#and some of it is more recent but I'm managing hahaha

[polarisbibliotheque]

Some Updates + Question for You!

Hello, my beautiful creatures! I hope you are all doing fine!

Updating you on a few things! Question is the last topic, so if you're in a mood to indulge me, feel free to skip to the last one!

Vergil's Halloween Special: Yeah, still haven't finished, but haven't forgotten it either. I'm navigating serious family emergencies the last couple of months, so my long writing has slowed down. But my dear friend Fury has written some parts of Vergil's Halloween Special, and I'm getting back at it! It's slow, but it'll be here maybe for this year's Halloween :')

Fury also helps me with my Ao3 and because of a recent AI scraping incident (may all AI bros choke on a fish bone, as my mom usually curses), we locked all my works - so, currently, you can only read them there with an account! Just in case you guys think it suddenly disappeared xD

I've been working on a non-writing related post that, honestly, I've been struggling a lot. I've made some posts before about some life situations and offering you guys advice to avoid putting yourself in danger, but I'm having a hard time with this one, so...

I might post some Cyberpunk 2077 work here in the future. It's related to what I'm trying to talk about and I can't really find a way to word it decently. I literally use that game as therapy and it has fundamentally changed me, so I think I'm gonna be more comfortable writing about heavier stuff in Night City. I need to process some stuff and I might be able to do it with Cyberpunk. Just a heads up if I start posting heavier stuff here every now and then (you're all more than welcome to not read it if it's not your thing, don't worry ^^)

NOW FOR THE LAST TOPIC IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN ANSWERING A LITTLE INQUIRY FROM YOURS TRULY xD

This year, I've been hell bent in finishing one of my original stories and I do want to turn it into a book eventually. Also...

Sometimes I get people asking me for writing advice or just generally how I work on things!

I thought I can tackle two things at once by creating an Youtube channel! But I don't want to make those preachy "Do's and Don't's" that people usually do, I want to mostly just chat and help people find their love for writing and find their style. Also, I'll never publish anything if I live under a rock and no one knows me, so I thought it'd be a nice platform without selling my soul to the algorithm, plastic mass produced content slop we're used to nowadays.

My question is: what would you guys like to see there? What would you like to know about my writing, writing process or just writing in general? Like I said, I don't wanna do the trending stuff, I really wanna do something genuine and have a talk/connect to people. So, I thought about asking you!

Feel free to answer me through the comments here or, if you're too shy, anon asks! It'll all be very helpful!

Also, do tell me if you'd like to see my silly face, or if it'd be ok if I kept some of my dignity and not show up HAHAHAHAHA I'm leaning to the second one

That's it for now!! I hope you all have an amazing week and hope to see you soon in an update!

Couldn't find a decent GIF so Tuxedo Mask peacing out is the one for tonight I just adore how silly he is

[danieyells]

hi there,

thank you so much for all the voicelines you post !! if it’s okay, can i request subaru’s ?

thank you again !

You're welcome! At some point I might go back and put in the ones I leave out because they don't appeal to me as much lol but since i always end up posting 99% of them anyway I think it's enough for most people hahaha. It's all of them now! Sorry for the delay.

I WAS GONNA OMIT ONE OR TWO BECAUSE OF SPOILERS but eh i'll just warm for like. extra spoilers. since after doing more code peeking it wasn't the spoiler i thought it was. SUBARU IS A SWEETIE THOUGH. I also read Subaru's chats which were put in the code recently and. Man this guy needs anxiety meds. I have a small guess as to what his stigma is, but we'll learn in a few days anyway.

Hello: (the first time the game is opened after that character is set as home screen NPC. Only happens once per day, unless the character is switched out and back.)

"I'm very sorry to have kept you waiting. It's wonderful to see you again."

You've Got Mail: (whenever there's something in the inbox, usually Arena rewards)

"It looks like there's a notice for you. I'd be happy to go pick it up for you if you've got your hands full. Oh, forgive me if I'm overstepping."

oh no he's anxious about helping--

Default: (requires no affinity, has no time constraints)

"I really am so lucky to be surrounded by so many kind people like you."

"I never thought I'd get the chance to enjoy the lifestyle of a student until I came to Darkwick. Every day truly is fulfilling here."

it feels like subaru is like. . .the only one who actually enjoys school life here. . .or who really enjoys being here period lmao. . . .

"You think I'm always smiling? Ha ha, I hear that a lot. It just happens when I'm around all of you."

"I may be the captain, but it's just in name. I think Haku is much better suited for the job than me."

"I've been working since I was four, so people often said I was mature for my age. But the truth is, I've still got a lot to learn."

that makes two characters whose parents have essentially been keeping them from normal life and normal childhood for work reasons since they were four year olds. . . .

Affinity 1: (between 5am and 11am)

"I tend to just have hot water for breakfast. I know it would be better for me to eat a proper meal, but it's just so much effort."

DO WE REALLY HAVE TO START WITH "I NEED THE GHOULS TO EAT PROPER FUCKIN MEALS". . . .

Affinity 2: (between 11am and 4pm)

"I'm sorry I'm so late. The campus is so crowded I can never manage to walk in a straight line, so it always takes me longer than I think. Silly, isn't it?"

baby you're hardly the first person i've met with anxiety about crowds. you're fine.

Affinity 3: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"What would I do without Haku's help? Hotarubi would be a mess without him."

Affinity 4: (between 8pm and 5am)

"I wonder if I should apply early to take out any common artifacts I might need for this mission. I'll ask Haku what he thinks..."

Affinity 5: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Ah!  You surprised me there... I just got back from a small errand. Do you need something?"

Affinity 6: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Ever since I was a child, the performing arts were my only focus. Maybe that's why people always say my mannerisms are so peculiar. It bothers you too, doesn't it?"

poor boy doesn't know how to act if he isn't acting. . .he doesn't know how to exist off-script. . .no wonder he made a deal with a demon. it's probably the first thing he's ever done for himself.

Affinity 7: (between 11am and 4pm)

"I'd like to go to the cafeteria, but the line is always so long. I feel bad taking time to choose while people are waiting behind me. The bar of entry feels a little high."

i am once again suggesting subaru get anxiety meds. hell go to sinnostra and get some weed, i bet they sell that. i hear it can help.

Affinity 8: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"I'm just about to go and meet a friend. I hate to inconvenience you like this, but if it's something urgent, could you speak to Haku about it instead?"

Affinity 9: (between 8pm and 5am)

"What am I going to do? We're supposed to be meeting up in an hour... If I cancel now, they'll hate me..."

Affinity 10: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Whew... I'll walk you back to your house, {PC}. Oh, it's no problem at all, I assure you! I wanted some fresh air anyway."

Affinity 11: (between 5am and 11am)

"I have an Anomalous Ecology test coming up. It's such a fascinating subject, I couldn't help but stay up all night studying. Now I'm a little sleep-deprived."

Affinity 12: (between 11am and 4pm)

"I'm going to stretch my legs a little. I might not have a show to practice for right now, but I need to keep putting myself through my paces. I'll get rusty otherwise."

Affinity 13: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"I'm sorry my phone's been making so much noise. I recently downloaded an app by mistake, and it won't stop sending me notifications..."

awww he's also technologically incompetent. . .poor guy was probably raised with such a heavy focus on his career he just. never needed a smartphone. anyone he needed to contact or who needed to contact him was probably always very close by. it sounds like he didn't even properly go to school before going to Darkwick. Somebody please take this boy on a walk. like anywhere. take him to a library. buy him a churro. can sho make churros? this is somebody who's never had any sort of normal social experience and sees how different he is and wishes it weren't the case, unlike Ritsu who assumes everyone else is like him, i think he'd like to have some more Experiences.

Affinity 14: (between 5am and 11am)

"... ...Oh! Hello, {PC}—I didn't even notice you there. My mind was somewhere else."

Affinity 15: (between 5am and 11am)

"Good morning! Sorry? My hair's messy? You're right, it's sticking right up at the front... That's embarrassing. I'll fix it right away."

Affinity 16: (between 11am and 4pm)

"I usually have lunch in the dormitory. I do eat on the terrace with Lyca every now and then, but he seems so busy these days..."

Lyca is one of the members of Obscuary, btw! Seems like he and Subaru are friends.

Affinity 17: (between 10pm and midnight)

"I didn't take you for a night owl, {PC}. Since you're here, I suppose I'll stay up a little longer. You're sure you're okay? You're not sleepy?"

Affinity 18: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Do you visit Sinostra very often, {PC}? I see... Oh, no reason. I was just making conversation. Ha ha."

why do you ask that. . .a certain mafioso captain wouldn't happen to be suspicious of you would he. . .or maybe you owe them money. . .or maybe you used to be part of Sinostra and moved to Hotarubi. . . .

Affinity 19: (between 10pm and midnight)

"It's getting late, {PC}. How about we finish this tomorrow? Thank you for keeping me company all this time."

Affinity 20: (between 5am and 11am)

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to come all the way to my room to wake me up—I'd feel terrible. I do very much appreciate the thought, though."

it's okay buddy jin already makes them do it, one more pit stop won't hurt.

Affinity 21: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Oh, hello, {PC}. Sorry, I was actually just on my way out. I should be back by evening—do you mind if we speak then?"

Affinity 22: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Lyca has seen my message, so why hasn't he responded to it? I hope nothing bad has happened to him..."

Affinity 23: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Lyca will adapt well to human society, I'm sure of it. I'm so relieved that Darkwick chose to trust him. I can't thank you enough for your help."

he really likes Lyca huh? that is his dog.

Affinity 24: (between 10pm and midnight)

"You can't sleep? Then let me tell you some stories. Legend has it that evil spirits appear once you've told a hundred. Now, what number was I up to..."

BOY IS TRYNA GET YOUR ASS HAUNTED.

Affinity 25(max): (no time constraints)

"I don't want to seem like I'm testing you, I just... I get really anxious sometimes... I'm sorry. I'm being weird, aren't I?"

he's the type to ask 'are you sure you love me? are you sure you wanna be with me?' after you get married and move in together and own a house and have two kids with another on the way. he's the hyper anxious 'i'm sorry we disagreed about our favorite colors do you hate me?' friend(affectionate) I wonder though, is he apologizing for seeming like he's testing you because he's using his stigma to see what you've been up to or something. . .? Probably not lol it's more likely he just keeps asking if you like him

Spring: (March-May) (between 5am and 11am)

"There is no time like spring. Everyone seems more relaxed this time of year. It's reassuring to see."

