#...i think that's just from reading it when 12 so unused to such things

[midnight-mourning]

DCA Promptober Day 12: Carousel

Who wants to be back in the fever dream again? It's you!! Yes you do, yes you do!

Just the one today, which is great as that means I'm back on track finally, hope you enjoy!

Word count: 937

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"Ow!" You say as you bang your head against the control the lip of the panel opening in the carousel's center, "Stupid, frickin'... thing."

You weren't a mechanic, at least you don't think you are, you don't know how to repair machinery like this. The fact that your employer expected you to just pick up the ability to read wiring diagrams and the likes as if it was nothing felt a bit unfair. If you're being honest. 

Sure, you had a manual. But it was hard to read in this low light. Which, that's another thing, why are you even working in the dark in the first place? Are you even supposed to be working in these conditions? Feels like an OSHA violation. 

Your rubbing a hand over the sore spot on your head when all the hair raises on your skin. A chuckle follows soon thereafter. You scramble for your flashlight, waving it around wildly once you manage to turn it on. No luck. He's not here. 

Another laugh, somewhere up above. Correction then, he's not close. 

You frown, and lean back down to snatch up a screwdriver, starting to work on the operator's controls now, flashlight in one hand while you work. It starts to flicker after a minute and you curse to yourself, turning it off for the meantime. 

Moon tuts at this. 

You scoff, "Don't make it seem like I have a choice here."

"Go to sleep," Is his response.

Moon rarely spoke in full sentences you noticed. And tended to repeat the same phrases over and over. If you hadn't heard him say something direct to you that one time, when was that, anyhow? Feels like ages ago, you'd believe that they were all he could say. 

"Can't. I have work to do. As you can see here.," You don't even know if you could sleep with this on-

With what on? You shake your head, frustrated. You hope you get a break soon, you're getting real sick of your brain not functioning properly due to what you're assuming hoping is sleeplessness.

You finish with tightening the front face of the operator panel back into place. You didn't bother with putting the panel back over the carousel's main access, something told you you'd probably just have to remove it again. Why did this thing even need repaired so often? Had anybody even used it since the last time you did? Have you even left the building once?

You flick the lever and then hit the main button. Least you think it's the right one, it's so damn hard to see-

"Nighty-night~"

You glance up in time to see red eyes hanging just above your head. He swings a clawed hand at you and you jump backwards, managing to dodge but falling down in the process. 

Your hands search for your flashlight as the carousel starts to power on, music starting up as you feel yourself start to rotate with the platform you've landed on. 

"Ah, ah," Moon tsks, causing you to look up to him. 

In his hands is your flashlight, you can only watch in horror as your breaks it in two, chuckling as its remains clatter to the floor. 

His faceplate spins, eyes narrowing, "Light's out."

You brace for the worst, but he only stares as you start to move away from him as the carousel takes off. Disappearing into the dark above after a moment. 

It's then you realized you forgot to flip on the ride's lights. 

You quickly stand up, taking a moment to get your balance.  You look around for any sign of the night-themed bot. You can hear him, somewhere on the other side of the machine. Bells twinkling as he searches around for you. 

You pass by the operator's podium once. You hear Moon start getting closer. 

Shit, you need a distraction. And fast. 

You make another turn. In the dark you find half of your flashlight. You hit it against your palm once or twice just to make sure it's unusable. 

"Naughty, naughty," Moon says, he's much closer now. But hasn't seen you yet. 

You duck down behind one of the benches on the ride, hand covering your mouth to keep from making a noise.

You feel fear crawl down your spine as you see the light of his eyes scan across the horses in front of you. It then disappears quickly. You swallow, closing your eyes as you wait for it to all be over.

There's a loud screech as moon's claws rip into the wooden animal off to your far left. He makes a displeased noise. 

He missed. He doesn't know where you are.

The operator's podium passes by you one more time. Move. 

You wait a few seconds then toss the broken flashlight piece somewhere off into the dark. 

You see a flash of Moon's eyes as he darts over to the sound. 

When you finish your next lap, your quickly roll off the machine and crawl over to the control panel. 

You flip the switch. 

There's a hiss behind you, you turn around in time to watch Moon retreat back into the shadow's away from the carousel. Away from you. 

You sigh, collapsing back against the podium. It's then that you feel something cold on your right shoulder. 

Reaching back, you feel a large hole that's been ripped into the back of your shirt. 

Somewhere off in the distance, you hear Moon speak.

"It's past your bedtime," He snickers. Which is his way of saying 'Until next time' you've realized.

You grumble, rubbing a hand over your eye.

This job sucks.

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Little more light-hearted compared to yesterdays. Which you can find here if you haven't seen it or any of my other promptobers already. Thanks for reading!

[thewriterisme1987]

Clean Slate

A little Hayffie goodness for a sweet weekend ❤️

Read on AO3 HERE or Below

Clean slate.

Haymitch leaned his weight into the last hay bale, grunting as it thudded into place beside the others stacked neatly along the drafty walls of the old goose barn. The wind bit through the wooden slats like teeth, the kind that warned of a brutal winter on its way. The geese would be moved in tonight, tucked safe inside this rustic shelter while snow buried District 12 inch by inch.

“Last one,” he said, wiping his hands on his coat and turning toward her.

Effie, cheeks rosy from the cold and the work, tucked a windswept curl behind her ear, leaving a faint smudge of hay dust across her forehead. She looked utterly out of place and perfectly at home all at once, a Capitol rose blooming stubbornly through the soil of District 12.

She had never stayed this late in the year before. Her annual visits usually fell in high summer, when the meadows were bursting with color and the Mellark children had endless days of freedom to enjoy their beloved “Aunty Effie.”

Those weeks were always bright, structured, filled with laughter and a comforting sense of predictability. But this summer… had quietly stretched into autumn and soon to be winter.

Her Capitol duties had grown more flexible in recent years, with most of her work now done remotely. So she busied herself with it in the early evenings, after dinner, retreating to a little study space that Peeta had created for her in his bakery’s unused office. The rest of her days were spent outdoors, learning the rhythms of farm life, feeding animals, foraging in the woods, and listening to Peeta explain the language of herbs. She was, to her own surprise, good at it. Gentle with the goats, patient with the geese. The animals responded to her calm nature.

And then there was Haymitch.

He’d made fewer trips to 13 this year, the farm kept him rooted, and perhaps… so did she. When Peeta was swamped at the bakery, Haymitch always seemed to have a chore that needed an extra set of hands, fixing a fence that wasn’t really broken, hauling wood that could’ve waited. Some days, Effie suspected, he invented tasks just to keep her near.

They laughed a lot. The kind of laughter that came easy with shared history, retelling Capitol absurdities and reaping day disasters from years gone by. They didn’t touch on the deeper things. Not out loud. But underneath the banter was something softer, something steadily growing. Over time, a new kind of closeness had settled between them, no longer forged in trauma, but in quiet moments and familiar glances.

Something kept making her stay longer than she intended.

And something kept making him look at her like that, as if her chatter was the only sound in the world he wanted to get lost in.

He reached out without thinking, gently sliding a piece of straw from her hair. His fingers lingered.

Their eyes caught, blue on blue, and the world, for just a breath, paused.

“You remind me of her sometimes,” Haymitch said quietly, the words out before he could stop them.

Effie’s smile widened, warm and easy, completely unaware of the minefield she was stepping into. “Who?”

“Lenore.”

The name hung there, frozen in the air like snow that hadn’t yet fallen.

Effie didn’t move. Not at first. Her face stayed soft, but something inside her stilled. The warmth in her expression faded, replaced by a tight, unreadable tension. She stepped back slowly, brushing hay from her skirt with mechanical precision.

“Oh,” she said. A polite, poised syllable — far too practiced to be real.

“Effie, I didn’t mean…”

Her lips pulled into a smile, but it was brittle and foreign, the kind she used to greet Capitol officials she despised. The real Effie, the one who laughed in the orchard and cried at dusk when the birds sang just like they did in District 12, was gone in an instant.

“I think it’s time I said my farewells,” she said, voice crisp and detached. “I’ve overstayed my welcome as it is. Capitol work doesn’t stop, not even for winter.”

She turned toward the door, her movements brisk, controlled, but he reached for her, gently wrapping his hand around hers before she could leave.

“Wait. Effie, you don’t have to go. You’ve been working from here all season. Just… stay.”

She wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“I can’t,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Peeta and Katniss deserve their privacy.”

“Then…stay with me.” The words escaped him, reckless but sincere.

She pulled her hand away like he’d burned her. Her jaw clenched, trembling for just a moment before she smoothed it out.

“Goodbye, Haymitch,” she said, stepping past him.

Astrid entered the barn just in time to catch the end of the exchange. “Hi, Effie. I just made some sweet tea if you both…”

“Thank you, Astrid, but I really must… It was lovely to see you.” Effie’s voice cracked, ever so slightly, and then she was gone, rushing toward the house, toward her bags, toward escape.

Astrid watched her go, eyes narrowing. Then she turned on Haymitch.

“What did you do?”

—

Haymitch slouched at the kitchen table, his mug of tea cooling in his hands. He’d played the scene over and over in his head, the hay, the touch, the look in her eyes when he said the name.

“You said that?” Astrid exclaimed, eyes wide. She dropped her forehead into her palm. “Haymitch.”

“I didn’t think. It just came out.” He rubbed his face. “I don’t get why it was such a big deal.”

Astrid sighed and refilled his cup. “Okay. I’m going to be real with you now.”

“I don’t like that tone.”

“Well, tough shit,” she snapped. He blinked, he’d never heard Katniss’s mother curse in the years he’d known her.

“Lenore was… lovely,” she continued, her voice softer now. “And what happened to her was cruel and unfair. But it was also a very, very long time ago.”

He said nothing.

“Effie? That woman has been here for years, Haymitch. Through the drunk, the damaged, the downright unbearable, she’s been the one scraping you off the floor and gluing the pieces back together.”

“She was doing her job,” he muttered.

“No.” Astrid’s voice sharpened. “She was not. No one asked her to come to 12. No Capitol escort ever chose District 12, they used to assign it as punishment. But Effie? She asked to come back, year after year. She stayed through the worst of you, not for the charming scenery, I’ll tell you that much.”

He stared down at his cup, his reflection rippling with every tremble of his fingers.

“I asked her to stay.”

“After comparing her to the ghost of the only woman you swore to ever love?” Astrid arched an eyebrow. “Yeah. Real smooth, Abernathy.”

He let out a slow breath, the realisation dawning like a storm. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” She squeezed his hand. “The train doesn’t leave for ten more minutes. If you care about her, and I know you do, then go bring her home.”

—

The platform was almost empty, save for one lone figure huddled on the bench. Effie sat with her coat wrapped tight around her, a suitcase beside her feet. Her eyes stared blankly at the tracks until the sound of approaching footsteps made her stiffen.

She turned, her face unreadable, until she saw him.

“Haymitch…” she began, standing quickly, voice already tumbling with emotion. “I’m sorry. I was rude, the way I left. What you said… it was kind. It just caught me off guard. I know about Lenore, and how much she meant to you. And it hit me, that I’d been silly. I stayed here too long. I let myself pretend.”

She swallowed hard.

“I thought maybe, I don’t know, that there was a chance. We’ve gotten so close these last few months and I was happy, Haymitch, really happy. And I started to believe maybe you were, too. But you’ve never said anything. You’ve never looked at me that way. So when you said her name, I realised I’d been living in a fantasy and I had to leave before I made things worse, for both of us.”

She tried to catch her breath, eyes shiny with unshed tears.

“It’s not your fault. I just… I should have known better. I’m sorry.”

He didn’t answer. Not with words.

Instead, he stepped forward and kissed her, soft, certain, no hesitation. His hands cupped her face, drawing her close like she was the only warm thing in a world turning to ice.

When they finally pulled apart, their foreheads remained pressed together, breath mingling in the cold.

“I wasn’t comparing you to Lenore,” he murmured. “When I said you reminded me of her, I meant the way she made me feel. Something I thought I’d buried a long time ago.”

He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “But you brought it back. You brought me back.”

Her lip trembled. “Haymitch…”

“I’m in love with you, Effie Trinket,” he said. “Not the way I loved before, but something deeper. Truer. I want you to stay. Not just for the winter. For good.”

She let out a shaky laugh, tears falling freely now. Her arms slipped around his neck, drawing him close again.

“Well,” she whispered, “one can’t argue with that.”

They kissed again as the snow began to fall, blanketing the world around them in white, as if, just maybe, it was offering them a clean slate.

