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phantasyreign · 3 years

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Tutorial: Simple Carousel without using <input>

Hello everyone!

I always wanted to create a Carousel-based theme, upon researching, I found yeoli-thm‘s tutorial (link is at the demo) but I had a difficulty in understanding it as I am not a huge fan of <input>. Luckily, I managed to create a simpler version of the carousel without using <input>.

Here's the result:

Preview

By having this result, you can create your very own pages and all-in-one themes! The base code will be provided in the demo but if you want to learn how to create this from scratch, please do read this till the end!

IMPORTANT!:

Please like and/or reblog this post if you like this tutorial. If you intend of using this code as a based code, you are required to mention me in your theme post.

This tutorial consists of four aspects:

General styling

Basic Container

Navigation

Carousel

The concept of creating a carousel derives from my smooth scrolling tutorial. If you haven’t check that out, I highly recommend for you check it out.

General Styling

1. Firstly, you need to add the basic code for your carousel. You can retrieve it from this site.

2. Add the universal selector at the style/CSS area:

/*GENERAL STYLING*/ *{ margin:0; box-sizing: border-box; scroll-behavior: smooth; }

It is pertinent to add scroll-behavior:smooth. This is to create a smooth scrolling effect.

3. Once you're done with it, you can create a basic styling for the body, fonts, etc at the style/css area. In my demo, I made a basic styling of the body, paragraph, title, and scrollbar. Example can be seen as follow:

/*BODY AND FONTS*/ body{ background: rgb(248,248,255); background-image: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(248,248,255,1) 0%, rgba(223,223,255,1) 50%); font-family:geo sans light; text-align:justify; line-height:150%; } @font-face { font-family: geo sans light; src: url(https://static.tumblr.com/v6akjgz/MQbqf9ocl/geosanslight.ttf); } p{ margin-bottom:2rem; } h1{ font-family:vintage fair; text-align:center; color:#1f1b1b; text-shadow:-1px 0 black; font-weight:300; margin-bottom:1rem; line-height:1.15; } @font-face { font-family:vintage fair; src: url(https://static.tumblr.com/v6akjgz/SNhqfaujo/vintage_fair.ttf); } /*SCROLLBAR*/ ::-webkit-scrollbar { width: 18px; height: 18px; } ::-webkit-scrollbar-track { border: 8px solid #fff; background-color: rgba(0,0,0,.05); } ::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb { background-color: #acacff; border: 8px solid #fff; }

NOTE!: There's no need for you to copy and paste the above code. You can always edit it or create other designs that you like to add.

Basic Container

A basic container is a place where you'll be adding the carousel. You can design it however you want in the style/CSS area but at the most basic, you can style it this way:

/*BASIC CONTAINER*/ .content{ /*Basic*/ width: 50%; height: 60%; /*Position*/ position: fixed; top: 50%; left: 50%; transform: translate(-50%, -50%); /*Important*/ overflow: hidden; /*Design*/ background-color:lightblue; border-radius: 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(58, 2, 58); }

Please do take note that this is one of the many ways of creating the basic container. If you know your ways in CSS, you can style it however you want!

IMPORTANT: It is very important for you to add overflow:hidden;. Without this, it will cause the scrollbar to appear and make it less pleasing to see.

For the HTML area, add the following code:

<div class="content">  </div>

By now, if you click [Update Preview] and [Save], you will now see the container on your page.

Navigation

Navigation is the place where all the links to the section will be wrapped in.

1. Add the code below /body.

<div class="contentlink"> <ul> <li><a href="#partone">First</a> <li><a href="#parttwo">Second</a></li> <li><a href="#partthree">Third</a></li> <li><a href="#partfour">Fourth</a></li> </ul> </div>

2. After that, you are required to style it at the CSS/style are (preferably below the content). The most basic ways to do it is by doing it this way:

/*NAVIGATION*/ .contentlink{ width:5rem; height:10rem; position:fixed; top:30%; right:10%; } .contentlink ul{ list-style-type: none; padding:0; } .contentlink li{ background-color:ghostwhite; border:1px solid lightblue; border-radius: 5px; display: block; margin-bottom: 1rem; padding:1rem; text-align: center; } .contentlink li a{ text-decoration: none; color:rgb(24, 91, 136); transition: 0.25s ease-in; } .contentlink li a:hover{ color: midnightblue; font-weight: 600; transition: 0.25s ease-out; }

So let me explain one-by-one what's the function of each selector:

.contentlink: This is the wrapper for all the navigation links for the carousel.

.contentlink ul: This is the wrapper for the list. Since we don't want any bullets nor padding/indents, it is essential for us to set the list-style-type and padding to none and 0 respectively.

.contentlink li a & .contentlink li a:hover: These are essential to customize the link.

Take Note!

If you are the kind of person who focuses on accessibility, this type of code may not suit your needs. So, you may need to modify both the HTML and CSS code.

Again, this is one of the many ways of styling the navigation section. If you know your ways in CSS and HTML, you can always modify it however you like.

The number of navigation sections does not necessarily be four. It can be two or even six if you like! So, add/remove the link that suits your need.

If you intend to create an effect where whenever you click the section, it will show an indication to it, I would say that it may not be possible to do so as it requires input.

By now, you will see that everything is starting to come up to life. But if you click the button, you'll see that it won't move to another section. This is because we have yet to create the content section.

Carousel

This is where the content of each section lies. Firstly, you need to add the code inside the the div class="content" :

<div class="default" id="partone">  </div> <div class="default" id="parttwo">  </div> <div class="default" id="partthree">  </div> <div class="default" id="partfour">  </div>

Take note!:

class="default" is where you uniformize all the settings to be the same instead of rewriting the same setting in each id

partone,parttwo, etc represents the 'section for the link'. If you refer back tp the navigation above, you'll see that the link/href name is the same as this section. You may change the name to whatever you want to. However, you need to ensure that you also do the same with the link in the navigation area.

Now that you done with this, you can customize default and/or the sections at the css/style area. This is what I did for it:

.default{ width: 100%; height: 100%; overflow: auto; padding:2rem; } .default a{ color:rgb(58, 2, 58); text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold; } .default a:hover{ text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal; } .default img{ width:100%; margin-bottom:1rem; margin-top:0.5rem; } #partone{ background: rgb(248,248,255); background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(248,248,255,1) 0%, rgba(223,223,255,1) 50%); } #parttwo{ background: rgb(223,223,255); background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(223,223,255,1) 0%, rgba(197,197,255,1) 50%); } #partthree{ background: rgb(197,197,255); background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(197,197,255,1) 0%, rgba(172,172,255,1) 50%); } #partfour{ background: rgb(172,172,255); background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(172,172,255,1) 0%, rgba(134,134,254,1) 50%); }

Take note!

If you want to uniformize everything (ie not wanting each section to have a different background-color/image), you can simply remove #partone all down to #partfour.

It is important to set the width and height to 100%. This is to ensure that your section will have its own section.

Set the overflow to auto. This is to allow the carousel to scroll in case if the contents overflow.

With that, you’re done! Please take note that what I’m sharing with you is just an idea of how to create a carousel effect using CSS and HTML. There are myriads of ways of creating this design as long as you follow the said concept:

Set your scroll behavior to smooth.

For the basic container, make sure that overflow is set to hidden.

For the navigation, make sure that the link is set to #THE NAME OF THE SELECTOR.

For the carousel, make sure that height and width are set to 100% + overflow is set to auto.

For each carousel, make sure its id is the same as the navigation.

All the best!

#mytutorials #tutorial #theme tutorial #blog

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alwaysahiccupandastrid · 4 years

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His Dark Materials S2 Ep 6 - Rambling/Thoughts

I really cannot believe that we’re at the penultimate episode already, oh my gosh. It’s gone by so fast??

Again, because I’ve reread TSK in the last couple of weeks, the book is fresh in my mind but I’ve probably still missed stuff

Also last week was so intense and seeing the “previously on” section made me remember just how intense that was, so it’s a hard job to top that!

ANGELS AHH RIGHT AWAY IM GEEKING OUT

“The last time they were seen was to make war” - IT’S HAPPENING ASDFGHJKL

Ruta going off to see Asriel and me just remembering what exactly went down between them while she was there with him... heh

So Will’s hand looks AWFUL oh my god poor Will 😭

Pan is REALLY into his Red PAN-da form oh my goodness

So the other kids out for revenge terrified the living SHIT out of me, dear god I don’t think it could be any creepier than dozens of them appearing out of the shadows like that, like it’s genuinely terrifying

Serafina just dropped right in to rescue them and I was both relieved and a little disappointed? Because in the book the whole chase sequence is so much longer and more important, like it takes up most of an entire chapter I think, and here it’s like two minutes?

Serafina: What does this edge cut? // Lyra: Everything (Will at the same time: Nothing.) - 😂

I missed Lee and Jopari tbh so yay to seeing them once more! And they’ve crossed into the next world!

Oh hi again Mary!

^ I wasn’t expecting to see Mary again this series because in TSK book, her last appearance is going through the window (which was last episode), so I’m a little curious as to whether we’re going to get a TINY little peek into The Amber Spyglass here (it’s been years since I reread it, I apologize). Because last series they did a bit of TSK (namely introducing Will + him crossing into Cittagazze), so it would be interesting!

“Good, something I can understand for a change” - LOL Same

Serafina wants to take Lyra back to her world?? Really??

Not gonna lie, the two girls spying on Mary was kind of low-key creepy

Lyra mentioning that she crossed worlds to find out about Dust and mentioning Roger 😭

Also I’m so emotional over just how much she wants Will to be safe, like she would really do anything to keep him safe and I love it

Lyra asking the Alethiometer where Will’s dad is and “he’s in this world” - ahhh it’s going to happen!

Also I really hope that the BBC/whoever decides to sell replica Alethiometers because the design is so beautiful?! I would fork out serious dough for one, and it would go nicely with the one I have from the film

No but seriously, words don’t describe just how badly I want a replica

“I wanted to fly so I summoned you here, now I’m flying” - LOL OKAY THEN JOHN

Ooh damn, that outfit Marisa is wearing is FINE. I’m slightly gayer than I was before, ngl

I was like “nooo Mary don’t be nice to these kids, they’re awful”

But it’s very sweet that she offers them food?? Like she pulls a chocolate bar out and is like “it’s no good for you, it’s full of sugar”... I love her

The way that Mary was so happy and excited when they mentioned Lyra, only to tell the girls off for trying to kill her - more of a mum than Mrs Coulter tbh

“Miss, can I have a hug?” - AWWW OMG WHY AM I SAD

They asked Mary to stay and look after them omg 😭😭😭

“Come with me, I’ll bring you to your adults” - ooh okay this could go any number of ways... Either she actually reunites them with their families and all’s well, or she takes them up there and their parents/adults are all dead (for lack of a better word)? Or the Spectres attack after Mary leaves them with the adults??

Jopari talking about meeting his dæmon and also a little bit about trying to get back to his family :(

“Can you magic us up a fire?” “One moment” *presents a box of matches” - LMFAO

Wait did Serafina seriously just imply that she thought Will might hurt Lyra?!?

Serafina saying that if protecting Lyra means protecting Will as well... Yes, protect Will please! Protect BOTH of these children, I literally BEG you, they’ve gone through far too much

Ooh okay so the witch ritual/spell was kind of cool to see!

Lyra saying “please tell me he’ll be alright” 😭♥️

The fact that Lyra curled up close to Will and then Pan (in ermine form) curled up CLOSER to Will is so cute, they both love Will so much

Pan: “We feel safe her... don’t we?” / OOF OKAY THIS IS F I N E

I already know what Lyra’s “other name” is because I read the book but the hints are anything BUT subtle tbh. “Mother of us all, cause of all sin, tempted by the serpent”... I’m not even that religious but I think it’s pretty obvious.

Also, if Mary is playing the part of the “serpent” within Lyra’s destiny, does that mean that Mary has tempted Lyra? Or that she will?

Boreal being nervous about being in the city and Marisa is just so unimpressed by him... Mood

That smirk she had when going up to that Spectre victim was so chilling, we have to stan Ruth Wilson and her incredible acting

Also, fun fact, Ruth Wilson went to my sixth form college and is from Surrey (like me), and she grew up in Shepperton, which is where my Nan used to live when she was alive (my uncle and aunt live there still), so that’s super exciting!

