#nix: issue posting

[elpurata-victim]

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nix is drawing again | Any and all art by me nix has a life | real world/non fandom rambling nix : ____ posting | Tags for fandoms or ocs nix has brainrot | Fandom/interest rambling nix is envious | Posts that make me jealous of a specific skill shrimple | pictures of a family cat called shrimp nix's birthday benchmarks | Paintings i do once a year of myself to benchmark my art progress

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[al-luviec]

compiled whatever this is (and I run out of tag space)

meh HoT gifs (3/?)

[marcobodtseye]

I get closer every day to posting cosplay pics😭

[godzexperiment]

what if some of why swear words have so much appeal (aside from his just enjoying the sound of them/versatility) is that swearing is known to soothe upset in humans so feasibly it could help him out... in theory except he's not stubbing toes, he's just internally forever suffering.

[godzexperiment]

He left his cards in hand, as they were since didn't feel like organizing or organized chaos. Was unnecessary for him anyways; plus more fun if it wasn't as smooth to operate. "Alright, I got it."

"Er, I guess, yeah." She glanced down at her hand of cards, carefully rearranging them so every card that was the same were grouped together. It was something she always did in any card game. "Okie, so another tip before you discard. Best to save your action cards for later in the game. There's one exploding kitten somewhere in the deck, and you gotta be ready for it."

[saywhat-politics]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boasted on social media Tuesday that he had dismantled a program supporting women on security teams, an initiative that he called “woke” but actually was signed into law by his boss, President Donald Trump.

In a post on the social platform X, Hegseth called the “Women, Peace & Security” program at the Defense Department “a UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists. Politicians fawn over it; troops HATE it.”

It was, in fact, bipartisan legislation that Trump signed into law in 2017 that recognized the role women have in achieving security goals, especially overseas when their male counterparts may not be able to question or have direct access to women for cultural or religious reasons.

It’s the latest controversial move from Hegseth as the Pentagon works to nix programs or content seen as promoting diversity, equity or inclusion. After Trump ordered federal agencies to purge DEI content, the Pentagon issued a broad edict to the military services that ignited public outcry when online images of national heroes like Jackie Robinson were briefly removed.

[wanderingaldecaldo]

WIP Wheneversday

Tagged in the recent-ish past by @aceghosts @shimmer-like-agirl @merge-conflict @luvwich (twice lol) @streetkid-named-desire @nananarc.

Tagging with the usual no pressure caveat: tagbacks on all the above who tagged me :3, @sweetmage @theviridianbunny @newnamesamecharlotte @lemonlilactea @slayerdurge @blackrevell @sailorskunk @olath124 @ghostoffuturespast and anyone else who wants to share what they're working on! Art, writing, VP, modding... whatever! Do it and tag me!

Tiny Mike Modding

Tonight I am deep in the guts of this man, Scorpion Tiny Mike, trying to help out some fiends friends by giving him a torso. Just one small thing to fix.

Love Wolvenkit's new experimental feature helping troubleshoot.

Wait, what

Writing

I said I wasn't going to do another WIP Whenever until the Presidential PWP was published, but it's like. 99% of the way there. I need like three sentences max before it's Done done, so whatever, here we are. 🤷

I've had a hankering to get back to the corpo AU, and I started a lil prequel with Val and her old friend Akira. I can't share anything yet because it only exists in meatspace, so I'll settle for something I probably haven't shared from the thousands upon thousands of words written for the longfic.

Putting it after the break bc this is getting long...

For those who aren't familiar, the corpo AU takes place some time after The Sun ending. Val gets a lead on a huge corpo gig, but she'll need a partner to go undercover and guess who her best candidate is?! It's Mitch, it's always Mitch.

This WIP has been a very big challenge for multiple reasons:

I have never written the fake relationship trope

it's a slow burn and I am not known for my patience

I am not posting it until it's complete, and has been revised

#3 is the really big pain, because I want that dopamine, but also because after it's done, I want to possibly rip it up and redo it.

