#but i couldn't decide if i should include quotes or not

[timewillpasssoon]

HELLO!!! Maybe in the second part there's some drama 🫣 Maybe a dating scandal with another person and Joost is heartbroken but Y/n is like No, I only like Joost!! And Y/n reaches out to him first and apologizes for all the drama and he asks her to come to one of his concerts??

LET ME THINK...

pairing . Joost Klein x fem-celeb! reader

content . fluff, reader is an actress, you are addressed as 'reader', reader is the same age as joost, fake social media screenshots,

summary . you announce that you are a huge fan of Joost Klein in an interview... and he sees it! He just so happens to be a huge fan as well.

word count . 1,9k words, 10,8k characters, 3 screenshots

author's note . guys i did it, i wrote part two. there will be a part 3 (maybe a part 4!!). the part 3 will include the dating drama...!!! ALSO ME AND KÄÄRIJÄ HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY, LETSGO

You honestly couldn't believe it. That your celebrity crush just said you were cute. That he's too shy to talk to you??? You found this out when you were in a Café.

Finn decided to take you out to a nice, but little Café. A nice outing with his “older sister”, he said.

You and Finn were chatting about recent drama you both recalled when your famous friend, Ella Purnell, suddenly FaceTimed you. As you answered, she said her quick hello and mentioned something about Joost responding to your interview. However, her words were muffled by background noise, and you only caught Joost's name. "What are you talking about?" you asked, a sense of panic rising within you, hoping it might just be a prank call.

Meanwhile Ella, between her hair and makeup session with her crew, urged you to check Twitter. "He responded to you... you'll be pretty happy to hear what he said," she exclaimed. With a mixture of dread and curiosity, you glanced at Finn before hurriedly opening Twitter to investigate. As you navigated to the trending section, your heart sank as you read the top headline: "JOOST REPLIED."

“Ah, shit.” Finn checks Twitter as well. His jaw slightly drops, probably an inch down. “He saw it?” Ella hums at Finn's question, “He probably saw the interview right as it dropped.” Finn nodded.

You freeze as you click on the button, two tweets on your screening both saying that Joost Klein responded to Reader Lastname. You clicked on the clip attached to one of the tweets. It was Joost in his iconic blue spiked-shouldered suit. Appie and Stunje are barely on screen.

The video starts on by Joost speaking, "well, I am honestly very flattered that someone beautiful as her would be interested in me."

He continues, "When I saw the interview, I froze! She is one of my favorite actresses. Reader is amazing at her job!" The interviewer chuckled, "Oh! Well maybe you should message her!"

"No, no! I am too embarrassed to make the first move...

“But she is very pretty.”

You were in a state of frenzy, alternating between giggling uncontrollably and wiping your sweat that was on your forehead. You were also kicking Finn's legs in excitement. "Will you stop doing that?" Finn chuckled, clearly amused by your reaction. The video repeated, indicating that you watched the whole clip.

Both Ella and Finn witnessed your surprised expression. “Amazing, right? That means you have a chance!” Ella shouted, trying to make herself more audible over the commotion behind her. “I think I'm going to faint.”

Finn placed his hand on his own forehead, looking at the video one more time. Never before had you felt so embarrassed and dizzy in your life. “You should text him.” Finn smiles at his friend, placing his phone down on the table, lifting his fork. “You know what,”

You take a moment to think about it. Maybe you should make the first move. Well, you kind of had to, since Joost quote-ly wasn't.

“Alright, I'll text him-!” Ella and Finn cheered you on, “Atta girl!”

As you reached for your phone to check your contacts, a sudden realization washed over you.

"I don't have his number," you muttered, a sense of disappointment creeping in. Finn and Ella, who had been cheering you on moments before slowly, gradually fell silent. "Well, shit," Ella exclaimed, her tone reflecting a mix of frustration and disappointment.

She glanced away from her camera phone, redirecting her gaze to the mirror in front of her.

“You can't DM him on Instagram, he doesn't have them on.” You don't question how she knows that. Okay, maybe she might have tried to message him about you when the interview first dropped, but she couldn't.

“How am I going to contact him?” Finn raises his cup of coffee to his lips, “We have connections…?” Finn suggested a solution but you weren't listening because he explained it too fast, or maybe because it wasn't that good… Ella sighs fidgeting with her baby hairs, “We should ask around. To see if anyone is close to him.” Ella's suggestion was the best one out of the two.

She picked up her phone, you can hear Ella start typing, in search of finding friends that know friends that know friends that know Joost.

Finn unlocking his phone on his way to mass message all his contacts.

…

How long has it been?

It felt like an eternity, but in reality, only about twenty minutes had passed. All you wanted to do is talk to (maybe) your future boyfriend.

You got a message back from someone in your contacts.

The three of you have tons of connections that you just asked around if anyone had his number, and after what seems to feel like hours...

YOU GOT IT!

You got Joost Klein's number from mutual friends. Your old co-star is friends with a Greece singer who is also friends with this Finnish rapper named Käärijä.

And Käärijä is really close with Joost...!!!

You got Joost's number from Käärijä, “What should I say?” You asked Ella and Finn. Your palms were very sweaty, emphasis on very.

“A simple hi would be good.” Ella said smiling, you couldn't tell if she was making fun of you or not. “What if he finds it weird that I got his number through his friend?”

“How else would you get it? He's ‘too shy’ to make a move. You had to get it somehow.”

Finn finished taking the last sip of his coffee before saying that. He lifted his eyebrows indicating that you should agree with him. “You know he's right. His friend probably already told him that you have his number. What if he's waiting for you?” Ella teasing you to hit the send button of your text.

...

And she was right. Joost was pacing around his room as he got the news from Käärijä. That the most beautiful woman, Joost's words, is going to text him any minute now. “I don't think I'm ready.” He admitted aloud, the weight of anticipation and nerves settling heavily on his shoulders.

Joost has loved your movies and shows since your career started. You were a great actress and had an even greater personality from what he has seen online.

Also, when you revealed that you knew some Dutch in an interview… he loved you even more. “What!? Why… Do you not like her?”

Joost sighs and backtracks, “I do! I'm just nervous. How would I reply to her message?” Käärijä lets out an airy laugh. “I'm not sure… But you'll figure it out!!”

He was no help, thought Joost. He sighed when he heard Käärijä's advice. The two of you were a nervous wreck.

Käärijä spoke again after hearing Joost's depressed sigh, "I'll help you think of a response when she does text you."

“What if I mess this chance up with her?”

/

"What if he thinks I’m weird?"

The air was filled with worry. “I don’t know…” Finn rolled his eyes, telling you that if you don’t bag him now, someone else will.

You knew he was right, so you swallowed all your embarrassment.

“Maybe a simple explanation?” You ask your two friends before sending your text. “Yeah, whatever, just send it!” Ella couldn't wait anymore, rushing you to send the message already.

“Alright, alright!”

You typed out your message: “hey joost, it's reader! I got your number from a friend of yours. wanted to say hey and if you're down to talk ^^”

“Is that good? Oh god, maybe I should just say ‘hey’.” Ella rolls her eyes, slightly annoyed from your overthinking, “It's great. Don't overthink it,” Ella chuckles at a thought that popped in her head, “He's already getting you stressed out and you guys aren't even together yet.” Yet. That word made your stomach twist into several knots. You and Joost haven't had a proper conversation yet.

There were a lot of “yet”s in your thoughts. Finn snapped you out of them, saying, “Listen even if you mess this up, there are other fish in the sea, right? You don't even know him that well enough to be stressing this much.”

Was that advice the best? It was decent but he was also somewhat right!

“What great advice, Finn, be my therapist!” Ella makes a mockery at him just for a good laugh. She was successful on making you laugh quietly while staring at the now empty plate in front of you.

“Whatever, I'm always right.” Finn scoffs, tilting his head to the side. “If you don't want to text him you don't have to.” You look directly into his eyes, you weren't quite sure what to say. “Yeah but…

“I want to.”

You straighten your posture and click the send button. Your three letter message is sent within five seconds of you pressing the send button. “Did she actually do it!?”

Ella asks Finn, nodding yet she couldn't see, “Holy shit, she did it!” Finn cheered quietly for you. “You did it, Reader!” Ella claps her hands together, bringing her tied hands in front of where her heart would be.

“I feel better.” Ella smiles at your comment, “I'm glad you took the first step. I have to get going now! But text me when he responds! Cheers!” Ella quickly ends the call after you and Finn say your goodbye to her.

You smile at Finn, the knots in your stomach going away. “Want me to take a photo of you?” Finn asked as he unlocked his phone to go to the camera app. He swooped some of his hair, that was once in front of his forehead, behind his ears.

“Duh!" When he finished taking a photo of you in the green Café, you snapped a picture of him as well.

It was later in the day, around six pm from where you were currently located at, the nice cool air breezing through you and Finn. When you first sent your text to Joost, it was around ten am, making it seven pm in the Netherlands. It took him around ten minutes to respond to your first text. It was him reassuring you that he was down to chat.

The conversation lasted for a couple of hours, getting to know each other well enough within the four hours he had. The talk ended due to Joost having to go to bed, him being nine hours ahead of you was sure frustrating, you wanted to talk for a few more minutes but respected his goodbye. The rest of the day was traveling around with Finn.

You were in Finn's car, in a random semi-empty parking lot. A little takeout box on your lap. You were staring at the sky, having thoughts, little ones that weren't going to stick for a while.

Finn placed down his tiny bow on his lap as well. "What are you think about?" He snapped you out of your thoughts. "I think you know who I'm thinking about..." He smiled at you, nodding his head slowly as he looked away. "Should've known."

Finn sighed, "Just spit it out already!" He could tell something was bothering you, something that may involve a certain Dutch man. You shake your head. "It's nothing bad." You take a moment to yourself. "Just feel nervous."

You shifted in your seat, facing Finn that was in the driver's seat. "He's really nice, sweet, and just overall understanding! I know we only talked for, what- four hours? But he's pretty decent from what I had."

Finn looked away, knowing you were right. "I like him more than the others." Finn smirked at you, with cheekiness, "I did some research."

You sigh, you slightly open your mouth, the tip of your tongue touching your inner cheek. "Of course you did!"

taglist . . . @poppymelonz @grassclippers @catch1ngmoths @beansnsoup @f4n3tt3 @smiley-roos @welcometowonkas @hatsunimikuuu @haela-ttt @iamirish @berryxblue @ki-wiix @hsthbs @ihrtmusicsblog @arisja3701 @morrrospotted @casuallyeating @evonevenik @hiraethberry @yaxily45 @katlolsblog @1lovef1sblog @hockeybae @arysbruv @bl0om-star @bineeeee @gigilovescatsx @non-lo-so0 @lovely-nightstars @frikandllbroodje @lovingyeet @frenchgirlsblog

white means i can't tag.

[indigovigilance]

Neil Gaiman's 3 cameos

"But Neil only has one cameo, it's in the movie theater!" Come now. What show are we watching? There is not just one cameo. There are three. The first one is...

