#I put two concepts in one post because this wasn't supposed to be wild

[lobsterplush]

Day 1-2: Cord length and types

Before you can make a project you need to select a cord and cut it to the length needed. There's many types of cord to choose from, each with their own properties. :

A. Limp cord, usually made out of twisted cotton, can be tough to use. It unravels and sometimes doesn't hold it's diameter- a tight knot can compress the cord. However, limp cord is the only type that doesn't hold it's past shape. It can be good for wall hangings where you don't want the hanging cords curly from being sold in a bundle. Since I'm not really into wall hangings I personally avoid this type.

B. Flexible cord like waxed braided cord is my favorite- the cord is strong and brightly colored, the ends don't unravel enough to be an issue, and the texture is smooth and nice on the hands. Sometimes sold in bundles, sometimes wrapped around a piece of cardboard.

C. Stiff cord is usually natural hemp fibers, which are sold in round bundles. This type is really good for trying out new designs without worrying about wasting fancy colored cord, plus the ends don't unravel. Be careful though- this cord is very hairy and can be lumpy and uneven. Natural fiber cord can also come in different colors and stiffness, but even limp natural fibers don't compress in a knot like cotton.

Try not to mix these cord types- limp cord is flattened in a knot with other types, making the knot uneven. Mixing natural fibers with braided cord is fine in certain projects but for the most part the mix of smooth versus hairy+lumpy is awkward.

Other types of cord include synthetic cord, which is limp and can unravel like cotton but can come in vivid colors and weird shapes like flat. I don't have much experience with these. Avoid elastic cords for macrame.

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^ Some cords don't unravel much and you can A) not worry about it. For cords that unravel you can B) tie the end in a knot, or for some synthetic cords C) singe/melt the endings with a lighter.

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One other thing to keep in mind is thickness- the width of the cord is usually given in millimeters (mm) but between you and me, tumblr, I don't think they know what a millimeter is. Who said that.

"1mm" is thin, good for smaller projects like jewelry. This is my default thickness. I've also seen 1mm be called "0.5mm." It doesn't matter much as long as it's thin macrame cord.

"2mm" is thick cord for smaller projects. I don't use thicker cord much because the thicker the cord the (slightly) easier it is for knots to unravel. 3mm and thicker starts getting unwieldy for my style of projects, but is common in stores because wall hangings got trendy.

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When it comes to the length of the cord many tutorials will just give you a length to cut. They give either the length for one specific project or there's a chart for bracelet/necklace/whatever. But people come in different sizes and having a 'one size fits all' measurement leads to wasted cord or a piece that's too small to wear. It can be a bit of a hassle. And I don't like having to dig out a ruler.

So I have my own method.

To measure by feel, use your chosen cord to figure out the length of the project (A). If it is a bracelet, wrap the cord around the wrist. You can make a necklace tight or loose. Whatever you like. Then, add like 3 or 4 inches, 15 to 20cm of bonus cord (B).

(The bonus cord is for you to hold onto when making the knots, and on longer strings it gives much needed wiggle room in case your knots eat up string.)

A and B together is the Project Length, or PL.

Next look at your project. Plan out what each string is doing- if it is used as a base string that goes the length of the project with no turns, it's length is 1 PL. Another string that is used in knots and has lots of turns can be 3 PL. The more PL, the more convoluted the path of the string.

For example, a series of square knots has two base strings and two strings that wrap around them. This project could be one cord, 2 PL, folded in half for the two base strings and a second, 6 PL, folded in half for the two wrapping strings.

So once you measure your project and decide on a PL, fold it back and forth until the cord is the desired length, and use that cord to measure the others in the project.

Another example with pics:

Two strings, natural hemp fiber, as straight as I could get them without taping them down lol. One is 2 PL and the other is 4PL, each folded in half. This makes two 1 PL strings and two 2 PL strings.

The long cords were used to make knots around the base cords, which are straight. (the wrapping cords ended up having more leftovers, but I chose a knot that's really light on the string. And I used string-saving techniques, oops)

(I didn't give myself that much room for the finishing knot, oops x2)

Final product with the strings trimmed! Don't worry about leftovers, the longer ones can be used in other projects or small samples for testing designs. It's better to overestimate the needed cord then to go through the circus of ending up short.