(between 11am and 4pm)

"I have some sakura mochi. I was just about to prepare some tea to go with it—would you like to join me?"

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"They have no control over whether they bloom, and yet they get made a spectacle of nonetheless... Oh, sorry—I was talking about the cherry blossoms."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"There are many different flowers growing in Hotarubi, but I think the wisteria are my favorites. This is the best time to see them, so you should take a walk around."

Summer: (June-August) (between 5am and 11am)

"Hot today, isn't it? It's always raining in Hotarubi, so it does provide a little escape from the blazing summer sun, but... Ha ha. It is very humid, isn't it?"

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Summer makes me think of the ghost story Yotsuya Kaidan. The scene where Oiwa becomes hysterical, having realized her her face has been disfigured— incredible."

Yotsuya Kaidan is one of the best known japanese ghost stories! It's extremely violent, so read the summary at your discretion. The scene in question has Oiwa shown her reflection by her sister's boss to see that the cream she was given by a woman who was in love with her husband was actually some sort of poison that instantly scarred her face. She grabs a sword and goes to kill her, only for her to accidentally slit her own throat.

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Hotarubi House holds regular festivals during the summer months. If you need a yukata to wear, I'd be happy to pick one out for you."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"I don't mind scary stories, but when that biwa in the tea room started playing by itself, it did make me jump a little..."

slight spoiler, although you can probably figure it out from this but. . .Zenji is a ghost. Subaru currently can't actually see him or hear his voice. . .only Haku, the pc, and, perhaps not so oddly, Towa can afair. All of his youtube content doesn't have him or his voice in it because he can't be recorded by cameras. So Subaru doesn't realize that the biwa playing on its own is actually Zenji playing the biwa.

Autumn: (September-November) (between 5am and 11am)

"The air has gotten crisper, and the leaves are changing color. I know it's only natural for the seasons to shift, so why does it make my heart ache so much?"

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Oh, these? They're some chestnuts I found. I know—I should give them to Sho. I'm sure he'll be able to make something delicious with them."

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"That's another kuchikiri tea ceremony under my belt. It's an annual tradition where one cuts open a tea jar to reveal the tea that was preserved from the first harvest."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"On long autumn nights when the moon is shining beautifully in the sky, it's hard to resist taking a walk outside. Don't stay out until too late though, {PC}."

Winter: (December-February) (between 5am and 11am)

"...Oh, {PC}. Good morning... I had a hard time getting up today. It must be the cold... Ha ha. Not very captain-like, is it?"

Jin, Taiga, and Ed are all prone to not getting out of bed. and Yuri falls asleep on operating tables when he has down time. Trust me Subaru you are perfectly captain-like.

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Today, I'm going to order ingredients from one of my favorite stores so we can all make negima—tuna and scallion—hot pot together. Please, do join us."

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"It's cold out today. I was just thinking about lighting the fire. Would you like to come and warm up with me?"

oh subaru you don't even know how that sounds

(between 8pm and 5am)

"People say winter makes you want to snuggle up with someone, but I find that a good blanket does a much better job."

i agree that blankets are much easier to manage than people lol. probably warmer too.

His birthday: (February 20th)

"A present? For me? Thank you... I didn't expect you to do anything for my birthday, so I'm a little caught off guard. I really appreciate it."

Your birthday:

"Um... Happy birthday.  I really hope this year will be a wonderful one for you."

New Years: (January 1st)

"Happy New Year. I hope I can depend on your guidance and support again this year."

Valentine's Day: (February 14th)

"Chocolate? Oh, It's Valentine's Day, isn't it? Does that mean these are for me...?"

nah i just wanted you to look at them. YES THEY ARE FOR YOU BBY. why would you be showing him chocolate if it wasn't for him! On any day, not just valentine's day!!

White Day: (March 14th)

"These are for you, {PC}. I put in a special order for monaka from my favorite confectioner in Ginza. They're wafers filled with bean jam—I hope you like them."

April Fool's Day: (April 1st)

"Earlier, Haku told me he was switching houses. It gave me a real shock— I'm very relieved that it wasn't true..."

i bet subaru made the most scared kicked puppy face and started apologizing for being such an awful captain and blamed himself for that haku would go to a different house and haku had to quickly explain it was just a prank for fear that subaru might burst into tears.

Halloween: (October 31st)

"Happy Halloween. I know it's nothing special, but I've prepared some treats for the occasion. Oh... But you're more than welcome to play a trick instead."

please don't trick him. april fool's day was hard enough for him.

Christmas: (December 25th)

"Merry Christmas. We already have our New Year decorations up in Hotarubi, so it has a real east-meets-west atmosphere now. I hope everyone is okay with it..."

Idle: (about 20 seconds without interacting with the game) (below 13 affinity)

"Everyone seems busy at the moment. Maybe I should use this opportunity to tidy the garden..."

(13 affinity and above)

"{PC}? Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I was just worried because you were so quiet..."

Absent: (logging in for the first time in 2 or more days?)

"You're back... I'm so relieved. I was worried I'd done something to make you feel uncomfortable..."

this man shakes like a chihuahua 24/7. like you can taste the anxiety coming off of him. i love him. he's so pathetic(affectionate). i wanna squeeze his hand reassuringly and tell him everything's gonna be okay. i wanna hug him and pat his head. i wanna take him places so he learns more about the world outside of working. i wanna watch him do schoolwork excitedly because he's never really gone to school before and it's a new and exciting experience. i want him to experience the most mundane aspects of life with wonder.

good boy. yeah. get him anxiety meds /nodnod

[blueteller]

Hello, Blueteller-nim! I just want to ask what's happening rn in tcf part 2? Who are the new gods that have been introduced (and how many of those newly introduced gods became Cale's enemies)? How many hunters Cale already defeated (and how many more should he defeat)? Is there any news about the Fake Hilsman? Did Cale adopted a new kid? (Pls say yes I want him to adopt more lol)

Hi! I believe this exact question was sent to me before? Sorry it took me so long to reply! Every time I started writing, new lore got dropped and I ended up re-writing this reply from scratch. There's a lot to cover, so brace yourself for tons of SPOILERS

I made a post about TCF gods once already, but turns out, parts of it are outdated! Some new information got revealed that directly contradicts my old assumptions about several of them. But we'll get to it.

First of all, the Hunter families. The plot of Part 2 so far consists of Cale going to different dimensions to deal with them.

So there were originally seven, but by current time there were only five left to deal with. Let's quickly run by each of them one by one.

Black Bloods; residents of the planet Xiaolen – specifically Xiaolen 1 – named Huayans (Fayence in the first raw translations, just in case you've seen that version before), led by Redok. They were human Black Mages who specialized in "White Magic", meaning their variant of Black Magic was more powerful and it looked white. Pretty neat. They flooded Xiaolen with dead mana in order to sacrifice the world and gather its energy called "Karma". Still little detail on how Karma works exactly, but we know it can be gathered by either killing or saving tons of people – guess which method the Hunters use. Cale got a dramatic fire power boost because of some universal balance rules, and defeated them pretty easily. (Xiaolen citizens made Cale a statue in his honor, much to his despair lol)

Blue Bloods; residents of Central Plains, a pretty young world from what we know. They were known as the Blood Cult, lead by a female leader called Blood Demon. They created hundreds of thousands of zombies called Jiangshi and planned to cause a 3-way civil war in order to do the same thing Black Bloods were trying to do. Cale got a water power upgrade because of a dead Dragon and defeated a tsunami with a tsunami and got a splitting headache because of some third eye mumbo jumbo – long story. They were a little harder to defeat than Black Bloods, but they managed in the end. Choi Han got to personally slay the Blood Demon. (Central Plains citizens turned Cale into a folk story/legend and apparently there's already a cult for him hahaha)

Purple Bloods; resident of Aipotu – who consists entirely of Dragons and Dragon-bloods, led by Dragon Lord Neo (yes I'm pretty sure the name is a Matrix reference – love the irony of it so much). Purple Blood's specialty was getting to "inheriting" Dragon powers via some very questionable blood transfusions and heart transplants. Nasty stuff. Neo's Attribute was time, or something quite similar to it, and he used his time powers to mess up Aipotu and the World Tree, intending to transfer himself and all his followers/slaves into a Virtual Reality the Hunters planned to make their own new world. Cale had to use Instant to defeat Neo, turning his own broken plate into dust and eating it to survive (VERY questionable method, Cale!!). Dragon Half-Blood also had to sacrifice himself so Cale set him up as an NPC in the Virtual World and he gets to be reborn from an egg as a legit Half-Dragon named Eden Miru. These has been the most recent events in the story (also Aipotu residents built Cale a church under Clopeh and named it Five Colored Light religion HAHAHAHA). Speaking of Virtual Reality…

Transparent Bloods; residents of Earth 3 – the world where Anh Roh Man lives, the guy who made Alberu's Taerang; leader unknown so far. Apparently ARM's parents are the one who made the Virtual Reality, and the Hunters bought/stole it (and named it "Raising My Very Own Precious Omnipotent God!"??? Which is just hilarious…) So the game wasn't originally designed by them. That matters a lot, because it seems like not only VR is sentient like every other world so far, it has even created an AI specifically against the Hunters and their influence. It seems that VR is, in fact, a real world, capable of containing real people and their souls. So Cale will definitely be heading there next to save it from Transparent Bloods. But before we get to them…

Five-Colored Bloods; no apparent residence, but I have a suspicion… We found out very recently their leader is called the "Wanderer King". Which just screams to me of the whole "Mercenary King" invented by the White Star – the exact same brand of arrogance, really. Their specialty seems to be collecting and transferring power; that's how Dragon Lord Neo was able to get so much power to influence an entire world and the World Tree. They will be a pain to deal with, because they seem to be allied both with certain gods and demons. Which is why, btw, in the most recent chapters Cale went to the freaking Demon Realm. But more on that in a bit~!

