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Showing content with the highest faith level on 01/29/2024 in all areas
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no chalkboards but there is whiteboards, i already tried in my band class, no results i’ll do it on a desk1 point
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Out in the wilderness, it is important to remember the laws of nature. Humans are omnivores, we can survive on a variety of foodstuffs. Roots, berries, vegetation, meat. While most animals, including Youkai, have a very specific diet. Remember that as you travel down the Road of Reconsideration, but it’s equally important to remember for every monster which wants to make you its prey, there is always a bigger monster out there they fear… =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In a moment, Oscar felt a wave of fear wash over him. It made no sense, logically. He had just lost track of the time from behind the branch he was using. Evening had seeped in, and he had been spotted by a local child, who just wanted to help. But as simple and rational as this explanation was, his brain only screamed back in alarm. How had night crept in so quickly? Why did she call him ‘Mister Man’? And why, in a road strewn with bodies, did she seem so calm? The young lady must have sensed his apprehension. Her arms splayed to either side in a gesture he didn’t recognize. Eyes closing as she gave him a charming smile. In any other circumstance, he would have found it entirely innocuous. But there was something about it… “Were you playing Hide and Seek? I’m good at both! But I hate having to chase people. It makes me so tired, and hungry.” The blond face beamed up at him. The faint light in that space glimmering off a set of serrated teeth. That face moved closer towards him. Was it only his imagination, or was she somehow growing taller? The arms that had been to either side rose, as though to embrace him. “You look scared! Would you like a hug?” Something in those words stirred in his spirit the desperate urge to survive. Even as those white teeth began to open, Oscar pulled his hands back into his sleeve. The familiar pull cord was there, just where it always was when he cast his final spells of the night. With no other option, he pulled at both desperately, screaming his incantation. “ALAKAZAM!” In that space where darkness reigned, there was a sudden surge of light as the flares ignited. With a hiss, they lanced upward, illuminating the look of horror in the strange girl as she hovered before him. The sparks seared at her face like burning claws, before a scream of pain rocked the grove. Oscar had never been a particularly athletic man. He had performed well in Track, but sports didn't suit his disposition. But in that moment, he ran with the speed and skill of an Olympic runner. The echoes of that scream beside him urging him onward. The black of a starless night evaporated around him, leaving the afternoon sky, the green of the trees and the red of those damned spider-lilies. The sudden shift stung at his eyes, and made telling his surroundings difficult, but he ran as hard as he could. Old trees decked with moss zipped by as he fled into the forest, before he eased behind the back of a trunk, well within the treeline. The wind wasn't blowing, but the leaves rustled nearby, bringing with them a strange sense of comfort. He caught his breath, before he peered around the edge of the bark. Over the blood red blossoms of the field, the figure of the girl hovered in place. Pitiable wails of pain escaping her, hands covering her eyes. Her face was singed with soot and marred by minor burns, making it hard to tell if he had actually hurt her. Tears born from pain dripped down her chin. Her face reared upwards as her hands fell away, exposing her painfully bloodshot and swollen eyes. Pockmarks and burns around her face showing where the sparks had seared into her burned skin. As if the very light itself scarred her. "I might not see you, tasty Mister Man, but I'm going to catch you! Ready or not~" The mix of sing-song in her tone and malice in her voice sent a fresh shudder through him. Her nose extended as she sniffed the air, Her small body carried over the long weeds, following the wind effortlessly as she drifted towards him. Oscar raised a hand to his mouth, the better to muffle his breaths as he watched her levitate towards him. Her body eased to the left, almost languidly...Before she slammed into a tree. The cry of pain was almost as loud as when his flares had gone off. The monstrous girl eased on to her back, a small hand rising to rub at her scalp. One bleary eye opening to stare at the trunk in front of her. Even so close, it was hard to tell if she could see it. Her hand rubbed at her head, before a knowing smile crossed her face. "Ohhh, you ran into the forest, Mister Meaty Man? You know I love games..." Branches creaked nearby, as the nightmare that followed Oscar creeped among the trees. The magician eased back among the roots of the trees. Shrinking against the roots and loam. If he had to, he had another round of flares. But with her face already burned, he wasn't sure how much it would help. The trunk he leaned against thudded loudly. Nails biting into the bark on the other side as he shrank down. Oscar's