[foreststarflaime]

All 50 “honest favorite character” prompts for Smaug

( @izunias-meme-hole )

1. Do you project onto this character?

More like the other way around lmao

2. Did you always like this character?

YES HE IS MY PRECIOUS

3. What first drew you to this character?

D R A G O N and also I love riddles

4. Did you initially dislike/hate this character?

I loved him instantly. Great villain counterpart for Bilbo, their interactions are so perfect

5. If this character were a woman, would you honestly still like them? Or in reverse, what if they were a man?

If they didn’t mess with his character/appearance the way they normally do in art I wouldn’t but I do not want to see the weird hourglass figure big lips and eyelashes thing they do to Girls tm in art to him. Let female dragons be cool and imposing. Like Zubeia from the Dragon Prince. If they did it like that nah he could still be cool as a woman dragon

6. Do you have any nicknames or pet names you use for this character?

Does it count if I had a crested gecko named Smaug once that I nicknamed Smecko (Smaug+gecko)

7. Does the character’s age matter to you?

In that he wouldn’t have the same imposing effect if he was just a tiny hatchling yeah but further than that not particularly

8. Does the character’s looks/design matter to you?

Yaya he looks so cooool classic dragon look and total banger. Both in what he looks like in the movie and in Tolkien’s own drawings of him. Although tbh I think I might like Tolkien’s drawings a little more, there’s something fairytale about them that is soooo good. But I also do love how you can see the fire moving up his throat in the movies

9. Does this character remind you of anyone you know? Does that affect how you see them?

No lmao

10. Do you see yourself in this character even without projecting?

Not besides a love of shiny rocks and riddles lol

11. How did you “fall in love” with this character?

I was very young and the Hobbit was an early introduction to all my favorite things (fantasy, dragons, swords). I was primed to unleash all my previously unused enthusiasm upon the first dragon in sight. And he is The dragon

12. If you could write effortlessly and as much as you wanted, what story (s) would you write for this character?

Ooo hmmm probably a Smaug pov of events, that would be fun

13. If you could draw effortlessly and as much as you wanted, what scene (s) would you draw for this character?

Him burning Bard to a tiny crisp 🥰 and/or him and Genesis having fun with arson together

14. Are you physically attracted to this character?

No lmao unless you mean aesthetically he is a very cool looking dragon

15. Are your thoughts surrounding this character usually sexual, non-sexual, or a mix of both?

Non

16. Have you ever cried when thinking about this character? Genuinely?

I don’t believe so

17. Have you ever felt physical pain over this character? (ex: physical heartache).

BARD WHY DID U KILL HIM :( not really lol

18. Do you prefer to see this character suffer or know peace? Angst or comfort? Both?

LET THE FOOLISH HUMANOIDS BASK IN HIS GRAND MAJESTY. ALL SHALL BURN BEFORE HIM and no pesky black arrows and pessimistic hater bowmen

19. Does this character serve as a stress ball/ security blanket for you? Something you run to after a bad day to feel safe or happier?

I have gone back to reading the Smaug chapter or watching the Smaug scenes before yeah and it is such an instant :D warm blanket

20. Do you feel affectionate towards this character?

THATS MY BOYYYYYY YIPPEE ARSON

21. Are your feelings about this character platonic, romantic, or familial? All of these feelings at once maybe?

He is my first dragon…that should be its own category

22. Do you think you will always love this character?

YES NOTHING COULD MAKE ME HATE YOU KING (UNDER THE MOUNTAIN)

23. Has this character permanently altered or impacted your psyche in a way you won’t forget?

D R A G O N S he incited my love of them. He was the catalyst

24. Do you ever dream about this character? If so, describe a dream you once had about them.

I’m sure I have but I can’t remember an instance rn

25. What kind of fan-fiction do you read about this character? If you don’t read fan-fics about them, why not?

I actually have not. I have no idea what I would find if I went looking

26. If you look for this character’s name on AO3, what tags are you including or excluding?

Anything nsfw I guess?

27. Do you like to ship this character with other characters or do you prefer not to?

Nah let him live his life in peace with only his beloved gold. Aroace icon tbh

28. Do you get defensive about this character? If yes, then why?

FUCK OFF BARD I WANTED MORE AND YOU ENDED IT >:( (lmao I know it had to happen but I beef with him on principle)

29. Do you affectionately bully this character?

Not really

30. Are you especially sensitive about this character?

Nah

31. Are you ashamed of liking this character?

NO HOW COULD I BE ASHAMED OF SMAUG THE CHIEF CALAMITY OF OUR AGE

32. If you could make this character a meal, what would you make them?

Roast bowman 🥰

33. Are you “blinded by love” for this character or do you accept any flaws they may have?

HE DID NOTHING WRONG DO YOU HEAR ME. AND EVEN IF HE DID HE LOOKED GOOD DOING IT

34. Does this character inspire you with little things in your daily life?

Maybe? Not that I can think of specifically atm?

35. Has this character ever prevented you from sleeping because you can’t stop thinking about them?

Oh I’m sure he did when I first saw Desolation in theaters, I get excited jitters after seeing movies I’m passionate about like that. And I’m counting all the times I’ve stayed up late reading the Hobbit

36. Do you feel a spiritual/soulmate connection with this character?

HE IS MY BOY HE WAS THE FIRST DOMINO IN MY DRAGON LOVING PATH. IT WAS MEANT TO BE

37. Is your love for this character a secret from people you know in real life?

Absolutely not lmao

38. Do you tend to joke more about dying or killing for this character? Both? What causes the distinction?

Killing. Bard

39. Do you feel lovesick over this character?

I don’t think so

40. Are you very empathetic towards this character? When they feel a certain way in the story, do you feel those emotions too?

It’s more of an I am pointing wildly screaming THATS MY SMAUG THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE at the screen/page situation

41. Do you prefer to interact with this character directly via self-insert/reader type content? Or do you enjoy seeing them mostly with other characters in the story and/or your OCs?

Uhh either way ig. But him and Bilbo interacting is probably my favorite

42. If you could, would you write this character a song or poem?

Sure why not

43. What type of weather makes you think of this character?

When it’s really windy and stormy-overcast but not raining. Just the ominous sense of encroaching doom and wonder

44. Which season makes you think of this character?

Winter bc desolation hehe

45. Do you feel as if you are intimately familiar with this character?

I have known him since kindergarten so I should hope so

46. How much do bad interpretations of this character upset you?

Idk what a bad interpretation would be exactly. I’m sure if I heard one I would loudly defend him. But mostly I do so jokingly lol

47. Does this character ever make you laugh sincerely?

He’s more of a jumping up and down excitedly situation than a laughing one. But if crazed giggling counts

48. What’s your favorite physical/design feature for this character?

He’s a classic red-and-gold fairytale dragon and it just hits so good. Classic trope for a reason. Also I love the mental image of his jewel-encrusted waistcoat

49. What’s your favorite personality trait in this character?

Mmmm I love his vanity ngl, he’s a little shit and I adore that. I think we should all speak in riddles about ourselves. Imposter syndrome would be cured instantly. That might just fix Genesis

50. Link your fav song, playlist, aesthetic board, fan-fiction, reference pile, personal artwork, analysis post, meme, headcanon, or quote for this character. Whichever one (s) you are most comfortable with!

Not gonna put a picture of it here bc I’m too lazy to go ask permission atm but I have a lovely painting of his eye in that close up shot from the end of Unexpected Journey where it opens that @/fridgefanatic did for me around the time it came out hanging in the corner of my room

[pencil-peach]

G Witch Onscreen Text: Episode 12

And so, we have reached part 13 in my attempt to transcribe and discuss the text that appears on monitors and screens in G Witch (and talk about stuff I think is cool)

This is the Episode 12, the season 1 finale: "Keep Marching on Instead of Running Off."

<< Click Here to go back to Episode 11

Oh, but you'll have to change before you can join me under the cut.

You have to wear a normal spacesuit while reading this post...

Like episode 11, this episode is actually very light on text, (for obvious reasons..) so I'll also spend some more time discussing little things in the episode I think are interesting.

The text on the panel for the EV (Elevator) reads C BLOCK No. C - 6 The EV is arriving shortly.

It also has 3 symbols on the bottom, with one crossed out. It's hard to know what they mean, but my best guess is: - Communication (Which is currently unusable due to the attack) - Multi-Directional (As in, isn't a one way elevator, can go back and forth) - Capacity (In this case, multiple people can use it at once.)

Also, in this scene, Miorine talks about "opening the bulkhead from the control center." What she means is she wants to find the control center so she can open the giant wall that separated her and Suletta. The first thing that both girls thought of doing when they were separated was rescuing the other.

Also, also, the fact that C Block still has some semblance of power despite having been fully disconnected from the rest of the plant must mean that every individual block must have some sort of reserve power system in case something like this happens. I wonder how expensive this place was to build....

I really like the scene where we see Sophie activate Permet Score 4, because I think they put so much focus on it in order to put a lot of things we've seen earlier into perspective.

Up until now, we've only seen 3 characters (other than Eri but she doesn't count) activate Permet Score 4: Nadim in the prologue, El4n in episode 6, and now Sophie.

I think the first thing we can see when we compare these instances is how, broadly, Gundam Pilots have generally been made to become more resilient to Permet in the 21 years since Vanadis.

As far as we can tell, Nadim was probably one of the most skilled Gundam Pilots at Vanadis. (Other than Eri but she's like. cheating.)

Even acknowledging that he hadn't piloted a Gundam in some time (He says as much when he first activates Permet 3), he's still incredibly adept at controlling GUND Bits and nearly singlehandedly holds off the attack by Cathedra. (Thought Wendy's efforts must also definitely be acknowledged.)

When Wendy starts suffering from Permet exposure, Nadim tells her that she can't raise her score any higher

We never see or hear exactly which score she's at, but her Gundam is deactivated by the Antidote, which only works up to Score 3. So she's either at 2 - 3, and she's clearly suffering its effects harder than Nadim, who's also at 3 at this point.

But despite Nadim's clear adeptness at Piloting the Lfrith and his much stronger resilience to Permet, when he activates Score 4, he dies nigh instantly. He doesn't survive longer than a minute.

When Gundams had first been developed, Score 3 was considered the absolute limit, both in terms of what a human could bear and what Gundam tech could handle.

We can see this reflected on the Lfrith itself. When first launched, and up to Score 3, Lfrith's body appears completely normal.

But when he activates Score 4, its entire body glows bright red as opposed to just its GUND components. A sign that its bearing a load it can't handle.

And when Nadim finally dies, we can see its body is also horribly scarred with Permet Burns.

Sophie's Permet 4 scene is a showcase of how Gundam Tech has evolved in the 21 years since Vanadis.

When Sophie activates Permet 4, she's pushing up against the human limit. Her heart is pounding so fast and so hard we can hear it over the music. She says she can't breathe and might even throw up, and unlike El4n, she's not an Enhanced Person. She's entirely unaugmented, but unlike Nadim, she lives.

Gundam Pilots have become more resilient since Vanadis, but also of note is that they've also gotten younger. We don't know the ages of Nadim, Wendy, and Elnora, but they're all clearly adults. In fact, we only ever see Adults piloting Gundams in the prologue. When Prospera realizes Eri reached Layer 33, she's horrified, and I wouldn't be surprised in part because a child piloting a Gundam is just something that had never been done before.

But now, Gundams are piloted almost EXCLUSIVELY by young people. Younger people are raised and trained and experimented on at earlier and earlier ages because it seems that, for some reason, they are just better at being able to handle them.

The tech has also improved much since then. Whenever Lfrith Ur reaches score 4, that device on its shoulder unfurls and activates, and retracts when it goes back under. the Ur and Thorn were built off of the pre-production Lfrith models, and in order to get around its Score limitations, they just added an extra Permet Processing unit to its back to bear the extra load.

El4n is a special case, and his reaction to Score 4 in comparison to Nadim and Sophie stands as a testament to the effectiveness of Bel's Artificial Nervous System. At Score 4, El4n acts more like he's under the symptoms an unenhanced person would experience at Score 3.

All that suffering just to reduce the permet load by 1. How sad.

Anyway, the EMERGENCY EXIT Suletta uses is labaled as an EVACUATION PASSAGE.

It also has the same 3 symbols as on the elevator. If we try and apply the same labeling method as I used on the elevator, then.. -Communication (Offline) -Direction - One Way -Capacity - 1 person. The direction and Capacity make sense, but the communication is a little dubious? Maybe that symbol designates if it leads to an exit or something....

