#and kit is more a general reference than any specific character

[velvetwyrme]

prev // next

moth skyfire REAL <3!!!

also hello to the people who asked me about skyfire. you were all correct! (also extra kudos to @t4ckie-j4ckie who also guessed that skyfires little buddy D0C would make an appearance shfkfhdk) SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT.

take the full picture of Doc and the Buges + misc. notes under the cut as compensation.

There are actually TWO people working at the clinic- Doc and Dia :]

Skyfire is the resident cybug at the veterinary clinic. Doc found him half frozen in the winter and nursed him back to health, and now he just lives there

Cosmos lives at Doc's house instead of the clinic, but they'll bring him in sometimes because otherwise he gets a little lonely :(

Dia has some cybugs as well! They started off with just one, but then things kept happening and now they have like, a whole scuttle of them.

They helped foster a couple of cybugs that were rescued, and ended up keeping both of them ^^" They then ended up with another after they uh... encountered a cybug traveling in their direction. Very swiftly. (Dia is still recovering.)

Also there's that one cybug in their garden that kinda hangs around their porch. He's an honorary member of their household, even though hes a stray

Doc is also a moderator on r/cybugs. He had to break up fights between Buster and Bob and became acquainted with them that way

also i didnt know where else to put this but. i imagine you can also hold seekers like how people hold small birds when they tag them.

[bcdrawsandwrites]

[ID: A Team Fortress 2 fic banner in the style of the game's achievement icons--specifically, the "Full Spectrum Warrior" achievement. On the left of the banner, Spy and Pyro, shown in orange silhouettes with dark gray outlines, stand together beneath a grayscale rainbow (in yellow-white, gray, and dark gray shades) on a dark gray background. Both characters have their backs to the viewer. Spy, on the left, is holding up a cigarette as he looks up, while Pyro, on the right, is holding up both his fists, shoulders hunched in an excited gesture. On the bottom right of the banner is a transparent gray rectangle with yellow-white text reading: "CHAPTER ELEVEN: FULL SPECTRUM WARRIOR" /end ID]

Flickering

Fandom: Team Fortress 2 Rating: K+ Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship Characters: Spy, Pyro, Scout, Sniper, and all the other mercs. Warnings: General references to trauma and PTSD Fic Description: After the events of the comics, the mercs try to go back to how things were, but it’s never that easy.

Spy can see his teammates going through their own struggles… but something seems to be very, very wrong with Pyro in particular.

And since no one else seems to be doing anything about this, Spy makes it his mission to get to the bottom of what is troubling Pyro. For no particular reason.

Beta Readers: @mechmolar, @gonturan0, @junuve

---~~~---

Chapter 11: Full Spectrum Warrior Summary: In which Pyro is more perceptive than Spy is prepared for.

---~~~---

The shock of respawn was made all the more jarring by a cascade of cold water crashing over him.

Spy shuddered, staggering out from under the hole in the ceiling and rubbing his right wrist. His hand was intact once again, though the ribbons of blood in the rainwater still streaming out of spawn was evidence enough for what had happened. He stared down at it, frowning, before his head shot up again, whipping around the room.

No one else was there.

Before he could question this, an angry "You failed!" rang out through the base's speakers.

Well, there went their winning streak.

Reaching into his inner pocket, he pulled out his disguise kit, pleased to see his cigarettes had dried in respawn. He lit one, and strode into the doorway, waiting to meet the others on their return. Sure enough, Soldier and Sniper quickly dropped into respawn, followed by Demo and Heavy, all of them having been picked off during the humiliation round. Meanwhile, Engineer trudged up the stairs, followed by Scout and Medic.

There was no sign of the Pyro.

As those in spawn hurried out from under the cascade of rainwater, Soldier crossed his arms. "We may have tasted bitter defeat, men, but that will only make our next victory that much sweeter!"

"Aye, not a bad thought," Demo said, smiling at Soldier. However, his face fell as he turned to the Sniper, who looked a shade paler than normal as he stared down at the water at his feet. When Demo placed a hand on Sniper's shoulder, Spy looked away.

Medic and Scout looked every which way after mounting the stairs, both of them wide-eyed and shaken. "I-is it still...?" Scout stammered, looking up at Spy, who shook his head. Breathing out a sigh, Scout relaxed a fraction before swinging his arm out to gesture at spawn. "What was up with that?! I get my brains blasted by the BLU sniper and wake up to that thing—"

"Enough." Spy exhaled a stream of smoke. "It's been taken care of."

"Well, where is it?" Engineer asked, heaving up his toolbox into his arms. "We'd best be gettin' outta here before this storm gets any worse."

"I will take care of it," Spy replied, flicking his cigarette butt into the water. "You all focus on retreating for now."

Though clearly unhappy with his word choice, the others nodded, and began getting their things together as they prepared to leave. Spy avoided the gazes of Engie, Medic, and Scout as they passed him, and initially paid little attention to the others. But he couldn't help noticing Demo's practically guiding Sniper around like some kind of half-blind seeing-eye dog. He watched them out of the corner of his eye, but looked away when Demo glanced in his direction.

Slowly but surely the spawn room emptied, leaving Spy standing by himself, watching the rain that continued to pour from the ceiling. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, the patter of the rain intermingling with the radio static in his mind, before he began to realize the rain was slowing.

Grunting, he pulled himself away from the wall, retrieved his belongings from his locker, and stepped down the stairs. He did not make a show of looking around, only lighting another cigarette. "The storm is calming, if you want to take your chance to leave now."

He waited a few moments, and, sure enough, heard a shuffling noise beneath the stairs. Turning, he watched as Pyro crawled out from under the stairs and tilted its head at him.

"It was the only place you could hide that would be dry," Spy said, and Pyro lowered its head. "Now would be the time to gather your things."

Pyro glanced at him briefly before trudging up the stairs. It returned shortly with its purse slung over its shoulder, its flare gun and axe on its belt, and its flamethrower under its arm.

Though he grimaced at the weapons, Spy nodded. "Very well. Let us be off."

Once again Pyro glanced at Spy before turning to face the doorway leading out. Rain still fell, albeit in a gentler way that often seemed to happen when they had to fight over the sawmill. In spite of the downgrade from the previous torrential downpour, Pyro hung back.

Spy stepped closer to the door and looked back. "Would you rather wait to see if the weather worsens, or until BLU kills us for technically still being on their territory?"

Sighing, Pyro crept closer to the doorway, but hesitated once again.

Even Spy felt anxiety prickling under his skin as he looked between the rain and the Pyro, his mind still seeing its face split open, yellowed fangs gleaming. He swallowed back his fear. "Your suit protects you, no?"

It nodded.

"Then this is our best chance to leave. Come." With that, he stepped out into the rain. It was not near so terrible as it had been, but it was still cold, and it felt no better on his already-soaked clothing. He glanced back at Pyro, who looked between him and the sky a few times before ducking its head and stepping out.

Immediately its filter hissed with a sharp intake of breath, and it began to shudder.

"You are protected, and your assailant is dead," Spy said firmly, trying to force down his own anxiety. "The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we escape this rainstorm. Move." He hurried down the muddy path toward the open gates, and with a quiet grunt, Pyro followed him. Spy barely resisted the urge to look over his shoulder to make sure Pyro's head wasn't opening again. But nothing happened, and soon they were past the gates and heading down the hilly forest trail. Some of the trees gave them reprieves from the rain, but for the most part, they were walking back to their hidden parking spot without much in the way of cover. The path was dotted with the footprints of the other mercs who had already left, which might have been charming had it not meant they had to constantly watch their feet to avoid tripping in the upturned mud, especially when it came to Heavy's deep footprints.

Finally the red of Spy's sports car caught their eyes, and Spy heaved a sigh of relief as he fished his keys out of his pocket. Before entering, however, he began knocking his foot against a tree trunk. "Get your boots clean," he said, not looking up. "You will not track mud into my car."

When he looked up, he gave a start at seeing that Pyro had not followed him. "Where are you going?" he called out. "Get over here!"

Pyro looked back, surprised, but did not approach Spy until he waved it over. Once it got closer, it looked from Spy's car and back to Spy before tipping its head.

"Yes, you are riding with me. Did you suppose I would make you walk home?"

Pyro lowered its head.

"Please. I would not make you do that... unless you dirtied up my car. Move." With that, he stepped into the driver's seat. After a moment of thought, he hopped back out and popped the trunk open. "Weapons in here, please." After that, he slid back into the car and listened as Pyro reluctantly deposited its weapons into the trunk. It must have stared down at them for a long moment before it slammed the trunk shut and slipped into the passenger's seat.

Nodding, Spy pulled the car out and began the drive back to the base. With a few flips of switches, the windshield wipers started up, and the car slowly began to heat. Normally he would be bemoaning the fact that he'd need to visit the car wash, or have his shoes cleaned, but with Pyro sitting beside him, his mind was on other things.

Pyro remained silent, staring down at its feet. Spy returned the silence, keeping his eyes on the road.

The swishing of the windshield wipers, the patter of rain on the top of the car, the rush of heated air, and the grumbling of the engine filled their ears with their soothing song. But beneath that lay a silent tension that even that chorus could not touch.

It was broken by a quiet, questioning hum.

Spy gave a start, nearly slamming on the breaks, and glanced over to see Pyro facing him. He frowned. "You're wondering why," he said, and noted the nod out of the corner of his eye. "I needed to..." He grimaced. "You needed catharsis. Your attacker was killed before you could take revenge. I know the feeling." His mind wandered briefly to the sniper that had shot him in the leg, but he pulled himself away and glanced back at Pyro again.

It was quiet, contemplative. It drew a finger across its neck, then tapped the back of its head.

Spy thought for a moment, then hummed. "In our defense, you were attacking us during your episode. Though I suppose I had meant for you to attack me when I took on that disguise." He paused, shifting in his seat and feeling a phantom pain flare up in his right wrist. Even so, he tried to push past it, thinking instead about the Pyro, and how it must have felt, finally attacking the woman who had surely been plaguing its nightmares. "It must have helped, non?"

For a while, Pyro sat in silence, staring down at its feet, and Spy almost wondered if it hadn't heard his question. The rain was finally slowing, so it wasn't as though his words were being drowned out by the noise. But then it lifted its head and slowly tilted it to one side, then to the other.

Brow furrowing, Spy frowned. "You don't know?"

Pyro shrugged its shoulders, then hung its head.

For a long moment, Spy sat, the pain in his wrist slowly returning, along with the pain in his back, and his shoulder, and his throat—no part of him was damaged physically anymore after the respawn, but the pain was still there, the pain he'd endured with the thought that it would solve their problems, put an end to this—this—

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?!"

He hadn't realized that he'd slammed on the breaks or that he'd shouted until Pyro jumped back, leaning away from him with a shudder. The sight did nothing to quell the fire that had abruptly sprung up within him, the heat escaping through his mouth, through his words:

"I have spent the past month watching you, seeing your pain, spending my free time trying to help you! I lost sleep, lost our match—I let you put me through hell! And you are telling me all of that amounted to nothing?!" He found himself glaring into the Pyro's lenses, even as it leaned farther into the door behind it. "Was killing that woman not enough? Was killing me? Was killing Jeremy not—"

At once it was gone, his rage turned to cold horror as the smell of Jeremy's blood filled his nostrils, the gaping wound in Jeremy's stomach glaring in his vision, the weight of Jeremy's body growing heavier in his arms.

He faced the road ahead of him, hands in a death grip on the steering wheel. His throat and chest ached, and not from the memory of old wounds.

It doesn't matter, Spy told himself distantly. He's alive.

He could not speak.

There is no reason to feel like this.

His hands shook.

It doesn't matter.

Slowly, a soft noise reached him—Pyro was shifting in its seat. Spy did not look at it, not even when it made a soft hum.

Nor when it reached for him, gently pulling his hand away from the steering wheel and giving it a squeeze.

Something within Spy crumbled.

Frantically he pulled away from Pyro, and pulled his car off the road. After putting the car in park, he threw the door open, jumped out, and stared at nothing, his vision blurring. He felt like his body had gone invisible and had left him behind, somehow, standing frozen and lost. He could hardly think, his mind still in a distant whirl of memories, both recent and not, and a horrible tide of emotions welling up within him, emotions he didn't know the source of, and yet knew exactly the source of, filling his chest until it was painfully tight, ready to burst—

Pyro was suddenly beside him, grabbing his hands, prying them away from his arms—he hadn't even realized he'd been holding them, the muscles aching from the grip—and moving them away, holding his hands tightly in its own. It said nothing, and as the sensation began to ground him, he realized it was staring intently into his eyes. Gradually it released one of his hands, and placed a hand firmly on his back.

The tightness in Spy's chest uncoiled, and tears spilled down his face, soaking into his mask. His legs felt weak, and he crumpled forward, allowing himself to be caught by the Pyro, burying his face into its chest. His shoulders shook as sobs bubbled up through his chest and throat—physical representations of the emotions that had been lying festering within him over the past several days—no, over the past month or more.

Since his son had died in his arms.

It was nonsense, stupid, pointless, but he couldn't stop himself. The fact that Jeremy was alive and well did nothing to calm him, to rid him of this agony, to dry his tears.

Much like the death of Beatrice did not cause Pyro's episodes to end, nor its colors to return.

He didn't know how long the two of them stood there, off the side of the road, halfway to the base, on that strange, rainy day. But eventually the tears within Spy ran dry, and the ugly emotions abated, at least for the time being, leaving him feeling drained, exhausted. Slowly he pulled away from Pyro, and did not look up. "Get back into the car," he croaked.

Pyro stared at him for a few uncomfortable seconds before walking around to the side of the car and stepping in.

Once the door was shut, Spy faced away from the vehicle, and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. With practiced precision, he lifted his mask away from his face, and cleaned it. The mask was still dirty—there was nothing to be done there—but at least the rain had soaked it through anyway, so no one else would identify that it was soaked by anything else.

With his face now as clean as it would get for the time being, Spy pocketed his handkerchief, pulled the mask back down, and stepped back into the car.

The two sat in awkward silence, broken only by the faint patter of rain against the roof and windshield.