breath stopped in his throat as he listened attentively and eyes flicked from side to side. The head of the girl eased around the trunk, though her head was turned towards the forest. She sniffed again, a drop of mucus splashing among the leaves. Her ears primed and listening. The young lady threw herself forward, gliding beneath the canopy slowly as she passed. But his attention was not on her passage. A faint breeze blew, but not enough to match the rustle of leaves nearby. Around the trunk of a neighboring tree, a pair of sickly pale fingers slipped around its hiding place. The feminine digits pressing against the bark. Oh God, there was another one, wasn't there? Unable to do more than stare, he watched as an identical set of fingers on a lithe hand extended. Holding what looked like a small dried bone. In an instant, the long fingers shattered the bone in her grip. The head of the young woman turned. Those red eyes unusually sinister beneath the dark canopy. All Oscar could do was lean back against the trunk as she hovered towards him, only just passing by as she sniffed again. Her arms extended again to either side as she rounded the other trunk with a delighted smile. As she rounded the trunk, a figure eased away from the trunk. A length of dark hair flecked with twigs and leaves over a deathly pale body. "Found you, Mister Ma--AUGH!" With the lunge of a master predator, the shape which appeared behind the girl lunged a fair and ladylike hand towards her. Thin and wiry fingers gripped the young woman from behind. Ignoring her own hands as they grasped for her wrist. His pursuer's gaze, once so sinister, now gazed upwards in frightened concern. One that did not fade as she let out a sigh of relief. "O-oh, hello Kimiko! You surprised me!" The figure in the dark's eyes drifted towards Oscar knowingly. A glimmer of sinister amber reflecting from her gaze, before she stepped among the trees. The light here was stronger, letting him get a better view of the figure as she approached. Her body was thin, almost gaunt, though the ease with which she held the strange girl in the air showed that was no sign of her weakness. Her face was...beautiful. A glance at it was enough to bring back memories of fairy tale princesses. But there was something amiss in her face. While composed, there was a feral quality to her appearance. Her body was dressed in a robe, made of bay tree and laurel leaves. The gentle sway highlighted the gold in the laurel, dazzling the eyes. Camellia flowers spread throughout the ensemble. The thread which bound this ensemble together might have come from a kimono, once. But no trace of civilized dignity remained save her poise. Even her hair, drawn in the Hime style, was pocked with vegetation. She gazed down at the girl in hand coldly. "Mymy, it has been so long since little Rumia thought to grace Muenzuka. Did you forget this was not your domain, little one? You may have once ruled these lands as its liege, but that time has long past." "I dunno what you're talking about, Kimiko, I just--" "Princess Yamahime Kimiko. 'My Lady' will do just as well." Despite her burns, a look of irritation crossed Rumia's face. For a moment, Oscar had to ponder if this was just because she was being talked down to. Still, from her place in Kimiko's grip, there wasn't much Rumia could do, except struggle at the hand that held her in place. "Okay, 'My Lady', I was hungry, and Dai-chan won't let me steal livestock from the Human Village anymore. I remembered there were Outsiders who appeared around here, and thought we could share a snack! Just you and me." She was lying. A lifetime of entertaining children could tell Oscar as much without more than a glance. Even if the playful flutter of Rumia's eyelashes did their best to sell the deception. Kimiko seemed just as unconvinced. One of her skeletal hands rose, resting on her breast as she feigned a gasp of surprise. "For me, little Rumia? Oh, what kindness, to share half a human stolen from my sisters and I. And so excited were you to meet the princess of the pines, you forgot to ask for her royal permission to hunt in her demesne. Is that right?" "Y-yeah..." Rumia's voice was low as she spoke. Her eyes were beginning to tear again. Whether from the flares or Kimiko's grip, it was hard to tell. Her expression looked more than a little nervous at the figure overhead. "I umm, I'm just so hungry. I haven't eaten in--" "Days? Weeks? Months? Outsiders are not so common as they used to be here, and my sisters and I can hardly leave Muenzuka, like you can. Little thieves like you only make our hungry bellies all the more hollow." An insidious light leapt in her eyes as Kimiko leaned in. Her thin, regal smile looking entirely out of place for their surroundings. "Perhaps it is time to supplement my diet with pests like you." "Wha..." The disbelief in Rumia's voice was palpable, even as it died on her lips. Even Oscar was half-sure Kimiko was joking. But if Rumia shared that hope, it died as she took in the other figure's expression. "That's forbidden Kimiko! Youkai don't eat other Youkai!" "And is it not forbidden to eat humans as well? Or has little Rumia forgotten the rules? Yukari is so protective of her pet humans, I am certain a little snot-nosed churl vanishing wouldn't concern her. Don't worry. Run