Anyway this way I can give you a design, say the Project Length of each string, and you can use that to build sweeping necklaces to child bracelets.

btw you can always look around at other tutorials of similar designs if you just want a solid number to work with.

(Macre-May Prompt list)

[traegorn]

Hey-o! Tis the season for people to talk about how the holidays were "actually pagan" and I'm on the hunt for sources about how that's really not the case, if you have any you'd recommend!

Okay, so the problem is there are so many weird "Christmas is stolen!" bullshit memes going around, it's so hard to just give you a comprehensive list of sources. Christmas celebrations have evolved as the religion has spread, and different things come from different times...

The key here is to go for academic sources. This is a question of history, and a well supported historical research is going to tell you whether they're operating from primary, secondary or tertiary sources.

So while I can't give you a simple list, let me give you a couple of examples off the top of my head and give you tips on how to investigate any the dumb claims that get passed around.

Christmas being in December: So a lot of people go for the "Christmas is in December so it can steal from [INSERT SOLSTICE CELBRATION]" is ahistorical... because we know exactly why Christmas is in December. Because the guys who made the decision argued with each other and left behind written documentation. The two big names you need to look up are  Clement of Alexandria (who pitched January 6th) and Hippolytus of Rome (who proposed December 25th). This is around the turn of the third century, and you can find both of their writings. Some folks have questioned the authenticity of some of Hippolytus of Rome's writings, but Clement of Alexandria's seem well supported. These were internal arguments about when the birth of Christ took place within the early church, and when they settled on late December. There are reasons for this, and you can read their arguments (it largely has to do with the importance of when Jesus was conceived -- they wanted that to be an important date and then added nine months to it). Importantly though, because linear time is a thing, this means Christmas was set in December before the Christianization of the Germanic and Norse tribes... so anyone who says Christmas was set to December to correspond with Yule doesn't understand the concept of "coincidences."

The Christmas Tree: The Christmas tree was invented in 16th century Germany. That's... that's just written down all over the place. Now, there are legends about Martin Luther being the first who did it -- but I'm pretty certain that's just an embellishment that got added on. There are preceding traditions where part of an evergreen was brought into the home as a part of solstice traditions (though some will claim the Egyptians did this? Which is wild -- likely misinterpreting their use of palm fronds as the same thing), but the act of taking a whole ass tree, cutting it down, putting it in your house, and decorating it? That's 16th century Germany all the way. You can rabbit hole so many sources on that one, but honestly just pick apart the citations on the Wikipedia page. Putting a branch in your house and dragging a whole tree in are very different acts.

Jesus's story is copied from [INSERT RANDOM GOD]: There are so many of these, and some are just downright disrespectful to major world religions (the Krishna version of the meme especially). The answer is... just see if what the meme is saying about the god is supported by the mythology. Like I've seen ones that says Dionysus was "born of a virgin." If you know anything about the Greek gods, you're probably already laughing on the floor. Horus gets dragged into this too, because Gerald Massey was trying to pull a "White Goddess but with Dudes." But any serious research on Horus will tell you the supposed parallels aren't supported by the mythology.

So sorry, this wasn't so much sources you can use as it is how to look for them to begin with. Because there's just so, so much. This isn't even covering cases of syncretism, where pre-existing cultural traditions got continued post-Christianization. Because it's almost always the case that if a pre-Christian practice endured post Christianization, it's because people decided to keep doing it -- not because the church was trying to "steal" it. The latter means there was some mustache twirling plan behind it, when the former means (usually) the church went "Well, they're paying their tithes and saying it's for Jesus, so who gives a shit?"

I'm just going to finish this off with linking to my podcast episode on this, along with Ocean Keltoi's great Yule video on the topic. Hopefully that helps.

[madamnerd]

I've deleted my Epilogue to my thoughts on Tears of the Kingdom post, basically because after a while, I realized that I don't quite feel that way at all, and was really only going off of what people said, so here's how I honestly feel about TotK. Spoilers ahead, so don't read if you haven't played it.

