#I'll probably go back and go more in depth for the differences

[fatedstarfall]

PROMPT 012 - A Shift in Reality

Coming back from the trial of Chronos, Leonardo couldn’t help but feel happy that they did amazing. Believing everything will change for the better. Which was a thought that he indulged in when they first arrived back at camp. But it didn’t take long for that feeling to sour when he realized how different his life was now. During his brief moment of blissful ignorance, the son of Stars noticed how strange that the denizens were behaving around him. At first, he just chalked it up as them being courteous enough to give him space after an exhausting experience. However, once he stepped foot in his cabin, he noticed a journal similar to his own sitting on the counter of his kitchen. It was the same make as the one he had on him, but that’s all the similarities between the two. The book in front of him was worn, beaten, ripped apart, clear that whoever wrote in it was facing some serious things that even words couldn’t begin to describe. 

Finally, Leonardo felt courageous enough to read the journal of a stranger. Though, in the back of his mind, what he was doing was preparing to face what came of his new life. And everything that he managed to read was like a stab in the heart. The life that he previously had was not perfect by any means, but he was happy to have it, since he made something out of himself. This one, it felt like life was trying to bury him alive, finding creative ways just to fuck him over. Leo couldn’t bear to read another page and just slammed the book shut, feeling the same anger that his previous self probably has felt. Yet, he wasn’t going to act in a fit of rage. After almost thirty years, he’s learned the hard way how this indignation ate at him. But at this very moment, he didn’t have anything else to rely on except to retreat his face into his hands. And as if he was hidden from the world, he felt safe enough to let out a sob that he’s been holding onto for years. 

It was something that Leo needed for himself. The man always went along with the current. Always rolling punches. Not anymore. He was going to put his foot down and fight for what he deserves. He’s the child of space. A star incarnate. Leonardo was going to mold his own destiny.

Despite being the same person there are major differences in their timelines:

2013

Leonardo’s past remained relatively the same even the bad parts. The only difference was his send off. What was an emotional one became more turbulent. Altering some of the friendships that he had.

The man still makes it to Los Angeles to go after his dreams of becoming a star. Even the band, Echoes in Space, that Leonardo creates with Michael Davis and other struggling artists still come to be. However, in this new timeline, the band actually gets some traction.

The rising popularity, even if it is a local thing, never pushes Leo to pursue DJing since they were able to survive on their music. They managed to perform small shows and competitions.

Because they actually had found success with this group, when the other members were presented with opportunities somewhere else, they didn’t take it since they saw the potential in the group.

Leonardo and the group remained in LA for more time, which gave the opportunity for a relationship to spark up between him and Michael.

Eventually, it would get the attention of a record label. They will try to change their identity, and trying to preserve their art, he attempted to offer suggestions so at least they could be in control.

The group would rebrand themselves into Starwave, which would turn his rockband into a boygroup by adding more members. The corporate suits would then push him to remove many of the tattoos he had to fit an image. Which is a stark difference from his original timeline, where he did so for a man who proposed to him and he tried to fit into his pristine life.

Although it was different from their original sound, he was still excited to show a new side by implemented rave and electronic sounds similar to the London scene. And alongside Michael, Leonardo had put a lot of time and effort as the visionary for the band.

A little after they were set to debut, he was removed from the group by the higher ups. All while keeping the music he had made for them. This also marked the end of his relationship with Michael

After his removal, Leo fell into a deep depression. No one was able to reach him, even his father. In the old timeline, they would have mended their broken relationship. Instead, this opportunity slips past his fingers.

In this timeline, Leonardo get in a serious relationship with another man. It lasted for a long time, but the hurt that he experienced was set too deep. When he was proposed to, Leo called it off, admitting that something in him felt empty.

This Leonardo would move to Berlin as well, but it would be years after unlike in the original timeline. And eventually he finds DJing again, using his experience as a producer to help him. However, the music both Leonardo's made was wildly different. Leonardo A had brighter and dancier music while Leonardo B's was darker and bass heavy.

This Leonardo never gets a chance to move to Ibiza since he was called to camp far earlier than in his original timeline.

[promiscxous]

{ It's time to say hello to the parentals for the Yumishi siblings! And yes, that's right, you count four parents. Two sets. Why? Because the Yumishi family is actually very convoluted compared to most normal families. }

{ First off we have Lucifer, who can be found over on @resxntmxnt once I get everything settled, as the biological father of both Myth (who is also over at @resxntmxnt) and Rain (who's over at @negligxnce). He is the ruler of Meikai no Ryōiki, also commonly referred to as the Realm of the Underworld, altering his original seraphic genetics with dark magic to turn himself into a being known solely as the Demon Lord, yet due to having originally been a seraph, he possesses the ability to shapeshift. Lucifer was the original lover of Kisuyo Yumishi, happening upon her by sheer chance within Seikatsu no Ryōiki, also known as the Realm of the Living (aka the human world), one day when she was being attacked by a group of humans that believed her to be the leader of a cultist group (due to the fact she is heavily religious while the mortals of Seikatsu no Ryōiki have no religion/do not believe in religion of any sort); and despite Lucifer's reputation of being a cruel and mischievous being, he went out of his way to rescue her by slaughtering the humans responsible for her injuries.

Once certain that she was safe, Lucifer began to tend to her wounds with his magic, trying to keep conversation to a minimum though this did not last long due to Kisuyo's curious nature, leading for Lucifer and Kisuyo to eventually develop a strong bond for one another — thus resulting in the birth of Myth and Rain. Yet despite this, Lucifer did not stick around for his lover nor his children and ended up returning to Meikai no Ryōiki, leaving Kisuyo with two children to care for all on her own due to the fact that Kisuyo would not be able to survive within Meikai no Ryōiki. He is devastated by the news of Kisuyo's death.

Secondly we have Michael, who can be found over at @anxmosxty once everything is settled over there, as the biological father of Koui and Yuuela (who is also over at @anxmosxty). He is the ruler of Serafu no Ryōiki, also commonly referred to as the Realm of the Seraph, proudly taking his duties as a seraph to heart, earning him the title of Head Angel by those within Serafu no Ryōiki and as a seraph, he possesses the ability to shapeshift. Michael is the second lover of Kisuyo Yumishi, though unlike Lucifer who was willing to care for her, Michael instead was disgusted with her and the fact she had two children with a man she wasn't married to, often pretending to seem kindhearted towards the woman only to judge her in secret. The only reason he would actively spend time with her every day was because of a rumor he'd overheard from the other seraphs about a woman who had given birth to a pair of twins that possessed unnatural abilities for human children, thus he took every chance he could to get close to her and her boys. Though during his time with Kisuyo, he soon discovers that despite all the reticule she receives from the mortals within Seikatsu no Ryōiki, she stills holds tightly to her faith in the Goddess, which in turn makes Michael begin to view Kisuyo in a different light.

Within time, Michael realizes he's fallen in love with Kisuyo, thus resulting in the births of Koui and Yuuela. Unlike Lucifer, Michael is consistent with his daily visits to spend time with his children and Kisuyo, even going out of his way to treat Myth and Rain as his own. Though, once word gets out that the woman from the rumors has had two more children with unnatural abilities and has her identity revealed, Michael stops visiting Kisuyo and her children out of fear of being casted out of Serafu no Ryōiki by the current Goddess, Heiliger, once she discovers that the children born are a forbidden species known as hybrids — constituted of a law that forbids other species from breeding with anyone other than their respective species — and have a contract placed on their heads to be exterminated as soon as possible alongside their mother. He is devastated by the news of Kisuyo's death.

Third we have Kisuyo Yumishi, who can be found here, as the biological mother of Myth, Rain, Koui, and Yuuela. She is a resident of the more olden timed area of Seikatsu no Ryōiki (because Seikatsu no Ryōiki is home to a more olden timed section and a more modern timed section of the realm for those who prefer the more technologically advanced lifestyle or those who prefer the more dated lifestyle), also known as the Realm of the Living, and is presumed to be a human woman by those within the world of Mir Ender. In reality, Kisuyo is actually the daughter of the Goddess, The Sacred One, thus making her a demi-god and serves as a vessel for the Goddess' will within the various realms of Mir Ender. Despite not seeming to possess any abilities, she can actually see the future and share her sight with The Sacred One, but doing so requires a lot of angelic energy and can overwhelm her senses thus why she wears a black cloth over her eyes, leading many to believe that she is blind. Kisuyo is the second oldest child of The Sacred One, being the younger sister of Oizys (the Archfiend of Melancholy), the older sister of Adios (the Saint of Humility), and the older sister of Sophrosyne (the Saint of Temperance), meanwhile Adephagia is the Archfiend of Gluttony. Each of said sisters possessing a mortal name for their travels among the other realms: Adios known as Oka, Sophrosyne known as Maleia, and Adephagia being known as Kisuyo. Oizys is the only one of the sisters to not possess a mortal name out of disinterest in hiding her true identity, thus her sisters simply call her by the name "El" within Seikatsu no Ryōiki among mortals.

Before having her children, Kisuyo was sent to live within Seikatsu no Ryōiki by The Sacred One in order glean how the mortals were fairing in their daily lives, making gathering intel much easier so The Sacred One can make the lives of her residents easier if need be by sending one of her daughters to assist the morals in their true forms (and not as "mortals"). During her time within Seikatsu no Ryōiki, Kisuyo plays the role of a devote worshiper to The Sacred One, serving as a shrine maiden at the Holy Chruch of Heiliger, additionally teaching her children about her religion and convincing them to believe as well. After being abandon by both of her lovers, Kisuyo is then hunted down by an assassin and is killed in front of her children while on their way to the Holy Church of Heiliger for their daily worship, though she does not actually die due to being a demi-god and instead is simply comatose for a time being (until Oizys is able to retrieve her body and awaken her), yet this is unbeknownst to her children who believe she was murdered.

Lastly we have Sire, who can be found over at @prurixncy once everything is settled there, as the biological "mother" of Nikusui (who is also over at @prurixncy) and Inori (who is over at @vxinglxry). You're probably wondering why I said "mother" and not mother. Well, that's because Sire isn't actually a woman in her true form, but is instead a man and said man is Lucifer. Yes, that's right. I said Lucifer. The man I talked about all the way at the top of the post. That Lucifer. Myth and Rain's dad, Lucifer. Demon Lord Lucifer. The one and the same. "Why the hell would Lucifer become a woman to have two children?" Because he blames Michael for the death of Kisuyo and wanted to get back at him for taking away the only woman he loved so dearly, just like Michael believes that Lucifer is the one who took Kisuyo away from him. The both of them believe that the other is responsible for the death of Kisuyo. Why? Because they are both sworn enemies and have always been at odds ever since the incident involving The Sacred One and The Twelve Saints of The Sacred One/The Twelve Heavenly Virtues due to the fact they were both present at the time. The incident that caused The Sacred One to fall into a catatonic state and the divide of The Twelve Heavenly Virtues, which in turn also created the false Goddess known as The Forsaken One and The Seven Archfiends of The Forsaken One. Lucifer and Michael don't trust one another and know that the other would be more than willing to do anything to take away the other's happiness if they could. And yes, they're both aware they fell in love with the same woman.

Basically, Lucifer decides that the best way to exact his revenge on Michael is to become a woman that he can trust and love and become so deeply intertwined with that he simply can't live without her. And that is exactly what happens. Lucifer becomes Sire and acts as a beacon of hope for Michael while he secretly (because he can't let anyone know he was involved with Kisuyo) mourns the lost of his lover and the inevitable loss of his children (since they're being hunted). Sire becomes Michael's crutch. And during a moment of weakness, Sire repeatedly takes advantage of Michael's desperation for his deceased lover, resulting in the births of Nikusui and Inori. Though much like he did with Myth and Rain, he takes Michael's new children away from him and leaves them with Warwick, someone that worships and follows Lucifer, to raise the girls in secret — leaving Michael alone once more to fester about the disappearances of his new children and lover. Only later in time does Michael discover that Sire was Lucifer in disguise. }

{ So if all of you have gotten past all of that, it's time to tell you the exact relations of everyone within the Yumishi family in case you're confused. So here were go!

Lucifer and Kisuyo are the biological parents of Myth and Rain.