Spy drew in a breath. "You saw nothing."

Slowly Pyro turned to face him, and Spy's skin crawled when the Pyro's face partially split down the middle, revealing its yellow fangs, but not opening its mouth any further.

It took Spy a minute to realize it was grinning at him.

—

Scents of coppery blood, acrid smoke, and reeking mildew mingled with the sensations of throbbing aches and sharp pains, driving Spy to drag himself into consciousness. The feelings and smells lingered even when he crawled out of bed, even as the rain continued to pound against the roof of the building. He peered through the curtains, dreading fighting in this mess.

With a sigh, he changed into his usual outfit, wincing at a pain in his leg that should have been long gone.

In contrast with the musty, cold smell of the rain outside was the warm coffee scent that drew him downstairs. As he headed into the mess hall, Spy pondered asking Engie what made him decide to get up so early like this, only to freeze in the doorway.

Sniper sat in the unlit room, nursing a mug of coffee. For once he did not wear his sunglasses, though the darkness of the room and the steam from his drink hid his expression. He did not look up.

Frowning, Spy dipped into the kitchen to pour himself a mug of coffee, though he did not drink it just yet, rather, holding the mug and letting its warmth seep into his gloves. Eventually he stepped into the mess hall again, leaning his back against the wall.

"What unearthly hour did you awake?" Spy finally asked.

It was a moment before Sniper answered. "I haven't slept." His voice was hoarse.

"...I see." Spy stared down at his coffee before taking a seat at the table, one chair over from where Sniper sat. He continued to let the warmth from the mug seep into his hands before taking a sip. When Sniper remained silent, Spy cleared his throat. "I take it the storm brought you... unpleasant memories?"

"Not in the way you're thinking."

Spy shrugged. "Beyond the pain, I imagine being thrust into nonexistence for several hours was probably—"

"I saw my parents."

Freezing, Spy slowly turned toward Sniper. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough to see his companion staring blankly down at his mug. For the briefest of moments, he wondered what Jeremy saw— "I am not getting into a theological discussion at six in the morning."

Sniper looked up, the blunt statement jolting him out of his melancholy.

Before he could question anything, a low tone rang throughout the base. Sniper and Spy both sat up straight, exchanged glances, and scrambled out of their seats, nearly tripping over each other as they made a beeline for the security room.

When they arrived, two buttons on the panel were lit, as was a single screen, which read, "Incoming transmission."

Spy exchanged another glance at Sniper before jabbing the top button, and the screen flickered before displaying a message that read, "Voice only." So, not Miss Pauling. It could be the Administrator, but—

"RED?"

The Texan accent made Sniper jump, and Spy furrow his brow. The voice was deeper than their own Engineer's, and the way they had been addressed made it clear just what they were dealing with.

"Yes, we're here," Spy replied calmly. There was no need for hostility outside of the matches, especially when he had fought alongside this very engineer when dealing with Gray Mann's robots.

"BLU Engie here, speakin' on behalf of my team. We're, uh, dealing with a lot of structural damage to our base on account of the recent storms. We haven't talked to the boss yet, but—dang it, we're calling a temporary ceasefire. Ain't none of us got any sleep last night."

Sniper growled under his breath, looking away. "Are we really gonna trust them?"

With a flick of the mute switch, Spy shook his head. "It's not their spy, at least. He tends to throw in more southern slang when disguised as their engineer. Not to mention, we've seen the same storms. Their base being damaged is not surprising." He flicked the switch again. "Very well, we accept the terms of ceasefire. But this was your idea, and the Administrator's wrath is on you."

A heavy sigh crackled over the speaker. "Don't I know it. Well, we'll be seeing all y'all on the battlefield whenever we get this patched up. And don't worry—we'll take real good care of that winning streak we took from ya."

The screen flickered to a message reading, "Transmission ended."

"'Course he had to get the last word in," Sniper grunted.

"It hardly matters now. They got lucky once. Time will tell if their guns are as swift as their words." Spy shut off the screen and took a swig of his coffee, which had gone from hot to now merely warm. "For now, I suppose we enjoy our day off."

"Never did like those," Sniper muttered. He stepped away from the console and headed out of the room, Spy following. "What do they expect us to do with ourselves anyway?"

As if in response, a peal of thunder rumbled outside.

"Be glad you won't be out fighting in that," Spy remarked.

Rather than heading back to the mess hall, the two of them made their way to a window, watching the sky slowly, slowly lighten behind the angry rainclouds. As they did so, Spy couldn't help but notice the bags under Sniper's eyes. Something struck him, and he grit his teeth, glaring out the window.

It took several moments for him to force himself to speak: "Well, there is one good thing about this weather."

Sniper did not look up. "Yeah?"

"The rainwater loosened the earth, making it easier to... dig up things." Spy paused, briefly, before continuing: “Anyway, I should inform the others of our impromptu day off." With that, he patted Sniper on the shoulder and quickly headed back toward the mess hall. Instinct told him that Sniper had turned to watch him leave, and he did not turn back.

It wasn't long before Engineer was down in the kitchen and whipping up breakfast. He seemed tense until Spy told him about the mercenary's counterpart's message.

"Sure it won't take 'em long to patch that place up," Engineer remarked, and flipped a pancake a few feet into the air before catching it in the pan. His cooking seemed to take on a comfortable rhythm to it, as opposed to the mechanical movements Spy had seen yesterday.

As usual, Soldier's terrible rendition of reveille woke up the rest of the base. Slowly the other mercenaries filed down into the mess hall, including Sniper, whom Spy avoided the gaze of.

"Man," Scout grumbled as he trudged into the doorway, pausing to stretch. "Another day of fightin' in this crap."

"About that," Spy said. "BLU called a temporary ceasefire."

Immediately Scout sprang to attention. "Wait, really?" At Spy's nod, Scout let out a whoop, holding up his arms. "All right! Ya year that, Demo?" He glanced over his shoulder. "We got a day oooaaaAAAAAAAAAGHHH!" His voice leaped up into a shriek as he jumped back from the doorway on one foot, hands held up in a defensive gesture.

Pyro stared at him blankly from the doorway, arms held calmly at its sides.

Sighing, Spy strode past Scout and closer to the doorway. "Calm down. Pyro is not going to be killing anyone today. Isn't that right?"

Pyro nodded.

"Y... yeah," Scout stammered, slowly recovering from his defensive position and wrapping a hand around his stomach. "Yeah, that's real reassuring."

The brief scare was all but forgotten as Engineer called everyone into the kitchen to retrieve their breakfast. As he retrieved his own food, Spy spotted Archimedes on the shoulder of one of the mercs, and did a double-take when he realized it was not Medic's shoulder, but Heavy's. The Heavy was petting the bird gently with one finger, talking to it softly and giving it bits of pancake and sausage... until Medic struck Heavy on the back of the head with an empty plate and shoo'd the bird away.

"Stop it, you're spoiling him," Medic grumbled.

Heavy did not look the least bit ashamed as he piled his own plate with sausages and biscuits. "Da. Is point."

As Spy took some food for himself, he kept an eye on Pyro, who was keeping well behind the others. It did at least come into the kitchen to get its own food, rather than refusing to eat at all, so that was something, at least. Once it had filled its plate, it slunk over to the corner of the mess hall, facing everyone else, and did not immediately make a move to eat its food.

As closely as Spy observed the others, he'd never noticed exactly how Pyro ate. It was something he'd tried to catch in the past, but had failed at every time, even when watching while disguised. After the events of yesterday, he now had a pretty good guess as to how Pyro consumed its food.

He was mildly surprised at how little it disturbed him.

But he also felt a spark of irritation when Medic approached Pyro, who shrank back, a hand to its throat. Spy nearly stood up, but stopped himself when Medic retrieved a pink lollypop from his coat pocket and held it up to Pyro, who relaxed, reaching out to take the candy. Medic pulled it away and said something to Pyro, who looked away, until Medic retrieved three more pieces of candy from his coat pocket. It looked up at the Medic before tilting its head to one side, then the other. This was apparently enough to satisfy the Medic, who pocketed the candy again and stepped away, smiling.

"Attempting to bribe it with more candy, I see," Spy remarked as Medic walked past him.

"If it works, I have no complaints," Medic replied with a shrug. "So long as I can fill out more of its medical forms!"

So long as you're not harassing it, Spy thought, then shook his head. He finished the rest of his meal in silence, idly listening to the talk around him. Sniper and Demo were engaged in a quiet conversation on one end of the table, Heavy was listening in amusement to another rant from Medic about spoiling his birds, while Engineer, Soldier, and Scout discussed a game that would be on later, the latter two with a great deal of animation. His gaze lingered on the last group as he finished his meal.

After depositing his plate in the kitchen, Spy stepped out into the mess hall again, where everyone was still engaged in their own conversations. Pyro had stepped out during the short time he'd been gone, leaving an empty plate with no utensils on the table. Frowning, Spy headed toward the door, only to pause by the end of the table. The sports talk seemed to have devolved from friendly banter about teams to something a bit more... heated.

"I'm tellin' you, you cow-herdin' Canadian, your 'Tex-Mex' food is a contamination of real American dishes!"

"Yeah, well, got some news for you about your so-called 'all-American' dishes, Soldier. You ever heard of a melting pot?"

"Sounds like a French invention! True Americans only deep-fry their food!"

Spy ignored Soldier and Engineer, instead turning his attention to Scout, who was listening to the argument with his brow furrowed and chin resting on the heel of his hand, eyes occasionally rolling. He was all too eager to escape the argument when Spy cleared his throat.

"Yeah, what's up?" Scout asked, swinging around to sit on the side of his chair.

Spy stood beside Scout, his back to the table, and casually lit a cigarette. "So... how are you feeling after yesterday?"

Initially Scout blinked in surprise, then looked away. "Ugh, tryin' to forget that crap. My guts hurt if I think about it too long."

"I see." Spy breathed a smoke ring toward the ceiling, watching it ascend. "I wouldn't worry too much. The phantom pain will ease on its own."

"Uh, yeah, probably." Scout shifted in his seat. Behind him, his companions sounded close to literally butting heads, but he made no move to look back at them, nor forward at Spy.

After an awkward silence, Spy continued: "Your addition to the plan was a good one."

Scout nodded, only to sit upright. "Wait—yeah? I mean, yeah! Of course it was!" Grinning, he leaned back. "Y'know, you and Engie ain't the only thinkers around here. I can do a little strategizin' when I feel like it."

"Yes, and I'm sure you would've been able to follow through with it." It was something he might've said sarcastically at a previous time, but there was no sarcasm in his words.

Scout clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "Yeah," he muttered, but paused as Spy's tone registered. "I—wait, you think so?"

"Of course. I'm sure had it not been for... extenuating circumstances, you would have pulled it off." Smiling, Spy began to stride out of the room. "For once."

"Yeah! I totally could've—hey!"

Still smiling, Spy said nothing as he slipped out into the hallway, intent on tracking down the Pyro. He made it halfway down the hall when the rapid squeak of sneakers against hardwood made him pause. His instinct, his naturally mysterious nature urged him to not look back, but something else deeper within him stirred, and he turned.

Scout came to an awkward stop, scratching the back of his head. "Hey, um..." He straightened his baseball cap.

Spy remained quiet, waiting.

Scout's gaze was to the ground, his feet shifting his body left and right. "Just... wanted to say, uh. Thanks for the help... yesterday. With Pyro." Slowly, he raised his head, and Jeremy looked Spy in the eyes. "I... owe you one."

For a short eternity, Spy stared at his son, something stirring in his chest.

Said eternity was broken when Scout suddenly stepped forward, jabbing a finger at him. "Do not make me regret saying that!"

Spy laughed, shaking his head and looking away. But he quieted himself, looking down at the floor. "...If that phantom pain of yours does not ease on its own," he began, and Scout took a step back, lowering his arm, "it... may help to say a few words to someone about it."

"I... uh." Scout rubbed his arm. "Okay, thanks."

Clattering noises and shouts rang from the mess hall behind them.

"You may want to be sure Soldier did not bring his rocket launcher to breakfast."

"Wait—aw, crap." With that, Scout spun around, charging back into the mess hall. "Hey, Soldier—Soldier! Put that thing down, man!"

Once Scout was gone, Spy let out a long sigh, lightly rubbing a knuckle beneath his eye—he'd gotten some of his cigarette smoke into it. He resumed heading down the hall, only to pause again when he spotted a pair of lenses staring at him.

Pyro tilted its head, and walked away.

—

It was toward the afternoon that, upon noticing the lack of rain pounding against the roof, Spy emerged from his smoking room. Unfortunately, a trip to one of the windows informed him that the rain had not stopped—only lessened to a light patter. The sky had brightened somewhat, at least, but no one seemed in any hurry to leave with the ground as muddy as it was.

When Spy headed for the kitchen to make a quick meal, he took note of Pyro sitting at the empty mess hall table, patched-up crayon box at its side and blank dot-matrix paper before it. It gave Spy a quiet hum of acknowledgment, to which Spy gave a silent nod in return.

"I'm preparing a meal, if you would like something," he offered, but Pyro only shook its head, gesturing to an empty plate at its side. Shrugging, Spy took the plate into the kitchen.

When Spy stepped out later with a plate of food, he prepared to sit at the table, only to pause. He stared into the hallway, which was a great deal lighter than before. Curious, he set his plate aside and began heading for the window at the end of the hall.

Sunlight streamed into the hallway, but rain still fell. Frowning, Spy stepped closer to the window, peering outside. He couldn't recall the last time he'd seen a sunshower—

Something caught his eye, and he immediately spun around, bolting back into the mess hall. "Pyro!" he called, stopping in the doorway. Pyro looked up from its coloring, tilting its head. "Get out here, quickly."

Sensing the urgency in Spy's tone, Pyro pushed away from the table and followed him out to the window. When Spy stopped, it stood by his side, staring, and made a quiet noise of surprise.

A smile crept across Spy's features. "You see it, then?"

At that, Pyro slumped slightly, tilting its head one way, then the other. But it leaned forward again, placing its hands against the window and staring intently.