Normally, when Miorine refers to her dad, she calls him "Kusoyaji," which is a portmanteau of "Kuso" (a general swear word usually meaning 'damn' or 'shit'), and "oyaji" (which is a word for father) Calling him a terrible dad, but in this scene after he protects her and she sees that he's critically wounded, she shouts "Otou-san!" instead, which is a more common/respectful word to use for your father. This is localized into English as having Miorine usually call him a "Lousy Father," or something similar, but in this scene she just calls him "Dad"

We also learn a little more about Notrette in this scene, as when Delling tells Miorine to choose the best option of survival and leave him, he says it's what Notrette would do, and that they'd both decided at some point that if anything happened, one of them had to survive in order to raise her.

It's not much, but it seems that Notrette was a very logically minded person, who always looked toward the future in her decisions. I wouldn't doubt that Delling tried to save her, but left without her at her own insistence.

Sometimes I feel as though this scene is paralleling that incident in a way we can't know, and Miorine managing to save Delling here implies that if Delling had tried and not ran away, he could have saved Notrette. But that's just speculation on my part.

There's no real way to prove this, (other than the fact that their voices sound similar) but I've always believed that the closeup of this DOF member we see when they enter the plant is the same DOF member that Suletta kills at the end of the episode.

When Vim launches in the Dilanza Sol, he comments that he worked his way up the corporate ladder by "personally claiming his rivals' heads." It's most assuredly a figure of speech, but um, well.

Like father like son.

When Guel launches in the Desultor, he tries to communicate to the Dilanza Sol, but remember, the comms are jammed, so it returns an error.

After the deed has been done, the network begins reactivating, and we see NETWORK ONLINE appear on Guel's monitor.

This is our first sign that the DOF are starting to run out of time.

I think a lot about this scene. Maybe not in the way you're supposed to think about it though. I just can't shake this idea that Prospera intentionally waited for one of the soldiers to be right in front of Suletta before killing them. She and Godoy had been standing there the whole time, on both sides of the hall. Surely there were better times to have attacked them than when they were right in front of Suletta.

Maybe I'm not giving her enough credit but wouldn't it make sense? She needs Suletta to be okay with the idea of killing someone. Wouldn't seeing her mother do it in order to save her life be perfect for that? Prospera barely comforts her afterward either. She immediately explains to her that if she hadn't done it, Suletta might have been killed, and that fighting can save everyone.

And of course, it's obvious, but I just love the symbolism in this shot. It's so good. Suletta stepping out of the darkness and crossing the line, led by her mother's blinding light, onto the bloody path. It's so good. Such a good fucking scene. Grrggrhgrh

The music that plays during this fight between Suletta and Sophie is titled AERIAL REBUILD

If you haven't already, you should give it a listen. It's genuinely one of my favorite tracks in the entire OST, top 3 at least, and we don't hear much of it in this scene.

During their duel, Sophie calls Aerial REBUILD's face "scary" and says she "liked her better before."

Aerial is no longer pretending to be a machine made for silly school duels, that line has been crossed, and its true purpose is beginning to be revealed.

The truly terrifying thing about REBUILD's GUND Bit Cannon is that we never see it at full capacity. In fact, this one time we see it, it's at its WEAKEST strength. All mobile suits used in Asticassia have a regulation program installed that limits the energy output of their beam weapons. (With this restriction, all energy weapons only produce green colored beams.) Despite being off Asticassia for months now, Aerial NEVER had that program uninstalled, so its Beam Weapons are still at their lowest output. And, Despite That, the beam produced by this cannon is...

This Powerful. It's so powerful, that when Aerial uses it, you can see it have to activate its back thrusters to counteract the recoil.

It's SO powerful, that it completely melts the legs of a Desultor who just happened to GRAZE it ever so slightly.

Not to talk about future episodes here, but I actually cannot stress that it is genuinely a miracle that Miorine forcefully shut Aerial down in this moment in episode 17.

Because, and I mean this with zero exaggeration, Suletta would have ERASED GUEL and SPLIT THE SCHOOL IN HALF if she released the charge on this god damn canon.

Lord In Heaven, Prospera.

TEXT: SUBJECT: Business Correspondence FROM: Peil Technologies To: ELAN CERES HIGHEST PRIORITY

An attack has been made on Plant Quetta by the terrorist orginization 'Dawn of Fold' 2 unidentified MS using GUND FORMAT were confirmed. We will contact you later with further instructions.

This is the email 5lan receives from Peil after the DOF leave. They got that information quick, huh? I wonder how... We also see that he only ever receives Business Correspondence emails from Peil and Course Schedule updates from Asticassia in his inbox. He doesn't have any friends.

And with that, we have completed Ep 12, the entirety of Season 1! Wow...what a ride it has been thus far...

Thank you for coming on this journey with me...!

Whatever happens next, we'll face it together, won't we?

Episode 13. >>

Masterpost.

[armpirate]

UNDER HIS SKIN || JJK || Ch. 38

Pairings: tattoist!jk x fem!reader

Genre: smut, angst, friends to lovers, tattoo au, virgin reader.

Summary: They say there are two versions for every story, and it's important to hear both of them. Everybody is hearing your side of the story, but it's just fair to get to know his.

After breaking up with his girlfriend, the only thing he wanted was to have fun with no attachment. You wanted to get rid of your virginity, and he wanted to tick you off his list. What he didn't expect was getting so emotionally attached to you that he would regret the deal.

Previous || Next

MASTERLIST

Aprox. time of reading: 12 minutes

After she visited me in the hospital, I didn't think I'd go almost three weeks without seeing her. Nothing. Not even once. At all. Both Soo and my mother were with me all the time, especially my mom. She just wanted to make sure that I was fine and that my condition didn't get worse over night -something that was kind of impossible, but well. 

So the only thing we've had for the past three weeks were constant texts and late night calls, where we'd both admit how bad we're missing each other.  

These days have gone by way too slow without seeing her. And the way my brain has registered every single aspect from her, and replayed it in my brain every time my head went blank didn't help. I just wanted to sink my head in the crook of her neck and lose myself in her floral scent, while she hugged me back tight.

That's why I didn't hesitate when Soo told me about Tammy's "party" to celebrate that she got the role in a play. Of course I'm happy for her and I'm going there to support her, but she isn't the main reason I'm going there -although the last thing I want tonight is to get out of my house. 

Everyone would kill me if they ever heard me saying that. 

I breathe in deeply, feeling nervous all of a sudden while I'm standing in front of the door to Tae's pub. And I'm able to hear my heart beating loud and fast against my chest when I recognize the back of her head, and I see her hair waving when she moves it. 

Tae rushes to greet me, smiling big, and seeming more excited than I am right now.

—She has no idea you were coming —he pats my arm—. Go for it.

—Jungkook! —Melanie cheers, getting our attention.

Receiving another pat from Tae before he walks behind the counter, I start making my way to their table, walking among the crowd until I finally join them. 

—I couldn't miss your party —I cheer for Tammy, pulling her in for a hug.

After she steps back, her first reaction is to pinch my cheeks and thank me for coming. And the rest do the exact same thing, even Soo and Mark -probably because they didn't expect me to get out of my house and drive all the way here after what happened. 

I can feel Y/n's arms wrapping tight around me when it's her turn, while I hold her close by her shoulder. I'm unable to hide my smile when that fruity scent fills my nostrils for a few seconds. There it is. She hides her face deeper in the curve of my neck, allowing me to feel her cheeks curving with the smile she's trying to hide. 

After she steps back, Tae also joins us and hugs me. 

—You're finally back —he hugs me properly now—. This is asking for a round of shots to celebrate, doesn't it?

We all are grouped together for the first two rounds, but soon after we start separating into smaller groups. At some point, Mark heads to one of the tables with Tammy, to spend some time with some of his friends, Melanie, Soo and Y/n stay together in their table, while Tae and I head to the counter -he even jokes at how he's kept my spot completely clean and unused when we walk there.

Even if we are apart, and somehow engaged in different conversations, our eyes meet through the room. It's like living that first time all over again, both of us being unable to move our eyes away. And it doesn't seem like either of us want to. It's been too long to keep our eyes away from each other. Maybe we aren't being subtle at all, because Soo sends me a message on how she's about to throw up if we continue with the Twilight stare contest.

I lift my right arm, kissing a particular spot on my wrist and that I know she recognises by the way she smiles and shakes her head. 

Y/n walks in my direction, supporting her weight on the counter, before she asks for a refill. 

—Hey —I smile.

—Hey —she smiles back—. Do you come here often? —she jokes.

Probably it's the excitement of seeing her so close after so long, but I giggle at that lame joke, scrunching my nose and forcing myself to turn around and face in the same direction she is.

—Having fun? —I ask.

—Yeah —she nods, resting her hand on the counter—. And it'd be better if someone stopped staring at me.

—Says the person who's taking notes of my every move —I snap back, lifting my eyebrows. 

We look at each other for a few seconds, ending up smiling wide when we're aware of how close we are.

—I've missed you a lot —she says first.

—I missed you, too —I move my hand over the surface carefully, caressing her hand with my pinky—. You should feel lucky this is a secret, because the way I wanted to kiss you in front of everyone when I saw you... Babe, you would've been embarrassed.

—You speak too much —she leans to me, getting even closer—, but do too little.

—Cocktease, better find an excuse for us to leave, because you're coming home with me right now.

—Wait just a little bit more —she finally says.

That "a little bit more" lasts for almost one hour more, before Soo and Mark, and Melanie decide to leave after making sure where we all should be meeting tomorrow.

Y/n leaves the pub first, and later I find out Tammy will stay a bit longer because she found a poor victim to entertain herself with tonight. When I get out, I find her hugging her own body. 

—Do you need a ride?

Her giggles vibrate through my body as I hug her from behind and kiss her neck.

—I'll only accept it if you take me on a motorbike.

—It's the only transport I know.

Still holding her by her shoulders, I pull her closer to my body as we walk towards my already repaired motorbike. Y/n stops by a certain spot, tracing her finger over the little scratch she made the night we met and that's completely gone now.

—Should I kick it again?

—Don't even think about it —I warn her, hopping on the motorbike—. I'm already marked by you, you don't need to mark anything else.

I hand her one of the helmets that I left hanging on the handlebar, and I help her to place it properly and tie it up while she stands next to me. I playfully spank the side of her leg, motioning her to the empty spot behind me.

—You sure you can drive?

—Yup —I wink at her.

I don't drive her home though. At least not yet. Instead, I drive her to the studio, making sure she will receive the gift I bought for her almost a month ago, and that I've been keeping like it was the most expensive treasure.

—Do you have to pick something up here? —she looks at the studio.

—Something like it, yeah.

Holding her hand tight, I guide her steps towards the studio and close the door behind us once we're inside. While I walk to the room where I usually work to get the necklace, I hear her speak:

—You know, today you reminded me a lot of the day we met —she laughs—. I think you're wearing the exact same fit...

She stops smiling suddenly when she spots me getting out of the room, looking at her while I rest my body on the shoulder that's against the door frame.

—What?

—Nothing —I shake my hand.

I walk to her, trying to seem as calm as possible, although right now I'm way too nervous to say a single word without babbling. 

She looks completely gorgeous tonight.

—You look even more beautiful than the night we met —I rub my thumb on her chin.

—Does that mean I wasn't beautiful enough back then? —she teases me.

—Maybe —I joke.

She punches my stomach jokily, still giggling and laughing until I manage to link our lips together softly and gently, trying to taste every bit of this moment. I can feel her fingers pulling me in closer, digging her fingers in my hair.

—I love you —she whispers out of breath, breaking the kiss.

Did she actually say it or am I making this up right now?

—I don't think I've heard properly —I peck her lips

—I love you.

—Again? —I land a kiss on her cheek.

—I love you.

—Hmm... One more time? —she cackles with this one last question, humming after when I kiss her neck.

—I love you, Kook —she whispers, wrapping her arms around my shoulders—. I love you, I love you, I love you —I repeat.

—I love you, too —I say back, tucking one of her locks behind her ear—. You have no idea, baby —I kiss her again—. Also...

Trying to mock our first night, I hide the necklace in my closed fist when I move it behind her ear, only opening it to show off the necklace when I move it in front of her eyes. 

��I bought it the day before I had the accident, and I remembered I left it here the night I was planning to give it to you.

Smiling big, she takes the necklace by the silver chain, adoring the snake shape on her palm.

—You've always said you liked the snake tattoo —I mention, trying to fill in the silence—, and this necklace reminded me of you. This way, we both will have something that reminds us of the other.