Michael and Kisuyo are the biological parents of Koui and Yuuela.

Michael and Sire (aka Lucifer's female form) are the biological parents of Nikusui and Inori.

Kisuyo is the biological daughter of The Sacred One, the absolute Goddess of the world of Mir Ender.

Kisuyo is the younger sister of Oizys, the Archfiend of Melancholy.

Kisuyo is the older sister of Adios and Sophrosyne, the Saints of Humility and Temperance.

Oizys, Adios, and Sophrosyne are all the biological aunts of Myth, Rain, Koui, and Yuuela. They are the adoptive aunts of Nikusui and Inori due to the fact neither Lucifer/Sire or Michael are related to The Sacred One.

Myth and Rain are biological brothers (twins).

Koui and Yuuela are biological brother and sister.

Nikusui and Inori are biological sisters.

Myth is the biological half-brother of Koui and Yuuela.

Rain is the biological half-brother of Koui and Yuuela.

Koui is the biological half-brother of Myth and Rain.

Yuuela is the biological half-sister of Myth and Rain.

Nikusui is the biological half-sister of Myth, Rain, Koui, and Yuuela.

Inori is the biological half-sister of Myth, Rain, Koui, and Yuuela.

Warwick is the adoptive father of Nikusui and Inori.

Warwick is the adoptive uncle of Myth, Rain, Koui, and Yuuela.

The Sacred One is the grandmother of Myth, Rain, Koui, and Yuuela. She is the adoptive grandmother of Nikusui and Inori.

[crazylittlejester]

Warriors prepared himself for Twilight to die and still isn't over it, an analysis by me

I wrote a ton of analysis posts going into further detail on how uncharacteristically down Warriors was acting in nearly every update since Twilight was first injured, so I'm not going to do super in depth on the stuff prior to the most recent arc, but to recap:

(art cred @/linkeduniverse from Sunset 13)

When Twilight was talking about how he could literally feel himself dying, Wars was like the only one who wasn't horrified, he looked accepting in a way. He's a soldier, he fought in a war, he's very used to death. He tried to keep everything together and help the others as best as he could, and I'm just making an assumption that there was a lot he did behind the scenes to help care for the others when Time was with Twilight and Hyrule in Sunset 14. We see Warriors smile and joke around in Dawn 2 when he sees Twilight is okay, but it seems like followig this initial relief he's a bit more down than usual, he also seems a little tired

(Dawn 3)

The Dawn arc really brought out a much different side of him than we'd seen before, he had lower energy and while previously he'd been screwing around and cracking jokes, we saw him tell Legend and Hyrule in Dawn 7 to stop poking fun of Sky and stop interrupting, which was something he himself had literally done in Regroup

and while Warriors does go back to acting more like himself towards the end of the Dawn arc into where we are now, he sticks VERY close to Twilight in like every update since

I mean he was even the one to bring him his horse in Dawn 9

And in today's update, Central Room 2, him telling Time his whole plan really just seems like HE'S the one who desperately needs to keep an eye on Twilight:

Wars, sweetheart... "If you're that concerned, I could keep an eye on him" king it's okay to be worried about your friend, promise 😭

I just think he really really prepared himself for Twilight to die so that he'd be able to keep himself together and help the others grieve and now that Twilight's NOT dead he's a Bit worried about him, because it's probably hitting him now how terrifying the whole situation was. Like yeah he knew it was bad, that's why he's so stressed out about Wild and is being a bit overprotective of him, but I think the EMOTIONS and the stress are starting to hit him, but he can't suddenly let it slam into him so he's trying to play it off like "it's okay Time i'll watch the rancher" as if he ALSO can't leave Twi alone for two seconds. He's just as bad as Time is lmao

anyways this is all just my opinion i just wanted to share my thoughts, hes my special guy 🫶

[localceilingdevil]

grahhhh I've been diseased by skykid anatomy. I'll probably do a ton of tweaks but idk ive been thinking about it a LOT.

I'll probably reblog this with more art elaborating on skykid anatomy. maybe I'll go into depth on the creatures too!!

rambles below the cut. I'm open to hearing different headcanons! I'm trying to sort things out for lore purposes and idk. its hard having only one brain

so I've seen a ton of different headcanons regarding skykids and their inner workings and it's no secret that skykids have a core where they store all their light, along with wedges along their back for flight. the primary headcanon I've heard about is that skykids are beings made of clay with light as the rest of them, so it's like their soul is encased in a skykid-shaped clay. while that headcanon is cool and all, i wanted to make my skykids closer to human anatomy because human anatomy bangs, and I just need their bones to be breakable for lore purposes ok ? right then.

overall i just think having them keep most organs (maybe having an extra few for the purposes of light, actually) but then having their blood be light instead was my best bet. i didn't want them to be too simple, and. i wanted them to be sturdy. idk. that's just my two cents though, I'm really not great at explaining this stuff in a coherent way </3

i have my own ideas on krillkids but I'll have to do a sketch for them too. meteor technically is a krillkid hybrid but i got lazy and did fullblood skykid anatomy on him sob

[agirlwithglam]

📚 It girl's guide to school 📚

hiii girls! this is part of the big Guide to being the It Girl. this section will be all about school, studying and academics. i'll teach you how to tackle school, get the highest grades effortlessly, and look chic and gorgeous doing it! the rest of the ultimate it girl series is linked! 🎀

guide to getting good grades:

LISTEN IN CLASS. one of the best tips ever. if you would actually listen to what your teachers teaching in class, you’d get to spend a lot less time studying.

ask if you need help! these teachers are qualified for the job, they’re meant to be good at it. so if you don’t understand something, don’t be afraid to ask. and if you’re really too much of a chicken, ask once the class is over or email the teacher. but honestly? half the kids probably aren’t even listening tbh so u do ur thing!

participate in class. actually participating in class will help you so much in recalling the information. it’s a great way to actively revise. you don’t have to be a teachers pet or anything, but if you know the answer, put yourself out there. anyone who judges you simply judges themselves and their inability to speak up.

change up your environment so that you're still interested and excited to learn! you could go to a coffee shop, set up a mini picnic in the woods, go to a library, etc.

use alter egos!! i will never stop recommending this because it really is an amazing tip. either you can create your own alter ego who loves to study and gets high grades, or you could pretend you're rory gilmore or hermione granger!

revision/ study techniques:

feynman technique: teach it to someone else/ to plushies. try not to look at your notes too much, pretend ur a teacher.

use practice questions/ practice exams! trust me this can be so helpful! try and find past exams and go over them in exam conditions so you can see what u missed later. or, you can get all the info and ask an AI like chatgpt to write questions based on it and go through them!

BLURTING! love this method! basically, you write all the information you know about the topic on one page (optional: set a time limit) and then go over it with a different colour pen and add in what you missed. do this a couple times until you haven't missed anything! - you can do this by creating a mind-map, or literally just scribbling down everything you know.

SQ3R method: survey/ skim over the text, question- make questions on it, read- begin reading to find the answers to the questions, recite- summarise the words in a section in your own words, review- quiz yourself on what you just learnt

organise/ prioritise what you need to study using the traffic light method. first, identify the topics, then highlight them according to these 3 colors: red- struggling a lot/ no idea , yellow- okay ish, need to work on it a bit tho , green- good understanding & confident on the topic.

make associations. this is especially helpful for when you need to memorise things. the thing you need to memorise- link it to stuff that you already know.

⭐️ use mnemonics, songs, raps to remember! a couple years back, my science teacher made us create a rap on osmosis (a biology term). and not even kidding, i still remember the simple definition of what it does because of that rap! so create songs or rap and maybe even make a whole music video on it! trust me, not only is it so fun but it really does help keep the information in your mind!

more resources:

huge big list of studying and school

another big study masterpost

100 reasons to study

how to be a whole new student this year

ACE your exams -by me!

study icons:

as i mentioned earlier, channelling the energy of a character who already studies and gets good grades is an amazing way of getting yourself motivated! here are some of my favs & tips to study like them! (p.s i've also added links to the names for a more in depth guide on each person!)

♡ rory gilmore

she loves studying- develop that mindset! have a passion for learning more.

"i can go from 0 to studying in less than 60 seconds"

switch between different subjects when you get bored

ask someone to test you with flashcards

♡ elle woods:

study while you exercise- take care of ur body too!

"what, like its hard?"- i love her sm for this!! if anyone else can do something, of course you can do it too!

be ambitious + have strong source of motivation

get into study groups

♡ paris geller

have the discipline and ambition to do the things that will get you to where you want.

"i want to win, and i'm going to win." - love this, she's sure of herself and confident in her abilities.

prioritise & use to do lists

start early to be the top of your class!

♡ blair waldorf

honestly its so fun to embody her energy of high value, cares about her education, so confident and takes no sh*t from others!

"anything you can do, i can do better"

always have a plan

have flash cards, take notes

♡ hermione granger

always participate in class!

read more about the material. + learn more!

teach others & help them study

finish the hw/ work quickly and do the extra credit!

stylish in school 101:

SURVIVING SCHOOL AIR: here are some tips to staying/ looking pretty and refreshed all day at school bc u and i both know the horrors of school air 🙀 :)

DRINK WATER. stay hydrated - very important. always drink water. this keeps your lips hydrated, face hydrated, and just makes you look a lil less dead.

lip gloss/ lip balm to reapply throughout the day, esp for my girlies with chapped lips! i keep lip balm in my pocket so its always there when needed, but you can also keep it in your locker/ bag/ pencil case.

perfume. you can keep it in your locker/ bag/ pencil case to spray whenever needed and smell sweet and amazing the entire day <3

stop touching your face!! your hands have so much crusty dust and bacteria that can give pimples on your face.

keep hair away from your face. leave it out if you want, but try to make sure it doesn't touch your face too much- it also has tons of crusty musty dusty germs

keep a hairbrush in your locker. listen, i know how messy hair can get during school so keeping it in school is SO helpful to maintain the tidyness and cleanliness

waterproof makeup - if you wear makeup.

sunscreen!! keep. applying. SUNSCREENN!! i'm not going to elaborate further on this point.

ACCESSORISING YOUR UNIFORM!!

this is for the girlies who have a school uniform! i understand it can be so annoying so to have more fun and feel more confident, ACCESSORIZEE everything as much as you're allowed! here are some ideas!

♡ necklesses

♡ bracelets

♡ bows in your hair

♡ bows in your bag

♡ bows everywhere basically 🎀

♡ decorate your ipad/ pencilcase with stickers

♡ headbands

♡ rings

♡ cute earrings

♡ cute watch

♡ nails

♡ a cute clip!

the ultimate it girl series

xoxo, vanilla!

[ckret2]

I remember you saying a lot of the characters you'd written for had a common theme of loneliness, is there any common theme between the pairings you like or is it just purely "the chemistry is good" ?

there are sooo many pairings with "good chemistry" that totally bore me lmao. no, i've got specific preferences.

Here's one very very specific ship dynamic that I almost always gravitate toward:

Enter a fandom. Find the most powerful villain (or villain-acting character) in this fandom. They must be completely OP, absolutely self-assured in their power and supremacy, all but unbeatable (unless it's by like the plucky hero or whatever). They are smug. They are confident. Their tag is probably filled with reader insert fics with plots like "y/n is dommed by [character] and calls him daddy." This is the Badass.

Find another character. This character is comparatively pathetic. Oftentimes, the fandom joke is that they could never win a fight. If the fandom isn't loudly proclaiming that this second character would get their ass handed to them by, specifically, the Badass, then it's only because the two of them are on SUCH different power levels that the idea of a fight never enters fans' minds. They may or may not actually be a wimp, but what matters is the fandom (and often, the narrative) sees them that way—at least when compared to the Badass, if not universally. This is the Loser.

Then have the Badass get kneecapped with love for the Loser.

They've gotta fall in love in a way that completely destroys them. It makes them fall from grace. It strips away their godhood. It topples their empire. It steals their power, their prestige, their dignity, their confidence, their sanity. It ruins their life.

The Badass would give up everything for a chance to crawl like a worm at the feet of their beloved Loser. They submit themself entirely to the Loser's will. They are but a sword, a toy, a dog, a piece of trash—whatever they need to lower themself to to be allowed to bask in the Loser's light.