“We could learn from this” - PLEASE DO NOT MA’AM

God I hate the Magisterium so fucking much, the patriarchy is so strong with them

Oh great, now they’re gunning to kill Lyra :/

Also, off topic, I’ve only just connected that Will Keen, who plays Father MacPhail, is Dafne Keen’s dad?!?

“She’s lost a lot for one so young” - AND SHE’S STILL GOING TO LOSE PEOPLE, WHY IS THIS FAIR PHILIP PULLMAN 😭

“She must be protected” - AGAIN, they BOTH need protecting PLEASE

The Spectre noises reminded me of the noises of the Smoke Monster from LOST, so that’s definitely trippy for me

Thanks, I hate it

I nearly shouted “WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING” out loud in front of both my parents, I seriously thought she had a damn death wish

I have never been so damn tense in my entire life as I am watching this show - and I KNOW what happens

HOW DID SHE DO THAT WITH THE SPECTRES SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN

Lee’s so worried about Lyra - 11/10, Father of the Year

The Magisterium airships... NO. FUCK. WE’RE AT THAT POINT ALREADY AND IM NOT OKAY BECAUSE I KNOW HOW AND WHERE THIS ENDS AND I HATE IT

I deadass thought Marisa and Carlo were about to kiss when he ran up to her and I actually said out loud “NO please don’t”

Look I must just be so dirty minded but when she said “let’s celebrate”, my immediate reaction was “NO NO NO NO EW EW EW NO” and “I hope she just means having a drink and not doing the frickety-frack”

I was so close to tearing up as Will was talking about his mum, her illness, and the boys who were mean to her because of it. His love for his mum is so beautifully written and the way Amir Wilson is playing Will is so wonderful

I was also close to tears when he was talking about his dad and how he used to imagine about his dad, so maybe I’m just emotional anyway

“Could go to school... have friends” - okay yeah no I’m definitely crying 😭

“I couldn’t trust anyone.” “Until you met me.” “Yeah.” - EXCUSE ME ♥️😭 my HEART

I love one (1) soft boy, and one (1) feral girl and her dæmon

The relief I felt when I saw Marisa and Carlo were literally just having drinks 😅

“They consume what makes us human, so I just suppressed that and hid it” + *cut to the monkey looking kinda sad/uncomfortable* - Umm fUCK OKAY THEN

Why am I feeling sorry for the monkey?!?

“You think we’re equal?” - LMFAO RIGHT

EWW THEY KISSED. No, just... nO

When I saw his snake dæmon moving towards her monkey, I thought one of two things was about to happen: 1) the monkey was going to pet and paw and the snake as Marisa seduced Boreal, or 3) the monkey was going to strange the snake and kill Boreal

OKAY THIS TOOK A SHARP BUT NOT UNWELCOMED TURN

“You’ve NEVER been my equal.” “You’d only hold me back.” - OH MY GOD YES THE SHADE

She’s not wrong though let’s be honest here

So she poisoned him I’m assuming? She poisoned his drink because the monkey didn’t actually touch the snake... damn.

Her just sitting there and continuing to drink with his dead body there is... damn.

“Into that valley” NO NO, please no

Jopari really just summoned a whole damn storm huh

Also the fact he fully trusts in Lee’s abilities to land them safely :3

Lee: “Can we trust him?” // Hester: “Do we have another choice?!!” - LMFAO I love them so much

THE WAY I NEARLY SCREAMED WHEN THAT WITCH GOT ATTACKED BY A SPECTRE OMFG AT LEAST WILL WAS THERE TO SAVE HER

Okay but did Marisa REALLY sit there for HOURS with Boreal’s corpse sitting opposite her?!?

Her burning her hand on the flame in front of the monkey, and the monkey clearly whimpering and in pain was so agonizing to watch, I can’t take this show

Also, you have to wonder just how many times she’s harmed herself (and him) for her to keep doing it with next to no problems (like separating from each other all the time)

I was so excited to see the birds attacking the zeppelins, like it was one of my favourite details in the book, and I worried that they wouldn’t have the budget for it but yay!

I do kind of wish that we’d had Sayan Kötor as the “eagle Queen” leading them though - she probably was but I wish we’d actually seen it or heard Jopari say it or whatever

THEY SHOT THE GAS CANNISTER OH SHIT THEY’RE GOING DOWN HARD AND FAST IN THAT BALLOON

HOLD ON BBC YOU CANNOT END THIS THERE?!? EXCUSE ME?!

The last episode is next week and on an hour earlier, so that’s exciting! I have no idea what I’ll do once this series ends, or when we’ll even get the third and final series because of COVID and filming delays, but I’m excited for it nonetheless and hoping it’s next November/December or something!

#his dark materials #hdm #lyra belacqua #lyra silvertongue #marisa coulter #mrs coulter #will parry #serafina pekkala #ruth wilson #dafne keen #amir wilson #pantalaimon #john parry #lee scoresby #hester

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thebookwormfairy · 5 years

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Gotham Falls Part 1

-Marinette was 6 years old when her parents sat her down and told her she's was going to he a sister

-Tom and Sabine had already explained to Marinette where baby came from thanks to Sabine's friend Nadia getting pregnant

-Marinette: So there's a baby growing in Maman's stomach?

-Tom: Well...no

-Marinette: Then how can I be a big sister?

-Sabine: Well you're not going to be a big sister, you're actually going to be a little sister

-Marinette gave her parents a confused look

-Tom: You see sweetie one of my best friends is no longer........able to take care of her son so we will be

-Marinette: What about his dad?

-Tom and Sabine looked at each other not knowing what to say

-Sabine: His dad was not a good man, and had to go to jail, because of what he did to his wife

-Marinette: What's his name?

-Tom: His name's Adrien Agreste, but starting next week he'll be Adrien Dupen-Cheng

-After a week if setting up Adrien's new room, going through interviews, and just generally getting ready for Adrien's arrival

-Marinette spent the week making Adrien a small stuffed black cat with the help of Sabine to match her own ladybug stuff animal, made by her mother that was named Tikki

-When Adrien and Marinette finally met they took to eachother like a duck to water

-Adrien absolutely loved his new stuff animal who he named Plagg

-The two seemed inseparably

-The Dupen-Chengs made sure to make Adrien feel right at home

-They included him in all family activities, and held him when he cried because of the lost of his original family

-As the years went by Marinette and Adrien grew closer and closer

-You could rarely find one without the other near by

-As Marinette got older her love of fashion and design grew she started to design and make her own clothes around the age of 12

-And Adrien developed a love of photography

-Together they run a instagram account full of Marinette's designs

-It was originally Adrien's idea and Marinette kinda just went with it

-When the two were 16 their parents announced they were moving

-Tom's father had passed away and they wanted to move into his old home to keep the family backery running

-So they backed up their things and moved to a town in Oregon called Gotham Falls

-Marinette: So why are we moving there again?

-Tom: Well since your grandfather passed somebody has to run his bakery. It's been in our family for almost a hundred years so we are going to have our current employees run this location and your mother and I are going to run the original one

-Adrien and Marinette still looked hesitant about this new change coming to their lives

-Sabine: Think of this like an adventure, there are plenty of kids your age and lots of places to explore

-Before they knew it Marinette and Adrien were packed up and heading to this new town and new life

-As the new family drove into town they got a lot of stares from the locals watching as the moving van drove down Main Street to the most popular Bakery in town

-Their first day in town was spent talking to curious locals and accepting welcome gifts

-As Marinette was moving of of her boxes inside she noticed two boys staring from across the street

-One boy had black messy hair and blue eyes

-He wore beat up blue jeans with a white t-shirt and a blue plaid shirt unbutton over it and a pair of beat up hiking boots

-The other also had black hair, but his was a lot neater. He had dark green eyes that seemed to bore into Marinette's soul

-He work dark wash jeans, a red t-shirt, a green and yellow jacket with a pair of black combat boots

-Marinette gave them an ackward smile and wave that the boys returned before leaving down the street

-Marinette shook off the strange encounter and continue to unpack

-The Dupen-Chengs stayed in their new home for a couple of days unpacking and setting up their new home

-After about a week the house was all unpacked and decorated and the bakery will open back up the next day, so Sabine had a chat with her hermit children who have yet to leave the house since arriving

-Sabine: Why don't you two go out to explore the town?

-Adrien messing with his camera: I don't know mom it looks like it's about to rain?

-Sabine looked at her two children, both dressed in clothes Marinette made

-Marinette was in dark blue jean shorts, white fitted t-shirt with a light pink vest with a pair of dark blue converse hightops with pink flowers embroidered on the side

-Adrien was wearing blue jeans with a black t-shirt that says You Got To Be Kitten Me Right Meow in green with paw prints dotting the i's.

-Adrien would right down puns for Marinette and she would put them on t-shirts for him, even if they made her groan.

-Sabine: It's Oregon it's always about to rain

-Sabine pushed her 2 children out the door, handed Marinette her small pink backpack, and locked the door behind them

-Sabine: Don't come back till sunset

-Adrien and Marinette looked at each other shocked

-Marinette: She really kicked us out

-Adrien: And told us not to come back till sunset

-Marinette looked around their was 2 directions they could go

-Down Main Street with all the shops and people or down a mist filled road with an old sign pointing to something called the Mystery Shack

-Marinette pointing to the mist filled road: Let's go that way

-Adrien gave Marinette a look: You want to go down the creepy road?

-Marinette: Yes

-Adrien *sighing*: Of course you do

-The two made their way down the misty road after about 15 minutes they come across a old cabin with the words Mystery Shack spelled out on the roof

-The two walked in to be greeted by a boy in his early 20s with a white streak in his hair sitting behind the counter

-Jason in a bored tone: Welcome to the Mystery Shack the most mysterious place on Earth

- The man looked up at the two teens who walked into the gift shop

-Jason in a livelier tone: Oh you guys are the kids who moved into the bakery right?

-Marinette: Yeah I'm Marinette Dupen-Cheng and this is my brother Adrien

-Adrien with a slightly dreamy voice: Hi

-Jason: Cool! My name's Jason Todd welcome to Gotham falls

-Marinette: Thanks

--A commotion could be heard from the back and older woman can bursting out of the back stacks of fliers in her hands

-Marianne: Jason where's that little brother of yours? I thought you said that he would come today to help hang fliers and where's Harley?

-Jason: He must have gotten side track you know how he and Jon can get and Harley had to go do something

-Marianne: ugh... Who are you two?

-Adrien: Oh I'm Adrien Dupen-Cheng and this-

-Marianne: Yeah don't care do you want to earn some money?

-Marinette: What

-Marianne: I'll give you two $20 each to hang these posters up around the road to town.

-Marinette and Adrien looked at eachother asking if the other were okay with it

-Marinette: Sure why not

-Marianne: Good here's the fliers and $10 each I'll give you half now half when you come back

-The two grabbed the fliers and said goodbye to Jason and made their way down the road into the woods hanging posters up every couple of feet

-It took about an hour but Marinette and Adrien finally got all the posters hung up

-Adrien: Come over here Marinette

-Marinette: What?

-Adrien: this is a perfect area for you outfit go stand in top of that stump

-Marinette did as her brother said doing different poses on top of the stump as Adrien snapped pictures of his camera

-At one point Marinette stepped too far back and stepped on a branch still attached to the stump and it went down like a lever and a shelves popped open

-Living inside was a green journal with a hold turtle shell of the front with the number 3 written on it

-Marinette: What?

-Marinette picked up the book and open the first page

-Written on it was the words trust no one in Gotham Falls

-Adrien reading over her shoulders: Ehat does that mean?

-Marinette flipping through the journal: I don't know. Look at this it's filled with sketches and info about different types of monsters. Who wrote this?

-Adrien: I don't know, but let's get out of here, this place is freaking me out=

-Marinette: I have to agree with you there Adrien. Let's head back to the Mystery Shack

-Marinette slipped the journal in her backpack, zipping it close

-As the two head back to the shack not noticing the small dark shadows hidden among the trees

-They went back to the shack and gathered the rest of their payments

-The 2 stayed there getting to know Jason and also meeting Harley who came back about an hour after they returned

-It was fun the two stayed at the Mystery Shack for hours laughing and joking around with the two 20 somethings, every once and a while helping Marianne with anything she might need done while they were there

-Jason’s mysterious brother and his friend never showed up

- As the sone started to dip behind the trees Marinette and Adrien head back to the bakery

-The rest of the week was spent by the 2 siblings spending every other day at the mystery shack

-When not at the shack they would explore the town and do different photo shoots around the areas they would discover

-And when she wasn’t doing that Marinette was reading the journal

-It was written so well that Marinette almost believed it

-Adrien dismissed it though claiming it was probably some kids D&D journal

-As the two siblings explored the town Marinette noticed that a tall teenager in a black sweatshirt always seemed to follow her and Adrien around

-One day when Marinette was alone the teen finally came up to Marinette and started to try to flirt with her

-He said his name was Norman and with a broken speech Norman tried to ask Marinette out

-Marinette watched in horror as she silently checked of a mental list that pointed to only one answer

-Norman was a zombie trying to lure Marinette away to eat her brain

-Marinette searched the street around her hoping to see Adrien or Jason or Harley or anyone who could get her out of this situation when her eyes landed on the two boys that she waved at the first day she arrived in Gotham Falls

-Marinette: I’m very flattered but I have plans with my friends over there, so maybe another time

-Marinette ran toward the two boys, moving between the two and hooking her arms through theirs

-Marinette loudly: There you guys are I’ve been looking for you guys.