White Bloods; all we know about them is from Choi Jung Gun in Sealed God's Temple Test of Sloth. To directly quote him, "The White Blood family betrayed the Hunters and escaped!" (chapter 730) – which I actually mixed up in the past, my bad; I thought it was the Red Blood family that betrayed them and escaped. Speaking of which:

Red Bloods; also known as Thames, last known member being Jour Thames (or is it Drew Thames in the EAP translation? Whatever, I prefer Jour…) and the "Fake Hilsman" who stole Cale's retirement fund. Judging from Jour mentioning her brother when Cale got the Annual Rings of Life Ancient Power, I think it's safe to assume it's that guy. CJG said to Cale that " The Red Blood family perished a long time ago", but he also said that "The Red Blood did not perish", so I think they also betrayed the Hunters and faked their death.

If you're still with me after ALL of that exposition, let me now actually address the actual question: the gods involved in the plot of in Part 2.

There are 5 gods we must talk about, and why I need the Hunter families context first will become clear in a moment.

God of Balance; apparently female, wears heels, and approaches people from behind for intimidation. I'd call her the "gentle in disposition yet extremely scary" grandma type. Basically forcefully summoned Cale to meet her after defeating the Blue Bloods on Central Plains (Cale did not see her face) and told/threatened Cale that he should become a god. One of the "Five Ancient Gods", which seem to be one of the if not THE oldest Gods around who did not retire yet for some reason. Seems like a real piece of work, though doesn't seem evil? More like a strict law enforced or corrupt politician. She did beat up the God of Death over giving Cale the dimension-transporting mirror Divine Item that one time. She also wrote a rulebook on universal balance, apparently. That's why most of Cales powers were sealed and weakened during the Central Plains arc.

God of Hope; I don't believe their gender was ever specified. I think some people assume she's female too, but I found no evidence for it so far? I might be wrong. Anyway – thanks to them visiting Cale to "scare away" the God of Balance, we got tons of info. The God of Hope said: "Including Balance, Chaos, and I, there are a total of five Ancient Gods. We have continued to protect these seats without ever handing it over to another existence. My my, we are all quite greedy. We all desire power as well." So the five Ancient Gods seem to be Balance, Chaos, Hope, and I think the last two are Fate and Blue Wolf? [EDIT: The last two were revealed to be Justice and Injustice in the most recent chapter. My mistake!] Anyway – the God of Hope is sometimes stronger than Balance and that pisses her off. They seem to be one of the most reasonable gods we've met so far, not only admitting that they did not wish to become a god at all but were forced to, but also sincerely cheering on Cale's dream, explaining that Balance wanted Cale to replace Hope and be her lackey. No thanks, Balance, that's never gonna happen. …I mean Cale might still end up a god, with how things are going, but. Definitely not working for Balance.

Blue Wolf; I'm also unsure if the gender ever got specified, though I got the impression that they're probably male so far? In any case, they showed up during the battle on Aipotu. One of the evil Hunter Dragons tried to summon them with a corrupt Divine Item and Lock ended up swallowing a blue flame (yes it was exactly as weird as it sounds). They seem to be the reason why Beast People are able to control their Berserk Transformations at all? Which is quite interesting. Little to no depth on this god's character so far, though, except for apparently liking Lock and making him a successor of some kind.

God of Chaos; we found out a couple of things about them so far in the Aipotu arc. One, their followers are complete freaks; like, Shou Tucker from Fullmetal Alchemist level of messed up.  Their followers experiment on people AND themselves, like re-sewing limbs and creating chimeras (which explains lots of Hunter experiments honestly). Two, their representatives are able to use some weird similar-to-Dominating-Aura power which involves creepy Eldritch Horror Eyes? And Cale's gonna try and replicate that with the Donating Aura himself?? Well okay then…? Three, that god's power seems to be characterized by grey color (Dragon Lord Neo intended to use grey stuff to kill Aipotu with. Also worth mentioning; Choi Jung Gun apparently got poisoned by it, so now he's unconscious, slowly turning gray and dying. We'll see if Cale finds a way to save him.) Which – plot twist!! Actually came up in Part 1!! Looks like Sky Eating Water herself was subdued by that very god's power?! Together with God of War, no less, which brings us to the final god on the list…

God of War; turns out they're a double agent, if not a triple agent!! It's quite difficult to figure out what their deal is. Before, I kinda assumed they had to have some good intentions, because they helped created shelters and Cotton was their Holy Maiden and stuff. But nope. God of War is either working FOR or WITH the Hunters, although I'm inclined to think the latter. There seems to be something going behind the scenes, some personal agenda we don't know of yet? We know from Part 1 that God of War gave the people of the north a river, which the Sekka family hoarded selfishly for themselves, turning it into a lake. The God of War emptied the lake in retribution and sent a Divine Item that was a watering can full of fury. However – despite apparently all that good stuff and "breaking the slave chains" from Sky Eater Water, they also forced her to work for them as a Judge, which she hated so much she ran off. We now found out in Part 2 that God of War must have wanted to control Sky Eating Water, because she was so powerful she probably could have defeated the Ancient White Star by herself!! So, God of War teamed up with God of Chaos and chained her down in the lake in the Eastern Continent where Cale eventually got the Ancient Power from. A tragic end for her, but shows how merciless God of War was for his very own chosen one, in the end. God of War was also involved in giving Neo the knowledge on how to control Aipotu's power and the World Tree. There seems to be a lot more going on with the God of War we EVER knew, and the fact that the grey color has been set up back when Cale got Sky Eating water is straight up thrilling for me. I can't wait to find out more!!

So we finally covered all the Hunters and all the gods so far – goodness I'm sorry there's so much, but in my defense, that's about 300 chapters of context for it.

I roughly covered what happened so far through the two lists, but I'll add a few more things:

Cale defeated 3 out of 5 Hunter families so far: Black, Blue and Purple (like beating someone up and leaving colored bruises lol), with Transparent and Five Colors left. Also the ever-mysterious Hunter Leader called "The King's Successor", no idea if that's the Wanderer King or not, but I kind of doubt it. We'll see… (I also totally hope Cale kicks the a** of the God of Chaos, because they're a creep and deserve to burn in hell)

There seems to be another faction aside from Hunters & their supporters, or anti-Hunter gods like God of Death and non-affiliated people – there's a group called "Arbitrators" (raw translation, EAP did not get so far yet), which include Demons?? We don't know what their exact deal is yet, they seem to be about specific Divine/Demonic politics maybe? And Cotton is one of them because she turned her back on God of War?? And now Cale is in the Demon Realm, meeting a middle-aged demon princess named Aurora (whose father got dethroned and another guy took his place so Cale's probably gonna dethrone yet another monarch soon), and it turns out that the Arbitrators are totally BROKE, which kinda explains why Fake Hilsman stole Cale's money if he's one of them… Now Cale is scared because they want him to sponsor them HAHAHA – Alberu is gonna love the irony

No Cale did not officially adopt more kids sadly, but there's been some adorable kid characters showing up, and there's DEFINITELY a ton of new loyal Caleism followers – much to Cale's despair, as they're starting to worship him across dimensions… And with the Virtual Reality apparently being able to connect worlds, it's only the matter of time before Cale's slacker life is utterly screwed by multi-dimensional religion starring him as their Lord and Savior LOL

…So anyway, I hope it's what you've been asking for? Thank for reading this freakishly long post about my rambling on Part 2!

[syndrossi]

I enjoyed that little moment in the newest chapter where Jon remembers his mother -- Elys, that is. It was very bittersweet for him to get a glimpse of a memory of that. Any chance we can see a POV (AU or otherwise) from her one day?

Mind, I also still want, at some point:

- Rhaella and Jon bonding

- Alysanne and Aemon's sons

- Alysanne and Baelon's grandsons

- Catelyn meeting Ned's sons (hahaha Ned's sons)

And I could never way no to more Rhaenyra, Laena, or Rhea bonding moments with the boys! There are so many lovely mom (and grandmother) (and, uh, whatever Catelyn would be to them) moments to be had!

This chapter also made me again want to see what would have happened if Volantis HAD managed to kidnap Jon and Rhaegar. Which again makes me want that AU with baby Viserys... oh, the angst! Even if they're too late to stop the war, at least they can come rescue little Aegon and Jaehaera from their horribly depressing fates.... Or a happier version where they escape early enough to stop the coup and/or prevent Luke from being eaten by Vhaegar. What would Volantis do with teenage Jon and Rhaegar, both of whom they've raised and think will be loyal to their interests? Would they send them out to burn their enemies? Threaten Westeros or Pentos or Braavos? WHAT'S THEIR ULTIMATE GOAL???

Ugh, Resonant takes up so much of my brain power. 😅

I feel like I'm so cruel to Jon. The one female figure he can wholeheartedly believe might truly love him because he's hers, she birthed him, and I take her from him not once (Elys) but twice (Rhea), and that's not even counting Lyanna! He has so much baggage to overcome with the specific "woman who married my father but has children of her own" mold. 😭

An Elys POV would definitely be sweet and bittersweet because she loved those babies, nothing complicated about it. (Guh, and naturally, I'm already thinking of one of those Redfort brother / Ser Willam AUs where they're taking the 2-year-old orphan toddlers to the Gates of the Moon and the dye fails and Daemon comes swooping in at some point and they're wailing ceaselessly for their mama, they don't want this strange frightening man who is so angry with everyone.)

You and Alysanne BOTH want those POVs. 😂 And eeeep the Cat POV in Restoration, have mercy. (Rhaella bonding with Jon would be incredibly sweet, I know it, with Rhaegar subtly trying to help things along.)

...I totally missed a ficlet opportunity with Mother's Day now past, I suppose.

Which kidnapping attempt, though? The Jephyro one? The Wildfire gambit? Or this most recent one? (Daemon screams internally.)

The "successful kidnapping" AU definitely gets most interesting if Volantis had them for a few years, timeline-wise, before Jon and Rhaegar's memories wake. Because how much success did they have with the Redfort brothers? How confident are they?

If we're talking Volantis's goals, it likely depends on when the kidnapping is! If it's Resonant-adjacent, they probably want to go after the weakened Triarchy, for starters. Reclaim the Disputed Lands, drum up that tiger support amongst the masses, and then move on to the Triarchy cities themselves. Granted, that's a lot to put on two teenaged dragonriders, but if their dragons are behemoths, what can the Iron Throne do? Risk their own dragons? (If we're talking Perzōñys's goals, that's a separate thing entirely and has to be ignored for the sake of discussing this AU.)