The Loser might not even reciprocate.

This is a difficult ship dynamic to be into because even when the fandom DOES ship Badass/Loser, every one of the fics is like "Loser is dommed by Badass and calls him daddy" and I recoil in disgust.

And here's some other ship dynamics I'm into—borrowed from a couple of prior asks I've gotten here and here so if you wanna see me ramble EVEN MORE, I go more in depth in those two links.

the biggest thing that gets me into a ship is unhealthy obsession. Love to the point of self-destruction. Love past the point of all reason. Love like an addiction, love like a poison.

Forms this takes can include:

a worshiper toward their (personal) god. bonus points if the "god" isn't even that great, the divinity just exists in the worshiper's mind and the "god" kinda sucks (billford's a good example; I actually usually prefer the obsession going the other way around, but there's definitely still shades of this in how I write Ford's POV on Bill)

mutual rabidly codependent toxic obsession (example: comics Venom.)

"knight" obsessively in love with their liege. (canon example: Pearl toward Rose Quartz. headcanon example: Zim toward the Tallest. this is gonna be how i write Scaramouche toward Aku.) This can be extended to ships with similar power dynamics like henchman/villain.

your classic yandere. "I love you so much I had to kidnap you," "stay with me and I'll make you sososo happy, leave and I'll kill us both," "I will proactively murder anyone who likes you before you can like them back," "I will rewrite my entire identity to be perfect for you," "I'm so breathlessly euphoric with love for you that I kind of want to slit my own throat" yandere-yandere. (THE yandere: Yuno Gasai. a personal favorite: IDW Tarantulas toward Prowl.)

perpetually unrequited love. it MUST stay unrequited. if it becomes requited it stops being interesting. it must be quietly agonized over for an eternity. Bonus points if the couple once had a chance but the suffering lover sabotaged it. (I've done this with HashiMada, Starscream/Wheeljack, and radiosnake. you could easily do it with Gideon/Mabel or post-betrayal billford.)

"emotionless" characters (like in a "robot programmed without emotions" way, not a "mental illness" way) that somehow gain the capacity to feel love and it becomes their whole identity because they have nothing else. (i don't have an example lmao)

Various tropes I enjoy outside unhealthy obsession (although it can incorporate it):

Anything that lets me write a character romantically waxing poetic over the breathtaking beauty of something that normal people would never consider a potential object of attraction. Like a pteranodon, or a literal triangle with an eyeball, or a pile of black sludge.

The super genius who makes/does incredible things and their personal muse who inspires their work and is in awe of the brilliant things they do/make. they can both be geniuses but don't have to be. (Tarantulas & Prowl; Sir Pentious & Alastor; Ford & Bill)

Toxic exes who still know each other SO well that it's agony to be around each other because they can see everything they used to have.

Characters who make each other Worse. Like their relationship is good, but being together turns them both into terrible people. (Venom.)

[dragonslaved]

All right, besties. I had my days of depression and (bad) ideations, I had my flare of anger. It's easy to fall into despair, but let's focus that energy to thinking further ahead. Firstly: by focusing on our health and eating.

You've probably noticed in the last few months, a lot of food recalls from the FDA. The majority of these, particularly the most recent ones around heavily processed chicken in ready-meals and beef in fast food restaurants, are a direct result of the 45th president cutting back health regulations in industrialized food production four to six years ago that we're just now seeing the results of as it's gone through the process and finally hit shelves.

Now would be a good time to start looking into your local farmer's markets and sourcing your meats and produce from locally owned farms you trust. Start developing a good relationship with your local farmers and butchers. When you go to see them, just get to know them and ask some general questions.

A lot of these places are family run, particularly if you're not close to a large metropolitan area. So when you go to see these folks and they make small talk (because they will, they want to know what brought you out, how'd you find their farm, what kinds of meats and cuts and whatever you're looking for, just genuine small talk), do not bring up politics or USDA regulations. Literally just tell them that you're interested in sourcing and supporting local agriculture and farming (which is true, you are wanting to get away from big corporate industrialized meat production).

If your area has a good farmer's market during the spring/summer/fall, absolutely hit that up. The one close by me not only has good meats and produce, but also honey, different kinds of cheeses, all sorts of things. Farmer's markets closer to a city or metropolitan area will usually only be on weekends during the warmer seasons so keep an eye out and check out any options you have.

I'll give a starting resource for you: https://www.localharvest.org/locations/

Any local farms or farmer's markets that are registered there in the mainland US will have some listings there with hours of operation, location and what they produce, as well as if they're a farm, a farmer's market, a grocery, or a local restaurant, as well as reviews. Use that and source further and find other farms that aren't registered on that site that may have more of what you're looking for. The farming community talk to each other and they know what's up with the other farms.

If you want to go out and pick your own produce (berries, fruits, etc), there's https://upickfarmlocator.com/ that will show you any "u-pick" farms and orchards in your area. It's a pretty in depth resource that I'd recommend using if you're able to go out and do that.

There are a few urban harvesting resources like fallingfruit, but I'm not as familiar with that so I can't in good faith recommend it until I've done some research into it myself.

I'm mostly familiar with chicken farms and fish ponds so I can't provide much insight to cattle or game meat, unfortunately. If anyone who sees this post is familiar, please feel free to add on. I'm also not a source for how to skin your meat or pluck your birds, so again, if anyone seeing this has any insight, please please add on to this.

Let's keep each other healthy and strong so we can fight the good fight ahead of us. The biggest advice I can give to anyone starting this journey is to research. Research anything you're interested in and don't give up.

I'll update this post with any other resources I find, or that others add on. This post is recent as of 2024-11-08.

(And yes, I know, before anyone comes rushing in, I understand this is not as easy for larger metropolitan areas or food deserts. Yes I know not everyone has the ability to go out and do this, and not everyone has easy transportation to haul goods back. This is where the "community" part comes if you can coordinate a group renting a car or someone who does drive to get everyone out there and back. And yes, before other folks come in, I understand sometimes it's better to grow your own produce and raise your own livestock, this is for the folks who don't have the ability to whether that's because of physical disabilities, lack of space [Hi, I live in a condo and have no space to grow my own in fact], or any other reason why they can't.)

[wakebymoonsleepbysun]

Untitled Spamton X Reader fic Ch1

The stress of election night made me cave and start writing a self-indulgent Spamton x Reader fic...that I was hoping to finish that night but as you can see it took me a bit longer because writing 6k words in one night is hard. T_T

Anyway, he's my entry into the genre of "Reader finds Spamton in a dumpster and takes him home" fics. Maybe there's room for one more in that category? 🥺

Not sure if/when I'll continue working on this but uh. Here y'all go.

(Also sorry I spend the first few paragraphs writing an actual vent post about my actual job adfajdafjdal)

------

Today hasn’t exactly been noteworthy. It’s just another day, like so many you’ve had before. Wake up, trudge over to your desk, sign on to work, pretend you’ve been awake for at least an hour longer than you have been, and rub the sleep out of your eyes while you gnosh on a cereal bar because (as usual) you don’t have time to make anything else before your morning meetings start.

You pay no more or less attention than usual, picking away at your own tasks while two of your coworkers have an in depth discussion on something you probably don’t need to concern yourself with. With your camera off they are left to assume you’re listening just as raptly as they’d wish you to.

The meeting ends and you dive fully into your work. You enjoy programming. The product itself (some productivity-helper app that’s not much different than dozens of others) is not of particular interest to you. You don’t even use it in your personal life--only for checking on work-related things.

You get a ping from a coworker. The dev environment is down. Again. He doesn’t know how to fix it. He heard you do?

You suppress a sigh that he wouldn’t’ve heard through the screen anyway.

You fixed it once, about a year ago, out of desperation. It had been an easy fix but somehow it had been enough to convince people you Knew What You Were Doing, and a couple more fixes later, you found yourself in the unenviable position of “The Guy (gender-neutral)”. 

You close several windows and open several more, your previous task for the day forgotten. Two more people ping you. Did you know the dev environment is down? Yes. Your boss pings you. Did you know? Of course you know.

You dive back into the spaghetti code you still don’t fully understand. The person who wrote it left six months ago. You follow a thread of convoluted logic, only to lose your train of thought when another colleague messages you.

Did you know?

YES.

Line by line, search query after search query, you toil to untangle the mess.

And suddenly find your own code staring you back in the face. The very first fix you’d made had been defective. Impermanent. A flimsy rubber band that had finally snapped.

You frown. You wonder what you’d been thinking when you’d fixed it before. The flaw in your approach seems obvious now. And yet somehow it had been good enough for you to be crowned “The Guy (gender-neutral)”. 

You sure weren’t “The Guy (gender-neutral)” then…but maybe you are now. Or close to it.

A couple more keystrokes and dev is back in business.

…It’s also the middle of the night, your colleagues have signed off, and you forgot to eat dinner. Again.

You crash down from the high of your accomplishment--deflated, hungry, and tired. You message chat that everything’s fixed but you’ll be late tomorrow, and close your work computer.

How had you worked for twelve hours without even noticing? Maybe you like programming more than you thought.

You’re not sure how you feel about that.

You rise from your chair with a tired groan, padding out to the kitchen.

…Where you promptly see--and worse, smell--the bag of trash you meant to take out this morning.

“Ugggghhhh…” you groan in disgust and self-pity, your shoulders slumping.

You grumble to yourself in frustration as you pull on your coat, grab the bag roughly by the handles as if it had any more say its fate than you, and proceed to name-drop every one of your coworkers in your mumblings as you make your way down four flights of stairs.

…Only to realize it’s raining. Not exactly a downpour--light enough that you didn’t hear it from your apartment, but heavy enough that you’ll definitely be soaked if you try to get to the dumpster.

Whatever. You’re not lugging the trash bag back up the stairs only to get your umbrella. You were going to change into your PJs while dinner was cooking anyway.

You grit your teeth and cross the dimly lit parking lot to the three-wall, roofless structure that contains the dumpsters and recycling bins. 

The rain in your eyes, the dim lighting, and your own grim determination to be done with your task almost cause you to miss it, but as you’re attempting to dry your hands before stuffing them back in your coat pockets, you see it.

A small white boot sticking out from the gap between the dumpster and the enclosure. You’re not sure what draws you to it--at first you think it’s just an old discarded piece of clothing that fell out of the overflowing bin.

Your gut instinct realizes what your conscious mind hasn’t yet, forcing you to take a step towards it and get a closer look.

Your stomach twists as you realize the boot is definitely still attached to something. At first you think it’s a child, but the figure’s odd proportions dismiss the idea before you can even so much as cry out in alarm.

The head accounts for about a third of the height, and the shoulders are strangely broad, with the legs being rather short in proportion. Though all that is trivial compared to the distinctly inhuman face.

Well…it’s probably meant to be based on a human, you realize, but it certainly isn’t one. The large mouth is fixed in a permanent, uncannily huge grin, and the pointed nose is cartoonishly long. A pair of glasses cover the eyes, the lenses of which are currently dark.

It’s too big to be a doll. A ventriloquist puppet, maybe? The jaw looks articulated in the way that such puppets usually are. Not that you know much about puppets or puppetry.

But you think they’re usually expensive…though price aside, even this scuffed up, damaged figure seems deserving of a fate better than being tossed into some dumpster. You’ve always been the sentimental sort who feels sorry for lost and damaged toys, despite knowing full well that they’re not “real”.

Someone had once believed they were, and then they just…stopped.

You shake off the melancholy thought with a literal shake of your head, flinging raindrops from your hair. 

You crouch down beside the puppet, tucking your hands under its arms and hoisting it up, only to nearly drop it as your grip fumbles. It’s way heavier than you’d expected! You’d assumed ventriloquist puppets were mostly hollow, but this one certainly isn’t. Maybe your assumption had just been wrong?

It’s going to be more of a pain to lug this thing back to your apartment, but well…in for a penny, in for a pound. Or fifty. Whichever.

There’s also something a bit odd about its joints…its limbs don’t flop around as much as you’d expect, but you chalk that up to the joints being partially stuck.