TotK is a fun game to play, and I enjoy playing it, but I have two major problems with it:

1. The game's mechanics and Zonai devices give the player unlimited freedom to the point of absolute ridiculousness. It's fun to play with, sure, but honestly I can't take it seriously as a Zelda game at all. It just looks too goofy... What I feel like they should have done is kept the concept of the Zonai as the Ancient Warrior Tribe of Faron (not bloody Ancient Aliens that practically replaced the Gods/Hylia, that was ridiculous) and made them magic users, while still keeping the Sheikah Tech from BotW... Sheikah Magitech combined with Ancient Warrior Zonai Magic... Now THAT would've been awesome!

2. The Story was shit. I'm sorry, but it just wasn't good at all... Not to mention that it makes a huge plot hole with Zelda becoming the Light Dragon for 10,000 years just so she could restore the Master Sword and return it to Link, like ??? Where was that in BotW then?

The total disregard for BotW that TotK has in general pisses me off so badly... I wanted a true sequel to Breath of the Wild, not a remake of it wiping out everything important before. Why is there still no Triforce? What the hell were these Secret Stones? Zelda doesn't need retconning like this (imo, it doesn't need it at all). Keep to the original driving force of the series, the Triforce. It's what's always been the center of the Zelda Universe.

... Maybe I'm just getting older and more set in my ways... I know that many of you out there love the game, and I'm happy for you, I am, and as I've said before, I like playing it too, it's fun to ding around with, but to me it just isn't Zelda. I know alot of older fans were really confused and let down by TotK. It was supposed to be huge, and, again imo, wound up being one of the biggest cash grabs Nintendo's put out there...

Hopefully Nintendo will learn from this mistake and combine some of the new elements with the older formula (cooking, multiple outfits, outfit dyeing, horse customization, multiple horses, ect.).

Feel free to comment and reblog. You think I'm wrong or an idiot? Go for it, tell me why. You agree with me or want to tell me something else? Go for it, tell me why. I welcome all opinions. Thank-you for your time in reading this.

[hearthouses]

top 4 works of 2023

I was tagged by @nameslikeguns and also @preseriesdean was an inspiration, but I modified it to four because I'm not super proud of any of my edits this year and I wasn't able to squeeze out another fic before the end of the year, so we're going with top four! I am also not going to rank them, but list them in chronological order from their posting date.

This year was a better year than the last two in terms of writing output, I had a rough 2021 and posted nothing, and only posted one fic in 2022, so four is a massive improvement, even if it feels miniscule compared of other people's outputs. The Fall was when I was most productive and I am very proud of what I wrote then, exploring concepts I was particularly interested in, even if it's not the most popular and putting myslf out there regardless.

I think I would have continued that streak had I not gotten covid, then 2+ months of complications from covid, but I am trying to drag myself out of that funk. I am hoping to write more in 2024 as I have so many WIPs I want to get to and finish.

Anyway, here's the list:

1. when you're smiling and astride me

This was the first work I posted this year. It felt good to write it, but it also came with some challenges because I wrote it for an exchange and I was very nervous with some of the concepts and how they would go over. But the exchange itself was based on the idea of freeing your id and going wild, so I eventually just went with it and this was the result. I really love exploring Dean's feelings about his body and gender expression, and how Sam helps with it, and my only regret is I wish it was longer.

2. you say, go fast (i say, hold on tight)

This was written in a haze of early Fall because of another exchange that created a level of freedom that unlocked something in my brain that kept me from second guessing myself. It sprang from a concept fanvid and I came up with the idea wholesale from some mental images and let the story happen. I'm very fond of the result, even if it feels saccharine and too sweet and romantic for some. I really love the vibes and the imagery, plus how in love Sam and Dean are.

3. the landscape after cruelty

The process for this fic was grueling. No idea was working the way I wanted, so I needed to come up with a new idea altogether and at times, I almost didn't finish this fic. I have no playlist because I needed quiet to work on this. None of my usual preparations for writing fic worked for this one. The subject matter was daunting and I'm still unsure if I accomplished what I set out to, but I am proud of it. It's not very popular and I wonder if I hit the wrong notes often, but I'm also very protective of it. It's a weird fic that I'm not sure how I feel about the end result 100%, but I had to at least try and explore my feelings around the subject matter.