-Marinette quietly: Sorry about this that guy over there is freaking me out

-The two boys nodded their heads and lead Marinette away from Norman pretending to have a conversation with the young half asian girl.

-They lead her back to the bakery not leaving her side until they were sure Norman was no where to be seen and Marinette was safe inside

-Marinette: Thank you so much I know that was probably super weird and ackward

-Damian: It's no problem miss

-Jon: Happy to help

-Before Marinette could say anything else the boys disappeared down the road

-That night Marinette told Adrien her worries about Norman and her theory about him being a zombie

-Adrien: Come on Marinette that's silly. I think you need to stop reading that strange book so much

-Marinette: perhaps you're right

-On there way to the Mystery Shack the next day the two siblings were exploring the woods near the road where they were cornered by Norman who turned out to be a group of Gnomes who wanted Marinette to marry their leader

-Marinette: ARE YOU CRAZY?!?! I'M NOT GOING TO MARRY YOU!!!

-Gnome Leader (a/n: I can't remember his name and refuse to look it up): Oh I'm sure that's just cold feet talking. You'll be my queen and ruling the gnomes. Guys get her!

-With his command gnomes charged the siblings

-Adrien: Run!

-The 2 ran towards the road but the gnomes cut them off

-Adrien picking up a tree branch: Looks like we're going to have to fight our way our of this

-Marinette taking out the journal: Let's do this

-The two started to whack the gnomes away from them

-They did their best to beat them back but there was too many of them

-They were almost completely overwhelmed when a golf came crashing through the crowd stopping in front of Marinette and Adrien

-Damian at the wheel: Get on!

-Adrien: You don't have to tell us twice

-Jon squeezed Marinette between him and Damian and Adrien hopped onto the back

-Marinette: Go go go

-Damian didn't have to he told twice he slammed on the gas

Marinette: How did you guys know we were in trouble

Damian: We noticed that something was not right with Norman so we've been keeping an eye on him

Jon: But we thought he was a vampire

Marinette: oh I thought zombie

Adrien: I just thought he was an awkward guy. I think we all can agree that nobody saw gnomes coming.... AHH GNOMES ARE COMING!!!!

The gnomes had joined together to form a giant gnome

Damian/Jon/Marinette looking back: OH MY GOSH!!!

Damian swerved into a tunnel hoping to lose the giant, but to no advail

Gnome Leader: Come back my queen!

Damian and Jon paused their screaming and looked at Marinette

Marinette: Yeah I have no idea

The giant gnome threw a tree in their path causing Damian to try and swerve out of the way

Damian turned too hard and the golf cart tipped to the side crashing in front of the Mystery Shack

The teens crawled out of the golf cart pressing their backs against the walls of the Mystery Shack

Marinette notice a leaf blower in the pile of leaves beside her

Marinette: I need you guys to trust me

Damian: What?

Marinette staring into Damian's eyes: Trust me.

Damian: Okay

Marinette stepping forward: Wait! You win I'll marry you

Gnome Leader: oh great

Marinette sat down on her knees as the gnome climbed down his fellow gnomes

Marinette waited as the gnome slid a ring on her finger

Marinette: You may now kiss the bride

Gnome Leader: Don't mind if I do

As he closed his eyes and puckered his lips Marinette grabbed the leaf blower and sucked the gnome up

Marinette: That that you little creep!

Marinette then shot the gnome out of the leaf blower causing him to shoot through the giant gnome

With their leader gone the other gnomes fled with the teens yelling victory

The 2 sets of teen finally introduce themselves and that battle was the start of a beautiful friendship

Together the teens started their investigations of the mysteries of Gotham Falls

Damian and Marinette seemed to be focus more on the mystery than Jon and Adrien though

Together they hunted mythical creatures and try to gain more information on them

Jon and Adrien was more focus on summer fun and romance

While Adrien seem to fall for almost every cute boy that passed through town

Jon was completely smitten with Adrien

He tried to do his best to hunt at it but Adrien was completely oblivious

As the summer went on Adrien forced Damian and Jon to do photoshoots with Marinette

All together they made a great team

They solved so many mysteries together

Adrien and Jon made sure Damian and Marinette didn't go too crazy trying to solve mysteries and Marinette and Damian made sure the other 2 didn't get too carry away with summer romance and fun

During Summerween Damian angered the Summerween Trickester sk the kids had to try and get 500 pieces of candy

Which was made worst because of their age

In the end they weren't able to get it all and had to fight him

They beat home by melting making him sink down the drain

Another time Adrien and Marinette was curious about the resident phyick that Marianne hated name Lila

Together with Jason they watch her show and even stayed behind to talk to her

Apparently Lila took a liking to Adrien and wanted him for herself

Adrien really wasn't comfortable with the attention Lila was giving him and tried to tell her, but every time he tried to tell her something came up that pressured him not too

Adrien begged Marinette to talk to her for him which she agreed to

It was a huge mistake

Not only was Lila a REAL phyick, but she was also a sociopath

She tried to kill Marinette thinking she was keeping them apart

The only thing that saved Marinette was Damian coming across them and Lila not wanting other people to see her like thay

After that Damian put his foot down

Damian: Marinette's not breaking up for you any more she could've been killed

Adrien: I agree with you 100%

Jon bringing his face closer to Adrien's: You know I could help you keep people like that away

Adrien blushing: Oh stop joking Jon

Another time Adrien and Jon were convice that Damian and Marinette binged together so they set up a romantic picnic for them

Damian: I can't believe your brother and Kent did this to us

Marinette blushing: Am I really that bad?

Damian blushing: No not at all Angel it just that I would have preferred if I asked you myself. I actually...well I really

Damian grabbed Marinette's hands and was leaning his face closer to hers

Marinette had every intention to let Damian continue, but she notice something big under the water of the lake

Marinette: What was that?

Adrien from the bushes: OH COME ON!!!!

That turned into a lake monster hunt

Which in the end they learned there was no lake monster but the town kook Mr. Pidgeon

Near the end if the summer Lila tried to get her revenge by taking over the Mystery Shack our gang's favourite hang out

She used a dream demon called the Joker to get into Marianne's head

They did their best to stop her, but Lila made it very clear that the only way she would give the Shack back to Miranne was if Adrien agreed to date her

And no way was Marinette going to allow that

It took a lot of courage for Adrien to accept who he is and Marinette was not going to let some bitch force him to subress that

They used a spell that was in the book to also enter Marianne's mind to stop the Joker

They succeeded in banishing the Joker from Miranne's head and stopping Lila

And even though the summer was over Marinette new that they were just beginning to unravel the mysteries of Gotham Falls

So guys welcome to part 1 or 3 in my Gravity falls au. While yes this is a Daminette/Adrijon fic it will focus mainly on the sibling relationship between Adrien and Marinette

I hope you guys like it and I'll see you soon on the next part

@little-kitty-kanny

#daminette #adrijon #brotp!adrinette #maribat #gravity falls #gravity falls au

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drlauralwalsh · 4 years

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You and Your Grieving Parts

Do you ever think about your...parts? No, not those parts, you mischievous little spark plug! I mean inside your mind - the parts that get weird ideas, warn against danger, are mean to you, and tell you to engage in late-night food rituals. That last part might just be me. Seriously though, I’ve been doing some research into the parts of my mind. The idea that our minds have “parts” is not a new idea. Like right now, a part of me wants to keep writing to you and another part just wants to nap. Oh the drama inside! There is one theory that explains this and it has intrigued me since grad school: Internal Family Systems.

INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS (IFS) THEORY

The IFS theory believes that the mind is made up of a number of sub-personalities or parts, each with their own set of beliefs, opinions, and responses, and that interact with each other. At the core is the Self, which has the ability to lead the parts but isn’t always up to the task. No single part is bad but like an orchestra, the parts can be in harmony or honk cacophonously like a flock of agitated geese.

Along with the core Self, IFS sorts the other parts into categories by function: Managers, Firefighters, and Exiles. Managers and Firefighters protect you from feeling the pain of the Exile parts. They have the same goals but use different strategies. Managers constrict and hold you back while Firefighters automatically react and let it rip.

MANAGERS

Manager parts proactively run the day to day operations of the system and are considered the most “acceptable” parts because they say very adult things and sound most like the core Self. They maintain balance within you through control. Managers parts are perfectionist, judgmental, self critical or people pleasing. They want to prevent humiliation and abandonment by keeping you busy, criticizing what you do, worrying, sabotaging connections, and generally being a control freak. They strongly believe in self sufficiency and are generally relentless, exacting, chastising and sometimes, anxious and depressed. They’re really good at giving you a false sense of security by telling you it’s doing it so you’ll look good to others. A typical Manager thought is, “You really should stop bothering people with your sob story.”

FIREFIGHTERS

Firefighters are your first responders. They automatically fly out the door to rescue you when something hits too close to home. They extinguish the fire of pain by smothering or creating a diversion. They attack “enemies” and get defensive in an effort to control or suffocate emotions. These are the parts that have anger issues, spending too much money, drink too much or use drugs, get obsessive or suicidal, self harm, or dissociate. They like to eat too much. binge watch TV and endlessly play video games for hours. They don’t give a crap about the goody-goody manager parts. Those weenies don’t know what it’s like to charge heroically into danger. Firefighters are really good at distracting you from upsetting, painful or overwhelming feelings. A typical Firefighter part thinks it’s better to rage than to show vulnerability - even in the privacy of your own head.

EXILES

As a psychologist, I get to see other people’s Exile parts more than the average person. I’ve developed such a knack for it that the Managers and Firefighters appear almost transparent. When I’m interacting with someone who’s leading with one of those parts, I can see through to the Exile it’s protecting. Just wish I could more reliably turn that super power on myself! Exiles are the younger parts that hold pain from the past. You compartmentalize and isolate them from the rest of the system for their safety and stability in the system. Because of their vulnerability, they also seem kind of dangerous. They’re the parts of you that are scared of being abandoned, get intimidated, experienced trauma, and feel a lot of shame. This is where the Big Four live - not good enough, too much, if you really knew me, and everyone leaves.

Exiles are desperate to tell their story but Managers pessimistically believe your pain is a burden to others. Firefighters flat out refuse to put you in danger of being hurt again. If a sad, little kid part of you revealed a disgusting longing for an authority figure’s approval during a job interview, a Firefighter part might change the subject while a Manager sabotages the rest of the meeting. Neo-exiles are the parts we hide within close relationships. Imagine a romantic partner or friend that gives you attention when you’re doing something nice but ignores your bids for reassurance. You’ll shut down the needy part of you to maintain the relationship. The message from that person you tell yourself is that only your good parts are acceptable.

THE CORE SELF

So far, we’ve been describing the orchestra - or if you’d prefer, the various departments of your business or the governmental branches of your personal nation. Let’s switch to the head of it all - the conductor, the CEO, the President, YOU. In the center of all of this is your core Self. It’s a beautiful place to be. It doesn’t need work because it’s already perfect. It spontaneously emerges when the air is clear and all is safe. It is the natural essence of who you are and is sheltered from damage or destruction by function of your parts.

You know you’re in your grounded center when you feel authentically chill. Some theories describe the Self by the 8 C’s:

Confident

Courageous

Creative

Clarity

Compassion

Calm

Curious

Connected

I know I’m in that place when nothing said or done can move me off my square. For instance, I am confident about my intelligence. If some bozo tried to lecture me about how I’m really a dummy, I might get a little irritated but he’s not going to shake my confidence. Now if the same bozo flicked some booger comment about something more vulnerable, that might temporarily knock me off-center. Note: my own managers and firefighters have censored me from revealing said vulnerability for my own protection.