You carry it upright, your arms around its waist while its arms drape over your shoulders. You swear you hear a slight groan from it as you push the stairwell door open with your hip. It must have a voice box? Did puppets usually have those? Either way, the low, droning suggested the batteries were almost dead. 

You finally make it up to your unit. If it hadn’t been raining you’d’ve been drenched with sweat now. As it is, it’s probably still mostly rainwater, but you try not to think about how much of a sweat you worked up carrying the heavy thing upstairs. 

You kick the door shut behind you, flinching when it closes a bit louder than you’d meant it to. You take the puppet to the kitchen, laying it on its back on the counter. Or trying to…one of its hands gets caught on the hood of your jacket. When you reach up to pull it free, you realize the joints of the hand had curled in at some point, gripping the hoodie.

There’s something…off about that, about this whole thing, but…it’s just a puppet…right?

There’s nothing else it could be, really…

You remove your jacket, tossing it over the back of one of the dining chairs for now. There’s really no reason for you to tend to the puppet before yourself, but…

You grab a paper towel and begin wiping the grime and rainwater from its face, occasionally glancing at the darkened glasses that obscure its eyes. What an odd looking thing…but puppets often are.

You can’t quite tell what it’s made of. Wood or plastic are your best guesses but neither of them quite fit. It has the smooth rigidness of plastic but somehow, paradoxically, it also seems somewhat organic and is a bit warmer than you’d expect a rain soaked toy to be. The material’s even a bit malleable. The nose even has a bit of give, you realize as you push on it experimentally, bending it downwards. Foam, maybe?

As you push on the nose, the head abruptly turns away, and another low, rattly moan plays from the voice box.

With a gasp, you quickly pull away. Does…this thing have some kind of mechanism to move on its own? Maybe it’s only meant to look like a puppet, but is actually more of a robotic toy? That would explain the weight, you suppose…

But it certainly adds to the mystery of why anyone would throw it away.

You cup its cheek in one hand as you use the other to wipe some grime from its hair.

Your gaze drifts downward and you realize its clothes should probably be removed and hung up to dry.

…Why does that thought cause your face to heat up? You’ve fixed up old dolls and toys before, with no particular regard for their modesty.

You’re just tired. You’re tired and had a stressful day and it’s making you just a bit silly. That’s all.

You reach down and start attempting to remove the puppet’s blazer. Before you can undo the first button, though, its arm shoots up, its small hand wrapping around your wrist.

“[[ Showroom model only--not available for purchase! ]] [[ Break it you buy it!! ]]” Two audio clips in two different voices play from somewhere within the puppet.

You scream in surprise, pulling back so quickly you accidentally drag the puppet off the counter before it can let go of your wrist. You don’t fare much better as your heel catches on the leg of a dining chair, causing you to land hard on your rear.

You place a hand over your chest, trying to calm yourself. There’s a rational explanation for the puppet’s movement on the tip of your tongue, but it flies out the window almost immediately.

The puppet stirs. His glasses go from black to grey static as he lifts a hand to his forehead, struggling to get his bearings. The corners of his mouth are turned down in what you guess must be the closest thing to a frown he can muster with his large, semi-permanent grin. 

“Wh-What the hell…” you breathe in a strained whisper.

“[[ Temp--Temp--Temporarily out of service!! ]]” This audio clip is yet another voice. It sounds like the clip was originally recorded in a peppy, upbeat tone, but the playback is so low and garbled you can’t help but compare it to someone at the brink of death struggling to speak.

The puppet goes limp once again, the grey static on his glasses fading back to black. He’s collapsed on the floor, laying on his side in a growing puddle of rainwater as it slowly runs off his clothes.

You stare at him in stunned silence for several moments.

It’s mechanical. Robotic. A weird toy robot…thing…with low batteries and probably a busted circuit board or two.

It’s not alive.

But why would an expensive toy robot be in the dumpster?

Why would a living puppet be in the dumpster???

Your brain’s just fried from work. You need rest. And probably food. The puppet can wait.

You bite your lip. He’s not alive, but…that’s no reason to just leave him on the floor, right?

You quickly grab one of your fluffy bath towels from the linen closet and wrap the puppet in it, carrying him to the living room and laying him on the couch with far more respect and dignity than a totally-not-alive puppet actually needs, even putting one of your throw pillows under his head.

The rainwater’s going to soak through the towel and you’ll have a damp sofa by the time you finish dinner, but…well. It’ll dry. Whatever.

Still…you take a moment to look him over again as you kneel beside the couch. You place a hand on his cheek, turning his head slightly towards yourself. The grimace from before seems to have relaxed into a fairly neutral smile…you guess that must be his “default” expression.

You brush a few stray locks of hair from his face, then adjust his arms so that his hands are atop his chest--a more comfortable resting position than them splayed haphazardly beside him. As you do, you lightly grip one of his hands. It’s a bit smaller than your own, and the joints are fully articulated, giving it the same range of motion as a human hand.

The hand twitches and you quickly drop it. It lands with a soft thud atop his chest.

Enough silliness. You can look over the puppet once you get your head together.

You go into the bathroom, finally stripping out of your wet clothes and hanging them on the curtain rod to dry before changing into your PJs--some flannel lounge pants and an oversize T-shirt. As you walk back to the kitchen, you glance at the puppet on your couch, but force yourself not to stop and check on him again.

You hope some mac and cheese will pull you out of whatever temporary insanity working for twelve hours straight has inflicted upon you.

*

Spamton stirs as the sound of the soft thudding of a wooden spoon stirring a pot of boiling pasta reaches him.

Where…is he? The towel slides off him as he sits up, and he glances at it curiously, running his thumb over the soft, fluffy fabric. There was never anything this nice in the dumpster, that’s for sure.

But he’s also clearly not in his dumpster. He takes in the sight of your dimly lit apartment, the only light coming from the kitchen.

It doesn’t quite look like any sort of Cyber City apartment he’s ever seen. He can’t quite put his finger on why, but…after a second of thought, the word “mundane” pops into his mind. This place is more mundane than any part of Cyber City he’s ever been to. Though…he supposes he’s really only seen the highest highs and lowest lows…maybe the middle tiers of the city are a bit more mundane. It would make a certain amount of sense, though he can’t help but think the answer’s more complicated than that.

He slides off the couch, looking towards the light spilling from the kitchen.

“Mundane” aside, how’d he get into any apartment? As desperate as he’d gotten, he’d never committed B & E…at least for the purpose of sleeping on some stranger’s couch. And how long has it been since anyone had invited him into their home?

How long has it been since…anything?

Spamton wracks his brain, trying to pull up his most recent memory, whatever he was doing before he ended up here. The last thing he can remember--clearly, anyway--is just sitting in his dumpster in the back alleys of Cyber City, about to doze off.

But…somehow that memory seems like it was from long ago. Weeks, at least. And there are glimpses of something more recent that he can’t quite place.

Green wires.

The rollercoaster, with three carts speeding towards him.

A blue-haired, blue-skinned Lightner.

The latter, he had no idea who they were…and that thought caused a pang of guilt in his chest. They were…important. Why couldn’t he remember?

His gaze drifts back towards the kitchen and he slowly steps towards it.

How do you fit into any of this, he wonders?

*

You’re pouring the pasta and water into the strainer when you hear a sound behind you.

The quiet click of hard-soled shoes on kitchen tile.

You turn to glance behind you, more out of instinct than any expectation to actually see anything.

The puppet is up and walking towards you, a sight so shocking on its own that you don’t even notice the curious, borderline timid expression on his face, nor the way his hands are raised slightly as if to assure you he means no harm.

You wish you’d simply frozen at the sight of him.

Instead, your fatigued, nervous, downright jittery brain panics immediately, spinning fully to face him, despite the pot of boiling water in your hand. Lucky for you it’s nearly empty, but “nearly” is still enough for a decent sized splash to land on your bare forearm.

You cry out in pain, clutching your burned arm to your chest as you collapse onto the floor, your back pressed against the cabinets as you stare wide-eyed at the puppet.

“WOAH !! RELAX [[ valued customer ]]!!” the puppet speaks, his voice far clearer than it had been before. Though there’s still a slight static to it, as if it’s being played over a worn out speaker. “[[ Apologies for the inconvenience ]], I’M NOT--”

Spamton cuts himself off when he realizes you’re now staring down at your burned arm. Your hands are shaking as you stare at your blistering skin, tears of pain--and probably fear--welling in your eyes.

“[[ It Burns! Ow! Stop! Help Me! It Burns! ]]”

Your gaze snaps back to him. “What?!” you yelp, incredulous despite the bizarreness of the situation. Why’s he acting like he’s the one who got burned?

No sooner than the thought enters your head than you notice his slack expression, his glasses once again going staticy. But once again, things seem to pivot on a dime and he snaps out of it so fast you wonder if you weren’t just seeing things.

“SORRY!!” he says, holding up his hands. “DIDN’T MEAN TO [[ all kinds of surprises!! ]] YOU!!”

Spamton steps towards you and you shrink back against the cabinets. He takes the hint and backs off, still holding up his hands. After a brief pause, he snaps his fingers, and to your utter astonishment, a miniature, cherub-like version of himself appears and flitters towards you.

You’re too stunned at the sight to even consider pulling away, your jaw going slack as you watch the little creature land weightlessly on your arm and gently pat the blistering, reddening skin. A wave of green sparkly lights washes over your injury and the burns, along with the cherub, disappear.

A one word question echoes in your mind and you can’t help but speak it aloud in a strained, wavering voice.

“Magic…?”

Spamton dips his head in a nod. He holds up a hand, and the cherub reappears, perching on his finger and giving you a little wave. “YEP! JUST A [[ simple, one-stop solution ]] FOR [[ all your routine medical needs ]],” he says, dismissing the cherub with a wave of his hand. He hesitates, then steps towards you again. When you don’t flinch away, he closes the distance between you two, lightly touching your arm.

“NO MORE [[ It Burns! ]]?”

“U-Uhm,” you stammer. The way his voice sounds so pained when switching to the “It Burns” line is unnerving…you guess it’s just a soundbyte, that he’s not actually feeling the pain or distress the voice line suggests. His expression certainly seems to hold genuine concern, despite the semi-permanent smile. “Y-Yeah…I…” You glance down at his hand on your arm.

He really did heal it. Just like that. The pain and blistering just…gone in an instant. You’d guess you were dreaming, but…there’s no way you’d sleep through such intense pain, imagined or not.

“You…do magic,” you say weakly. The laugh you let out borders on manic. “I mean sure, why wouldn’t you do magic?”

Either he doesn’t notice your sarcasm or chooses to ignore it, for he takes a step back, grinning and puffing out his chest. “WHY NOT INDEED? SPAM   SPAMTON G. SPAMTON [[ #1 Rated Salesman 1997 ]] IS A MAN OF [[ dozens of unique skills ]]!” he declares.

“S-Spamton? That’s…your name?” you ask.

He grins, pointing at you while a DING DING DING chime plays, his glasses lenses switching colors on every beat. “AND [[ who do I have the pleasure of speaking to? ]]”

You tell him your name, still dazed.

He stays silent, canting his head and looking up at you uncertainly, seemingly waiting for you to recover.

“Wh-What are you?” you blurt abruptly.

Spamton blinks, but far from being offended at the question, he tosses his head back and lets out a hearty laugh. “HEAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” The cadence is a bit faster than a human would typically laugh, almost like the rapid fire of a machine gun…but as laughs go it’s far from unpleasant. “[[ Doll ]] I WAS JUST ABOUT TO [[ Ask Away! ]] YOU THE SAME THING!!”

You blink. “Um. I-I’m…a human. Surely…you’ve seen humans before?”

“OF COURSE!! [[ And don’t call me Shirly ]],” he quips. “BUT I’M NOT SEEING ANY [[ Heart-shaped Object ]].”

“H-Heart shaped object?” you repeat, absently rubbing at your chest. You assume he’s not talking about your actual heart.

“YOU’RE NO DARK >n3R…NOT A LIGHT >n3R EITHER?” he asks, canting his head curiously.

“I-I…I mean I guess not, not that…that I know of?” you say helplessly.

You’re a bit surprised he’s the one questioning you. It hadn’t occurred to you that he’d be just as confounded by his situation as you are.