She caresses the heart-shaped pendant with her thumb. And while I know she isn't the type to cry for the minimum thing, I can see her lower lip trembling and her eyes watering, although she's trying to hide it by looking down. 

—Do you want to cry?

She nods at the question, sobbing in a matter of a second. I pull her closer to my body again, feeling her cry on my chest while I wrap my arms around her, making sure I spread kisses all over her exposed shoulder.

—Hope you're crying because you're happy, and not because it's ugly and you don't know how to tell me.

I try to joke around to make her feel better about this. And I get it. Y/n laughs while tearing up, holding onto me.

—I'm ruining your shirt —she giggles, stepping back to check on the fabric.

As if I care about my clothes being stained with makeup right now. 

I lower my face to the spot she's looking at, seeing the stain she's probably worried about. Shrugging it off, I rub the reverse of my hand on it and proceed to ignore it when I realize it won't be gone that easily. She suddenly laughs at my reaction, and only then I think it's safe to take the necklace away from her.

Y/n instantly understands what I want to do, because she lifts her hair, helping me to hook the necklace around her neck -even if it takes me a bit more than expected to close it.

She cups my face with her hands, leaning to me to lock her lips with mine. That kiss escalates quickly. It goes from soft and pure, to a passionate one full of lip locking and sucking -the sounds coming from it just warning us where this will lead to. But I don't want to do any of that here. And even less now.

—Not here —I place my hands back on her waist. 

—Why? —she pinches my sides playfully, knowing that's get me to squirm and smile.

—This isn't a good place —I manage to say—. You're too special to do it here.

I would bring girls here constantly because I didn't want them in my place, or because I wanted to win them over before they took me to their places. Y/n is the girl I want to make love to, care about her through every single movement and breath. She's the girl I want to sleep with and wake up next to to start the day properly.

She deserves better than a quick fuck in my former bachelor pad.

✸ ✸ ✸

All those sweet and cute kisses and giggles quickly turn into filthy sounds as soon as we get to my house, unable to keep our hands to ourselves the moment we cross the door.

She whines with every thrust, holding onto the sheets while I keep pounding into her while grabbing on her hips tight.

My hands slip over her body, squeezing her tits as I try to lift her torso. Reading my intentions fast, she pushes her body up, until her back is against my chest. My thrusts go back to a slower pace when we're in that position, and I'm able to spread kisses all over her shoulder and neck.

—Stop forcing your arm —she asks between gasps, although it sounds more like a scold.

—Babe, I can't help it —I try to thrust in deeper with every move I make—. I want to have you in every position, take you from every angle —I kiss her jaw.

It's been way too long to hold back. I don't even care about the slight pain in my arm. I need her right here and now.

—You didn't think about that? —I manage to ask.

—Yeah —she moans when two of my fingers pinch her nipple gently—. Every day. I missed you so much.

—That's why you're giving me a third one? Hmm? —I buck my hips, moving a bit faster.

Her head falls over my shoulder, while I hold her close to keep her in that position. I recognise her expression when she puckers her lips and squeezes her eyes shut.

—Look at me —I ask her—. Keep your eyes on me when you cum.

She opens her eyes almost instantly, giving me a pleading look when two of my fingers move through her soaked slit, focusing on her swollen clit while my cock pounds into her. Moving my fingers in circles, I drive her closer to the edge. 

She cries my name, and holds onto me as if her life depended on it -nails digging on my skin tight, while her other fingers grasp the back of my head. I can tell she's fighting to keep her eyes open, but they just end up closing at the same time her head falls back over my shoulder. 

A few more thrusts and I feel my release filling the latex, before I go completely still inside of her. My head falls on hers, while my hands just caress her body carefully.

Turning our bodies, I let us fall back on the mattress. She rolls over her body though, still in between my arms, to  allow me to meet her sparkly eyes and wide smile. She moves my wet locks away from my eyes, caressing down my forehead and cheek, letting her palm rest there -something that gives me an inner peace that nothing else has ever given me before.

We stay in silence for a few minutes, just looking into each other's eyes, as if that was enough to communicate -and at this point I'm convinced it is.

—I need to ask you something —I mutter in a low tone.

—Sure.

I have the question clear in my head. There's no way I'm going to mess it up.

—Do you... When you... Wait —I sigh, looking away from her as I try to find the right words to use—. Remember when you asked me what we are? —she nods— What do you want us to be?

Her gaze slowly moves away, falling over my chest and a particular spot in my room, and silence suddenly surrounds us. 

—Umm... a couple —she whispers, still looking away—. I mean, I know we kinda are one now, and it won't make much difference. But when I talk about you, I want to be able to say that you're my boyfriend —she explains, moving her gaze back to my eyes.

If she weren't here right now, I probably would be jumping off the bed right now.

—That's exactly what I want —I cut her off—. So from now on we are...

—Dating —she finishes for me, almost singing the word.

I nod, chuckling after how cute she looked and dragging her closer to me, leaving ho gaps between our bodies.

[ell-vellan]

12, 28, and 38 from the oc relationship asks!

Thank you for asking! <3

I'm just gonna do every relationship I currently have rotating in my mind, lol.

OC Relationship Asks

12. What is something their S/O does to make them flustered?

Ellawyn/Bull: Anytime Bull flirts or touches her in public. She's not used to it - since their relationship started as a secret - and doesn't know how to react in a way that's still becoming of the Inquisitor. But she likes it anyway, and Bull likes unraveling her sense of decorum. Bull would've figured the ability to get flustered had been surgically removed from him at birth - but when El uses her abilities as a mage to ease his pain, or her command role to take care of him in ways that isn't necessary to the war effort, he doesn't know what to do or say.

Anera Lavellan/Solas: I think anytime Anera touches him, Solas finds it unexpected. For her, it's so easy, but it's been so long that he's let anyone this close. It takes him by surprise each time, and he can't hide how much it makes him melt.

Alistair/Auriel Cousland: It's too easy to fluster Alistair; Auri finds it endlessly amusing. She's far more confident in her seduction skills than Alistair. He hates it when Auriel and anyone else - but especially Zevran or Morrigan - talk about their romantic experiences so easily. But, in private, Alistair has a way of saying the most gentle, genuinely beautiful words of love to her, and it stuns her into speechlessness at last.

Zevran/Lathlen Mahariel: Mahariel is un-flusterable. He's a rock. He never smiles, never blushes. Zevran tries to rile him up by being outrageous in public, but...nothing. Mahariel doesn't care about other people and can't be embarrassed. But he enjoys making Zevran flustered with subtle touches. Because Zevran acts so suave, but he's unused to real, intense affection that zeroes in on him and claims him entirely. So Zev might flirt poetically, grandly, for all to hear - then Mahariel will grab him by the belt or his chest plate, pull him close, and murmur something possessive with low, quiet confidence in his ear. Zevran makes a half-hearted attempt to laugh it off but he's shocked, actually how someone found a way to make him blush, after all this time. He's had many people in his life who's claimed to own him, but with Mahariel, he finds he isn't opposed to the idea.

28. Do they trust one another? Are they comfortable discussing their fears with one another?

Ellawyn trusts Bull with her life; she's learning, with some difficulty, to trust that he will stay. They're both very open about their fears, though Bull has a harder time admitting any vulnerability at all.

Anera trusts Solas...about 99 percent. She can tell there's something he isn't saying, but the things he does tell her, she believes. I don't think Solas talks about his own fears at all; if he does, it's very vague and in general terms. Anera freely admits the few things she's afraid of.

Auri and Alistair are completely open books with one another, and trust each other above all others.

Zevran and Mahariel are as well, but it takes them both much, much longer to get there. Neither of them trusts easily, but by the end, they trust only each other.

38. What would be their ideal evening in?

El and Bull - Bull really wants to see El drunk. At least once. Just because he doesn't think she ever has let loose enough. So, a party with the Chargers, where Bull can see El safely back to her room, take care of her, and she no longer feels the need to be so very guarded. But El would probably prefer not to ever drink Qunari booze again.

Anera and Solas would be in front of the fire together, each reading different books, and occasionally telling the other something they've read, either to debate the merits of it or just to share fun facts.

Auriel and Alistair passed out asleep, cuddled together with their dog after a feast and no need to get up early the next morning.

Zevran and Mahariel - probably a target competition (Zev's daggers vs Mahariel's arrows) with some kind of sexy consequence for whichever one loses. Then the nicest room at whatever inn they're crashing at. It likely involves blindfolds and ropes and maybe hot candle wax.

[inkribbon796]

Egotober 2023 Day 5: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue

Summary: . . . Florida Teen Arrested for Putting Humans in Jars at Florida Zoo

Prompt: Jar

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Bing liked humans, they were fun. Some were less fun than others, but on average he liked them.

And in Gainesville he saw all kinds of interesting and fun people. He liked going to school fairs and the schools definitely liked having an actual sentient AI talking to their budding STEM students. He had the names of hundreds and even thousands of budding scientists.

His names.

Bing wanted to see what they would become, what they would do.

One of his names however was causing problems in the city. And Bing only knew that cause this human child, a teenager really, was using something he had given to every name he kept tabs on. A little pin with a minute amount of dead nanites. Unusable, but noticeable.

A little budding eco-terrorist, and a dangerous one. Most of the time, his names resorted to firecrackers or at the most dangerous a pipe bomb.

This one was more dangerous, this one was causing civic engineering damage. They were smart, not just in what they were doing, but in being smart enough not to get caught.

And Google was starting to get interested. He refused to tell Bing why he was so intent on finding this person.

Fourteen hours after he’d called the Egoton branch for help, he got a call.

“Bing, what’s up?” Silver called.

“Finally,” Bing said. “Finished putting out fires?”

There was silence for a bit. “No. We’re fighting Irish and American immigration to get Marvin over here. Fuck Dark, and fuck no one here being able to read aura. What’s the problem? An eco-terrorist?”

“Yeah, one of Gainesville’s brightest is turning to crime to push back against a couple things in the city. And they’re smart enough not to get caught. We’ve been trying to catch this kid for four months.”

“How old is this person supposed to be?” Silver asked.

“Seventeen,” Bing said. “We think. They’re at least in high school.”

“Too young,” Silver said. “Between them and the guy that keeps trying to solve crime over here we might be dealing with a miniature league.”

“Don’t have to, dude,” Bing said.

“What does that mean?” Silver's tone sounded dangerous.

“Google’s interested in them, not Dark, Googs is hella interested.” Bing’s mind was already made up.

“We can’t have children fighting super villains, they’ll die. I’d rather fight against them than have them up against Dark. I lost Iblis, I will not lose anyone else.”

“Iblis wasn’t killed by a villain,” Bing said.

“I’m not arguing this with you. Dark travels down there to talk with some snake kingpin almost monthly. And he can be down there in minutes. I take either nine or three hours depending on where the fuck Egoton is because I sure don’t know where I am right now.”

“I can’t let Google have this kid, I can’t,” Bing said and hung up. Silver tried to call him back but Bing didn’t pick up.

Bing kept ignoring him as he broke apart into nanites and jumped from electrical outlet to outlet until he got to the nearby zoo where the latest situation was.

The eco-terrorist was in the zoo, terrorizing some of the patrons in, what felt like to Bing, the funniest way possible. Three patrons trapped under what looked like giant glass jars, ranting at them.

It was as adorable as it was dangerous. A seventeen-year-old in blue and black biker gear. It was almost enough to make Bing forget about how much damage they’d done.

“How do you like it when something throws things at you?” The teenage future-supervillain told a woman whose jar he was standing on top of. They sounded male-leaning but Bing had been corrected enough times.

“Well,” Bing said as he leaned against one of the jars where a young man was inside of it. Smiling. “Should I make the joke, dude? Or are you going to traumatize these people in a whole new way?”

The teenager almost startled and climbed off it before they could fall off of it. “Bing. You’re early.”

And they landed directly into Bing’s nanites. Nanites surged around them to bind the teen where they stood. Making it look like the top half of a jar.

“Nah, I was going to get you eventually, kid.” Bing said as he took the time to free the civilians and send them off.

Only one of the trapped people tried to beat up the tied and bound teenager.

Bing easily snagged him by the arm and threw him back. “Nah, big guy. You don’t need to pretend to be a man by beating up a tied up teenager.”

And for good measure, Bing audibly and visibly took a picture of his face. That got the guy to run off.

Leaving Bing with the “junior supervillain” on the mostly empty path. “Hey there.”

“I have a right to remain silent and I have a right to a lawyer.” The young villain said.

Bing used his nanites to unclip the kid’s motorcycle helmet. “You sure do.”

“Hey!” The teen said, trying to twist away. But the helmet came off and there was a perfectly normal teenage face.