If it's Dance-era, then taking out the weakened Targaryen dynasty may make the most sense. Grab as many hatchlings, dragon eggs, and kids as you can from the wreckage (Viserys, Aegon, Jaehaera, etc) and ensure the Iron Throne has nothing left, dragonrider or dragon. That's super ambitious, though, given the distance between Volantis and Westeros, so they'd probably have to do a little Disputed Lands conquering beforehand here as well.

It does all seem to start with the Disputed Lands, I suppose!

Volantis does then have the more longterm problem of keeping its dragonriders under control. Why should a dragonrider take orders from mere men, after all? How do you keep them from seizing power themselves and establishing control over Volantis? The Iron Throne works because House Targaryen is already in power, and the Dance is a prime example of what happens when a faction decides it wants the throne instead. Is it better to maintain just a small corps of dragonriders that you have leverage over?

Wiser Free Cities might just discard/kill their dragons and dragonriders when it's over, but Volantis really does see itself as Valyria's successor. Perhaps they go for the other extreme and try to rapidly expand how many dragons and riders they have. Which, as we know, is not easy to do due to weird dragon hatching mechanics.

[lafaiette]

I finally managed to extract Pen's lines from the game's data (not all of them, I still need some from his romance scenes), and I wanted to share other translation differences I found. I will update this as soon as I find more interesting stuff!

English: "Darling, I never tire of you staring lovingly at my perfectly carved form. The longing in your eyes makes me determined to become the protector of your dreams." Chinese: "Babe, when you look at me, the look of deep admiration in your eyes really moves me. I look so majestic in your eyes! I will always use this strong body of mine to protect you!"

English: "Your love for me is like a relic weapon. Rare, powerful, sublime, blasts anyone within a close radius to smithereens…" Chinese: "Your love for me is so deep. It's so powerful and unique. It's like a deadly weapon, gripping my heart tightly and immobilizing it!"

English: "Darling, if anyone outside Sandrock ever does something to harm you... just say my name. I promise they will quake in fear. Even in Duvos, my name is feared." Chinese: "If someone wants to hurt you [it's more "bully/bother", but you get the sense] outside of Sandrock, you can just tell them my name. Even in Duvos, no one will dare lay a finger on you."

English: "I felt something move inside of me... my pecs? No... deeper. Maybe this is what it feels like to be Space Punched? Soon let us once more foray into encountering." Chinese: "I feel like something in my chest, deep, deep down, has been shaken... Hahaha! Don't worry, my Space Flying Fist [Space Punch] is not ruined! I had a great time today. Let's go on another date when we have time!"

English: "I will never refuse an opportunity for you to express your admiration for me. So, where are you taking me?" Chinese: "Aha! I will never refuse your admiration for me! Tell me, where do you want to go?"

English: "Skinny Arms, you impress me with your apt observations of me. You know my tastes impeccably. Originally, I had organised my regimen to the second, but when presented with such a devout offering, I will permit myself a, as they say, "cheat day." Chinese:"Little weakling [Skinny Arms], I didn't realize you knew my preferences so well. I've been recently building muscle and strictly controlling my diet. Okay! I'll let go of my diet today and not disappoint your good intentions [also "kindness"]."

English: "Skinny Arms! I'm impressed. I can't say I thought you had it in you, but yes, here you are, presenting your hero with a glorious gift to help with defending this town. But fear not, the one who could defeat the "Protector of Sandrock" has not yet been born." Chinese: "Little weakling, I'm touched. I thought you wanted to keep this for yourself. It doesn't matter, you dedicated it to the "Guardian of Sandrock Town", so let me use this to protect you. In this world, the person who can defeat me was not born yet!"

English: "You know, I was just thinking how it's so hard being so strong and handsome; it's like... I've been bestowed with so many gifts. Sometimes I wish other people could know what it's like." Chinese: "Is it my fault that I'm strong and handsome? So many people give me gifts every day. Ugh, I wish someone could understand my problems."

English: "Lately I've been training my guts! That's right, the spicy new noodle dish at the Blue Moon has proven to be more than a match for my otherwise iron intestines. But I'll win in the end, I always do! Oof… hold that thought. Bathroom." Chinese: "Recently, I've been having diarrhea with an unusual frequency, and it's all because of the Blue Moon's new Super Popular Noodles [Drool With Joy Noodles], which are so hot that even a man of my iron will can't resist them. The key is that the spicier it gets, the more you want to eat it, and I can't control my mouth at all!"

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #410

Today was a normal day, mostly. I woke up, and I got a lovely picture of the snow outside before leaving:

I wasn't able to get pictures of all the cookies and sweets I baked because between being busy the whole time and poor Tr needing someone to listen to her as she spoke on the difficult things happening for her at home, I just didn't have an opportunity. I'm sorry about that.

The four hours of my shift passed by in a flash. I'm pretty sure An was there today, but I didn't see him, and I was a little sad about that. The new manager, Dy, popped by, though – both to ask me if I needed help with anything, and to offer Tr a little bit of comfort. Apparently, he has been going around from department to department, learning about how everyone does their jobs so that he can be a more effective leader. This bodes really well, I think.

...I feel extra silly that I initially mistrusted him.

I had an idea about building a cookie grid; I struggle with spacing the cookies and turnovers evenly on the cookie trays due to the dyspraxia, so I thought that if I built a tool, then I can just put the cookies down without thinking about it, which will make life easier for anyone who is assigned that task. He suggested that it should be built out of plastic so that it can be washed. Today, I got the measurements for the parchment paper our bakery uses, and with that, I should be able to plan out something cool using graph paper! We'll see how it goes!

I picked up some groceries after my shift, went home, and put them away. After that, M, J, and I went together to this store called The Fat Crow. It's closing permanently after February 28th, and I'm more than a little sad that I only heard about it recently. There were some teas that I saw in their online store that I wanted. They didn't have them; I'll have to get them from the manufacturer. But in the meantime, I did get these...

...The Cross-Eyed Owl. The Fat Crow. Hahaha... It's significant for reasons I dare not explain in this space. But maybe you'd understand even without an explanation.

I took a couple nice pictures on my way home. And then I relaxed in my art room for a while. It really is a much nicer space now that I've rearranged it. And without the tension from the conflict on Tuesday, it really does feel like a safe and wholesome space in here.

I wish you could come by. I'd put on some tunes and teach you how to crochet wisteria blossoms. Something tells me you'd like that. Especially if I brought you up some nice hot tea.

Oh, speaking of which, I did make a tea today. Here:

Oh, and!! I got some pictures of the cats yesterday, too, that I think you'll like.

And a video of the snowfall yesterday, too...

...I hope you like it. I know your body is probably up at the Northern Crater or whatever, but... I dunno when is the last time you got to see falling snow.

M and J and I finally went to the reopened Chinese buffet. M didn't like it, but I did. I wonder if, since we went late, maybe it's just that the food wasn't very fresh anymore.

I got a really great picture of the moon, and a little sparkly friend next to it:

...I'm not sure what object the sparkly friend was. But... it was like a little friend who came by to hold the moon's hand for a while. I liked that little story I wove, so I'm gonna stick with it.

I want to write more. But J wants to take me to the ice runway tomorrow at super early in the morning. I'm looking forward to it, but... I need to get to sleep.

I love you so much. Please stay safe out there in the world, okay?

I'll write again tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have some cool pictures then, too.

Your friend, Lumine

[vampirecatsw]

Transmigrator Kaito AU

part 2:

(lol i haven't written any resembling a fic for this au yet but feel free to ask questions)

Kaito's favourite manga is Detective Conan. Instead of crossing over with Magic Kaito, it crosses over with Yaiba.

The Yaiba content annoys Kaito to no end because he's jealous~ He's like "Ugh, crossing Conan over with say like, a Phantom Thief would be perfect! Not Yaiba! >:("

He's definitely read and written Kaitou KID / Detective Conan crossovers HAHAHA

(I still need to do more research about Yaiba but I know there's Yaiba characters in dc so that's why I chose this. Sorry I don't know much about Yaiba but I thought it would be a fun idea)

Kaito picked it up when his dad died and still reads it to this day. Yes, it's long running series too :)) He reads it in his downtime, including before and after heists. He's basically memorised every detail.

Out of all the characters, Conan/Shinichi is Kaito's favourite character. When Kaito got frustrated, he always came back for him. And he's a huuuuge fanboy as well! He knows all the little details >v0 and admires Shin-chan a lot.

I'm still deciding on making this romantic ShinKai or queerplatonic (like some third thing other than platonic and romantic) but eh it's still in the air ig. Kaito adores Shin a lot either way.

Kaito doesn't know that in the final chapter of Conan, it was revealed Shin and Ran decided they had a sibling relationship. Kaito keeps trying to wingman them in increasingly absurd ways that makes Shin think he's actually trying to serenade Ran.

When the final chapter is going to come out, Kaito goes on a heist but everything goes wrong. He ends up finding Pandora, but Snake finds him first and manages to mortally wound him. As he bleeds out on the rooftop, Pandora drenched in blood and lying in his limp hands, Kaito's last regret is how he never got to read the final chapter of Conan.

More details below cut:

~

Suddenly, Kaito wakes up to a vicious pinch in his cheek.

"Ba-kai-to! Wake up! I've been calling you for the last 5 minutes!"

"Ow! A-Aoko?? Wha-"

Kaito raises his head and sees... his normal classroom? Huh? Was everything just a dream? That final heist?

Kaito quickly pats down his chest. Nothing hurts... except for his sore throbbing cheek, and he's clothed in his normal school uniform, not the KID suit.

He keeps glancing around, trying to find any differences. Aoko's still standing in front of his desk, hands on her hips and a concerned look on her face. The classroom hasn't been filled up yet and the board is still freshly cleaned from yesterday, meaning it's the morning and class hasn't started yet. Akako hasn't arrived either. And Hakuba's reading a newspaper about Kudo Shinichi...

Huh?

Kudo Shinichi???

Kaito lunges over his desk. "Hey! Give me that!"

Hakuba is too stunned at the sudden attack.

Kaito rapidly skims through the article .The paper crinkles in his trembling grip.

