#idk i think i'd like to see them as having very similar builds HOWEVER

[sharknark]

+ bonus shangmei iteration wow

[middlingmay]

Idk what your feelings are on cheating in fic so if you’re not okay with that that’s totally fine but do you have any scenarios you could share about Marge (or maybe John’s wife) catching John and Gale in the act? Like how that would all go down and how and where she would find them and what position they’d be in, etc. And maybe her reaction wouldn’t be as negative as one would imagine? Or she comes around to it once she’s given time to think on it and she’s okay with letting Gale go OR she asks to be allowed to sit in an watch or something and touch and kiss and praise Gale while John is making love to him? I’ve also had an thought of Marge catching Gale having phone sex with John over the phone…

Idk these are just some vague scenarios that I have and was wondering if you’d ever thought of any similar and could elaborate or build off of it 😘

Hello hello!

Okay, so, I appreciate the flexibility of your ask 😅 I'm not big on cheating fics, but it definitely depends on how it's handled. So, I'd definitely lean towards Marge being okay with it in the end <3

There are a few very good fics that touch on Marge catching the Buckies in the act. There's obviously Close and Yet Closer, where John visits the Clevens, and he and Gale cheat on Marge a lot. It's emotional and passionate and painful, and I think it's pretty highly recommended across the fandom.

BUT. If I had to write a cheating fic, i think it would go along these kinds of lines:

John is visiting, like almost a year after the wedding because both he and Gale are aware of their feelings for each other, and know they have no place in Gale and Marge's marriage. But they can only stay away from each other for so long, genuinely struggle without each other, and eventually give in.

Marge is thrilled. Sees the difference in Gale immediately and John is a very entertaining house guest. Except there are these tense moments that she puts down to shared memories of over in Europe.

However, she wakes one night to an empty bed and goes searching for Gale. She sees the door to John's bedroom open and sneaks up to peek inside. And she sees them.

It's not a sweet peck or gentle embrace. Gale is in John's lap and John is holding him so tight it has to hurt, and they kiss like they're purging something, furious and angry and hurting.

Marge heads back to bed in a daze. Pretends to be asleep when Gale returns. She spends the next few days thinking about what she saw. There is hurt, but it takes her a while to realise it's not because Gale kissed John: it's because he didn't tell her about his feelings for the other man. They promised honesty and communication even-especially-when it was hardest, and at the first hurdle it feels like Gale let her down.

It's awful at home, because John and Gale won't look at each other, won't look at her, and she has no idea what to do but she has to do something because she can't take it anymore.

So she confronts them. Gale is instantly apologetic, begging her for another chance. But John? John doesn't say anything. Gets up from the chair, heads up stairs and doesn't come down for several minutes. When he does he has his suitcase in his hand.

And despite just begging Marge for forgiveness, Gale's face crumples when he sees it, and John looks a him sorrier than she's ever seen anything.

John just whispers a very quiet "I'm sorry" before he walks out the door.

And Marge is stuck still for a minute because she doesn't know what else to do. Doesn't know how to tell her husband that she wishes he had just talked to her, and doesn't know how to explain it to herself why she's not angrier about everything.

But then the door snaps shut she snaps out of it and rushes out the door after John. He's got long legs but he's not rushing so she catches up and grabs the edge of his suitcase and holds on to stop him from going anywhere. He tries to take it back and they end up it a tug-of-war until John can't take it.

"Jesus, Marge! I'm trying to do the right thing here! Let go!"

"Like hell!" And she tears the suitcase out his hand and rushes back inside with it, so John has no choice but to follow.

When Gale sees them come back inside, he looks equal parts miserable and hopeful and Marge throws down John's suitcase and finally erupts, points the finger at both of them, saying things like, "Why didn't you tell me?!", and "You're supposed to be my friend. You're my husband - and you lied!"

They stand there and take it, but neither of them are getting the fact that it was keeping her in the dark that's upset her so badly. So she changes track. Holds Gale's hand and says,

"You trust me or you don't. Which is it?"

He trusts her. More than anyone; more than himself.

So she kisses him and hears John's breath hitch on something sad sounding, and then she turns to him, takes his hand and leans up and kisses him too.

She admits to them then and there, she doesn't know what this is, or how she feels, or how anything is supposed to work, but if they want to be together, all they needed to do was be honest with her. The rest they can figure out.

And that's as far as I can think today! Thanks for sending in the ask 😊

[call-me-chips]

I have gone through every mha character (minus most movie characters cuz I havent watched the movies) to give you:

Every throwable/puntable/shovable mha character + how I'd like to throw/punt/shove them

For some reason, this concept is really entertaining for me to think about. I've srsly been hyperfixating on this for the last few days xD

Izuku: Not very throwable, but I feel like he's very... trippable?? Just like, swing your foot and trip him so he thuds on the floor. Wouldn't wanna do anything more in fear of breaking all his bones tho

Bakugou: Idk, I just want to slam him against several walls. Just grab his arm and spin him in circles and launch him against a concrete wall

Iida: Not the most throwable character, but I'd definitely like to throw him if he says it's not allowed. I feel like he'd be good for a light toss

Kaminari: Throwing him overhand into a trampoline to watch him bounce and flail around

Sero: ... This one's tricky, cuz ik he's shovable in some way... hmmm... I feel like I wanna lightly push him while he's standing on some really slippery ice so he struggles for a while just to maintain balance

Aoyama: This guy is so throw-down-a-long-flight-of-stairs-able

Min*ta: Every way possible, I'm punting it. Punt it into the sun. Punt it into a cage of alligators. Punt it into some glass so it breaks and gets in its eyes. Punt it off a building. Punt it into a building. Punt it out of a 30 story building so it lands on the hard concrete sidewalk. As well as that, I would like to put him into a grape juicer and extract his grape juices and pour it all into a sewage drain, but that's unrelated

Monoma: Part of me wants to throw him up into the air and just not catch him. He just go thud

Kuroiro: I want to pick him up over my head and throw him into a shadow so he just merges right into it. You don't even get to see him hit the floor, just merge. Smooth landing

Kinoko: I feel like throwing her into a boiling pot of stew would be nice

Pony: I shall grab her by her horns, spin her around, then send her flying. To nowhere in particular, just fling her as far as possible

Jurota: Part of me wants to put him into a large, spinning tube and watch him bounce and roll around in it like a giant hamster with no depth perception

Shouda: I forgot what he looked like, so I googled him, and his little loser face is SO puntable. I want to punt him into a freezing cold pool for no reason

Manga: I'd def throw him around to see what onomatopoeias he'd make

Inasa: Similar to Bakugou, I feel like whamming him into some walls would be nice

Seiji: I want to grab him by the arm and swing him in circles over my head and let go so he goes flying into the air and bounces on the floor

Mei: I feel like she'd be good to abruptly push off a ladder

Kota: I wanna throw him, but I also don't wanna hurt him, but he's so throwable, but he's but a wee fetus. I shall compromise and chuck him into a ball pit

Bibimi: I want to throw her straight up, much much higher than I'd throw Monoma, and watch her fall back down and splat on the hard ground

Dadan: No idea who this is, never seen him before, but I wanna chuck him into a vat of acid

All Might: In muscle form, I'm ramming him into a door like a human battering ram. In true form, I'm pushing him down a short flight of stairs

Gran Torino: Wanna punt him in his old man ribs and send him flying

Hizashi: He seems like he should be very throwable, but weirdly enough, I don't think he is. I do, however, wanna place two vertical trampolines on either side of him and have him bounce wildly between them

Nezu: I wanna punt him into the sun. Someone can hold him in place like a football and I'll run up and just punt

Endeavour: I would really like to shove him head first into a metal garbage can and roll him down a comically long hill while his children, wife, and Hawks get to watch

Hawks: I want to shove him off a tall building and watch him just kinda fall to the ground

Backdraft: Another one I'd like to shove down a long flight of stairs

Shigaraki: Taking his little face hands and hurling them at him like a game of dodgeball where I have all the ammo. He will try to run away but I will get him

Dabi: I have no idea how he's throwable, but he's throwable in some way. I also wanna trip him

Twice: Bapping him around the room like a cat playfully bapping with their paw

Magne: Idk why, but she's kinda slappable to me. Just like 360 slap her in the face

Stain: Grabbing him by his scarf and whipping him around, slamming him into objects and walls (possibly stabbing him with his swords as well)

Moonfish: I HATE this thing. It would be so easy to grab his legs and violently throw him around and watching as his pathetic little armless frame flails around. I will break all his teeth and then his bones. One my one.