It’s early when Val lets herself into the Afterlife. Claire won’t be in for a few hours so she should have the place to herself. She needs to write up protocols for Crispin on handling gigs and mercs while she’s away. While she will still be reachable in an emergency, there is no reason to risk that call being intercepted and blowing their cover. The faint sound of thumping bass and scratchy synths grows louder as she approaches the back of the bar, and light seeps into the hallway from Nix’s office. The netrunner dances at his desk, tapping away at keys while his shoulders, hips, and legs keep time to the beats.  Val leans against the door frame and crosses her arms. “You here early or late?” Without turning, Nix answers, “I’m late and you are way too early, Boss Lady. Looking for my report?” “Among other things.” “I’ll email the full findings, but short of it is the identities are clean solid. Took the liberty of digging up some photos of your man Mitch. Cleaned him up and ran him through the deaging filter, slapped a suit on him. Not too shabby for an old Nomad.” At that Nix turns to look at her, and she steps into the office, joining him at the desk and peering over his shoulder. Young Mitch stares back���full head of mussed black hair, twinkling blue eyes, unlined and unscarred face. Handsome. “Huh. Nice work. Need anything from me?” “Nope, already took care of yours. Easy enough to find pics of Night City’s most famous living merc.” He grins at her and she rolls her eyes.  “Just so long as they don’t connect my face to the name.” “Speaking of names, the identities are blank. You have names you want to use?” She rests her hand on her fist as she thinks. “What are the chances we can just use Mitch’s name? That eliminates the issue of him forgetting and not responding.” Nix turns back to the terminal and clacks away at the keys as he pulls up Mitch’s files. “Aside from the obvious issue of two Mitch Andersons with the same face, it shouldn’t be a problem. The name is common enough.” “So how do we get around that? In case someone decides they want to know more about him.” Standing, Nix hums and mirrors her posture. “If they’re just doing a search on the local Data Pool, there shouldn’t be any problem. Anything deeper,” he trails off. “Got an idea. Let me do a little more digging and I’ll let you know what I find.”

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Saw your comment on Socqueline and thought you might find this interesting: my back-of-the-napkin revision of Derision to make it fit into canon and be overall a better episode for the genre.

https://www.tumblr.com/generalluxun/773143078216335360/revisiting-s5-e14-derision-and-making-it-work?source=share

(Post that spawned this ask and the linked post for those who want it)

Quick summary of the linked post: keep Derision mostly as-is, just change Marinette's bully from Chloe to Socqueline. This explains why Marinette's trauma doesn't resurface until season five and doesn't massively retcon Chloe's character from petty brat to bully who specifically goes after Marinette

My preference is still to nix Derision and make Marinette's trauma come from Felix's betrayal in the season four final. That would explain why her trauma only shows up around Adrien and not Chat Noir even though she dates both of them in season five. It also removes my biggest issue with Derision's place in the narrative. Namely the fact that it tries to validate Marinette's worst behavior which is an absolutely insane move because there is no way to validate that behavior if your goal is for her to date Adrien. It only "works" when it's a joke that isn't meant to be taken seriously and I use "works" very loosely here.

That being said, if we must keep Derision, this is probably the best way to do it. It makes the retcon far less blatant and lets there be actual consequences for the bully. One of my biggest issues with the way Miraculous handles bullies is that it's teaching the kids at home a terrible lesson by presenting bullies as some undefeatable force. That's a problem because - unlike supervillains - bullies are a very real issue that the kids at home might actually be dealing with. Having an episode dedicated to taking down a bully in the proper way would be a breath of fresh air. It also falls more in line with the way Marinette is written throughout the show.

One of Origins few flaws is the fact that Marinette goes from pushover to powerhouse in the blink of an eye. It's a pointless choice that I'd personally nix. It would be much nicer to have Marinette's first moment of standing up for herself be in the Derision flashback. She goes to her parents or the teachers and gets actual help, giving herself a major confidence boost going into season one, explaining why she was able to stand up to Chloe and others.

[flossylove]

Okay I know I haven't posted much about the last few clips - but I have been watching them still!! And OMGGGG!! Every clip has been really interesting and I feel like SRAM is doing a really good job at distinguishing itself, like yes it is a remake, but by no means does it feel repetitive or over-done 10 years on.