WORST CASE SCENARIO

Your personal configuration and manifestation of parts was constructed to deal with your worst case scenario to date. Since we have different histories and experiences, each set of parts is like a fingerprint of the individual. While I’m currently working hard to lead with my core Self, recent events (i.e. the death of my wife) have thrown the system into a reorg process. All previous worst case scenarios were blown out of the water and my mind’s company is frantically looking for new hires in two main departments. I thought I’d give you a peek into the frenetic remodeling of my inner Self as the parts run around with their pants on fire.

Exile: [Can’t speak and just cries endlessly into the void.]

Firefighter: “Oh shit! Their wedding song started playing overhead at the grocery store!”

Manager: “It’s fine. Everything is fine. Close your ears, stop being a baby and don’t think about it.”

Exile: “But I can’t stop thinking!” [Stops responding as snot clogs up nose.]

Firefighter: “Leave the store! Leave your groceries where you are!”

Exile: [Blows nose, hides in deserted health food aisle.]

Manager: “Someone could have seen you out there. Now go check out and remember to smile at the clerk.”

Firefighter: “I think it’s a great time to call it a day and watch more episodes of Designing Women.”

These parts are obviously clueless as to what to do with this newly emerged and devastatingly sad grief Exile. She’s a little girl part of me that either pitifully weeps or gets hulk-smash rageful. She isn’t a new part; she’s come out of semi-retirement to hold my overwhelming grief. She believes that everyone will leave her and she’s left on her own to figure everything out. She thinks things like, “Why don’t people notice how sad I am???” She doesn’t know a Firefighter distracts her from feeling with a stupid magic trick while a Manager runs around pulling the curtains around her so no one sees. All the parts are trying to help but the animals are loose at the circus. Though the Exile doesn’t know it, she’s waiting for my core Self to step in and corral the monkeys. My Self knows what to do if I can only find and access it. Stepping from the shadows, my centered Self brings a soothing presence that stops the commotion and quiets the protectors. Here’s an example:

Manager: “You should shower and do a little cleaning. This place is a mess!”

Firefighter: “Honestly, I think eating a little cookie butter will make things better.”

Exile: “[Sobbing] Things are never going to get better! I don’t want them to get better!”

Firefighter: “I know! Let’s listen to Rage Against the Machine really loud in the kitchen!”

Manager: “Fine, don’t shower even though you stink. Don’t change clothes either. It’s not like anyone sees you anyway.”

Firefighter: “Uhhh, isn’t that friend coming over tonight?”

Manager: “Oh yeah! He’ll certainly notice those dishes that have been in the sink for 3 days. Just sayin’...”

Exile: “Oh no! [Hangs head in shame] People will find out how horribly disgusting I am because I haven’t run the dishwasher or broken down and recycled the Amazon boxes.”

Firefighter: “Just throw everything in the backyard!!!”

Manager: “Stack up all the piles neatly so it looks like you wanted them there on purpose.”

SELF: “Alright, let’s think about this. What if you broke down the boxes right now, put them outside, rinse the dishes, and filled the dishwasher all while listening to Rage Against the Machine?”

Manager: “That’s not enough but okay, fine.”

Firefighter: “Great ideas as always. I’m going to rest up for the next emergency.”

Exile: “Thank you for listening to me. I feel a little better and I think we can do this.”

SELF: “Great. Afterwards, everyone can take a break and zone out in front of the TV. Now put on that music and let’s get to work.”

WHO’S IN CHARGE?

As long as there’s no one in charge, your mind is a confusing and chaotic miasma of competing needs. Ideally, the Self steps up and takes over negotiation between the parts and directs the next steps. However, sometimes a part fills in the leadership role. You know you’re leading with a Manager when you feel buttoned up, intellectually sharp and emotionally numbed out. Leading with a Firefighter part feels like a continual state of irritability and agitation and keeps you ‘at the ready’ to react to danger. Exiles are rarely in charge because they’re really bad at it. They collapse the system and insist on activities like staying in bed all day.

WORKING WITH YOUR SYSTEM

As with most life problems, the first step is awareness. You’ve got to get to know your parts - their personalities, beliefs, and functions - before trying to intervene in their conflicts. Like I said before, there are no bad parts - just competing beliefs and strategies. A given part feels strongly that it’s right, sees it how it really is and knows the truth. Every thought or feeling originating from a part is trying to help you out, even if it doesn’t seem that way. The part of me that says no one wants to be around me is actually trying to protect me from rejection and abandonment. Unchallenged, that part will keep me from connecting to supportive people.

OBSERVING AND IDENTIFYING PARTS

It may be difficult to put your finger on and capture a particular part. When you’re ready, there’s a few ways to access them. Start by being curious and non-judgmental. Think of your centered self as just a researcher interested in data collection. Reassure yourself that nothing has to change as you’re presently in observation mode.

Take your emotional temperature by asking yourself how you feel right now. Ask to see what emotions are already present and how or where your body feels with that emotion. Observe those messages that are on repeat in your mind. Alternatively, you can access an upsetting memory from the past and examine it. Ask yourself, what exactly was upsetting about what happened? Did you feel afraid, sad, anxious, angry or something else? How did you react and what did you do? Did you rage, freeze, numb, avoid, or try to smooth it over? These questions will reveal clues to what was exiled and what managers and/or firefighters protected you. If at any time your brain says, “I don’t know,” consider that another protector part and explore accordingly.

STAYING CENTERED

Once you’ve got a handful of observations, pick out one voice and interview it. More than likely, you’ll be talking to a protector - probably a manager. Getting it talking by asking what it believes and it’s job in the system. Ask how old it is and what it looks like. A voice that says. “This isn’t fair,” may believe you get dumped on more than most and thinks the job is to protest on your behalf. It may show up as a finger wagging old man who suggests that something must be wrong with you because this keeps happening. What’s protective about this voice? What kind of Exile is it defending? Be gentle with digging down to the Exiled little kid part underneath. Kids are delicate and need protecting. If you find yourself continuing to have strong emotions or becoming reactive, you’ve likely run into another manager or firefighter. Interview and explore this part before moving deeper. We can’t access, validate and utilize the burdened exiles without honoring how the system set itself up to protect us.

Once you’re working with a particular part, another angle is to check back in with your calm and centered Self. What do you understand about the part? What do you think is going on? Can you find empathy and appreciation for the part? Even our nastiest parts work really hard on our behalf. A critical voice is mean but its heart is in the right place. An obsessive or addictive part is trying to soothe the system in the best and only ways it knows so far.

TRUSTING RELATIONSHIPS

Getting to know your parts is the process of creating trusting relationships between them and the Self. This is the next step in the process of converting your protectors and split-off exiles into your allies. Think about how trust is built with other people: consistent interactions, listening to and honoring what’s said, believing their words are important - even when you don’t understand. That’s exactly how we build rapport with the different parts of ourselves. It may be scary or unpleasant to get close to your inner critic or the tightly-wound explosive rage but it’s a vital step. Like a good CEO or President, once your core Self begins to get everyone on board, it’s easier to know what to do when life throws you the next curveball.

I’ve got a story for you from back when my wife was still alive. I left to go grocery shopping but stopped in at the craft store to shop for just myself. This nagging little voice kept popping up but I successfully shoved it back down at the craft store. Entering the grocery store a short time later, I could no longer ignore a little girl voice on repeat: “She’s going to be mad at you!” Sighing, I got centered and engaged it. Here’s how the conversation went:

Little Girl: “She’s going to be mad at you!”

SELF: “Okay, well, we can handle that. Why will she be mad at me?”

Little Girl: “Because you took too much time at the craft store.”

SELF: “Why is that a big deal to you? What are you feeling?”

Little Girl: “I’m worried she’ll be mad and call you selfish because you took time for yourself.”

SELF: “Okay, well if that happens, I’ll take care of it. You don’t have to explain it to her. I don’t think she’ll actually be mad but if she is, I’ll be in charge. How does that sound?”

Little Girl: “I’m still worried but I’ll try it your way.”

SELF: “Great. Thank you for trusting me. No matter what, it will be okay.”

This is the actual transcription of me engaging with a worried part. For the record, it’s not grounded in current reality. Naturally, Patty would be concerned if I hadn’t returned from shopping if it had been a few hours but she wouldn’t be mad. I already had a relationship with this part - the Little Girl. She’s about 5 or 6 and feels too small and powerless to change things in the world. She’s used to being dismissed and pulls at my sleeve to warn me about all the monsters lurking in the shadows. She’s protected by another part - my rebellious teenager. If I’m not gentle with the Little Girl, the Rebel leaps to her defense and commandeer the entire system. The Rebel says things like, “Oh no, you fucking didn’t just do that! I’ll show you!” and promptly turns off all inhibition and motivation and steers us back to the craft store to buy $100 worth of crap. I’ve learned my lesson - listen to and trust the Little Girl, or else it’ll cost me.

YOUR PARTS IN GRIEF

I’m still getting to know and lead the parts of me as they grieve. As with outside life, my internal life was thrown into disarray after Patty died. I had all the parts nicely organized, productive, and had good working relationships with all. Death took my puny little shoebox diorama on the inside of my mind and… shook it up really hard. I was so proud of my hand painted little figurines, all precisely glued in their rightful places. A manager most assuredly came up with that idea. Now, there’s a part of me that just wants to toss the whole thing and another part that’s picking up each piece, crying over its brokenness.

All I can do is be patient with myself for now as I sort through the pieces in the shoebox. I tried throwing it out but it just reappeared. I’m working on getting the lay of the land. I’m doing my best to accept and soothe the broken parts - even as they overreact, judge me for not keeping things cleaner, numb out with cookie butter, and cry at the grocery store. We are trudging down the road right now but when I get to know everyone again, I’ll call a meeting and figure out what’s next.

#grief #parts #Internal Family Systems #mind

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dragonofdarknesschaos · 4 years

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Shadow Young: The Ultimate Heylin Warrior

So I was rereading some old theories about Shadow, and I realized that I completely overlooked such a blatant coincidence!

The Yin-Yang Paradigm | Parallels between the Goddess Jiu Tian Xuan Nu and Shadow

The Yin-Yang Paradigm can take a backseat. It's an interesting read, but the only part we need is the line from the Xiaolin Chronicles Special Edition Preface.

In ancient China,the great Xiaolin Master Dashi unlocked the secrets to supreme martial arts powers. He became a Xiaolin Dragon–a force of light–defender of good.

Where there is yang, there must be yin. The evil witch Wuya stole Dashi’s secrets and molded herself into the embodiment of darkness–the Heylin Dragon.

Why is assigning Wuya, the original Heylin Dragon Warrior, as an embodiment of yin energy important? Because the Chinese Goddess, Jiu Tian Xuan Nu, is also known as "The Ultimate Yin." Shadow shares almost all her aspects with this deity. This means that Shadow was (or is?) destined to become The Ultimate Heylin Warrior.

What does that even mean? [Spoilers under the cut]

Dashi was the first Xiaolin Dragon Warrior. Wuya stole his techniques and molded herself into a Heylin Dragon. At the end of XC it is stated that Chase ascends to the level of a Heylin Dragon, quite literally.

While Wuya doesn't possess the same literal transformation that Chase has associated with the title of "Dragon," it still bears mentioning that both achieved this level of skill.

How Xiaolin Dragon Warriors--warriors of light--differ from Heylin Dragon Warriors--warriors of darkness--is that Xiaolin Warriors ascend to the level of Dragon when they successfully ride and pair with an actual dragon.

Chase was never able to do this, and he despised his fellow Monks (and brother) for moving on without him. In addition, as part of being a Xiaolin Dragon Warrior, one must give up part of their unique abilities and channel them into a mystical item for future generations of Xiaolin Warriors to use--these are the Shen Gong Wu. Chase had worked so hard for what little power he had, that he didn't think it was right for him to suddenly give it up for the sake of posterity.

While not much is known about Wuya, we do know that she craved power. Before Dashi defeated her in the first Xiaolin Showdown, she might have been well on her way to taking power from the whole world. It's purposefully left ambiguous and we are never truly meant to know. What is certain is that Wuya definitely could have done all, or possibly more, than Chase did in this Heylin Dragon Form.

So how does all this yin and yang relate back to Shadow?

As stated in the title of this post, I believe Shadow was destined to become the Ultimate Yin. In this context of "Xiao-yang" and "Hey-yin," this means that Shadow is slated to become the Ultimate Heylin Warrior. But Jiu Tian Xuan Nu is very much a positive, good, and balancing force in the pantheon. How can an ultimate evil be that too?