4. we could live forever in each other’s faces

This fic was written during the height of my illness. It wasn't supposed to be the fic I wrote because I had bigger plans (longer, more complicated fics), so I needed to scale them down to something more managable. How I did that was I chose to write the scenes in a series of drabbles, double drabbles, and triple drabbles, so I could focus on the preciseness of the word count. While this style of writing might feels limiting, it helps me to focus. I really love the dreamy, fairytale-like result of this. I still want to write a longer fic about these themes, but I am glad I wrote this all the same.

[lost4pandora]

This is something I wrote a while ago and was previously posted in a private server. The gist of it is if Player was basically a Lucario. That's it. That's the story. It's also written in the second person because my brain said to.

_______

In Which You Have Four Different Panic Attacks For The Same Reason

A search and maybe rescue mission, that's all this was. If only you knew how much more difficult it would be.

Four had headed into a dungeon alone some time ago, since it was his Hyrule and it would be best if he went in to check it out. You weren't sure why Time agreed to let him go on his own, but you supposed you shouldn't be too worried. As small as he was, he packed quite the punch.

But he had been gone for over six hours, dungeons took maybe two at most depending at what pace you set yourself at. But even then, it shouldn't take this long. So you were tasked to go look for him along with Wild.

You see, though your time with the Chain was short, you've proven yourself to be invaluable with your innate ability to track down any person or object. The Chain wasn't quite sure how you accomplished such a thing, but if they were to ask you where something or someone was, you'd almost be guaranteed to find it faster than any of them. You were a living compass, a pathfinder, the guiding North star. It definitely influenced the nickname they gave you, which was Compass.

They weren't wrong, but if only they knew how you truly achieved such a skill. Aura wasn't a power known to this world. It existed, yes, but the populace wasn't aware of the power it held and the concept that it could be used. It's a secret that you would rather keep to yourself, for the greed of men has killed many for power like this. Though perhaps you would one day tell it to your new friends. You knew they were good people at heart, despite what some might tell you.

Their auras were so unique, so distinct that it was no wonder that you were able to keep track of them so easily. Hell, you even managed to track down Wind who found himself on the other side of the Hebra Mountains. It was a good thing you did too, or else the poor boy would have likely froze to death. Time gave him a good scolding for it that day.

So that's why you were here. They figured if anyone could find Four, it would be you. You wouldn't lie, you were touched at how much faith they put in you for this. Though they were good natured, the world hadn't been as kind. It taught them not many could be trusted as that trust they gave had only hurt them in the end. So you swore you would do everything in your power to make their jobs and lives a little bit easier in whatever way you can.

You stepped into the dungeon, torch in hand and raised it high to give you some semblance of what you were looking at. Well, you could see fine, the torchlight was more for Wild, not that he knew that. Or anyone, for that matter.

The room was large, and the remnants of monsters hung in the air. Four had definitely been here, you could feel the lingering trails he left behind. You were wandering in, signaling Wild to follow. He nodded and trailed close, keeping watch for any leftover monsters or traps Four might have avoided or missed.

But then you stopped, staring blankly into space with your mouth slightly ajar.

You… you were feeling that, right?

You weren't crazy?

Because you swear that you could sense Four… in four different places.

Have you finally lost it? After all the adventure and becoming the fabled Guardian of Aura, is this really where you were going to dive off the deep end?

"-mpass. Compass! Hey!"

You snapped back into reality, blinking rapidly before locking eyes with Wild. He seemed worried, looking over you for any other problems.

"You zoned out worse than I do. Are you okay? Do we need to go back?" Wild had asked, glancing over you worriedly.

You shook your head. "No, it's just… I don't know how to put it into words."

Wild seemed to look in understanding. "Don't try too hard, it won't do you any good."

You nudge his arm with your elbow as a friendly gesture, smiling awkwardly. "Thanks, I appreciate the concern, but um… there is something wrong."

"What is it?"

"I don't know where he is."

Wild blinked. You didn't know where Four was? And you were quick to add.