Bing didn’t even need to start scanning his face. The android knew exactly who this was.

Logan E. Naraj. Honors high school student, and valedictorian at Buchholz High School. He/Him. The most promising of Bing’s names. Perhaps the single smartest student in the entire area, let alone in Gainesville. Maybe in the entire state, even. Not just in grades, Logan was devastatingly intelligent, and his eco-terrorist actions were proving it.

“I knew it had to be you,” Bing said. “You’re one of the only people smart enough to be doing half the stuff you’ve been doing.”

That seemed to disarm Logan a little bit, clearly not expecting a compliment. But he didn’t say anything in kind.

Bing stuck the helmet to Logan’s chest with nanites. Then Bing started taking Logan out of the zoo.

Police met with Bing about halfway towards the entrance. He was placed under arrest, and placed in the back of a cop car. Where Bing followed them closely to the station.

They got Logan into a little holding room, Bing not letting the kid out of his sight. It was only a matter of time before Google tried to sweep in. Bing couldn’t even guess what Google wanted with an actual human, but Logan had yet to actually kill anybody. If Google got involved he would quickly start.

They were waiting for a state lawyer and CPS to come in for Logan. So all they could do, since Logan refused to cooperate, was wait.

One of the investigators came over to Bing.

“Your friend come for him yet?” The officer said.

“No, but that’s probably because the dude knows I’m here,” Bing shrugged.

“Do you know what he wants yet?” The officer was shifting around but Bing didn’t pull up a camera to see it. He just shook his head and they were quiet for a good minute.

Then the officer clearly felt like silence was a bad idea.

“Logan Naraj, glad to finally have a name for what might be a two-year stint in juvie,” the officer said as Logan sat on the couch, Bing refusing to take his eye off him. So the second camera had to come up.

“And not the first Naraj we’ve had in the system, probably won’t be the last time either.” The office was giving Logan a scoffing, dismissive look.

“Why?” Bing asked.

“His older brother is currently serving a five year sentence at Florida Corrections, assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced last year. No parents, no surprise really.”

“Hmm, don’t think you should be making comments like that about a kid smart enough to make death rays.” Bing’s synthetic heart gave out a little bit.

The officer didn’t seem convinced but Bing didn’t care, he only had to convince Silver. And Bing was trying to cover every argument Silver had. He needed to keep this kid out of trouble, eternally bench him, and keep him in school.

He was already sending out a couple of emails as he’d been taking Logan to the station. And as he was looking at Logan and hearing this human bad talk him, he got a response from the only person besides Silver that he needed permission from.

“He’s going to be my apprentice,” Bing said.

“Why?” The investigator said.

“Look, either I take him for the Coalition, and he does community service for us, or Google takes him and he builds weapons for Dark and the League. Choose.”

“You said that just Google was interested in him,” the officer said.

“Yeah, and Google works for Dark, if Googs has anything, Dark has it,” Bing said. “And I don’t know if you know what happens in Egoton but Wilford doesn’t stay in jail, now does he?”

Bing waited to go in when the CPS rep and the lawyer had finally gotten in. He let them go in and talk to Logan before Bing walked in without the cops.

He grabbed a chair and turned it so he could lean his arms on the top of the backrest.

“Hey,” Bing smiled. Before the lawyer could make a noise, Bing kept talking. “You don’t have to say a word. You’re probably going back home after this. I just wanted to cut to the point where we make a deal, not waste your time.”

“He doesn’t have to take any kind of deal,” the lawyer said.

“Oh, I know,” Bing said, still smiling. “In fact, I hope he sleeps on it. Decisions need time to make them wisely, and I know Logan here is a smart kid.”

The lawyer glanced at Logan, and Bing let them remind Logan not to say a thing.

Bing pulled out a little card with the Coalition insignia on it and Bing’s contact information. “I want you to personally become my apprentice with the Coalition.”

“You can’t be serious,” The CPS rep said.

“Oh, buddy, I’m very serious,” Bing said. He looked at Logan. “I know Googs has been contacting you, and I know because he was gloating about it. And I don’t want Google anywhere near you, dude. I don’t want Dark near you because anything Google has, belongs to Dark. Dark doesn’t care about anything but himself, that’s just a fact.”

Logan didn’t say anything, but his standoffishness didn’t seem as cold. Which was good.

“So we’re gonna take you home, you’re gonna think on this, and then if you want you call me. And we can start some balls rolling. Get you some more equipment. Have you not go to jail for almost destroying the bridge? Think of it as cutting around juvie and skipping right to community service?”

Logan stayed quiet but Bing could see the gears turning.

Bing smiled and walked out, leaving Logan with the humans, and a smile on Bing’s face.

The police were pissed, no surprise. They’d caught Logan but were unable to arrest him on the spot.

Bing watched CPS take Logan home, where he basically was by himself, and was given instructions not to contact Bing or Google.

The kid didn’t last the night.

Bing stood on his apartment step, to be polite, and waited as Logan answered the door.

“I’m not saying yes,” Logan said as Bing walked in.

“Well, this sure ain’t a no, dude,” Bing smiled as he looked around and basically placed a tracking marker in the place so he could quickly come and go from the place.

“Hey, you like Wendy’s, kid?” Bing said.

The kid just glared at him. “I’m vegetarian.”

“Neat, cool,” Bing smiled at him. “I’ll order something else.”

“You don’t eat human food,” Logan said.

“I mean, I can, but we’ll be talking about this for a while and you’ve been out all night,” Bing said as he sat backwards on a rickety kitchen chair. Leaving the slightly comfier armchair for Logan.

“I’m just allowed to join the Coalition?” Logan asked.

Bing gave Logan a huge smile. “I’m in charge of the South Branch of the Coalition, only Silver and Jackie have any extra say on stuff. I got Jackie’s approval a couple hours ago, and I can convince Silver. Don’t worry. The only thing you’ve got to worry about, little man, is staying in school, and staying out of trouble.”

“You’ve promised change,” Logan said.

“There are a lot of things wrong in this city, and with the country, Lo, you’re taking on the small fry. Normal people. I want bigger, dude. I want to take on people like Dark, people who are stagnating the city.” Bing said as he tried not to lean forward in the chair and break it.

“If I joined, what would I be doing day-to-day?” Logan asked.

“Investigative work, maybe researching various magical and no-magical artifacts, you’ll be in school a lot of the time, there’s no getting around that.” Bing said.

“Okay, if it’s between you and Dark, I guess I don’t have a choice,” Logan said.

Bing stood up and clapped his hands. “Alrighty, then, dude.”

Out of his arm he pulled out something that looked more like a watch then the rest of the Coalition communicators. “To our newest hero. Welcome to the party, my man.”

“Logic,” Logan said.

“That your name?” Bing asked.

“Yes, if I could pick one it would be: Logic,” Logan said.

“Perfect, my dude,” Bing said.

“Where do you stay, or are you allowed to tell me?” Logan asked.

“Hey, I live anywhere with good bandwidth,” Bing said, shrugging. “You need me anywhere, anytime, and I got you.”

“Noted,” Logan said, trying to act normal but Bing wasn’t fooled. Those facial expressions, that heart rate. He cared a lot, that made Bing very happy.

Bing held out his hand. “I can order that food, and then you can get some sleep. You’ve got school tomorrow, after all and we’ll keep talking about Coalition stuff after school.”

“Alright,” Logan said.

So Bing ordered some late night vegetarian Chinese food. Logan ate and then he went to bed, and Bing went to go and officially tell Google to back off from Logan. That he had it under control and Logan got to be theirs without also being Dark’s.

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Eye of the World! Chapter 12: Across the Taren

Another day, another chapter of The Wheel of Time. As usual, my reread commentary will be chock full of spoilers, much like a turducken is full of desecrated poultry. Those of you who respect livestock or fear having your first reading (or viewing) experience ruined should go elsewhere, possibly a hippie commune without meat eating or internet.

If anyone is still left (and shame on you for hating birds, btw), we can begin by discussing the chapter icon. This chapter introduces a new one, the yin - except it looks like yang but mirrored - to the Dragon's Fang yang (except it looks like yin but mirrored). Don't know if Jordan intended for each of them to be a little of both or if like every other westerner he just couldn't keep it straight. Anyway, it's the Flame of Tar Valon! Where the Fang stands for male channeling and channelers, the Flame stands for the ladies. In this case, it's a representation of Moiraine's cold pragmatism.

Rand moved stiffly from the ache of the long ride, wondering if there was any way he could walk the rest of the way to Tar Valon.

Rand will eventually walk to Tar Valon, but he'll start a lot closer.

“You must handle it,” Moiraine said in answer to something unheard from Lan. “He will remember too much as it is, and no help for it. If I stand out in his thoughts. . . .”

Odd choice of words there. Were Myrdraal supposed to be mind readers on top of everything else?

Egwene marched along without a word, her back straight and her head high. It was a somewhat painfully hesitant march, to be sure, for she was as unused to riding as the rest. She was getting her adventure, he thought glumly, and as long as it lasted he doubted if she would notice little things like fog or damp or cold.

Rand, I'm pretty sure Egwene is deliberately stiff because she's noticing the inclement weather and she's trying to power through it.

Rand hurriedly copied the Warder’s pose—at least insofar as putting his hand on his sword. He did not think he could achieve that deadly-seeming slouch. They’d probably laugh if I tried.

Not yet Rand, but you'll get there. And note that Lan trusted you to understand what to do if he fiddled with Perrin's stance, but not the other way around. After the hay loft incident, Rand's definitely the one Lan likes the most.

A low, delighted laugh floated from Moiraine. Egwene clapped as if watching a performance at Festival, then stopped and looked abashed, though her mouth twitched with a smile just the same.

Good to know that Egwene is just as stupid as the boys at heart. Shame they didn't give her literally any kind of weapon to join in the showing off how tough they were. Lan, Thom, we all know you have back-up knives, so I am blaming Jordan's sexism for this. Girl needs something in case she gets taken out by Shadowspawn.

Hightower muttered half under his breath, growling for them to keep the horses still and stay to the center, out of the haulers’ way. He shouted at his helpers, chivvying them as they readied the ferry to cross, but the men moved at the same reluctant speed whatever he said, and he was halfhearted about it, often cutting off in mid-shout to hold his torch high and peer into the fog. Finally he stopped shouting altogether and went to the bow, where he stood staring into the mist that covered the river. He did not move until one of the haulers touched his arm; then he jumped, glaring.

There's something delightfully like a horror movie about all of this, as if the draghkar might descend upon them at any moment and they all know that something's out there, even if the Ferry folk don't know what.

With the fog to hide them . . . well, when what they do is hidden, men sometimes deal with strangers in ways they wouldn’t if there were other eyes to see. And the quickest to harm a stranger are the soonest to think a stranger will harm them.

Lan, you're the one who was worried about being robbed so you had everyone show off their mad skills. You also jump from "This dude would sell his mom to Trollocs", to "Can you really see this guy ferrying the Trollocs over for gold?" It's... really the kind of thing that doesn't stand out right now, but keeps you and Moiraine sketchier a lot longer than you should be.

The ferryman hesitated, face pushed forward as if he smelled danger, but at the mention of silver the haulers roused themselves. Some paused to seize a torch, but they all thumped down the ramp before Hightower could open his mouth. With a sullen grimace, the ferryman followed his crew.

Poor Hightower is just clever enough to understand what's up but not capable enough to avert his fate. Moiraine wrecks his shit.

For a moment Hightower stared at the gold, glinting in Lan’s hand in the torchlight, then his shoulders hunched and his eyes darted to the others he had carried across. Made indistinct by the fog, the Emond’s Fielders stood silently. With a frightened, inarticulate cry, the ferryman snatched the coins from Lan, whirled, and ran into the mist. His haulers were only half a step behind him, their torches quickly swallowed as they vanished upriver.

Frankly if it weren't for a mention in a later chapter, I'd assume they were all eaten by Trollocs as soon as the gang was away. The haulers may well have been.

“You all want explanations, but if I explained my every action to you, I would have no time for anything else.”

No Moiraine, if you people talked to each other, you'd have the Dark One sealed up again in seven books instead of fourteen! That said, Jordan uses a good trick in this section: by highlighting one apparent oddity in Moiraine's plan and explaining it, the reader assumes that anything else they might think of might also have a good explanation, especially since most won't know all the rules of the setting yet. Further, it's not hard to infer that Moiraine is making sure that any river crossing done by the Shadow is done slowly - and if you don't infer that, you continue to have reservations about her like the characters are about to.