Setsuno: I would very much like to overhandedly throw him off a 1 story building so he breaks his leg and cries pathetically

Mimic: PUNT THAT MOTHAFUCKA-

Tabe: Oh yeah, this guy is so yeetable. Just grab him and yeet him and watch his arms and legs flail around wildly

Skeptic: The post that started it all...

Gentle criminal: Yk those tube/chute things that you'll see being used in construction sites to carry garbage from the building down to a dumpster? Those things?? I want to kick Gentle in the crotch hard enough that he falls over backwards into that chute and falls into the dumpster at the bottom. Saying that makes it sound like I hate Gentle but I really don't lol

La Brava: I want to grab her and condense her into a ball and hurl her hard into that same tube

Koku: This one's a tough one, but I kinda wanna just,, push him to he falls backwards and lands on his butt

Wild pussycats: Yk how when Team Rocket gets defeated, they'll blast off together and just fly into the sun? Yeah, I wanna do that to them

I hope this was as entertaining for you to read as it was for me to write :3

[imhere-imqueer-ilikedeer]

Respawn Denied Species Worldbuilding (Species Building? idk)

Since a lot of these guys have some headcanons of mine, I figured I'd make it all into a post so yall could see what I'm talking about when I mention the species :)

Blaze-Borns (Tango Tek)

Pretty standard by fandom standards. Fire hair and fire resistance. Only lore that's specific to my au is that their magic fire is very resistent to outside magic, and it'll literally just burn it out of a blaze's body.

Syrens (Jimmy and Lizzie)

They have legs okay. Essentially humans with some scales and fins (depends on the syren. Jimmy had fins around his ears, Lizzie has them on her ears and her arms. And of course Jimmy's are cod scales and Lizzie's are blue.) Syrens in this world have deadly singing that, unlike irl myths, kill just by hearing, instead of by luring. Unfortunately, they also kill the syrens who sing it. This has led to some natural selection which means Respawners are more common in syrens.

Tanukis (Joel)

(yes I got inspiration from melloz heist shut up /lh). These guys are raccoon dogs like in the Japanese myths, however I have ascribed many of my own headcanons to this world's tanukis. First of all, theyre shapeshifters. Technically their true form is a raccoon, but these guys often have a most comfortable form they spend most their time in. For instance, Joel's is his human form which has a raccoon tail and ears. Tanukis are known for being cheeky buggers. In my au, they can only turn into things of the animal kingdom, and only have one form per species. This is why Joel is short, despite wishing he was tall.

Shapeshifters (Mumbo Jumbo)

You'd think this is similar to Tanukis, wouldn't you? (this is an actual dilemma I had which forced me to come up with differences lol) So, unlike tanukis, Shapeshifters can turn into inanimate objects as well. They also have the ability to change their form within a species. So if Mumbo wanted to be taller, he could be. He could also be a teapot, or a bridge, or a tree, or a clock, or you get the idea.

Guardian-Borns (Scott and Martyn)

These guys are quite similar to syrens, but also not. For one, no deadly singing. They are also more accoustemed to deeper, colder waters, while syrens prefer shallower, warmer waters. They are very protective and driven, and are excellent fighters, on land and in water. They also have to be in water more often, while syrens can go a long time.

Shades (Etho and Cub)

This is what yall voted for, a headcanon that I am not even kidding when I say I made it up in 20 minutes. Essentially, a Shade is a person decended from Phantoms. They're usually nocturnal, but don't have to be. They have white hair like the underside of a phantom, and green blood (Why does Cub not have white hair, I hear you ask? Well, he's being dramatic. He died it). The longer it's been since you've slept, the more it hurts to get punched by one of these guys (this means if you havent slept in ages, Etho can oneshot you into next week).

Centaurs (Gem)

Pretty standard as centaur headcanons go. Expert fighters, very robust and hard to kill. Can have different animal legs, Gem's is a deer, but it's not really explored in my au. Also she has a *wicked* kick.

Whatever the fuck is going on with Cleo

Cleo's technically a human, but she has this weird thing where each time they die a part of themself dies, essentially slowly turning them into a zombie. She can detach those parts of herself, and it makes Mumbo throw up lol.

Non-notable species/people

these guys have basic headcanons/ don't show up in this particular story, but may in future.

Grian: avian (surely I don't need to explain it to you, its the most basic headcanon there is)

Scar: Vex

Bdubs: plant guy. I honestly don't even know whats happened there, he's just plants.

Ren: Dog man (?) (also not relevant in this part of the au, along with martyn)

Skizz: angel

Impulse: demon

BigB: creaking, not relevant in this part of the au

and of course, the fic itself.

[ominous-faechild]

✦ Writer Questionnaire 2 ✦

Thanks for the tag, @the-golden-comet! (And @the-letterbox-archives tagging me when I was almost done here, haha)

Heads-up! Long post!

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine!

Two months ago to the date actually??? Or, at least, that's when I first uploaded a story here. My first actual Writeblr post was me hopping in on an open tag on the 6th of June, haha. I thought it was just a month, but looks like the summer's gone by in a flash! 😭

What led you to create it?

So, I'm a writer on Tapas! I'd been attempting to social network on other social medias (twitter and bluesky) but wasn't getting anywhere, didn't like the general formats, and uh... I'm sure I don't have to explain why I don't want to touch Twitter with a 10-foot-pole anymore. Let's just say, if you haven't seen, it's just as bad as (if not worse than) everyone says. Anyhow, I'd seen lots of Tumblr short stories on other platforms and started investigating what it's like here. Didn't know what "Writeblr" was or that it even existed, but eventually stumbled into the field after posting my short story. Thanks, @darkandstormydolls! ❤️

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

How supportive everyone is??? Like omg you guys are so sweet, idk how to take it. Also I love seeing how much passion everyone else has for their writing, haha.

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

Uhhhh, I think I'm pretty open about the things I'd like people to know about me, haha. I never mean to offend, so if I accidentally say something wrong, please tell me! I'm autistic and very dumb.

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

I'm ngl I keep meaning to build out my followed tags for my fandoms, haha. The only fandoms I really see things for are TMAGP (10/10, TMA is my obsession. I am obsessed. It is one of my Special Interests and I love it with all my heart) and House of the Dragon??? Except I'm not even a fan of HotD??? So that's kinda annoying, haha. (Aka, my fandom stuff, but that's on me.)

WIP it Good

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

Rising From the Ashes, tragically. (Because it's one of the LAST things I should be working on right now, haha.) Otherwise, I'm of course always obsessed with the Arcane Rifts. Then I force myself to be obsessed with Sun and Shadow, though it's slowly growing on me, haha.

How long have you been working on them?

Haha, so I've historically jumped around a lot in working on different things, so these are approximate guesstimations!

Rising From the Ashes has likely had 3 or 4 years put into it/the characters. If you include the Calamity Crew (which overlaps with it in the timeline and originally ended up merging with the cast of RFtA), I'd say definitely 4 years!

The Arcane Rifts has had 5 years put into it.

Sun and Shadow is very new; I'd say it probably only has about 4 months of work in it? It's part of why I'm less interested in it, haha. Less I've put into it and less I'm attached to.

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

Oh... oh dear. How could you ask me this??? 😭😭😭

Rising From the Ashes has existed since, I think, 2016. It started (tragically) as an RP starter on Google+. I wish I was kidding.

To those unaware of how it worked in that space (and likely similar ones to this day), you'd post a starter and people would join in with their own characters. 99% of the time, they'd drop out before long. However, I'd work out details of the characters in the process and carry that info over into the worldbuilding. I eventually stopped RPing with the masses and settled down with a single "partner" who I'll call Kris.

She's the one who stole my docs.

The Arcane Rifts technically originated as another RP starter? It never got attention, though, and instead my ideas for it simply carried over into the worldbuilding in general.

One of the characters of the original starter was important in the worldbuilding. It was not a character you see in the early books of tAR, though, so don't bother trying to figure it out. But, since he was so important, his origins were also important.

The Arcane Rifts started in 2019, as I wanted to make a story building out said character's origins. It was originally going to be a duology, the first book being Gene's backstory and the second being how Gene and The Other Guy's lives intertwined. (No, they were not gay for each other! 😂) It's since changed a lot, and focuses basically exclusively on Gene, haha. The last book in the series will probably be focused on the other character, though!

Sun and Shadow started for a romance novel competition on Tapas which has since ended. I didn't get to finish it in time for a lot of reasons, but I primarily cite stress and exhaustion from working full time at a physically-intensive job. It grew shockingly quickly and I had some fans donate to me related to it, so I'm kinda forced to work on it, haha. Dw--I like it! It's just harder to work on for a number of reasons, haha.