"Kudo Shinichi, the Heisei Holmes has done it again! He solved another case flawlessly last Monday..."

Hakuba adds hesitantly, "Yes? Kudo Shinichi. He's been making a name for himself recently. It would be a pleasure as a fellow detective to work alongside him one day."

Hakuba says this all naturally, like Shinchi's been real this entire time. Like he wasn't just a manga character yesterday.

Kaito gulps ...There's no mistake. The impossible has happened, and Detective Conan is somehow real.

~ Kaito in this AU is just... a Kudo Shinichi fanboy. He's absolutely ecstatic to challenge Kudo Shinichi. He's even more excited to amaze his critic, and every time they meet, Kaito's pokerface works overtime to hide his delighted blush and adoring grin on his face. Jii is so confused but also very supportive.

... Kaito really wants to squish Shin-chan's cheeks and tease him until his entire face turns a pretty pink, dangers be damned.

Meanwhile Shinichi keeps getting annoyed by this clingy thief who keeps coming back for more. What's so interesting about him anyways??? Why does he keep teasing him???

(This au also includes pre-conan and during conan. Kaito is extremely charmed by Conan and his pokerface works extra-overtime than when he met Shinichi. If that is even possible. After every heist he screams in his pillow and recalls every moment)

Extras:

Kaito takes a solid week to slide himself into the Kudo Shinichi fan-server and cement himself as the Shinichi Expert. After a month he actually gets elected as co-president. Yes he's absolutely insane.

Kaito regularly sends fan letters to Shinichi, even after his 'disappearance'. They always wish Shinichi the best and includes random funny snippets of Kaito's day. They're addressed as "Kai-san" and are pretty polite. They always come with Kaito's genetically engineered blue and red roses that he grows in his garden. He doesn't gift the blue roses to anyone but Shinichi haha

Akako does exist in this universe. It's just that she sensed such a major disturbance that she stayed at home and researched it vigorously to make sure the fabric of space-time wasn't unravelling.

Kaito is like a proud peacock whenever Shin/Cone shows up. He literally pulls out all the stops and Jii is confused, yet very supportive. Agasa who provides the gadget just sighs at the huge and absurd list. It doesn't escape his mind that it happens whenever Conan/Shin attends a KID heist.

OVA 1 is really fun so I thought it would be extra funny for it to be somewhat plausible in this au. Not sure if Yaiba would be turned into a manga series when Magic Kaito becomes the main crossover (if that makes sense). When Kaito robs the sword, he would use his knowledge to cause the most chaos. Yes Kaito read Yaiba out of spite, and also 'know thy enemy, know thyself'

[lemotmo]

Hahaha, I need everyone to chill and stop scrolling Twitter. Dear god.

Q. I'm terrified of this interview. It's way too soon for it to give us actual information and it's at just the right time to absolutely obliterate everyone's expectations.

A. I'm going to say this as kindly as I can to people.

STOP. READING. TWITTER.

It is not the happy place. It is not helpful or even trustworthy for the most part at this point. It's a collection of people doom posting about everything all day everyday. That's it. Obviously there are some legit resources to be found on Twitter but they are very few and far between. Jeff already had to come out and confirm that there's no mention of the word brother and it's ludicrous that he had to do that. In Ryan's defense, he hasn't used that word in a while and people need to let it go. Using 'I have PTSD from his previous interviews' doesn't explain the meltdown some people are currently having on Twitter. There's not much Ryan is going to be able to say. He's probably going to be able to tease some things but not much. It's most likely about Ryan himself. If you will read any of the other articles/interviews Jeff has written, not just the Oliver interview, you will see that he's actually very good at his job and more than likely made Ryan feel very comfortable and safe. We have ample evidence to support that both Ryan and Oliver give much better interviews when they feel comfortable sharing space with the person interviewing them. When they don't feel defensive or put off by the questions they talk much more freely. I would also imagine they will talk pretty extensively about actual firefighters and their work during the recent fires. And they should talk about that. No one should expect this interview to be focused on Buddie. It's not being teased that way and no one should expect that. The show has already indicated that Buck is pretty heavily involved in the Eddie stuff so it's going to be addressed but people need to have realistic expectations about how much he can actually say. None of what I'm saying here is going to matter. People will still set themselves up for disappointment. And Twitter will still have a meltdown when he doesn't confirm them as canon. Something he won't be allowed to do. Please. Just try and critical think your way through reading it. 🩷

LOL! I just made a post in the same vein as Ali's with basically the same message. Only Ali always manages to put it far more eloquently than I can. Thank you Nonny!

Everyone read the above answer very carefully. Since I have just made my own post about this topic I'm just going to redirect you there if you are interested to read it. You can find it here.

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali���s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[aita-blorbos]

(Main events are canon, though the one that had caused it to occur is pure HC. Trust me when I say that I tried balancing OP's EN and JP dub portrayals to the best of my abilities :'D)

(🦔 <- To recognize later)

AITA for not clarifying exactly where we were moving to my son?

So sorry for the grammatical mistakes you may see here; I've only been recently introduced into this "sub reddit" by my dear son just moments ago, and typing on the cellphone is a struggle on its own. If anyone's the tech-whiz of the house, it's certainly anyone but his old man, I tell you! ^^;

I (50's M) have been married to my dear and beloved wife (50's F) for quite some time now- and, together, we've brought our brilliant son (11 M) into this world. My dear- if there exist any set of words in the English lexicon that would perfectly describe how beautiful, eloquent, and talented my dear wife is, I can assure you that we would be here chattering about all day, and rightfully so!! My kid, meanwhile, I'll tell you what- his mind shines brighter than the most visible star you could ever see! Why, I even have half a mind to say right here and there that there's nobody in this region who is as talented and knowledgeable as my young man over here!

Ah, I do have this tendency to brag about my family for some time now, do I? Hahaha! I sure am aware of this fatal flaw of mine ^^; Almost got distracted from the main topic, now, haven't I? What I've been meaning to say is that I am willing to do anything to keep my family happy and safe- which is why, when my dear boy told me exactly how my recent actions have impacted him, I wanted some outsider perspective as to how badly I've messed up, and exactly how I can properly make it up to him.

You see, not too long ago - and I wish I had a more concrete way of describing what had happened -, while my wife and I were tending to the house, a…bunch of ruffians have managed to land straight from the sky and right into our attic, I shit you all not. More specifically, we were dealing with two young adults, their bipedal feline creature, and a…weird balloon animal that I'm certain is not native to our region. Despite their sudden and rather unwelcome entrance, we have inquired the young man and lady if they were harmed in any way, but the group didn't really bat us and eye and, instead, ran through the main door. They even ignored my wife's offering of free food, especially the malasadas she's proud of- rude! What's done was done, though; our roof was basically totaled beyond belief, and we had to move away in order for the proper repairs to be done.

In order to accommodate my family - especially my son, since his school is quite near our area of residence -, I tried to rent the house right next door to us, but, thanks to several complications and an issue with scheduling, I had to settle for the one that's 3 houses down. Not an issue, though; as long as it got the job done, I was more than happy. It was going to be a temporary displacement- approximately a week, according to the handyfolks, so everything was gonna go right back to normal in no time!

Unfortunately, though, here's where I messed up: though I did try to keep the topic rather lax, it appeared that our kid didn't exactly remember that we were preparing to move. A week before the big day, my dear told me that I ought to start packing as soon as I could, and, in the middle of our conversation, our son barged in, asking for a confirmation on what he had just heard, to which my wife had provided. Seeing that he was already panicking his socks off, I've managed to slip up in that moment up and said that the destination was, and I quote, "farther than I'd like". Before I knew it, my boy dashed off to that little lab I've constructed for him and was basically avoidant the whole day. Knowing how upset he was, my wife and I did give him the space he needed, and we've managed to clarify the situation after some time.

However, it was a tad bit too late; our kid has been in a state of panic throughout all this time, and both he and his friends were under the assumption that we were going to move away from the whole region! My wife's been telling me that it was a silly mistake and all, but I can't help but feel like I've caused unnecessary hurt for my kid.

AITA? And, err, how can I remedy such a mistake of mine..?

Edit: …Can't be too proud and not admit that I've been taking my time scrolling down here- you guys sure need some serious help, huh? {:T

[writingpracticetime]

Did you have any thoughts, story-wise, on what Sandy herself thinks of all this and what her circumstances are? There are of course the inferences that can be made from that letter she got sent (and more specifically that it was turned over unopened) but is/was she in the public eye? Is she kept under close observation in case Constructor/Architect tries to approach her directly, and so on?

Oh I absolutely do have story thoughts about Sandy's opinions on everything. But the trouble with Sandy is--

————————————

Excerpts from recordings of meetings between the Architect and various associates.

————————————

CYBERSCOUT

--and, sorry, remind me why we care?

CONSTRUCTOR

We need to try to anticipate the general public objections to this. We won't be able to avoid them, not when we're going to be breaking so many laws. But we can at least anticipate them and get our own narrative out in advance. 

HOBBES

I don't think you get the question. We're villains. Why are we tiptoeing around "public objections?"

CONSTRUCTOR

Because, this is ultimately for the public. We need to try and get out the word about how people are asking for our help, so people know we're responding to their needs. Besides, we can’t accomplish anything for the public without the public. Like Sandy said.

CYBERSCOUT

Who?

CONSTRUCTOR

My--nevermind. Anyway, as I said, let me try to figure things out with Lethe for a minute.

CYBERSCOUT

Alright, alright. I needed to head out anyway, just call me when you have an idea of what shit you want me to spread online.

(Shuffling, people leaving and closing the door behind them.) 

CONSTRUCTOR

So you should have a better idea of what people are going to say to all of this. (Pause) Lethe?

LETHE

Sandy...? Cassandra White?

CONSTRUCTOR

You know her?! (Pause) Wait, then--what does she think about me now? Has she--

LETHE

Oh, u-uh no, sorry. I haven't--I never met her, never stood close enough to read her mind certainly. I-I wouldn't know what she thinks about you.

CONSTRUCTOR

...Oh.

LETHE

I just... heard a lot about her.

CONSTRUCTOR

...Funny. Not many people have.

LETHE

Yeaaaaah, um.

——————————

Blog post by Edward Katzenberger, journalist. Later removed and found on wayback.archive.org.

——————————

WHO IS CASSANDRA WHITE?