"I mean, I know he's in here, I can feel it in my gut. But I can't tell where, my mind just gets fuzzy and it feels like I have a-" you groan and raise up your hands to rub your temples, "-headache."

Oh, great, you have a headache. That's definitely helping you and Wild right now. You groaned and buried your face in your hands, shaking your head.

"I'm sorry, I'm not being helpful," you said, looking over apologetically. "I don't know what's wrong…"

Wild shakes his head, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder. "Don't be sorry, it might be the dungeon messing with you. I've seen it happen with the others sometimes."

You nodded and kept trekking on, determined to find Four despite the initial problems, so to speak. Wild didn't argue or protest, and simply stuck close to you as you walked the path deeper in. There weren't many traps, or monsters, it was a quiet journey to the end.

You perked up when you felt someone approach, turning to see the multi-colored tunic of a certain blacksmith. Sighing in relief, you and Wild jogged over to him, calling his name as he turned his attention toward the two of you.

"Wild? Compass? What are you two doing here?" Four had asked.

"You were gone for longer than expected, we got worried and came to look for you," you explained, nodding at him.

Wild hummed in agreement. "We got concerned when we entered and Compass couldn't seem to pick up on where you were."

Four's eyes widened a bit at that, looking over at you, who was rubbing your neck sheepishly. "Really? You couldn't find me?"

"It was really weird, I couldn't tell where you were," you admitted, "It's almost like… you were in multiple places at once? Oh, that sounds dumb, doesn't it?"

Unbeknownst to you, Four had paled just the slightest amount at the phrase, his eyes shifting through a specific set of colors before fading back to a soft honey brown. Though he was quick to shake it off at a moment's notice to avoid suspicion.

"That's odd, are you sure you're okay?" He asked, gingerly moving his hand up to adjust the green band on his forehead.

"I think I would be better if we left this dungeon. I'd like for this headache to not become a migraine," you answered, rolling the joints in your shoulders and neck. "I'm also guessing you made it to the end of the dungeon? Did you find anything worth your while?"

Four shrugged. "Just some rupees and an item or two. Nothing great but still useful."

Wild seemed content sitting back and letting you and Four speak, since he had other things on his mind. But decided to speak out, "We should head back, before the old man sends someone after us next."

You and Four nodded, motioning to head out of the dungeon from whence you came. Leaving you to think about what exactly happened, and you weren't going to let it go for a while.

Perhaps you could ask Wolfie for cuddles to get your mind off of it.

[bizarrepotpourri]

Behind the Scenes: The Murderous Brat

[Previously on: Unlucky Thirteen]

As promised, this time we focus on the case of a "depraved murderer barely out of high school", written all on my own without asking other users of A Certain Website for inspiration.

This post, of course, contains mentions of violent crime, death and hornyposting again, so everything is under the cut. Proceed at your own risk.

Important info: you can access the link only if you set explicit material to be shown in your Pixiv settings. For a good reason.

As I said, the idea for this one hit me during the writing of "Unlucky Thirteen", sending me down a rabbit hole of outlining the concept through important-sounding legalese, and that it's based on an actual case. Well, two actual cases and each one of them is a doozy.

The original idea came from a discussion with one of the users of A Certain Website about a fairly recent case of parricide over here in Poland. But when I picked up speed and decided to google the details to confirm a few things, it turned out that I misremembered a crucial detail.

Namely, that the perpetrator wasn't a 19-year-old girl (that was the accomplice), but a 40-year-old woman. How she got a 19-year-old to help is less important - the main sell just got shot down, and that while I already had a full page of the notes including made-up press article headlines and ledes and about a third of the story proper written down. But, good for the story and bad for the real world, my lovely country also had another case of parricide involving high-schoolers a few years earlier. A boy and his angsty artist girlfriend stabbed his parents to death and then some, and by "and then some" I mean the investigators describing the crime scene as something straight from a horror movie.

This meant I had the crime implement (a silenced submachine gun), the motive ("I really, really hate my parents" - and I omitted the previous attempt using horse sedative) and the name from one case, and approximate age, accomplice and "angsty artist" schtick from the other one. I even cooked up bad angsty teen free verse while I was making dinner, and in two languages while we're at it. With that, I got to writing the most important part of the story - the conversation.