The one that actually happened:

but then there is also...

The one that was supposed to happen, but didn't:

See those two people in the background? Lower left-hand corner of the screen? By rights, that should have been Neil and Terry, but Terry was taken from us too soon. Neil wrote this scene intending to do the cameo by himself, in honor of his friend, but on that day couldn't bring himself to do it:

Terry Pratchett and I, had a standing… not even a standing joke, just a standing plan, that we were going to have sushi - there was going to be a scene in Good Omens where sushi was eaten and we were gonna be extras, we were gonna sit in the background, eating sushi while it was done. And I was so looking forward to this and, so I wrote this scene with it being sushi, even though Terry was gone, with that in mind and I thought: Oh, I’ll sit and I’ll eat lots of sushi as an extra, this will be my scene as an extra, I’ll just be in the background. And then, on the day, or a couple of days before, I realized that I couldn’t do it. [...] it was written for Terry and all of the sushi meals we’d ever had and all of the strange way that sushi ran through Good Omens.

The fact that the scene exists at all, I think, can be taken as a cameo. I would interpret it as one of Neil's cameos, since he wrote it as a self-insert of an important aspect of his relationship to the work, but it is also Terry's cameo. Focusing on the empty space where something ought to be is itself a representation of what is missing; there is something to be said for drawing attention to absence, which is what our knowledge of how this scene came to be accomplishes.

There's no good way for me to transition to the next part of this meta other than to encourage you to take a deep breath and remember that Terry Pratchett has been immortalized by this and other works. He is beloved, and not forgotten, and lives on in our hearts, and we honor him by celebrating his works not only in mourning but in the full range of emotion that his works inspired in us, including laughter.

Because this next part is just silly.

Neil's AU Gary Stu cameo:

Neil Gaiman has told the story multiple times about how a careers advisor tried to redirect his life course from storytelling to... *shudder* accountancy. Here's one quote [source]:

Gaiman: I very much wanted to write comics. I remember as a kid, I was 15, and I had a meeting with an outside careers adviser. I was asked, “OK, well, what do you want to be?” And I said, “Well, I really want to write American comics.” There was a long pause, and then the outside careers adviser said, “Well, how do you go about doing that then?” I said, “You’re the careers adviser. You tell me.” And then there was another seriously long pause, and the adviser said, “Have you ever thought about accountancy?” I said, “No, I have never thought about accountancy.” And then we just sat and stared at each other.

We are all very lucky that teenager!Neil decided to completely disregard this advice, but Good Omens S1E2 contains a character that seems to resemble who Neil would have become (or thought he would have become) if he had let that careers advisor drag him into a life of bean-counting mundanity.

We may not see Neil's face in this scene, but we do get to experience his existential dread of the what if: what if I had never become a storyteller? What if I had listened to that wanker, and lived a life without following my dreams?

I'd say it counts as a cameo.

[honeycreammilkshake]

as both a sukuita and sukuna fan, chapter 268 killed me. at first i thought it was because we finally got another really intimate and highly emotional scene between sukuna and yuuji, and that sukuna chose to die over accepting yuuji's kindness, but now i can't stop thinking about how this entire chapter was such a good character study and a metaphor for one of the most important themes in the story.

in chapter 21, there's a really interesting conversation between junpei and mahito, where junpei disagrees with the quote "the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference." he knows how evil people can be so he chooses to feel indifferent about human suffering instead. mahito's view on this is also really intriguing, especially considering how he is a curse born from the hate people share for each other.

i could be wrong but it sounds like the basic message here is that deadening yourself to such intense feelings — love or hate — is a type of retaliation for being hurt or consumed by them. which makes me wonder if sukuna had a similar story to junpei, and if that explains how he became what he is.

we know that sukuna wasn't wanted as a child. he was more than likely rejected by both normal society and the jujutsu world. like junpei he was probably treated cruelly or strongly made aware of the many people who hated him. sukuna claimed to know what love is, but i think what he actually understood was the absence of love. he understood maybe what it means to others, but he had never felt or experienced it himself.

which brings me back to junpei's idea that indifference should be the solution. this is kind of the same philosophy sukuna has: he believes in this unshakable hierarchy of strength where the weak should have no right to lament their suffering. his idea was that the strongest were indifferent to suffering, that it's greedy to be lonely because of this. he calls it his "nature" to live in this self-indulgent way that is completely uncaring and selfish.

but then there's yuuji.

yuuji has been alone for a lot of his life. at the beginning, he doesn't have any really close friends, since even the other occult club members don't know him all that well. his only family was wasuke, who was difficult and pushed people away, including yuuji.

after his grandfather's death, he wanted to do right and fulfill wasuke's request of helping people, to be able to die surrounded by those he cares about. he pretty much gave his life to help other people by accepting responsibility as sukuna's vessel, and shows concern and kindness even to strangers.

he seems the exact opposite of sukuna and he stands for all the things that the king of curses hates... so why is it that someone sukuna considers so weak has so much power over him?

the only one who's really managed to make sukuna rethink his ideas of the world has been yuuji. even sukuna acknowledged that he was affected more by yuuji than anyone else.

to him, those who challenged him 1000 years ago were "other people." his relationship with yuuji was and always has been so special that even he admits it.

sukuna mostly strived for indifference his entire life. consuming so many humans was merely a way for him to pass the time until death, as he said, and those tastes were passing and unmemorable for the most part. everything was so unfeeling about the way he made his philosophy sound during his conversation with kashimo, and he couldn't answer as to why he would decide to cross the ages into modern life if his life before had been truly satisfactory. it's like he wasn't even moved to support his own ideals.

but here yuuji is... an annoying brat he called weak and boring, yet every time they fought sukuna looked thrilled and even impressed, though he resented it. and every time yuuji challenged him, sukuna was bothered enough to challenge him right back.

"the opposite of love is indifference." if this is true, sukuna was most likely forced into his indifference due to the fact he was never wanted or loved. but yuuji awakened so many feelings inside of him, too many. living as sukuna's vessel, they shared such a close connection while still opposing each other in every single way. yuuji represented the intense feelings of both love and hate in the way he fought so hard for others while sukuna's own indifference started to break the longer he spent inside of yuuji. he was far more reactive to yuuji than with others, and had even given him special treatment. there were many times he could have killed yuuji or his friends, but he didn't.

yuuji has made it clear that he hates sukuna's indifference to the value of people's lives.

sukuna's indifference towards life is against everything yuuji believes in but strangely enough, yuuji was still willing to accept sukuna. to not only pity him, but to have genuine empathy and compassion for such a monster as well.

he even says to sukuna that they are the same, despite seeming to be complete opposites of each other.

to me, yuuji saying that the monster sukuna became was a matter of chance, shows that he understands how indifference cut sukuna off from having a different fate.

there is a vast area of shades between love and hate, unlike the overwhelmingly static state of indifference. yuuji was showing those shades of love and hate to sukuna, telling him that they could live in the mixed shades of both.

and i really wished sukuna chose to coexist with both that love and hate and remain with yuuji. but he was too used to being indifferent and rejected that offer.

i'm really hoping we get to see yuuji's thoughts on this in the next few chapters, because he looked truly disappointed by sukuna's rejection.

[napoleonic-sexyman-tournament]

Propaganda under the cut because it's long:

Alexander I Pavlovich

a. “Maybe not the most handsome or charismatic man in this tournament, but he has ample chaotic neutral energy that both baffles and fascinates contemporaries. In short, if you're into mysterious men, you won't find a sexier enigma than our imperator.”

b. “Look. Is this or is this not the monsterfucking website.”

c. There are lots of monuments dedicated to him. There's one in Moscow in the Alexander Garden right by the Red Square. While nowhere near as grand as the Alexander Column, I think it's still worth showcasing!

The monument is meant to celebrate his victory in the 1812 Russian invasion. He's holding a sword, proudly standing on top of his enemies' weapon.

The sculptors, however, have never seen the man in their life - all the people involved in the making are still alive and well (i think), so that should tell how new it is. The monument was opened for the public just a decade ago in 2014.

d. quote about this bust from the memoirs of Sophie de Choiseul-Gouffier: “No painter was able to properly capture the features of his face and especially his soft expression. Alexander didn’t like to pose for portraits and they were mostly done with some stealth. In this case sculpture have produced a better likeness. The famed Thorvaldsen made a bust of this sovereign worthy of a hand of such a remarkable artist.”

e. His family nickname might have been ‘our angel’ and the medal commemorating his death bears the inscription “Our angel is in heaven”, but did you know that to this day Alexander looks down on Sankt Petersburg as an actual angel, wings, cross, trampled snake and all? Alas, you cannot see it from the ground, the Alexander Column being so very tall, but the statue of the angel on top certainly seems to take after our sexy thrice-angel Emperor.

f. Apotheosis of Alexander! An eminently universal image, perfectly serviceable for his rise to the throne… of Napoleonic Sexyman Tournament.

It really looks like Peter and Catherine are instructing the Electorate. Gentlevoters, surely you wouldn’t dream of disappointing Sasha’s Grandmother and his scantily clothed giant of a Great-great-grandfather?

g. What is sexier than a man in a dress???

Mikhail Miloradovich:

Miloradovich had a short episode as Catherine the Great's favourite at just eighteen. Alas, usually he's not included on the official list except by Barskov. That is because he was one of several concurrent boytoys candidates in 1789, before Zubov won the contest. But I believe that being to Catherine's taste adds to M's sexyman cred.

He never married, but according to his legend, he kept an entire trunk of love letters (from many, many ladies) in his palace, which was discovered after his death.

Miloradovich possessed the kind of cavalier fantasy that made him a hero among soldiers (and one of Suvorov's favourites). Hence these three popular stories:

Once, while on campaign, his soldiers decided to give M their best wishes on his name day. He was very gracious about it and told them with his best roguish smile that in thanks for their wishes he'd give them a present... that present being the nearest pretty-as-a-picture enemy column (French).

On one occasion Joachim Murat came out, sat down and demonstratively drank coffee during an active fire exchange. Miloradovich naturally couldn't be worse and asked for a table to be set for him. Also under the fire, because where else. "He's drinking coffee? I'm eating dinner here!" And it wasn't a singular event: more than once he and Murat conducted a peculiar gallant flirtation on the field. And yes, Miloradovich also had a weakness for very blingy bling.

Alas, M didn't get to carry a ladder (that we know of), but he didn't shy motivating his soldiers in similar ways. It just so happened that his scouting party came to a stop at a steep slope and froze. Miloradovich came forward, got on the ground and slid down the slope on his spine, laughing and generally having (or pretending to have) lots of fun.