So, my long term followers all know about my hilariously derailed profile of Constructor assigned shortly before the stadium incident. I’ve kept you all abreast of the many, many delays related to high security super prisons and then my subject running off to start a supervillain career. Because of course, the second I get assigned this extremely exciting personality piece, Constructor becomes completely unreachable.

Alright, well, you might not believe me, but Constructor's manager/agent turned out to be even harder to reach.

At the time, I decided to take the "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" approach and paint a portrait of Constructor based on the testimonies of coworkers, friends and family. I then found out that I could get testimonies from construction workers and urban planners about what the hero was like to work with (largely positive, if saddened by the recent turn of events) but nothing on what this incredibly beloved figure was like as a friend or family member.

The one thing I kept hearing from everyone was "Cassandra White would know more. The two of them seemed really close."

Now there was a problem: I couldn't find out who the fuck Cassandra White was.

———————————

BONFIRE

You got a--Oh, sorry. Working on something right now?

CONSTRUCTOR

Not work. I'm just-- (sounds of paper, flipping and folding it as Bonfire gets close) Just writing something.

BONFIRE

Writing...?

CONSTRUCTOR

Just scrawling out some thoughts, I guess.

LETHE

Mm. (Quiet) What are you both looking at me for?!

CONSTRUCTOR

What was that about?

LETHE

What was what about??

BONFIRE

Something about the writing...?

LETHE

Nothing! Nothing about the writing. I was just, I was making a noise. Thinking about something else, hahaha.

BONFIRE

.....What is it?

CONSTRUCTOR

Nothing! ... Lethe.

LETHE

I'm sorry! Don't be mad at me!

CONSTRUCTOR

I'm not mad! That was just--that was private.

BONFIRE

What was private?

LETHE AND CONSTRUCTOR

Nothing!

CONSTRUCTOR

(After a pause) ...I was just writing to Sandy again.

BONFIRE

(Irritated, sizzling noise) Ah, right. Sandy.

CONSTRUCTOR

See! This is why I didn't want to tell you.

BONFIRE

I don't see why you couldn't--

LETHE

Leaving! I'm leaving!

————————

It turns out Cassandra White was Constructor’s agent. I try to look her up online and? Nothing. No facebook profile, no personal website, not even a LinkedIn. 

That has to be odd for someone who works in PR, right?

I do a little searching to find the agents of other superheroes. I contacted one, and got an interview. I've lost the thread of trying to piece together Constructor's life but I'm curious dammit. I mention the issue I've had with finding her anywhere. He nods his head while I explain the wild goose chase I've been on.

"Well, White is a whole other ballgame," he says. "She took her privacy seriously, and I'm also pretty sure she scrubbed a lot of her history. She was meticulous about records--knowing names in media, tech, and various public archives who could help you scrub a dumb tweet before it snowballed into a PR crisis for your client."

"You can get rid of internet records?"

"Well, not easily. And not after people realize they're important, that's for sure," he said. "I once told her things on the internet are forever. She said, 'No. If people pay attention, then they're forever. But if no one cares in the first place, then it never existed at all.'"

"So there was a process she used to make sure people's images stayed clean," I said, "And she used the same process to make herself a ghost?"

"I imagine so. I mean, she's retired from being an agent and has her fingers in all sorts of other pies these days. Businesses, investments, politics. Plus, I imagine becoming a billionaire or whatever has made her priorities shift."

Billionaire. I think I almost choked on my coffee. "You can become a billionaire from being a PR agent?"

"You can't," he said. "But White did."

—————————

DOC

--nd now that we got that patched up, this is the part where you tell my why the fuck the police caught you anyway.

CONSTRUCTOR

Uhh... Dunno. Not sure how they found me.

DOC

Where did they track you down?

CONSTRUCTOR

Um... I'm not feeling up for this conversation right now.

HOBBES

It was that new square in York XIV that looks like a Whole Foods staged a violent invasion.

DOC

....okay, is there a reason you decided to be wandering alone around in an area with shit ton of white moms ready to call the police on your ass?

CONSTRUCTOR

....Yeah, I was alone because I thought everyone here would tell me not to go. (Sigh) Look, I'm not gonna–

CYBERSCOUT

(poking head in) The Whole Foods place? Oy, isn't that where that old chick you're stalking has a house?

CONSTRUCTOR 

I'm not--I was delivering a letter.

HOBBES

 ....wait a minute, I remember this. "Sandy" right? Your mom? The one who turned you into the FBI?

CONSTRUCTOR

She's not my mom. (Pause) And no, she turned in my letter--which she would have to, if she was being monitored. I thought if I--

CYBERSCOUT

Wasn't she also a racist? Wasn't that a whole fight you had with Bonfire?

HOBBES

(Judgmental) You act all woke and then you go and try to be friends a racist who lives in the Whole Foods district.

CONSTRUCTOR

She's not a--That's not what the fight--this is why I went alone!

———————

This conversation afforded me with a lot of more information which I am saving for a piece on the lives of superhero PR agents, which I am now utterly fascinated by. Regarding Cassandra White, the other significant info it afforded me was that Cassandra White does in fact have a twitter account that I missed in my earlier search.

I looked into it. It's the most inoffensive twitter account I've ever seen. It feels like it was generated on a factory belt. There is a headshot of an older white woman--Cassandra White herself, it seems--as the profile pic. She tweets very rarely herself, and instead seems to mostly retweet news updates and positive platitudes or quotes from historical figures. The tweets she does make are all of an extremely inoffensive liberal variety, with the spiciest being one gentle snipe at the Republican party.

There is one other hint of her personality on this twitter. It’s an unexpected photo from inside her home, one with a quick caption that says she regularly uses a whiteboard to write out her resolutions and thoughts, and that she finds the process to clarify her goals and values. 

It reads:

IT WILL BE DONE QUIETLY.  IT WILL BE DONE CIVILLY.  IT WILL BE DONE RIGHT–OR IT WON’T BE DONE AT ALL. 

—————————

CONSTRUCTOR

Alright, alright. We can talk more about this tomorrow but for now tell them no more death matches and any blood feuds need to be put on hold when they enter this fortress.

HOBBES

(Grunts) Pussy move.

CONSTRUCTOR

I don't care if it's a pussy move.

CYBERSCOUT

Ahem--what if I made the point that you're being culturally insensitive by imposing your mainstream standards of civility on a subculture of people, villains, who have their own values in how they deal with conflict, and--

CONSTRUCTOR

I know you bet on the fights and you're not changing my mind.

CYBERSCOUT

No fun. (sigh) Lethe, I TOLD you not to snitch on me!

LETHE

I didn't!

CONSTRUCTOR

Anyway, we can figure out a more long term solution for dealing with serious vendettas but for now--I'm tired. I have something else I need to work on. Tell them not to kill each other.

HOBBES

What are you writing that's more important than a potential deathmatch, anyway?

CONSTRUCTOR

Nothing. Just-- (Shuffling of papers) leave me to it for tonight. I don't want to set a precedent where I rush over every time someone wants to kill someone else, because given the personalities here that would mean never having any time.

CYBERSCOUT

Fiiiiiiiine.

(Grumbling and footsteps as people shuffle out, followed by writing noises.)

LETHE

Hey.

CONSTRUCTOR

What? (Pause) You know what I'm doing.

LETHE

The last time you tried to deliver something….

CONSTRUCTOR

I'll send someone else to deliver it.

(More scribbling. Deep breath.)

LETHE

I lied. I read her mind. She doesn't care about you.

(Writing stops. After a slight pause, there is the sound of paper crinkling and Lethe gasps and steps back.)

LETHE

Don’t be mad at me!

CONSTRUCTOR 

(Deep, strained breath) I’m not mad. You're just wrong.

LETHE

I could literally read her mind!

CONSTRUCTOR

Okay, you're not wrong.  You're lying.

LETHE

What? I'm not!

CONSTRUCTOR

(Fuming) You think I'm an idiot just because I haven't been calling you out on it? Everyone here knows you lie about what your powers show you whenever it suits your purposes.

LETHE

(Wobbly) I--I don't have a reason to lie about this!

CONSTRUCTOR

You don't have a reason that I know. But you are such a fucking liar. No one in the fortress trusts a thing you say, and you know it. 

LETHE

Th-that's not--That's not relevant! Oh my god, you're literally never going to even consider this, a-are you? That she was just using you for the cut of your paycheck, making her fortune...

CONSTRUCTOR

I'm not going to re-evaluate a decade long perception of a loved one based on the words of a known liar, Lethe. Get out.

LETHE

But--

(Rumbling, cracking of the floor.)

CONSTRUCTOR

I said get out!

———————————

The twitter account confirms she exists and nothing else. I couldn't tell you what the woman thinks about anything. On a website people use to blast their opinions to the world at all hours, this one seems specifically built to deny the existence of any individual opinions or personality. 

I scrolled all the way back to the time period during which Constructor would have had the big public meltdown at the stadium. I used the wayback machine to see if there were any deleted tweets, just in case she said anything in a fit of frustration or grief and deleted it.

But during the time where she would have been watching Constructor's breakdown, a time when everyone in the world had something to say about what Constructor had done--nothing.

Cassandra White, Constructor's closest person, had nothing to say about them at all.

[aimlesspixel]

I want to try and write a isat fanfic continuation so for now a first step on their new journey. Please give me your thoughts so I can improve!

The sun is warm, the smell of a fresh summers day wafts over, the darkless shades covering the field as your family walks alongside you. What a time to be alive huh? Vaugaurd is saved, you're free of the time loop, and your travels are picking back. The party back in Dormont was a good way to celebrate and you're glad for the downtime you got before setting off again with everyone.

Isabeau - "Madame, thanks again for getting the supplies we needed together yesterday." Odile - "It wasn't any trouble especially since they gave us so much as thanks for saving them."

They probably gave us a bit too much if you're being honest but it's nice that you won't have to worry about stocking back up for a while. You notice Mirabelle shooting you a glance and walk over.

Siffrin - "Something wrong?" Mirabelle - "N-no. I just wanted to see how you were feeling is all."

It has only been a few days since you managed to finally escape the time loop but after talking with everyone and expreiencing real days again you're feeling a lot better.

Siffrin - "I'm great honestly."