My idea was to have the condemned have a talk with the executioner as a last wish, in order to highlight her pretentious, insufferable Angsty Teenage Artist personality. I joked to another user of A Certain Website that I was imagining Julianne as a cross between Hannibal Lecter and Wednesday Addams in a private school sweater, and noted down that she was supposed to be "passive-aggressive" and "morbidly curious" - as expected from someone who shot their parents, cut them up, packed the remains in suitcases and finally dumped the suitcases in several different spots in the wild. Putting it together took me three days, and my original idea of making Julianne a psychotic hate sink just couldn't click. Even the “blue and poo” line that I shamelessly stole from the testimony of one of Australian serial killers (I can’t remember which one, though - I’m fairly certain it was either Ivan Milat or the Barrel Killers, but couldn’t find a source confirming either), who described strangling people as “smurfing”, because “first you go blue, and then you go poo”, didn't quite do it - mostly because its context in the story went from complete sociopathic insanity to gallows humor. Sure, she's still impudent, sarcastic and has ridiculously skewed priorities throughout her life - while I haven’t explicitly put the pedicure line in my notes, I had it in my mind pretty much since I started writing the scene. But then, when I started basing the way Julianne acts while smoking and talking on a former friend of mine, I got two ideas from that: obvious posturing and an apparent addiction to bad choices in life. I mean, I couldn’t have come up with the entire footjob situation if I didn’t know someone operating on similarly fucked-up logic. And to top it all off, one reader's opinion on Julianne as a character was "I don't condone her actions, but I understand her." And that means I achieved the exact opposite of my original idea: of course she thinks entirely too highly of herself and sounds a lot like a countercultural caricature, but on the other hand, you can feel sorry for her being treated like a failure through no fault of her own.

There's a lot of emphasis on Julianne being the youngest woman executed in the Kingdom in this century, for two reasons, both related to the twist in the case with Prosecution appealing the original life sentence soon after Julianne’s 18th birthday: first, long ago I had an idea for a still-unfinished story in which a group execution was delayed until after the 18th birthday of the youngest of the condemned, just so nobody could accuse the justice system of putting children to death. Second, they really wanted to get her: the Kingdom wants to be seen as modern and civilized, even if it has teenage skeletons in its closet, but on the other hand, it doesn't want to be seen as soft on crime as heinous as a double murder using a very illegal weapon. So if you're thinking that it was a setup and the entire schpiel about "psychiatric evaluations" was just an excuse, you're most probably right.

The story also gives some insight into the secrecy surrounding executions in the Kingdom. My original idea was that the names of Special Correctional Officers are confidential and listed only in Ministry of Justice personal files - even the Regional Courts and prison wardens know only the Officer’s badge number and it’s all that goes into the case files. There are also non-disclosure agreements and gag orders, so while the journalists attending the execution get to know the last words of the condemned and witness them being taken away, they not only don’t see the grisly end in person, but are also forbidden from probing the involved people for details. Meaning, Missis Officer won’t get to write a tell-all when retired, as opposed to Albert Pierrepoint, for example. Not that she would - the introduction describes her feelings toward the press fairly well, and she can't help but agree with Julianne when she mentions her hate for tabloids. Not only the "reporting" on high-profile trials often turns out to be sensationalist bullshit that skews reality into unrecognizable mess, with "unbridled joy" being an euphemism for baying for blood, but also the condemned often get the wrong ideas from seeing themselves on the front page. After all, there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Since the city of Blackmill is a stand-in for Manchester, the Raymouth prison is mostly based on HMP Strangeways, but when I got an interesting image of Julianne hanged in an industrial-looking room generated by AI, I decided to abandon the original plan of making it more typical and similar to Wandsworth and Holloway and go with basing the execution chamber on the former Nottingham Gaol (more precisely, their current museum exhibit of 19th century gallows), and the post-WW2 execution sheds built in German prisons, based on the stills from "Pierrepoint" again.