I can absolutely see myself rewatching the whole series several times, and never getting bored of it!

I really loved the latest clip we got (when it finally dropped hahahaha), I've said it before but Roko is definitely the softest William, and with that I think Klamaric are the softest Noorhelm!!

I really feel with SRAM you can tell they truly like each other, I'm not saying in others it isnt like that, I just mean that they really are building this relationship on trust and communication. Instead of Roko lying again about his brother, he was upfront about him having issues and wanting to protect Nora, so I'm interested to see where this will go with the plot! Side note - loved the way Nora approached conversation as well, by opening it up with her being vulnerable and truthful. That definitely swayed Roko into being open and honest too!

And Roko being the one to tell Nora about his sister passing?? I loved that little change they did, it definitely furthered their bond.

Also, I really feel that Nora really does actually want to be with Roko. With some remakes, it honestly doesn't feel/seem like the Nooras actually want to be with the Williams, at least not until the last couple episodes of the season. But with SRAM (especially after the clip we got on Friday morning, with her smiling at the clip Roko sent and freaking out), I truly am feeling the giddy, teenage excitement of Nora falling in love with Roko!!

Loved seeing the Nix and Lovro cameo at the end! Though I am curious of how they're going to intertwine that with the plot, because we didn't get any scenes of Jakov fighting at the party the other week. So, that is also something I'm looking forward to seeing them introduce and play with in this remake!

The next clip we're hopefully getting is the clip of Nora telling Eva she saw Lovro and Nix together, so I'm looking forward to it!! Wonder what they'll say and think hahahah

~ floss <3

[ranticore]

selected pages from Shapeshifter Problems, a small exploration of old old concept art & thoughts on shapeshifter tropes (specifically the question of the 'true form') i posted to patreon earlier this year. there's a bunch more haha. here's some OLD art and bg process for writing said the black horse. I don't like my old art but looking back at it I'm really happy how I've developed since, I used to make everything too sharp, straight-sided, or skinny. I had to make a conscious effort to change that and now it's so much better.

image transcriptions under the cut (just the text sorry)

Image 1: "These are more of those older designs - the horns were a deliberate play into devil imagery on Puck's part while giving Félix this form (all to cause more torment of course) but again I couldn't vibe with it. Such clear statements of intent didn't work for me.

The scars remain canon but not quite so stark, more a difference in texture (again, moving away from visual details). His forehead scar is ALWAYS there."

Image 2: "Félix. These are really old - from 2019-2020. They're the first attempts at Félix's horse form. At the time I was leaning into some goat-like attributes. I liked the idea of something that looked like an emaciated amalgam of many familiar creatures but if you look closer, it actually doesn't look like any animal at all. The original body shape and proportions were inspired by moose. I didn't know how to draw convincing horse shapes which is why he had these hands and claws for so long. I still draw the little flower wheel pattern on his sides sometimes... a secret just for me. His belly fur, squared off ear shape, and beard are still defining characteristics"

Image 3: "More old art from 2020. Bottom left is my first ever painting on my iPad using Procreate. I still prefer SAI for creature drawings, or at least the original sketches underpinning a lot of my art. Below on the bottom was my attempt at a scarier form for the character but I ultimately decided that it ran contrary to the atmosphere I was trying to create. Top left is my first 'real' horse painting and it includes the tail shape which has not ever changed, and feathers, which I nixed because I wanted to learn how to draw the feet and legs properly and not rely on covering them up with flowing hair (my favourite thing to draw)"

Image 4: "Like the black horse designs, these humanoid designs for Félix (circa 2019 - OLD art!) started very complex and simplified over time. I decided to avoid visual complexity, but made the mistake of solidifying specific 'rules' for how the Púca servants' bodies work, and I deeply regret this. Because I wrote Said the Black Horse in 2021, I was still operating under the old mindset and that caused it to become somewhat established canon.

In his original iteration his tattoos represented magical contracts between him and various faeries, so they were supposed to be always visible as a reminder of that contract.

<- a really early furry version, I was playing with the eye on the neck as a design feature. Ultimately I feel that although it looks cool, the medium he exists in is proser. So I needed to move away from visually complex designs and towards designs which were interesting to different senses instead."