“You expected us to stop here?” Egwene said in surprise. “It seemed a likely place,” Lan replied. “I like to be prepared, just in case.”

On the way to Emond's Field from Baerlon, Lan set up sixty-two possible nap spots. Only one was discovered, and since it was by a rabbit, the mission remained uncompromised.

“Oh, they can still run. They will run at their fastest, if we let them, right up to the second they drop dead from exhaustion they never even felt. I would rather Moiraine Sedai had not had to do what she did, but it was necessary.”

Good magic has trade-offs, and here's the weave that Moiraine was using's flaw: it affects the horse's awareness but does jack shit about their actual condition. And even that leaves her personally exhausted when she's bragging about how she's literally in the Tower's top ten power users. Since Rand isn't too weary, just stiff, it makes me think he didn't do quite the same thing as her.

“And you really think I can learn?” Egwene asked. Her face shone with eagerness. Rand had never seen her look so beautiful, or so far away from him. “I can become an Aes Sedai?” Rand jumped up, cracking his head against the low roof of logs. Thom Merrilin grabbed his arm, yanking him back down. “Don’t be a fool,” the gleeman murmured. He eyed the women—neither seemed to have noticed—and the look he gave Rand was sympathetic. “It’s beyond you now, boy.”

Unspoken: "Be grateful it's a woman she's found who can channel, and not a man."

I wonder if Thom thinks that the reason Bela isn't tired is because Egwene was channeling. Moiraine wouldn't think this because she would have sensed it, but Thom's got every reason to make that assumption right now - including denial about Rand when he must have ideas about why the Shadowspawn are here.

Men like those of whom the Aes Sedai spoke were rare—he had only heard of three in his whole life, and thank the Light never in the Two Rivers—but the damage they did before the Aes Sedai found them was always bad enough for the news to carry, like the news of wars, or earthquakes that destroyed cities.

I saw recently some Tumblr users questioning this because the Two Rivers is so strong in the power it should be producing male sparkers. Later on Rand or another EF5 POV will reflect on how there were a few dudes who just went weird, so it seems that in the Two Rivers they either get the taint so quick they don't have a chance to be harmful, or they start channeling but can't get the knack and die.

The old blood is strong in Emond’s Field, and the old blood sings.

You all are super heavily inbred. That's literally the only way this makes sense in Jordan's world because there's absolutely no reason for bloodlines to special otherwise.

“Of course not,” Moiraine snapped. “Things do not have the Power, child. Even an angreal is only a tool. This is just a pretty blue stone. But it can give off light. Here.”

There's plenty of ter'angreal that manipulate the Power, so Moiraine's being pretty snippy here. I'll assume she's too tired to consider the bigger picture beyond her lesson; she can't do the usual "lies we tell to elementary schoolers to be replaced by lies we tell to high schoolers" etc. gig because she can't lie.

“Now you are behaving like a foolish village girl. Most who come to Tar Valon must study for many months before they can do what you just did. You may go far. Perhaps even the Amyrlin Seat, one day, if you study hard and work hard.”

F- f- foreshadowing! Everyone's got some now! In exactly twenty months, Egwene will be raised to the Amyrlin Seat. Hopefully it won't take me quite so long to get there even at this rate, and more hopefully Rand stops rooting for his friends to fail because he is not happy about this at all. But we can deal with his unhappiness next time, because this is another chapter finished.

[theclo4ked1]

comeback, or "Pathetic." as I titled it on YouTube, is my latest animation made for my channel, and the first serious, though short, animation I made (AND FINISHED sorta) in a few years. In a twist, an animation is made for somewhere else first before here 0_o

Five years ago, a bit after starting here on Tumblr, I went to start my journey to achieve my childhood fantasy, not dream theres a difference, of becoming a YouTuber! but not really.

Come to think of it, I don't remember what exactly I wanted to be at the time of starting, which was Apr 1. 2020. I remember trying to make a channel intro with an incredibly cringe and horribly recorded message from yours truly. It went something like:

"oH, whAt'S This?? aNothEr AnimAtIon ChaNneL??? that's wROng! ...sAL-U-TAtiONs (voice crack), EvEryonE! mY Name iS 'TheClo4ked1', aNd I'm Here tO SaY weLcoMe to My cHAnnel :)"

I knowww I have that Audacity project file sssoOmewhere on this laptop, but I purposefully went by memory because it sounds worse in my head; therefore it looks better in text, eh? I clearly didn't want to be solely animation, I also love my good ol' fashioned "videos and games", so I thought of a Let's Play; Twitch being the current platform to which I allocate those. ...So back to the animation, it ended a little differently than I'd planned, I think the outcome is probably for the best as I "drafted" this as a true Channel Intro, but that day cannot come just yet. It was gonna feature the audio I mentioned above as a gag spouted by Rags that would get cut off by my higher quality voice coming through a soon-to-be-properly-set-up AT2020-XLR.

^ pictured Rags, Apr. 1, 2020. ~3AM Oh yeah, Rags. I'm remembering that I specifically wanted an avatar, a persona, that had at least a chance to stand out, maybe even an odd one out *knowing smile*, but also something easy to animate. A lanky ragdoll with a button eye and an afro, but he's actually very paper flat, kinda like my man PaRappa (know that noodles rule the world). Looking back, I realize I had ended up another white (as in no digital colouring, not race) YouTube animated avatar, but hey! I changed that in the animation above! My new avatar and my overall colouring style is based on a painting I did about a year back, as well as The X's' character designs.

I made a rule not to use black anywhere, even for shadows or my beloved jacket Vivienne, except when drawing Rags because that's how he was always drawn. Breaking down Rags, he's just two maybe three groups of black lines. The animation itself is much more chopped to compensate for the new look- it would NOT be easy to do this for my usual 24fps, which is why I did this at 12. My avatar and Rags seem to glitch at points... This is intentional. Working, I had frames and things I wanted to keep because they looked cool and important to the development. Not wanting them to go to waste, I snuck them in as inbetweens. There's one entire pencil sketch near the end that's used as an inbetween, but seeing it all together adds a bit of impact after that smear frame. Speaking of...

looks like shit on its own. I had fun making this one, but it's better seen in motion like any other smear frame. Alright, I think I said everything about what's on YouTube. This Tumblr version, the uncut .SWF has an unfinished scenario where Rags is finna get SNAY-ATCHED! This was gonna be where that unused audio was gonna be. Welp, that's everything. See ya. Thanks for reading!

Erratum: Of course, I noticed this only AFTER posting in both places. In the last shot, I've lost Vivienne! ...but I'm gonna go against consistency this time: I think the pose looks better without her (im sorry, baby). The blue that colours her and the hair would make the overwhelming nature of the shot less interesting and more confusing because the colouring style might make you think "tf is that supposed to be an arm or the hair?". Even with how it is now, you should be able to tell that's an arm, but you know what else? Even that lacks a small bit of shading ough i glubbed up :(

[vglygrrl]

hello Tumblr

I come to this blog like a pen to paper, like a diary.

I’m not built to withstand our current internet culture of influencers and branding and marketing. I can never decide where to start.

As someone who’s largely grown up in this culture it’s something I’ve grown used to, or aspire to even, I’ve had probably a dozen instagram accounts in my time — dedicated to fandoms; justin bieber, twenty one pilots, dedicated to my art, or reading, or the business I someday plan to open. Even past Tumblr accounts, casual posts and reblogs and the same art sharing. Some of these accounts have sat unused on my phone for years, taunting me, and others have long since been deleted.

I used to make friends on the internet, truthfully, I fostered a lot of inappropriate relationships and saw a lot of things I had no business seeing at 12 or 14, before the great nipple ban. But I made a lot of great friends too, fandom friends who I could talk to every day, some people I check in on to this day, some I don't remember. I had more online long distance boyfriends than I can count. I did it all at a young age, and learned my lesson at a young age. At 18 I had "outgrown" those things, the memories, bad overshadowing the good, haunted me. So many parts of the internet became graveyards to me. My "grief", too large to overcome I shut it out, and stayed away.

I did the same thing in real life, I lost people, and parts of myself I never thought I would. I've become something new altogether, frankensteins monster of experiences and the lack thereof.

I missed my opportunity in the easy days of youtube fame, early tiktok stardom, tumblr aestheticism. I’ve been here for all of it, watching silently from the shadows. It's easy to fall into the habit of comparing, something I'm not immune to, I take par asocial relationships and delusion to a whole new level. Have you ever been so occupied thinking of something, a show, movie, book, a band or celebrity you love, that you're transported there? Whatever name it's given, maladaptive daydreaming, imagination. When I love something, I really love it, it consumes me, my imagination is so bountiful that I can make believe my entire reality. Sure I'm scraping by now but if I just put myself out there I'd make friends, people would interact with my posts, like my art, the more time I dedicate to it the more I'll get out of it, I'll buy a house, travel, move, grow up, someday when I'm old I'll take younger creatives under my wing to guide them through all of these things I thrust myself at blindly. And somehow the high I was riding from the rom/com I watched late last night paints rose colored glasses over not only my relationship but of my idea of myself and what I'm capable of.

When I snap out of it, my life isn't as great as the influencers, I work a regular day job, I live in a small old apartment with no particular curated aesthetic, I don't read or write or exercise or really do anything daily. I have no friends and barely leave my apartment.

I’m afraid of vulnerability, I'm afraid of being misunderstood or embarrassed or even worse, ignored completely. I'm afraid of not being good enough.

The internet is a void you shout into. 

I am isolated.

[susannatipsandtricks]

Productivity For Paying Off Debts (Strategy Revealed By Susanna)

Productivity For Paying Off Debts : Debt can feel like a huge burden, creeping up on us without warning. But, there are strategies and hacks that can help you pay off your debt quickly, not just in years, but in months. I've been there, feeling the shame and anxiety of financial struggles. But, becoming debt-free brings immense relief and freedom. My spouse and I once had $124,094 in debt from credit cards, a car loan, and student loans. It was a heavy load that bothered us constantly. But, we decided to find the best ways to pay off our debt and take back control of our money. We found many productivity secrets and debt management strategies. These helped us become debt-free in just 15 months and allowed us to follow our dreams. I'm excited to share these techniques with you, so you can take control of your finances and find the freedom and peace you deserve. Key Takeaways - Discover proven productivity secrets to accelerate your debt payoff journey - Learn how to change your mindset and view debt as a solvable problem - Uncover strategies to reduce expenses and increase your cash flow - Explore the power of the debt snowball method and other debt repayment tactics - Harness the power of decluttering and selling unused items to generate cash

Draw Your Line in the Sand: The Moment You Commit to Becoming Debt-Free

Tackling debt can feel overwhelming, but the first crucial step is to make a firm commitment to becoming debt-free. This is the moment when you draw your line in the sand and say you won't let your Debt Payoff Mindset get out of control. Whether your debt is $10,000 or $100,000, today is the day to take a stand and become financially empowered. Changing How You View Debt: A Crucial First Step Shifting your perspective on debt is key to success. Instead of seeing it as a dark cloud, view it as a challenge you can beat. Think of your debt as the obstacles Mario faces in Donkey Kong. Your financial freedom is the princess waiting to be saved, and with the right Debt Payoff Strategies, you can overcome the obstacles and win. This metaphor can help you see debt differently and approach repayment with purpose and excitement. Debt may seem huge, but with a game-like mindset, you can turn your Financial Commitment into an exciting journey towards financial independence. The moment you decide to become debt-free is crucial. It starts a new chapter in your financial life, where you take charge and refuse to let debt hold you back. Embrace this Debt Payoff Mindset and let it drive your journey to financial freedom.

Avoid Consumerism: Your Enemy in the Battle Against Debt

We're constantly told to spend more in today's world. Consumerism can be a big obstacle to becoming debt-free. It's important to change your mindset and avoid buying things you don't really need. Thinking "I want it, therefore I must have it" can trap you in debt. But, switching to "I want it, but I don't need it" can change everything. This change in thinking is key to fighting Consumerism and Debt. Credit Card Points and Rewards Are Not Your Friends My spouse and I once had 12 active credit cards, all for the Credit Card Rewards. But, we soon saw these rewards weren't helping us. They were actually leading us deeper into debt. Credit card points and rewards aim to get you to spend more, not help you be financially free. Until you're debt-free, avoid these cards. Focus on paying off what you owe instead. Breaking free from consumerism and credit card rewards lets you focus on Debt Mindset Shift. This is key to becoming debt-free. It's an important step towards financial health.

