sticksandbones | the last bloom of summer

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the last bloom of summer

Hello, everyone. This is White Lily Cookie. I'm so sorry about what happened with my corruption and how the Forest was able to use my magic alongside his to harm everyone. If you're still feeling any after effects, please let me know. Otherwise... Mephisto is insisting I take a vacation and I'm letting myself be bullied. I'll be on the beach for a few days in the cabanas, though if anyone wants to visit or anything I'll gladly welcome the company! That said, my resurrection from the Garden has left me deaf. I'm still adjusting and expect to be doing so for a while... Once I return, I'll be using magic to map out the clinic so that if anyone enters, I'll know, rather than relying on sound as I used to. I'll be doing something similar to my home as well. Telepathy does work on me too, but not everyone has that. I'll see you all very soon. ♡

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The Leylines are a tangled, unordered mess! I have them vaguely mapped out here if you're for some reason curious about seeing them.

Oh, that washed up fool thought itself a comedian and took my eyesight. A real 3 out of 10 for that sorry performance!

You mapped it out? Fascinating. I would love to see. No "for some reason" involved. Even if I cannot glean any information, it is still a remarkable feat to accomplish.

Apologies. I can try to see what information I could gather in that regards, as well. Again, only if you do not mind.

I AM the origin of all magic in my homeworld, so it really was nothing!! I live in the house that looks like it's edible, stop by whenever!

I don't! I could pop them out and hand them to you if that works better! Just don't lose them, I'm kind of partial to keeping them, working or not.

If you are not busy now, I could come by now.

I would not lose them, do not worry. I would not be so careless with other people's things. Certainly not their eyeballs.

Sure! I can pencil you in!

Glad to hear it, looks like they'll be in goooooood hands!

I appreciate your faith in me. I am being told you should probably have some wary of someone you have not met, however.

[ Anyway, he’s going to say his temporary farewells to his scribe (Vildred) and leave for the cookie house!!! He has to take a moment to gauge what “looking edible” means, but eventually lands on “colorful, probably”. Anyway, he’s here now. Knock knock. ]

Lmao.

[He isn't going to explain what that means. It's cute that he thinks he should be worried about strangers. It's funny if someone is warning him against seeing Shadow Milk which is what SHOULD be happening. Either way, he isn't planning to be anywhere but in his workshop so he'll wait and see if he gets a little visit.]

[There he comes knocking!]

[The door unlocks and swings open. To meet him is a funny little creatur. It wags it's tail. He will hear a voice eventually from somewhere in the house.]

Blue cream, please bring our guest to the atelier!

[Bark it says! And scuttles off into the house.]

[ Ras is delighted by the creature, thank you. He gives it a little wave and kneels just a bit, probably to pet it, until he scurried off. Sad. Oh well. He is following it anyway.

Anyway, sentient magic rock enters your house wyd— ]

Ah, thank you for inviting me.

[That's an interesting vibe that Shadow Milk picks up on almost as soon as he enters the house. Blue Cream scurries his way into the workshop, which does look like a messy craft room. Fabrics are strewn about, shelves of supplies, and there's Shadow Milk at a work table, sewing away at some doll. There does appear to be a large staff with an eye, anchored above the desk.]

[Blue Cream comes up to him and he puts his project down, scooping the cake hound up and floating him to his little doggie bed.]

Of course! How could I turn someone away interested in what you are!

[He reaches up to grab the staff so he can hold it in his hands and turn in his chair to see Ras properly. The staff blinks, focused on him, while his actual eyes are a little foggy an unfocused. One blue and one gold eye.]

Maybe you've already heard of me from others, but you can call me Shadow Milk Cookie.

It is nice to meet you. I mentioned before, but my name is Ras Elclare. You can just call me Ras. [ He bows ever so slightly, then stands upright again. ]

I was unaware your eyes were still attached to you. Will that hurt you at all, if I am to look at them?

What? Oh, no, no, no, don't you worry! Just a sec, and I'll have them ready for you!