Outside, as mild rain pattered down through the relentless sunshine, a rainbow stretched out just beyond the fort, disappearing somewhere deep into the sky.

Spy stood beside the Pyro, staring at the rainbow with it and wondering just how much it could see. It wasn't perfect vision, but evidently, it was enough to keep its attention. After a moment, he patted it on the shoulder before turning back toward the mess hall. As he did so, his smile faded.

It wasn't what he'd hoped for, although part of him had to wonder how he could've been naive enough to hope for it at all. Nothing was going to make the colors magically return, but... apparently something was happening.

When Spy entered the mess hall, he noticed Pyro's papers still sitting on the table, and they were no longer blank. Curious, he took a step closer, only to give a start.

It was a drawing of himself and Pyro, still in shades of gray... and patches of red.

[wtclangen]

When Thunder Crashes Masterpost

Newtclan Start

Allegiences: Newtclan | Flutterclan (TBD) | Milkclan (TBD) | Bayclan (TBD) | Boulderclan (TBD) | Rowanclan (TBD)

Territory maps: World map, Newtclan Territory,

Posting Schedule: 1 page every weekend (trying to make it monday specifically) and lore posts whenever I feel like it/people ask!

Ask/Fanart policy: I love asks!! I absolutely encourage them!! about the characters, to me as the writer, and especially about the world in general!!! The same goes for fanart. And if you do make fanart and I don't see it, don't be afraid to DM me with the post! I never wanna miss anybodies art 🌟

(BTW, This masterpost will be constantly updating)

TAGS: (More tags will be updated as the story progresses)

#update- comic page update

#newtask- Newtclan related ask (asks are always open for any character, or even for myself about the comic! I encourage them, but I cannot guarantee I will always answer them)

#wtcask- asks that have to do with the WTC world in general!

#newtclan- anything Newtclan related!

#lore- lore about the clan, or the WTC world/culture!

#characterlore- this one speaks for itself

#reference- character reference sheets!

#writing- posts that are just writing

#others art- this speaks for itself

#not wtc- anything not related to wtc

#my fic- essentially the same tag as writing, but this is to differentiate if it's my writing or someone else's!

TWs- Tw for Canon typical warrior cats (violence, blood, death, kit death, war, etc), arguing, implied abuse, cursing, depression, grief, gore, and murder. Posts that contain triggers with always be labeled by "cw: (insert trigger)" in the tags.

Most important cws are: cw: arguing, cw: aggressive animal, cw: gore, and cw: aggressive dog

Notes from the OP-

First and most important, this world does not behave like a normal warrior cats world. The spiritual system of this world is almost completely re-done, and it will be explained through lore posts or through the comic. There is also different vocabulary too. The most important new terms being the Helil and the Exceri. these are similar to Starclan and the Dark Forest, but definitely tweaked.

Second, expect to see the other clans in the area! I love my world and I want to show off every bit of it.

Third, there will be some times where I will just be writing instead of it being a comic! Writing will be at the bottom of posts, or it will be bonus/not main comic content made in a separate post. I'll link it somewhere on this post lol, and it'll most likely be under some kind of lore tag. Also, expect my artstyle to change sometimes!

About the author

Hi I'm Cat! You can call me Cat, Catlatch, or just K. I use He/Him pronouns and i am currently a full time art student! My main blog is @catlatchis . Other than that Idk what to say here other than i hope you enjoy the world I'm creating as much as i do!

[nudgeling]

I've had a resurgence of listening to First Aid Kit recently so I decided to pair up a bunch of their songs and lyrics to traffic characters and ships. I'm surprised they’re not more popular in fandom spaces since they’re pretty similar genre-wise to both Crane Wives and the Oh Hellos, so consider this is my community pitch (+ commentary cuz i wanna)

Fleeting one - BigB

"My love is a fleeting one / My man could be anyone / And our love is a setting sun / My life is fleeting one / My work is just a web I've spun / Oh, my life is a setting sun / Baffled by the lives we were lent / We met the end too soon / I was honest when I told you / We're as cryptic as the moon"

BigB has a bit of a history with wavy loyalties. The secret soulmates with Grian, betraying Cleo, and most recently tricking Skizz (I know that was resolved but a pattern is a pattern my man). And well, not that I have any clue what the man's up with all the cryptic gaslighting but I feel like that applies as well.

The lyrics outside the chorus seem to be about a couple falling out of love, but I like to apply it to him and Cleo, which still fits fairly well. Angst galore ofc.

Wolf - Pearl

"When I run through the deep dark forest long after this begun / Where the sun would set, the trees were dead, and the rivers were none / And I hope for a trace to lead me back home from this place / But there was no sound there was only me and my disgrace"

Scratch this being the most Pearl-like FAK song, this is the most Pearl song ever. It's basically what started this whole project. All the lyrics and all the vibes just screams DL Pearl. The song is also a bop, one of my personal favs, if I were to recommend just one of these to listen to then this is a strong contender.

Josefin - Martyn

"You go home with feet bare in the snow / You raise up your head to the dead / You seek of such magical things / And nobody knows where you've been"

This smells of watcher lore guys. Don’t have much more commentary than that, it’s just watcher lore straight up.

King of the World - Lizzie

"I keep running around / Trying to find the ground / But my head is in the stars / And my feet are in the sky / Well I'm nobody's baby / I'm everybody's girl / I'm the queen of nothing / I'm the king of the world"

The lyrics is giving Last Life Lizzie, but it’s also one of the more whimsical-sounding songs on the list which feels very Lizzie in general.

I'll admit the rest of the lyrics isn’t particularly easy to tie into the life series since there’s a bunch of specific modern references like going to the airport and traveling through states, but I love the song way too much not to include it. Might be the personal favourite.

Rebel heart - Desert duo

"You told me once I have a rebel heart / I don't know if that's true / But I believe you saw something in me that lives inside you too / Now I all I hear is the wind / There’s a storm coming through / Did I misplace or forsake my love now that I gave it to you?"

Picking just one lyric section from this song was difficult. Every single word, top to bottom, fits Scarian like a glove. It also slams in a "But I know you truly saw me / Even if just for a while" which just MMMM. Makes me wanna bite someone.

I Found a Way - Treebark

"We play the game with skillful hands / And so I asked for your demands / "Give me your love, give me your gun" / And you traced us back to where we begun"

Tbh this song could apply to a lot of traffic dynamics but it had a lot of loyalty themes which is why I put it at Treebark specifically. That being said: man. It works so well. Specifically Martyn POV. The gun in the lyric above would ofc be the beheading, plus the song later mentions the protagonist having a lot of guilt and being prone to running. It's got C!Martyn all over it.

My Silver Lining - Skizz

"I try not to hold on to what is gone / I try to do right what is wrong / I try to keep on keeping on / Yeah I just keep on keeping on / I hear a voice calling / Calling out for me / These shackles I've made in an attempt to be free / Be it for reason, be it for love / I won't take the easy road"

This is another one where it just is Skizz. He’s probably been the most consistantly loyal and good-natured person in the series, doing anything and everything for his team. I feel this especially with how he was in Limited Life, being determined to spread some light into the world despite the game they found themselves in. When making this list I found that most of these songs could fit multiple dynamics/characters, but this is his song, full stop.

Stay Gold - Flower Husbands

"The sun shone high those few summer days / Left us in a soft, wide-eyed haze / It shone like gold / It shone like gold / But just as the moon, it shall stray / So dawn goes down today / No gold can stay / No gold can stay"

👏ANGST👏GALORE

Another one where I just want to quote the whole song. The song is all about grieving time periods and memories you can’t get back, to which I'm thinking late-game 3rd life, post-3rd life divorce or s1 empires characters having weird nostalgia. I go feral for all of it.

Bonus empires:

Heavy storm - Sausage

"I saw, I saw, I saw, I saw an old photograph / And the picture that appeared / Well, it took me back to the times / When she was around / She used to play that old mandolin / And the moon and the sea invited her in / I wish that I had told her by then / What she knew deep down / That she only wished that time would come back"

S1 Sausage angst my beloved. Or s2, could work either way, but I'm partial to s1. "She" could be either Pearl or Gem, however there is a "he" in the first chorus which is very much Fhwip. Like Stay Gold it’s all about grieving old times, so I like to imagine a post S1 Sausage grieving his old family :D

[theresattrpgforthat]

Afternoon!

You might already be aware of these TTRPG designers, but I figured I'd pass them on if they might add to the knowledge pool for recommendations!

Will Uhl: https://willuhl.itch.io/ Just an absurdly prolific games designer, with a grounding in rules-light action-y games but has a wide range of tones and genres in their work. Mystic Lilies comes strongly recommended, their most famous game, Netbattlers, isn't on itch.io as it's a fangame that uses the Megaman IP (and is also excellent if you like games with in-depth character building)

Nathan Blades: https://sixofspades.itch.io/ More of a performer than a designer but has written a number of games, generally focused on upbeat anime action with queer community subtext. Heartbeats in Perfect Sync is probably their best known; they also have a one-pager in The Ultimate One-Page RPG Book.

Farmer Gadda: https://farmergadda.itch.io/ Explores a lot of system kits (CaltropCore, Lasers & Feelings, etc) to make games that reference specific game series and the like. The energy of picking up your favourite toy and moving it around the room with whoosh noises.

Rook/RJK Games: https://rjkgames.itch.io/ Prime itchio game zine production; passionate, feelings-first releases that each put a spin of a different indie game or system kit. A transformation of the orginal tone of a game to something else, like a magic trick.

Thanks for the recs! I've heard of some of these designers, and some I haven't. Let's look at a highlight of theirs that stands out for each one!

Mystic Lilies, by Will Uhl.

In a sealed-off region full of fantastical phenomena, the land is falling out of balance. You will play to find what people take and what people lose to regain that balance.

It looks like it's a card-based roleplaying game about witches fighting to get what they want. I'm interested in the character abilities, and curious about how the PvP interacts with different player styles. I'd assume that safety tools are a given at this table, and I'm definitely drawn in by the art.

Heartbeats in Perfect Sync, by Nathan Blades. (@theneoncaster)

Heartbeats in Perfect Sync is a tabletop RPG inspired by the shounen battle aesthetic. Play as a group of ordinary people who fight monsters with ridiculously over-the-top weapons.

I have heard of Nathan Blades before! I can see how this game would appeal to folks who love TWEWY, or Persona 5. I'm curious about what kind of dice this system uses - is it safe to assume that you need d6's for this game if the page doesn't specify? Also, folks should check out Iera Entera, a game by the same designer about killing, butchering, and eating gods. I think the concept is amazing.

SW//NG, by Farmer Gadda. (@farmergadda)

Because you have Power, you have Responsibility. Because of your Responsibility, you have to face your Past. And your Past? That's the one thing your Power can never fix.

I love complicated superheroes! I love emotional superheroes! This game gives you complicated and emotional superheroes! It also has some lovely GM advice and I always always appreciate good GM advice.

Our Love Will Destroy Us, by RJK Games.

You did it, exactly what the old fools of the Hunters’ Guild warned you against. Fell in love with your target, the both of you. One of you was barely trained, untested, didn’t know any better; the Guild might forgive you, but the other? You were meant to know better.

I'm pretty sure I've talked about this one before when I covered Tragic Games, so that might be why this game stands out to me. I think the use of Tarot Cards to reveal what the Hunger does to hurt the Vampire Hunter who has fallen in love with a Vampire, is really emotionally fitting.

[gnostichymns]

It comes to you like a dream: a door suspended midair, already ajar and inviting. Past it is a glimpse of everything and nothing, a world you have never seen before and yet strikes you as impossibly familiar. It is an endless, winding staircase, a stage surrounded by stars.

Welcome to Spiral Abyss!

This event will run until September 30th and feature three floors of combat, each divided into two waves. You have been assigned a team of allies to traverse these floors with and will get progressively stronger as you continue. Here's how to get started:

Take a look at our Combat Handbook. If you've seen it before, look again. It's been completely overhauled, and changes have been made as well as explanations and further details added for the more complex aspects of our system. Familiarize yourself with this, and reference it regularly throughout the event.

Check your team assignments here. This document will show both your team and their abilities as well as the enemies you will be facing. Please copy and paste your team's section into a new document to be shared in your team chat.

The provided enemies are for Wave 1. When either side of the fight (enemies or allies) have all reached 0HP, please ping a mod in your team channel. We will update the main doc with your next wave of enemies. If your team wipes, you will all be revived at full HP upon the start of Wave 2. There is no penalty for not completing either wave, and combat will immediately end at 11:59 PM EST on the last day of the floor.

Here is the general schedule for floors:

Floor 1: September 16th - 19th Floor 2: September 21st - 24th Floor 3: September 26 - 30th

Combat will be written in a thread on the dashboard, with one thread for each floor. Replies are expected to be short in order to maintain the fast paced nature of this event. To this effect, teams should not go more than 12 hours without a post to the thread. Please communicate availability regularly with your teammates and be ready to change turn orders based on it. Activity will be monitored and members who are regularly delaying their team's progress may be subject to removal from the event and forfeiting of prizes.

As a reminder: all kits are subject to changes after being tested. If there is something you find that you dislike or believe should be different about how your character plays, please make note of this for the feedback form at the event's end. This event is meant to test all aspects of this system, it is expected that there will be kinks and flaws.

If you have any questions, please reference the Abyss specific questions channel in the group's server. Every team has at least one mod on it, but if yours is unavailable do not hesitate to ping another!

And don't forget to tag all posts with #GHAbyss2024 !

-Mod Alina

[rosalynx03]

Quick before the confidence vanishes-

Hi! I bring...a transformers story! It doesn't really follow any specific continuity, but does reference characters from "More Than Meets the Eye" and "Lost Light."

...it's the Scavengers-

Anyhoo! Characters in this story include:

Reboot – my transformers OC!

Sickbeat – my girlfriend's OC >:3

Story is under the cut cuz it's kinda long-

Reboot was automatic with her introduction upon hearing their store bell chime; "Welcome to the shop! I sell a little bit of everything, but if there's something I don't have I will surely do my best to try and gather-"

"Red energon." A more feminine voice stated.