Image 5: "As time went on the design simplified. I enjoyed making fun textures using procreate brushes. These designs lack his forehead scar but do include his impalement scar. If you've seen my Hanged Man card you'll know how he got that one. But when I made the charts like this about how his body 'worked' in 2020, again I ran into the same issue I always do when writing about faeries... the more I explain it, the most 'logic' and 'science' goes into it, the less it feels like a faery story to me. Overexplaining is anathema to the faeries of Inver. so even though I like these design notes they just don't fit in this setting."

[timeclipsed]

Something that's always struck me as irritating is how Sonic fans from the last few years have developed this weird preconceived notion that Tails was "always supposed to be a little kid".

Like... are you sure? Are we really gonna sit here and argue that the way Heroes and Forces portrayed Tails is the be-all-end-all of what his character is supposed to be? He was not just created to be Sonic's weak, frail little brother who needs saving all the time.

Excluding the fact that SEGA JP has ultimately nixed ages from the series altogether, he is seen countless times throughout the series taking on missions arguably more dangerous than Sonic and Knuckles, with ease mind you, and holding his own against their enemies.

Tails has built multiple planes, mechs, and other large dangerous pieces of machinery that he operates with ease. Even going off the assumption that he is a child, it wouldn't make sense for everyone to just blindly trust that a little kid knows what he's doing.

Obviously there's the indication that Tails is younger than Sonic, especially in certain older shows, and if Fiona telling Tails she's old too for him is anything to go by, we ARE supposed to believe there's an age gap between them. The problem is that so many people use these as examples to base Tails' entire character off of. Early interpretations where Tails is specifically written to BE Sonic's little brother.

He's definitely not Sonic's age, but he is a lot older and more capable than this wave of newer fans are making him out to be. He is literally almost Sonic's exact height in Sonic X!

And what about Sonic Prime? Nine says he "was a kid" during his flashback. Him having codependency issues and showing occasional childish behavior doesn't mean he's a little kid, it just means he's traumatized.

Even the variations of Tails that do feel younger have a rougher edge to them. Are we forgetting that movieverse Tails stole a police vehicle, drove it all the way to the Wachowski household and hit Knuckles with it? After traveling the universe by himself to find Sonic, no less.

Messy post, but like, tl;dr the woobification of Tails is actually getting so bad in this fandom and it's dampening his character. He's not a helpless baby, he's committed multiple war crimes and could very likely beat Sonic in a fight if things ever came to blows. Tails is getting the Silver treatment here where people just keep dumbing him down more and more to make him Sonic's cute baby brother when that's just ONE facet of his personality.

He's insanely smart! He's witty! He's tough! Frontiers wrapped his character around and tried to bring him back to the Tails we knew for being self-assured and unhinged, why does this fandom insist on ignoring it for the Lost World and Forces era mischaracterization? Just because it fits your idealized version of what he is doesn't mean that's who he's supposed to be! Put some respect on my boy's name!

[morphean42]

The mystery of the second child

Now isn’t that delightfully dramatic! In the first instalment of The Marvin Trilogy, a few In Trousers songs mention the existence of another kid between Trina and Marvin besides Jason, and this post will offer a few explanations as to what this means. It got… long… so for the sanity of everyone here’s a read more

Explanation One:

This is the most boring one, and it is simply that William Finn wrote In Trousers, changed his mind while writing March of the Falsettos, and nixed the existence of any children besides Jason. The rewritten version of In Trousers, which came out in 1985, removed the songs in which Trina mentions another kid, and added songs like “Packing Up” and “I Have A Family” specifically reference only the existence of Jason, which is proof that Finn simply decided to retcon the idea of multiple children. While this is also most likely, I want to delve into reasons within the universe of The Marvin Trilogy for this inconsistency as well.

Explanation Two:

I don’t personally believe this one at all, but it’s worth stating: it’s possible there was a death in the family. Trina references ‘the eldest’ and ‘the baby’, and due to the fact that “Your Lips and Me (Reprise)” takes place once Marvin has left Trina for Whizzer, the eldest is arguably Jason. So, it’s entirely possible that the baby dies at some point between the end of In Trousers and the beginning of March of the Falsettos.