And finally, THE SPLOOSH. While Nicole in "Unlucky Thirteen" might have gotten wet at the last moment for an unspecified reason, Julianne is an utter little freak. While she was mostly trying to get a rise out of Missis Officer with the remarks on leather and masturbating in the noose in front of an audience, she was playing up her actual kinks for shock value. If she wasn’t warned beforehand that any stupid stunt means that her conversation with the executioner is over and she’ll be dragged back to her cell with all the remaining privileges forfeit, she’d probably do something like pulling up her dress and pressing her tits against the glass. But still, in her last moments she went like Madeline in my story “Worst Day of the Year”, just witnessed from an outside perspective.

[kidflashimpulse]

seeing that Carol and Preston are contacts in Bart's phone in your new fic made me smile SO big. i love the idea they live in Central City instead of Manchester on Earth-16 purely so they can still know Bart. we know absolutely zero about Bart's civilian life but i've always loved the idea the basics are similar to his Impulse solo: he finds school SUPER boring, he's inadvertently popular and HATES it, and he's got like two or three close civvie friends (Carol, Preston, Rolly)

omg same! like im sorry it is wat it is sdjdjk they've been plucked right out of Manchester into Central City by the E16 relocation program lol  

its so interesting that u think this too!! because I've very strongly since forever been thinking about how a lot of the stuff that happens to him in the impulse comics happened to him adjusting to his new life in central city as a civilian, in fact it was the concept of one of the first ever fanfic that I've written that explored all this! I am just SO INTERESTED in his adjustment to civilian life, especially at the beginning because its actually so wild if u think about it, just like in the comics hes literally a time traveller from some alien ridden timeline (to the point of an apocalypse in YJA) and now suddenly, hes supposed to adjust to some stable life with something called school? Just wild lol 

in my fanfic and in general I have the same idea! Like not every single scene and moment from the Impulse comic happens in E16, there are a lot of differences, but some rough plot and characters remain (I love Carol Preston Rolly, Assistant Principal Sheridan too LOL, tho I do think Carol has moments of poor characterisation due to the comic being written in the 90s, so in my fanfic I've put the personality traits that were suggested in the comic at the forefront, cut out all of the what I think of as totally unnecessary characterisation and then filled in the blanks with other stuff, but her background remains the same, just like Preston with his parents) 

One day Id like to post that fanfic (hopefully after I finished all my current series lol) but because its my first one, it needs a COMPLETE work over, I've really learnt a lot by posting what I have so far and will definitely be putting it to good use for that series too (I can't believe how different my writing is compared to back then and its only been a year), but it will definitely be a while before I start working on it again. 

Since it'll be a while until I work on it, ill address the impulse derivative HCs now lol for some satisfaction: 

-yep he finds school insanely boring (but also super weird, the concept is so strange to him, hes also struggled with some things A LOT but of course he eventually adapts (to an extent lol))

-hes inadvertently popular and hates it: I think at first (which also happens in the comic but I think also passes really quickly there) people think hes super weird, and first impressions do last, but I think its kinda split, there are people who keep that first impression negatively but also others who like in the comics spin it positively and think hes cool so hes accidentally involved with stuff and yes he totally hates it, because he has so much on his plate at that point with the whole apocalypse thing that school related stuff is literally the least of his concerns so if it gets in the way of his hero responsibilities then he rlly hates it lol 

-his two to three close civvie friends being Carol, Preston and Rolly, totally agree

In An Anomaly in Time the principal that Reep impersonates is actually Randal Sheridan, I didn't make any clear reference to it in the fic but just know that every mentioned principal in Barts fics is him lol no matter the school, the guy just loves his job that much 

apologies for the essay as always but I have so many thoughts on this lol and im so glad u enjoyed their ref :) I wasn't planning on it initially but I might try to involve them in a chapter at some point in An Anomaly in Time who knows ;) 

[pbandjesse]

I had a really hard time sleeping last night. And I migraine got really really bad after I did my post. And James came over and I could barely talk I was so nauseous and in so much pain. It was awful. Eventually subsided enough that I could talk. And we hung out for a bit. Watch videos and I tried just to feel better. But my back still really hurt and it made Sleeping really difficult. I actually don't remember falling asleep. James must have turned off the light. I was just too much of a mess.