Reboot paused, turning and looking up from their datapad.

The first she noticed was the black Decepticon sigil along the customer's purple plating.

"..small reminder; this is a neutral ground." Reboot began, placing the datapad down upon one of the nearby desks.

"No violence, whatsoever. Just shopping. Yes?"

The Decepticon rolled her optics, taking a datapad of her own out of subspace and holding it out to the Can-Am.

"Red energon. And extra weapon repairs, Scavenger."

"Sheesh. Ever heard of "please"?" Reboot chuckled, looking over the list.

"And I'm not a Scavenger. Well...guess I kinda am, huh. But not like that crew. The Scavengers. They go around traveling in that rinkydink ship of theirs, Scavenging for anything. One of their own rambled my audials off about it. Fun guy, he was. What was his name again? Something-fire..."

"I don't care." The Decepticon cut off the shopkeep's ramble. "I need whatever is on that list. Now."

Reboot huffed. "Well, 'con-"

"Sickbeat."

"...Sickbeat. I'm Reboot. Anyways!" Reboot walked around the shop, pulling off some items; small parts for gun and generic weapon repairs, some medical supplies...

"...says here you need about 10 blocks of red energon cubes...That's hard to come by, Ms. Sickbeat.."

Sickbeat simply raises a brow at the orange bot. Reboot mumbled to themselves.

"You'll be taking my entire stock..."

"I can pay. I have the shanix."

"Eh? That's what everyone says."

Sickbeat resisted the urge to grab this shopkeep from across the counter. Neutral ground, she notes...

"Megatron can send you any extra pay you need if I don't have enough."

"Woah. Woah! Now that's some info!" Reboot perked up with a grin. "Megatron? As in Decepticon leader Megatron? So what are ya? A higher up? They finally replace that Statscream fella as S.i.C.?"

Sickbeat let out a growl of irritation, pulling out a moderate sized pocket bag of Shanix from her subspace and tossing it on the table.

"The red energon. Now."

"Okay! Sheesh...not one for conversation, are ya?" Reboot grumbles, placing a box of weapon repairs and replacements onto the table. Next, they went to the back, pulling out 7 red energon cubes and placing them onto the floor next to their pedes.

"So 50 for each red en., 30 for each med kit, and about...35 for the box of scraps. This is about...475 shanix total for everything."

"There's 500 shanix in the bag." Sickbeat said. She then took the box of extra weapon parts, hefting it up with ease. Reboot watched with interest.

Guess it would be easy for a big frame like that...

"You need help carrying everything out?"

"No." The Decepticon said. "Just bring everything out to the front of the shop. I'll take it from there."

Reboot simply shrugged, leaving the conversation at that as they grabbed the medical kits and followed Sickbeat to the door.

[sethan-obsession]

one thing that doesn't come up very often when anything about Neco-Arc comes up is the characters' position in the actual games they're in

while Melty Blood isn't something that a lot of people are very versed in (especially amongst people that like the little =3 cat, myself included), outside of meme culture and story mode funnies within the series, the characters are almost entirely a nonsequitur

Neco-Arc and Neco-Arc Chaos (the latter abbreviated to NAC and the former abbreviated to usually "Neco", for later reference) typically occupy the bottom 2 position in whatever game they're in, approximately, between their 3 moons. moons are a "groove" system in melty blood similar to that found in CVS2, or otherwise it's similar to the differences between Shadow and Normal characters in Persona, essentially mixing around your characters' set of universal mechanics and general moveset, though especially strongly associated signature attacks are usually kept between all moons.

some specific characters are considered worse on their "bad moon(s)" than the Necos on their "good moons", but generally those characters' "good versions" outshine most anything any variant of the necos can do.

their general pros between them are "annoying" and "small and difficult to hit or combo, conditionally". they typically attempt to play a zoney, pixie-esque air focused game, but the common theme between much of the necos' kits are that they seldom function, and are a traditional hardcore style "joke character" like street fighter Alpha Dan.

i want to generally focus on NAC for this because i find them more interesting (and they look cute & unique, design and personality wise), the character generally deferred to as bottom 1 with the worst moon in the game amongst popular opinion.

on Mizuumi (for those unaware, a "poverty" FG wiki equivalent to sites like Supercombo and Dustloop), NAC's strongest moon in Crescent (shorthanded to C-NAC) has a wall of cons and a short burst of pros which sum up to "annoying" and "so bad that people don't have match experience to know the matchup".

even at their absolute best or with their most "complete" kit that forms the most functional gameplan, NAC is still marred with some of the funniest shit ever. check these green boxes out:

all of these are incredibly slow normals and mostly the only epitome of "range" NAC has, with other buttons literally extending a few pixels in front of their silly little cat sprite. they extend their gigantic hurtboxes before they're active and up until NAC is actionable again in most cases. only normal you can actually play footsies against in melty blood.

C-NAC focuses on specials that do passable zoning (though generally easily disrespected, and low reward). the other moons, however, are quite dire.

Half Moon Neco-Arc Chaos (H-NAC) can be generally surmised by the first thing at the top of their page, before even their normals:

it's no exaggeration, either. Skeleton is pretty much the only person who even has H-NAC games on record. there are a few here and there, mostly some locally recorded matches between friends, but in the modern day, this is your guru, and the only advice they have is "Please do not pick this character". splendid. extremely funny.

H-NAC generally suffers from losing out on important things that allow NAC to play as a "worse than almost everyone else but still almost functional Melty character", such as having a functional airdash or backdash, but hey, they've got a command throw in case someone's response to not knowing the NAC matchup is to hold downback instead of mashing (if you find an individual of such criteria, i'll give you ten dollars.)

F-NAC, however, is the worst it's ever been. take a gander at this:

lol

H-NAC lacks the ability to really do much of anything, and is blessed with an EX move which does *zero damage*, has a superflash as Melty EX moves do, and is -20 on what, on meterless variations, is meant to be a pressure reset special. in exchange, if you hit with it point blank (and i mean it, your pushboxes have to be touching in most cases) it can cause Circuit Break (no meter usage or gain for x amount of seconds) on the opponent, but that's meter you can spend on bad reversals instead, since your abare is terrible. if you don't hit with the Circuit Break point blank hitbox, it instead builds a ton of meter for the opponent on hit, drains yours, and does zero damage, leaving you in a bad oki situation after.

four hit jumping mid which has the same terrible hurtbox rules, isn't very active considering NAC's bad jump arc and airdash, and fails to combo into anything beyond that usually. good move.

[bozawarriorsposting]

I had an absolute blast reading the introductory chapter! It's great to see how this whole mess started and I can't wait to see more!^^

It's probably obvious, but are some of Clear Sky's many titles self-imposed? And what does he mean by Overseer of the Great Above? Is where the ghosts are brought in the chapter the Great Above or is it just the sky in general? Or is it something else?

Also going back to the Rootpaw situation a little (I'm sorry I just get very excited at any crumb of content with him). I imagine Needletail is not happy with one of Violetshine's kits going missing because of her ghostly companion, is she?

And lastly, I'm just very curious about what you have planned for the ghosts' future missions. I recall you saying Shadowsight will be involved in one? Do you have any other mission ideas? Or is it too soon to ask that?

1. To his credit, Clear Sky's titles are all genuine... In the way that at some point someone called him that and he added it to the mental list of titles he has. The 'Overseer of The Great Above' specifically is from when the founders really got abstract in the mythos of Starclan, and became less ancestors than embodiments of natural phenomena and the spiritual symbol of a Clan. Cats nowadays refer to Starclan as a whole more than any individual of the 5 but Clear Sky is a sort of Minor God more than anything in the religion.

2. "Silver Pelt" or the Starclan that most cats walk around is something very malleable, it can twist and change depending on who is around and what are the emotions running high. Clear Sky is able to mold a small section of it according to what cats believe and attribute to him. Essentially, he is powerful enough to etch out a small domain to suck in the cats so he can screw with them in private.

3. Oh, she would be pissed upon finding out, she would probably check on Violetshine to make sure the person she actually cares about isn't hurt, and finds her desperately looking for Rootpaw. From there she might ask the group and then find out what happened after a back and fourth. Massive argument happens, the conflict resolution of the Four kicks in, ie. everyone does what they want as long as it doesn't get Clear Sky involved. And she maybe goes to find Rootpaw. I might actually make a story out of that, so thanks for contributing another piece of writing.

4. For the future.... I am gonna be real. This au was always more about the setup and the characters with the resulting possibilities more than any good ideas of where the story goes.

In terms of missions, all sorts of things are possible. I am mostly fishing for ideas as is. For Shadowpaw, I am honestly thinking that a mission focusing on him is essentially the Four using their powers to try and gaslight him into interpreting a prophecy a certain way. But like in a dark comedy way, where it's essentially all of them playing director and influencing shit to get him to think a certain thing, and failing. Because for all their powers, getting a cat to think a certain way of their own volition without raising the suspicion of the Clan or Starclan is still very hard.

But yeah, honestly I am just developing the base concept, from here I am currently working on some refs for the Four, and otherwise either think of a fun concept or have more of the four interacting with each other in that pocket dimension directly following the events of the introduction. Probably something from Needletail's point of view.

I always take suggestions of any kind, this entire AU is essentially just going "Hey wouldn't it be funny if." And thinking about the results of that.

[aprilblossomgirl]

Color (Palettes) in Never Let Me Go - Part 3

Continuing Part 1, which talked about the color palettes in episodes 1-3, this post will see through the palettes of episodes 4-6. Basically, I just wanted to see if the variety of color palettes and lighting used in the show is consistent throughout the episodes or if we’ll see a new palette. It will not necessarily touch on the possible meanings of the colors but more on their pattern of showing up. Again, I might not catch everything or be 100% accurate in classifying them. For starters, I will refer to the categories I’ve listed in Part 1 and add any new one I spot. All screenshots are not color-adjusted/edited.

1. The muted darker basic/neutral colors - black, gray, brown, dark shades of almost any colors, and white accent. Through episodes 4-6, there are only a few instances of this mafia-family-based color palette. 

In episode 4, we have the scene of Nueng and Chopper doing their shooting practice together at Nueng’s. Although not very similar, the color of their outfits seems to match the tone of those of Thanya and Kit during their argument at Thanya’s office in episode 1, with green and black being the two dominant colors. The second screenshot shows another similar pattern to that scene of Thanya and Kit: the appearance of an indoor plant placed between Chopper and Nueng (Chopper looking at Nueng while he is talking on the phone outside). However, the difference is while Thanya and Kit were literally in the same room or space (inside the office), Chopper and Nueng were in different ones (inside versus outside the shooting range).

Reference image:

Personal notes/interpretation*: there is a common understanding that the placement of indoor plants is usually meant to ‘soften’ or ‘camouflage’ hard or sharp surfaces or edges. (*from the perspective of learning landscape architecture) Although, it’s not always the case. From an image composition point of view, it could simply mean something to fill the space, something to balance things. Visually, it might (or might not) symbolize something that stands between them (because to be honest, to me, in this case, it looks a lot like a divider between the characters). It’s not hard to say there’s clearly something that’s quite ‘hard/sharp’ between Thanya and Kit. And although Chopper suggested that the feud should stay just between the parents, I don’t think Nueng was oblivious to the possibility it extends between him and Chopper. But I also think, for Chopper, something that stands between him and Nueng might refer more to Ben than the family business.

Another scene that can be categorized under this palette is one at the end of episode 5, where Thanya was about to send Nueng off to school before the shooting happened.  

Lastly, I am still confused as to where these should be categorized. By theme should be here since the sets are parts of Nueng’s family house, specifically an area in which Palm and Chanon live. However, they feel having a different tone compared to other parts of the house. Perhaps, it gives less mafia-ish vibes due to the people occupying the area (?)

2. The muted lighter basic/neutral colors - black, white, and brick-style-brown to yellowish tone. A palette that is specific to the school setting in general, which appears in episodes 4 and 5, -- not including the music room and horse stables. 

3. The lighter and more vivid vintage vibes - sometimes dominated and/or accentuated by red, yellow, and green, or by nature elements and colors. This palette is usually found in the scenes outside the house and school (for example, the dance cafe/bar, and the area around Nueng’s house pond). By episode 6, we can also add the tones of Mam’s place to this palette. But I think it is very possible they will develop into a category of a color palette of its own. 

(Ok, I lied, the whole beach set definitely needs its separate category.)

4. The subdued red/pink-purple-blue lighting - mostly seen at night, for either outdoor or indoor scenes of Nueng and/or Palm. Stronger red/pink light usually appears during Nueng’s individual indoor scenes, while Palm at times seen with a stronger blue. 

However, the lighting palette mostly disappeared during the indoor scene of the dance cafe party where Nueng had his outburst. What’s left of the colors was very subtle. 

But it slightly appears again during the rooftop (kiss) scene at night in the next episode, and then in the following episode during the bus scene and at Mam’s homestay.

And, finally, a new lighting palette: the sunset at the beach! A somewhat subtle lighting change from red/pink-purple-blue to dusk.

Also, while a far more subtle red/pink-purple-blue lighting appeared during the conversation between Thanya and Chanon in episode 1, a far stronger version of the lighting was seen in episode 5 during the scene where Thanya waited for Nueng to come home after the incident with Ben at the school earlier. However, the lighting might be a bit too ‘reddish’ that it looks like having a similar tone to Nueng’s birthday dinner scene but with less of the blue light.

Reference image:

 And then, some of the discordant colors that draw my attention, are: 

1. Red (and Chopper, and sometimes Ben) - seriously, I’m starting to question the pattern, but we’ll see. 

2. Red/orange + yellow + blue among the color palette of Palm’s room -- the pillows, the basketball, the outfits of Nueng and Palm.