Throughout XC Shadow is shown checking and attempting to balance Chase's evil acts. The strongest example of the imbalance within Chase & his brand of Evil and how Shadow reacts to that imbalance can be seen in "Chase Lays an Egg." Not only does Shadow roll her eyes at Chase's gluttony early on, insisting that there are better (and more Evil) things to do, but she also shows extreme disgust over Chase's affection for the Egg. After the Egg is stolen, Chase prompts Shadow to go into the Xiaolin Temple and get back his Egg. Shadow refuses, and Chase darts off to get it himself. Shadow cooks up her own plan to destroy the Egg and revert Chase back to his usual, Evil self. Shadow's whole motivations towards Chase after episode 8, "Out of Ping Pong's Mind," can mostly be summed up as her trying to get him to be the most Evil version of himself. Over time she gets annoyed that he doesn't change and that eventually motivates her in part to leave ("Shadow's Role and Abuse" 2017).

So early on, Shadow already has an ideal of the Evil Chase should be living up to, but isn't. This is likely why Wuya and Shadow quickly and easily bonded--both possess extremely powerful yin energy. It's strange that returning Wuya to a solidly form is all Shadow's idea, but then Shadow seems surprised when her vision leads her back to Wuya an episode later ("Back in the Flesh Again," "Call of the Dragon Spirit"). I think it's only natural that Wuya would want to eliminate Shadow from the competition to be the strongest Heylin force. Wuya might not know that this is even coming, however.

The only real reason Wuya gives to eliminate Shadow at the end of the series is that Wuya saw Shadow as a tool to lead her to Princess Kaila, who Wuya believes was involved with her wrongful imprisonment by Dashi inside the spring inside the puzzle box for over 1500 years. Wuya doesn't need Shadow any more, since Kaila is right in front of her, so Shadow does something a little out of character. She turns around on Wuya and is last shown running for her life with Princess Kaila. It's implied that the two are at least traveling together, but it's unknown if Shadow is protecting Kaila or not. Since Shadow feels a connection to Kaila, I would argue that she is protecting the princess ("Fly the Dragon!").

So if Shadow is supposed to become this Ultimate Heylin force, why is she, presumably, going to be trained by Princess Kaila--a force of good--on how to use her powers? Shadow, Kaila, and Loniani-Nui--a dragon lady shapeshifter, Dragon Partner to Chase's older brother, and Chase's Monkhood crush--all have a yin-yang symbol somewhere on their body. Nui's is on her throat chakra, Kaila's is near her heart chakra, and Shadow's is on her third eye chakra. You can read more about the significance of these placements here.

All you really need to know about the significance of these placements is that the highest chakra--and thus enlightenment--is at the top of the head. Shadow, having her yin-yang on her third eye is the one closest to reaching that enlightenment of these three women. Xiaolin is based on Shaolin Buddhism, the main goal of the religion is to attain enlightenment. Since Dragon Warriors are able to fuse and link with their dragon partners, they definitely get very close to entering the state of nirvana. Or since it's a nonsensical kid's show, it might be better described as "an empowered, altered state of being one with the world and its' knowledge." There's not enough to go on at this point unfortunately.

To back up Shadow being secretly super powerful, @p-r-imeday had an exchange with series creator, Christy Hui, on instagram where Hui casually revealed that she just likes characters with really "big hair." Which explains a lot of the design choices in XC. The Heylin characters with the longest hair are Shadow, then Wuya, and then Chase. Chase even gets slightly longer hair when he goes super size and absorbs all the chi he possibly can. Wuya's hair is still slightly longer due to the tight curl at the end.

So Shadow already has some construct of what Evil is supposed to be in her mind, and she is willing to reinforce that ideal. Wuya, the only other major embodiment of yin, sees Shadow as a threat, albeit by association with Wuya's real target. And Shadow is the closest to enlightenment because of the placement of her yin-yang being so close to the crown chakra, in addition to her having the longest hair in canon, which makes her the most powerful being.

Shadow's role as the Ultimate Heylin Warrior would be to enforce a strict view of Evil onto the Heylin side. While XC did greatly limit the number of visibly active villains, the series as a whole is well known for having a plethora of antagonists who operated in evil areas, but relatively outside the Xiaolin-Heylin conflict. Shadow would essentially be out there saying, "Hey, if you're going to use that Wu you gotta fight the Xiaolin Order. Or Else." She would also be required to show up to fight Evils that don't fit her strict interpretation of what "Evil" is, thus aiding the side of good.

I describe it best here, in that the best way to paint the world grey is to start with pure white and pure black, and constantly have them mixing with each other. Because at the end of the day, the world Dashi has created through his actions is one in which very few dots of black are allowed to exist, while the Xiaolin Order stands blinding in its' light.

Without Shadow forcing people who want to use Wu to enter the fray, XC leaves us with Jack, Wuya, and... Tiny Sim? Sim isn't interested in Wu at all, and Jack was only in it due to Wuya (Salvadore serves Wuya, so I'm not mentioning him in this list). The Xiaolin Order has five Monks being trained to become Dragon Warriors. It's grossly imbalanced. Shadow is needed to correct that balance. And thus, a proper, balanced world order would be achieved.

TL;DR:

Shadow is the most powerful being in all of XC because she has really long hair.

#Shadow Young #analysis #theory #headcanon #Xiaolin Chronicles

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im-pretending-imthere-already · 3 years

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by the warm current

As kids, my sister and I spent our summers near the river, often falling on our long garments. Our knees scraped and bruised by the sharp rocks that lay beside the strong, warm stream. The hot days rushed by as we spent our hours playing under the hot, blinding sun. If my sister adored anything, it was birds. Often we spent our days searching for them in the scorching heat of the summer, looking for all the wings that have been neatly crafted, threaded into shape. Our collection of feathers of all colours were kept safe, hidden to preserve their infinite beauty, kept in a wooden rustic box under our bed. The box neatly tucked away between the sheets that were perfectly stored by mother. One grim evening, one of my older siblings had found our box hidden between the worn out blankets, that night we were forced into womanhood, our childhood was stripped away from us. Our summers were no longer warm, our knees left with scars.

What is it to truly be a woman? A question I still struggle with. Reverend Michael often referred to womanhood as preparing to serve God by serving your husband, which we spent the following years doing, leaving our ambitions and dreams of independence behind. Our personalities were to be crushed under the high expectations of becoming nothing other than slaves which men used. Our days were spent caring for our younger siblings who occupied our time dirtying the floors we just scrubbed. Our womanhood, reduced to becoming mothers and leaving our aspirations for our sons. Too tall, too confident, too short, too skinny, too immodest, too fat, too lanky, too talkative, too hairy, too loud, too aggressive, our existence is nothing more than a checklist for men to choose from. Growing up, I admired adulthood. I admired the idea of growing up to serve my husband, the idea of dressing modestly and spending my time cleaning, to become a woman. But as I grew into that woman, I began despising it.

My teenage years were regulated by the women of the church who made it their mission to crush my dreams, my life was to be sacrificed for god. Waking up to the screaming children of the church who demanded breakfast, my days were the same every single day. After the tedious mornings of cooking, cleaning and caring tirelessly, we met the citrus trees sprinkled with the soft dew on their delicate leaves in the community garden as we planned to prepare our annual lemon pie. Every year we were to prepare a feast full of food, including our lemon pie as the dessert for the mating party. This glamorous party was only a facade, a sweet glaze over a dark oppressive, controlled, and abusive future. This year was different, however, as I was becoming a woman of age, all day I had been thinking about what was to come, the life I was forced to have, pushed into a designated role my whole life. This is it, this is the dream of the church, this is what my life was to be, what my family had planned, what the reverend had envisioned.

That day I realised I couldn't do this, after seeing all the women blatantly eyed by the men of the church, scanned from bottom to up, graded as if they were a gift to be expected, a helpless little kitten to be chosen from a shelter or rescued from a basket left on the road. My older sister stood beside me, we glared at each other exchanging the same thoughts. Our life was more than this, our dreams were not to be forgotten, hidden in the blankets of our mind. I had heard about a couple of people who had escaped before, I didn't know how to but we had to get out. That night I decided to do the unthinkable, I had to make a plan, I had to take action, I had to escape this cage and fly away.

Reverend Michael was my father however he was never a typical father, more like a shepherd grazing his sheep, controlling us to become nothing more than slaves for his sick fantasies. He slept in the cabin house beside ours, but I knew he was going to arrive late today due to the ceremony, like every year before. It was the perfect time as if the universe aligned for our freedom. In my nightgown, I slid out as my sister was fast asleep. The night was dark, the air thick and foggy, the moon barely lit watching over me as I ran barefoot, in my white gown to the reverend's cabin. I knew where to look, under the vase he kept his spare key, which I used to unlock his door. I walk in knowing exactly where to find what I'm looking for, his diary, kept in the last drawer of his desk conveniently hidden in between his bibles. I flick through the delicate pages looking for something useful when I stumble across the gold mine. It wrote the name of a woman named "Angela Zachery" and her cabin number''14", suspected of breaking out "Mary Williams". I quickly close the book, return his diary precisely into its spot and leave the same way I entered, leaving no trace behind me.

The coming night my mind was occupied with one thought, cabin 14. I couldn't just leave, I had to make sure it was clear. It took a couple of nights which felt like forever but eventually, I got there. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a Friday night, everyone had got to their cabins early after a hard day of work and the daily evening lecture was longer than usual. The pathways were empty, the road clear. I made my way, a little more professional than the night of the ceremony, in my brown dress and handwoven cardigan that wrapped its threads around my shoulders supporting me through my journey. If I was found by any person or even if "Angela" was a scam I would end up 6 feet deep into the ground before sunrise. I took the chance walking across the church to his cabin, no one was around, no one to be seen spying. I knocked on the door anticipating the worst, painting the images of my death. My life dissolving into nothing more than a forgotten story in the depths of my memories, an old story tale kept at the back of a dusty bookshelf. The door opened ever so slightly as I felt the fear shake through my body. She grabbed me inside so hard I stumbled inside falling to my knees in front of her as he shut the door aggressively. I introduced myself and explained my story and she sat there listening. Her eyes stared at me aggressively yet with a shadow of love. Her agreement brought me feelings, flushing my skin, red. Independence, freedom, individuality, expression, life. All books that she dusted alive within an instant. My dreams of independence and freedom rushed back through my bones to the crevices of my every thought. It was scheduled for Thursday night.

The night before the escape was probably one of the hardest and most important nights of my life, I was breaking the cage and finally getting the opportunity to fly, but the thought of leaving everything and everyone I knew terrified me. I wasn't to ever clean after my siblings, but I wasn't ever going to see them again. I wasn't going to have to make lemon pie for the church, but I wasn't going to celebrate with all my family ever again. Laying in my bed I couldn't get my eyes to shut as I laid there staring at the ceiling. The only support holding me together was the sheets I laid in and the light breathing of my sister beside me.

My bags packed, my thoughts collected, my breathing stable. This was it, this was my freedom. I get to leave and not look back. It was starting to get dark, the last evening to spend in this hell of a place. The trees rustling in the wind and air smelling of wood fire. I had kissed each of my younger siblings goodbye, hoping I would remain alive in their memories. My sister spent that evening reading, which we did often. An outlet we used to let our imagination roam free to live the lives we wish we had. As we put our coats on we stared at each other with fear, the sun had set and the sky was so empty reflecting the withdrawal we were to be hit with. We looked at each other and left, never to set foot in the cabin ever again.

Angela has sent some, waiting for us. He had a car organized outside the fence, we just had to make it outside. In the dark night, we threw our long dress off and climbed the fence gripping the holes with all our strength, looking back I could see Angela in the distance leaving. Climbing faster and faster, our bodies shaking with fear, our hearts anticipating our freedom. Hand over hand, foot over foot, we rose higher and higher. It felt like forever until we reached the top, then at the tip I stared into my sister's eyes when I heard a bang! My soul left my body for a moment from the fear as I saw my sister's body growing limp, her back falling into the fence becoming one with it. I stared into the sky for a moment, knowing I was targeted, I had no time. I had to leave my sister behind, running my way down the fence. I felt the wind brushing my cheeks, the heat irritating my skin. As I reached the last few steps I fell onto the floor, my vision blurring into two. There was no option but to get up, leaving my sister hanging on the fence and running into the truck.