[marzipanandminutiae]

she's never going to read this, but it's still interesting

so the person with the extremely cold corset takes last night has now decided that dress history folks are straight-up lying about the purpose of corsets. because we just love them so much, I guess?

she found this ad:

and therefore knows corsets were Totally About Waist Reduction First And Foremost, Always And Forever, Amen

I have. some thoughts.

the main one being that nobody claimed corsets were never used to waist-train back then

the secondary one being that many ads for "form-reducing corsets," at least the ones that I found, make a distinction between "normal" corsets and their product:

It's a specialty product, not what the average woman is wearing on a daily basis. Is its existence messed up? Yes! But nobody has been disputing that pressure on women to look a certain way, and fatphobia, are awful. The issue in question is: was the primary function of an average (in this case Victorian/Edwardian) corset waist reduction? It seems to me that the ad supplied- again, for a specialty garment that was not seen as an ordinary corset -does not prove OP's point.

so let's look at some ordinary corset ads, shall we?

(don't freak out too much about the "baby/child corsets"- I've worked with extant examples many times, and they're just lightly stiffened vests. you couldn't lace a kid down in them if you tried- not that you should, obviously)

(Pliability, elasticity, comfort- but no mention of waist reduction as a selling point)

(this one is an unusual design, but I'm including it because it mentions support- and specifically breast support -not once, but twice. It also instructs ladies to measure their waists OUTSIDE their clothing- which will result in a larger measure even than we commonly use for custom corsets nowadays. note that a 2" lacing gap was common, per a corsetiere quoted in Valerie Steele's The Corset: A Cultural History)

(Flexibility and comfort, yet again.)

(Rather a ridiculous one, including the implication that you need an elegant corset to snare a husband and therefore economic security and love, but the bottom left text says "What an improvement the Madam Warren corset. And how comfortable.")

so we've clearly got comfort, support, and ease of movement at the forefront of the average consumer's mind, for so many ads to mention such thing. a number also don't have much text at all:

(The Celebrated EEE is my hypothetical burlesque name, but I digress.)

of the first twenty random ads that come up when I do an image search for "corset advertisement," eleven mention health and/or comfort, and only one directly mentions waist reduction- while advertising, again, a separate specialty "reducing" corset.

am I saying it never happened? absolutely not. I have NEVER been saying that. tightlacing did happen. obviously reducing corsets existed. I would not deny any of this

am I saying that, clearly, support and comfort were thought so high on the average corset-wearer's priority list that manufacturers played to those attributes more than waist reduction when constructing/advertising corsets, implying that they are NOT, in fact, the same thing as a Kim K waist cincher? yes

(file under: things I cannot believe I have to fucking say, and yet here we are)

[avelera]

OFMD really said, "Pursue the things you love, not the things you fear."

I'm still turning this idea over in my head like a microwave but I'm thinking about Stede's line to (the picture of) Ed, "I'm afraid that your life is better without me."

From @blackbbonnet's gifset here.

Whew, what a doozy of a line!

And what a curious line!

Because the reason Stede left Ed at the end of Season 1 was in the hopes that it would improve Ed's life if he took off.

Despite the fact that Ed chose to be with Stede. Despite the fact Ed was content with folding socks if he was by Stede's side. Despite kissing him and declaring, by somewhat obliquely, that a life anywhere was fine as long as Stede was there, Stede just couldn't hear it over the sound of the Badmintons and his own trauma in his ears telling him he destroyed beautiful things, like his family, and Ed.

Ok, so what does this have to do with my thesis above?

Stede failed, he messed up, because he saw his worst fear of Ed being happy without him and decided that the painful thing was the right thing. That the voices in his head telling him he was worthless were correct. That it was better to listen to those voices, and to make his greatest fear a reality.

I've argued that the narrative morality of OFMD, the actions that give you plot armor and allow you to save the day, are when characters pursue what they love.

This is in contrast to many other adult-aimed works of fiction that say we should do things out of duty. We should do things that are painful but necessary. OFMD said, "Fuck that noise."

Because Stede left Ed out of a sense of duty. And he fucked over every single person in his life by doing so, including Mary and his kids, though he was able to fix that eventually specifically by resolving to return to his own happiness so that they could have theirs.

But then we've got this quote above! This quote saying that Stede is afraid Ed's life is better. Fascinating! Absolutely fascinating! Because that means the thing Stede was ready to self-sacrifice for at the end of the Season 1 was the thing he feared most: a life for Ed that was better without Stede in it.

I suppose there's no better definition of duty, huh? Then the resolve to do something that will be personally painful to us for some higher goal. And again, OFMD said fuck that noise, pursue your happiness, and do so proudly.

But there's an extention to this too, the more I thought about it. The show literally even said that even for matters of survival, the better motivation is joy not fear or duty.

Think of the storm in S1 ep. 4. While trying to think of a way for everyone to survive because it's his duty as a captain, Ed is distracted, disinterested. Izzy's frustration with him mounts. The tension rises. His heart is really not in it, we know Ed's actively suicidal...

And the plan Ed comes up with fails.

It was born out of duty as a captain and it failed because he messed up the dates.

But what plan succeeds? The plan born out of joy. The Ed that works with Stede to become a lighthouse is acting out of an active, joyful desire to live, he chooses life out of the joy of being with Stede, of partnering with Stede.

The you flash forward to the scene where Ed is drowning in his Purgatory fever dream and the simple motions of struggling to stay alive are not enough. The duty of staying alive is not enough. The thing that actually works is when the choice he makes to live is joyful, it's a positive choice to go towards the light and be with Stede. Stede, embodied as a beautiful gold fish of a merman.

And just to be clear, I don't at all think that OFMD is saying, "If you don't have a joyful reason to move forward, just give up." Not at all.

What I think it's saying is, pursuing your happiness will succeed. Even when it's scary. Even when it means confronting fears. Even when it's hard. Duty alone isn't enough to live on. It's not enough to motivate us when things are hard. It has diminishing returns. Pick and pursue what gives you joy, choose a shining target to move towards, and you'll not only be true to yourself, but good things will come out of it. Just like Ed finding Stede, and Stede finding Ed, because they pursued what made them happiest in life.

[krukel]

After @seokoilua posted about the My Life, My Music interview (a while ago, this post is partially from my drafts!) I went to relisten to it. And in general it is a very fun interview with a lot of insightful moments about their creation process (Ne Bi Smel in particular) and the mixing process for example. Their voices in general are very soft (in tone, not volume) especially when talking to each other and the vibe is 🥰 I wanted to highlights some of my favourite moments because I want more people to know about them:

2:35 - They talk a bit about doing many concerts in a row and Kris says: "At one point in the summer we had four consecutive days of concerts and the fourth day was already the wors-" (gets cut of by Bojan). Knowing they have now done 7 concerts in 6 days during the nordic tour this is a little funny and a little sad to hear :(

3:59 - Not necessarily a moment but the first song (chosen by Bojan) is Ni Panike by Masayah and I think more people should go listen to Masayah so I'm including it >:)

14:30 - Ne Bi Smel was first called "burning room" and, quoting Bojan, "it couldn't have been more of an Ed Sheeran song." It sounds like the rest was not initially impressed: "and when I brought it to the rehearsal room the boys were like, yeah, hm, yeah no. and I think Jure just started banging on the drums and the guys took on the guitars and started playing some riff."

15:35 - The host asks a question about something they said somewhere else and Bojan and Kris argue a bit about who said that in the first place. It's very cute and my favourite moment is Bojan whispering at the end "I don't think so" because of course he needs to get last word in

21:34 - Hater!Kris returns because apparently he sends "not to appealing" songs to the groupchat?

Kris (about Jet Black Diamonds): The first time that we heard them it was their first single Retro Anorak, and I remember sending over the video to the guys in the group chat and I was like "oh, this is interesting," because usually I send some really… not too- Host: Obscure Kris: No no. Not too appealing Slovenian songs, because- Bojan: Yeah, Kris does that Kris: to be honest there's loads of them and I keep kinda getting them recommended somehow on Facebook or I dunno, it's like a positive feedback loop

Honestly the most surprising thing to me about this is that in the year of our lord 2022 Kris still used Facebook actively enough to stumble across things like that

23:56 - Kris talks about forming Buržoazija and how his guitar instructor recommended Jan: "Jan at that point was really like- I didn't really understand what he was about, he was like an introverted guy, really, also listening to a lot of metal and I was like "okaaay? I guess we'll try?" and then we started to practice and really got along."

25:45 - Luka (Apokalipsa's guitar player) and Martin already knew how to play and Bojan didn't and that's how they decided that he should sing. Also their first performance (also up on youtube, baby Bojči is very cute) was two (2!!) weeks after they started practising together

28:49 - About creating outside of Slovenia

Host: Is there something specific that you haven't yet done that you are desperately keen to do, or is this gonna gently evolve? Bojan: I dunno about the desperately want to do, I guess one thing we "truly desperately want to do" is go out of Slovenia to create. To try a new space. So go to a studio somewhere outside of our borders and see if the mindflow is different there. That is the only thing I can think of right now. Maybe Kris has- Kris: In addition to that, I really wanna see us tour anywhere, anywhere outside of Slovenia" Host: You are beginning to get to the audience already a little bit, […], you can find opportunities Kris: Yes, yes, we are, don't worry about it. We just don't want to talk to much about it yet Bojan: Let's say we're gonna have another interview next year and we're gonna have so much to talk about

This was before Hamburg where they created Carpe Diem and before London and honestly I'm glad they're getting to experience that Erasmus+/semester abroad experience because it's something they really wanted to do and they seem to be enjoying it a lot

[chaotic-zora]

Silly zora oc thoughts-

Nyvor and Thresh reuniting and frolicking through the fields, meanwhile their domain on 🔥🔥🔥 as shit goes down. Literally that returning home with pizza to a burning room meme.

Can't decide if they reunite before or after the coup. If before Silvyr hunts them down and is like "Get in the car bitches we are going to overthrow the government."

Nyvor, a pacifist, "We are just going to banish them, right?"

Silvyr, "Banish them...sure-"

Thresh, "If you mean banish them to the afterlife then YES."

---

Thresh is illiterate. The domain at large is aware of this, so whenever they receive letters it's actually a set of crude drawings trying to convey meanings without words

*heavy metal music* Wow that's a lot of words. Too bad I can't read.

----

Thresh, once again outright disobeying Captain Silvyr's commands during battle, to do his own thing.

Silvyr, swearing beneath their breath: Typical. Never listens. This is why we broke up.

Thresh: I heard that. FUCK OFF.

(Thresh and Silvyr are close friends. In the past they tried to court, very unsuccessfully. Their failed love affair was a hot topic for awhile, especially since the two remained friends. When asked about it they tell contradicting and bizarre stories on why and how they broke up. In reality it was a very cordial split, but it keeps the Domain entertained.)

Zora #1: I heard Silvyr broke up with Thresh in the volcanic mines and then just left them there! Thresh got lost for TWO days in the tunnels cause they couldn't read the maps!!

Zora #2: *gasp* What! No way! I heard Thresh broke up with Silvyr because Silvyr is, and I quote, "A little shit that doesn't share their food."

----

Things I want to draw but probably never will include:

Silvyr, passing Thresh and Nyvor in the castle halls. They look exhausted and stressed.

Thresh: Silvyr looks really worn down....

