? ”

“ what’s going on in that head of yours? ”

“ you do not turn against your family. ”

“ i will kill you if i have to. ”

“ we need you. ”

“ it’s okay. i got this. ”

“ you were chosen for a reason. ”

“ get up. ”

“ it’s too late. ”

“ you can’t do this. ”

“ i thought i might find you here. ”

“ you’ve never had to fight me. ”

“ it’s over. ”

“ it’s over. we won/lost. ”

“ it’s over. you lost. ”

“ enough! ”

“ you can’t protect any of them. ”

“ stay here! ”

“ give me your hand. ”

“ i can’t help you. ”

“ you can’t help me! ”

“ i can’t do this anymore… ”

𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐄 & 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄

A short, but bound to expand, list of some important places and concepts derived from Veric’s lore.

𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 & 𝐂𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

⦿ The Great Continent — informal/colloquial name for the landmass housing many locations and structures central to the arcane sciences; regionally, the continent is formally referred to by a number of various names, most commonly Atoi in southern regions, Rembron in the furthest northern settlements, and Atar in some of the larger cities on the far western coast, along with a number of names given from other civilizations across the wider world. In the Mirror Basin, whose residents are a mixture of travelers and immigrants from around and without the continent, the name Great Continent is most often used so as to avoid confusion. ⦿ The Mirror Basin — a large impact basin home to a number of cities and smaller settlements, resting near the east coast of the Great Continent. The largest of its boroughs, Magai, is a common destination for travelers the world over in search of education in or practitioners of the arcane sciences, a “floating” city held aloft over the basin’s drainage by the last remnants of a large, hollowed boart deposit first uncovered some thousand years ago. Dotted around Magai, which lies near-center in the basin, can be found the smaller cities Lovo, Arca, and Ambis.The easternmost edge of the basin sees conflict from time to time, the result of outside aggressors seeking to claim the last of Mirror Basin’s greatest and most valuable boart deposit. ⦿  Arv-En Institute of Arcane Science — most often shortened to “the Arv-En Institute”, or simply “Arv-En”, and considered the foremost academy of arcane sciences on the Continent, and possibly in the world. A school that teaches every major discipline of arcane science: from more practical and widespread studies such as alchemy, arcane runology, arcane biology, and common enchantment; to more esoteric or specialized departments comprised of the likes of divination, attunement and artifice, and the more theoretical spiritual arcaea. Students of all ages are accepted for various courses of study that differ in length and intensity dependent on the subject matter. Those who graduate from the school with honors are often granted annual research stipends if any or all of their work is contributed back into the institute for educational purposes, and a great portion of professors and instructors of the institute receive both a regular salary for teaching work in combination with smaller bonuses for independent, outside studies, though there are also some few graduates who delve instead into confidential research without funding or other interference from the institute. Located within Magai, in the Mirror Basin. ⦿ Artuz School of Morphology — once considered a school of heretical teachings, after a faction of former instructors from Arv-En left the institute to embrace and teach practices more akin to grounded, modern sciences, the Artuz School is now considered a sister school that provides an alternate path of education for those less gifted or otherwise entirely unable to perform arcane science, though the wider world outside of the institute still appears skeptical of the practices of biology, medicine, and other important areas of study without the application of arcane sciences or other foreign systems of magic.

𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 & 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐒

⦿ Arcane power — the innate power found in all things, generated autonomously by living bodies and bound into the inanimate upon an object’s creation. Arcane power can be manipulated in a number of ways, and those that do so are practitioners of arcane science, though due to the potentially dangerous and volatile nature of manipulating the base makeup of a living being or inanimate object, the practice is bound by a number of rules and regulations that all practitioners must follow at penalty of confinement and, for the worst offenses, the binding of their own arcane power—a restriction that forbids a scientist from establishing contact with and manipulating the arcane powers of people or things outside of their own bodies. ⦿ Arcane science — overarching designation of any practice that utilizes western methods or systems of magic, particularly those that originated from or were adapted within the Great Continent. While there are a number of forms that exist without label, those that are common or dangerous enough to be labeled are often heavily regulated outside of times of war. Arcane science, notably, is not the only designation of magic practice, and even within the Continent there exist mages who utilize other systems that do not fall under this designation. Those who study or operate within the bounds of known arcane science are referred to specifically as scientists or arcane scholars, never as ‘mages’ or ‘wizards’ in polite society. The main vehicles of arcane science are as follows:

     — alchemy, the purification and transmutation of materials by altering the patterns formed by the material’s arcane energies;      — arcane runology, imbuing written words and symbols with arcane power for specific purposes, usually by means of an arcanely-charged medium (for instance, special ink created to store arcane power);      — arcane biology, the practice of modifying the living bodies of humans and animals by altering patterns within their natural arcane energies, permitted only for the sake of healing illness and injury;      — common enchantment, an unspecific umbrella term meant to catch any forms of scientific methods or practices that combine elements from any two or three of the above vehicles

While these designations serve nearly 87% of the population of known arcane scientists, there are some lesser-known or more specific practices and areas of arcane study considered esoteric or otherwise underutilized by the wider community of scientists, including:

     — divination, the observation and recording of celestial arcane energies, often used for predictions such as weather conditions and atmospheric changes, though also used colloquially (and somewhat controversially) as a supposed method for predictions of future events;      — attunement and artifice, in theory two separate arts that greatly overlap in practice. Attunement is similar to arcane runology in that arcane power is being channeled by written instructions to serve a particular purpose; however, arcane attunement utilizes the specific powers found within the base material itself, rather than requiring a vehicle such as enchanted ink to imbue power into the rune, and requires highly-specific knowledge of the base material and the patterns of its arcane power in order to be utilized successfully, hence its general disuse by the wider community of scientists. Artifice is an evolution of attunement, in which the base material is shaped or physically modified in order to better suit an intended purpose, i.e the creation of a pencil or pen that is then enchanted to write, rather than simply marking a chunk of lead or charcoal with a rune that is already enchanted.      — spiritual arcaea. a number of practices related to observing and interacting with a theoretical ‘spiritual world’, such as observing or communing with spirits of the deceased, or other entities that exist on a different or separate plane. Largely theoretical, with its only known proven science to be the now-forbidden art of necromancy. ⦿  Arcane Tenets — a list of commandments supposedly bestowed upon mankind by the Enlightened when arcane science was first discovered three thousand years ago. There are many, and they serve as the basis even of some common laws in cities and regions where arcane science is prominent, though the primary tenets speak to the uses of arcane science as a benevolent force meant for the protection of the planet and the overall betterment of mankind. Many schools of arcane sciences, including Arv-En, require their applicants to name some or even all of the tenets in order to be admitted for instruction—which, in its completeness, numbers just under a hundred specific rules and guidelines for practitioners of the sciences.

Tonight seems like something of a sneepy night, so I’ll probably just be lurking on disco and wire for moots and chilling for the rest of it, but I’ll maybe queue up some memes and be here tomorrow around whatever hours I end up working!