3. Yellow + blue/green/turquoise of the music room and the principal office, both in scenes that involved Ben.

4. The blue lights behind the windows -- might be intentional, might be technical. The first instance can be seen in the first part above, in the scene where Thanya and Chanon are waiting for Nueng to get home. The second instance is below during the party at the dance cafe. In the first instance, the blue lighting was visibly placed between Thanya and Chanon, while in the second one, it was placed between Palm and Maggie. Both lights have somewhat different shades, though. From the context, actually, the first instance might not be considered as the use of discordant color, as the blue light is more likely a part of the overall subdued red/pink-purple-blue palette. For a reference only: blue light first appeared in episode 1 during the scene where Phiphop was shot. But again, a different shade with the blues here.

I might (or might not) make separate posts (later) because I see some interesting pattern of color choices at the beach set, as well as the outfits of these characters. As usual, here’s the reference. Also, if you’re not familiar with color wheel, I found this page/tool by Canva really helpful (and fun to play with) for checking or creating any color combination or palette. 

[snicketstrange]

Where does PFB fit into the ASOUE chronology?

That's a really tough question with a really easy answer. 

PFB is outside the fictional universe of ASOUE. PFB finds itself after the publication of all ASOUE books, simply because in the Poison For Breakfast universe Lemony Snicket created the fictional story that is in the ASOUE fiction books.

Let me be clearer. Daniel Handler (the writer in our universe) created a fictional character called Lemony Snicket. This fictional Lemony Snicket created a fictional universe in which there is Violet, Klaus, Sunny, Beatrice and even a Lemony Snciket. In ASOUE, LSTUA, TBL and ATWQ we find the life story (even if fragmented) of a fictional Lemony Snicket that was created by another fictional Lemony Snicket whose life story is narrated (even if partially and in a fragmented way ) in PFB.

In other words, the PFB narrator was never part of a secret organization that fights fires. This narrator invented this organization, as well as the entire ASOUE story.

I don't think it would be right to cite excerpts from the book directly here, as the book has just been published and I don't want to harm Daniel Handler. But if you've read PFB, (and if you haven't, I recommend you do) you'll easily see evidence from the first chapter that what I'm claiming here is true.

Lemony Snicket has a very different childhood story than what we see on LSTUA. VFD is not directly quoted even once. There are no tattoos, and there aren't even references to Lemony Snicket's brother and sister when he talks about his childhood. Apparently Kit and Jaques Snicket are just fictional characters, without an equivalent in the PFB universe. Lemony from PFB seems to have lived in a wealthy family, even having people who called him "Master Snicket", suggesting that he had servants at his disposal. 

At no time does Lemony appear to have been persecuted for his involvement with a secret organization. On the other hand, Lemony claims that in PFB he will talk about how he creates his books. So we have records on how he goes to libraries and sits in the philosophy section. And then we have a description of how he lost himself in imaginative thoughts during his childhood. Clearly this Lemony Snicket is a fiction writer and not a researcher overly concerned with recording truthful details for the general public about the history of the Baudelaires, (which are not mentioned at any time).

I want to be clear: I'm not complaining about the book. I liked the book. That's a way of understanding how Daniel Handler's mind works, although drawing on his interviews is more effective, I think.

Finally, in chapter 12 we have the solution to the mystery of the book. I won't write here, as it's a really big spoiler. But I can say that you will easily notice that there is a description of the creative process of a fiction book being one of the ATWQ books cited by name as an example of one of the books that came from the ideas of this Lemony Snicket, and not from his life experience.

I can also cite the non-existence of absurdisms found in ASOUE and ATWQ's books. PFB could happen in our universe perfectly, without any kind of weirdness. There are no babies with exceptional abilities, no animals trained for feats that would be impossible in our universe.

Is it then possible that this Lemony Snicket was actually Daniel Handler himself just using a different name? This is possible, but I still think it's important to point out that PFB is a fictional story, and contains a fictional protagonist. This protagonist reflects Daniel Handler's way of thinking and worldview. However, this fictional character has a life story of his own and a way of expressing himself. One of the most notorious members of the Dark Avenue 667: Answering Questions Wrong forum asked me something important about this point:

"I would like to know what specifically you find to be the difference between DH's "real" personality and the one in this book. I don't see a difference beyond some very superficial snickety stylings like "a word which here means..."

I think my answer was appropriate: "I think the biggest difference between Lemony and Daniel Handler is not what can be found in PFB, but what is not in PFB. If Daniel Handler hadn't put on his Lemony hat, it wouldn't be nearly suitable for children to read. Lemony is more sensitive to certain factors and to people. And if Daniel Handler had written it (having himself as the protagonist), I'm sure there wouldn't be several descriptions of how to prepare eggs but rather how to prepare alcoholic cocktails."

I would really like to read more about this Lemony Snicket and the series of unfortunate events an author can experience. As I've said before, I think Daniel Handler wants to leave the ASOUE universe intact, protected against himself. I think he found a way to do that by creating this universe in which Lemony is just an author of fiction books, and so Daniel Handler has the freedom to write whatever he wants without hurting ASOUE's canon or giving us room to discover some of the secrets of ASOUE that make it so special.

I think with PFB we can officially welcome Snicketmultiverse. 

[allforanofficerslife]

1917 Essential Reading Rec List

We at the Officers’ Club thought that, as the 1917 fandom is approaching 1000 works on AO3, we ought to put together a list of some of the fics that drew us into the fandom and kept that movie magic going!  We took two server-wide polls and came up with a list of 16 fantastic narrative fancreations that we feel every 1917 fan should check out (if they haven’t done so already)!

These works are not in any particular order besides our general categories.  We have listed them in three categories: “Top 5” (5 works), “Highly Recommended” (7 works), and “E-Rated” (4 works).  Other than that, each category’s works are listed in order of publication, from oldest to newest.

Top 5:

between the crosses (series) ~ Genfic, spans G-M ratings.  Higher ratings largely for violence.  Canon-era, fix-it, and filled with ghosts, this work follows Schofield and Blake’s adventures after the movie until the end of the war.

~ “I know that this is a series and not one specific work, but holy cow. Just, this is the mother of all 1917 fanfics. The level of research, the characterization, freaking TOM BLAKE AS A GHOST, Will as a (somewhat unwilling) psychopomp? Yes, yes, this is required reading for any 1917 fan.”

Pick a man.  Bring your kit. ~ Genfic, rated T.  Canon-era, fix-it, and subjects Schofield to a plethora of time loops.

~ “This fic is what introduced me to the fandom and was the gateway drug to my obsession.”  ~ “Can Schofield escape the time-loop, or will he have to go through that whole day again?  Absolutely gripping, utterly heart-wrenching.  Keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire way through!”

there and back again (series) ~ Genfic and F/M (Will Schofield/Will Schofield’s Wife), spans G-M ratings.  Canon-era, canon-compliant, is a crossover with WWII movie Dunkirk.

~ “YMAM is a gorgeous character-study of William Schofield post-war; TLK is a breathtaking account of how William Schofield meets his wife.  Both works and the rest of the series are exquisitely British in tone and sensibility and are also all exceedingly well-researched.”  ~ “Take My Whole Life Too has such a beautiful exploration of the relationship between Will and his wife. It doesn't pull any punches, and chances are really good it will make you cry, but it is always the good sort of bittersweet. And very well-researched besides!”

Who’s Best Boy? (comic) ~ Gen.  Canon-era, canon-compliant, humorous and bittersweet.

~ “I am obsessed with this comic. I reference this comic in my daily life so much it's not even funny anymore. The art style is absolutely adorable and makes me laugh. This treasure of a comic brought me the panel that now lives forever in my heart: best boy...at what cost...” ~ “This one is a classic.  It will absolutely make you laugh and cry, and even at the same time!”

Louder Than Words (series) ~ Genfic and M/M (Blakefield), split T and M ratings.  Higher ratings primarily for violence.  Canon-era, fix-it, subtle psychic AU.

~ “Will is psychic and that leads to some very unfortunate circumstances as a WWI soldier.  What I like best is how this series really gorgeously paces the development of his and Blake's friendship (and more), exquisitely taking the time to show us how the two men come to trust and love each other.”

Highly Recommended:

A Kinder World ~ M/M (Blakefield), rated T.  Schofield-centric, modern setting AU, and a healthy dose of reincarnation.

~ “Literally the second fic I read for the fandom!  It is incredibly soft and well-written.”

say not soft things ~ Genfic, rated T.  Canon-era, backstory, centered on Private Rossi.

~ “It’s a fic from the POV of Rossi, it’s very in-depth about Scottish culture, what is there to not like?” ~ “It is basically poetry, and the characterization of Rossi is so goddamn good. It's not finished (and I expect it never will be), which is a real shame, but whatever. Enjoy what exists, eh? Because this one is fantastic.”

when the fight is long (we’ll get back up and carry on) ~ M/M (Private Cooke/Private Rossi), rated T.  Canon-era, post-canon, filled with that sweet, sweet Hurt/Comfort.

~ “Absolutely lovely.  For minor characters with a few minutes onscreen, the boys feel so real.  Cooke & Rossi’s relationship was wonderful, the affection they have for each other felt incredibly sweet.” ~ “Pretty decent Cookerossi fic.”

A Rough Year (comic) ~ Gen.  Canon-era, missing scene, Colonel Mackenzie and Major Hepburn-centered.

~ “Everyone knows that if you are coming into the 1917 fandom, then it is only to fall in love with all the background characters who barely got two lines of dialogue. This comic characterized Mackenzie and Hepburn in two glorious panels. You can rip this sassy Colonel Mackenzie out of my cold dead hands! These two Officers are a power duo and no one can change my mind on that front.”

flower petals (what a waste) ~ F/M (William Schofield/William Schofield’s Wife), rated T.  Canon-compliant, post-canon character study of Schofield.

~ “A one-shot under 1k, this work is a haunting depiction of William Schofield after the war.  10/10 makes me cry every time, and that's not counting the beauty of the writing itself.” ~ “flower petals (what a waste) is a painfully beautiful fic about PTSD from WWI. It's not a super long fic, so you're not spending a lifetime of misery with the sadness, but it's worth every minute you do spend in Schofield's post war experience.”

Amigos (comic) ~ Gen.  Canon-era, missing scene, background for Schofield & Blake’s relationship. Warning: will absolutely gut you.

~ “On-point characterization, fantastic art style, and a perfect blend of light-hearted sweetness and wordless anguish.” ~ “Pretty sad :’)”

Whirlwind ~ F/M (Joseph Blake/William Schofield/William Schofield’s Wife) and M/M (Joefield), rated T.  Post-canon pining on Joseph Blake’s part leads to a polymorous relationship.

~ “Lighthearted, sweet, and humorous.” ~ “Cute AF Joefield!” ~ “Beautifully fun poly!“

E-Rated:

the shortest distance between two points is a line from me to you ~ M/M (Blakefield), rated E.  Canon-divergent, fix-it, slow-burn friends-to-lovers set after the war.

~ “This was one of the first Blakefield fics I read back in the day and Cunning paints such a lovely picture of growing romance between Sco and Blake, the trauma they still suffer with from the war, and the misunderstanding trope that we all know and love!” ~ “The quintessential Blakefield ‘survived the war and work at a pub.’  This version has 24k of slow idiots-to-lovers, culminating in another 15k of tasty smut and a surprisingly-modern coming out to the family scene.”

one the other never leaving ~ M/M (Blakefield), rated E.  Canon-era PWP one-shot of Blake’s first time.

~ “Fair warning, this is smut. But it is also effing poetry. A little dark, but beautifully written. Cannot recommend this one for your smutty needs highly enough.” ~ “Probably the best smut fic in the fandom.  Absolutely gorgeous writing.”

Two Lance Corporals and a Prostitute (series) ~ F/M (Blake/prostitute, Schofield/prostitute, William Schofield/William Schofield’s Wife, Tom Blake/William Schofield/William Schofield’s Wife) and M/M (Blakefield), rated E.  Canon-divergent series of PWP one-shots on the development of Blake and Schofield’s relationship as Schofield teaches Blake the ins and outs of sex.  Eventual polyamory.

~ “Two Lance Corporals and a Prostitute is fantastically delicious smut. If you want fun smut that is well written and also very believable given the context of the characters during the movie - this is for you.”

a long road down the river ~ M/M (Blakefield), rated E.  Canon-divergent slow-burn that reconciles the fact that Schofield is married with his close relationship with Blake; has significant plot in addition to smut.

~ “This was the first fic I ever read in the fandom and what made me fall in love with it so deeply. It is incredibly well-written, and the way the author captures Schofield's voice in the narration is absolutely beautiful. There's a lot of poetry being waxed about Blake, but I appreciate the fact that the author still takes their time to arrange this into a slow burn romance. The story explores Schofield's failing relationship with his wife and their consequent divorce plus their efforts to protect their daughters from the fallout, and that was a rather relatable point to me because my own parents divorced when I was younger. To add a cherry on top, the characterization of the secondary characters is incredibly fun, particularly Cooke and Rossi's.”

[thelyingjoke]

@vespertin-y alright!!! this is gonna be Long so it’s gonna be under a cut. and also spoiler warning for atwq, and other lemony snicket books in general! it is a really great series so if you’re ever able to read it i’d very much recommend it, and the mystery is something best experienced without spoilers—i’ll try to keep spoilers away but i can’t guarantee it’ll be completely free of them, so proceed with caution

This series serves as a prequel to A Series of Unfortunate Events, the much more well-known series. The books are fictional memoirs from the perspective of the character Lemony Snicket, following a time in his apprenticeship at VFD. “VFD” stands for Volunteer Fire Department, and it’s an international secret organization mainly for stopping fires, but also other humanitarian acts. It has a great emphasis on reading and knowledge, and picks volunteers based on how well-read and observant they are. Oh yeah the volunteers aren’t really volunteers, they do unpaid work sure but they’re moreso forced into it. They’re taken from their families as children to be raised within the organization when a certain condition is met. They often go after children who will inherit large fortunes aaaaand I could go into more detail but this isn’t a VFD analysis post, maybe some other time

Back to the point, in this series Lemony Snicket is 12-13 years old, at the apprentice stage of his training. Each apprentice chooses a chaperone to train them, and Lemony’s happens to be the worst-ranked one on the list of 52 options: S. Theodora Markson. She is rude, stubborn, a horrible detective who thinks she’s better than she is, and constantly comparing Lemony to her previous apprentice who was much more agreeable than him. He chose her specifically because of her closeness to the city, and because he figured that a low-ranking chaperone would allow him to do more things he wanted to do. He had a plan to break into a museum alongside his sister Kit—this ended up not happening, though, because Theodora’s case was instead changed to a location about a half-day’s drive from the city: Stain’d-by-the-Sea, a seaside town which is no longer by the sea.