The problems with this? They don’t mention it at all in the show, and while it could be interesting to explore, the loss would have a profound effect on all the characters and it isn’t plausible to not be a major component of their arcs. Another problem correlated with this too is that In Trousers and March of the Falsettos overlap with each other, or at least occur very very close together. Whizzer and Marvin are together at the end of In Trousers, the baby is alive, and by March of the Falsettos (which personally I believe starts right after, quite literally weeks later), they’re dead? It doesn’t add up, even if the shows theoretically take place, at most, eight months from each other

Explanation Three:

One of the children is meant to represent Marvin. This solves the issue of the child existing at all, and due to the lyrics Marvin could metaphorically exist as either.

If Trina is referring to him as The Baby, then the lines ‘the baby is crying on the swingset’ and ‘the baby’s wailing’ could be references to how volatile and emotional Marvin can be. The swingset may be a correlation to the idea of a game that is so often used as a metaphor for sexuality and personhood in the trilogy.

If Trina is referring to him as The Oldest, then the lines ‘the oldest drinks wine’ and ‘the oldest is kicking ass’ could simply be jibes at the fact that he’s an adult who is acting as a child. Obviously, kids should not be drinking, and while they do get into fights, the other line could be a reference to less physical altercations such as the ones between Trina and Marvin.

Personally, this is my favourite solution, as it ties into “Trina’s Song” and “March of the Falsettos” with Marvin acting childish, especially in Trina’s eyes (which is the viewpoint of “Your Lips and Me”). However, depending on which child Marvin is supposed to be, one gets conflicting views of Jason. If Marvin is the oldest, then the lines referring to the baby can easily be attributed to him, but the other way works too. If Jason is the oldest, then the kicking ass could be in relation to chess, or misbehaviour in school, and the wine could be a metaphor for how old he acts despite his young age.

There aren’t cons to this theory, per se, besides the fact that I don’t think William Finn intended this interpretation as evidenced by the rewrites. The only problem is the later when Trina sings ‘so he kissed the two boys’ as Marvin leaves, directly stating there are two sons. I don’t know how to work around that line in this explanation, besides saying the other boy is some convoluted metaphor for Trina and Marvin’s ideal life.

Both Trina and Marvin live vicariously through Jason in ways, shown in “Year of the Child”, and are extremely invested in how he turns out. Of course, they’re parents, they want him to be a successful human being, but their flaws as parents are meant to show how they place unreasonable expectations on him, wanting Jason to be their perfect little kid, as well as an emotionally stable adult. In this way, the ‘two boys’ could be seen as both Jason and another fake son, a Jason that is everything all three of them fail to be. This hypothetical son could be a metaphor for heterosexuality, perfectionism, and the patriarchy, all of which Marvin is effectively leaving behind… that’s a bit of a stretch though, I’ll admit.

Explanation Four:

There could be another child in the family, but they simply aren’t relevant to the plot. This is boring and feels like a bit of a cop out, but could work to explain everything. Jason exists in the second two works in the trilogy due to his fears of becoming like his father, and also to explore Marvin’s character arc. At the core of it, Marvin needs to be a good dad before he can be (or start to be) a good person; the final song of March of the Falsettos is “Father to Son”, the whole point of Jason is to show how children are hurt within these familial disputes.

So, one could argue that if Jason is the eldest child and Trina has recently given birth to a baby, this baby would not factor into the plot as a character at all. He wouldn’t have a personality, wouldn’t contribute to Marvin’s arc as a father (nor the rest of the characters relationships), and having a prop baby on stage would just be difficult, so it simply doesn’t get mentioned.

Again, I don’t like this, because like the death theory, having a newborn or young child would impact the way these characters act with each other. Trina would feel more abandoned than she already does due to being left with a baby, and Jason would have to contend with not only losing his home structure by his father leaving but by no longer being an only child. It would be an interesting AU to explore, but doesn’t quite work in canon (in my opinion).