Nyvor: It must be the neverending stack of paperwork.

Thresh, lightbulb: I CAN HELP.

Nyvor: Babe...I'm not sure you should-

Later Silvyr returns to their office only to find smoke coming out of the room. Rushes in to find a fire pit has been constructed (castle on land) and Thresh is burning all their paperwork.

Silvyr: THRESHHHHH

[theliterarywolf]

Can I have an explanation as to what is the Fyre Festival(?) I don't know if I'm too young or not American enough to know ^^''

Long story short, watch this

Short story long and I mean long, so a good portion in will have a Read More break for the sake of people's dashboards:

We have a trust-fund baby by the name of Billy McFarland. Full-on too much allowance and money from mommy and daddy and nowhere near enough brains to use it.

Billy calls himself making a black card (credit cards for obnoxiously wealthy people) company called Magnises where the premise is basically

Billy: 'Why, yes, this is a money-sink of what is already a money-sink, but with this you get amazing deals on concerts and meeting celebrities~!'

Anyone dumb enough to sign up: 'Um... Okay, at least that last part sounds good. How does it work?'

Billy: 'That's the neat part! IT DOESN'T!'

So anyone would think 'okay, you can't even make something as simple as a customized credit card work, maybe you should stay away from business and investments for a bit'. Not Billy! Because during some big party or whatever, he happened to meet the famous (to some people) rapper Ja Rule! And they got to talking and decided 'why don't we throw a music festival with high-profile acts in the Bahamas?!'

So they actually flew out to Great Exuma with a bunch of influencer thots and Instagram models and lived it up to the fullest. Why? So they could get promo material for a festival that literally didn't even exist.

So determined were they to get this footage that when one model expressed discomfort at getting into a swimming pool (it was getting late and she was cold), Ja Rule told her to, quote, 'Get your ass in the damn pool'.

So they got this footage and started promoting online. And they sold out! Awesome, right? For them to see how much interest they got had to mean that they realized they needed to get infrastructure and hospitality squared away, right?

Ha ha -- WRONG.

Because even other people who were employed by Billy and Ja Rule were telling them, begging them 'we need at least 2 years to pull off something like this'.

But remember! Billy McFarland has horrific denial issues! So he kept insisting that they could make it happen! Also, something something -- taking out a bunch of short-term loans that he couldn't afford to default on -- something.

So they go full steam ahead!

...By not paying the local laborers they hired, the restaurant-owner they hired, the staff they hired--

But, traloo-traley! They day eventually arrives! Excited festival-goers are hopping on their flights to the Bahamas, expecting the highest luxury that their $1200 tickets could pay for.

By the way, is it... too late to mention that tickets only ranged from $500 to $1200? For a two week music festival? With all amenities included? IN THE FUCKING BAHAMAS?!

Festival-goers step out of the airport and are directed onto a school bus. ...Okay. Where they are then driven to a pretty miserable looking beach. ...Okay. Where they see a swathe of disaster-relief tents.

Welcome to Fyre Festival*!

*Note: The Festival barely ended up lasting two days from a combination of festival-goers seeing the shitshow, trying to leave but not having any spending money (because the Festival was advertised as cashless), and eventually being rounded up by the Bahamian Government and taken back to the airport.

Also: In addition to the festival-goers being promised premium accommodations that turned out to be those disaster-relief tents, they were promised fine dining which those who arrived early got... At the expense of the restaurant owner who was never paid... But the rest were granted the boon of withered salad greens and 'sandwiches' made of limp bread and Government-Approved Cheese-Product (TM).

And all of this doesn't even go into the rumors of wild dog attacks, festival-goers attacking and stealing supplies from each other, Billy asking one of the event-planners, an elderly gentleman who was supposedly a long-time friend of his, to go to the head of Bahamian Customs and offer to suck his dick so they could import some drinking water, and of course Billy's scumbag denial about anything going wrong, about needing to pay his employees in the aftermath, or his eventual jail-time.

But this already got so long so, if anyone wants me to elaborate on anything else, it would have to be in response to a second ask.

[fizzing-imagines]

Hellfire After Hours GOOD END | Billy Hargrove x Plus Size! Alt! Reader

Notes: I loved writing this and am actually really proud of it. I hope y'all enjoy it just as much!

Warnings: Sexual Inuendos

Words: 300-ish

It's been eight years since Billy was miraculously saved at Starcourt Mall. And while it took him months to recover, multiple surgeries, weekly tips to the hospital and more sleepless nights in the ER than you ever wanted to experience, it was all worth it. As soon as he had his spine reconstructed the two of you moves to his hometown Los Angeles, got jobs there and bought a house near Huntington beach. Billy worked as a mechanic in a local carshop while you ended up working behind the counter at a bakery in the inner city. You found a new D&D party to join while Billy eventually got back into surfing once his doctor gave him the go. After three years together in LA, Billy proposed to you at Huntingdon Beach. Of course you said yes, how could you not when he went out of his way to find an engagement ring with an onyx instead of a diamond? Your high-school friends were invited to the wedding, and so was Billy's step-sister Max. He tried his best to fix their relationship, and while she kept a respectful distance they called each other from time to time. Neil wasn't invited. Neither you nor Billy wanted to ever see him again, and your now-husband despised him so much that he went against all traditions and took your last name. A year later, against all odds, you got pregnant. After weeks of talking, Billy and you decided to keep the child. Your daughter, Joanne (L/N), would be the only child the two of you have. Your husband was so scared of becoming a father throughout most of your pregnancy. Not because he didn't want this child but because he was terrified of becoming like his dad. You promised him to, quote, "Beat the living daylight out of him and break his spine again." if he ever becomes anything like Neil. But he was a wonderful father, Joanne was a total daddies girl and came after him. From her hair, eyes, and nose down to her love for surfing she was a carbon copy of Billy. Including getting into trouble.

Your husband and your daughter hid in her closet, giggling while eating the fresh cookies you made an hour ago. Since you said they should wait until after dinner, this was against your wishes. "William (L/N!)", you yelled upstairs while looking for Billy. Eventually, you got into your daughters room but when you heard Billy shush her laughter you couldn't be mad anymore and left the room. How could you be mad when you heard your little girl laugh? "Well, if my Billy and my Jojo are already full with cookies, I guess I can order a pizza just for myself.", you said loudly while leaving her room. The two in the closet looked at each other, quickly finished the rest of the cookies and followed after you. "Mommy, wait!", Jojo said while running after you. "I'm sooo hungry!" She followed you into the kitchen, Billy being shortly behind her. You were standing at the kitchen counter, phone in hand as you waited for the two of them. "Mommy!", Jojo said as she ran up to you and hugged your hip. "You can't let me go hungry." Of course you wouldn't do that, but it was so much fun to tease the two. "Yeah, mommy, you can't let me go hungry either.", your husband said to you with a suggestive smirk on his face. You playfully slapped him in the shoulder while handing him the pizza delivery pamphlet with ordering options on it.

Billy brought Joanne to bed while you got comfortable in your shared bed. He recently gifted you a new book on D&D, something you still enjoyed even while being a mother, and were skipping through the pages while waiting for your husband. It took him a good 30 minutes before he came into your master bedroom and got into bed next to you. He took the book out of your hands and while leaning over to your nightstand to put it down started kissing your neck.

"I'm still hungry.", he whispered into your ear before lightly biting down on your neck.

[staghunters]

STAGHUNTERS NEOCITIES WEEE

Figured I should make a new post at this point because the other one is getting too long to keep reblogging. I've been tinkering away at the site and it is shaping up! Here's a lil page by page tour under the cut

you can view the site here!

Splash screen!

It's a little bumper so the css can load without it scrabling the home page. It looks alright, but to add some more text to the image, I have to make a new one in the death screen generator, which is not ideal.

The home page!

I've changed the middle window so it fits in better with the rest. Not very visually exciting there in terms of color, but it is for now the best look imo. Text there is aligned justified, I've condensed it a bit more and added the randomized quote section underneath it instead of it being a seperate window on the side.

To do list needs an update but is still accurate. The team is still there, but on the other side, I have set the blinkies to be a bit larger. The music player has been removed because I couldn't find a way to add songs to it that weren't included on the source site. Snufkin is here now. The webrings will need some more. Retronaut is there, but not functioning as it should. it just forwards you to random sites in the ring instead of where it should be, but I can't find what exactly I'm doing wrong with the code.

Another thing that is not working on neocities itself is the "last updated" part. For some reason it doesn't display there what it does display on my local html. Maybe a bug at neo.

And icons at the top on the nav par! Adds some more flair to the place. The footer has also received a minor update: it now has a sitemap link instead of another back-to-home url.

About!

I'm thinking of moving the small window with the short info to the right, but it is here for now. Links that are web-building related are on the right, also for my own referencing. The essentials lists on the left are hidden on load, but can be revealed by tapping the puttons. The lists are in tree-view and the window shouldn't expand over the cassette image once the construction sign is removed. Speaking of, the cassette has a lil playlist.

I might expand on the info a bit more, but that is for me to ponder. I liked including links to tumblr, the guestbook, and a button in case anyone wants to link my site on theirs.

Writing!

Hasn't really changed much. I've been looking at moving the sidebar info to be in the main section upon load, but idk if that would just make things more complicated. Right now it loads to an empty section there, stuff appears once you click a button. PDF support is only available once I'm a supporter of neocities, which i do wanna do but isn't a priority atm just for getting this part running. The links to ao3 will do just fine for now.

Journal!

The space for my rambling. It can be browsed by entry through the post-it, and all that seems to be functioning alright. Added a kitty and a sticker for decoration. The Stop Making Sense bumper sticker will now load a local video of the performance, but once again I won't be able to add this to the site until I get a supporter thing going. It plays/pauses on click, hehe.

Basement!

Decided to add a page for it. Basic info, schedule, link to the room, my letterboxd, and an overview of past movies. It's a nice spot on the site that is also the most cramped, but I like how it turned out.

BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH

In case any page/url error happens, you can send a movie recommendation to B (their askbox is linked when you open on desktop)

UNDER HEAVY CONSTRUCTION

The art and other pages are very much works in progress. Art can be up and running once I upload art to the site, but I'm not sure if I want to post full pieces here. Maybe I'll make it a space for sketch stuff that I'd otherwise discard.

As for the other page: I might be filing it under the writing page as a section, since the only thing here is WvW atm. It's cool that it has it's own thing, but I'm not sure if something that is basically a fanfic warrants such a space. That, or I keep it and drop all my other-media stuff in here so there's more to look at.

That's it for now! I got some ideas on how to continue, but they're not super-duper set in stone.

[princess-of-the-corner]

MLP Rewrite AU - Forgotten Friendship (if you didn't do it already)

OKAY SO UH

I absolutely rewrote this as a whole Thing in the universe and a chunk of things got changed so let's go over those before I get deep into the actual rewrite

1.) I had a separate fic in the AU where Sunset went back to Equestria and talked to Celestia already. Though it /was/ unfinished I remember most of my plans for it? So I skipped that here.