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

Tragic, the questions you're asking me--

It depends, haha. I'm autistic and hyperfixate a lot. Also, for one, that's a suuuuuper vague question??? Like what do you mean "how much time"--how much time within the day? How often in general? Idk, man, haha.

I think about the Arcane Rifts a LOT!

I've put an incredible amount of time and effort into it, and I'm in love with 90% of the characters there. Even the background characters have had a lot of work put into them, getting relatively fleshed-out backstories to make their motives understandable (even if not agreeable!), and I love them all so much, haha.

Except Katerina. She's a bitch.

I also think about Rising From the Ashes a good amount, and it's invaded my brain again lately, haha.

I took a step away from RFtA and basically all of my other stories late 2021 when Kris (my ex-writing partner) and I had a falling out. It was incredibly difficult for me emotionally to look at anything I worked with her on, and obviously RFtA was a huge one (actually, tAR was the only thing of my early works she had nothing to do with). Since early this year, I've finally been able to work on it again and it's been incredibly fun removing her stuff, actually!

I think all that is a good part of why I keep randomly getting obsessed with it again, haha. It's like looking at old friends (the characters, not Kris) and being all "omg??? I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN FOREVER??? PLEASE TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU'VE BEEN UP TO!!!" except it's removing Kris's stuff, haha.

I think about Sun and Shadow a lot more than you might expect with how much I talk about not preferring it, haha. I love the characters! Crow and, actually, Valyarus especially. They're both super interesting characters, and I'll randomly find my brain working out scenes between characters interacting with them.

(The problem with SaS is that, as a book, it's incredibly different from my usual works. It's a small cast of Frey/Crow and technically Daleira, while most of my stories focus on larger casts. It makes for a VERY different experience, and so it's a lot harder to work on)

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

Actually, I've got a ready answer for this one! Until SaS, I was dedicating my time to the Arcane Rifts and had prepared the answer:

Percy Jackson meets Lord of the Rings in a steampunk fantasy world full of ✨mysteries waiting to be uncovered✨

(I'd say the "mysteries waiting to be uncovered" part ironically/accidentally mockingly most of the time, whoops, haha. I always feel awkward advertising my works.)

It was awkward when people would get actually interested in it from there and ask more questions, haha.

To clarify: that's my tagline for the Arcane Rifts! The story has gods and demigods messing with mortals, using them as their playthings and being REALLY immature babies because they don't really face consequences for their actions like PJ. Then, it's a lot more "grounded yet fantastical" like LotR, where magic is kinda infused with reality and yet you still have issues like starving to death and whatnot.

Let’s Rotate Blorbos

Name any characters you created.  Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

UHHHH THERE'S A LOT TO LIST???

Try this for a taste! These are just the guys I've gotten colors for!

Freya, Crow, Daleira, Valyarus, Grimnir, Soren, Gene, Tazin, Mislav, Adilzhan, Ludmila, Rada, Caspar, Nikolai, Gennadi, Oska, Rieka, Liesel, Carmin, Nora, Sammy, Kieva, Caron, Varik, Elazi, Riaan, Roman, and Tiberius! (Though Tib is getting a name change sooner or later)

Who’s the most unhinged?

Unhinged in which way? There's a lot of options there, haha.

I'm going to give honorary mentions to Valyarus, Gene in the later books, Tazin, Rieka, Gennadi, and Tiberius ! (Why does it not surprise me that most unhinged characters are from tAR? 🤣 Also I swear it's a coincidence most of the unhinged characters are red.)

(... Probably.)

In general, I'd say that, incredibly ironically, the Existence of Order is the most unhinged of all my characters. She's just incredible at hiding it.

(Tbf half of the Existentials probably belong on the "unhinged" list anyway but eh. They still don't compare to Order!)

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

I'm going to give this as a tie between Gene and Sammy!

Gene has my 'tisms and just about all of my trauma, so we have a lot in common, whoops, haha. Also there's a... very specific detail about his character that makes him easier to write in general. It's just a major spoiler. 👀

Similarly and actually identically to Gene in some ways, while Sammy has a lot in common with me, he's also incredibly perceptive! (Although we don't share that fact.)

Due to the way I write, their analytical natures allow for them to spit straight facts about the worldbuilding and the people around them rather than beating around the bush, haha. Both are highly investigative, try to learn and understand everything around them, and notice small details other characters wouldn't! It makes it much easier for me to write, because uh... well here's an example of what my outlines look like.

Long story short: I include a lot of detail which I then transfer into the POV's character narration, cutting out details which they wouldn't notice or think about, haha. In Sammy's case (which that scene has Sammy as the narrator/POV character), very little information gets cut out because he's so perceptive!

(Here, as a treat--have another example!)

(In this scene, Nikolai is the narrator. Even the outline gets "filtered" to mirror the characters' way of thinking--like it's Nikolai himself seeing Caspar as "doll-like". The crossed-out stuff is details I most likely won't mention, but noted for myself, haha. I do the same thing if/when including details about the motives and thoughts of non-narrator characters.)

Do you ever cringe at them?

Gene and Sammy?

A B S O L U T E L Y .

Gene is a wreck in basically every way and desperately needs help (that he won't get until he meets Dimitry). As much as I love him, there's a lot of moments where you just can't help but wince and be all "shit, did you REALLY have to do/say that?"

Sammy on the other hand? He's a terrified, control freak manipulator who panics the moment he feels like he's losing control of a situation. It can be painful to watch, even if simultaneously fascinating.

How much control do you feel you have over your characters?  AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others?

I explicitly go out of my way to add backstory to and develop each and every one of my characters until they "write themselves", haha.

I want my characters to feel like real people, so I do my absolute best to make them as real as possible. (That's part of why tAR is so massive...)

Special shoutout to Dimitry here, btw. Dude COMPLETELY screwed over the planned and intended from the earliest days path of the Arcane Rifts. I've mentioned before that Gene is villain-coded, yeah? Want to know why?

Because he was MEANT to be one! Then Dimitry had to come along, be the sweetest, nicest fucking person around to Gene while he was going through the worst part of his life, and keep Gene from slipping off the deep end!

MITRY, YOU PIECE OF--

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc.

I absolutely love, love, love!!! people asking questions about my characters!!! 🥰

I would absolutely prefer them as Asks sent to me, and especially would prefer if separate subjects/questions were sent in separate Asks! Like, say you were going to ask me about Gene and Dimitry. I'd rather two separate Asks, one asking for whatever you wanted to know about Gene and another for whatever you wanted to know about Dimitry, haha. However, if you wanted to ask a single question about both, that obviously is fine as a single Ask!

On writeblr engagement

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes?

I definitely scope out before I follow, yes.

I choose based primarily on the personality of the person behind the blog, but the WIPs/vibes can also have an influence on my decision, haha. I'd rather follow people with kind/supportive personalities, and I'll eventually start liking their stories even if they're not initially my thing!

What makes you decide against following?

Bigotry. Moment I see it, I'm on the lookout for even the slightest hint of more and, if I see it, I'm OUT!

(That includes things like: homophobia, transphobia, TERFs, ableism, racism, xenophobia, etc.)

Also, while I include angst in my stories, the people who are big on "I have nothing but bad stuff in my writing and I'm proud" are, uh... not on my "follow" list. While they can write what they want and enjoy it, grimdark is not my thing. Angst is best in moderation and I very purposely control the amount of it in my life.

(Also Kris's--my ex writing partner's--obsession with "grimdark-ness" is a good part of why I'm so ecstatic to remove her stuff from my writing. Yes, I've tried it. For years. I hated it. Please and thank you. Also note that I proudly call myself an evil writer, so it's not like I don't love angst, it's just--moderation. Seriously.)

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Yes! I think a good 50-30% of my interactions are with non-moots, haha. I go out of my way to try to support my moots, but I'll definitely share support with anything that catches my attention, no matter who it's from!

To be fair, though, I think a majority of non-moots I interact with are on my mental "probably going to follow soon" list. I can be slow to make decisions, haha. It doesn't help that I try being active with my moots, so I'm trying to avoid growing that list too quickly!

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

Haha, depends what you mean by that? My brain is definitely too full of my own characters to have any space for anyone else's, but I definitely do think of others' characters at times! There's plenty of y'alls characters I really like, haha.

Just... omg, my hyperfixated AuDHD brain refuses to focus on anything except for the Hyperfixation of the Moment™.