As fast as my life gained sweetness it got bitter again. I stayed in a home with many people, I had food and clothing. But life without my sister was hard, the image of her murder remaining drilled into my head. I saw the soul leave her body, I saw her life end. I often wonder how different things would have turned out if I never left, if I was caught, if we moved a metre to the right if we left on Friday?

My favourite place grew to become the beach, reminding me of the warm river my sister and I loved ever so dearly, connecting our dreams to every nook of the world. As I sit here today, on the warm sand, I often find myself looking beside me to find my sister's spirit constantly gifting me with feathers. Today I have the privilege of sitting on this beach, feeling the wind through my hair, the cool breeze on my shoulders and my sister's feathers can be forever stored, kept safe and loved, not to be a secret but to be a memory of resilience.

-F.A

#relgioustruama #sister #bestfriend #cult #love #childhood #creative #short #shortstory #poetic #poetry

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ghostboy-gamedev · 4 years

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Learn Log #4 - Grassy Grove

On week 4 of my pixel art journey, I learned how to make objects of nature including grass, bushes and trees. Unfortunately, I had to postpone this to this week when the learning and blog post was set for last week as I was just preparing for a return to university (it’s all online – social distancing dw). Anyway, I ended up making the forest scene you see above, and it was a lot of fun. I think that the GUI elements last week had a focus on technicality and exactness. Letters are very rigid, and we have somewhat set ideas about what each character should look like. However, nature is more flexible and therefore logic isn’t as heavily involved.

Tile Sets

Before jumping into the actual elements of this week’s piece I want to talk about making pixel art tiles. You will have probably noticed that the nature scene is quite rigid like each element is set into a box. This is because I’m learning pixel art to make games and games often use tile sprites to build their environment.

Tile sprites are the floors and sometimes walls of the environment. They often loop or repeat to cover the environment, however, some engines have tools allowing game designers to build environments tile by tile.

In the first case, the tile sprite will have to be created with its looping in mind and details may be added to provide variation in the environment. However, these added details may highlight the repeating the pattern and the more a detail sticks out the obvious the repetition becomes. Additionally, smaller tiles will repeat more frequently, and this also shows repeating textures.

The second scenario requires variation to be created from the creation of multiple tiles. This is great for creating variation; however, the tiles will also have to line up with each other which may be trickier for more rigid surfaces like rocks or bricks.

Since Unity has a tile builder tool and I was creating a natural environment where tiles wouldn’t need to line up so clearly – I decided to go with the second option.

The size of the tiles may also dictate the size of the rest of the game. For example, a bush may be 1 tile large in terms of level design, so the size of that bush is determined by the size of the tile. This also goes for the player whose sprite will typically range from 1 tile to 2x2 tiles. I decided to just make my tiles 16x16 as I enjoy learning within that space.

Grass

A grass tile is typically made of a green background with blades of grass texturing the surface. Many people may open up a couple of green canvases and start texturing them with green lines, however, there’s a much better way to do things I think. Since we’re working with 16x16 tiles there’s a limited number of shapes that look like grass and are small enough to fit within the tile. So, if we make a bunch of lines in green then we have blades of grass that we can copy and paste into each tile (the blades should typically be a lighter green as light will be hitting them).

However, having blades of grass like this make tiles look flat. Adding shading will fix this issue by giving the grass depth, however, more complicated shading will obviously make the background more complicated which can affect the readability of your game.

Each blade of grass can now be copied into a 16x16 canvas to make grass tiles. I made 4 grass tiles shown below putting approximately 10 blades into each tile. I made each tile with different elements of the environment in mind such as short grass, long grass, bushy grass and leafy grass.

With these tiles, I created a larger image to test the repetition of the tiles. The repetition wasn’t a big issue; however, I didn’t think the leafy grass fit with the rest of the grass, so I decided to leave it behind for the next stage.

Next, I was going to add an extra tile for each of the current textures to reduce repetition as well as two flower variants for each tile type to add some colours into the textures. I did another test of the tiles’ repetition and overall look and it looked good but somewhat cluttered though I figured that this wouldn’t be an issue when I deliberately place the tiles rather than randomly scatter them.

I had in my mind the type of scene I wanted to make for this week, but it required dirt paths. Luckily this wasn’t an issue to make. I made two variations of the straight, one-way paths as they would be tiling and altered one of these tiles slightly to make the curve and intersection tiles.

I then assembled these 15 tiles into the image below.

Trees

Next, I wanted to add some plant life which would involve trees and bushes. I decided to do trees first as they would be larger than the bushes. First, I started with the shape of the tree which would be fairly basic. I made a rough tree trunk shape to start with and topped it with a circle that was a little squished before refining the shape a little more to get what’s shown below.

I then added colour into the tree. A simple brown for the bark and 4 shades of green for the leaves. These greens were made by colour picking the base green background and hue-shifting it towards yellow so the tree would stand out more from the background.

The colours are organised into ovals to help give the tree a sense of depth. The dark shades wrap around the edges of the tree to show the tree’s roundness. The colour thins out as it goes around because you’re viewing the shaded leaves from a side-on perspective.

Next, I blurred the lines between these circles by mixing the colours slightly. This was the start of adding leaves onto the tree. Quickly after that, I added more detail to the leaves by spotting the head of the tree with lighter greens. The details added were in ‘leaf-like’ shapes like hearts, single lines, and arrows. They don’t look like leaves individually and can’t receive much detail themselves (such as a stem) but together they make the tree look nice and bushy. I also added some detail to the tree trunk including shading.

The tree trunk seemed a little off when I checked it out with the image I had so far, unfortunately. So, I added some extra trunk at the bottom along with a nice shadow. This shadow was the colour black at a transparency of 127 (or half transparency). This works really well as a quick and easy shadow on detailed background, but it does, unfortunately, mean the shaded area is not hue-shifted as typically preferred. The final product is below.

Looking at this sprite you may think it would be difficult to construct a game environment due to the leaves, trunk shape and shadow involved. However, we can place each section down as a separate 16x16 tile with the main trunk tile being a collider and other tiles not having a collision box (like decoration tiles – we don’t want players to run into tree leaves). This works out really well, and I focused on the main trunk tile when positioning the sprite in the piece. Which is shown below.

However, the scene below is bit lonely so I thought I’d add some pine trees as a level border. The process of the pine tree is similar so I won’t describe each step but will show the images. This time around I did shape the tree a bit more wildly with branches and leaves sticking out from the tree. I also hue shifted towards bluer colours rather than the more yellow colours I used in the round tree.

Next, it was time to add more trees into the scene and add some grass beneath them. I made the grass beneath them short grass simply because it looks a bit neater than the other grass types.

I think it looks pretty neat! I made a pine tree variant by swapping the colours with that of the round tree for some variation which worked as a nice, easy trick. But it would look livelier with some bushes.

Bushes

You might have looked at the trees just before and thought, ‘That kind of looks like a bush on a stump.’ That’s because the techniques used to make bushes and trees are typically very similar depending on the style of the game. Since we’re using a 16x16 size which is somewhat limited they will likely turn out in roughly the same way.

I started with a circle shape that was modified at the bottom to be a bit flatter. This will hopefully give the impression that the bush is touching the ground and rounds out on the top

I did a similar process in colouring the bush as I did with the tree, however, I used fewer colours as I didn’t have as much room for highlights with the bush. The colours used are actually the same as those in the pine tree.

I then adjusted the outline to give the bush a wilder feel as well as texturing the inside of the bush to create the appearance of leaves.

The bush still felt a little flat, so I added highlights to the top of it to add a greater sense of depth. The highlight was rounded towards its end at the bottom to enforce the rounded nature of the bush. This required me to add another outline tone for highlights which I might apply to other elements of the picture. I was pretty happy with the bush, so I made another for variation and added them into the picture with some shadows.

The picture looked pretty good, but I thought some touch-ups might make it just that little bit better.

Touch-Ups/Conclusion

To touch up the piece I added some more trees for denser looking forest, added the lighter outline colour to the tress and expanded shadows around some of the pine trees. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I think the shadows could use some refinement at the top border of trees. I also think that top border highlights the repeating pine tree trunk which could also be changed to tile better. I do wish my bushes were a bit leafier than shrub-like, however, I think my ability to make leaves on both bushes and trees will improve as I practice. I also think a 32x32 base picture would allow me to make some more defined leaves. The lighting on the pine trees also uses a different technique to the round tree so next time I’ll try to be more consistent with that. Overall though I’m happy and I quite like the outline highlights as they make the image a bit softer.

That concludes week 4 of learning how to make pixel art. Next week I’ll be looking at sand, water and rocks to make a top-down beach scene.

My learning and this blog post wouldn’t have been made possible without these fantastic resources. Go check them out if you wanna learn some stuff about pixel art!

How to Draw Tiled Pixel Art by TipTut

Creating Variation in Pixel Art TutsByKai

Pixel Art 101: Grass by Pixel Pete

How to Make Pixel Grass Tiles by TutsByKai

RPG Grass Background Tiles by HeartBeast

Pixel Art 101: Trees by Pixel Pete

[Let’s Pixel] Tree by HeartBeast

[Let’s Pixel] Spruce Tree by HeartBeast

Pixel Art 101: Bush by Pixel Pete

#pixel art #learning #gamedev #pixel aesthetic #pixel #gaming #learn

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bookbornexiv · 3 years

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the sea at the bottom of the sea

(wol and hythlodaeus check out azem’s apartment. warning: unedited and full of shadowbringers spoilers up to 5.5, despite which i clearly retained absolutely zero knowledge of any lore)

You heard it sitting on the docks south of Wright, a fishing rod in your hands and sea-spray salting your dangling feet and the mad cries of gulls in your hair; a story told through mouthfuls of sandwich by one dock worker to another, drifting to you like a thin thread of destiny over the pounding heartbeat of the sea in your ears and in your bones. You were thinking about fish and other such things, you had your eyes half shut to better feel the sun's warm kiss on your face. To better ignore that you should probably be actually doing or preparing for some important duty right now instead. To better forget that there was something you came here to remember.

"There's a sea at the bottom of the sea, and another sea at the bottom of that sea, and another sea at the bottom of that one. But below all of that, if you swim hard enough, you might see a city..."

You can see it now on the back of your eyelids, the shadows of spires and spirals like arms unfurling to welcome you, that city at the bottom of the sea. But you know it's not really a city, that the tale-telling dock workers are right. What looks like a city is just another sea, emptied of water and filled instead with memories so fluid, anyone could be forgiven for thinking them the real thing.

And you find yourself wondering, what's at the bottom of that?

You find, without much surprise, Hythlodaeus waiting in the lobby of the building when you eventually locate it. You fold your arms as you crane your neck back to gaze accusingly into his masked face. You really could have used his help three or four bells ago, at the front desk of the city council, or at any of the departments they eventually relayed you to like a ping-pong ball. At any of the points in time which you found yourself explaining over and over again, to a different face wearing a very slightly different mask, that you didn't have any identifying documents, you didn't have any legal or law enforcement credentials, but all you wanted to know and didn't see the harm in them telling you was Azem's mailing address. A PO box would have been fine. Finally, your patience wearing thin, you had to withdraw and hide in a back alley to surreptitiously make some coffee biscuits on your portable stove, craft a cute little paper box to put them in, and then - wearing your most winsome smile and the Amaurotine robes you'd kept from the first time you'd been run around doing errands here - rocked up to the concierge of the first residential building you could find, intending to say you had a cookie delivery for Azem but you'd forgotten the unit number exactly. To your crestfallen surprise, the lobby is entirely empty of staff and residents alike, and only Hythlodaeus is there, beaming at you in your cleverness.

"I didn't do anything," you say.

"Azem was always moving. When you're never in town and very charming but also very bad at arranging for bills and rent to be paid on time, you can't keep a place for long," Hythlodaeus explains. "Landlords get fed up and somehow Emet-Selch or I would end up with the eviction notice, we'd have to come around to make sure everything was safely put away in storage for the time being... Azem never even remembered how to get to any of them either. You're doing better. Very impressive."

You give him the box of biscuits. You're not sure how he's going to get any use out of them, but he looks delighted anyway, and tucks it carefully away somewhere in his robes.

"Shall we go up? You'll need me to press the lift buttons. You can't reach them."

