w o l k e n t a g e

— The Architect's Office | Oldenstone Gardens —

CONTENT WARNING: discussion of family issues, discussion of serious mental illness, and attempted domestic violence, where the attacker was not in their right mind at the time.

Page 31 - Outside of Old Penelope, 4 PM / Shady Acres, 9 PM

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And so we come to the moment directly after Page 28, where Meredith says to Ollie that they should go public with what they know. I added the Cat Hangout Lot Trait to the Slip 42 (and will add dog one + cat to other lots) because I wanted strays in Strangerville, some of which might be trying to take shelter from aggressive infected animals + afraid of the plants.

Ollie and Fredrick get to know each other a little bit after 24 years apart, and now the two have to fill the gaps in each other's memory - Ollie, with what happened after he and Dyl left the house, and next, Fredrick, with what truly happened back then with Ellen, Ollie's birth mother. There are a few things that don't make sense regarding the situation, but it has been difficult revising the old backstory to fit my modern lore and interpretations.

There was meant to be flashback pictures here for Ollie's part, but I decided not to bother in the end since it wouldn't make sense considering Gaia is trying to suppress his memories to keep him more focused, in better spirits, and therefore a more useful host to her 'children'.

Adorable and perfect cat + hoomin poses by @j3llyflesh, expect to see more of these poses used in the story eventually I hope! Fredrick's fancy accommodation is by AlisaPihla on the Gallery.

Transcript:

Image 1 Ollie's thoughts: (Knowing what I know, neither me nor Meredith might have a lot of time left… If we're going to act, it has to be sooner rather than later.) Ollie: I… I think you've got a good point, Meredith. I guess we could give it a shot. I'm a bit busy tonight, but if you give me your number, we can figure something out. But this HAS to stay away from Ted. He can't know we're up to anything.

Image 2 Meredith: I'd appreciate that, sweetheart. Even Teddy's gotta learn that no matter what he's trying to cover up, it'll all come out in the wash eventually… Well, you take care of yourself, son. You don't look too good.

Image 3 BACK IN THE TRAILER... Ollie: What are you doing in here?! You should be out there, shouldn't you? Hold on - no, don't look at me like that… You're scared of the plants, aren't you? Or you're trying to get away from infected strays… Wait, no, don't jump up- Cat: Mrrow...

Image 4 Ollie: So it's like that, is it? Well, I'm not really an animals person, maybe I can look at putting some food and water out for you… Might be able to make you a little hiding place…but only if you promise not to bite me. Is that a deal? Cat: Mrrow!

Image 5 Text from Estelle: We did what we could, Oliver. Thank you for trying. I only hope that they can find a cure for this illness in good time. Use whatever money you need to on the card, don't worry. Just focus on looking after yourself. Please keep in touch. Text from Norman: Sorry to hear about the investigation. Don't beat yourself up, okay? It took a lot of unsuccessful attempts to air the Landgraabs' dirty laundry before we succeeded. We'll get there at some point. Text from Norman: And don't be afraid to text me, by the way. I was appointed by Estelle to support you. I was in your place once. Langraabs, the Roswells, they're all the same. I'm here for you - as I've always been. Text from Fredrick: I finish at 9 pm. You can meet me where I'm staying in Shady Acres if you've got time. I'll send the address over in just a moment Ollie: Norman…Always had my back ever since day one. I'm going to miss him… One minute - Dad?

Image 6 SHADY ACRES 9:20 PM Ollie: A bit fancy… Gaia: Are you sure you're ready for this? Ollie: I've been ready for this for years. Gaia: I don't believe you are. Ollie: Why not? You think finally getting answers after 24 years is a bad thing? Gaia: Finding out the truth about the monster in silver's crimes will benefit everyone. However, I believe some things are best left buried…don't you? Ollie: Absolutely not.

Image 7 Fredrick: So, what are you up to these days, then? What do you do for work? Ollie: I'm a journalist. It's why I'm here. Well, why I was here - but that's all I'm saying on that. Fredrick: And what about Dylan? Ollie: He's had it rough. He struggled in school. He's looking for a job, but he's had no luck. It's- Fredrick: Not been easy without a father. I can imagine.

Image 8 Ollie: And you? How did you manage to land a house in Shady Acres? Did you come out of retirement just to help out with the infection? Fredrick: Retirement? No, not just yet. I'm just staying here whilst I help out with trying to find a cure for the infection. Ollie: But vaccines take years to develop, and we won't have that much time. I don't know if it's possible. Fredrick: This won't require a vaccine - it'll need to be an antifungal treatment of sorts. Progress is slow, and it's difficult to get people to come to the clinic to get checked out. The military presence has made everyone distrusting. I imagine as a journalist, you probably despise conspiracy theorists, but thanks to the scientists that were working on whatever's in that lab - nobody knows who to trust, or who to believe.

Image 9 Fredrick: Are you with anyone? Ollie: Nope. Never been with anyone. Neither has Dyl. Fredrick: I see. So…clears throat If you don't mind my asking - after you left. What happened?

Image 10 Ollie: I took Dyl and fled - headed towards the town, where there'd be more people. I asked around for help and for money, but no-one was interested. Most of them told us both to piss off, and some others thought we were lying.

The only person who stopped and helped us was a Sixamian woman named xila'al'pasi *, or Ruby, a social worker. She lived a bit further out from Willow Creek - closer to Granite Falls. She took us in for a while until we could go back home, but I told her we couldn't. I told her Mum was dangerous to be around, and my dad was too busy with work to care about us. I didn't want Dyl to go back there at all, for his safety, so I convinced her that we couldn't. Eventually, after a lot of paperwork, she ended up adopting us both so we didn't get separated in the care system, and then we moved to Oasis Springs. That's where I've been since then.