This was a huge one! Hopefully I'm not screaming into the void with this one, or you guys enjoy finding out more about me and my WIPs.

If you're curious about the reason this is labeled Writer Questionnaire 2... well guess what!

Tagging (gently! This is a lot, haha): @honeybewrites @yourpenpaldee @paeliae-occasionally @mysticstarlightduck @illarian-rambling @.darkandstormydolls (tagged you earlier in the post haha) + open tags!

Divider from @cafekitsune!

[notnights]

your gangle cosplay is really cool, do you have any tips for someone trying to make their own?

Thank you! I appreciate it. And it depends on what you're going for with it! I've seen a lot of different Gangle cosplayers with different interpretations which are creative and fun to make I imagine! So I can't really advise any specifics on crafting etc since I don't know what you're going for.

For me when I cosplay I want to get as "accurate" as I can with the character design. I unfortunately am not very good at sewing and shaping and stuff but you can see that didn't stop me, I made it as well as I could. And Gangle is obviously one of the more difficult characters I've ever decided to cosplay so wasn't ever going to be accurate with her unless I did like... a puppet method or something. (From my understanding this falls under the "creature" cosplay category?)

Idk if these will help at all, but it's good to start with visualizing ideas you want to try for before hand:

Ideas for a Navi, Bill Cipher and Gir from Invader ZIM cosplays that went no where.

Thinking outside the box also helps in the sense of, other forms of crafting, skills or items, you wouldn't think to use might help with what you're making!

Examples:

I used fursuit methods to help build my NiGHTS cosplay, I also used quilting methods to help make Gangle's ribbon limbs.

When making Circus Baby I wanted an exhaust fan that actually spun, turns out there are plenty of tutorials on how to make your own fidget spinners so used that method to make a light weight one out of cardboard and pennies for that piece! When making Gangle 2.0 to keep the shape I wanted to infuse wire into the edges of the ribbon limbs. The best method for this would have been to hand sew floral wire to an extra piece of fabric with fishing wire, then sew that one in with the edges of the the limbs. I however was only 1 and a half week away from a con and still had a ton of pieces to finish so I got a bunch of cheap wired ribbon, and infused those inside the limbs. (Kept the shape well enough but I'm at the point where I want to remake them again lol.)

Instead of using traditional adhesives like hot glue, maybe something like silicon adhesive can be used and other more hardware based unities can be used. Hardware stuff in general helps. Similar stuff they sell at craft stores can often be found cheaper at hardware stores. I've had the benefit that my father is a handyman so I grew up with a lot of that tool usage, and loved going to hardware stores with him because sometimes I'd find something that would make me be like "WAIT I CAN USE THIS For that art project I've been trying to do."

This admittedly also comes from my doll customization hobby, which believe it or not, has a lot of power tool usage to make those pretty little dolls! Some of these things I used for my Gangle. Making cute ribbon outfits or bows for dolls, you have to burn the edges of the ribbon you've cut, least it fray (in Gangle 1.0. each ribbon you see has been lovely burnt by candle LOL) when Gangle 2.0's ribbon fabric it would run after getting snagged on stuff, I made a "sealer" I'd use for making doll wigs. Watered down glue (this case Modge podge because its already watery) and painted it over any places that would receive a lot of friction as the solution admitted made the satin a tiny bit duller so didn't want to paint the whole thing with it.

Sometimes you can use the methods/shapes from existing clothing to help you make what you want. When I made my NiGHTS cosplay I found a little decorative halloween jester hat which I used as a reference to make a pattern for NiGHTS' hat/horns.

Speaking of, and also in relation to that hardware thing. Thrift shops are a great way to find random pieces of stuff you think can help with your project especially if they're going to be items you cut up/modify anyways. I wanted the illusion of floating when making my NiGHTS and musing about a Tatsumaki cosplay so wanted to use tacky clear platform heels to make it happen lol. And thrift shops have a ton of used shoes. I only needed the platform part and remove the straps so didn't need anything brand new. While I didn't find clear ones at the time I did find other platforms that helped with my NiGHTS, the feet were so big on the costume it shadowed the heels anyways and kept the illusion. (bonus concept of that Tatsumaki idea)

When I needed a squeaker for a cosplay piece I just bought a 99 cent dog toy and disemboweled it for one. In the same kind of "cheat" I just got a wielding mask, removed the mask part, and attached my Gangle mask to it to make a way method to take it on and off.

Anyways that was a lot of examples, but they're times when my dumb dumb brain was like "wait!!! I don't have to do this the hard way and get what I'm looking for!!" and it saved me from said hard way of getting what I wanted.

[ordinarymaine]

My horizon #thoughts under the cut

I REALLY liked it. I really really really liked it. It's been SO long since a new game (as in one I havent played before) grabbed me the way horizon did.

my 'final' playtime and time to 100% basegame is 56 hours, and a lot of those sessions were like 3-8 hours long at a time LOL at one point I stopped playing well after midnight and stood up and my back cracked like a glowstick. its been FOREVER since I've been able to play a game for that length of time, and be engaged with the entire time, too. even when I'd stop playing I couldn't wait to go back to it.

There were some things I didn't really like about it, but to honest they're very Nitpicky so idk if they really count. the controls and overall way the game played kicked the shit out of me at some points (WHY ARE THE CLIMBING LEDGES SO HARD TO SEE) but overall, even if I took a weeks break from the game, I could come back and easily slip back into it, whereas with a lot of other games if I stop playing them I have to relearn the controls. so that was nice!

I had my share of glitches and bugs, usually visual or graphics related, which idk if thats just my computer or whatever, but they werent game breaking, just funny. in the last hour all of aloy's body apart from her head disappeared twice which never happened before this session so I was a bit :clueless: about that I hope that doesnt mean anything 😭😭

I really REALLY love the world building and the lore. the pre-canon lore of the metal world is FASCINATING to me. I will admit I don't care as much for the worldbuilding in the games current timeline, like. I don't think I more than quickly scanned the glyphs, as opposed to the datapoints, where I read every single one. and I think that's because the current setting of the game feels very similar to a fantasy game to me at points, and as someone who does not like fantasy, my brain just didn't really latch onto it. I DO however love scifi, so the metal world lore had my full attention

the faro plague storyline was gripping, and they really nailed the feeling of hopelessness and the severity of the situation. I was on the edge of my seat collecting every datapoint and hologram for the main quests and I WAS sat like this 👇 for a lot of it but I LOVED learning about it

Love aloy. love erend. love varl. love talanah. love vanasha. love a lot of the supporting cast I LOVE elisabeth and i love gaia and i love whatever they have. that woman and the ai she created are lesbian lovers to me.

I still have yet to play frozen wilds, I dipped my toes into a little bit so I could mod my spear, but I dont know much about it. I'm VERY excited to play forbidden west, and the steam sale is? soon?? so I'm gonna pick it up then >:) but overall yeah. I really liked this game a lot

[nalyra-dreaming]

In response to this ask: https://www.tumblr.com/nalyra-dreaming/765370193149034496/hey-nalyra-i-was-wondering-does-lestat-have-a

Considering the obvious plans of having the amc series interact with each other at some point I would really like one of the Mayfair witches to have a best friend thing with Lestat. Rowan, since she's already been established and if I'm not mistaken has a fling with Lestat too. Since that whole ass arc has been deleted they could insert her in another way and then have her go back to the MW and have this off screen friendship with Les.

Or Merrick, since he seems to care for her. Instead of killing her off they could keep her and make her a supporting character for the Loustat vs talamasca mess and then have her transition to MW.

Or, if we want to avoid all of that crossover bother, Jesse could be nice. The roots for a friendship with Lestat are there from the qotd movie, as ass as it was. She too would be a nice addition to the Loustat vs talamasca arc Rolin seems to want to make. But who knows. Thoughts?

To be honest I get OP for the question because it's really sad for Lestat to never have a bestie that is just his. Reading fanfics especially, Daniel is always Louis' token bestie while Lestat is always kind of there, alone, or with Armand as a sort of friend which, idk. It’s something that makes you realize just how isolated Lestat, besides Louis, is, and I think a friend that is just his, or is friends with everyone else but very obviously chooses him as a bestie, like Daniel for Louis, would be very nice. So l'd love to know who'd you think would be the perfect fanfic bestie or future bestie for Lestat, since we’re here :)

It would be nice if the show would choose to build up Jesse, Merrick or Rowan, yes, especially, since we can always use more vampiresses or witches, right?^^.