Explanation Five:

Trina’s views on her children are skewed. This is the most plausible besides three, I believe. Mothers often continue to see their kids as younger than they are, using language to reflect that, so it’s possible the baby is meant to be Jason, as she still thinks of him like that, and the eldest has left the home to go to college.

This works within canon as it would make sense not to reference another son when he’s theoretically very far away and grown up, at least partially. This eldest kid is not as affected by the events of the musical and therefore doesn’t need to be acknowledged by the characters who are presumably used to this absence in their lives, the oldest having been at college for some amount of time.

This also fits within my personal timeline, which places the events of Marvin leaving Trina to occur over the summer, so the line ‘he kissed the two boys’ makes sense, as the other son would be visiting home for summer.

However, there are obviously holes in this theory. Depending on how old Marvin and Trina are meant to be, they would have had a son in High School and be at least in their late thirties for the child to have grown up to college age. I think Trina and Marvin don’t reach late thirties or early fourties’ until after the end of Falsettoland, but that’s my own interpretation.

Another issue is, of course, why the oldest boy isn’t at Jason’s bar mitzvah. This is a pretty big deal, and you’d imagine he’d be invited back. One could argue that they celebrate the bar mitzvah in the hospital before the official date that was set, due to Whizzer’s illness, but personally I do think the bar mitzvah takes place on Jason’s birthday or at least whenever it was supposed to occur. Due to the timeline of the AIDS crisis, we know Jason’s birthday and Whizzer’s death have to happen in the fall or winter of 1981 (theoretically Whizzer could have died in the summer, but by July only eight or so men had been hospitalised due to what we now know were AIDS complications, so it’s unlikely he was with the very first victims in the summer). This means there aren’t any finals for the oldest kid, and if it had been important to the family he could have been brought home for the bar mitzvah.

These are simply my ideas, although the only one that truly makes complete sense is of course that William Finn just changed his mind. If anyone else has another theory I’d love to hear it!!

[newcathedrals]

can i ask you a dumb question how do you classify a 'classic' winnix fic i am so curious

I am so glad someone asked! I am so passionate about the “classic” style of winnix. “Classic” doesn’t refer to when the fic was written (it doesn’t matter if it’s old or not) or its popularity (it doesn’t have to be super popular). It's not a super common term or anything, but I found a pattern in many winnix fics bc I read so much and started thinking of these elements as part of a "genre."

Here are the musts of a “classic winnix” fic:

Not an AU. events line up closely to the progression of the events in the series, no huge divergences. diehard writers even line events up with the real Dick Winter’s book/other Band of Brothers books

If the plot includes time immediately post-war, it often takes place in NJ and involves Dick working at Nixon Nitration

Kathy, Nix’s sister, Nix’s father, and Dick’s family members are part of the plot if there’s any post-war plot

Lewis’s alcoholism is an issue in the plot and in Dick and Nix’s relationship. Nix struggles with some sort of mental health issue: alcoholism, depression, self-worth issues, etc

Nix and Dick both have issues related to their sexuality because of the homophobia of the period. Even if one or both of them have fully accepted themselves, this was a process they had to go through. Almost always, Dick has spiritually reconciled his sexual attraction with his Christianity. Internalized homophobia and societal homophobia are issues that they have to face. 

There are other elements that are definitely not “required” but are super common in the “classic” winnix fic style. Most of the classic style fics will have a few of these elements:

Depending how long the post-war plot of the fic is, Dick and Nix almost always end up farming in the end. Chicken farming, grain farming, and producing animal feed are popular choices. If they end up farming, they always end up in rural Pennsylvania 

Stanhope Nixon is an antagonist and blocks Dick and Nix’s ultimate goals of happiness and peace. He’s an alcoholic, and “gave” Nix the disease through childhood trauma, or even just genetics

Nix struggles to be a father to his daughter, and struggles with this issue. 

Harry and Kitty are Nix and Dick’s closest friends that remain from their time in the war. They’re not explicitly homophobic and accept Dick and Lew as a couple (especially if they’re not outwardly affectionate in front of Kitty and Harry)

Lewis often does not feel deserving of Dick and struggles to accept Dick’s love. Sometimes he thinks that Dick should move on from him and marry a woman, and that he stands in the way of Dick’s “true” happiness and progress in life. Dick has to convince Nix that he’s the one for him, and that making a life with Lewis would make him happiest. 