Stain’d-by-the-Sea used to have a thriving ink business named Ink Inc., but the town has been in an economic recession after the octopus ink started running dry and the ink business decided to drain the sea in an attempt to save it—which had disastrous effects on other businesses and only delayed the company’s inevitable decline. Much of Stain’d-by-the-Sea became unpopulated and it is slowly but surely dying. Lemony learns this from Moxie Mallahan, a young journalist around his age who runs the town’s newspaper since her mother left and her father entered a depression, although the newspaper is currently unable to publish any articles. The two become good friends throughout the books. Lemony and Theodora are investigating a stolen item, and it just so happens that the Mallahans have it in their lighthouse. The thing is, though, it hasn’t been stolen at all—the family has owned the item, a statue of a creature called the Bombinating Beast, for generations. Moxie simply refers to it as an “old grimcrack”, and has no problem with giving it up when Lemony asks to pretend to steal it.

In the middle of some heist shenanigans, Lemony meets another girl around his age, Ellington Feint. She is the ‘femme fatale’ of the series. In Lemony’s own words, she is mysterious and deceptive, with a smile that could mean anything. She is smart, sneaky, and constantly tricking Lemony, and seems to know more than she lets on, which draws his attention toward her the whole time. But, really, she’s just as much of a child as everyone else, and one with some pretty heavy baggage. Lemony first meets Ellington when she’s residing in a cottage all by herself without any adults around. From the beginning, she’s actually very clear on her intentions—she is searching for her father, who suddenly disappeared six months ago, and she is willing to do anything and everything to get him back. She’s scared, and is herself is being manipulated by the main villain, Hangfire, who says he’s kidnapped her father and will give him back to her if she complies with his demands. She has Lemony promise her that he’ll help her however he can, which leads to disastrous results. Her story unfolds tragically and she’s often regarded as the most complex character in these books. (wow…i wonder who i put in her role for the au………..…….)

Other people that Lemony meets throughout his days in Stain’d-by-the-Sea include: The Bellerophon Brothers, Pip and Squeak, who are young boys who work together to drive a taxicab as their father is ill—they and Lemony exchange book recommendations in place of tips; Dashiell Qwerty, the local sub-librarian who Lemony quite frankly thinks is Cool As Hell (he doesn’t say this in the book); Jake Hix, a kind cook who helps run his aunt’s diner; Cleo Knight, a talented chemist and heir to Ink Inc., working on an invisible ink formula, was kidnapped for a while, Jake’s sweetheart; the Mitchums, two horrible cop parents and their horrible son who regularly get in the way of cases; Kellar Haines, a boy whose sister is missing and whose mother is wrapped up with the Bad Guys; Ornette Lost, master origami artist, daughter of the local motel owner, living with her two uncles—etc., etc. I think you get the gist.

Before I start explaining the entire series I’m gonna stop here, but hopefully that is enough information! I’m always open to further questions because I love these books. If this interested you at all, I’d recommend reading the books or looking up plot summaries if you’re unable to :)!!! Would love to drag more people into this with me any excuse to release the autism

I will be making another post actually detailing the AU eventually, because this is getting too long and I’d also like to make it its own post. Thank you for reading <3

finallyyyyy finished the thing!!! v3 but it’s the hit children’s book series all the wrong questions by lemony snicket which 10 people have read

this was supposed to include the entire cast but i got Tired and this thing would take even longer so here is just these three. they’re the only ones i have 100% solid roles for anyway the others keep shifting in my mind

[burning-thistles-bt]

i hope it’s alright to ask, but do the trans cats in BT have any method of “transitioning”? or do their clanmates simply refer to them with their new pronouns? im curious :0

only socially transitioning! unless there's a secret StarClan-given power out there to transition cats physically XD

the only exceptions are cats like Airleap, who were born intersex. he was born with outside female genitalia, BUT he actually has inner male genitalia as well- he is infertile on both spectrums because of this. because he was born with female genitalia, his clanmates assumed he was female, but once he started gaining tomscent and he said he was a tomkit, they more easily began using his he/him pronouns because, on first smell, he smells like a tom. in the clans, its a little harder for a non-obvious-intersex character to socially transition because cats are like "oh but you have XYZ, not ABC" but the clans are generally more accepting, to a degree. they're still some sexism, transphobia, homophobia, etc.

FireAlder and I actually thought about the different clan cultures and who accepts what most.

Twolegplace cats, e.i. BloodClan, are the most accepting cats (see: non-binary cats Brick, Gremlin, Bubbles, etc.), being a lot more open in their "we don't care abt ur gender..." though they are sexist/oppressive specifically towards cats who can have kits

RiverClan and WindClan are about equal for their acceptance. they're supportive and encouraging of same sex relationships (this actually makes Thistlestar feel out of place at times, bcus he suppressed his bisexuality, and embraced homophobia)

ShadowClan and ThunderClan are less excepting, but as the older cats age out, ShadowClan has become a touch more excepting while ThunderClan is currently the most homophobic clan thanks to Frostfur's mental health deterioration ruining her kits' and their friends' perspective of it

so yes it's simply they get referred to with their preferred pronouns and are seen by their chosen gender! :) no physical transition

undercut i'll include all current main LGBTQ+ characters for funsies

FireSand are both bisexual. They have had minor attraction to other cats both male and female.

Lightningfur is arospec asexual. she HATES HATES sexually stuff, yuck uck, and she mostly hates stereotypically aromantic stuff too- do NOT flirt with her! flirting with her is a no go! ...unless your someone she's already super close to and you do it slyly, like Silverstream (though Silver's was platonic/teasingly). her kind of "romantic" love is like ride or die, but literally. kill for her or she'll kill you. if you kill for her though she's head over heels *winkwink*

Copperleaf is demi-pan; he is attracted to everyone regardless of gender but he's only comfortable in a relationship/experiences deep attraction past "oh they're cute" with those he's close with. he experiences a deep attraction for Dawncloud but doesn't necessarily pursue her in a traditional romantic sense because he wants to respect her boundaries

Dawncloud is graysexual. she can experience sexual attraction, but not on a consistent basis. unfortunately this is partially because of trauma. she is experiencing romantic attraction for Copperleaf though :)

Airleap does not know his identity exactly. he is intersex, but he transitioned socially from female to male at a very young age (he/they pronouns, though he accepts they/them pronouns later), and he knows he has had crushes on girls (see: Silverstream), but he's not sure if he also likes toms romantically or not, so queer-questioning

Spottedleaf realized she was a lesbian and not attracted to toms when her kits were about 6-8, early apprentice age. she knew she was attracted to she-cats near the end of her relationship w/ BT Thistleclaw but still thought she loved Thistle that way. she suspected but repressed her attraction towards she-cats at an early apprentice age

Frostfur is omnisexual, meaning she experiences her attraction to toms differently than she-cats. she must be very close to a she-cat before experiencing attraction, meanwhile she falls (well, fell, until she met and committed to Lionheart, because, despite everything, Frost is not a cheater) in loves with every tom she sees. she never realized her actually attraction towards she-cats though

Redtail knew he was gay from a young age, was worried about it but received mostly support and was open about it, and Runningwind developed a crush on Redtail as a young apprentice but didn't realize he only liked toms until he was a warrior

Feathercloud also knew he only liked toms from a young age too, often falling for anyone who was even a little kind to him, Ravenwing thought he had crushes on she-cats but realized he didn't actually and only liked toms that he was close to because they were the only ones who gave him a super fluttery feeling (demi-gay), and Barley is gay too.

Darkstripe thought he only liked toms (he admired Tigerclaw way too much to see anyone else; and also maybe briefly had a crush on Runningwind) (he was very quiet/hidden/closeted about his gayness though, out of fear), but comes to realize he actually likes she-cats too

Cherryfur's attraction comes and goes. somedays she's attracted to toms, sometimes to she-cats, sometimes she doesn't like anyone, other days she falls heads over heels for anyone whose nice or hot. she's abrosexual, but keeps herself composed despite her confusion about it (she thinks something's wrong with her, but pretend to be okay and strong and have it all figured out; she would call herself a pansexual then omnisexual before settling on abro)

Bubbles uses any pronouns- she/he/they or otherwise- and any gendered titles, but has grown to hate female titles like queen or mother thanks to their treatment by others as "only being good for nursing kits." they were raised in the Twolegplace, in BloodClan, and knew their identity was very fluid from a young age. their siblings also had more fluid pronouns usage too, though they had set gender identities (Rocket is he/they tom, Opal was she/they she-cat, rip Opal)

Mistlekit/paw is lesbian and knows she is very firmly. Elderkit/paw is trans male to female (bcus i swear to gosh she was female but when i checked canon they were male and i was like "well do i have a solution") and were so from a young age. Elder's sibling Tulippaw is gay too, but does not know it yet/will repress it for awhile

Sootkit/fur is trans female to male, but, currently chap 110-20ish era, is in the untransitioned female era of his life, but will eventually come out. the same for Rowankit/claw, who is female to male, but currently she/her-ified.

Blossomtail and Badgerfang are gay and were dating as apprentices. both knew they loved each other early one (high school sweethearts essentially) but both questioned if they were attracted to she-cats; Badgerfang's answer was "no" while Blossomtail's was "maybe but i dont think so." Swampfur is bisexual, currently in a relationship with a tom but I won't say who >;3

aaaand that's all i can think of rn lol

[book-o-scams]

Ed, Edd n Eddy Series Bible (1996) -Analysis-

You can all finally read/download Ed, Edd n Eddy's official Series Bible right here! Thanks again to Chuckletons for sharing this with me and to Joey/Kongiscool0518 for sharing it in the first place, the Holy Grail of lost Ed, Edd n Eddy trivia!

One of the first posts I made for this blog was the Series Bible page. It was a composite of every source we had ever seen reference the series bible so far-- storyboarders in interviews, CN's old character guides, and the biggest source, an old CN UK posting about the show. Well, I figure now that we have the official source, I better update the old page (so everyone knows it's out of date), and make this new Series Bible post using the official source! Not much new information, but I was intrigued to finally learn the true phrasings of some things we had only heard paraphrased, as well as at least one detail from the movie that I couldn't believe came up this early in conception...

Unfortunately, Tumblr has apparently updated its post system to only let me add 10 images? Gonna try and only use images for what I need since you can read the actual document above, I guess I'll transcribe it too for easier reference and so we don't ever lose some archive of this.

Quickly, let's review what a series bible is:

A series bible is how creators pitch shows to networks. They can be called “pitch bibles” as well. Bibles do not usually get posted publicly, because they are initially under a strict Non-Disclosure Agreement by the network; also the creator may simply not wish to share it because it reflects the earliest stages of development.

The pitch materials typically include early concepts for characters, locations and episodes. Sometimes it exposes secrets, in this case, Ed and Eddy’s home lives, and sometimes the stuff in it is completely abandoned because it’s so early in production, in this case, casual references to school and adults.

Alright, everybody, it's time to gather 'round and read the Ed, Edd n Eddy Bible!

THE YEAR IS 1996.

YOUR NAME IS LINDA SIMENSKY. YOU WORK AT CARTOON NETWORK. A FRIEND OF YOURS, DANNY ANTONUCCI, IS WRAPPING UP A SHOW ON MTV. YOU GET THIS FAX.

Linda Simensky immediately fell in love with this concept because as a child, she was best friends with 2 other Lindas for seemingly no reason other than the shared name.

I love how Danny decided last second to pencil in the correct names over each Ed, since they're arranged out of title-order.

"They're friends because they have the same name."

-the Logline for the series.

Fun fact: one storyboard artist for the movie observed that the movie is essentially all about challenging the series' original notion that the Eds are friends ONLY because of their name.

"A Danny Antonucci Cartuna"

-the label Danny used to use under announcements of new productions.

PAGE 1:

Ed, Edd n Eddy

They're best friends because they have the same name.

A gag laden, beat generated CARTOON bumper car ride of 3 misfit youths on a cul-de-sac in the suburbs of America.

Through summer vacation, part-time jobs, or just hang'n out at the corner mail box, they want to belong....but CAN'T.

From home chores, helping neighbors or eating jaw breakers, they want to fit in...but CAN'T.

Ed is into "B" monster movies, model kits and is quick to break out into rashes.

Lots of luck...

Edd is into chemistry, biology and prone to crushes.

Later...

Eddy is into pranks, is stylish and flaunts himself to the world.

Ya Right...

Ed, Edd n Eddy is a show about confusion and contradiction, that awkward part of youth, pimples, big feet, oily hair and... girls???.

Puberty is unforgiving.

I was fascinated by the lack of art on this page, it makes the pitch feel very focused. AKA logo in the corner, the title logo again up top, then the logline appears again below.

I really love the breakdown of Danny's vision of the show. "Gag-laden, beat-generated, CARTOON bumper ride." Very accurate, and I think "beat-generated" is the phrase that interests me the most. I typically think of "animation beats" as sort of a give-in-- technically all things fit a rhythm, so all stories are essentially just a montage of beats. But this does make me realize how important the strength of the beats and their rhythm are to the pacing of a cartoon and making you feel like "that was a good one." I feel like the "seasonal rot" viewers feel over the course of a show, and the way that perception differs from person to person, depends on the type of beats you want. Even though I am very into the experimental beats of a show in its later seasons, I can definitely see how season 1's beats are more typically appealing to a wide-audience, and how important a focus on that is to the longevity of a show.

I found it really interesting how the scams are initially conceived of here as "summer jobs." It adds to the sense that adults were originally meant to be present. Honestly a little surprised nobody with access to this bible had ever thought to mention that-- scams are not referenced ANYWHERE. Their image in the Series Bible is that they have summer jobs and help neighbors, which is certainly a much cleaner reputation than the Eds ended up with in the show. Makes me realize though, were some of the early scams, like Ed's Hive Bee Gone and their newspaper routes, supposed to be leaning into this early idea of them with almost legit jobs for unseen adults?