[Pop! In his hand is a teacup, blue diamonds and a gilded rim. He holds it up just below his face with one hand, sets his staff down with the other and then reaches behind his head- smacks the back of his head and out pop his eyes into the tea cup.]

[He closes his eyes because he has SOME self awareness these days, but he laughs and offers him the tea cup.]

Here you go!

[ Ras just... takes this in stride, honestly. He's going to take the teacup and look over them to try and see what information he can glean (investigation thread incoming-), but looks back up at Shadow Milk. ]

Apologies, this may sound silly, but did you notice anything when you lost your vision. ...Besides not being able to see, I mean. Any feeling or discomfort that seemed abnormal?

[Incredible, no reaction? This guy must be interesting then. Well, he knew that already from what he can tell about him, but man. He'll have to work harder to make him jump.]

There was a sting in my eyes, like a needle, before it all went black!

[He leans back in his chair a bit. Flips his hair out a bit. The darkened parts of it shimmer with a look of stars but also ...it looks a but like closed eyes?]

The Forest also ripped off most of my hair, which I could also use to see with. It was very thorough in making sure I couldn't cheat for a while.

[He pats his staff.]

Edited 2025-09-17 04:07 (UTC)

[ It might be very apparent that Ras has trouble emoting... in general. He does his best, but everything is so strange and new to him All The Time. It's hard to be shocked anymore. The more surprising thing comes in the form of constants and stability.

Anyway, he's looking at the staff, taking a couple steps closer before he's just in Shadow Milk's personal space. Apparently another thing he hasn't heard of- ]

So you had more to lose than, say, someone like me. [ With only two eyes, he means. ] I have been told he holds malice for all of us, but I do have to ask if there is something you did to call his ire.

[He's giving ...construct with sentience. He's giving ...strange lab creation running amok.]

[As he gets closer, Shadow Milk waits until he is so close to the staff that he can't see anything beyond him before he puts a finger on Ras's forehead and nudges him back.]

Oh! I could think of a few things!

[He laughs like Ras told a particularly funny joke, but then his expression, even with his eyelids closed, holds special kind of ...resentment? There is something dark about his expression despite his smile.]

I went into the Forest looking for a fight, and manage to harm it in some way that mattered. The way it killed me was sadistic and hateful, here, you can probably see the scars, I simply don't hide them!

[His shirt is open at the front, and there are in fact, many scars lining his chest. One very big one at the center of his chest and then a series of small ones all over. Like someone stabbed him over and over again.]

There is also my apparent alignment to its court. I think its been particularly sour about that, too.

Edited 2025-09-17 04:54 (UTC)

[ He winces just a bit when there's a finger on his head. It gets him to back off, regardless. He can examine from this distance, he supposes- ]

I see. [ Even if he is meant to kill Actual Satan, he still cannot wrap his head around why any creature with thoughts of their own take joy in hurting others?? Like, it's like explaining quantum physics to a baby, he just genuinely cannot grasp it. But that's what he gets when he's the alter ego of the goddess of life.

Anyway, he has a lot of questions he wants to ask now, but he's always been very patient with these sorts. Just to let the information sink in first. ] In that case, you may also serve to be a particularly strong weak point against him as well. There is quite a lot of preparation to be done before I make any plans to face him, but... when I do, would you be willing to stand at my side?

[Maybe one day Ras will figure out that the person sitting before him is an Actual Satan too, in his own way.]

[That proposition, though, gives him a moments pause before he laughs again. He leans back in his chair, grin wide, and the eye watching him, amused but sharp.]

Well, that certainly depends on a lot of things, doesn't it? You know, you are faaaar from the only one to go out and challenge the warden that holds us here. I did it with no expectation of winning of course, I wanted revenge and self satisfaction and little else, so dying was all apart of the plan.

However, there have been more planned attacks in the past that have gone astonishingly tits-up in nasty ways. I do believe the orchestrator of the last one has gone friiiightfully missing.

[Pure Vanilla has lost his heart in that fight. He remembers that emptiness he carried and how much it had hurt him. Hates the idea of anything but him putting his hands on him.]