That said, I don't quite see Rowan or Merrick there. IF one of them, then Jesse. He trusts Jesse, and meets with her and David later on, that could be easily be built on (and yes, the movie, I mean... *coughs*).

However, I chewed a bit on this and... I think Lestat could find a real friend - a real friend - in Gregory (Gregory Duff Collingsworth).

Gregory seems to "see" him, in the books at least. It will be interesting if they introduce him in the show, but in the books Gregory is a true ancient, but very much rooted in humanity, and navigating it successfully. And he also cares for Lestat, and offers support, he knows when Lestat needs it, too. I think that there is something there that could be true friendship, eventually. With benefits even, since Gregory shares his blood with Lestat, but for some reason it's not... "that" level.

Gregory is also the head of the pharmaceutical empire that Fareed is also working in/using later on... since Fareed has already been introduced as a doctor I am quite tickled by the possibilities, tbh.

And, agreed - Lestat could use a friend.

And Gregory would be on his level later on - and also laid back enough - to be that.

So, after mulling this over for a while :), I'm going with Gregory, for book canon.

But I'd also like Jesse. I wonder if we'll see her at the end of season 3, since she is at Lestat's concert, too. And later on she'd definitely be on a similar level, too. So...

(Ugh, I cannot wait what the show might do. :))

[inkblackorchid]

Hello it is me, I am back again with weird questions the necessity of which remains questionable but I thought if there was one person in this entire world that cared, it would be you.

So, I rewatched the last episode of 5Ds again recently because I missed the kids and wanted to look at them all grown up again and at the beginning of the episode we get the little glimpse into Doctor Aki’s life. The camera pans over a (presumably) German city before it halts on a large building (clinic).

I had to do a double take and then google because the city seemed familiar and I came to the conclusion that it looked an odd amount like the German university city Heidelberg. (I attached pictures of the camera shot — sorry for the quality I was watching on Crunchyroll and couldn’t take any screenshots — I also attached images of Heidelberg (admittedly specifically chosen to resemble the camera shot to illustrate my point LMAO).

Characteristic for the town of Heidelberg is the river with its bridges — from what I know about it anyways. There’s also a church that, while not unique for German towns, super basic architectural structure imo (at least from afar, I looked it up and the art historians disagree with me, say it’s super unique, which actually makes my hypothesis stronger)— looks almost exactly like the one in Heidelberg. The way it is situated towards the river is all wrong, but it still seems like a weird coincidence.

Now, I am not saying Aki is IN Heidelberg (the 5ds town looks significantly larger than Heidelberg), however I am saying that I think it’s possible the person in charge of this shot may have looked at pictures of Heidelberg to inspire the town Aki goes to. Which is a crazy coincidence either way because (and you’re probably aware of that, Orchid, since you live in Germany, right?) Heidelberg is known for having the oldest and most prestigious medicine faculty in the country. I also looked up what the uni clinic looked like and it looks nothing like the building in the 5ds camera pan, but hey, a girl can dream :/

Idk if I want to believe they actually did that on purpose because it would be super obscure but once again: it would be so cool if they did and as someone who’s spend a considerable amount of time comparing (German) anime towns to the towns they’re inspired by, I love picking up on these things

"Person who cares about 5Ds-related questions whose necessity is questionable" is a title I'll happily accept, frame, and hang on my mantelpiece, thank you.

That said, well, I'll be damned! That church specifically feels like a very strong indicator that, at the very least, an animator referenced Heidelberg to get a feel for what a German city looks like here. There's also the option that it is meant to be Heidelberg, of course, in which case I'd probably go as far as saying they intentionally "futurised" (as in, enlarged) it a bit to fit 5Ds' general, futuristic vibe a little better. I could also see the nod to Heidelberg, specifically, being intentional because honestly, it'd make sense for Aki to end up there. Her parents would have definitely sent her to the most prestigious medical university they could have come up with, and we all know our girl would shine there. So maybe this isn't a coincidence, maybe someone who's interested in Germany snuck that in as a kind of nod to the city. Either way, I salute your detective work, because this particular similarity would have otherwise eluded me! (Probably because I do not, in fact, live in Germany. You're close, though!)

[nerves-nebula]

!!!!!!! IVE FINDALLY FOUND A FELLOW MANDELA CATALOG DISLIKER

I've been into the ARG/Unfiction genre since like. 2015. And literally I've understood the hype around almost every unfiction project to some degree, EXCEPT for Mandela catalogue. Like. I've never understood the hype. Maybe it's just because I found it to feel very formulaic but like. Some of the faces used for this that are meant to be slightly unsettling are just,, not perfectly proportional and are badly lit?? Like literally that's it. Like there are real people who look like that. Fix the lighting and it's just gonna look like your neighbor of something. It's not very scary

But also like, for real? On your points abt how the series itself gives off A Lot if proto-fascistic messaging,

when I first watched it I was like "oh! That's the point! This is abt how fascist governments use media like TV to influence and misinform the public in service to facism and paranoia. Like these doppelgangers aren't actually real! They're just made up boogiemen to incentivize the public to turn on their neighbors/to attack people who are disfigured or disabled" and I thought that I finally was maybe getting why people found it interesting and that I had judged it too harshly

And then it wasn't that and instead was like "yeah no. There IS a secret boogeyman group who aren't (side eye to that) who are gonna steal your children via television (even Bigger side eye), and nearly off of them are just like, slightly photoshopped pictures of Real People but now they're just disfigured/disabled/literally just slightly non proportional features

This series could be very cool, but its just a thematic mess and is (intentionally or not) communicating a lot of facistic/eugenic sentiments

Idk if this anon is well phrased but like. You're so right it's unreal

-Gonzo

HAHAHHHHH YESSSS. YESSSSS. ITS SUCH A MESSSS.

LIKE. what is the POINT. half the "scary" ppl look like someone I'd see on the bus. the intruder looks like the homeless guy who asked me for bus fair a while back.

CRUCIALLY I don't think any of the bigotry was intentional, however it's SO thoroughly interwoven into Alex's worldview and the world he's created that it's like. at the fucking center of everything. it's insane to me how full grown adults analyze it on youtube and somehow manage to do that without comparing and compiling all the tropes it uses to make its point (whatever it's point even IS)

whenever me & my friend talk about it we somehow manage to keep tripping into different kinds of bigotry!! we'll be talking about ableism and how Adam's arc is very similar to many changeling tropes, which were (and to some extent still are, see: Star Children/Indigo Children) often used to abuse neurodivergent or mentally ill/disabled children. and we'll realize that Adam arc ALSO mirrors the Tragic Mulatto storyline too and it's like wow!! Two in one! you've done it so bad!!

a lot of the issues with it are small little things that could be excused as a coincidence- EXCEPT THERE'S SO MANY LITTLE THINGS THAT IT BECOMES IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE.

it's like- ok imagine this: you're having an interaction with someone and they do a microaggression at you, right? not outwardly bigoted, just kind of ignorant. and you're like, ok. fine. nobody is perfect, they probably didn't mean any harm. it's not worth kicking up a fuss about.

but if it keeps happening EVERY SINGLE TIME you talk to this person, it starts to build inside you and it's like. it's hard to even say why you hate them because you'd need to drag out every shitty tiny thing they've said and at that point you feel like maybe you're just being petty- BUT IT'S NOT PETTY IF IT HAPPENS EVERY SINGLE TIME AAA

ok sorry i started writing an essay again. i think my bud's gonna like this tho he's gonna be so happy other people did actually notice

[quincyhorst]

...Realized I've never developed on this (oopsie), so I'll do it now:

Under the cut for good measure.

Jorge -> La Pampa. I swear but from the first time I saw the guy, I inmediately got vibes from the gauchos, basically the pampa's cowboys. If not I can only picture him coming from a very rural place overall, so many parts of Buenos Aires also do suit him. Being honest, La Pampa is like our equivalent of USA's Ohio, where not even god knows what even happens there. There's also alien jokes here in there. Whenever we went through La Pampa all I could see was rheas, so I'm sure Jorge had some encounters with them. They're so cute, specially when sorrounded by their babies...

Teres -> CABA. He's porteño to me, 100%. I feel like I should clarify, but CABA stands for Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires, which yes, has the same name as the province. Nonetheless if it gets too confusing we also use Capital Federal as an alternate name. With that clarified, I like to picture as him being from La Boca, a traditional neighbourhood very popular by its "Caminito" street and also hosting a popular football club of the same name. In this universe, it is called Silver Blue or "Azul Plateado". Teres is it's most popular player, so no wonder he got called to the selection.