I was very amused by the repeated phrase that the Eds simply CAN'T fit in.

Loved to finally see the official phrasing for the confirmation that Peach Creek is in America. Not much different than I was led to believe, but still nice to have the true quote.

Also love Eddy being described as "stylish and flaunting himself to the world." The bold-print reactions to each micro-description is a cute idea too, I truly wonder who we were meant to picture saying those things in reaction. Each Ed? Kevin?

The "corner mail box" is an oddly specific phrase-- the Eds do hang around mailboxes throughout the series, especially seasons 1-3, and I believe the canon map does have a corner mailbox, but the idea that the Eds hang out at one specific mailbox went the way of Bro's supposed secret treehouses.

PAGE 2:

Ed, Edd n Eddy

Show Description

Gag laden. True cartoon style, inventive, non parody, fast paced, stretch and squash

Beat driven. (even when characters stop they hold with a bounce cycle. Adults never bounce. Music can play important part, not just fill.) But not a musical.

Cartoon surrealism. (viewers see the show as Ed, Edd n Eddy would, less important things tend to blend into the background, while objects of Ed, Edd n Eddy's desires are focused. Premise driven.)

The school year's over, (yeah!!!!) and the long HOT summer vacation begins (gulp). What to do?

Stuck on a cul-de-sac in the suburbs of America is the last place you want to spend summer break, especially when you find life confusing and contradicting.

Ed, Edd n Eddy is about friendship, and serves to remind us that they're no "good ole days," just smelly runners.

You can tackle anything, when your with your pals.

Their days are spent, for knowledge, acceptance and some cash for jaw breakers. Armed with pimples, big feet and oily hair the three amigos trek into the unknown.

Ed, Edd n Eddy are dying to be grown-ups, but they're kids, and attack adulthood as only kids would. Simple situations turn into a manic rollercoaster ride. (Don't forget your barf bag).

They just want to belong, and they're willing to pull off any insane stunt to prove it. First they need to figure out what it is they want to belong to.

Found it interesting that on this page, the show's logo is replaced with the title written in a jumbled font. Seems like the font from the show's end credits.

Hehe, the continued reactions to the descriptions. Allow me to be Double D for a moment and point out the increased use of parentheticals on this page, as well as one wrong "your".

I love Danny's insight that season 1 is framed by the context of how hyped everyone still is just to be out of school, but also the sense of pressure to make use of their break.

I really appreciate Danny getting further into the details of his summary of the show's style on the previous page. It only makes sense that he had this much of a vision that early.

A second confirmation of the cul-de-sac being in America! I'm also really into the repeated focus on the Eds finding the world "contradicting." I always loved how EEnE's inexplicable cartoon antics supported that sense that the Eds are highly aware of contradictions in both societal things and the actual characters.

WOW, so I'm fascinated by this dual reveal. Before the wiggling outlines, which Danny usually calls a "boiling line" and describes as a tribute to wiggling inking in early animation, the series bible instead refers to him wanting the characters to do the iconic Fleischer "bounce," which is a much more commonly recognized rubberhose animation technique. Very interesting that Danny decided not to stick to that. Did it feel too out of place? Or was the overseas team not willing to animate a weight-shifting for every single held pose? Haha, guess I can see why boiling was an easier compromise. I wonder if he had any other ideas for how to make it more of a 1930s cartoon.

The other reveal to me here is that the movie's choice, that adults don't always wiggle in the show, was an idea from the very beginning! I guess I can better understand now why it's just too difficult to communicate a stylistic choice like that overseas-- no point making Bro not wiggle, that'd just create confusion.

Also, really disappointed that my wish for a musical is officially squashed in the series bible itself. That's a tragedy. The show's over, ya couldn't let me dream, Danny!? Conversely, I love Danny's forethought to say "non parody," I definitely noticed and appreciated EEnE's avoidance of derivative parody humor.

My spouse had to point out to me that Danny probably means sneakers here, lol. Canadianisms!

The comments about the Eds wanting to grow up but needing to figure out what they want to belong to are so great and relate to the movie so well. I've heard those comments before, but the correct phrasing was cool to see.

PAGE 3:

Ed, Edd n Eddy (image of Ed in right corner)

Character Description

Ed

Attention deficiency syndrome.

He has trouble...

He can't....um...

OK, he draws all day in class.

When Eddy gets a bright idea...Ed's in.

Ed is easily talked into doing Eddy's "hard work". He has great physical strength.

Ed's happiest with his Model kits and B-monster movies. He draws his knowledge from his movies.

Ed smells. Flies are attracted to him.

Ed has sayings for all situations

ED: "you can change your shirt, and Bingo was his name..."

Ed's perpetually a slave to his younger sister's whims and whines.

Ed may have to baby-sit his sister, or let her watch whatever she wants on TV, or let her dress him up in mom's clothes.

Ed breaks out in Rashes. He's allergic to practically everything, especially Guinea Pigs.

Ed's Mom xerox's his sketches and doodles for her therapist.

Ed's Dad hopes to pass on to his son, his knowledge on "pre-owned" auto sales.

Very cute bit wasting the space at the top of the page. Danny seems very invested in Ed's personality already. The old sources we used to have definitely tried to condense these down to simpler blurbs.

Weird how Danny wants to essentially diagnose Ed with ADHD here (phrasing it very poorly, but it was the 90s and... Canada?). I don't know enough on the subject to debate it, but I still gotta point out Ed's canonical cracked skull!

Interested in the comment about Ed being most allergic to Guinea Pigs. I don't think that animal was ever even mentioned in the show. Eddy mentioned an old gerbil once....

Neat to finally have the real phrasing of the official word on Ed's parents! I saw someone comment earlier that this seems to be hinting Ed's Dad is selling stolen cars. I've never thought to question the legality of his apparent second-hand-car dealership (I imagined he works with Eddy's dad, who has received a legitimate award for his salesmanship), but those quotation marks are certainly making Mr. Ed's practices questionable! Best case scenario, Danny meant that more like italics or something, but maybe Ed's dad IS up to no good...

PAGES 4 & 5 (Ed's turn sheet and expression sheet)

PAGE 6:

Ed, Edd n Eddy (image of Edd in right corner)

Character Description

Edd

is really smart.

is really quiet.

Edd is unnaturally-- polite.

Edd hasn't been allowed to take gym ever since the Dodge ball incident. He's been excused to free study time in the library.

Edd doesn't like it when people touch his things.

EDD: "You may enter in my room, but don't touch my Lego robot. Thank you."

Edd's learning to play Peddle steel guitar. (his Mom makes him)

Edd's prone to "crushes". Girls in School, in his neighborhood, TV, anatomy books. He mails "true loves" his socks.

Edd is always ready for action, even though he can calculate the implications.

Edd constantly mumbles.

No one ever sees Edd's parents. They both work nights. They communicate to their son solely through Post-it notes. Edd's not allowed to touch anything in the house while they're gone. Anything.

Interesting how Danny slightly differentiates the barely-used space at the top here from Ed's description, to characterize Edd as more quiet and mumbly, adding an awkward "--" mid-sentence, perhaps to create the impression that Edd halts to choose words carefully.

Everything on this page feels familiar, from the character guides and other old sources. The most interesting thing to me here is that Edd's Mom forcing him to practice Pedal Steel Guitar is established this early, don't think I knew that, but I had noticed that it existed in his room from ep 1.

I love how the explanation in the beginning for why Edd goes along with their dumb schemes even though he's smart is basically just "he's always ready for action." ?!? I guess in a way???

That weirdly phrased Edd quote amuses me because it references Lego, just like the original concept background for his room before somebody nixed the copyright-namedrop.

Edd's prone to crushes thing has been reaffirmed over and over in character bios even though it really doesn't come up outside of the cupid magic in HPH and the pilot-episode heart eyes at Sarah that are barely canon. Still, I've always loved the truly disturbing statement that he mails "his true loves his socks" and how that managed to make it into canon with a comic book example, a cel animation example and a digital era example.

PAGES 7 & 8 (Edd's turn sheet and expression sheet)

PAGE 9:

Ed, Edd n Eddy (image of Eddy in right corner)

Character Description

Eddy

Exhibitionist.

Megalomaniac. (quote from his report card)

Eddy is the unofficial leader of the trio.

He's always got a plan, a stunt or a weird noise.

Eddy's the "class clown". He loves showing off. He loves being the centre of attention-- no matter how stupid the reason is.

Eddy is the only kid in his grade to have been expelled for aw hole week from school. It was his turn to set up the video for science class. He switched "Our Friend Yeast", for a video he "borrowed" from his parent's room.

Before Eddy's brother went....away, he enlightened Eddy with the "legends" of the neighbourhood. Eddy knows where all the abandoned tree houses are, which sewer pipers are safe to spelunk, and the secret recipe for the "El Mongo Stink Bomb" (it's been in the family for years).

He is the one who is most able to pretend that he knows it all... and doesn't care what anyone else thinks about him.

His genes are working the fastest.

Eddy's Dad is constantly concerned that Eddy may grow up to be a ...figure skater.

Eddy's Mom never believes his little darling was involved in such a heinous act.

Funny choice that Eddy's wasted-top-space is just two one-word descriptions, and allegedly lazily swiped from his negative report card.

Wow, we knew the report card quote and the "Our Friend Yeast" story from the UK show guide, but now we also know Ed's page says that Ed draws in class, and now I realize that Ed and Eddy have series bible school blurbs to match Edd's classic dodgeball incident blurb. Anyway, it's great that Eddy's showed his entire school some sort of sex video his parents have.

Very interested that the phrasing for the Bro/El Mongo Stink Bomb blurb even seems to suggest it's a family recipe. Eddy's Dad did have prankster stuff in his closet in JJJ... did Bro learn his prankster ways from Dad?? The neighborhood's secret tree houses have come up in other descriptions (at best, I'd say this could be related to that creepy shack the Eds found in the woods), but I think it's new info that Eddy personally learned the sewer routes from Bro. Interesting...

Thankfully, I had already heard about the Bible's awkward reference to Eddy being the most pubescent as "his genes are working the fastest," lmao.

Once again the Double D in me comes out to point out that the description of Eddy's Mom seems to switch to the Dad's pronouns.

PAGES 10 & 11 (Eddy's turn sheet and expression sheet)

PAGES 12-14 (Sarah, Jimmy, Rolf, Jonny, Nazz, and Kevin lineup of all 6, then 2 zoomed in lineups of the first 3 kids and last 3 kids)

(Funfact: the kids' designs were allegedly freelanced to an outside studio, hence why their refined later-season designs are so different from these lizardy starting places, lmao)

PAGE 15: (images of Sarah and Jimmy next to their blurbs)

SARAH

Ed's baby Sister.

It's her way or the Highway.

She has everything done for her, if NOT she'll "make" them do it.

She can be quick to judge.

Whinney.

A tatrum for every occasion.

More than a handful for Ed...or Edd and Eddy.

Thinks Edd is kinda cute.

Wants Eddy to MOVE...to another planet.

JIMMY

Sarah's best friend

He is always playing with girls, boys are just too tough.

He is accident prone, when ever we see him he has a different affliction, ie: band-aids, patches, casts, lumps...etc.

He is very clean.

The Ed's frighten him, "They're such brutes".

I'm surprised how much of the UK guide was accurate to what was really in the bible for them! Also surprised Danny misspelled "whiney" and "tantrum," one right after the other. Is this how Sarah spells them? ...Sorry, Danny, I yam what I yam.

PAGE 16: (images of Rolf and Jonny next to their blurbs)

ROLF

First generation of a landed immigrant family.

Nationality not important.

He's proud of his heritage.

He has peculiar traditions and/or customs.

He eats "weird" things.

He has hair on his back..... "yuck".

He confuses the Ed's to no end.

He confuses the other kids to no end.

JONNY 2x4

He is a wanderer and very inquisitive

From early morning to supper time, he is always outside playing, with his buddy, "Plank".

"Plank" is a wooden board that Jonny drew a face on with a crayon.

Jonny has wonderful conversations with Plank. ...Plank is a piece of wood.

Jonny makes himself very "accessible" to the Ed's.

Found it interesting that Rolf's bio is less clearly phrased than the UK bio set it up to be-- there they made it sound more like he mixes up who the Eds/kids are, here it's unclear whether it means that or (more likely) just means the obvious statement that everyone finds him confusing. If it's that, what a lame hollow bio Rolf got. This kid's based on you Danny, show some of that personal side!

Always loved Jonny's description, his life sounds so cute. Playing outside literally all day. Interesting to have it confirmed that Jonny drew Plank's face, I preferred to think the Eds drew him and sold him to Jonny, but whatever.

"Accessible" has always been an important vague description of Jonny to me. It really only applies to how chummy they could be with him in season 1, but it still sorta applies to his personality throughout the series as well.

PAGE 17: (images of Nazz and Kevin next to their blurbs)

NAZZ

She's cool, calm and assertive.

She is the most matured of the kids, or so she thinks.

She's into make-up and fashion magazines and Boys.

Sarah thinks she's awesome, wants to be just like her when she grows up.

When she enters a scene, all activity stops... boys freeze, they sweat, their hearts beat faster and faster. They lose their ability to talk. When she leaves, they recover and conclude it was something They ate.

She thinks the Ed's are funny.

KEVIN

He is cynical and sarcastic.

He thinks he knows the "routine". That's because he watches "60 Minutes".

It got a big laugh out of me that Kevin's description is only 2 sentences long. Nazz even has a more detailed character description from inception than Kevin. Love this for them.

Who's the Eds' rival? Well, he's cynical, sarcastic and he watches 60 Minutes, doesn't that tell you enough!?

I love the "mature... or so she thinks" remark about Nazz, a grounded flaw for her to have, being a little overcommitted to being mature like Eddy. It also perhaps suggests naiveté that makes it a little more reasonable that they didn't notice they were dumbing her down at the end of the series, but I do think the movie version of her better reflects the Bible's concept.