So, you see, for me to agree to something like that, the planning would have to meet my expectations. I have much to lose these days, and so this risks must be worth my while.

I would not fault you if you choose not to. You have already lost, and I would not want you to go through what he put you through again. However, to start, I would not head off without meticulous planning. I assure you I intend to involve all who wish to help, and take their inputs seriously. Others have briefed me on previous attempts. I have also noted some of his weaknesses, as well. It is not enough for me to head into the forest currently, but is a start. As such, I will pose the question to you again when I have a solid foundation.

[ Which Ras will need to do... a lot of planning. He wants to do everything he can to avoid how many mistakes he's made back home. And at least here he's able to actually plan to begin with. That's not a luxury he has usually. ]

I have also been informed of the suffering he has caused to others. The games he plays. I cannot say... it's unfamiliar to me. [ ...Ras looks down at the tea cup, then up again at Shadow Milk. ] A different question, perhaps. What... is your ideal for what happens in the future?

Good. That's what I want to hear! It is increasingly obvious we cannot simply continue throwing ourselves at a spiked wall and hope this is the time it topples. He has weaknesses and we should be exploiting them to the best of our ability. That is how he will fall.

[Because failed or not, he does want another shot at this bozo, because when it all comes down to it, Suri is the one who took Vanilla from him, and for that he will never be forgiven.]

[That question...his smile falters a bit.]

My ideal is I see that fool languish in agony and I tear away from him the person he took from me. Anything after that can come as it will.

[ The smile faltering gets a sympathetic frown out of Ras. He understands. He's been in his own endless cycle of loss. And it's so easy to fester in that anger and fill yourself with hatred for the entity that puts you through that.

But...

Ras settles the cup on whatever surface happens to be nearby just so he can take one of Shadow Milk's hands between his own. ]

I cannot in good faith say that I will fix everything. It would be foolish of me to think there is anything I bring to the Grove that the people here do not already have. So, I am sorry if my words hold no weight here, but I will do my best to get that ideal to you.

Can I see those maps?

[He has lived that life before. Eons of hatred and anger only to feel love for the first time in his life and have it ripped away. What he became in the aftermath of that is hard to say.]

[That touchiness startles him a moment and his words ...hm. Where has he heard something like that before.]

If you can achieve such a thing, I'll actually be impressed! But you're really putting yourself out there for a bunch of strangers, aren't you? Don't you know what happens when care too much about giving to others?

[He takes his hand back quickly and snaps his fingers. A roll of parchment comes off one of his work tables and floats over to them.]

Eventually the hands reaching out for you will get so greedy that they take everything you are until there's nothing left.

[ Ah. Well, he will take the parchment with a slight bow of his head. ]

I appreciate the concern, but this is what I was created for. To cull those akin to gods that threaten my world. This world may not be mine, but I do not see why that should stop me.

[ Ras gives a very slight sigh. ]

Besides, I've learned more about the residents here than the humans from my world. Surely that means you are not strangers anymore?

[Fucking Creators he can practically hear those words in that awful voice. The one that used to belong to him.]

Sure, if you think so. It would just be awful to see someone meet the same fate as me, is all. Perhaps the hands that molded you did a better job than the careless witches that made me.

[Cryptic. Anyway he reaches to tap the parchment.]

Open it and I will explain how to read it. Some of it is theoretical, based on what I could guess of the flow of mana into the darker parts of the Forest not even I cared to tread into, so keep that in mind.

[ At first, Ras thinks by “fate”, Shadow Milk means going blind. He thinks that he might be saying something along the lines of “be careful when fighting the Forest”. But then he says something about molding and witches next and…? Ras fears he may have lost the plot, but what’s new there, really.

Something in him feels he should bring that up, or say something to him, but he scraps that idea and chooses to just… ignore it. For now. Thus he opens the map. ]

I understand. Even just a vague understanding is more than helpful. And thank you for keeping it documented. Perhaps I might be able to expand on it.

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jesterlies - 2025-09-18 22:56 (UTC) - Expand

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the last bloom of summer

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CW: ....eyes.... I'm so sorry

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1/2

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