Julio -> Corrientes. Pretty much, this province -and its overall region, the litoral- is the most related to mate. Not much to say.

Gordo -> Mendoza. Similar to Julio, Mendoza is THE wine province. It is so popular to the point there's a festival celebrating the harvest; Fiesta de la Vendimia.

Ramón -> CABA. His profile straight up says he's from Buenos Aires, unless it was referring to the province instead of the capital (?). Most of the popular neighbourhoods have beautiful buildings, but out of self-indulgence I'd choose Recoleta for him. Though lately I've been thinking that it could be San Telmo instead, given it also has its fair share of colonial architecture... It is more close to the south, near La Boca, so it'd be interesting for him to be Teres' teammate. I'll think about it.

Esteban -> La Rioja. This one comes a bit from pure experimentation than any actual evidence. The Andes mountains sorround the entire western part of Argentina, so he could be from any province close enough to them. I'm going with La Rioja mostly as an excuse to include anyone from the western part of the country (Alongside Gordo), but if anything changes I'll update this.

Sergio -> CABA. In the city there's a particular "hidden" neighbourhood named Rawson, which contains a building where famous writer Julio Cortazar lived for a long while. I like the idea of Sergio being from a more pintoresque place, so for now he's living in the area. Though like I've said, Rawson is located within the actual neighbourhood of Agronomia (Named by its university of... Agronomy). The place is filled with stray cats, though I picture Sergio being more of a dog person.

Roberto -> Salta. It is to say that given his profile, he could fit too in San Luis and Tierra del Fuego, the actual "gold fever" regions of Argentina. But I went with Salta because it is also a province where you can find this mineral. I also really love the Argentinian north, idk. Lately I've randomly thought of a cursed alternative: His family owns a motorhome and they travel all around the country for riches. However, this leads to him randomly changing schools and towns once the opportunities ran out. He has went to so many places he doesn't remember his actual birthplace, but he's residing on Salta for now.

Pablo -> Córdoba. It was incredibly hard to place him somewhere, as Argentina is filled to the brim with beautiful fauna EVERYWHERE. Even on the northern deserts, the cold south, or just the "plain" countryside there is something worth seeing. But for me, Cordoba -and other places with its similar biome- is the best of both worlds. But honestly, he can fit anywhere you want.

Leone -> CABA. Just like Teres represents a popular soccer team, this forward plays for Golden Red o Oro Rojo, located in Ñunez (Almost north of the capital). If it wasn't for a recent loss aganist his rivals, he would have become The Empire's captain. I picture the Batigo as being too wealthy, to the point they have some sort of "summer home" located in one of those private neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires (the ones that become rightfully reclaimed by the capibaras).

Diego -> CABA. Just so you know, the actual Maradona was born in Lanus, a city within Buenos Aires. But I personally see Diego as more from the capital itself. Maybe in La Matanza, a very humble neighbourhood... But don't worry much about him, he's going to prove himself to the world 💪

Lionel -> Misiones. ...This one comes from a personal headcanon more than anything: I personally see him related to the guarani (especifically mbya guarani), the main indigenous group from the "argentinian mesopotamia". I picture him living in Posadas, for now.

Mario -> Buenos Aires. I've always pictured Mario at the coast of the La Plata river (Passing the coasts both Argentina and Uruguay), and currently I'm set with the popular city of Vicente Lopez for him. There's a reason why I mention our small neighbour, but I won't say it here.

Hernan -> Buenos Aires. Another bonarense in a row; but this one lives in La Plata city, the actual capital of the province.

Germán -> Chaco. It is either this one or Entre Rios, whose city Gualeguaychu hosts a yearly carnaval similar to Brazil's. (I mean, look at his hair, he looks festive...) Chaco meanwhile is for reasons similar to Lionel's; as I picture Germán coming from the Toba/Qom people, and he even gets to live in one of the communities reserved to them. His family really likes carnivals or most other festivities, so he'll go visit Gualeguaychu either way (?)

Ricardo -> Santa Cruz. This one is veeeeery specific, but listen: His profile mentions he trains on the "windy regions" of the Patagonia, so we at least know the region where he lives. There are a few mixed responses on which place of the south is the windiest, but the most common one is the province of Santa Cruz. Some sources mention its capital, Rio Vallejos, though I've also seen the city of Puerto Santa Cruz. I'll leave this up to you. Similar to Germán and his visits to Gualeguaychú, Ricardo's family tends to take him to the more popular Bariloche every so often. But no matter how pretty it is, he always prefers the pampas.

(I FORGOT THE COACH LMFAO but he's from San Telmo too!!! He has gone to Mr. Tolue's restaurant a few times either way, so he always sees god things on the Tolue fam.)

Congratulations to Argentina for winning the Copa America! Decided to remake something I had done a while ago.

Pretty much a headcanon map of where I locate every player to be from! :D

I'm not sure to do detailed location notes in either this post or a separate post/reblog, but at least I'm mentioning the province names that got covered up by the sprites:

Jorge Ortega: La Pampa

Julio Acosta: Corrientes 🧉

Roberto Torres: Salta

Lionel Cruz: Misiones

Also I couldn't put Teres and co together in the actual place CABA is located (Which is covered by Mario)... Apologies for that, all maps I've found are just that small :(

[solarpunkani]

So the way cities are designed is nasty and not really good for anybody. Do you have any resources or ideas on how this can actually, realistically change? I mean, we can't just tear down cities and rebuild them better. Is the way forward just adding more beneficial stuff to the existing, less-than-ideal cities, and then building the new cities with people and nature in mind?

Hey!

Yknow, I thought I had a tag for this, but either I forgot what tag it was or things just haven't come out of queue yet because I'm not seeing much on my blog. I feel like I've seen specific posts about making things more accessible--I tend to see this line of thought be referred to as Walkable Cities or Accessible Cities--but I can't think of any off the top of my head at the moment.

To the best of my understanding, as someone who isn't a city planner or anything along those lines, I would think the solution would be along what you suggested; adding more beneficial structures--which may include rebuilding certain things/sections but I don't thiiiink would involve the entire demolition of a building--to preexisting cities and then building the new cities with these principles in mind.

What needs to be changed will be on different levels depending on how old the city is, how it was planned out before, and whats causing issues vs what needs to be improved. There's definitely a lot of talk about needing more bike lanes and sidewalks in the US, and how sparsely everything is placed in a lot of cities without a way to really access them. I think the closest I've ever been to being in a truly walkable city was my college campus, and not only was that not the whole city but just the campus, but I also didn't really have the leg strength to walk or bike the wholething. Even still, things were close enough together that walking or biking was feasible for a lot of people--and there was a robust bus system that was free for students as long as they had an ID (though most drivers didn't ID people who looked like students, or if you were being picked up on campus).

From there I guess I'd love if something similar was implemented in other places. Free (or at least very low cost, but preferrably free) and robust bus systems, bike lanes, wide sidewalks, and things made in more of a 'hub' kind of planning instead of having everything super spaced out. With lots of green spaces interspersed throughout, like small but frequent parks that people can go to hang out with lots of benches and flowers and such. Maybe a lot of the housing set-ups would be sort of like apartments on top of stores? Close to campus, there was a mini Target and several other stores in a plaza-like block that actually all had 5 levels of apartments on top of them--you needed a special key fob to get into the elevators to access them, so it wasn't like anyone going to Target could end up at your apartment door. This could be a good way to have more structures in less space, in a way? Granted, I never lived in those units, so IDK if the quality of life was different in any way...

I feel like I've seen videos and posts discussing how one city started slowly phasing things in and out to become increasingly more walkable over the years? Maybe in Spain or something? I can't find it at the moment, however. From what I remember, they started slowly phasing cars out of certain areas of the town, instead adding more bike lanes and plazas and benches and housing until eventually basically everything was accessible by walking, biking, or taking a transit system.

I've touched this point already, but I feel that transit systems would be one of the most important parts of making a city truly accessible--but that the transit system may look different depending on where you are. New York, for example, has the subway system that from what I know (I've never taken the New York Subway I haven't been there since I was 8) is extremely efficient in getting people around--could likely use some improvements, but is definitely a good model to look at. For places where subways aren't suitable--I know Florida would deal with lots of flooding issues, trying to dig and implement a subway system--an increasingly robust bus system or even something like a monorail system like my city (sort of) has would be excellent.