I did go back to Henford briefly during university to find answers, but everyone on our street from that time was either dead or have moved years ago. Translation Note: *Xila'al'pasi means 'she who is peaceful / brings peace'

Image 11 Fredrick: I…I'm sorry, Oliver. I'm glad that you found a safe place and a loving home…and I'm beyond relieved that you and Dylan are still alive. I have to admit, after what happened with your mother - I myself moved as well, as fast as I could from Willow Creek. I left for San Myshuno to leave it all behind - sank myself even further into my research just to forget everything…I should admit that I didn't go looking for either of you. My mind had convinced me that you were both…gone for good. I never once considered that I'd see either of you again. Ollie: That doesn't surprise me. You were a friend, but you were never really our father. But, as I've gotten older, and since I became a journalist… I think I understand now - ever so slightly.

Image 12 Ollie: I came here to try and find proof that the talk of Sixamians intentionally bringing the teru'lis here as an invasive species was complete bullshit. I knew it was going to be risky, and it has been - I was nearly shot dead, and now I have this bloody infection… but I left Dylan at home alone with no contact with me whatsoever to do it. I did all the looking-after with Dyl, and now he can barely look after himself - that's my fault. And my own brother has no idea where I am, and I wouldn't be surprised if he thought I was gone for good and that he doesn't have any family left. I did it because I put the safety of Sixamians before the wellness of my brother - and it wasn't a difficult decision. I've always put work before everything - sometimes, even before Dyl. It's my job to try and debunk misinformation put out by everyone else - and that can be the difference between life and death. And then I realised, some things are more important than family - and I doubt your medical research was any different.

Image 13 Ollie: When Mum tried attacking us, she… tried holding off for a second. Tried telling someone to stop telling her lies. I got in front of Dyl for a moment to protect him, then dragged him straight out of the house when it seemed like things were going to escalate. I was angry at her for a long time until my late teens, when I realised that whatever happened, it didn't seem like it was her fault. But she never seemed to have any issues that I remember - at least nothing about hallucinating voices. Fredrick: Ellen loved you both dearly. She never would have intentionally hurt either of you. And no, she didn't have any issues like that before. She had a lot of psychological issues - some of which made being in love with her difficult at times. But I never gave up on her - I couldn't.

synopsis / beginning / previous / next

CONTENT WARNING: body horror, vomiting, a suicide joke. (the body horror-associated part is after the cut. I wouldn't say it's that bad, but it's a bit on the disgusting side.)

Revolutionizing safety for an uncertain future

synopsis / beginning / previous / next

I don't want to reblog from the person directly cuz I don't wanna put them on the spot nor do I want them to think I'm lecturing them, but I think people who are scared to reblog in case something is AI, I honestly think that's not the way to go. So people are scared of:

'I can't tell if it's AI-generated, I'm scared to reblog it in case it is and then I will feel bad for supporting AI / people will hate me and think I'm pro-AI'.

So let's go through a few things.

There is nothing you can do to stop Tumblrinas thinking you reblogged it on purpose. I've spoke about the 'torch and pitchforks' mentality before, and it's kind of along those lines.

Tumblr will more often assume you are a dangerous person than not. Sometimes for non-bad and very understandable reasons (Multiply marginalised people are of course going to be more wary of others because of bigotry, that is understandable) and sometimes for bad reasons (Shitty people love to claim other people are bad people, and those people love smear campaigns. How often have you seen otherwise-toxic people decide to be anti-AI?). There sadly is nothing you can do to stop people thinking you might have reblogged AI stuff on purpose. I don't say that in a blunt way, just a 'it is what it is' way.

You are not a bad person if you reblogged something AI-generated and didn't know. No matter how much someone else says you are, you aren't.

Second point: If you let the panic and anxiety of AI stop you from supporting others, then that defeats a part of the purpose of being anti-generative-AI. One aspect of being anti-generative-AI is the 'support humans'. Greatly lessening your support in paranoia doesn't do that.

Let's face it: As with any morality issue that ends up taking centre stage on Tumblr, People learn to be angry and afraid, but not everyone figures out the 'why' part, and so sometimes they end up kind of accidentally shooting themselves and others in the foot. For example, transphobia: Loads of people only know to say 'kill all transphobes', they never learn the ins and outs of why it is a dangerous thing.

It's the same with AI. Some folks who are anti-AI don't think about the reason part. They don't think of the polluting issues, the way people who unlearn an ability of how to do things without generative AI doing it for them are easier to control by the higher-ups, its toxic addictive nature to some people, its replacing of human connection, the issues it causes actual creatives. etc: People just know they shouldn't like AI, to block other people who use AI, and to be deathly afraid of being assumed to be pro-AI.

If you are terrified of reblogging something in case it's generative AI, then you will in turn end up lessening your support of creators, as I would say that human creatives in this community outweigh the AI fakers. And 'it's bad for creatives' is a large part of why people don't like generative AI. So you have to make sure it doesn't stop you from supporting creatives entirely.

You can always DM your close friends first and ask them if they think it's AI before you use the CC / reblog the post.

If you're really super duper worried, get a second pair of eyes - it can help you figure out what's AI slop and what isn't. My close friends do this with me, and I help them figure out whether to block or not.

Remember there is no one guaranteed way to determine what is AI-generated and what isn't. It is not always obvious because of technology advancements and increased sneakiness.

Sometimes it's dead obvious, but sometimes not. Now, this doesn't happen often in THIS community, but on Tumblr in general, people make AI claims quite a lot with some very loose 'proof'.

Remember, if you are going to publicly accuse someone of using AI make sure you have proof, have verified it amongst other people (helps to do this with people who are neutral against the accused to help prevent bias) and have good reason for your assumptions. I've seen a few artists on Tumblr get accused of AI over admitted 'hunches'.