“IS THIS THE DARK WORLD OR LIGHT WORLD?”

You stare blankly. “I…I don’t know? Neither, I…I think?”

“SO THEN…WH    WHERE IN THE [[ Tri-County Area ]] AM I?”

You stammer a moment, not even sure what sort of answer he’d want for that. “M-My apartment?” you say inanely. At his deadpan, unimpressed look you tell him the name of your city, and when that doesn’t ring a bell, you add your state.

He frowns, tapping his chin with one hand.

“Where are you from, then?”

“CYBER CITY, IN THE DARK WORLD.”

“Doesn’t sound like any place near here…I-Is it…really an entirely different world?”

“[[ Survey Says: ]] YES.”

It’s as likely as anything else. Living puppet with healing magic…why not add world-hopping on top of that at this point?

“[[ You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here? ]]”

“I…don’t know. I mean, I found you in a dumpster and brought you up here. I have no idea where you were before that…”

“BROUGHT ME [[ all the way up ]] HERE? WHY?”

“I um. Well,” you shift uncomfortably. “I…uh, thought you were a toy or puppet or something…”

“TOY NO, PUPPET YES,” he says. As he admits it, his glasses briefly go staticy and his smile fades, but he quickly shakes it off. “SO, DUMPSTER DIVING FOR [[ marketable goods ]], EH?” he chuckles.

“N-No! It was just--” You bite back your protest. You probably should have just said yes. It’s probably less silly than your real reason. At his expectant look, you feel your cheeks heat up. “I-I just…I like…fixing up old toys and it’s just…k-kinda…sad to see them get abandoned…and you just seemed too--” You cut yourself off again. You should have stopped a sentence or two ago, but once again Spamton is looking at you curiously and you feel compelled to complete your statement. “--F-Fancy…to just…be tossed in some landfill…”

You can see his eyes blink in surprise behind his glasses. His slightly open mouth closes with an audible clack and he chuckles. “WELL I AM A BIT OF A [[ Mr. Fancy-Pants ]]...OR AT LEAST I WAS,” he adds, his grin seeming to fade slightly.

A beat of silence passes as he seems to get lost in his own head for a moment, and you think you start to see bits of static appearing in his glasses. The corners of his mouth start to droop as his smile fades.

“W-Well, nothing a bit of mending won’t fix, right?” you say, assuming he’s only referring to his torn up suit and some of the scuffs on his face and hands.

Spamton snaps out of whatever trance he’s in, looking at you in confusion for a moment before his previous smile returns. 

“...RIGHT. WELL, ANYWAY [[ doll ]], THANKS FOR THE [[ solid assist ]] BUT IT’S ABOUT TIME I [[ hit the road ]].”

You blink. “Um. What?”

He raises a brow. “[[ Hit the road ]], [[ Make like a tree and leaf ]], [[ head off into the sunset in your brand-new cungadero ]]?”

You can’t help but blurt out an incredulous, “To where?” Your cheeks warm and you glance away awkwardly, rubbing your arm. “I-I mean, n-not that it’s any of my business, but…a minute ago you didn’t even know what world you’re in…”

Spamton stares at you a moment before throwing his head back in another laugh. “HEAHAHAHAHA!!” You can’t help but notice the laugh seems a bit forced. “[[ Doll ]], DON’T YOU KNOW A TRUE [[ #1 Salesman 1997 ]] WILL [[ never give up, never surrender!! ]]?”

You finally manage to give a weak smile. “Well…that’s all well and good, but…do you even have a plan?”

“DO YOU?”

“Heh,” you chuckle nervously. “N-Not…a super long term one, but…I’d uh…I’d…feel bad sending you away like this…drenched and dirty with nowhere to go…”

His head tilts slightly to one side as he regards you. “WILLING TO MAKE A [[ Specil Deal ]], [[ doll ]]?”

You blink at his phrasing. “I…don’t know about a deal, but…I-I mean…you can…crash here for tonight? Get washed up, dry your clothes at least?”

“AND WHAT”S THE [[ payment method required ]]?”

“No payment!” you say quickly. “Just…”

“[[ Complimentary service ]]?”

You laugh slightly. “Exactly.”

He considers, rubbing his chin as he tries to figure out what possible catch there could be. Finally, he holds out a hand. “[[ Terms & Conditions Accepted !! ]]”

You let out a more earnest laugh, nodding. “Alright, Spamton,” you say, wrapping your hand around his and giving a hearty handshake.

Spamton steps back, glancing around at the mess you’d made. The pan had clattered to the floor, and there was a puddle of spilled water and a few stray noodles on the floor. Luckily dinner itself is salvageable--the majority of the noodles are still safely in the strainer in the sink.

“[[ Tired of cleaning up after dinner? Why not let -- ]] YOUR [[ good pal ]] SPAMTON TAKE CARE OF THAT?” he offers, going over to pick up the pan, handing it to you as you finally get to your feet.

“Thanks, but…” You lift your gaze past him, seeing the muddy footprints he’s tracked into the kitchen. You smile weakly. “Maybe you should get yourself tidied up first? The bathroom’s just down the hall, I can finish up in here while you shower?”

He follows your gaze to the dirt he’s tracked into the kitchen, then smiles up at you sheepishly. “GOOD POINT. BUT WHY DON”T WE [[ get the best of both worlds ]]?” He snaps his fingers, and two cherubs appear. They smile cutely at you before one of them flies down to the ground to begin gathering the spilled noodles and the other pulls the towel off the oven handle and drapes it over the puddle.

“Heh…s-sounds good…” you say, once again caught off guard by his ability to just…manifest helpful little creatures.

The cherubs finish cleaning while you shake the last of the water from the pasta strainer, rinse out the pan, and start mixing the cheese in with the noodles.

They finish the cleanup before you finish the cooking, and all you have to do is open the cupboard so they can toss the floor noodles away.

“Um, thanks guys?” you say uncertainly.

Their little grins get even wider at your praise and they perch on the edge of the stove, watching you stir the noodles.

You notice they seem to be watching a bit…intently. Their heads bop slightly as they track the motion of the spoon, the reflective pink and yellow lenses on their glasses making it hard to read their expressions.

“Hey uh…m-maybe this is a weird question…” Though you wonder if anything’s a weird question when posed to a pair of tiny puppet cherubs summoned by a magic living puppet from another world. “D’you two…get hungry?”

Their attention perks to you so raptly that you have to assume the answer is a firm yes.

You chuckle weakly at that, scooping out a spoonful of noodles and blowing on it. “D’you like mac and cheese?”

They nod eagerly, making a squeaky trilling sound as they abruptly take off towards the spoon.

“H-Hey! Careful, it’s hot!” you say, holding up a hand to try to block them before they burn themselves.

Your attempt fails, but it doesn’t seem to matter. They dart around your hand and perch on either side of the spoon, greedily shoving the cheesy noodles into their mouths. If the heat is even remotely uncomfortable to them, they’re not showing any sign of it.

“Guess you were hungry…” you say, amused. You grab a piece of paper towel and wrap it around your finger, wiping the cheese from their faces. They make a faint sound of protest, the red on their cheeks growing a bit redder at your attention.

You set the spoon aside and turn the stove to low to keep the food warm. “I’d better check on Spamton,” you say to the cherubs.

As you walk down the hall to the bathroom, you hear the shower switch off and the door opens. A faint cloud of steam emerges, followed closely by Spamton.

One of your hand towels is wrapped around his waist and the other is around his shoulders. He’s using the corner of said towel to wipe the steam from his glasses lenses. Locks of damp hair fall across his forehead and cling to his neck and shoulders, a few droplets running down his bare chest.

His shoulders are wider than you’d expected--seems his blazer isn’t as padded as you’d assumed. His whole frame on the stocky side, and he has a slightly protruding gut that hadn’t really been noticeable under his blazer.

You wish you could blame the cloud of warm steam for your burning face.

“HEY [[ doll ]], WOULD YOU HAPPEN TO HAVE A [[ clean-pressed ]] [[ size L T-shirt ]] I COULD BORROW? MY BLAZER IS--” He places his glasses back on his face and cuts himself off when he notices you staring.

A beat of uncertain silence passes before you snap out of it. “Oh! U-U-Uh--Of course!” you squeak. “L-Let me just grab that for you!” you say quickly. You duck into your bedroom without waiting for a response, grabbing one of a large T-shirt and a pair of boxers. You’re not sure how well either will fit him, but you’ve got nothing better to offer right now.

When you get back to the bathroom, he’s standing on the counter in front of a portion of the mirror he’d wiped the fog from. He’s helped himself to one of your combs and is brushing his damp hair from his face.

You try not to look him in the eye--or anywhere else--as you pass him the clothing.

“THANKS, [[ doll ]]!” he says brightly.

You nod, mumbling some lame excuse about needing to check on the food before scurrying back to the kitchen.

When you get there, you see the cherubs have been busy. The table’s been set, and they’ve even taken a couple throw pillows from the couch and piled them on one of the chairs for Spamton. Glancing into the living room, you notice they even refolded the towel Spamton had been wrapped in.

“Oh, thanks guys!” you say, earning another set of happy squeaks from the little pair.

You busy yourself with dishing out the macaroni, and by the time you’re done, Spamton’s emerged from the bathroom.

The PJs you lent him are…suitable. They hang a bit awkwardly on him, but given how different your body shapes are it’s a miracle you had anything that was even remotely wearable for him.

“THANKS AGAIN FOR THE [[ brand-new threads ]] AND [[ hearty, nutritious dinner ]]!” he says, effortlessly hopping up onto the chair and taking his seat. He looks at the bowl of macaroni before him and hesitates, looking up at you uncertainly…perhaps even guiltily. “AND…YOU”RE SURE ALL THIS IS [[ complimentary service ]]?” 

“Sure,” you say easily. “The little guys certainly seemed hungry…I’m…guessing you are too?”

Spamton gives the two cherubs--who are now sitting on the table between you two--a disapproving look. “MANNERS,” he says, pointing the spoon at them accusingly.

You laugh, waving a hand. “Oh no, they were very polite!” you say. A bit overeager, and a bit messy in their own eating, but in your mind all the extra cleaning they did more than makes up for it.

“GOOD,” he says, waving a hand. And with that, the two cherubs disappear, leaving only a few green sparkles in their wake.

“Oh…you didn’t have to send them away…” you say.

Spamton chuckles. “THEY WERE SLEEPY.”

You give a bemused laugh. “I…see. You’d know best I suppose,” you concede. “I’ve never even seen magic before today…”

He glances up in surprise. “NO? NOT EVER?”

“Not real magic, no. Not like…healing burns and conjuring cherubs,” you say.

“MINITONS,” he corrects.

“Pardon?”

“MINITONS. MINI SPAMTONS,” he clarifies with a playful smirk.

“Oh!” you laugh. “That’s…actually kinda cute,” you say.

Spamton gives you a wry look. “IT’S MEANT TO BE [[ concise and informative ]], NOT [[ adorable ]],” he says, though despite his look he sounds more amused than exasperated.

“It can be both,” you retort.

“IF YOU INSIST,” he says with a good natured eye roll.

The conversation ceases as he digs into his meal. His manners are much better than the Minitons of course, but he can’t completely hide the urgency with which he eats…though he does decline your offer of seconds, you sense it’s more out of a sense of guilt at how much you’ve given him than him actually being full.

And possibly being too tired to eat any more. Even with his glasses you can see his eyelids starting to droop by the time he drops his spoon into the empty bowl. But as soon as you get up and make as if to take the dishes to the sink, he snaps back to life.

“WAIT!!” he says, hopping up to stand on his chair, grabbing his bowl before reaching up and taking yours out of your hand. “SINCE YOU COOKED [[ delicis 5-Star meal ]] I’LL [[ cleans and polishes your dishes with a sparkling shine, guaranteed no food residue ]]!!” He grins up at you. “IT’S THE [[ bare minimum as required by law ]].” He blinks at the last part of the statement, his smile turning markedly sheepish. Apparently those little phrases don’t always come out sounding quiiiiite how he wants.

You take it in stride, laughing. “It’s alright, Spamton, really.”

“I INSIST!” he insists, hopping down from his chair and pushing it towards the sink.