READ MORE

Read the full article

[leashade]

40 Questions (2023 edition)

Answering these 40 questions for the first time.

https://github.com/kepano/40-questions

What did you do this year that you’d never done before?

Traveled to a different country to get a visa and also travelled to new continents.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions?

I don't even remember my resolutions for 2023 honestly. But I am alive, it's already an achievement.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Almost.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Not yet.

5. What cities/states/countries did you visit?

Seattle, USA. Jakarta, Indonesia.

6. What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year?

This year was so packed with events, that I'm more afraid that I won't be able to meet the same level of expectations.

7. What date(s) from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Last week of October, it felt magical.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Got to work at The International 2023 on-site in Seattle.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not really my failure, but still: contract with Valve was terminated because of Tundra.

10. What other hardships did you face?

Hard to fit all the cool ideas in terms of time

11. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nope.

12. What was the best thing you bought?

Laptop/PC upgrade, I think? I didn’t have the access to my PC for a while, and this laptop essentially replaced my PC altogether.

To a point when my PC is just standing here unused for a couple of months now, because I just don’t have time to do something about it, and don’t really need to do anything about it for now.

13. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Not sure what the question means exactly, but what Sheepo and other talents did for me this year was spectacular.

14. Whose behavior made you appalled?

A certain pro org’s CEO.

15. Where did most of your money go?

Tech upgrades and food.

16. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Going to TI12.

17. What song will always remind you of this year?

kendall :3 – Blue Shift

18. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? Thinner or fatter? Richer or poorer?

Happier, about the same, definitely richer, but also with way more expenses.

19. What do you wish you’d done more of?

More travelling and socializing, more work. I feel like I could’ve done more, but don’t do enough.

20. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Procrastinating and worrying about stuff.

21. How are you spending the holidays?

Not sure yet.

22. Did you fall in love this year?

No, it happened before.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

No.

24. What was your favorite show?

Kinda hard to say.

Out of everything I watched this year… Probably House of Dragon actually.

UPDATE FROM FUTURE ME: Just finished Loki (Season 2) and now THAT's my favorite show of 2023.

25. What was the best book you read?

Didn’t really spend that much time reading, and most stuff didn’t really make that strong of an impression.

Asimov’s “Naked Sun”, I guess?

26. What was your greatest musical discovery of the year?

Ermmm… Taylor Swift, I guess? Everything else was kinda discovered beforehand.

27. What was your favorite film?

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

28. What was your favorite meal?

Nothing out of the ordinary. At least can’t remember.

29. What did you want and get?

Going to TI12.

30. What did you want and not get?

…nothing?

I’ve got everything I wanted, but also I didn’t really want that much to begin with. And I also don’t remember many things.

31. What did you do on your birthday?

I don't remember. Probably working.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

It’s good enough as it is.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion this year?

Regular dude, I guess? Nothing that looks good or stands out.

34. What kept you sane?

Doing cool things.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you admire the most?

Nobody really.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

The same one from the last year.

37. Who did you miss?

Not sure, nobody comes to mind.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

Mary, Chase and Brian. And, well, many more, but these three are the best.

39. What valuable life lesson did you learn this year?

If you act hard, do your best and treat people well, things will get right back at you eventually.

40. What is a quote that sums up your year?

…idk

[helloiamduck]

(this is a reply to all (esp. duncathan-salt), and I thought I'd @hbmmaster even tho it'll prob be seen as a reblog in the activity tab anyways)

(warning, LONG technical post ahead)

(currently notating bases by name or as specified)

I actually do!

I haven't decided on a letter, so let's go with 'z' for "anything can happen". (i would choose 'a', but that conflicts with the next step)

and doesn't require writing the radix in decimal?

When I was coming up with this, I thought that hex was a nice compromise with this part. It's essentially advanced base 2dec, which makes it perfect for computerty stuff like this. (Yes, I'm calling base 2dec universal here)

So now we write our base in hex. Let's pick 11hex (17dec) to show we can do anything.

Then let's choose 33dec as our number ("1g") #EDIT THIS WAS 35dec I JUST FIXED IT oops caps lock

Now, we would probably write 0z11n1G. Personally, it's clearer if the letter is capital, but in this base it's case-insensitive. I do think an easier to read solution exists, but we need a special character to do it (eg. 11#1g) and it would conflict with current methods (leading with 0letter).

(notating bases in hex now)

anything x<1 is invalid (the '-' would apply to the number, not the base, so this condition is only talking about base 0) I like a special case where in x=1, the number is just the number of 1s anything 2<=x<=A uses 0-9 (case unused) anything B<=x<=24 uses 0-9, A-Z (case insensitive) anything 25<=x<=3E uses 0-9, a-z, A-Z (case sensitive) (unless the norm is the other ordering of cases) then 3F<=x<=40 would probably add a couple chars for the insane ppl who LIKE using base64

Anything above that should use a string parser where you can specify digit chars.

(now using decimal bases)

also: is this limited to integer radices from 2-36 (or perhaps 2-64), or do you think other bases ought to be supported?

So yeah, you're a madman if you need base>64.

I stated my thoughts on base 1. As for other bases, negative bases and non-integer bases are interesting, but have few applications, and would be hard to implement. (also, negative bases would make there be 2 places where the '-' can go ((confusing)))

One final point I want to make: '.'. '.' is the most important thing you can do, and think it works in all things here to do a quick 0s1.1, 0z11n1.G, 1#1111.11 (I have no idea what that last one would mean).

-----------------------------------More content

While writing this post, it has come to my attention that the use of the # symbol in this way is not original.

Sources:

https://www.tumblr.com/chrideedee/760345155868999680/ive-been-using-and-thinking-about-this-for-a @chrideedee > https://eev.ee/blog/2016/12/01/lets-stop-copying-c/#leading-zero-for-octal

https://www.tumblr.com/transfinite-recursion/760357445750145024/ive-been-using-and-thinking-about-this-for-a @transfinite-recursion

https://www.tumblr.com/wishfuldeity/760342268801679360/ive-been-using-and-thinking-about-this-for-a @wishfuldeity "#i mean that base-neutral naming system has a method for generating acronyms right? #a programmer could just memorise the ones they need to use #like “int decimal = DEC10” or “int seximal = SEX43” #et cetera"

This sounds good on paper until you realize that there is no good standard way to do this. Any good solution should be...

unambiguous (which means we need a standards body enforcing it) (i don't like standards bodies)

language agnostic (just using latin doesn't count) (impossible)

base-agnostic/neutral (Mitch's generator works for this one, and you mentioned this)

clearly derived (there is a method to the madness) (and it's scientific ENOUGH)

easy to read (Converting bases in the 1st place is hard) (also very subjective)

Which is impossible to do perfectly, but that just means there are compromises to be made!

As for your solution example, the base neutral system only fits base-neutral and clearly-derived.

It could count as unambiguous up until you reach the abbriviations (which is just a check if one already exists, and if not make up a new one) (it could count in that case too, but it just seems a bit janky to me) (but ig that's what the standards bodies do! they take janky solutions! that's why unicode's a mess!!! /angry_tangent).

As for your syntax examples, those are hard to tokenize, and would break some variable names, but it's a good 1st draft.

Please don't take this too harshly. I know you're on the right track because you were thinking, and I've thought about this as a method too! I'm sure either I'm making this too hard, or this is just a bad way to design a system like this, and I don't know which.

-------------------------------Ending

The one thing I would personally like to see is a way to notate character codes (eg. \x1b, \u0021) with arbitrary bases. (this is a BAD idea, but please let me)

So, at the end of the day, all these shower thought leave me as someone with no original ideas? That makes sense. At least I got somewhere, rather than having no ideas, and the [experts](impostor syndrome) having all of them.

Thanks for reading this mile of a post in all its paren-heavy glory/abominableness. Go get yourself something as a reward, idk. Sorry if the base conversions are wrong, I started in decimal and did it in my head.

I've been using and thinking about this for a while, but what do you think of the programmatic notation '0s' for seximal?

I mean this as it relates to '0x' for hex, '0b' for binary and '0' for octal.

('0h' for Heximal also works, but it WILL get confused with hexidecimal)

You may be disappointed to learn that there currently exist no programming languages with seximal numbers.

it's a nice idea but I'd rather a programming language use a more robust system that can accommodate arbitrary bases than just add in more single-letter codes for my favorites you know

[volixia669]

Vampire Chronicles Basics

Okay, with the new Interview with the Vampire show coming out, there’s probably going to be some folks who might be curious about the books and wondering why there’s so much disrespect towards the author. This probably isn’t the ONLY primer, but like, whatever.

Note: I never got around to reading all of her books, and some of this is drawing from memory though wikipedia is helpful.

Contextual History Lesson Time!

As a media criticism type person, I find it important to not examine media in a vacuum, and take into account what was happening at the time it was created.

The timing of the first three books is notable. Interview with a Vampire was released in 1976, The Vampire Lestat was released in 1985, and Queen of the Damned was released in 1988.

So we have one book with gay subtext released post free love movement but prior to gay folks becoming more known in society, then two more released during the aids crisis with the queer subtext/text still going strong. This? This is huge. Reportedly, there were people sending Anne Rice letters about how amazing it was to see themselves in the characters. Some these days might roll their eyes at how subtext might be revolutionary, but please understand. During the aids crisis, the queer community, particularly gay men, were being blamed and discriminated against to horrifying levels to the point gay men still can’t give blood.

So for a book series to have not only the metaphor of penetration and being an outbut but also have these characters seem very gay? It’s huge! It’s like a weight being lifted off, even just temporairly, while you go, “Someone sees me and my situation.”

The Vampire Lestat even had Lestat’s mother questioning her gender and deciding to dress and act more masculine. Sure, these days we’d call it “problematic” trans rep for many reasons, but back in 1985? Except for certain more indie films, trans people weren’t even talked about.

Which is a huge reason the series got big among the queer community, others caught wind, and eventually that movie with Brad Pitt was made.

And now we’re in the 90s with a few things happening. One of which being Anne Rice uh...Firing her editor? Not bothering with an editor? Whatever happened, the quality of writing goes downhill.

Additionally, Anne Rice was going through...a lot, and it shows in her writing. She started as one sect of Christianity, left it after a family member died, was athiest/agnostic for awhile, then went to a different sect of Christianity when another family member died, then eventually was in her own thing of believing in God & Jesus but not following any particular sect. Then she died.

This is relevant, as we see Lestat go from prissy rockstar to literally meeting Jesus. So. There’s that.

Another thing that happened in the 90s was the internet becoming bigger, resulting in things like forums, chatgroups, livejournal, and essentially online fandom. People in the Vampire Chronicles fandom began sharing their fanfiction.

Anne Rice hated that. It was her world, her property, her Gary-Stu, and therefore only she could write Vampire Chronicles. She began suing anyone who was writing fanfiction, yes, even the broke teenagers.

She wasn’t the only one doing this of course, but she was certainly adamant about it. Additionally, there’s an emotional element too. Because her work was one of the few popular media where queers could see themselves in, it was like a betrayal to have her say, “No, I hate anyone who loves this world so much they’d write fic.” (not a real quote btw just how it felt)

This is why many fanfic writers in the 2000s, early 2010s, and a few even today write disclaimers at the top of their fic. Because a “I do not own this property. This property belongs to blah blah blah” was one of the few defenses (however flimsy) fanfic writers had. It’s also why, as of the last time I checked ff.net, Anne Rice’s works are not allowed on that site.

That said, from this backlash against fandom, Archive of Our Own and its lawyers were born. The volunteers of OT3 are why y’all will be able to write Lestat fucking Louis into next week and post it there without worrying about Anne Rice’s estate hounding you.

The Books Themselves

So! With that lengthy history done, what about the books? To start off with, while the movie, and this new show are called “Interview with the Vampire”, that’s just the first book. The series as a whole are The Vampire Chronicles.

So we’ve got:

Interview with the Vampire (1976)

The Vampire Lestat (1985)

The Queen of the Damned (1988)

The Tale of the Body Thief (1992)

Memnoch the Devil (1995, the one where Lestat meets Jesus, a lot of people hate it, I think its hilarious with some interesting theological points)

New Tales of the Vampires-Pandora (1998, prequel about an older Roman vampire) New Tales of the Vampires-Vittorio the Vampire (1999, another prequel, about a 15th century Italian Nobleman vampire)

The Vampire Armand (1998, it’s Armand’s story and also I maintain the first 60 pages reads like an M-rated fanfic on ff.net, which is objectively hilarious imho)

Merrick (2000, crossover with another her series called the Mayfair Witches)

Blood and Gold (2001, now the ancient vampire Marius gets his own origin story.)