2.) Clover and the Memory Stone..... Clover already had completely different Lore surrounding her, both in-canon and thanks to my 'Hearth's Warming Cover Up' conspiracy theory, and the Memory Stone gave me a plothole headache. So I scrapped both.

3.) I made Wallflower's motivations a touch more relatable and out of her control.

4.) Unfortunately no Trixie in this but I've had fun with her elsewhere and should probably write her into something else lmao

SO ANYWAY

When Sunset gets to the beach and realizes no one remembers her having become their friend, she does manage to out-logic them. Pointing out inconsistencies and where they /should/ remember her being there because, looking into their memory, she's just erased out but not replaced well.

The biggest one being asking how they contacted Twilight when the Sirens were causing problems. The group pauses for a moment, but realizes that there was a journal but they can't remember where they got it. Sunset pulls out said journal, which gets them to listen a bit more.

She asks what they remember about the friendship games, to which Sci-Twi mentions remembering Sunset yelling at her for disrupting the games with portals. She says that it was harsh, but considering the whole event could've hurt her since it knocked her off the motorbike she understands in hindsight.

The rest of the group are like 'wait, what?' because they don't remember Sunset being in the games and couldn't fathom 'mean bully Sunset' being part of the games with them. But when asked who was paired with Rainbow for the motocross portion of the games, no one remembers. Except Sci-Twi, who says it was Sunset.

Sunset tests this and prompts further with- okay so I had a Thing™ in my rewrites that in the previous school year Pinkie and Sunset had been in the school play together. So as an inside joke they casually quote their lines at one another. Sunset kicks the habit off, reciting one of her lines. Pinkie answers, but stops. Her mind trying to remember, but all she can see is herself alone on stage, reading lines to no one.

Pinkie is Not Handling This Well™ and has dropped into straight hair mode and is hugging the fuck out of Sunset at this point. She forgot a friend! How dare she forget a friend?!

She asks them about after the games, because I had a fic re: finding Sunset's Human counterpart. And they remember her, but why would they look for her without prompting from their Sunset?

Sunset tests how far this goes by calling Flash. Just to see if it's an 'everyone' or a 'just the main characters' thing. He also doesn't remember making up with her. But with a little prompting of 'who gave you a sword for Christmas'(long story lmao), she gets him to listen. And he thinks about it more and says he remembers everything from when they 'broke up' and were fighting, but nothing about their friendship before that. Even though they would've been friends and hanging out before the 'break up', right?

Okay I'm going on a tangent trying to set up how the memory thing works lmao but anyway

The Rainbooms decide that they need more help than this and decide to talk to Princess Twilight about it. This includes everyone going through the portal because they're freaked and paranoid they'll forget again! (will be using 'Twilight' for pony and Sci-Twi for Human for now)

After some shenanigans of most of them getting used to Horse Mode™, Twilight does some prodding and questioning and experimenting. She actually /does/ know a spell that might cause this, but it's one she's not an expert on. Thankfully she can just do a quick teleport across town and grab someone who knows the spell a lot more.

Rarity my darling it's time for you to shine!

After quickly updating her, Twilight suggests that it may be the spell she used on the chandelier. Which Rairty agrees.

She elaborates, saying she had found the spell in a book up in the Crystal Empire. Technically it's a Crystal Pony spell, but Unicorns can replicate other Magics.

Anyway: The spell is used to copy a memory into a gemstone. She used this to make the tree root chandelier that's in the Castle of Friendship. There was a chunk of trial and error as she got the spell right. She gives examples of what went wrong, like her initial trials on Rainbow volunteering 'erase my memory of the Daring Do books so I can read them for the first time again'. Sometimes it erased her memory of the books, sometimes it erased her memory of the pony. The spell is even specific enough to differentiate different 'versions' of someone, such as 'Twilight as a Unicorn' vs. 'Twilight as an Alicorn'.

Now, the spell isn't /supposed/ to erase memories, just make a copy. But it can fuck up and erase. And unfortunately, Rarity can't reverse the spell without having whatever gemstone holds the memories.

Ofc this means they have to figure out who did this! Clearly since more Humans are getting their Pony Magics, it should be a counterpart to a Unicorn or Crystal Pony. They just have to figure out who. Rarity muses that, as the spell is an incomplete version, it's likely they tested it out and had it backfire on them a lot. Backfired spells can cause low-energy and even some pain, but also it means the person may have accidentally erased memories of themselves.

They go back to the Human World, leaving Twilight and Rarity in Equestria and keeping them updated in case something goes wrong, and decide to flip through the previous year's yearbook to look for someone they don't remember. Pinkie eventually points out Wallflower, and everyone knows that Pinkie's memory for people is very good so if she doesn't remember....

They lure Wallflower to the school gardens, and Sunset does the memory dive to look into it. She sees that Wallflower had been accidentally activating the spell, erasing herself from people's memory. Had been getting more and more hurt from the unfinished spell. But since she didn't know how to fix it, why not use it?

This causes a bit of a fight because Sunset's like 'the FUCK do you have against me?!' and Wallflower yells back about how it's unfair that someone like Sunset can just 'be nice' after so much meanness and get super popular while people like Wallflower who were always nice get entirely forgotten.

Pinkie calls her out on this of like 'hey! I consider you a friend why not come to me!'. Wallflower is very cynical on this because Pinkie considers everyone a friend but there's no way in hell she knows /everyone/ as intimately as a friend should. Which, yeah, Pinkie can do some wild shit but there's people she's closer to than others. But she's always open to being closer to someone! Or to helping someone out, including helping them find someone they may find a true friendship in! Wallflower still could've come to her!

Wallflower is starting to see that she fucked up, but she can't return their memories of Sunset. She doesn't know how. So she does the one thing she thinks she can do, give them a fresh start!

Ofc Sunset tries to block this and gets hit and. well.

It erased memory of the 'Human-esque' Sunset. Which means, as far as Sunset's aware, she just ran through the portal after her fight with Celestia and is mid-breakdown.

Not a fun experience!

Sunset has no idea what's going on. All the others are mad at Wallflower. They try to fix it and explain that there should be a gemstone. Wallflower offers her necklace but.... there's nothing in it. No memories, no Magic whatsoever.

Sunset is VERY confused but trying to help. the others are getting more upset and worried because 'oh shit she doesn't remember jack shit of the last six years and we still don't know how to fix it!!

But since they tell Wallflower to stop zapping everyone goddamn it they drag the Pony!Twilight and Rarity over to try and fix this shit.

Wallflower: "Oh god I'm sorry I don't deserve friends after all I've done how could anyone ever forgive the awful things I did???"

The Rainbooms+2: "Well. You didn't try destroying the world so you're really not even in the top 10 of wildest people we've befriended. Also we may have a Problem™."

Anyway! Rarity manages to figure out what crystal the Memories are hiding in! They're hiding in Wallflower herself. Crystal Pony bodies mimic crystals/gems so they can do the same thing.

Now knowing where the Memories are, Rarity can channel the spell and return the memories to where they should be.

Sunset and Wallflower get to talk for a bit about Hey That Was Fucked™.

But also like. Sunset knows what it's like to be alone. She left her home when she was still a kid, and wound up in a whole other dimension. One where, even if she makes some friends, she could never fully befirend them because she couldn't tell them /what/ exactly she was. It's different now, but she'd faced that before. She knows lonliness.

And Wallflower feels guilty because she never really put together how alone Sunset was. Thought she'd just skated by so easily in the friends department.

And Sunset helps her realize that there's more to friendship than just kindness. Being nice helps, of course. But you need to reach out. You need to put in an effort.

But at the same time, everyone you meet holds the potential to become your best friend.

[writingrenna]

Clavell x GN!Reader (Sorta)

"May I Have A Word With You?"

A story where Clavell sees how well you are around the kids of the older academy goers.

You're like a cool older sibling/pibling (gender neutral for aunt or uncle) to them, and you're able to distract and calm them down when they come to the academy for special events/occasions. Some even remember you when they enroll later! Clavell admires someone who can make an impact like that.

Also why does this man not have any of his quotes on Bulbapedia that would've helped so much

Tone/Ending: Wholesome, Open-Ended

Warnings: The kids can be R O W D Y, and your expy almost swears once or twice, that is all

Continuity?: This story uses lore from/takes place at the same time as my previous full story ("Where The Heart Is"), but it doesn't need to be read as part of the same timeline to make sense

Word Count: A bit more than 4,000

-O-O-

"ALRIGHT, YOU RUG RAAAAATS!!"

Your voice could be heard from the gates of Mesagoza. The children in the courtyard abruptly stop their shenanigans. A young boy speaks up first, addressing you by name. They all seem to know you well enough to know your name and that you mean business, even if you are "the fun one" along with Dendra.

"Yes, Zale?"

"How much longer until the... the..."

A girl around his age speaks up.

"Treasures Within Fun Fair?"

He perks up.

"Yeah! That! How long until that starts again?"

You smile, although your eyes gave away the answer.

"Not for a while, I'm afraid. About 4 hours."

They all groan in unison. Another kid speaks up.

"Then why did Mama bring me so early?"

You answer.

"So you could be here on time?"

Another kid speaks up. If something crazy was happening, you could almost guarantee Geráneo was behind it. He crossed his arms.

"Yeah, but being on time like this is boooring! I'd rather run at super lightning speed to make it."

The other kids 'oooh'ed, although the girl from before, Auyama, looks positively confused.

"Super lightning speed?? How'd you get that fast?"

He was not at all perturbed by her question.

"My cousin caught a Zeraora back in Alola, I train with him whenever I visit."

The kids seemed impressed, clapping and 'oooh'ing again, even if one looked bewildered and said "Zera-who-a?" You... doubted his claim, although the speed with which he lied if he did lie... concerned you. You couldn't help but shake your head in amusement, however. You remember coming up with wild theories on how to find the mythical Mew roamimg around here in Paldea...

You decided to let them talk amongst themselves, all of them talking about weird Pokémon encounters they've had, including a Deerling that "turned to goo" near the Treasure Eatery, and a Slowpoke one of their brothers got really excited catching for some reason, even though it seemed to be a normal-old Slowpoke, just a little less pink. It amused you, both because of how much it sounded like yourself and because of how those truly special encounters weren't understood by them yet.

"Wild little goobers..." You say to yourself.

You idly imagined them going "WAIT A MINUTE" one day in a few years (probably after 3 seconds of Jacq's class) when you heard a familiar voice.

"Ah, yes, the imagination and curiosity of children knows no bounds!"

You turned to see him, the Director.

"Ah, Clavell!"

You smiled brightly at his sudden appearance.

He greeted you back.

You asked, "Oh, how's the fair comin' along?"

He hummed, looking up and to the side as if trying to remember what else needed to be done.

"Well, we still need to set up a bit more, especially things pertaining to our main events, but we are thankfully still on the right track. We should be done with time to spare."

He smiled, staring at you from the side with his arms behind his back. He really was proud of this academy. You couldn't help but grin as well.