Now there's definitely something to said about accessibility into buildings itself. Sometimes ramps are constructed improperly, so those would need to be fixed. I can also see there being issues with doorways and stairs and such in older buildings--though even in those cases, many buildings get revamped with elevators and wider entrances. There's probably tons of other accessibility issues that I don't even realize, because though I try to keep these things in mind, I do ultimately live life as an abled person right now.

Though another point I do also remember being brought up is the height of landscaping, especially near crosswalks and such, causing problems with accessibility for children, shorter people, the elderly, etc. Also that trailing, low-hanging plants can also cause issues by getting stuck in wheelchairs and such. These would also have to be kept in mind when considering green spaces and accessibility.

This post is getting long and ultimately I don't really know what I'm talking about in the slightest. But I do hope this was at least a little helpful!

[dooodle-bug]

Extremely Complicated and Detailed Analysis of the Vellumentals: An Essay

Idk why but those guys and their lore has kinda bothered me. So, I shall move through the gameplay and analyze their presence, meaning, and whatever the fuck is going on with them! Note that much of this is going to be hypothesis, speculation, and also verrryyyy long-

Without further ado, enjoy!

The first mention of them is with the Koopas at the Earth Vellumental Temple, where we are presented with the fact that the vellumentals are these enormous, god-like beings, that likely existed for a long while.

Specifically with the Earth Vellumental, we find it to be worshiped by the koopas, likely bc theyre both turtles. In the exhibit, we see its very obviously a coin grab with all the lights and documentaries etc, the curator confirming this and adding:

Crafted from their imagination? Real thing? Speaking of which, why hasnt any koopa even NOTICED it's all a sham?! Well, I'd like to propose that, perhaps, once upon a time the vellumentals were greatly worshiped (notice the similar and unique architecture among their resting places. I doubt they themselves could build something so sophisticated with their giant hands), however the practice of worshiping them simply died out like many ancient religions, only their houses of worship remaining.

This would explain why the koopas were so easily swayed by the curator; they had nothing to go off of! And, likely, the vellumentals were just seen as myths or rumors, the curator transforming that into its own religion.

Basically, the vellumentals were originally worshiped by paper folk, who built grand architecture in their honor and image, only to eventually die down over the years for some unknown reason with only fragments of their memory now.

Anyways, later on we see the earth vellumental itself, now folded (and probably stapled) by olly and brainwashed to do his bidding for obtaining his power and destroying our path (it's up for debate if they attack bc of getting all corrupted and fucked by olly or bc he commanded them to do so). This alone implies that the vellumentals were originally paper and are in fact real ancient spirits/gods with the power to manipulate the elements. Which would give a very plausible reason for why they were worshiped

Furthermore, the reason why Olly could fold them could be bc he was just changing their form instead of killing, and the reason we could "defeat" them was because they were already in a weak and vulnerable state (that or the curator was just lying but idk i think gods should be immortal n all).

Once we defeat it, we see a sequence similar to that of the defeat of the legion of stationery; a big bright flash of light, before it simply.. shrinks down and its form becomes simply a vellumental circle and a "bibliofold".

Since we are talking about a fucking GOD here, i'd like to interpret this scene as not death, but rather, the vellumental's physical form being destroyed, reducing it back to its spiritual form. I'd also like to believe what Olivia says about it is true:

Maybe it KNEW of how evil Olly's plans were, how the crew saved it from its painful folded form and wanted to reward them, and provide aid in their quest to stopping him. it's just a nice thought...

But...what exactly are the bibliofolds?? Well, it's not explicitly explained, but from what is implied and the fact that Olly mentions them, I think it can be theorized that the bibliofolds are basically the vellumentals handing off their power, whether by force or will. In this case, they provide the knowledge of origami folding into images of themselves (I'd like to think Olly folded them himself and got the instructions and ability to fold himself and use the power), as only Olly and Olivia can possess the folding power in the first place

What about the vellumental circles? well, as i have previously theorized about magic circles, they are lil pockets of energy that give the user the sheer power and energy to do the transformation they otherwise couldnt do normally, which are usually created unintentionally from the insane overflow and usage of magic. So, yeah I think it's the same as 1000 fold arm magic circles.

With this information in mind, I'm going to continue the discussion about the rest of the vellumentals as well as their collective lore.

With the Water vellumental, we dont get too much information, except for the fact that the shrine may or may not have transformed into more of a tourist location? and also that there may actually be a few people who still DO worship the vellumental (notice the empty tuna cans by the lil offering post. unless thats just litter)

The yellow streamer poses much more interesting lore, such as the presence of vellumental worship via statues and images, implying it was the ancient ones who worshiped the vellumentals in their religion and were likely the builders of the houses of worship and such we see throughout the game. (Most of the important vellumental locations here seem to be mostly untouched, likely due to nobody seeming to be able to make money off of it from not understanding the ancient ones)

And while, this is not gonna be an analysis on the ancient ones themselves, there's certainly going to be overlap between the two.

For example, when are faced with the puzzle of finding the fire vellumental, there is a mural that directly references the vellumental's ability. And while this could be just a game mechanic, I do not care and im going to include it in the lore

This would further concrete the idea that the ancient ones were the ones to worship the vellumentals, as well as directly relying on them during rituals such as in the puzzle we see here. But there's something that doesnt make sense.

Why is there a vellumental circle here? How could it possibly be made from those lanky towers if previously, it was established that only origami could harness this power?? How would the ancient ones even USE it??? Well, I propose an idea: perhaps they, due to their worship, were able to harness the powers of the vellumentals, given to them as a gift. Perhaps because they had their own "bibliofolds" from them, they were able to use these circles in a way different than what we see with origami. The circles still functioned the same in providing energy, its just that because the ancient ones could harness the vellumental power, they too could use these circles. I mean, think about it; Olivia cant use the circles without the bibliofolds AND it would only make sense given their knowledge of the vellumentals in comparison to what we see today.

This would also explain the reason why the temple was buried. We know from Professor that it was to protect the resting place of Shroomses from being robbed at night, but the way it seems to sink into the earth seems unreasonable... unless of course they somehow harnessed the power of the earth vellumental to control it??? And it could also explain how Captain T. Ode's imprisonment in a block of ice, only to be revealed under the sun would work???? ;o)

Moving onto the Great Sea, which might I say, is truly great in the amount of lore given.

Diamond Island is a very unique place, with so many questions unanswered.

I can give an easy answer to the trials: During ancient times, people were able to go on some sort of quest in the Great Sea to prove their worth to be able to find the "paradise". The worthy were ferried to Diamond island to prove themselves using the ultimate tests (note how the trials are extremely standardized and refer to you as just "traveler"), obtaining three orbs that would lead them to the sea tower.

I dont understand the reason for the Ice Vellumentals residing place to be here or why it is completely underground, but perhaps, as mentioned prior, wielding the vellumental power was more well known and used, adding on Another difficult challenge of traveling to the mountain to get that power from it to get to the three main trials. It's also probably underwater to make the trials much more difficult to get to for the common people, making this challenge truly only for the worthy.

But then what about the Sea Tower, the final Vellumental themed area? Well, I hypothesis it to be the most important house of worship, in which only the ones who are truly worthy of the vellumental power can visit such a sacred place. We see so many references to each of them (as well as the need for using their power) it would only make sense.

And the reward for passing such trials and being blessed by vellumental power is the transport to Paradise, or what I'd like to believe is some sort of form of heaven, Shangri Spa, filled with only white toads (which we have never seen before), and highly restricted from the public (Bowser's army doesnt count, as during the ancient times, such technology likely didnt exist and allow for outside easy access).

Essentially, the vellumentals were these ancient gods or spirits of sorts, working alongside the ancient ones, granting them some of their powers (and providing a paradise for the worthy), in return for praise and worship, in which the ancients would build many structures in their honor and for them to inhabit. However, the ancient ones died off, their religion following. For an unknown reason the vellumentals must have stowed away in their houses of worship, now becoming only a myth, lost to time. Eventually, their existence would be uncovered, when King Olly learned of them to exploit their powers, now becoming what we see today.

And thats all i got for you guys! Thank you for reading if you did!