Bastogne foxhole activities (iykyk)

Some writers pay attention to the speech patterns and slang of the time, and incorporate 1940s language into their writing 

I never get enough of this style! Even though the fics within this “genre” have so many similarities with each other, each writer also brings something new to the style and plot. The longer fics within the classic style also feel the most reminiscent of published novels. Maybe I’ll make a list of my favorites in the classic style (although many are in both of my winnix fic rec posts). The peak of classic winnix is the “What Things We Have Heard Together” series by joissant in my opinion. Some other greats are Fiorediloto’s "The Earth Below My Feet" series and the shorter “Give Me Light, Give Me Life” by an orphan account. But I also find more fics that fit into the "classic" style every day!

[pfctipper]

this post is only half-serious but i am constantly thinking about whatever weird body image issues dick winters had going on

i mean, the man is obsessed. look at how he talks about joining the paratroops:

'The more I looked at the paratroopers, the more I was inclined to join them as soon as I graduated from OCS. Of all the outfits I'd seen at Fort Benning, they were the best looking and most physically fit ... Airborne troopers looked like how I had always pictured a group of soldiers: hard, lean, bronzed, and tough' (Beyond Band of Brothers)

'It was at Benning that Winters first saw paratroopers up close. They were everything he'd always envisioned a soldier to be: lean, hard, well trained and disciplined, bronzed and tough. The men bore a fierce pride' (Biggest Brother)

and the main things he values in his friendship with tab:

'Later [Floyd Talbert and I] developed a personal friendship that transcended rank. Talbert was athletic and dedicated. You knew if your life were on the line, he would come through'

and he's always mentioning it in his letters to deetta - this isn't even all of them from Hang Tough:

'Is cheese fattening? What a question! What's cheese made out of? Well, is milk and butter fattening? Ok, then, stay away from the cheese, eat more proteins, like that steak, but no carbohydrates' (Letter during basic training)

'Now if you want to take off weight, you must do it every day and in addition, take it easy on the chow and liquid intake. After about two or three weeks, if you've been real conscientious, you'll see some results. This may sound like a lot of bunk to you but there are few days when I don't run between two - two and a half miles, do 80 pushups, 60 situps on a footlocker, a couple of splits, and some leg and trunk exercises after the day's work is over. As a result I keep in pretty good shape' (Letter literally written at the airfield a week before Market Garden)

'I don't believe out of 600 men [in Second Battalion] that over 10 have been married. And in about 6 cases, they drew a lemon, I'd say. Something that should come with a sack where they really wear a hat ... Starting to get in pretty good shape again, 174. Just ten pounds off my fighting weight and I could make that in three, four days. How's your fighting form? Don't answer that' (Letter from Austria)

all of which is an objectively insane way to speak to your maybe-girlfriend. did he think this was flirting? was deetta thrilled to get weight loss advice and comments about how random english women were ugly from a man in the middle of a warzone

he manages to include multiple shirtless photos of himself in his books but not a single physical description of nix. even the random man who picks him up hitchhiking and then tries to pick him up gets called 'good-looking'. irene, nix's english wife, gets 'anything but beautiful' and 'skinny' which. dick. what is wrong with you

[godzexperiment]

i like the thought of nix being so excited to talk about something/so comfortable with somebody, he forgets to fake breathe+have his voice operate as most voices do :p (it could go many ways but i like the thought of him having reverb on his tone of voice+it just stripped of the little pushes of oxygen around speaking usually requires and him just unaware because he's too busy going !!!!!)

[goldensunartinitiative]

Explaining the Ending

So...

Here's the long overdue explainer about why the Golden Sun Art Initiative is ending, and where we go from here. If you're not familiar, Jass Kells is me, and I have been the creative head of GSAI. We were a small group and it was supposed to be much more collaborative but I ended up taking on more and more responsibilities as circumstances changed. Without getting too bogged down in details, GSAI really kicked off in early 2023 and was planning on releasing 3 zines with written text combined with commissioned artwork (everything made by humans, obviously).