“W-Well…I suppose it’s fair…I’ll get the couch set up for you, then,” you say, assuming he’ll want to turn in for the night after he finishes the dishes.

*

Spamton isn’t sure why you’re so keen on helping him, but…he also can’t afford to say no. He assumes he’ll be on his way tomorrow…even though he still doesn’t have an answer to the question you posed earlier.

To where?

He has no idea how to get back to the Dark World, and he gets the feeling he’s not exactly going to fit seamlessly into this one.

If he were more awake, anxiety would be gnawing at him, but even his anxieties are too tired for that right now.

He finishes the dishes, and despite his fatigue he does get them spotless as promised.

He hops down from the chair, forgetting to push it back to the table, and trudges tiredly into the living room.

Spamton stops, staring in surprise at what he sees.

Apparently your couch has a pullout bed, which you’ve set up with two blankets and a couple plush pillows, despite the fact that the couch itself had been more than big enough for him to sleep on. Hell, he could have scraped by with just one of those pillows to curl up on for the night.

“ALL THIS FOR [[ lil’ ol’ me ]]?” he asks, stunned as you finish fluffing the second pillow and toss it into place.

You shrug. “Sure, why not? I got a pullout couch for a reason,” you say. “Besides, the cushions were still damp, and the mattress is a bit more comfortable, I think.”

Spamton looks up at you uncertainly, his mouth opening and closing a couple times. Insisting that the couch is fine would only mean you having to re-fold the pullout bed. He runs a hand over the soft blankets, far cleaner and softer than any bedding he’s had in a long time. “[[ …thank you… ]]”

Your cheeks warm at the quiet sincerity in his tone. “No problem, Spamton…” you say softly. “I-I’ll um…see you in the morning, then?”

He hops onto the bed, scooting to the pillow and pulling the blanket back. “YES. OF COURSE, [[ doll ]].”

You nod, readily giving him his space and heading to your own room and climbing into your own bed.

You’d said he could stay for the night, but in reality, you have the same doubts Spamton does…and if anything, you have a more realistic idea of how unrealistic it is for him to just…leave and make his way in the world.

A conversation to have over breakfast, you suppose.

[grunckle]

Rain World, Classical Planets, Celestial Spheres, (more!) Gnosticism, and the Deep Pink pearl

Sorry for the absolute mess of a title, but seeming as I've already covered all of these topics in previous posts, I figured I could go a bit further into the concepts. If you haven't read the others I'd suggest looking at them to understand the base I'll be building upon here. The ones best suited for that are probably:

and

With that being said, lets get started with Planets and their etymology.

The word planet derives from the Greek word πλανήται (planḗtai), which itself is derivative of πλανάω (planáō,) which means, "to wander." It referred to the 7 classical planets, which included the Sun and Moon, along with the 5 visible to the naked eye, namely, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. They "wander" because they move in an irregular pattern against the backdrop of fixed stars, so they themselves were seen as "wandering stars", something to keep in mind later.

It's also good to note that this is why the planets are named after Roman gods, a practice subsumed from the Greeks which was even further borrowed from the Babylonians, of course each putting their own pantheon in the other one's place, (with exceptions to Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto, who were discovered and thus named much later by astronomers in Europe who used both Latin and Greek gods for naming.)

Now with the etymology done, we can look at the roots it has in Gnosticism. The Ogdoad is a concept which simply means a group of 8, and is reflected in Gnostic cosmology and creation myth. Gnostic cosmology as understood today (generally! as of course belief and interpretation varied within the religion) is separated into 7 planetary spheres ruled over by the 7 archons, along with an 8th, "supercelestial" sphere of fixed stars. In the earliest forms of Gnosticism this was the final layer, but again it's important to stress that belief on the higher layers especially varied greatly, with some systems having as many as 365 heavens. In this context the word, hebdomad, meaning a group of 7, refers to the 7 planetary spheres and Ogdoad refers to the 7 plus an 8th sphere of fixed stars.

As for actually relating this to Rain World, it once again comes back to Guardians and Void Worms.

The glyphs on the Guardian halos differ from the rest of the written language we see in game as they represent numerals, (I believe this is confirmed through internal code, but if you're (reasonably) not in favor of using code as evidence I still believe it can be inferred through the surrounding context.) They show 7 logograms from 0-6, along with an eighth symbol.

Here's a chart which I unfortunately don't know the creator of.

I've already covered the relation between the Demiurge and Void Worms previously, (see the posts) but It's important to note that I'm not drawing any definitive conclusion here, part of why being I don't have one. Rain World does not strictly adhere to any one concept or religion, and we can only infer what they wanted to convey with the things they did use. It's also a piece of subjective, moody art and so evocative use of outside concepts such as this may only be a tool for interpretation.

With that being said, I believe it may be more fitting to view Void Worms not as a "collective Demiurge" so to speak, but rather as collective Archons. (Noting that Archons traditionally are not represented similarly to the Demiurge, as they're frequently depicted more anthropomorphically and in a way that bears more resemblance to the general cultural view of Demons.) This is for two reasons:

The pearl describing "moving stars" and the correlated dream we have likewise. Indicating the "wandering stars" and subsequently the planetary spheres.

Oh, interesting. This is a diary entry of a pre-Iterator era laborer during the construction of the subterranean transit system south of here. In it they describe restless nights filled with disturbing dreams, where millions glowing stars move menacingly in the distance.

And the Deep Pink pearl in Farm Arrays, of which I'll give an excerpt of.

"On regards of the (by spiritual splendor eternally graced) people of the Congregation of Never Dwindling Righteousness, we Wish to congratulate (o so thankfully) this Facility on its Loyal and Relished services, and to Offer our Hopes and Aspirations that the Fruitful and Mutually Satisfactory Cooperation may continue, for as long as the Stars stay fixed on their Celestial Spheres and/or the Cooperation continues to be Fruitful and Mutually Satisfactory."

I believe the stars (Void Worms) that "move" (wander), described above may be equivalent to the classical view of planets, and therefore the planetary spheres and the Archons that rule over them. The Benefactors viewed them as "disturbing" and "menacing", in stark contrast to fixed stars within their celestial spheres being seen as a good omen. A contrast seen at the highest and lowest points in the game;

Above, we see perfectly still stars.

Below, a raging inferno of wandering stars, "Planets".

[tommycorriander]

Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, And Disability

I am disabled. This is something I've talked about a handful of times on this blog and on my Twitter, and anyone who knows me knows I am a disabled man. As a result, while I do enjoy dissecting media and politics, the need to be an advocate for disability issues would have fallen on me to some extent regardless. Disabled folks are often left out of conversations regarding diversity in media, in a continued oversight from able bodied peers.

What does this have to do with the Hellaverse?

Both shows contain at least some small amount of disability representation; specifically, they both have characters that are physically disabled. In Hazbin Hotel this is Vaggie, as she is missing an eye and prior to the finale had lost her wings. In Helluva Boss, the characters would be Fizzarolli, a quad amputee, and the unnamed deaf child in the special. The only character I ever see talked about in regards to their disability by the wider fanbase is the unnamed child, and on a smaller scale in critical spaces I occasionally see remarks on Fizzarolli's disability.

This is a problem.

For as much as fans of one or both shows would love to claim diversity in their shows, the lack of disability representation and the lackluster portrayal of the minimal representation is poor. And I haven't seen any of my fellow critics discuss this, which I feel is an oversight, though I don't fault them for this as there are many problems with both shows and they tend to have their hands full. However, this angle of viewing the shows has been overlooked, which is why I wish to discuss it today.

Firstly, I'd like to specify what I mean when I discuss disability. While the conversation regarding the Hellaverse is primarily centered around physical disability as this is the only form of disability portrayed in the shows, coded or otherwise, disability comes in many different forms. Intellectual disabilities and mental disabilities are just as important for representation in the media as physical disabilities. Among physical disabilities, there's also a difference in visible and invisible disabilities, the latter of which is hardly ever shown in media compared to the former. Ideally all forms of disability would be portrayed equally and with respect, but unfortunately this isn't the case. I also don't expect every show to tackle every demographic at once; this isn't a reasonable request, and to be very clear, my issue with the representation in HH/HB does not come from every single unique experience with disability not being covered, but rather with the narrative the creatives behind the show and the show's fans continue to push: that both shows are diverse and are, in some way, more progressive than other shows.

This isn't the case for many reasons. Fellow critics have gone into depth about the show's lack of representation of women in nuanced roles, the lack of queer women, the racist ways in which the very few characters of colour are presented, the lack of trans representation, and even the way sex and sexuality is presented being rather conservative at times. That isn't the focus of this essay, but I would implore anyone who is reading this who is somehow unaware of the previous issues to seek out essays that talk about those points; Cassidy Whiskey on YouTube has a three-part series that covers a multitude of topics, not just issues of representation, and I would have recommended helluvareceipts on Twitter, but her account has sadly been deactivated. I'm sure there are others, but I'll lose focus if I try to name every single person to go to. If you're willing to trawl through general pettiness in the critical tag (which, let's be real, that is probably how you found this post) you'll find well-worded critiques as well.

Back to the topic at hand. The lack of representation of people with disabilities is already frustrating, but there isn't a complete drought: Vaggie, Fizzarolli, and the unnamed imp child do exist, after all. However, their representation is not just flawed, but even exploitative in some ways.

First we have Vaggie. Aside from the visual of her missing eye and seeing the incident in which she lost that eye, nothing comes of it. She never has to contend with the difficulties that come with impaired sight, and it's never brought up by other characters. In the training scene between her and Carmilla, it's not a factor: instead, her greater flaw in the physical realm when it comes to combat is having longer hair. This is an extreme oversight, which I believe shows that Vivienne and the various writers for the show never actually take into consideration what should be a major element of a character, that being her impaired vision. Furthermore, the loss of her wings isn't even considered at all, with her somehow gaining them back at the end of her training montage with Carmilla. This could have been an excellent vector to discuss physical disability in a coded form, with her wings being a stand in for more traditional forms of limb loss. Still not ideal, as I believe it's better to have forthright depictions of disability over metaphors, but it would have been something. Instead, it's never a factor, and worse, it's effectively cured. As far as representation goes, Vaggie might as well not even count.

That's all that exists for Hazbin Hotel. In Helluva Boss, we have two characters, and I will save the unnamed child for last, because that is where the real issue with the representation is on full display.

So, Fizzarolli. He is a quad amputee and potentially hearing impaired, though the latter is speculated on due to a single scene which I discuss later. Since that scene is the only time it ever comes up, I will focus on his amputee status. He lost his limbs in a fire, something we see on screen. I will disagree with some of my fellow critics in that this scene should have been more detailed; I feel that had the scene shown more of the damage dealt to Fizz's body it would have come across in poor taste, and focusing on the tragic aspect of disability usually ends up feeling like trauma porn in the hands of poor writers, which Vivienne most certainly is. I do not trust her to handle a more detailed scene with grace, especially given her track record (more on that later). It is ultimately for the best that the scene is mostly brushed over, even if it would have been better in the hands of someone with the maturity and sensitivity to cover such a topic for more to be shown in regards to his injuries.

Otherwise, Fizzarolli is mostly fine. He's shown not just surviving but thriving, he has a loving partner (criticisms of the portrayal of said relationship not withstanding) and generally sees success in his life while still having to grapple with the realities of his disability when it comes to his prosthetics being prone to damage and potentially shutting down. I would, in the hands of anyone else, like to see more of this character and what his daily routine looks like as a disabled man.

Unfortunately all the good will built with Fizz comes crashing down when we get to the unnamed imp child in the Fizzarolli special episode. This child is the poster child for virtue signalling. Frankly, it's disgusting how a majority of the fandom seemed to ignore how fetishistic this portrayal was. This is where the real meat of the essay comes in to play.

This unnamed child is given a single scene, and is then promptly forgotten about and never mentioned again. They are introduced as being a fan of Fizz here to view the competition, there is a brief exchange between the two, and then we all move on. And yet this scene was championed as somehow revolutionary or a sign of the top-tier diversity and progressiveness in Helluva, when in reality this type of scene has been done to death. This is tokenism.