[red-dyed-sarumane]

@musicalisotope hi im going to. make this a post instead of a reply sorry i have a lot to say on this.

aru sekai is a really. obtuse series. none of its going to make much sense on its own. if it does i need u to share ur brain with me. anyway,

i think if u want to start anywhere i'd say either aru sekai shoushitsu, marshall maximizer, or laboratory.

aru sekai shoushitsu is the very first song its really long & theres so much in it & it sounds like nonsense by itself, however its a pretty complete summary of the whole plot. if u get lost once u hit the fuu lines & after dont worry about it we dont have the context for those yet. it's a lot to take in but once u move onto the other songs it all starts to click together like oh shit thats what that meant. it IS a lot tho. its also the most objective song of all of them; the rest are very subjective to their respective characters' views

marshall maximizer is of course the most popular song but thats not why im saying it. im saying it because it's the first time the concept of losing one's self/ego is really expanded on & thats a very very big part of the narrative. the lyrics it might be harder to pick up on that but the text in the background talks about it in a more direct way. its subjective to the chara's pov but it does a good job of establishing that "person" vs "thing"(no longer a person) concept. important to note this character is only an observer of that.

laboratory is similar its that same major concept of those who are still "people" vs those who arent any more. the difference here being its her experience as she crossed the line between the two. its a lot more direct than the other songs & its pretty easy to see the whole weight of the scenario & because of that it really helps put the severity of the other songs into place.

as for the others theyre very subjective & its a little harder to figure out whats going on. but in short kyuuyaku hankagai establishes its not just a personal risk & its a very long repeating event, shuuen touhikou is mostly to answer the question "well what if they gave up & didn't face the problem", oumen mokushiroku is overall that its pointless to take huge risks to themselves beyond the obvious, unplanned apoptosis is actually showing how the "doing things for yourself will save you" concept works, kanon gets into how precise their work has to be to get anywhere among other things, kugutsu ashura is a wall of words idk why u would ever start there its also weird bc she doesnt seem to be affiliated with the rest of them? an outsider forced to endure the consequences i think. i still have to dissect this one more for sure, & the new one yamete kudasai is kind of similar to laboratory but it shows more of the reasons people are pushed to the point of losing themselves.

there are. a LOT of very small easy to overlook details across all the songs. theres no one way to progress through the story since all the songs build off each other & show off different aspects of the plot & world they live in. & u also have to take into account not all of them are reliable narrators (im staring at the unplanned apoptosis girl in particular). theres also a LOT of details we still need expanded on to get the full picture but i think we're going to get more side context songs before magu moves onto to the fuu song to continue the order in aru sekai shoushitsu. the text in the background of songs that have it is also a major part of the story u cant just skip over it if you're trying to figure out whats going on. (this includes kanon. the original tweet with the decode was taken down but i still have the text saved.... somewhere. i will get that for anyone that wants it. very brief but it gives a glimpse of what the start of a retry looks like as well as why theyre in the situation in the first place)

VERY few people keep up with it as a series most people i see just think the songs sound good & leave it at that so i dont blame u if u do the same but its a very intricate story if u have the time & patience to work it out

also small side note magu's said all the charas have names but theyre a secret until later so they have to have some relevance with whats going on. it'll be a very interesting reveal for sure. we think theres 2 names in aru sekai shoushitsu (saginuma hisame & layla) but we dont know for sure who they are or if theyre even any of the girls in the songs. (best guess is the the shoushitsu chara & kyuuyaku chara respectively). thats not super important to know rn tho. also aru sekai series is a fan given name based on the first song since magu has never once talked about the contents of the series outside of what we get in the songs. (unless directly asked but theyre vague in their answers)

[leias-left-hair-bun-again]

I saw somewhere that you headcanon Ordo as being Autistic, and like… I headcanon that same thing sgahsgsg. I was curious, however, as to what specific things he does that made you think that? (Also, it autocorrected Ordo to Oreo and just agahsdn I’m done lol)

:DDD oh boy oh boy this is the exact kind of ask that makes my brain go brrrrr it is just so happifying when people ask you questions instead of you just dumping a bunch of words in their lap unasked for and hoping they wanted to hear them in the first place XD ahem anyways hold up i've gotta breathe before i answer this i'm so excited

okay so i'm actually. going to tag @trashcanmando bc she actually has Intelligent Things to say about this XD and also she was the person who brought up the idea and made me realize that that's what i'd been thinking the whole time. but for me - like i alluded to, idk if i ever explicitly think 'oh ordo is autistic' when i'm reading the books, but like. there's just this underlying feeling of connection i have with him in a way that i don't have with the other characters. he's so blunt and practical and has such a hard time with - i mean there's two things that happen when i was first introduced to him that i vibed with so hard the first is

ordo just walloping maze in the face twice in a row and walking out of the building like it's no big deal and bardan have to sit there next to him and go 'um ordo that was...kind of a lot' and ordo just doesn't get it (also when maze comes back later and wallops ordo and ordo is just completely poker-faced and 'yeah that's fair' about it - anyways) and the second is

ordo getting flirted with and having exactly 0 clue that that's what's happening but being uncomfortably aware that something weird is going on with the waitress - and the way kal reacted by making light of the situation and easing ordo away from it teasingly - that is what my mum does with me in so. many. social situation where i don't know what's going on and start panicking

oh and bonus was him bodyslamming fi with, again, 0 facial expression beforehand XD idk, just put him next to atin, who has a similar temperament, and there's just - something a little different about ordo that goes beyond 'stoic and quiet', to my mind at least

and i mean those are just first impressions, but there are so many other little things - him proposing to besany and then immediately going 'okay let's get married right now' with 0 facial expressions or indication that he cares at all. and then there's details like how his brothers don't care as much about having their helmets off around strangers, but ordo doesn't like it at all. and just the way he's described as not smiling or understanding that he needs to smile, or that he needs to, you know, talk. and the way he has to be helped in new social situations and also doesn't seem to do a very good job with figuring out how to apply the rules across different situations - and he also doesn't seem to notice physical appearances the way other people do, if i'm honest; not just in the way he sees besany

he's just....he's different; he thrives in situations where he knows what is expected of him and feels like he understands what the parameters are, but take him out of his comfort zone and he has so much more difficulty adapting to the changes and new rules than his brothers do...also he often seems pretty uncomfortable with emotions but not in sev’s ‘i am a hard tough soldier and you’d better remember it’ way, more in a ‘i have no idea what to do here’ way (see: everything surrounding the Drama with etain and darman and also every time etain tries to get him to actually talk about his feelings or his childhood)

basically i relate very hard to him in very specific ways, so i just. vibe XD i would love to hear your thoughts, anon!!!!

[greywindys]

Hey any thoughts on everything the gorillaz had on tik tok being hidden except for these new vids of the creepy siri lady voice explaining every character in a very odd clean way, leaving out very important details and dropping things rarely discussed as if they are main lore like noodle having no parents or 2d wanting to return to the fair or russel wanting to save the world or murdoc... Actually Idk just felt off.

Maybe it's just bad marketing and lore change but it strikes me as odd, with the weird clone shit and then the cult and all this brainwashy new stuff they're doing for this phase

I want your take cause you're a bit of a realist when it comes to gorillaz expectations vs reality

Hello! And yeah, I do🤔. So, I went and watched the Murdoc tiktok just so I could hear this Siri voice lmao. I'd imagine they're hiding all the old videos (thanks for clarifying, I thought they had just deleted them) because they want everything to match the new theme and also have videos to post that are timed with the new promo tour that's starting...and maybe because they never wrote a profile for Murdoc during the first rollout lmao.

I also googled how long a Tiktok video can be, because I honestly had no idea until literally right now. In case anyone else doesn't know - the limit is 10 minutes. Knowing all this, they definitely had room to make longer character intro videos. But how much can they rely on the attention span of the average tiktok user? Most tiktok videos are under a minute too...at least the ones I see. You can correct me if I'm wrong. I guess what I'm trying to say is that their spareness doesn’t surprise me; I'd expect short videos with minimal lore. They've simplified the characters, so what was important lore may not be anymore (i.e. making 2D only a ~cute, cinnamon roll, Russel + food jokes, Murdoc just has a huge ego, Noodle is a "queen" who slays demons etc, etc)...or they may not even remember it.

However, when you line everything up like that, it does make you wonder 🤔. Imo, it's plausible that they're trying to build up to something. I think they did something similar during P5 with the Murdoc bot, the video hints etc, but ultimately, either their plans changed, or they never had a plan in the first place. So yeah, all of this may be intentional to create a cult-y feel, and they may want everyone to discuss and try to guess ~what it all means, but THEY may not even know what it all means lmao. Or they do, but they don't have a plan of how to get there...and they may not get there. Or they have everything planned out but then all of a sudden they need money and need to sell watches again. Nothing in Gorillaz is ever guaranteed because they're not the most professional, organized project out there, tbh. It's still cool to have fun with theories, but I'd keep it in mind that your theory may end up being more thought out than whatever the official canon ends up being, and your predictions may not come true because the symbolism they never ended up meaning anything.