"Aw F-"

Your eyes widen as you quickly realize what you were about to do, kids turning to look at you. Even Clavell seems shocked by your exclamation, turning to you, mouth slightly open.

"...ffffff... fuuuuuuueCOCO! Yeah! I remember seeing Nemona with hers. Has it evolved yet?"

Clavell, ever the gentleman, accepts your out.

"Why, yes, it did. It first evolved by the time she reached Levincia, I believe. It is now the strongest Skeledirge in Paldea."

You nodded. She really did have a Fuecoco at the start of her treasure hunt last time around. Only thing is, this was three years ago. You internally breathe a sigh of relief having remembered that, pretending you just didn't pay attention to her journey after she went at it again, even if the answer would be obvious even to the kids.

Clavell decides to corral the children while their attention is on you two.

"Alright, little ones. It is time we head back in for a while, we don't want you too tired to enjoy the festivities, do we?"

They all groan, not wanting the fun to end. He makes a compromise to soothe their boredom.

"When you go inside, you can help us decorate by making your own lanterns! I am certain all the teachers would love them. Besides, we could use some helping hands to finish setting up before the academy opens up to the rest of the town. You can be the first people to try our stalls."

This interested them greatly.

"Ooh, OOH! Mine's gonna shoot LIGHTNING!"

"Oh yeah, well mine's gonna be on FIRE, and it WON'T burn."

"Mine's gonna look ICY and FROSTY, it's gonna be so pretty!"

They all talked and ran into the entrance hall. You run up to Clavell to apologize for almost swearing in front of the kids, walking alongside him.

"Heyyy... uh... sorry for the, um, outburst."

He holds a hand up.

"Nonsense. You caught yourself before any damage was done. That alone is apology enough."

You thought on this. Maybe it really wasn't anything.

"But, do be more careful. You might not have another way to save yourself next time."

He looked at you out the corner of his eye, although you could tell he was smirking. He then hurried off to catch up with the children and get them settled, leaving you at the bottom of the steps before you could really process what the smirk meant.

-O-O-

Their parents and guardians all came by to have lunch with them. It had been an hour and a half of them making lanterns to hang up around each teacher's stands. The results so far were... interesting, to say the least, although it seemed like they changed their mind and instead went for a theme that requires working together somewhat.

One kid decided to dedicate theirs to Tyme, but they glued various flat and colorful rocks all over it, which would definitely weigh it down. Another dedicated theirs to Salvatore, writing "Hi!" in different languages, but they kept needing to scribble words out until they eventually started over and decided to look up the real spellings, so they were slightly behind the others.

One is trying to make Dendra's look like a punching glove, one added plastic sprinkles to theirs for Saguaro's cupcake lantern, one even drew themselves using the Pokédex app on Jacq's... all the teachers had a kid here that admired them the most, and that made you feel an overwhelming sense of pride.

You weren't a staff member, only coming by to help set up stuff like this by offering some extra hands, but you wondered if this place could use a daycare. It didn't seem necessary, seeing as though usually only students are here, but something along those lines, like a place for younger non-students to be all day during times like this, or even just a room to de-stress. Perhaps you can have a club started with games and social nights?

Your thoughts were interrupted by Clavell.

"Ah, there you are. I've been looking all over for you."

He comes in, looking around at the art supplies strewn about.

"Ah, I must make sure Mr. Hassel has help clearing this up later..." he said.

"I'm sure he will, Director."

You then remembered what he said when he came in.

"Oh! Is there a reason you were looking for me?"

"Ah, yes indeed! Follow me, we can talk on the way there."

'On the way there?' You thought.

-O-O-

He took you to a quiet, shaded area in Mesagoza. He had picked up a small bag in his office on the way, filled with who-knows-what. You sat on a bench nearby, patiently waiting for him to continue the conversation.

He had asked you a few questions, such as how you felt about the academy and if you'd ever consider working for it. You had said you loved the place, and you did wonder what it'd be like to help in a more official position than "lives nearby and is summoned to aid in official events". He seemed pleased with your answers.

As you sat, he brought out an academy branded thermos.

"Would you like some coffee? I know the little ones can be a handful at times..."

You nodded and accepted gratefully.

"I brought some sugar and creamer with me, use whatever you like, if you like of course..."

He handed you the bag before sitting back again.

"Er, speaking of the children..." He began. "How do you feel about them?

You paused. You hadn't really put much thought into it, sorta naturally ending up taking care of them instead of ever being assigned the role and, of course, wondering if you'd work well with them all day long. You guessed that was an answer, strangely enough.

"Oh, they're cool! I like watching over them, wild as they are. It's sorta nice seeing what the next generation does and talks about."

He smiled and nodded, adjusting the contents of his own thermos as he spoke.

"Ah, I had a feeling you'd say that. I can tell you have a knack for understanding and guiding them."

That... felt a little more sincere than you thought it'd be. Like, of course he wouldn't lie about that, but there seems to be an undercurrent of "this wasn't just small talk, I felt it in my heart" in the way he took your answer in.

He really does bare his heart and soul into this academy.

You idly wonder why he wasn't already the director when the brunt of the Team Star stuff was going on when he speaks up. He silently takes in your pondering expression, slightly tilting his head with a smile on his face.

"Ah, I see that question evoked some deeper thoughts than I anticipated."

You blink, suddenly aware of your surroundings again.

"Oh, yeah! It sorta did, hah."

The two of you idly chat for a while, conversation now skewing towards random goings-on, such as Paldea's youngest champion riding around on their 'Raidon', and the possibility of another school trip to a different region. You suddenly get a strange feeling in your gut.

"Wait, the event! Lunch will be over soon, won't it?"

He thinks, looking up at a park clock.

"Yes, it appears so."

He looks back at you, your alarmed expression still evident, although not nearly as strong as before.

"Are you worried about it? If so, do not worry, I have plenty of time to get back. The children's guardians will still be watching over them, so you have time as well."

These words helped a bit, but you felt the need to run back now. You didn't know why you suddenly feel the need to make it back to watch them. Call it a gut feeling. You just want to make sure they don't get into any mayhem while preparations are still ongoing, guardians there or not.

That felt weird to think about. Why wouldn't the parents watch them? You didn't need to worry, it's just that you aren't really used to not watching them before and during events at this point.

"Alright, Director. I'll be sure to not stress myself out too much."

He smiles and nods before standing up.

"Well, I must be on my way. Do take care, and no worries about that bag and thermos. Consider it a small gift for being such a good babysitter."

He flashed you a grin. You return it, although your mind wanders to something else as he makes his leave.

'Why did he already have this coffee made?'

You look up, but he had already sprinted off.

-O-O-

You were aimlessly wandering around Mesagoza.

'I DO deserve a break.' You thought to yourself.

You walked up to a vendor.

'I'm bored.' You immediately realized.

Walking up the stairs to get back to the academy, you noticed the kids surrounding a Skiddo.

"My mom said I need to learn to ride a Skiddo before I can get a Cyclizar."

Oh?

You get closer before realizing it's Geráneo.

"What she doesn't know is that I'm secretly a master Pokémon whisperer already."

A what?

The kid with him, Pimento, seemed equally confused.

"How do you know? What Pokémon do you know how to talk to?"

He huffed before responding.

"PSSH, like, all of 'em?? I have a natural talent. Watch this!"

He jumped on the back of Skiddo, who didn't do much other than make a small bleating noise and readjust itself afterwards.

"See?? He didn't even flinch!"

Pim seemed unsure.

"You sure? He flinched a little when you hopped on..."

Geráneo, seemingly offended by this, crossed his arms and glared menacingly at him.

"Um, of course he did?? I have too much muscle for him to handle."

Pim, still unconvinced, but wishing to just play with his friend, accepted this answer.

"Okay..."

You stood there, unsure if this was something you needed to intervene in or not. You looked around to see if anyone was already keeping an eye on the two when you heard a "c'mon!" followed by a Pokémon crying out. Turning back, Geráneo wasn't there anymore, and Auyama was screaming, pointing somewhere.

"GERÁNEO IS GOOOOOONE!!"

Oh Gods, this situation certainly needs an adult. You run over to Pim and Yama.

"WHAT HAPPENED??"

"Geráneo pulled Skiddo's horns too hard! He took off overrr... there!"

You turned, looking over to where they pointed. Skiddo was bucking around on the battle court with Geráneo hanging on for dear life.

All this in the .3 seconds you turned around??

"Ok, I'll get them!"

You ran down to calm the mon down, only for it to freak out and start running towards the outer walls of the city.

"Uh-Oh, that's no good..."

The Skiddo keeps running around the city.

"Does that Skiddo have an owner??"

Zale answers from above.

"Yeah! His aunt caught it for him! You want its Pokéball!?"

"Yes, please!"

You run over, positioning yourself so you can catch it when he tosses it over.

It lands in the flowerbed in front of you instead. Good enough.

"Thanks!"

You start to run after them when you realize... there's no way you'll catch up with a skittish Skiddo on foot.

The kids seemingly realize this as well.

Auyama offers something to make things easier for you.

"You wanna borrow my dad's Mudsdale?"

-O-O-

You're riding through the streets of Mesagoza. You'd have to ask why Mudsdale was in the possession of a 7-year-old later. For now, you were immensely grateful for any way to reach the troublemaker and his Skiddo.

"GERÁNEOOO?? GERÁNEO! IF YOU HEAR ME, SAY 'AYE'!"

It took a moment, but you heard an "Aaaaaaye!!" somewhere near Barato's.

'Goodness me...' You thought to yourself.

You felt awful for some reason, although you questioned why nobody was watching them before you came along. Shaking that thought off, you decided not to worry about the why and instead focus on the now. And right now, Skiddo was dangerously close to jumping over the wall and into even more danger.

"Don't worry! I'm here!"

You readied the Pokéball, aiming in their general direction. Skiddo seemed to not be close enough, as the light didn't return to the ball the way it would if something was caught in it.

'Darn'... you whisper before hearing him again.

"U-up here!"

You and Mudsdale look up, only to see the terrified duo... on top of a roof.

"WHAT IN THE-"

You looked over at a concerned guy nearby, who shrugged violently when he looked back down and noticed your bewildered expression.

'He must've climbed up on one of those ramps.' you thought to yourself. You had to act FAST, dismounting Mudsdale and giving her muzzle a few solid pats.

"Thank you."

The dire horse neighed gently, closing her eyes.

You ran over to the building they were on top of, surveying the situation. You had to think, would it be better to catch Skiddo now, or when you're up on the rooftop? If you get it now, Geráneo might fall. But if you get it on the rooftop, Skiddo might get spooked and go for the leap of fate instead.

You decide on the best course of action in your mind.

"Alright, Skiddo!"

They both turn towards you, faces full of fear.

"Skiddo, you don't wanna hurt him, do you?"

The poor thing was shaking, but it shook its head 'no'."

"Yeah, you just didn't like your horns being pulled, right?"

This time it nods.

You smile softly.

"Yeah, I know. I hate getting my bag caught on stuff all the time, I can't imagine getting a part of me pulled like that!"