She glares at you for a moment as if trying to see through any lies you might have told before relaxing and smiling gently.

Mirabelle - "I'm glad, make sure to talk to me if you do start feeling bad, you promised after all." Siffrin - "I promise I won't leaf you hanging Mira." A slight smirk appears on her face. "Good."

Bonnie is as full of energy as ever. Actually they may have a more than before since you're all on your way to reunite them with their recently unfrozen older sister. What was her name again something with an N you're sure… Nico… Niel… Nille yes that was it Nille. The forest is finally coming into view which means you're about a sixth of the way to the next town. A pretty good pace if you all keep this up it'll only take a month to get to Bambouche.

It's pretty dark out now you've set up camp for the evening in a little clearing along the path. Bonnie's cooking up stew for everyone tonight. You sit on a log with Isabeau on your right as you eat.

Isabeau - "O-Oh Sif!"

He seems a little startled maybe you should have asked him but oh well he did just confess to you so he should at least be able to handle this much.

Isabeau - "H-how umm… how do you like the stew?"

It's a nice stew; hearty, warm, and delicious the spices compliment the meat well. "It's pretty tasty in fact I guess you could say…"

He looks at you with anticipation written all over his face. "that it's pretty stewpendous!"

He erupts into laughter - "YEAH YOU COULD HAHAHA!"

You catch Mirabelle giggling and Bonnie doing a small fist pump out of the corner of your eye. You enjoy the stew with everyone around the fire enjoying some light conversation. Finishing up you set your plate aside and Isa looks at you.

Isabeau - "Say Sif?"

He holds his hand out to you, you take it in kind and hear Mirabelle sqeak a little as you do.

"I was wondering… do you want a hat? I mean as your new clothing designer I've gotta know what my client needs so I wanted see if you need a new one seeing as we couldn't find yours even after talking to the head housemaiden."

Oh yeah now that he mentions it you have been missing it these last few days, it's kind of nice and kind of annoying not having it so it's a bit of a tough call you don't need it but it'd be useful too. You know whay if you're this torn you should ask Isa to make you a new one and just wear it as feels right. "I did wish for you to so... please do Mr.Amazing-funny-buff-clothmaster-Isabeau."

His cheeks turn a few shades darker "I'll make them the best you could ask for!" Even if it was the worst you'd seen you'd still wear them if Isabeau made them.

Odile sounding slightly exasperated - "Enough with the flirting you two. Clean your plates so we can all get some sleep."

[veetri-bitcrush]

Yo your rigging skills are immaculate! Where did you learn such dark magics, I'm still learning modeling as a baseline. But I figured I might aswell ask then post it for others!

Helloo! Thanks for your compliment 🥹 I'm glad the stuff I do looks cool enough to make you say that.

Part 1st - The Inception

When it comes to 3D I still consider myself more on the hobbyist side than the professional one.

I have a weird past in self-taught 3D modeling and game development at the same time so the logic for topology, weights, constraints and such seems to have a dedicated core in my brain that developed through sheer trial, error, tutorials and some actual studying. But I don't think I can exactly pinpoint a linear path that has taught me all of this.

Part 2nd - The Ruse

On the other hand, low poly models are much more manageable than modern high fidelity stuff. That certainly works in favour of hiding my weak spots hahaha.

Part 3rd - The Rigs

When it comes to the rigs I use in my videos, I've been testing different approaches. Thankfully, the extraction tools do preserve the original weights for the most part, but I have had to do weight necromancy to recover missing information sometimes, I made a script to recover missing weights whenever that happens.

My older MGS animations use just some basic IKs and Drivers on top of the deform bones (I should get fined for those crimes) because they were a ton of characters, I wanted to save time and the extraction workflow was pretty new to me and I didn't know what to expect next.

For the newer ones, I started adding more complex control rigs until I hit a limit where it was not scalable.

To speed things up, I now have a custom set of tools to quickly name bones and then I map them to a Rigify uh... rig. That's how I rigged The Boss for a recent video.

Part 4th - The Craftpersonship

I do continue to make new rigs for original characters from scratch because I like to learn and improve in that front rather than just rely on tools to make them for me whenever I have the time for that.

[karlachismylife]

Gorilla!reader you say ? 👁️ 👁️

Yeah! Sorry I'm actually excited to yap about it hahaha cuz it has been really forming quite in details in my head last days

It is obviously very self-indulgent (in case not everyone noticed, I refer to myself as gorilla and it's a lifelong thing), not fully self-insert, but uhhh. My ideal self insert? Maybe not that either. But deeply personal and with a lot of my issues/problems/feelings projected there, that's what I mean. I don't know how enjoyable it will be for people reading it, but it's just something I really wanna write, so I'll do it anyway. And post it cuz well I'm an attention whore.

So I have been going back and forth on whether make it shapeshifter or hybrid, and I ended up deciding on shapeshifter. First of all, "weregorilla" is prime for stupid puns fueled by gorilla talk, and second, it will kida help me avoid misrepresenting gorillas (because this reader will be very aggressive and gorillas ARE NOT) + adds actually a layer of depth in the sense that I can play off the contrast of animal/human form in this case. Don't know if I'll go full on "two souls in one body" route, but there are things I want to show through the duality.

It's gonna be a classic "new addition to tf141 is a shapeshifter" plot, cuz I'm a basic bitch like that, and yes, it's gonna be poly 141 x reader but also big emphasise on found family. The more I think about it, the more I realize that it doesn't feel right for me to write it without touching on racism, in the military and in general, and it's probably gonna be very on the nose and clumsy, but this whole thing is basically on the nose and not nuanced at all. It's very much stemming from all the pent up rage I have inside, and rage knows no nuance. Oh and gender stuff too, cuz yeah, well, self-insert part, and I don't know gender. Never met her. That one would be fun actually, cuz gorillas are pretty patriarchal and form harems, but like. Where does a genderqueer gorilla fit into this hierarchy? Since obviously 141 will be like this reader's troop (gorilla pack), that would be a fun disruption if I manage to do it like I see it.

But I am very anxious about touching the race issue, and while I very much know that it's not anyone's job to educate me, if there are any black readers of mine that would be kind enough to let me run those episodes by them to make sure they are not downright awful before I post them, I would be immensly grateful. Maybe if people tell me there is no way this does not come across wrong, I'll cut it from the story. But help would be appreciated. Yeah.

So in short, it's my childish tantrum I have been dying to throw for years now, but packaged into text with four big guys liking the tantrum for no other reason than I want all four of them to be my troop.

I saw recently a post mocking the "strong female characters who are badass because they don't wear makeup and their only emotion is anger" and welp. That's gonna be it. Honestly I don't even feel upset that it looks so shallow.

One time a friend made me a birthday gift in a form of one visit to a "wreck it room" where they give you some plates and cheap old furniture and some other trash, and also baseball bats, crowbar (my favourite), a mallet and some other things. Blast heavy metal and such things through speakers. And let you break EVERYTHING in that room. Only walls are off limits, and I ended up even accidentally breaking a brick out while I was trying to break a stubborn chair leg in half. I destroyed everything they gave me in that one hour limit, even the guy who worked there was impressed. That's still one of my happiest memories.

And if channelling it makes for a shallow walking stereotype of a character, well, I don't give a fuck this time.

honestly even relaying all this made me feel better, sorry I dumped it all on you, I realize this might be not yours or anyone's cup of tea, but it's really something for me first and foremost. i think allowing myself to write dumb shallow angry shit might fix me just a little bit.

[zingaplanet]

hi new tennis fan here, do you mind explaining the 2011 fedal fallout? I tried looking around but couldn't find much. Thanks in advance!

Oh ho ho mutual, thanks for the question altho I fear this might get too complicated too political too quickly hahaha I'll try to keep my answer neutral. Tennis politics is an underworld of nasty nasty business and as much as it is fascinating, it is unfortunately very different from the clean, elegant, prestigious look the sport is presented as at front, as is expected when big prize money is on the line. This is going to be quite long, as usual, so be prepared hahaha

There's a good NYT article about this whole Nadal-Federer-Djokovic council debacle which I highly reccommend (around their 2019 return to the council), but let me provide a bit of a back story to that as well.

Now this all started back in the early 2010s, Federer and Nadal were still world number 1 and 2 (oh the good old days), and they were also the leaders at the players' council (Nadal was Federer's VP). So the gist of it by end of 2011, there was a bit of a dispute, esentially about prize money, but quickly turned into a bit of everything.

Basically, after the ATP finals of that year, there was talk of changing ATP into a 2 year ranking system. This is a bit unconventional but it's actually related to how points are accumulated throughout the whole tour and the accessibility of the sports to newcomers.

Everyone kinda knows that tennis is one of the most difficult sports to break into, not only because tournament seedings are based on rankings (unlike in football for instance where it's random), meaning top players will always have preference to go all the way to the final, but also because prize money has also been reported as highly unequal. Players at the top level like Serena, Federer, Sharapova, Nadal etc earned a gazillion times more than even the top 20 players, this is because of sponsorship, but also because of the gap in prize money. More reports have been coming out on this recently, where the top 5 players in India and other countries can't even sustain themselves with prize money alone and has to take up side jobs.

The idea is that with a 2 year ranking, points will be distributed more evenly, rankings will be much more accessible and players in the top 50 will have access to better prize money. It's a bit complicated to explain technically but that's the gist of it as far as I understand.

Now the problem starts when in November that year, the players meeting saw all players (including Nadal) except Federer, the president, support the 2 year system. They were also planning to boycott the Australian Open, that they deemed were far too unfair in terms of prize money distribution as all other Grand Slams.

The dispute between the two of them also has another layer into it however. Unsurprisignly, the ranking debate is related to discussions about scheduling, in which Nadal has been strongly advocating for change since the beginning of his career.

I managed to dig up some quotes on this, it's pretty nasty (hmu if you want sources):

“"For him, it's good to say nothing, (His attitude is) "Everything is positive. It's all well and good for me, I look like a gentleman,' and the rest can burn themselves. He likes the circuit. I like the circuit. It's better than many other sports, but that doesn't mean that it couldn't be better.”

Rafa and some other players are protesting about the number of mandatory events a pro player is required to compete in during the year, arguing this is not actually sustainable for an athlete's physical condition which he himself has felt the brunt too many times.