One major stumbling block many of the people championing this scene seem to get tripped up on is a very simple question: why was this child a child to begin with? Really, this seems like a simple question, it shouldn't have much thought. Sometimes characters are kids. But within the episode it's clearly shown through multiple different avenues that this is an adult show. The performances are dripping with sexuality, several of the fans of Fizzarolli are there because Mammon sells sex robots of the guy, there is no mistaking that this is something no child should be at, let alone by themselves.

So why was this child a child? Simple: brownie points.

It's a lot more difficult for people to share clips of a wholesome moment from your show if the person Fizz was interacting with was an adult. People are ableist, this is pretty par for the course; as a disabled person I find it generally safer to assume people are ableist before proven otherwise. I can guarantee if this scene were to be between Fizzarolli and a deaf adult fan as opposed to a young child, it would not have been championed as this amazing representation by mostly able bodied fans. And that is by design: if Vivienne genuinely cared about representation, if she truly wanted to show something meaningful to her adult fans in her adult show, she would have had the interaction be with an adult. But that doesn't get her clip shared around on social media. That doesn't get her brownie points for inclusion. It's safe, it's palatable, it's sickeningly wholesome, and it's insulting for that. This is a show for adults, something Vivienne and company is adamant on, and yet they treat their audience like children. As a fan, you should be insulted to have this key-jingling one minute clip presented to you. You should demand more, demand better.

Unfortunately I do not see ever getting better from Vivienne. She has made it very clear she truly does not care about creating art, she really only stumbled into being championed as a paragon for animation because her majority white and able bodied fans saw the inclusion of primarily gay men and thought that was good enough. She does not give a damn about disabled people, and she never will. To expect good disabled representation from her is like expecting good queer representation from a Marvel movie; she is in it for the money, and it just so happens that the inclusion of that scene makes money.

Addendum thoughts that were too long to put into the tags: I would like to make it clear that disability, because it presents very differently, is experienced very differently by many different people. If you felt seen or represented by the disability representation in either show, that's fine, and I don't want you to feel bad for feeling seen. Ultimately disabled people are largely given scraps; I have not once seen someone with my particular physical disability portrayed in media. Sometimes we latch onto things that are subpar or lacking; my criticism of reception to this scene is targeted primarily at able bodied audience members who may be lacking in this perspective and to also champion fellow disabled people to rightfully demand and expect better. Thank you for your time.

[yuurivoice]

what do you think about the boys in the context of the state of the world? From what I've seen, you're a very reasonable and kind person, so I doubt they'd be on the wrong side of history. Do you see your creations as an act of protest in itself? Your characters are very unapologetically themselves, and youve tackled a lot of hard topics in very tasteful ways! a lot of ASMR artists(is that the right term?) seem to follow a lot of more toxic trends and roles for their characters, mostly pertaining to the prevalence of toxic masculinity. Your stories are the direct opposite of that, and I just think it's a really nice change in pace! All the love, happy early bday!

I feel like Evalas and the associated content will be a pretty loud answer for this, so I'll not go too in depth, but uh yeah I think they'd probably be pissed off right now. Because I am. 😂

Not that they're a bunch of saints. I just think you don't have to be pristine to recognize injustice, betrayal, and wickedness.

I have never been a "this is a space for escapism so I won't denounce evil ppl because what if evil ppl are giving me money" type of creator. I think my work makes some pretty clear statements about love and acceptance that in theory (unfortunately not always in practice) should go hand in hand with those opposed to vile bullshit.

For me, all art is political, and to strip the thing you make of any critique, inspiration, or experience is to simply strip the soul from the collection of noises and shapes you make.

I won't like...headcanon my way through how each character might feel in today's current events, but I know for sure they'd feel shame and embarrassment. I just recently traveled out of country for the first time in a long time and it really helps to get that outside perspective and see how varied and different other places are.

I'll spare you the rant I deleted that followed that, but essentially I wanted to stress that what is happening right now in America is not normal and should alarm everyone. Not to fear monger, but to look you in the eyes and say yes you are seeing what you are seeing. They are doing what they're doing. We are unfortunately standing at the precipice of great and terrifying change, and the best thing I can think to do right now is to tell anyone and everyone who will listen that they have been lied to. They have tested our complacency again and again, and if we just let it happen, I fear we cannot unfuck this.

Under no circumstances should the richest man in the world be holding court in the oval office or be granted executive oversight of government institutions. From the dawn of time we have told stories about corruption and wickedness. Cautionary tales of good versus evil are inherent to humanity.

If we can no longer recognize these things for what they are, we are well and truly lost. And that is a remarkable tragedy. In time, history will wonder how this could have happened...or we will rally, and turn back the tide. There are people who have been deceived, and we are at a point where we can't take a victory lap or be petty. Being right doesn't mean shit when there's this much at stake.

Maybe this sounds overblown to you. Dramatic. I wish it was the case, but this isn't like last time. At all. So don't put your head in the sand and hide. Have conversations. Share your concerns. Don't shut yourself in. Don't let the emotionally charged debate topics distract from the plain and obvious. Evil shit is happening and the structures in place to protect us are being dismantled for the gain of the most powerful people in the world. Fuck whatever hot button politicized bullshit your drunk uncle won't shut the fuck up about, when did he sign off on licking Putin's boots? Have that conversation instead of indulging in the bullshit and maybe we can win back some folks who've fallen into the nonsense vortex of podcast topics to get upset about. That's step one.

Well I spared you one rant and offered up another. Oops. 😂

I don't want to leave you with doom and gloom so I'll say this. Humanity can be very cold and calloused. Through our history we've done really fucked up shit, and turned a blind eye when things shouldn't sit right in your soul. I believe that if you carry the torch of hope and love you can ignite that in others. We are capable of incredible feats of love, just like we are hate, and if we can set aside our anger and bitterness long enough to reignite hope among our families and communities...we win. Those hearts are not out of reach. I won't believe we live in a world where hate cannot be overcome with love and compassion.

If you've been failed by those who should stand by you, support you, and love you, I beg you to not let your heart grow cold. There is so much more to hope for than that brokenness. Don't be overcome with fear and anger, but wield it as righteous passion and find your voice.

Whew. That's a proper yap session. You'd never guess most folks just wanna hear me moan. 😂

[delicateperspective]

Hi!! Newbie here😜..wondering if you could shed some light on NICK G and Harry and his 19th birthday? Was there something that happened there? I'm learning he is kind of a POS and wondering if he and Harry are still in touch? Thanks for your viewpoints..I have enjoyed your blog and am learning so much from you and the other bloggers😊

aw thank you! i won't go too much into H's 19th. partly because there are circumstances around it that creep me out and partly because I think @todayisdeadinside working on something about it and so i'll let him tackle that more in depth.

(just a little bit of context, the party in question was technically the second day of celebrations for H's birthday - with the day before H, Grimmy, and Corden having had a late night at Groucho.)

Grimmy was very pleased with himself about putting his birthday together. Niall was there for a bit, but L and Li were across town at a different club (of course, it as 2013. that closet was iron).

one of the first things about this party that bugs me is this: Grimmy hired a female stripper. one, weird for your friend who is a decade older than you to hire a stripper for your birthday REGUARDLESS. two, if Grimmy clearly knew H was closeted - why put him in this postition?

this is how H's face looked. its not the face of someone who is enjoying the entertainment.

one of the workers at the bar said "“She took her clothes of but kept her bra and pants on. There were lots of party poppers being let off. They wanted to embarrass him. It wasn’t meant to be a sexy thing... it was just for fun."

interestingly enough, this article says "Later, the star was clearly the worse for wear as he attempted to make a birthday speech at Rita’s, thanking his guests for coming along. Most encouraged him to sit back down as he slurred his words." which leads me into my next point.

this was said at the first location they went to. H was so far gone even by then that he couldn't even give a speech. but they kept going. kept drinking. changed locations. replaced margaritas with jagerbombs.

heres some pap pictures of the night when H attempts to leave the club.

sure, looks like a fun night for a 19 year old. but... and maybe this is just me... but at 28 (which grimmy was at the time) his behavior toward H during this era, his behavior and participation in this party, hiring the stripper, etc. is all very shady and kind of creepy.

i wont post the picture, but they were all out until about 6 AM when they ended up crashing at a friend's flat. where people proceeded to post pictures of the back of his head while he is completely blacked out on their insta.

just.... sorry. im not much older than grimmy was during this time. and i can't imagine.

was H a grown adult responsbile for his own actions by that point? sure, barely, but sure. is it still creepy AF for grimmy to have hired the stripper even if H was straight? absolutely. would i go out (even with friends my own age) and let them drink to the point of barely being able to walk and then blacking out without hovering like a mother of a toddler? nope, not a chance.

also, to answer your second question, yes. they're still intouch. H was at his birthday party in September 2024. and again back in 2023, he confirmed they still speak.

although, grimmy's autobiography carefully avoids most mentions of H (those NDAs must be quite extensive).

theres way more to go into here that probably fules my irritation toward this man and this party a little. but on a very surface level, grimmy latched onto H from early on. he became very obviously jelous of L and the tension was clear. he's done a number of questionable things over the years (including joking about sleeping with H several times - with and without carol*ne flack who was his roomate-, making fun of L on the radio, nearly outing H on the radio, etc) but the relationship between all of them seems to have smoothed over a bit. The fued between L and Grimmy was clearly over by 2017/2018.

(yes, all of those were on the same day in LA in 2018)

[panlight]

Really interesting to see the sticking point for a lot of people re: the Cullens leaving was the threat of Victoria. That it wasn't that they necessarily owed Bella friendship or family (people seem to have a lot of different takes on how close they actually were at this point!), but that they left her vulnerable and owed it to her to keep her safe.

Here's what Edward says about this in New Moon, after Bella asks him what he had been doing up until three days ago:

"I was… hunting." [ . . .] "I wasn't hunting for food… I was actually trying my hand at… tracking. I'm not very good at it." [. . .] "I—" He took a deep breath. "I owe you an apology. No, of course I owe you much, much more than that. But you have to know,"—the words began to flow so fast, the way I remembered he spoke sometimes when he was agitated, that I really had to concentrate to catch them all—"that I had no idea. I didn't realize the mess I was leaving behind. I thought it was safe for you here. So safe. I had no idea that Victoria,"—his lips curled back when he said the name—"would come back. I'll admit, when I saw her that one time, I was paying much more attention to James's thoughts. But I just didn't see that she had this kind of response in her. That she even had such a tie to him. I think I realize why now—she was so sure of him, the thought of him failing never occurred to her. It was he overconfidence that clouded her feelings about him—that kept me from seeing the depth of them, the bond there."

and

"'[Tracking] was never a distraction. It was an obligation." "What does that mean?" "It means that, even though I never expected any danger from Victoria, I wasn't going to let her get away with… Well, like I said, I was horrible at it. I traced her as far as Texas, but then I followed a false lead down to Brazil—and really she came here."

Now this could be SM sort of retconning things when she realized like "whoops they probably should have realized Victoria might come back," but Edward does say he was tracking Victoria, and that he didn't realize she "had such a tie to [James]" or that she "has this kind of response in her."

At first I was like, you know it's kind of refreshing that SM allowed Edward to be canonically BAD at something (tracking), but then I realized that he's probably just no match for Victoria's power of evasion.

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Echo Observations from Aftermath

Ya girl is back on her TBB bs and of course that means waffling about Echo! (I have some thoughts about Crosshair that I will likely drop at some point as well :D).

This is more in response to things said about Echo than it is to things he himself does in the episode but I think they're interesting.

When the group talking about the inhibitor chips, Hunter refers to Echo being a reg as a thing of the past ("Echo was a reg before he joined us") but later on Tech refers to it in the present ("But Echo's a reg"), and I think it's an interesting perspective on the way the Batch views themselves in comparison to the other clones.

In summary, the regs are clones that haven't been genetically modified (outside of the standard modifications that all clones get) and Tech seems to stick to this very rigid, scientific view of it. Echo is not genetically enhanced and therefore is, by all definitions, a reg - the experimentation he went through on Skako doesn't change that. But we see with the Batch that there's an "us vs them" mindset and that appears to be perspective Hunter is channelling during this episode. There's CF99 and then there are the regs, and seeing as Echo is now a member of the Batch, that automatically separates him from the "normal" clones.