PAGE 18:

The Other Neighborhood Kids

Lineup of May, Lee and Marie.

The Kanker Sisters

These gals are tough. They bother, bully, provoke and bewilder everyone.

They live in a motor home park on the other side of the Cul-de-sac. The other kids have never been there.

They are proud of their Tammy Faye Baker memorabilia.

Their project "Cooking with Ketchup" closed down their school for a whole week.

No one likes them, especially the Eds.

They are determined to marry the Eds. They want them to do their dishes.

Amused that the Kankers are essentially being labeled backgrounds characters here, the role they mostly fell into in season 5. "Other" neighborhood kids...

I love that the Kankers have a school blurb to match each of the Eds', and that theirs has similar destructive-intentions to Eddy's video premiere story.

I believe all of this was all known from the UK guide as well, but still, neat stuff!

PAGES 19 & 20 (zoomed in Kanker lineup and their height chart with the Eds)

PAGES 21 & 22 (early promo art that used to be on CN's old Eds webpage, the art of the Eds eating jawbreakers at the end of ep 1 with the overhead text "Ed, Edd n Eddy love JAWBREAKERS!!!", and the art of the Eds all running with overhead text "Ed, Edd n Eddy see something shiny...."Jiggers." That weird "jiggers" statement at the end was normally edited out and I don't know what it means. Looked it up and it seems to be Chinook jargon (like when Ed said he was "skookum at X's and O's") usually said in the same sense as "CHEESE IT!")

PAGES 23+:

The rest of the pages in that bible download are from a 2004 storyboard test. The storyboard sample "It's Raining Eds," which we've seen some submitted samples of before, interpretations with Ed attempting to fly or chew gum and Edd making radioactive gum, I was surprised to find out the outline is just the original outline for the opening sequence to season 3's 'For Your Eds Only', seemingly Jonny was not written into the original outline (or was excised for easier testing purposes) but Kevin's brief cameo was. Now I wonder if they knew this would be used for a test when they wrote it, and if they would've come up with a less random way to include him if weren't forced to be a concise bit for testing's sake. (Your limit is typically 40 storyboard pages in my experience.)

I also noticed that in the included background references, the anonymous adult neighbor house next door to Ed's is officially just referred to as a "generic house."

My analysis ends here, but be sure to download that sometime and enjoy all the raw storyboard sketches at the end of the document!

[tl-notes]

Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon S2 Episode 9 Notes

...設立から大分地盤が固まってきており、少しずつだが、業態は改善されている。

One thing to note here is that Kobayashi(‘s narration) isn’t saying the company has already made solid improvements, it’s that the company has finally established itself somewhat (as it was only founded relatively recently, and typically new companies are especially busy while trying to get off the ground) and now is starting to make improvements.

Similarly in the second sentence, it’s not “was” slow going, it’s “is still” slow going, and the working conditions “are” improving, not “have improved.”

This is がんば ganba, short of course for がんばって ganbatte, which I’m sure most of you are familiar with: the (in)famous “do your best.”

I only mention it because I like this shortened version of it. Ganba!

This is a fun little idiom(?)/saying: 鼻で笑う hana de warau (conjugated as hana de warawareta), lit. to laugh using the nose. It’s used to describe laughing at someone you’re looking down on for whatever reason (not necessarily in a super serious way, could just be a friend being dumb etc.; in this case it’s Elma’s being naive).

Typically it refers to like a “heh-but-through-the-nose” kind of “laugh,” but as you can see in this scene (where clearly Kobayashi is laughing with the mouth, even starting with “pff” lips) it works idiomatically even if the laughing isn’t only through the nose.

You may have heard that Japan is/was a “lifetime employment” country, where typically people would get hired right out of school and stay at that company until retirement. While that’s much less true today than it was even a couple of decades ago (and has become kind of controversial in ways), it’s still much more common of a practice than in say the US.

One result of this is that there’s a much bigger distinction placed between hiring people in spring as part of the annual graduation rush (the Japanese school year ends in March), and mid-career hiring. Typically you can’t participate in the fresh grad hiring if you aren’t one, even if you’re new to the field in question. 

For larger employers (i.e. 5k+ employees), roughly two-thirds of all hirings come from fresh grads, and only small employers (<300 employees) hire more mid-careerists than people directly out of school.

Of course, this split tends to apply mostly to “standard” full time jobs, not so much part time, and is not necessarily a thing in every industry/at every company.

Just as a minor point of clarity, this “organized text” in Elma’s document refers to the phrase まとめられた文章 matomerareta bunshou. In a literal sense, matomerareta can mean organized/consolidated etc., and bunshou text/passages, but meaning-wise it’s more like “writing that gets its point across clearly/cleanly.” 

This is a pretty big compliment and a very useful skill to have in organizations like this, as writing such that people can quickly and easily understand exactly what you’re trying to say often saves a ton of time and frustration.

我々はエルマの気迫に押されるがままにその書類を読み始めた。

Another minor point, but where the English could imply that they were overwhelmed by Elma’s intensity through the act of reading her report, the Japanese implies more that they started reading it because of how intense Elma was being. 

It doesn’t really make much of a difference either way, but it stuck out a little for me. 

To justify mentioning it, I guess I’ll explain the grammar point Kobayashi uses: されるがままに sareru ga mama ni. Sareru is a generic verb/verb conjugation for having something done to you (technically here it’s 押される, to be “pushed/pressed/pressured”), and mama refers to a state, condition, or “way” (like “do it this way”).

Put together, the whole phrase is used to indicate “you” do/did something that someone else wants you to, without (meaningful) opposition. (Something similar in raw meaning but with a very different connotation would be “going with the flow.”)

If a friend says “hey let’s go do something,” and next thing you know you’re out bowling despite preferring to stay at home, this is you.

You can stick the mama ni to various other things as well to come up with a similar idea, but without the sareru the nuance may end up different. 

The word for clairvoyance here is 千里眼 senrigan, lit. “eye(s) [that can see] a thousand li”, li being a Chinese unit of measurement for length (shorter than a mile, but for general purposes “eyes that see a thousand miles” is basically the gist).

Despite the perhaps physical-sounding nature of the term, it does actually describe the same power as “clairvoyance” in English: being able to perceive things outside your actual range of vision, including potentially into people’s hearts and minds etc.

Hence why it’s a thousand screen display, when she updates it with tech knowledge:

“Tainted by work” here is 職業病 shokugyou-byou, lit. an occupational disease. The “proper” definition is a disease one gets from working in a particular job, such as black lung for coal miners or even posture-related health issues for desk workers. 

Additionally, it’s used colloquially to refer to noticeable habits or quirks that people in a certain profession pick up, like a baker always waking up super early or a programmer using programming lingo out of context in normal conversation. The latter being especially noticeable in Japanese, as a lot of such terms are English in origin.

“Shocking” here is a fun word: ドン引き don-biki. “Don” here is added just for emphasis; the main meaning revolves around 引き hiki/biki, from the verb 引く hiku, meaning to pull. 

The idea is that someone does/says something that you recoil from. Maybe it’s gross (“I only shower once a week”), maybe it’s mean (“They didn’t smile enough so I didn’t leave a tip.”), maybe it’s creepy (“I sent like 30 texts yesterday but still no reply.”), just anything that has you feeling like you might want to create some distance because... phew. 

It’s kind of similar to the current use of “cringe” as an adjective/noun, though with less of an internet-slang feel* to it, and generally used more as something the speaker is doing rather than describing whatever/whoever is being cringe. 

(*I think it started being used popularly in this way in the early-to-mid 90s, with the “don”biki variant specifically popping up around 2005.)

A “Premium Friday” is the last Friday of the month, where you get to leave work at 3 pm. It is largely theoretical. 

The idea was created by the Japanese government as a way to reduce working hours and encourage domestic spending (boost demand), but it has not been implemented by all that many employers, and especially not many smaller employers. There isn’t, after all, any mandate or government-provided incentive for doing so.

Evidence from the places that did implement it suggests it is actually good for the economy, but good luck convincing bosses to give extra paid time off.

“Last Friday of the month” was chosen because most people get paid on the 25th each month (Japan tends to pay monthly instead of every two weeks), so it would usually be right after payday, when people are more willing to get spendy.

Kobayashi saying eight hours here reminded me of a “fun” fact: the typical Japanese work day is eight hours plus a one hour break. Plus a one hour break, not with. So a typical work day is actually nine hours. Most commonly 8 to 5 or 9 to 6. Not many “nine-to-fives” here.

The characters for Joui are 上井, which usually read as Kamii or Uwai. It’s “Joui” because that means, when written as 上位, “superior.” As in “a superior life-form.” Like a dragon, say.

でも、ゆっくりやる事業改善案を見せてもらえたじゃない？

This one is actually kind of a critical mistake. In the English it sounds like she’s talking about the improvement proposal that Elma made and that the boss looked at. In the Japanese though, she’s talking about a different plan, one the boss showed them*, that is similar in idea but is going to take longer to be fully implemented**. So we’re being told that while Elma didn’t get what she wanted as fast as she wanted it, it is still basically going through at a slower pace.

*In ”見せてもらえた misete moraeta,” the misete vs mite means they were the ones who got shown something, rather than the ones who got someone to look at their stuff. 

**Which you can tell from the ゆっくりやる yukkuri yaru, where yaru is basically “do” and yukkuri means (in this case) at an unhurried pace.

(Re previous note: Hence why she says “immediately” here.)

“Black (ブラック)” and “white (ホワイト)” in the context of Japanese employers refers to how well employees are treated: a company with good benefits/pay, reasonable levels of overtime, and feels safe to work at is “white,” while a company that has excessive overtime, often pays poorly, breaks labor laws, and allows harassment to fester is “black.” 

While “white company” was created simply in contrast to the term “black company,” the latter finds its origins in front businesses for organized crime, which were called “black” in the sense of “illegal” (similar to “black market” or something being in a “grey area”). Given the international reputation of Japanese work life, you can imagine that “black company” as a term sees much more use.

There’s been some discussion about maybe replacing it due to the racial implications (especially since it uses the English word “black”), but while typically English translations drop the color for that reason (e.g. ブラック企業大賞, an “award” given to Japan’s worst employer each year, is officially “Most Evil Corporation of the Year Award” in English), it hasn’t really penetrated to the mainstream at this point.

The rice there is in a 飯盒 hangou, a metal container that looks… like that, and is the stereotypical item of choice for cooking rice while camping. It has its origins in the mess kits used by the military, but these days they’re primarily marketed as portable rice cookers for camping use. 

You can get round ones too, but the bean shape is very popular.

“Settings” here is 設定 settei, lit. exactly that, “setting(s).” E.g. if you open a computer program and look at the settings menu, it’ll be settei in the Japanese language settings (settei). 

I bring it up here because there’s a bit of a difference in how it gets used colloquially like this. In English, the “setting” for a story typically refers to where and when it’s set. In Japanese, “setting” in that sense is usually 舞台 butai. But settei is still used when talking about fiction, just in a different, more expansive way.

Often in these cases settei is used to refer to the various conceits that provide the context in which the story takes place. In this show, for example, one such “setting” is that dragons are real: another is that magic exists. It comes up especially often in fantasy/sci-fi type stuff where there are major distinctions between that universe and the real world—not that stories in a real-world setting don’t have settei of their own, but they often are lumped into descriptions of the plot in that case (”a dragon comes to live with an office worker in her apartment”).

It also refers to the “settings” of characters, like name or age, and things like “they run a bakery that’s going out of business and are trying to save it.” Basically all the details you’d have in a character profile.

It also gets used in conversation to refer to pretend things or (basically) lies: like here, where Saikawa thinks Shouta is playing pretend with his ley-lines talk, or e.g. if someone is trying to tell you some outlandish story (“my uncle works at Nintendo…” or someone asking for love life advice for “their friend”) and you’re just like “Okay so that’s the settei here, I see.”

Not really a big deal, but Elma’s line here in Japanese implies she won’t let Tohru call her that anymore (see her もう mou). Tohru’s response is also more of a “I haven’t been?”, since of course she wasn’t aware of Elma’s-mental-image-Tohru tormenting Elma in the previous scene:

The word for “full of” in the title here is ざんまい zanmai (a suffix form of 三昧 sanmai), usually meaning that there’s a whole lot of [whatever] to immerse oneself in. I mostly bring it up because there’s a famous restaurant chain called Sushi Zanmai that specializes in, obviously, sushi.

And you know, Elma is a water dragon that looks kinda like an eel… I’m just sayin’…

Not really a translation note, but wild that Elma didn’t even touch her parfait. (Not so wild that Fafnir finished his so quickly.) Serious business ahead...

“Genuinely” here is 素直に sunao ni, where the “ni” is used like “-ly” to make sunao work as an adverb. Sunao itself is an interesting word that falls into that category of “simple concept that is often hellish to translate.”

For some context, the first character, 素, is also used in the word 素顔 sugao, which is a face without makeup and 素材 sozai, basically raw ingredients/materials. The second, 直, is used in words like 直線 chokusen, a straight line, or 正直 shoujiki, honest.

Put them together, and you’ve got a word with connotations of directness and being unadorned. The original definition of the word tends toward “simple, natural” in the sense of e.g. life growing up on a rural farm. 

The more common use for it these days is to describe people and their actions. Positively, it can mean something similar to a person being happy to help, or kind of like the opposite of conniving; open, frank, genuine. Less positively, it can mean someone is too trusting and easy to trick into doing things OR someone who is “too honest” and says hurtful things. 

(If it helps: tsundere characters are often described as explicitly not sunao.)

In this case, the idea is that Tohru accepted the invitation easily as-is, without putting any conditions on it, or doing any “ugh, what a pain, do I have to, jeez” rigamarole—she just accepted. Another way you could put it in this case might be “It’s even more unusual for Tohru to accept an invitation like this without a fuss.”

Just to point out the hand on head thing again.

Also just to point out that this is another example of otsukare, as a reminder of how ubiquitous that word is.

And it makes a good place to end on: thanks for reading!