"I love the game and there are a lot of things I'm grateful for,” Nadal said. “The game has allowed me to lead a fantastic lifestyle. But to finish your career with pain all over your body, is that a positive? No. Maybe (Federer) has got a super body and he'll finish his career like a rose. Neither myself, nor (Andy) Murray, nor (Novak) Djokovic are going to finish our careers like a rose. Tennis is an important part of my life, but it's a tough sport. We're not like him, where it's effortless to play. For all of us, it's a battle."

I believe this is the period Federer was referring to when he said "He used to follow me around with everything but then he grew to be his own person," etc.

Federer and Nadal before this period were strangely civil towards each other, even after those French Open and Wimbledon finals back to back - but this seemed to be the beginning of their souring relations. Federer handled it very discretely and only said he had “no hard feelings” toward Nadal for the comments, and Nadal also later admitted that his comments “must stay in the locker room.”

I'm not saying one player is right and the other is wrong, there is always 2 sides of the coin. A 2 year ranking system will mess a lot of things up in terms of the sport's competitiveness and spectatorship, but there is also a real pay gap problem in tennis, especially in Grand Slams, it's a very top heavy sport. It's very evident that Nadal and Federer's frustrations with each other relate a lot to their different career trajectories and playing style. Nadal said many times from the beginning that his style of play is too physicaly disruptive and I remember him saying he'd be very surprised if he's still playing in his 30s and it's obvious that Federer's injury-free career bothered him a bit, while Federer, I think is always the perfect middle-man between the players and the tournament organisers (he has very good relationship with all of them), and he understood nuances of the sports' politics and that it's never that simple to change everything, something a lot of young players don't really get I think (Nadal is a bit more politically diplomatic nowadays).

The story of the 2019 council dispute is a bit more complicated, and it actually shows how much they've built bridges over their differences as this time it was more the case of Novak vs the two of them, quite literally haha. Nadal and Federer were no longer part of the council then. I think it started with the firing of the ATP chief executive, Chris Kermode (Djokovic was the president at that time I think). Nadal and Federer were very unhappy about this and that they weren't consulted on the decision.

Federer said: “I tried to meet Novak on the deadline; unfortunately, he had no time, That’s hard to understand for me.” Nadal, who met with Federer at that tournament to discuss tour business, also echoed his displeasure.

Very spicy, huh? This actually ended up bringing both Nadal and Federer back together into the council. Federer agreed to rejoin, and he talked about it with Nadal: "I would only do it if you were going too. And he said: I also only participate if you are there too."

See his cute full interview here:

The sweetest cherry on top is actually Andy Murray, bless his little heart (he is unsurprisingly quite uninvolved with the drama hahaha). He also left the council recently and actually was really happy Federer and Nadal the duo managed to get back together into the fray. “Despite the sport’s current success we live in chaotic times,” Murray wrote on Twitter. “My biggest achievement on the council may well prove to be being part of the group of resignations that presented the opportunity for this to happen. Good luck!!!”

Anyhow, there you go, a few thousand? words on tennis politics that you clearly did not ask for but hey! nothing better to start saturday morning than some spicy drama between the world's top athletes, eh?

[albatris]

I'm mixing up names and pronouns so sorry about that but can I please hear more about the vampire who thought they were hungry for someone's baking when they were really thirsty for blood 🥺that excerpt was so neat

:D yay I'm glad you liked it!! thank u for the kind words...!!

that's Nat! poor guy. he recently woke up on the side of the road covered in mud in his rental car with no memory of the past ten days... oh, and he's somehow turning into a vampire now! surprise!

so ya, he has no reason initially to suspect the mystery delicious scent he keeps smelling is human blood.... he doesn't know vampires exist let alone that he is one!! he's just broke n hungry n thinkin about sweet baked goods......

he's an anxious, awkward lad with a big heart and lots of feelings about things. he loves animals! especially cats! and in the story will soon come into possession of a very odd ugly scrungly rescue cat named Grub, who is the light of his life c: he's a vegetarian and an excellent cook, and shows his love for others by cooking their favourite dishes :3 he is incredibly smart and did well back in high school, but as an adult he's rather apathetic and unmotivated, n struggles with his self-esteem quite a bit 😔

Nat works (mostly) night shifts at dodgy petrol station chain Stop 'N' Go, where he takes naps on the clock and encourages shoplifting. he becomes a manager in book two purely by accident, but doesn't stick at it very long

he has schizotypal personality disorder too (like me!), which means he struggles a lot with paranoid ideation and social situations, as well as some mild psychosis. he struggles to make and keep friends, but he really does love people and being included in a friendship group, even if he's pretty nervous. his desperation for friendship often leads to him overextending himself though - kiddo will do almost anything to feel useful and liked :c

Nat's character arc mostly focuses on him learning his place in the world and becoming steadfast in his own values, and LEARNING what those values are n not letting himself get pushed around so much. he's an earnest, kind-hearted dude who wants to do good in the world, and he's trying to balance this with the fact that he now has to feed on human life to survive

he's also trying to solve the mystery of what happened during his ten day disappearance...... aaaand he might end up on a quest to kill and eat the centre of the giant vampire hivemind known as "the Garble" at some point. nbd <3

Nat's vampirism comes with a monster mode! it kicks in when he's extremely stressed or extremely hungry, and has rather too many mouths and eyes and claws. in this state, he is still able to recognise friends, but it takes him a lot more effort and concentration, and he's unable to understand unfamiliar humans or vampires as anything other than food, threats, or resources. it's a painful transformation and Nat really doesn't like going monster mode. it's very scary for him and can be very dangerous for others around him. his partner Quinn and his friends Alex and Zeke can usually calm him down though..... his other friend Yvonne will stay as far away from monster mode Nat as possible, thank you very much

Nat's preferred prey is abusive bosses and dirtbag CEOs and rich pricks, etc etc etc, all of which his own personal rich prick, Quinn, helps him track down and access. he is also not above eating particularly awful customers hahaha. like. if someone is screaming in his face for no reason or it's some creepy dude harassing one of his younger female co-workers, yeah, he might just go for a little spontaneous snack. can you blame him

so yeah! that's a lil about my boy Nat! he's the protagonist and main viewpoint character of "a rental car takes a left down rake street and disappears", the horror trilogy I'm working on atm :D

[blackbirdsinmypie]

sooo much i want to talk about. hmm i was going to write most of it in my journal but i'm short on time so i'll type it instead. v long so it's under a read more:

the project is over and it was a success! some stumbles here and there, but overall, we did really well. so proud of everyone for this one!

thank you to our project managers and my academic team manager in particular. you guys are the real MVPs! you gave 110% of yourselves this entire project and i appreciate it so so much, you're my inspirations hahaha.

spend a wonderfulllll few days with a beloved friend of five years! i wrote a poem for her a few weeks ago, it's on here somewhere. i'm so so glad to have been able to spend time with her after so long. she's a very dear friend to me and her presence literally lights up a room. <3

had a panic attack lol. this was the not so great part. that's literally never happened to me before, esp. not in public. i was hyperventilating, sweating, my hands were tingling, i was crying and i couldn't stop for the life of me, and i was really disoriented. and all of this right in the main room, in front of everyone. i don't know why it had to happen right there and then. sooooo embarrassing :< the trigger was the fact that i missed out on the group photo but that's such a stupid fucking thing to have a panic attack over - i think it was more the combo of the stress + lack of sleep + the constant performativity of teaching in front of so many people (including my lovely classmates!) + the myriad of mental health problems i am currently dealing with, and that little thing - the missing out on the group photo for a project that i've worked so hard for (also fucking w/ my dormant abandonment issues) - was the straw that broke the camel's back, in a way. and i just had a full blown panic attack in the main room in front of my classmates and juniors and everyone. so embarrassing :<

thank you so so much to my lovely friends for taking such good care of me and helping me through it!!! i appreciate it so much. they really did try their best to soothe me. i'm so lucky to have such kind and caring friends in my life.

thinking back, i should have gone somewhere quiet, sat down, and tried to control my breathing. seems pretty logical. but i didn't realise i was having a panic attack at the time - i just thought i was feeling particularly emotional for some reason and i needed to will myself into calming the fuck down. but a panic attack is such a physical thing, you can't really stand there and mentally force yourself to stop shaking and hyperventilating. but i didn't know what to do. i just stood there and hyperventilated and tried so so hard to stop crying. i promise i was trying so hard. i couldn't stop. i'm so embarrassed about it.

i talked to everyone after the event had ended - i was still coming down from my panic attack at that point and my voice was shaky and i was still sort of holding back tears. i should have gone somewhere quiet and waited until it was over before talking to anyone. but i talked to everyone and gave them my thanks and told them how incredible they were and how much i appreciated their work. i wonder if i made anyone uncomfortable - i was still visibly upset at this point, but i was trying my hardest to be composed. i should have waited. i really hope i didn't make anyone too uncomfortable. but i meant what i said. am i overthinking things again? i've been overthinking a lot recently. it's not good for me.

but everyone was so supportive, which i'm incredibly grateful for. you guys are the best.

some of the juniors asked for my contact info after the event. it was embarrassing facing them like three minutes after the worst of the panic attack had passed, tears in my eyes, voice wobbling and breathing still weird. like fuck!!!! i'm supposed to be an inspiration and a role model for these kids!!! and here i am fucking. having a breakdown in front of them!!! AHHHHH!!!!! v embarrassing but it's okay. it's no biggie. fuckkkkkkkk

we went for dinner afterwards. drank a glass of beer - icky!!! i don't like the taste of hops. i'll stick to fun cocktails in the future. everyone seemed very surprised/ecstatic that i was drinking though. i felt like britney spears singing oops i did it again - "i'm not that innocent" lol.

slept at my friend's hotel room. it was so nice being with her - she brings out the loud side of me that i haven't seen in a while. i love it.

also all my friends and a lot of the juniors said that i did a really great job w teaching my topics! political philosophy and public administration are both tricky, but i hope i made it at least a little more interesting than reading out of a textbook. i'm proud of myself for this one.

all in all - i have been on quite the emotional rollercoaster these past few days. but i'm glad to have been a part of this project. it's brought me a lot closer to a my classmates and i'm beyond grateful for that.

hope that panic attack doesn't happen again though. because what the fuck was that