The Skiddo's shaking, while still evident, calms slightly. Geráneo seems to feel bad.

"I know you just wanted the weird scary thing that pulled your horns off you. I promise he'll be gentle from now on, but I have to call you back into your Pokéball real quick, Ok?"

Skiddo nodded, gently lowering itself to the ground and allowing Gerá to get off it.

"Ok, here we go!"

You recall the creature, who seems content. Geráneo looks kind of shaken up still, now on his knees.

"Ok, n-n-now what?"

You give him a sympathetic smile.

Wait right there, I'll be up in a second!

You make your way up on the rooftop to meet him. You pause, taking in his fearful little shivers. You felt bad for the kid, all things considered. Maybe he just wanted to prove himself somehow? But he really shouldn't have pulled on Skiddo's horns like that. You'd have to have a gentle conversation with him later on, when tensions weren't so high.

"Geráneo! I'm here for you, bud."

He's shaking. You now notice the tears in his eyes.

"B-but I'm s-s-scared! I don't wanna be up so h-high!"

"I know, but..."

You step closer.

"I'm here. And no matter how wild things get, I'll be there with you. Cause life's kinda crazy sometimes. But you gotta be good, because you don't want things to be even crazier when they don't need to be, right?"

He takes this in before running over and hugging you, tears finally falling.

"I didn't mean to hurt Skiddo!" He trembles in your arms. "I-I just wanted to be cool and get a Cyclizar someday! I didn't know pulling his horns would scare and h-hurt him!"

You pat his head, letting him cry it out.

"Yeah, sometimes people forget other living things feel stuff just like you and me, even Pokémon! Tough as they are. But now that you know, you promise not to be so rough with him anymore?"

"Yeeeees!" He cries, looking up at you.

You smile.

"Good. At this rate, you'll have a Cyclizar in no time!"

He seems to pause at this before backing away a little, wiping his face.

"No, I... think I wanna stick with Skiddo. He'll be my partner 'till the end! He'll even be on my champion team one day!"

He raises his arms at this. He seems to feel better now, imagining a future with his beloved mount Pokémon.

You grin, not even realizing it with how happy you were at this unexpected development. Something about him realizing he didn't need what he saw as the 'cooler' Pokémon anymore and coming to appreciate Skiddo on its own made your heart feel warm.

"Well then, don't you wanna say sorry to your partner on solid ground?"

He looked confused for a second before remembering you two were on a rooftop, throwing himself at you in a tight embrace.

"OH CRUD, YEAH!"

You snicker before helping the kid down. You decide to tell nobody what he said. He can use bad language this one time.

-O-O-

"So, yeah. I... I'm sorry."

He had his head down, but his tone was sincere.

Skiddo happily jumped around at this, seemingly accepting his apology.

"Oh! Would you like to be my partner from now on? If you still wanna be friends with me, of course."

Skiddo stops his jumping before looking over at Gerá. At first, the boy wasn't sure what to expect until the mon happily rubbed its face on his arm, as if saying yes.

Gerá's eyes tear up.

"Thank you, Skiddo! I promise we'll be the best team Paldea's ever seen!"

He crouches and hugs his Pokémon. You watch the sweet moment play out with pride.

'I did that' you think to yourself, excited to watch Geráneo grow with his buddy now that he saw him for him.

The serenity of the moment is abruptly shattered upon hearing a man's voice shout your name.

"MOTHER FU-"

You look down at the kiddo and his Skiddo, both looking at you. You decide to try and save the moment again.

"Oh mother, far far away, is where I met my dear f-friend."

You grin, a pained expression on your face. The sentence didn't make the most sense, but they didn't question it (probably because the lack of provocation confused them more than the sentence itself.)

The man leans in, whispering with a wry smile on his face.

"Nice save."

His voice was laced with sarcasm, but you weren't going to tell him off for it.

"Ah, Director Clavell! I didn't notice you there!"

You really had to ask him how he got so fast. Nobody was around you a minute ago.

'Did he train with Zeraora?' You think to yourself, an amused smile on your face before he continues.

"Yes, I can tell. But that is besides the point. If you have the time, may I have a word with you? It's very important."

Your heart sunk.

Would he ban you from the school? You tried to remember the exact sequence of events so you could defend yourself, but in order to seem chill, you respond immediately.

"Yes, of course. I'm free right now."

Certainly more formal than you intended. Your face looked very serious, but more like a 'the principle came into the room while I'm teaching and I just got done reprimanding someone way-too harshly, I need to seem calm' sorta schooled expression. But that really wasn't the situation at all. You were worried regardless, however, even if he didn't seem to imply it was urgent, just important.

Either way, you followed the man up the stairs and into the academy.

-O-O-

"So, I heard from the other children that you had to find Geráneo after he took off on his Skiddo, correct?"

You nod, body tense, one leg over the other. He had pulled another chair out for you in his office. Hands in your lap and back straight as a board as you contained your fear, he replies.

"Ah, thank you for the confirmation."

You hesitantly nod.

"Well, I'd say you did a fantastic job of taking control of the situation."

You...

...what?

"Huh?" You say, genuinely confused (but relieved).

"Yes, you were caught off guard, yet you took off and saved the day regardless. That instinct to protect the children, coupled with the know-how to deescalate things so efficiently is an amazing trait to have."

You took his words in, but each individual word seemed to whizz by too fast to process correctly, especially as a whole. He continued, not noticing your befuddlement.

"Not to mention, Master Geráneo and his relationship with Skiddo seemed to exit the situation in a far better state than when he entered it. That ability to change the lives of those around you in such a profound way warms my heart."

He smiles, eyes full of admiration.

You look at him, taking in the situation with a gulp.

He had no reason to blame you, sure, but a part of you was afraid he'd let you take the fall in the parent's eyes, even if it made no sense both with context and in knowing him somewhat personally by now.

"Oh, s-so... we good?"

He blinked, sitting up straight.

"Ah, yes, we are certainly good. Better than ever, even. That leads me to a question I have, actually."

You sat, wondering what it'd be.

"Would you like to start a program here at the academy? One where you're here to spend personal time with our students and visitors specifically? Not quite a counselor, but someone who does fun stuff for them to look forward to whenever they need to unwind. It could be a group, perhaps? Maybe you can even act as an event planner, too?"

He waited for your response. This is exactly what you wanted, your mind already swimming with ideas on how you'd decorate your room, the types of activities you'd have for them whenever your club's held, the school tours hyping the academy up, the ability to talk to them personally or even let them vent in case they needed a listening ear--

"I am IN!"

That came out far more enthusiastic than you intended.

"Fantastic! Hopefully we can talk more later."

He gets up, face now serious in a somewhat disappointed fashion. He shakes his head.

"For now though, I must ask Geráneo's parents just what they were thinking, leaving him so excited with his Skiddo when no responsible party was around or made aware of the situation."

He walked around his desk, but not before stopping and putting a hand on your shoulder.

"Oh, and uh... I do hope you don't mind, but I would very much like it if we could chat... outside of preparations for your new position sometime."

Your stomach did a flip. His eyes looked fearful, a clear departure from his usual confidence, at least around you. You heard stories of his usual sweet yet dorky nature. Heck, you even saw it yourself before you got to know each other better.

"Anyway, I shall take my leave. Goodbye."

And with that, he took off.

Strange... he usually addresses you when leaving.

"That coffee thing makes so much sense now." You say to yourself, realizing he put a bit more thought into your impromptu chat than you thought he did.

-O-O-

A/N

This one was hard to write! I sometimes use Bulbapedia quotes to see what they talk like (such as the way they address people or to remind myself of their quirks while speaking), but THIS MAN HAS NONE??? I remember he was sort of formal, but also very kind and always meant well even if he seemed sorta suspicious in the trailers. Not to mention, he's a MASSIVE DORK??? I also like the idea of him being a bit awkward in general, but sorta flirty/teasing with people he fancies when first getting to know them, so yeah! He'll be his usually goofy self later when he gets to know this expy more. Call this Headcanon Clav if you like!

This accidentally came out SUPER open-ended, BUT, the focus was on how good you are with these kids, plus Clavell was sporadically busy anyway so yeah, worked out. Consider this the start of something more. Also the references (including the plant/plant-inspired names I gave all the named kids) were absolutely intentional

Accidentally grew fond of these goobers HELP, might draw them and Geráneo with his Skiddo someday

Purposefully didn't mention Hassel or Miriam in the little lantern scene so it'd be natural to leave if Raifort's still here or not vague cause 🤨

Expy needs to watch their profanity frfr, lmao

[fanaticsnail]

SNAIL! I love chapter 4!!!!!

(Incoming: extremely long ask with memes included)

I'm really excited about the lore that is developing, the rhyme was really creative (was it in an original version of the story or did you come up with it yourself?) And all this information about the Sapsorrow Queen has me aching to hear more! She seemed at first to be set up as an antagonistic force, purely due to her claiming Mihawks soul should Governess not marry him, but I feel like you've shrouded her in enough mystery that she didn't come off as antagonistic in intentions. And with all this new lore I'm getting kinda Corpse Bride vibes? Might be me projecting though.

Governess calling Perona and Zoro "my-... -our wards" AAAASSA

Her recognizing Mihawks eye colour but not making the connection followed by her immediate next observation being that his eyes are soft and somber - something she hasn't noticed (as much) in Mihawk's eyes. And him then using those eyes that are now displaying vulnerability and emotion he wouldn't normally let himself display to "searched your face, darting from focusing on each of your eyes and looking over your parted lips before rising back to your intense irises." The POETRY!

"You may ask anything of me, but you will leave my bride out of the equation."

KEEP MY WIFE'S NAME-

Governess hiking up her socks:

I just know Mihawk was fighting for his LIFE

Do the staff know Mihawk is the farm-hand? Because all I can think is either way;

The staff, watching the distinguished Governess walk beside a dog on two legs / The staff, watching their feared and revered boss covered head-to-toe in mud and twigs: what the fuck.... What the fuck...

The fact that the ghosts know makes me think that one of them spotted him eating shit in the mud puddle the first time and then Perona, having been informed of it, woke up in the dead of night to watch him willingly roll around in mud the second time.

"-Do not dare to do yourself the disservice of calling yourself low,"

KEEP MY WIFE'S- oh shit that is my wife

Mihawk allowing his guard to slip and laughing heartily??? Governess giggling???? And remarking that she hasn't experienced something like this since childhood??? Slipping her regal exterior??? My heart is pounding

He stooped down to you, the brims of your hats touching as he cooed down in a mocking tone, “I did this, this morning.” - oh my lawd. This whole section. Sir. Please. One of us will have to restrain ourselves (pun not intended)

"She cannot marry her father, of course she cannot." <-- I'm not sure if it's an exact quote from the narrator but I feel like you're referencing the story teller version. And when Governess divulges her wanting to marry Mihawk for reasons beyond the superficial (fate, or his riches) and Mihawk in turn divulges a love for an "unknown" woman, it seems really similar to the Storyteller scene. I really like it!! IDK if I mentioned before but I like how the roles of Straggletag and the prince were reversed

"I am proud to call you my friend", "I'm here by your side, I will not drop you," <- Mr President. A second quote has hit the reader.