Following his rescue, Echo has always straddled different groups. He's both a reg and a member of the Batch, and then later he's both a member of the Batch and a member of the rebellion. He's never really been one or the other, he's just someone going wherever he feels he's needed and Tech seems to take that at face value. Echo is a reg and he is now in the Batch, simple as that. But growing up with this idea that CF99 are divorced from the rest of the clones due to their differences (an idea that would have also been pushed by the Kaminoans themselves) means that Hunter is used to there being these two very distinct groups: "us" and "them".

We see in this episode that the Batch still don't get along with the regs and overall hold relatively negative opinions of them, but they don't hold this attitude towards Echo because Echo is one of us now, not one of them. Outside of Tech following the clear-cut definition of a reg, the Batch are still pushing the idea that there's an inherent divide between the two sides despite the fact that they willingly brought one of them into their group. By claiming Echo as one of their own and detaching him from his identity as a reg, it means that they don't have to sacrifice the principals they've carried with them this whole time about them being different.

I really don't think they're trying to be aggressively malicious about any of it, but it's interesting seeing where the Batch make exceptions to their beliefs. They either view them as just that, exceptions (e.g. getting on with Rex and Cody), or they twist it so that they don't break whatever superficial rule they appear to have put in place (e.g. Echo is one of them and therefore not a reg, so when they complain about the regs that doesn't correspond to Echo because he's one of them now). I find it funny that Hunter's comment to Omega in the same episode is "Change takes getting used to, you'll see. Just give it time" because this man is out here tying his principals in knots rather than just admitting that clones are just clones and they should probably stop trying to split them into the "us" and "them" groups that they've created.

All in all, just a curious little perspective thing I noticed this episode. I'm sure that there's a whole other discussion to be had about Echo having an internal identity crisis during all of this but that's a whole other ramble for another time.

(I also have some other random little Echo observations from this episode but none of them are really worth going into depth on so I'll just drop them down below with the tags :D)

When Depa Billapa compliments the Batch on their skill, Echo ends up being the one to jump in and say thank you. It isn't immediate, but when he notices that no-one else is going to say it, he makes sure to because of course Echo is going to maintain the politeness.

"The damage you received on Skako Minor" -> I've never really thought about the fact that Tech specifies Skako and not the Citadel. It isn't about the injuries that Echo sustained on Lola Sayou during the explosion, it's the harm that the TU did to him through their experimentation. It's emphasis on the fact that a lot of what Echo went through actually happened after the Citadel.

Ah yes, Echo's panic attacks that never make an appearance ever again. Wasted opportunity for some interesting character stuff imo!

Wholesome observation #1: Echo puts a hand on Tech's shoulder before helping him up at the end of the test simulation.

"Harm her and you're a dead man" -> Rex would have a conniption if he found out that Echo not only got arrested but also gave a death threat to the guard.

Wholesome observation #2: Right at the end of the episode Wrecker hits Echo a couple of times on the chest with Lula and then flinches because of the pain in his shoulder. THE EYEBROW RAISE ECHO GIVES HERE IS GREAT. It's the most "what were you saying about the shoulder not being an issue?" look I've ever seen. 10/10 for Echo in sarcastic mum mode.

Tags for people who might be interested: @saturn-sends-hugs @inkstainedhandswithrings @the-bi-space-ace @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius If you don't want anymore tags in my rambling just let me know :D additionally I'm open to tagging anyone else who wants to see future waffle sessions

[bethanythebogwitch]

If you asked me as a kid what my favorite animal was, there's a good chance I'd respond "chambered nautilus", though I probably would mispronounce it. I don't know if it's still my favorite but it's definitely up there in the pantheon of weird critters. For this Wet Beast Wednesday, I'll discuss my childhood favorite.

(image: a nautilus)

The nautilus is a cephalopod that lives in a curved shell and looks similar to (but is not closely related to) the extinct ammonites. There are 6 living species in two genera, but 90% of the time when someone is discussing nautiluses they are referring to the most well-known species: Nautilus pompilius or the chambered nautilus. Nautiloids are ancient, going back to at least the late triassic with their more primitive ancestors going back as far as the ordovician period, a time when only invertebrates and primitive plants occupied the land and true fish had not yet appeared. Because of their ancient history, nautiluses are sometimes considered living fossils. I have ranted before on how misleading the term "living fossil" is so I'll spare you that for now. Nautiloids are considered a sister group to the celoids, which contains all the squid, octopus, cuttlefish, and everything else we thinks of as cephalopods. Nautiluses should not be confused with paper nautiluses. Also called argonauts, paper nautiluses are a group of octopi that make an egg case which looks like a shell.

(image: a nautilus)

The most noticeable feature of a nautilus is its shell. The shell is smooth and finely curving, naturally growing in the shape of a logarithmic spiral (though not, as is commonly stated, a golden ratio spiral). The shell has a stripy outer layer and an inner layer coated with nacre. Internally, the shell is divided into camarae (chambers) separated from each other by walls called septa. Each septum has a small hole in it through which a strand of tissue called the siphuncle passes. Most of the nautilus's body is in the foremost and largest chamber. The shell grows new septa as the animal grows, with the nautilus's body moving to a new chamber as it becomes too large for previous ones. Juveniles are typically born with 4 septa, with adults having as many as 30. In addition to providing protection from predators, the shell is also key for regulating buoyancy. The septa can contain pressurized gas or water and the siphuncle regulates their contents by either adding or removing water to increase or decrease buoyancy. Because of its pressurized contents, the shell can only withstand pressure at depths up to 800 M (2,400 ft) before imploding. Oddly enough, nautiluses can be safely brought up from deep waters where most animals would be killed by the pressure changes. To move, the nautilus pulls water into the first chamber of the shell using its hyponome (siphon) and shoots it back out. The chambered nautilus is the largest species, with a maximum shell diameter of 25 cm (10 in), though most get no larger than 20 cm (8 in).

(image: a diagram of nautilus anatomy. source)

Where celoid cephalopods have tentacles, nautiluses instead have numerous cirri. Unlike tentacles, cirri are less muscular, are not elastic, and have no suckers. They are used to grab objects using their ridged surfaces and can hold in so hard that trying to take an object away from a nautilus can rip off its cirri, which will remain firmly attached. In addition, the nautilus has modified cirri that serve as olfactory receptors and a pair that serve to open and close the shell when the nautilus needs to retract into it or emerge. Nestled within the cirri is the beak, which is used to consume the nautilus's primary prey of invertebrates, though they have also been seen scavenging fish. Their eyes are less developed than most cephalopods, lacking a lens and consisting of a small pinhole that only allows the nautilus to see simple imagery. Their brains are differently structured than most cephalopods and studies have found them to have considerably shorter long-term memories.

(image: a chambered nautilus (upper left) next to a rare Allonautilus scrobiculatus. source)

Cephalopod reproduction is quite different than that of other cephalopods. While most cephalopods are short-lived and semelparous (reproducing only once), nautiluses can live over 20 years and reproduce multiple times (iteroparity). They do not reach sexual maturity until around 15 years old, with females laying eggs once per year. Eggs are attached to rocks and take 8 to 12 months to hatch. Males have a structure called the spadix composed of 4 fused cirri that they use to transfer sperm to females. Females lose their gonads after laying their eggs and will regenerate them for the next year's mating season. Interestingly, male nautiluses seem to vastly outnumber the females. EDIT: @bri-the-nautilus in the replies found an alternate explanation for the disparity in male and female numbers you should check out. TLDR; the females are asocial.

(image: nautiluses mating)

Nautiluses are found in the Indo-Pacific reagion of the ocean and can be found on the steep slopes of coral reefs. They prefer to inhabit waters several hundred meters down. It was once believed that they would rise to shallow waters at night to feed, lay eggs, and mate, but their vertical migration behavior has since been shown to be more complex than that. They have noon been fished by humans for their shells, which have become popular subjects in art and can be made into a number of decorative pieces. The nacre of the shell can be polished into osmeña pearl, which can be quite valuable. Demand for the shells combined with the late sexual maturity and low fecundity is threatening all the species. As of 2016, nautiluses have been added to the CITES Appendix II, making them protected by limiting international trade of their shells. Despite this, they are still threatened and require further protection

(image: a carved and painted nautilus shell from the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, Milan)

[ckret2]

Would utonium tell aku about the other child he has (if he even remembers at all that he accidently made Jojo into Mojo Jojo, cause he forgot about that completely until Mr. Mojo's Rising and then that info is never brought up again, so utonium might really have forgotten it) or would aku discover it himself

Personally i think that—now that he's been so pointedly reminded—Prof Utonium remembers his history with Jojo. But like, he doesn't think about it in depth on a day to day basis. first and foremost Mojo Jojo is the evil villain who keeps trying to hurt his sweet little girls and take over the world... and also he used to be Utonium's awful lab assistant.

So I don't think he'd think to tell Aku about Mojo. Obviously since Aku's such a good guy (pause for the studio audience to laugh knowingly) he's primarily interested in hearing about the heroes made from his essence! And all of Utonium's research on Chemical X's properties—how it can be used, what causes it to bond or not bond with other ingredients/beings—why, it can do all sorts of strange things to a body if a bit of it is accidentally ingested, look at this! ("That explains a strange fever dream I had this one time I was sleeping off a terrible cold.") And THAT is what Aku gets told about Chemical X and how it's been used.

The girls probably tell him about some of their villains—he knows about the gang of green teenagers, the weird pink bear, the evil genius monkey, the LITERAL EVILEST WORST GUY EVER (Aku's like oh sometimes i had tea with HIM in my other timeline, nice to have a familiar face around), this suuuper annoying rich girl that wants to join their team... and that's kinda as much detail as he gets. They are tiny children, it does not occur to them that Aku might, like, want to KNOW that Mojo got his genius from Chemical X, like it simply doesn't cross their minds that that might be relevant to his interests.

So he's not finding out until they have an actual fight with Mojo somewhere he can see it. idk how this get finagled. maybe mojo attacks their house. maybe the girls were dragging aku out on the town because they want to play at the park and prof utonium was busy and aku ran out of excuses and that's where mojo attacks. maybe mojo takes the girls captive and aku's like oh hell no i was teaching them eye laser tricks this afternoon and i am NOT letting that get pushed back to next weekend again. or maybe mojo overhears the girls mention that they've got a "new dad" and he waits until everyone else is out of the house to break in like "you are now my hostage, for I am taking you as a prisoner back to my place of residence which is not this dwelling but another location that is not here, and you will be coming even though you do not want to due to the threat of force which I am willing to levy against you should you not cooperate with my—" and aku's like "well, i suppose i could stand to go out more."

but however it happens, he's pretty quickly like, so, this chimp that looks like me and sounds like me and is evil like me and craves to rule the world like me... why does he smell like me.

once somebody explains oh yeah he got chemical x'ed too it's thirty seconds maximum before they're going "SON?! 🥹" "FATHER?! 🥹"

whether or not he immediately starts loudly praising mojo's villainy is dependent upon whether the girls are around when aku makes this discovery. If they ARE around and shouting YOU CAN'T HUG HIM HE'S THE BAD GUY he's just going "a father's love is unconditional." He'll slink out at 3 a.m. to find mojo and tell him the truth. but however it happens, aku's making sure mojo knows he's SO PROUD of his son and his life choices

which is probably the first time anybody's ever said anything like that to mojo. He might start crying.

I think I'll go with "the girls are there during the first meeting so aku has to sneak out to tell him the truth later" just because the setting of that conversation makes such a big difference.

If you've just met the being responsible for making you who you are today and he tells you how proud he is of you? Sure, that's pretty flattering, especially if he's just seen your mountaintop property volcano lab with all the big cool weapons and machines you designed and built yourself and you got to tell him about your big ambitious evil plans. Like hell yeah your brand new demon daddy's proud of you, there's clearly a lot to be proud of.

on the other hand, if he comes to you after he's just watched you get beaten, defeated, and humiliated, if he looks at you with your clothes torn and your face bruised sitting on a cot in a cold jail cell... and THEN he tells you he's so proud of you?

devastating.