as he will, his time will come soon. For now, I will crack your skull open like an overripe watermelon and drink the innards.” “Ow-ow! You’re hurting me!” “That’s the point, little morsel. Don’t tell me none of your meals ever squirmed or begged for their lives. You’re a monster just like me. You just hide what you are behind a cute venire. One even you almost believe.” The menacing smile on the taller woman had grown to inhuman proportions now. Her fingers, with an effort which was surely superhuman, pressed down on Rumia's head. Her own hands grappled ineffectually at Kimiko's grip. Hoping to peel back even one digit. Wild eyes flailed for anything that could help her, before they fell on the human's hiding place. With desperate hope in her eye, one of her hands pointed towards him, a note of triumph in her voice. “He…He’ll tell! He will—” It was hard to believe such a wailing laugh could emerge from such a dainty form. The shrill cry cut through the quiet woodland air like silver needles. Kimiko's laughter echoed off the distant hills, until it seemed like the trees themselves were mocking the child in her hand. From behind his hiding place, Oscar forced his hands against his ears, praying the sound would finally die. “Tell whom, child? The lazy Shrine Maiden? The repressed Witch? The icy Maid who doesn't even know your name? Your little fairy friends, so they can join you in my stomach?” “Y-Yukari! He’ll tell Yakumo Yuk—“ A fresh ripple of laughter escaped the wild maiden. Rippling between the trees like a foul echo of her first laugh. “The Shrine Maiden’s keeper?! And what will she do, little Youkai? Send her lapdogs to scour the forest for one more maneater? They could search for a hundred years and never find me. Or perhaps she will banish me back to the Outside World? Oh, what a punishment that would be, to gorge myself on man flesh until my belly bursts.” Rumia was small, even if she could not have been light. But Kimiko showed no sign of strain as she lifted the girl to eye level. Her sinister green gaze leering into the blinded, crying girl's face. Lips slowly warping into a horrific grin. “Face it, child. I will eat you first, and then your newfound friend. And the only ones who will ever know what became of you are the worms who will eat the remains.” A trickle of blood ran down from beneath the wild princess's fingers. Tinting pink the tears and snot which ran freely from Rumia's face. Her broken expression reflected in the emerald eyes of Oscar. In that moment, he knew he had to do something. Anything. Anything at all. Rumia may have tried to eat him herself, but he wasn't going to let that thing hurt her a moment more. The red eyes of Rumia closed over her shuddering face. Even as the jaws of the towering gaunt figure spread wide. Foul breath smelling of frogs and vermin washing over the child's face. Kimiko's tongue extended, a long thin thing like a worm, which lapped at the trickle of blood. The touch made Rumia flinch, but her expression was calm. A voice, strangely calm, slipping from her lips. "Miko...I hope I will see you again..." "That's enough." The echoing cry cut through the afternoon air with a boom. One eye of the maiden in her hand eased open, nervously turning towards him. Surprise slowly spreading on her face. Kimiko on the other hand turned. A pleased smile warping her face. "Ahh, the entree has come to save the main course. I should thank you for sparing me the trouble of hunting you down. For now, be patient and silent, human. Your turn will come in due time." Her fingers flicked towards him, as though to dismiss an unruly child. So imperious was the gesture, that Oscar had to resist the urge to slink back into the shadows. But the pleading eyes of Rumia pushed him on. He couldn't let this happen. "I am Oscar Diggs, the great and powerful..." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= = "...And you will learn to fear me, my Lady." Oscar scoffs. Perhaps if the great mage threatens and cajoles her, she will let them go. = "...And I have come to bargain for my apprentice." The magician proclaims, praying his Economics class comes in handy. = "...And I am going to make a Youkai disappear." He proclaims, grasping for the smoke pellets in your back pockets. = "...And I will destroy you for your arrogance." The unfortunate human proclaims, wadding flash paper in his pocket and preparing to light it.... = "Rumia!" "Rumia!" A set of voices rise from the road nearby. Kimiko is distracted; grab Rumia and run. = The Princess of the Woods has had enough, and decided to make Oscar the appetizer. = "...And I think we are all too upset. Why don't we have some tea?" Maybe sitting down and enjoying a snack will calm both of them...1 point
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very interesting question. 5% of time i see it on tic tok, another 6-7% i want to play and i remember about touhou games, last 5% im answering questions and posts on MoriyaShrine, so 16-17% of day1 point
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I don't even think about it I just see it in day to day life, be it art on twitter or just music1 point
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omgggg i'm technically not even born yet that's really cool1 point
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