(also I can't remember if I asked before but can I be on the tag list?)

SNAIILLLLL YOU'RE HERE!!!! YOURE BACK!!! Oh how I missed you!!

To answer your questions! The poetry and the rhymes are all my own. The original story has no real mysticism nor mystery surrounding the concept, SO I decided to add my own to shake things up 💃.

The Corpse Bride is one of my favourite Tim Burton films of all time. Considering Oda based the layout of Kuraigana on the art from The Nightmare Before Christmas, I couldn't not incorporate the elements into the plot. That wouldn't be fair.

I did need to have a small: "Hmmm... His eyes are quite similar," moment for her to get some semblance of familiarity from him - but I didn't want the mystery to be revealed just yet.

I HOWLED THE BIGGEST CACKLE AT THE GIF USE!!! PROBABLY WOKE THE NEIGHBOURS (ITS MIDNIGHT).

The "keep my wife's name" just ruined me.

The sock hiking was not a deliberate flirtation on her behalf, but absolutely Mihawk was feeling some feelings.

To spoil the spoiler, that is not really a spoiler - the staff are 💯 aware that Mihawk is the Farm-Hand. He was not always covered from head to toe in sludge and grime, opting to just have his straw hat and shielded mask over his beard in the happenstance that he might get dirty.

Upon that one time he did topple headfirst into the mud, meeting the governess on that day, he simply said: "welp, I guess this is my life now" and has to cover himself in that disguise to keep up the illusion. The staff don't know how to deal with the new look, but they're wise enough to not say anything about it.

The ghosts likely woke up Perona that first night being like: "Honey, you seeing this shit??" And Perona is just there like ⚫👄⚫

I needed to have them slip their guards a little in this chapter - they need to get to know each other a little before their engagement party (which I'm nearly there with. Couple more days, I think).

I have to reference the source material of the storyteller episode. It wouldn't feel the same without hearing John Hurt in my head, I think. I love the way he yells it.

I did do a role reversal for stragletag (Farm-Hand) and the prince (Lost-Lady) specifically to keep things a little interesting for me, and to keep the twists and turns coming for you guys! Can't just tell it how it is, where would be the fun in that? 😏

"I'm here by your side, I will not drop you," he is such a flirt and I don't think he's even aware of it.

I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE NOT ON THE TAG LIST. OF COURSE I WILL ADD YOU!!! MY SNAIL!! THE SEXC KIND!!

Thank you for your asks, I always adore hearing from you!!

[kirchefuchs]

(I have successfully overanalyzed the Infinite Hole Ending :D ALSO THIS IS THE EDITED VERSION BTW– the one that's like this below this is the unedited :D just delete that one shshs, not this one :]) sooooo upon the first 2 and a half minutes, I noticed a lil thingy that may have been a plothole.

You know how The Narrator constantly says/mentions that he himself made the game? That he was the only one who created everything — Stanley included (this is also directly said in the TSPUD trailer/release video)? Not sure if this is just me overthinking again (probably is) but there's this line in the Infinite Hole ending that immediately caught my attention;

"Oh. Did the hole seem even shorter to you, this time? I couldn't help but feel like you spent a little less time in there than you did before."

Now, me, being your local overthinker, decides that this implies one of the three things listed below;

1) The Narrator is very forgetful.

2) He's just a really good actor.

3) That was Timekeeper's doing.

(I'm not leaning to the 3rd option more wdym hahaha–)

Think about it, Ceres — think about the New Content Door, the Confusion Ending, the– the myriad of random occurrences that even The Narrator isn't fully aware about. If you were to take everything to a more serious approach, wouldn't you agree that a person who has spent a long long time in perfecting their game should at least remember every little detail and thought that went into it? Think about it! There's beta testing, alpha testing– heck, because he seems to claim to have created everything, wouldn't that mean that technically he would have had to look through every little thing (plus the texturing!! THE TEXTURES!!) and end up accidentally remembering every little detail? Isn't that why he has a script? (headcanon >) It's because he's already memorized the entire map, he just can't memorize a bunch of endings that revolve around the map. But do you know who does(according to the fandom)?

Timekeeper!

All the little changes to the map, Ceres! The New Content Door, the infinite hole slowly getting less and less infinite, the progress board at the quote-on-quote "end" of the Confusion Ending! If you were to take every little detail and glitch and something-something (you get what I mean) in a more serious approach, wouldn't you say that they were rather odd and inexplicable unless if you add Timekeeper into the mix?

Translation: I just really wanna give them some content </3

BUT ANYWHO BACK TO THE INFINITE HOLE ENDING

not me adding the "every ending can be perceived as a way of divorce" concept in here but aha– this piece of dialogue got me fired up ok

"I'm out! Goodbye, Stanley! You couldn't bear to be away from the hole and now you get more time with it than you could have ever have asked for. It's a win for everyone! You get to be with the hole, I get to do literally anything else. Take care, Stanley. I hope you and the hole have a wonderful rest of eternity together."

Do I need to explain this? Does this piece of dialogue need to be explained? Really, does it require such a lengthy explanation for it to be fully understood by you lot? I don't think so! The Narrator is just very jealous over a hole. How sad. ..and gay.

SO! By the time The Narrator is gone, Stanley is like "weLp time to hallucinate."

But then lemme just mention what I said beforehand

"The Narrator claims to have made everything, which also includes Stanley"

...bro??

this implies that The Narrator made the whole scene

This includes the dramatic music, the backgrounds, the random buttons that do lots of funny but mildly useless stuff, and guess what? Also the alternative drawings/appearances of ✨Stanley✨

I dunno abt u guys, but I like to genuinely think that The Narrator created everything (not in an irl sense, i meant it as in "He made The Stanley Parable canonically, not in reality" kind of way :D) simply because it gives a lot of Stannarrator opportunities.. huehuehue

but uhhh that's all for my rant!! :D (I deeply enjoyed this lmao)

ANYWHOO I HOPE THIS WAS,,, idk,, mildly coherent at least ☠

TOODLESSS!! UNTIL NEXT TIMEE

— 🅰️non || 05/12/2023

Oooo gotta love some good ol made up Timekeeper lore. I love the idea of TK messing with various things in the Parable without Narry knowing. But yeah, the whole contradictions thing where you can't really tell if the Narrator made the game or not is partly why I think he didn't and was just imbued with memories to make him think the did, even though he really doesn't have all that much control over what happens in the Parable. But that's just me, lol.

[volann]

Everyone in tgcf is a foil character

Pt 2: Banyue

(here's pt 1, pt 3, pt 4)

While I'm sure something clever can be said about the meeting between Xie Lian and San Lang, if I do decide to compare them, I’ll do it later. So let's go straight to Banyue. I’ll start with Tian Sheng, and this is why: he is like Xie Lian when the latter was the crown prince. He believes in justice and wants to save everyone. He's also coincidentally seventeen years old. Tian Sheng represents the ideals that Xie Lian believed in his youth – he doesn’t understand why common people should suffer if they’re not the ones fighting. All the people who lived in wartime – Xie Lian, A-Zhao and Fu Yao – can see why this logic doesn't work in the midst of the conflict. There's not much more I can say about Tian Sheng, so let's move on to Kemo. We learn that he was weak when he was a child and people bullied him, so he swore to become stronger. He trained his body with stone mortar slate and thus gained his name (quoting wiki bc I can’t quote the books, I don’t have them in English). This sounds a lot like Hua Cheng, even though his motives might be different. Hua Cheng also gained his name by becoming stronger – the title “Crimson Rain Sought Flower” if taken literally and his reputation if taken figuratively. I don’t know what conclusion it leads to, but the similarity exists. By comparing Kemo with Xie Lian we can see how differently they treat people from countries that caused their respective homelands to fall: Kemo is still cruel to the people from the central plain even though Yong'an is long gone, while the prince, after almost bringing a disease to the same state, no longer wishes harm to anyone. He even protected and trained Lang Qianqiu, the crown prince of Yong'an.

Now, finally, about one of the more important characters – Ban Yue. With Hua Chen, or rather with Honghong-er, she is united by her difficult childhood and the fact that people around them treated them badly because of something they couldn't change - in Honghong-er's case it's appearance, in Banyue's case it's her mixed origin. Xie Lian helped them both survive. But her similarity to Xie Lian seems more obvious to me. During the war, Ban Yue tried to save as many people as possible from both sides, but it was hard. As a result, all of Banyue's citizens died because of her actions. She feels guilty for everything that happened even though it was impossible to save more people. Xie Lian compares himself to Ban Yue when they are speaking near Puqi shrine: he believes that the outcome of his actions was far worse than the consequences of Ban Yue's actions. Both characters don’t try to avoid the "punishment" - Ban Yue does not respond in any way to Kemo's beatings or resist when Fu Yao ties her up, while Xie Lian doesn’t try to get rid of his cursed shackles. They believe they deserve it. Another similarity is that both prefer to remember good things: Ban Yue forgets those who wronged her but forever remembers those who helped her, while Xie Lian prefers to remember tasty food rather than all the times he got hurt. They also died many times: Ban Yue let Kemo kill her to dispel the hatred of Banyue's warriors, and Xie Lian... the list is much longer here and it also includes deaths meant to save other people.

I don't think Pei Xiu can be called anyone’s foil, but it is still possible to compare his actions and opinions with those of Xie Lian. The situation here is somewhat similar to Kemo: Pei Xiu hates people with whom his country was at war. The difference is that he succeeded in getting rid of all the people of Banyue. Yes, it's worth noting that they were going to kill as many people from Yong'an as possible if they lost, but it seems to me that Pei Xiu would have been happy to get rid of them even without that. He talked quite a lot about revenge for what they had already done. Of course, there's still the question of how much he said to justify his actions, and whether the motivation of "I don't like Banyue" was stronger than "I need a better position in the army". Another aspect of his character that is completely opposite to Xie Lian is his treatment of the common people. Pei Xiu sent innocent people to certain death to maintain his position, while Xie Lian, as we know, wants to save the common people.

Perhaps I'll find out something else when these characters reappear, but let's stop here for now. I'll put off Nan Feng and Fu Yao for later again. It could be fun to compare Xie Lian and general Hua – as Xie Lian himself points out, their stories are quite similar, but I don't really want to compare the character to himself, especially when he has already done it. So it's time to step away from the characters for a bit!

In Banyue, you can only save a stung person at the cost of everyone’s lives. Many characters in tgcf are forced to choose who gets to live and at what cost, and I think in Banyue this problem appears for the first time – from General Hua, who saved the common people by interfering with the military and paid with his life in the end, Ban Yue  and probably even Pei Xiu to the place itself and the legends about it. Banyue is like the desert from the question of which of two people dying of thirst to give a glass of water to, and in the stories of many characters this is the central conflict.