It woke up in the middle of the night because I was having really crazy dreams again. And I stretched for a bit and that helped let me sleep a little bit better. But then I just had wild dreams. So I woke up pretty tired.

Me and James woke up around 9 and stayed in bed for a while. Eventually though we got up and I went to get dressed. And James made the bed and then went to start breakfast. He made us hash browns and attempted to make me an omelette. Which was pretty good. He's getting better at it.

He stayed for a while. But he left to go home and have a bigger brunch and get coffee. And I decided I wanted to lay down. I sort of half napped for an hour. But I woke up feeling super disoriented and dizzy. I just wanted to go back to bed so badly but I had to go to work. I enticed myself to leave with the promise of donuts at 7-Eleven.

I also stretched. That always helps.

I got myself and Chelsi a donut. We both had hard days yesterday. And I just thought it would be a nice surprise. And she was very excited so that felt good.

I forgot my charger again. I was really mad at myself this time because I have a second backup battery and I just didn't grab it. I didn't think about it. So my phone was dead by the time I got to the bus on the way home. And I barely used it. I mean I watched a bunch of Judge Judy in my supplies hour in the beginning but still!

Today was actually a lot of fun. There's a lot of craziness in the hallway when I went to pick up the kids. But I got everyone upstairs and they finish up their mother's day cards. I feel like the worst child because I haven't put in as much effort as I wish I could have. I just love my mom so much and I want her to feel appreciated. Everything is just been a lot lately and I'm going to spend my day off tomorrow working on art stuff. And some of that art stuff will hopefully be Mother's Day related.

We went out for recess and I was very tired. So I mostly just watch the kids. And dinner was fine. Nothing that exciting. Our time was really fun though.

I had all seven of the boys today. And we went out to the field and we did the rock paper scissor thing again to decide who would start first. And Michael's team got to go first. And his movie is easier to film so that was great. Having the two other boys in it definitely made it more rough-and-tumble. They don't understand the concept of movie fights being fake fights. Andre tried to convince me that movie fights were real because sometimes they bleed. And I had to break the news to him that that was not real. They were full-on running and jumping on each other. Knocking each other over. I felt like I was filming a WorldStar video or like bum fights. Nobody got hurt but still.

The second one was harder to fill them because it's basically fortnite fanfiction. And I don't know or care enough about fortnite. I was able to follow long enough but they kept saying like we're at the volcano and I'm like okay but what are we doing. And eventually I just had to say okay now everyone's dad. Or at least the bad guys are dead and I never wanted to be like no I killed this other guy and I'm like no you're the bad guy we're not having the bad guys win. It wasn't even his film. He was an extra. So he started pouting and went and sat in the field. But we got a lot done and I'm very happy with them.

We finished up and met the other group and went inside. And some of the girls worked on their cards while the other half of the girls played a game in the hallway. And the boys worked on some dialogue for chelsi to put on the screen since the movies are going to be mostly silent. It was very very productive and that felt really cool.

We finished up in the kids got picked up quickly. But I miss the 5:30 bus and the next bus didn't come until almost 6:10. And my phone was completely dead. I was just very tired and having trouble keeping my eyes open sitting at the bus. But eventually it came and I got home around 6:30.

Sabrina came down from upstairs to return my Swiffer she borrowed. And I made dinner. And really I've just been hanging out. Just sent me a letter in the mail that had a whole bunch of cool patches in it. And I took all the patches off my backpack and put the new ones on and rearrange the old ones. I've been doing laundry. I just did all my towels because I have no clean ones. I'll do my clothes on Sunday. Wait till I have a bigger load I suppose. I have to go get my towels out of the dryer now. And then I'm going to get ready for bed.

I have most of the day off tomorrow. I have my last Science Center shift of the season at 6. But for the rest of the day I plan on cleaning my apartment and making art. I may also start bringing some stuff upstairs since me and James are going to be moving things to his apartment and his parents house on Sunday. But really I just wanted to be a nice art day. I want to take at least one nap. And I just want to feel rested by the end of it. I'm looking forward to the Science Center though. And I hope you all have a great night tonight. Sleep well everyone.