You also end up needing his help to reach the lock on the apartment door, which you are completely unsurprised to find out he has a spare key to. For a moment, as he fumbles with the stiff lock, you find yourself backing up a little bit, holding your breath, as if that locked door were a rock over the mouth of a volcano already in the throes of an eruption. Later you'll ask yourself why you were so nervous, so anxious, what you were thinking you might see when he opened that door. For now your mind is a blank - one that, mercifully, remains so as Hythlodaeus wiggles the doorknob free and pushes the door open. "Welcome!" he says, brandishing one long arm gracefully to usher you in. "Watch your step. And your hands."

You don't take a step towards the open doorway. "Watch out for what? For cubus? Did Azem keep cubus as pets?"

"No, no, I mean it might be dusty. I don't remember if anyone arranged for weekly cleaning."

You finally let go of that long breath you had been holding. Dust you can deal with. You are the Warrior of Darkness. The Warrior of Darkness. The Warr- You clear your head, nod gratefully at Hythlodaeus and step past him, into the apartment.

It honestly is a bit of a disappointment. If you hadn't known the occupant of this unit to be a person of fairly major importance and influence on, like, an international scale, then you might have thought it pretty neat in a sterile, showroom kind of way. High ceilings and big glass windows and sleepy beige and grey accents on sleek and featureless furnishings, generic abstract paintings alongside boring black shelves on the walls, and lush plastic plants scattered about as if the designer had run out of ideas and just slapped a wall planter here or a flowerpot there to hide chipped varnish or distract from a glaringly empty spot. It isn't particularly dusty, or at least, the recreator of this physical illusion had neglected to include it, so it couldn't have been a terribly integral part of the experience. You wonder vaguely if Emet-Selch - if Hades - had been tempted to improve upon the reality of the past, even for just a little. You imagine him sneezing violently as he walked in, lifetimes ago, planets ago. The hood flying back off his head, him stomping around irritably resolving to do something about it. Does this count as doing something about it? Leaving the dust out of his recreation of a place he would have had absolutely no reason to come back to? Had he been tempted to come back to it?

"I don't know," Hythlodaeus says, as if he can read your mind. "I mean, I know what you're thinking. You're wondering if - if a memory of Azem might be here." There are more closed doors, leading out from this main room; there's a sliding door to a balcony, but you don't see anyone on the other side of that at least. "If everything was remembered into being so faithfully, so perfectly, then surely, you think, one of the most important people in this city should be here too. How could one of the Fourteen be forgotten? By another of the Fourteen, no less?" His masked face tilts to regard you in a way you want to interpret as tenderly, even though you can read absolutely nothing from its smooth, blank surface. "You're free to look. I'll just dust everything a bit and check the bathrooms. You know there's always a pipe leaking or something when you're not around to see to it."

He leaves you, disappearing into a small room which, you assume, is not hiding a snoring recreation of Azem, since he makes no startled exclamation. You think you know him well enough by now that he'd pop back out again, all excited, and wave you over to come look at Azem, if he'd found anything. If he'd found his new, old friend.. You breathe a little easier and muster up the courage to step forward, poke at a stack of books that looked like they were lifted out of the box they'd been stored in and plonked down upon a low shelf to never move again until the next time Azem forgot to settle the rent. You can't actually reach most of the stuff in here, but there's nothing that you actually feel worth taking a second look at, let alone trying to climb the bookshelves for. No portraits of loved ones, masked or unmasked, no trinkets or souvenirs one might have expected of a constant traveler, nothing that looked like a notebook or journal or even a grocery list. Nothing personal. It looks and feels like a place that had been carefully arranged to look homely and welcoming, but in reality is no one's home. You do eventually climb the coffee table and stand upon it, looking around, trying to imagine yourself about ten times taller, to no avail. No skull-splitting flash of light, no rush of memories, no sense of deja vu assaults you as the Echo had seen fit to do everywhere else. This place doesn't mean anything to you. Perhaps it never had.

You sit on the table, shoulders slumping a little, and wait for Hythlodaeus to come back. He looks at you, goes to the kitchen and re-emerges with two cups of tea, although the cup he plonks down in front of you might better serve you as a bath than a beverage. You sit on the balcony together and eat the coffee biscuits, Hythlodaeus pinching each one delicately between thumb and forefinger as one might pick up a grain of sand, and craning his neck back as he lifts it to his mouth so you never quite see the face below his mask. When you look down into the box and find it empty, Hythlodaeus says they were delicious. You remember making six biscuits and you remember eating six biscuits. But you don't mention it. It has been such a peaceful afternoon.

"Did you find what you were hoping to find here?"

You shrug.

"I suppose we can't always find what we set out to find," Hythlodaeus says. "But sometimes, you know, you find something you absolutely weren't expecting or even thinking to find. Sometimes it's something you had no idea could even exist. That's what Azem always said traveling was like, you know? It can happen even at home, but I suppose when you're on the way to somewhere else every day, it happens all the time."

You point out that that unknown 'something' could be something as bad as it could be nice. But, you concede, it's probably better to be prepared for it to be bad, while hoping for it to be nice. Otherwise, you can't imagine that anyone would ever want to leave one place for another.

"That is something Azem would say," Hythlodaeus says with great satisfaction. "You know, I think we never quite managed to meet up here and have a chat like this. It's nice to be able to sit here and talk nonsense together at last."

You look at him, wondering if a crack might have appeared on his mask somewhere, if something in this city is programmed, triggered, coded to unravel the minute someone finally acknowledges who you are and who you were in the same breath - the new old you, the old new you. You can't say in words what exactly you're expecting. Perhaps you'll hear your true name, Azem's true name, perhaps even spoken in Emet-Selch's voice rumbling from the speakers in the walls, from the waves high above the city's spires. Perhaps you want the city to crack and crumble and fall to pieces around you, only to reveal the true city at the bottom of this remembered city, the city at the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the sea. Perhaps all you want, every time you return here, is to truly be home.

"I'll finish your tea, if you're not going to drink it."

Hythlodaeus puts the cups away when he's done, wipes the crumbs from the empty box and deposits it gently in a massive bin. You make a mental note to come back and check on it later. Can a remembered garbage disposal or recycling system actually dispose of very real cardboard, made from real pulp from real branches you cut yourself, a world away - fourteen worlds away? - in the quiet forests of the North Shroud?

"Did you know Azem wasn't going to be here?" you ask him, later, when you've taken the lift back down to the building's lobby. He is poised to see you off, standing at the exact spot he was waiting to welcome you in, long limbs arranged in exactly the same position. You wonder how much longer this simulation of Amaurot, sundered from its creator, will stand, can pretend to function, pretend to live. Is it beginning to loop things to conserve resources? Is that even close to a guess at how this place works?

"I wasn't sure," Hythlodaeus replies. "We didn't open any of the other doors, after all. And Emet-Selch complained about Azem being absent almost as equally as he complained about Azem... Perhaps he felt it was more true to memory not to recreate Azem in Amaurot. Perhaps he was stubborn enough that he didn't care and did it anyway... In the old days I'd have offered to bet on the outcome. But these aren't the old days any more and anyway, you're here."

"I am," you agree. "But I gotta go."

He lifts a hand to wave you goodbye. For a moment your heart leaps to your teeth, but it's not the same way you remember Emet-Selch waving at all. But it's also, excruciatingly, bone-meltingly painful and endearing and wonderful all at once. You don't want to stop looking at him, and you don't want to leave. And yet, and yet, and yet, you find your feet turning and then you're facing the doors, walking out into the emerald light of the sea-sky over Emet-Selch's Amaurot.

It turns out there really is a city at the bottom of the sea at the bottom of the sea, but it's not your city any more.

#been sitting in drafts for 1000 years #now free #ffxiv #i forgot my ao3 login its also been 1000 years

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gamersonthego · 4 years

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Chase Koeneke’s Top 25 DS Games

The DS was a fascinating system. It was the first salvo in Nintendo’s pivot to more innovative and oddball gaming, priming an audience for the Wii console that was about to come. It was easy to laugh at this thing. How the hell were you supposed to pay attention to two screens at once? And yet, developers found interesting new ways of using the dual screens to create a slate of awesome and original titles. I haven’t played every DS game. Hell, I haven’t even played all the ones I’ve wanted to (like The World Ends With You or Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story), but here is a list of my 25 favorite DS games. If you don’t see one of your favorites listed, let me know. I could always use another game to add to my never-ending backlog. 1. Advance Wars: Dual Strike

I may be president of the Fire Emblem fan club these days, but back in the DS era, it was all Advance Wars, all the time. And Dual Strike represented the peak of the series, even if it may have gotten a little too complex for its own good. The dual front mechanics and new units types felt mostly superfluous, but the online play is what made this game truly special in its day. It’d be great to see Intelligent Systems come back to this series one day.

2. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

I love to tinker. I love to grind. I love job systems with lots of unique skills. Dragon Quest IX has all that and much more. While some may not enjoy the blank slate party you’re given, I loved building a completely customized team. The main campaign is extremely meaty (HowLongToBeat clocks it in at 48.5 hours), but the amount of endgame content is truly staggering. With proto-StreetPass and SpotPass functionality, the game felt truly limitless (for comparison, HowLongToBeat says a “completionist” playthrough balloons up to 752 hours!)

3. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver

Nostalgia keeps the original Red & Blue as my favorites of the series, but if I’m being honest with myself, these are the best Pokemon games ever made. These remakes smoothed out the few rough edges from Johto and added in the modern functionality from Diamond & Pearl (like the Global Trade System). This double-long Pokemon adventure is one of the best, with expressive new sprite work and a remastered soundtrack.

4. Monster Tale

Don’t be discouraged if you’ve never heard of Monster Tale. No one has. It came out late in the DS lifecycle (like, five days before the 3DS launched), so it very quickly was buried in the mix. And that’s a shame because it’s one of the best DS games ever made. Developed by the makers of Henry Hatsworth (#19 on my list), Monster Tale makes great use of the two-screen concept, having a Metroidvania brawler on the top screen and a virtual pet simulator on the bottom. The two games worked in tandem as your pet could come up to the top screen to help solve puzzles or battle enemies. An excellent aesthetic and tight controls make this one of the best games you’ve never played.

5. Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2

Speaking of games you’ve never played, what is a licensed anime game doing in my top five? It’s here because it’s actually a really great RPG. You get access to a large cast of unique characters and arrange them on a 3x4 grid for surprisingly tactical combat. You may rub a hole into your DS’ bottom screen with the game’s poor special attack quick-time events, but if you can get past that, it’s a real gem. I wrote more on this series back in an old GOTG SP if you like what you’ve heard.

6. Mario Kart DS

This is the best Mario Kart game, don’t let anyone tell you different. No silly gimmicks like two people on a cart or motorcycles or anti-gravity: Just good, tight racing action. A bevy of great new courses (like the incomparable Tick-Tock Clock) and retro tracks (Moo Moo Farm, Choco Mountain, Donut Plains 1) complete the package. There are plenty of other good Mario games, but this one’s the best.

7. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

Look, I’d be lying if I said this game was as good as the ones on the Game Boy Advance, but I love Golden Sun with all my heart and this entry does have some cool ideas. Lots of cool characters, some amazing summons and a very useful encyclopedia that can be accessed within the natural dialogue of the story: There’s good stuff here. The graphics may not be great and the game may be too easy, but I enjoyed my time with it, even if I was mostly reminiscing about the GBA games.

8. Final Fantasy III

I’ve mentioned it on a number of shows and in some of these GOTG posts, but I just don’t enjoy Final Fantasy’s Active Time Battle (ATB) system. I like my RPGs strictly turn-based. And Final Fantasy III is that. While not the strongest game in the series by any stretch, it does have a fairly robust job system that I appreciate, and the updated 3D graphics were great for the time (and led to a beautiful, yet too difficult version of Final Fantasy IV not much later).

9. Picross 3D

I love Picross. I’ve written about it here before. But Picross 3D changed the game, literally. That extra dimension made for much more interesting puzzle mechanics as you strategically chipped away blocks to reveal the figure within. So charming, so fun and occasionally, so challenging. I’m glad a 3DS sequel was eventually made, but this original is still the one to play.

10. Meteos

My very first DS game, Meteos immediately showed me how the DS era was going to be different, both in design and input. In this puzzle game, you’d need to skillfully use the touchscreen to line up blocks and bury your opponents while monitoring their progress on the top screen. Each planet you played on had a particular quirk to it, keeping things fresh as you matched and rocketed your way to victory. Extremely fun and a sign of the innovation to come.