Then in later 2023, it became necessary to dismiss someone from the project. This ended up not being taken well, and before I knew it, GSAI was down to me. I am not particularly tech inclined, am not savvy with social media, and my contacts are pretty limited what with being a very private person. I can give it a try, and so that's what happened. Yet it doesn't change that there we were with me being to only one wanting to try to see the project to the finish line.

2024 was lonely. Sitting on a trove of beautiful artwork but lacking the means to deliver it as intended was bothersome, although with assistance, one zine was released halfway through the year. The pixel portrait mini-zine was not one of the originally planned zines, but a spontaneous side project which was truly enjoyable to see take shape. Yet it lacked the professional layout and look, and the visual flair that most fan-zines are expected to have. I am bad at asking for help, and the few sources where I tried either did not respond or declined; I wish I could say it was that they got better paying work elsewhere, but they didn't even want to name a price. Oh well.

When the number of people saying "no" piled up, I ended up nixing one of the planned zines. There were supposed to be three: SFW single images, SFW multi-image stories, and a dedicated NSFW zine. The middle of those ended up being cancelled, although a few ideas ended up being incorporated into the plans for the single image zine. I also conceived of another side-project, although that was going to be designated as not a GSAI collection, but rather my own collection of ideas.

I would be lying if I didn't state the obvious; personal issues came up. This is true for everyone, but things have become insurmountable. I lost a family member following the start of GSAI, and my health has also been sporadic. Then in January 2025, on the day I was supposed to have an already overdue medical procedure, a message came: cancelled, because they were understaffed. That was the moment I needed to step back. A single Jass Kells cannot keep this going. I need to move on.

To assuage any concern; I have switched providers and am getting better care. It was not anything major, but was important to me. Since late last year employment has not been steady either, although I have temporary odds and ends lined up and have been cautious these past few years, so I personally am not in danger of anything. It will be okay. However, a change is needed, and GSAI ending is a part of that.

There is one last aspect that needs discussing. Since GSAI was originally a collaborative process, it means that the brainstorming and discussions that were involved involved the team. So with that in mind, even if the words and stories and poetic odds and ends that would be mixed in with the images all came from my pen (or keyboard, however you like), the concepts are still something that others had a hand in. That's an entire aspect which, if someone wanted to make a big deal out of it, they could. The pixel zine was my idea beginning to end, and while others helped compile some info, that one was something which I am comfortable attributing to me alone, in concept.

I am grateful that there have not been any callout posts, or tell-all behind the scenes from anyone who was involved, and the last thing I want is to upset anyone who contributed an idea to see a part of themselves or their work posted without their being associated with GSAI anymore. So in lieu of any messy fight, I think this is the plan going forward:

Previously, cropped previews have been posted, here and on Bluesky. I intend to post the full images, along with some musings about the concept or process, rather than any of the texts which would have originally accompanied these images in zine form. That way, they can be seen and enjoyed, discussed, debated. Right now as the Switch 2 is being revealed and hope continues to sprout for a possible new Golden Sun anything, this seems like a time when love for Golden Sun should be displayed.

And when it comes to the NSFW aspect of GSAI, I do want to be a bit better than we have been about delineating the types of artwork GSAI has commissioned. Anything that was planned as part of the NSFW zine from GSAI will be posted on an alt account on Bluesky, found here: https://bsky.app/profile/gsai-pillowbook.bsky.social

The planned title for the NSFW zine was going to be "The Golden Sun Pillow Book". And so, that concept lives on. Thank you for reading all of this. I hope it provides a bit of clarity, and even though we aren't done yet (after all, this means dozens of full, non-cropped pieces of Golden Sun fan art are going to get posted), I hope this brings a bit of closure for anybody wondering what's been going on. The Golden Sun Art Initiative started out with good intentions, but like the game series itself, has had some disappointments. I truly appreciate the love that people have shown, contributed, and even just discussed regarding these special games, and the little piece that GSAI has played in the fandom the past few years.

-Jass Kells