Blackwood Farm (2002, more Mayfair Witches crossover)

Blood Canticle (2003, EVEN MORE CROSSOVER also was originally gonna be a conclusion buuuuuuuuuuut)

Prince Lestat (2014, Lestat is back and is facing pressure to lead the vampires because I guess all the ones with enough of a brain cell to go that would be a TERRIBLE idea are dead)

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantic (2016, I guess we’re now in Atlantis?)

Blood Communion (2018)

As you can see there’s a lot of books and content. Especially because Vampire Chronicles wasn’t her only series. On top of her erotic romance series that even my “sure you can watch Criminal Minds while 9 years old” mom was like, “Do not touch that,” she had her Tales of the Mayfair Witches series, which AMC incidentally also has the rights for. So...Lots of books, one world with vampires and witches and Jesus.

However, because of the drop in quality as well as the level of batshittery (no I’m still not over Lestat going to fucking Atlantis), last I checked the main reads are the first three, with Vampire Armand also being thrown in because I mean, after you see Antonio Banderas as Armand you want to know more about him.

Of course by all means! Read more of the books! Maybe you’ll get a laugh like I did! Maybe the quality doesn’t seem so bad to you! Maybe you enjoy batshittery! 

And if you don’t want to give the Anne Rice estate more money because she was a bad person, there’s plenty of libraries that have the books! Trust me. They do. Some might even have them in ebook version, so you can use apps like overdrive or libby to check them out without even leaving your house!

Appropriation in Vampire Chronicles

This is gonna be short since I’m sure there’s whole pieces about this and I don’t have the books in front of me nor am I part of any of these cultures, but I do want to run over that yes, there’s certainly some cultural appropriation in this series, particularly of Egyptian Culture, but also of voodoo and creole culture.

I want to warn of this, so it doesn’t catch anyone off guard, especially since “Merrick” and “Queen of the Damned” in particular are uh. Full of this. I also have no idea if the more recent books are any better in this regard.

That said, I’m curious about how the AMC tackles these aspects, as its already quite clear they’re not following the books 1:1, which is actually going to make for a better story.

Hopefully all that is helpful!

[waltwhitmansbeard]

my fair lady: drabble #12

ok so this takes place actually between chapters 28 and 29 but i wanted y'all to read 29 before this. i'm trying to fix some of what i think i broke early in mfl. as always, read these first and check out @romeoandjulietyouwish's medieval au!

When Keyleth has disappeared from view, Korrin throws himself into the Seat of the Ashari, running a tired hand over his face. This has been, without a doubt, one of the longest days of his life, and the day is not yet over. He had been woken in the dead of night by the castle's warning bells, only to be told that his daughter, his light, his life, had been attacked and was nowhere to be found. He nearly tore every hair from his head in worry until Captain Vex'ahlia informed him of Keyleth's successful escape from danger. He thought nothing could shake him to his core more than the sight of her unconscious body being carried in by Grog, more than the shallow in and out of her breath, so weak, so tenuous—until she, as is her wont, defied all of his expectations, charging before him to announce that she, of all things, married a guard.

In his head, he can only hear his daughter's voice echoing in his mind: I asked him to marry me! How could this be possible? How could his little girl, who just yesterday was toddling around the throne room and proudly showing off her latest favorite leaf, be old enough to be a married woman? Where have these years gone? When did she stop being the precocious child who tugged at his knee for another story before bed? Did he blink? Was he so consumed with the fate of his nation that he took his eyes off of her, looked away just long enough for her to become this person, tall and strong and beautiful and independent?

He hears shuffling from the entrance to the throne room, and he looks up to see his advisors hovering awkwardly. "Your Majesty?" Lord Zorian asks, hesitant.

Korrin knows that his priorities have not changed, not in the short term. Gaben Finefirn still assaulted his daughter last night, and he is still on the lam today. Locating that cockroach of a mage and stringing him up in the middle of Zephrah is the only thing that matters.

And yet. He cannot focus, cannot think of anything but this blow Keyleth has delivered to him. He needs to talk to someone, needs to determine what he thinks, what he wants to do next—oh. He knows where he needs to go.

He shoves himself from the throne, and as he marches toward his advisors, he barks out, "Continue the search for Finefirn. Ensure that Lady Allura is working on the arcane wards, and consult with Captain Vex'ahlia on the tracking efforts." Without breaking his stride, he leaves the throne room and his baffled advisors behind.

Grog, from his usual post just outside the room, looks bewildered by Korrin's sudden appearance. "Your Majesty?"

Korrin doesn't stop. "I need to go somewhere. Stay here, Grog."

Behind him, he can hear Grog grumble in confusion. He walks quickly through the castle, and each guard who, concerned to see him unaccompanied, attempts to stop him gets waved away wordlessly. Where Korrin is going, he does not need guards.

He pushes out of the castle and onto the south lawns. As he crosses them, he is aware that there are dozens of eyes on him, guards within and without that track his every move and scan the grounds for any threat that might be coming his way, but Korrin is hardly unused to being watched. He has had eyes on him since birth, a sovereign in the making, though he, like his daughter, feels comfortable only in the rare moments when he is truly, mercifully alone.

Vilya was different. Vilya loved to be the center of attention, bubbled up like spring water whenever she was surrounded by her various hangers-on at court. It was one of the first things he'd noticed about her; she was so entranced by each and every person she spoke to, regardless of their station or connection, and when he watched her from afar, she always seemed to be having the most important conversation of her life. She delighted in making others laugh, in making them feel as though they were the most intriguing person she'd ever met. She was far more suited to life at court than he'd ever been.

He approaches her tree for the first time in far too long. It is twilight, and the dusty low light casts ominous shadows through the branches of the cherry tree, which he swears judges him for his absence. He begins to pace back and forth in front of the tree, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Did you know?" he accused the wind. "Did you know that she had done this?" The wind hums low, soft. "Of course you did. You always knew what was going on. Everyone told you everything, my love, because you were so easy to talk to." He sighs. "I am sure you knew of this...relationship from the beginning.

"Gods, you must think I am a fool. Nearly a year they've been carrying on and I haven't noticed a thing! You must have been laughing at my ignorance this whole time." He paces a bit more, letting the wind whistle accusatorially through the trees. "You know how ridiculous this is, Vilya. A guard! A spy! A man who made a name for himself slinking through the shadows and cutting down our nation's enemies! I value his hard work, of course I do, but his remuneration is his pay, not our daughter's hand in marriage!"

The tree creaks, and Korrin narrows his eyes up at the branches. "And I am not a hypocrite. My father's objection to your becoming my wife was specious and petty. He believed your family too lowborn, too unconnected to be of value to my political endeavors—which was of course ridiculous for any number of reasons. But I daresay that if you had been, oh, I don't know, a scullery maid down in the kitchens, I would have understood his disapprobation!"

He pauses his pacing, stretches a hand out to rest against the bark of the cherry tree. "Of course, my father's approval mattered little in the end. Some nights I still dream of the day I fell in love with you, Vil. Do you remember? The Renewal Festival when you wore that green frock and led the Zephran children through that dance in the town square? You could have been a scullery maid, and it would not have stopped my heart from being yours."

A single cherry blossom, white and delicate, floats down to land on his shoulder. Korrin picks it up and examines it, his heart suddenly stuck in his throat. "What would you have told her, had she come to you first? Would you have urged her to marry in secret, to tell me of the deed after the fact, to avoid my attempts at stopping it? Would you have put her personal happiness over what is best for our nation?"

He says those words aloud, and realization crashes over him. "Oh, of course. Her extreme reaction to the original peace treaty. She was already in love with him then! Oh, Vilya...I have rather made a mess of things, haven't I?" He leans back against the trunk, lets his head rest on the bark. "I lost so much when illness took you from me, but your wisdom is the thing I miss the most. You saw everything, the threads that connected each and every one of us, saw the tapestry that life made of them. My nose has always been in books and correspondences; I could never see what was right in front of me. And I missed our little girl becoming someone who didn't need her father's guiding hand anymore."

He knows what he has to do, what he already promised Keyleth he would do, without necessarily knowing whether he would keep said promise. He looks up toward the branches once more. "Just tell me this, Vilya: is he good for her?"

There's a stillness to the air, a quiet that, for a moment, worries him. Then, without warning, dozens, hundreds of cherry blossoms rain down, showering him in a blizzard of white. He chuckles low. "Alright, alright. I get it. You don't need to mock me." He pats the tree before pushing off with a sigh. "Alright, I shall let the boy go. Good night, my love." He strides back toward the castle, lighter in his step and in his heart than he was before.

[glitternightingale]

Weird Questions for Writers (because writers are weird)

Taken from this list

As I said, this is just me comprising the asks so that I remember which ones I've already answered!

Now, onto the mess that is my writing routine:

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

2. If you had to give up your keyboard and write your stories exclusively by hand, could you do it? If you already write everything by hand, a) are you a wizard and b) pen or pencil?

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

My writing ritual is to obsess over an idea for weeks, thinking I haven't thought it out well enough, and when I do want to write the fic/next chapter I avoid it for the majority of the day. It gets late and I get tired but feel like I haven't been productive. That's when the first word garble appears!

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

"Apprehensive"

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

Hmm, my superstition is (not only when it comes to writing but just about anything I create) that when I'm proud of something I've made it's probably mediocre for everyone else. Surprisingly, my "best" is usually my "Meh...", so I try to avoid feeling overly confident! (But it also helps to sketch everyone's favorite prophet before I start a new project--)

6. What is your darkest fear about writing?

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

I would choose to write a story without dialogue. Because, and here it becomes sneaky, I could say just as much through interior monologue or describing the characters' facial expressions and body language. (Or even write 10k of exposition)

9. Do you believe in ghosts? This isn’t about writing I just wanna know

No, I do not. My opinion changes, however, when it gets dark and something's lurking behind the door, ready to fry me with lasers.

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

WIPs haunt me. They're like incomplete circles and I can't start something new without them being finished. (That's why I don't like writing multi-chapter fics. The needed commitment is just super big.)

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

12. If a genie offered you three writing wishes, what would they be? Btw if you wish for more wishes the genie turns all your current WIPs into Lorem Ipsum, I don’t make the rules

Wish 1: AO3 doesn't destroy my format when I import text from Google Docs.

Wish 2: Writing comments on other people's works comes more easily to me.

Wish 3: Just... everything I write is enjoyable(?)

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you to write about? What is easy?

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

*cringes at the thought* Nope, I like my books clean and basically unused (so that I can make some profit if I decide to sell them later). It's a different topic if the text is digital, though. The pens that come with most tablets hafta be used!

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

I've made this Harry Potter wand out of wood, hot glue, and sparkly stones once. It served its purpose to weigh down the book pages but then it slid off and broke. Oh, well.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

"Ah-ha! Here it is!" he exclaimed, holding the mysterious object aloft between his bony fingers. 

The young girl squinted at the colorfully-striped cone, only realizing it was a party hat when Tío Bruno managed to attach it to the donkey's forehead. 

She squealed in amazement as she saw the picture-perfect mythical animal blinking at her in all its radiant glory. However, this did not erase all the dreadful thoughts she had."

Right, so, I do watch Encanto quite often and there are always new things to discover. Then, while I was standing in front of the mirror, trying to make my eyebrows look symmetrical, I connected the party hats Osvaldo gave to Mirabel (in the "Not-Special Special" Basket) with the scene where Luisa's jumping over pink clouds with her unicorn donkeys. Party hats look like cones and cones look like unicorn horns-- Dumb, I know. But know who else would have these dumb ideas? Bruno.

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

20. If a witch offered you the choice between eternal happiness with your one true love and the ability to finally finish, perfect, and publish your dearest, darlingest, most precious WIP in exactly the way you’ve always imagined it — which would you choose? You can’t have both sorry, life’s a bitch

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

Aside from the fact that writing anyone ever is pretty stressful, I'd say it's Félix (Encanto). I couldn't pin down his personality at first without it seeming ooc and picturing his role in the Madrigals' dynamics.

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

30. Talk to me about the role dreams play in your writing life. Have you ever used material from your dreams in your writing? Have you ever written in a dream? Did you remember it when you woke up?

31. Write a short love letter to your readers.

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing, or is it entirely separate?

34. Thoughts on the Oxford comma, Go:

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice…what do you Know?

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

39. What keeps you writing when you feel like giving up?

40. Please share a poem with me, I need it.

(Don't judge me for this one lmao.)

The glass is dark, your reflection green

What do you feel when you fall on your spleen?

Is it pain? Is it greed?

Or are you-- freed?