11. Animal Crossing: Wild World

12. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl

13. Chrono Trigger

14. Metroid Prime Hunters

15. Retro Game Challenge

16. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

17. Pokemon Conquest

18. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

19. Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure

20. New Super Mario Bros.

21. Pokemon Black/White

22. Space Invaders Extreme

23. Advance Wars Days of Ruin

24. Kirby: Canvas Curse

25. WarioWare D.I.Y.

#chase koeneke #DS #nintendo

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malecsecretsanta · 4 years

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Merry Christmas, bloodspeckledraphael!

For @bloodspeckledraphael. Hi! You mentioned coffee shop AUs, lots of Malec firsts, and tattooed!alec, so hopefully you'll like this :) Happy holidays!

Read On AO3

*****

Tattooed Romance

“Make sure you keep that dry for the next week,” Alec said. “It’s going to be fifty dollars.”

The woman passed her credit card across the counter, and Alec slid it into the machine. The woman’s upped arm was covered in a clear layer of plastic, and Alec could just see the heart design underneath it.

“Thanks,” the woman said, taking her card and receipt.

“Have a nice day.” Alec smiled and followed the woman to the door. He switched the light-up sign in the window to Closed, and locked up after her.

“Last one?” Izzy poked her head out of the tattoo parlor’s back room. Her long black hair was up in a high ponytail, and her tank top showed off the sleeves of tattoos that covered both of her arms.

“Yeah.” Alec followed his sister into the back of the shop, separated from the main area by a curtain. The back was a cluttered mess of boxes of supplies surrounding a rickety wooden table with four chairs around it, and a single tattoo station shoved off to the side. Max was perched on one of the chairs, watching Jace put the finishing touches on a heron tattoo on his right arm. Max was counting the days until he was old enough for his first tattoo.

“Alright,” Alec said. “Max, it’s past your bedtime.”

Alec’s youngest brother tipped his head back and pouted. “Please? I want to watch Jace finish!”

“Already done, buddy.” Jace held up his arm, showing off the design. “Let me wrap this up,” he added. “I’ll be right there.”

“Thanks.” Alec took Max’s hand and led him up the stairs at the back of the room, Izzy close behind.

“I’ve been thinking,” Izzy said. “We should get a break.”

Alec didn’t respond. If he took a break, they wouldn’t be able to pay rent next month.

“Alec,” Izzy said. “We can close early for one night. There’s a band playing at that coffee shop where Simon works—”

“Jace likes that coffee place because he has a crush on Simon’s friend,” Alec said. “He doesn’t go for the coffee.”

“I know. But it’s not like we’d have to pay for tickets.”

“And what about Max?” Alec asked. “Who’s taking care of him?”

“Max can stay on his own for a few hours,” Izzy said. Alec frowned, and she backtracked. “I mean, I can ask Aline.”

Alec considered, then nodded.

“Yes!” Izzy pumped her fist in the air. “I’ll text her now.” She jogged past Alec to the door at the top of the stairs, already fishing her old phone from the back pocket of her jeans. Alec followed her into the apartment.

The Lightwood siblings lived in the rooms above their tattoo parlor, to avoid having to pay rent on two buildings. The front room was taken up by the kitchenette, another wooden table with four more mismatched chairs, and the single dark green sofa pushed up against the back wall. There was a tiny bathroom that they all had to share, and two bedrooms, each with a twin bed against each wall and a dresser in the middle.

Izzy had already disappeared into the bathroom. Alec crossed the main room to the bedroom he shared with Jace, closed the door behind himself, and sat down on his cheap mattress. The springs groaned under his weight.

Alec stared at himself in the cracked mirror over the dresser. He could see the shadows under his eyes from across the room.

Maybe Isabelle was right. Maybe he could use a break.

o-o-o-o-o

“What can I get for you?” Magnus leaned across the counter and smiled at the next customer.

They didn’t look up from their phone. “Um, iced coffee, please. And a slice of pumpkin bread.”

“That will be…” Magnus glanced down at the till. “Eight dollars, fifty-seven cents. Can I get a name for your order?”

The customer paid in cash. Magnus put the money away and scribbled the order on the side of an empty cup.

“Hurry up,” Clary called. “Let’s get these people out of here so we can close.”

Magnus handed her the cup. “Calm down, biscuit. This is the last one.”

Clary wrinkled her nose at him and turned to make the drink. On Magnus’s other side, Simon finished wiping down the last blender and yanked his apron off over his head. Magnus caught a glimpse of the logo on the front, the howling wolf’s head over the words The Gray Wolf, before Simon tossed it onto the counter.

“Done,” he announced. “No thanks to either of you.”

Clary shoved a few loose strands of hair away from her face. “I helped.”

“No, you didn’t,” Simon said. “Come on. Let’s close up. I’ve got D&D in an hour.”

“Why do you play at half past ten?” Magnus asked. Simon shrugged.

“Why not? I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Simon ducked into the back room to grab his stuff. A moment later, Magnus heard the back door slam shut.

“You’ll be here tomorrow, right?” Clary asked. “I know it’s normally your day off, but—”

“I already told Simon I’d cover for him while he plays,” Magnus said. “Besides, I want to hear this band.”

“No,” Clary said. “You really don’t. The only person who wants to hear this band is Simon’s girlfriend, and I think even she’s going to be disappointed. Don’t tell him I said that.”

o-o-o-o-o

Alec stood outside the door, waiting for his brother to finish in the bathroom. The front door swung open, and Isabelle stepped into the apartment. She wore a red top with black leggings and combat boots, and her hair was tied back in a high ponytail.

“Is he still in there?” she demanded. “We’re going to be late!”

“I’m done!” Jace stepped out of the bathroom. “Does my hair look okay?”

“You look fine.” Izzy glanced at Alec’s outfit—plain jeans and a sweater with only one hole in it. “You’re not wearing that, are you?”

“What’s wrong with this sweater?”

“Everything, brother dear,” Izzy said. “We’re going to be late.”

“Max is at Aline’s?” Alec asked. Izzy rolled her eyes.

“No. I left him alone in a back alley to get kidnapped. Yeah, Aline and Helen are watching him.”

“Okay, then.” Alec grabbed his wallet off the kitchen table and tucked it into his back pocket. “Let’s go.”

o-o-o-o-o

Magnus handed a carboard tray with six iced coffees across the counter to the next customer in line. “Enjoy,” he said, and they smiled and dropped a five in the tip jar.

“Hey, Magnus,” Clary said, poking her head out of the back room. “You’ve got this, right? I want to watch.”

“Have fun,” Magnus said. Clary smiled and disappeared.

The Gray Wolf was packed. Simon’s band was setting up on the small stage, helped by Clary’s mom and stepfather. Magnus moved back to the till, ready to take the next customer’s order.

The front door to the shop swung open, setting the small bell ringing. Magnus looked up.

Three people stepped into the shop. The black-haired girl, who Magnus vaguely recognized as Simon’s girlfriend Isabelle, and the blond boy peeled off immediately to find seats, while their friend crossed the shop to the counter.

“Hi,” he said. “Um. Can I get a dragon fruit refresher and two small coffees?”

Magnus forced himself to look away from the other man long enough to type in the order. “That’s going to be twelve dollars and forty-nine cents.” Magnus leaned across the counter slightly, smiling. “Could I get your name?”

“Um. Yeah. I’m Alec.”

“Alec.” Magnus handed Alec his receipt. When Alec reached out to take it, Magnus noticed the tattoos on the inside of his wrist, a complex swirling pattern that extended up under the sleeve of his sweater. “I’m Magnus.”

“Nice to meet you.” Alec was definitely blushing.

“I’ll have these drinks ready in just a minute,” Magnus said. He turned and grabbed two coffee cups from the stack. He had no idea which drink was for Alec, so he scribbled his phone number on the side of the nearest one.

o-o-o-o-o

“Here.” Alec handed Izzy her dragon fruit drink and Jace one of the coffees.

“That barista was flirting with you,” Izzy said casually, taking a sip of her drink.

“What?” Alec had been about to take a sip of his coffee. He set the cup back down on the table. “He was not.”

Jace smiled. “Then explain this.” He turned his own cup around. There were seven numbers written on the side. “I think this one’s for you, bro.”

“Oh.” Alec reached out and took the cup from Jace. “Huh.”

He looked over at the counter. The barista—Magnus—was handing another group of customers their drinks.

“You think he’s hot,” Izzy said. It was an observation, not a question. “Ask him out.”

“I just met him!” Alec said. “Once! For five minutes. Who asks someone out after five minutes?”

“Oh my God,” Izzy said. “You’re hopeless.”

On stage, one of the microphones squealed. Everyone clapped their hands over their ears.

“Hello everyone!” A boy with messy brown hair was standing behind the mic. “We’re the Mortal Instruments. Thanks for coming out tonight.”

The crowd cheered.

Jace elbowed Izzy in the side. “I didn’t think you were into lead guitarists.”

“I didn’t think you were into redheads, but you’ve been shooting heart eyes at Clary the whole night,” Izzy said. “I notice you’re also too chicken to ask her out.”

“I’ll talk to Clary if Alec talks to the barista,” Jace said.

The band had started to play, and the music was loud enough that no one heard when Alec said, “I’ll think about it.”

o-o-o-o-o

“So,” Clary said. “Simon’s off with Izzy and her brothers, and we have to clean up.”

“Why can’t Luke take care of it?” Magnus asked. “He owns the place.”

“He and my mom are having date night,” Clary said. “It’s on us.”

Magnus tossed the rag he’d been using to wipe down the tables into the sink. “Speaking of Isabelle’s brothers,” he said. “I saw you talking to Trace.”

“His name is Jace,” Clary said. “And we were just talking. You were staring at Alec.”

“Maybe I was,” Magnus said. “So what? I don’t even know if he likes guys. Or if he’ll call.”

“I mean,” Clary said. “He was staring at you, too. Here.” She handed him a beat-up old wallet. “It was on the floor by his seat.”

“This feels like stalking,” Magnus said, taking the wallet from her.

“It is not,” Clary said. “It’s not like you’re Googling him. You just happened to have a friend who knows his sister’s boyfriend, and she told you that the Lightwood siblings run a tattoo parlor called Light Art, and that it’s just down the street from Taki’s.”

o-o-o-o-o

Alec stood behind the counter of the parlor with an empty coffee cup in one hand and the parlor’s phone in the other.

He had fifteen minutes until he had to open for the day. His siblings were still asleep. Normally, Alec would have woken them by now, but if he was going to do this, he wanted to be uninterrupted.

Alec had never done something like this before. He didn’t have much dating experience. There had been a few guys in high school that his parents had found out about and disowned him for, and there had been a casual fling or two since then that had ended quickly.

Still, there was something about Magnus. Something about the sound of his voice and the light in his eyes, and Alec knew he sounded ridiculous, but he really did want to call.

But he didn’t. He stared at the phone until the clock on the wall shifted to nine, and then he opened the parlor and got to work.

o-o-o-o-o

Magnus stopped outside the glass door, studying the writing on the outside. Light Art Tattoo Parlor, printed above a design of swirling flames.

It was definitely the right place. Magnus pushed the door open.

The walls were covered in art. Magnus spotted a knot of thorns, a golden sword, a series of spirals formed by a silver whip, a demon with dark bat wings—and fire. Fire covered the walls, sketched into swirling loops, exhaled from the mouths of dragons, burning across the walls and pages. It was breathtaking. Magnus wondered who had drawn the flames. Was it Alec?

A few feet away from him, a customer was lying face down on a table. Their shirt was draped over a nearby chair, and Isabelle stood over them, needle in hand. Magnus could hear the whir of the needle from the doorway.

Without looking up, she said, “Could you wait by the counter? Someone should be out in just a second—Jace! Alec! Customer!” The last three words were a shout.

“Oh, I’m not here for a tattoo,” Magnus said. “I think I have something of your brother’s?”

Izzy glanced up. Magnus dangled the wallet between his fingers.

“Oh,” she said. “Oh. You know what? How about you take that to him. Alec’s in the back.” She nodded toward a curtain hanging across the back of the parlor.

“Thank you.” Magnus crossed the shop and ducked behind the curtain.

Alec was sitting at a table in the back, head bowed over a piece of paper. Magnus could hear the faint scratching sound of Alec’s pencil. He was drawing, so engrossed in his work that he hadn’t heard Magnus enter, or Izzy’s shout from earlier.

Alec’s hair flopped forward, hiding his expression. Even without being able to see his face, Magnus could tell that Alec was completely lost in his art. Every line of his body leaned toward the page. It would have been a crime to interrupt.

Alec looked up. “Oh!” he said. “Magnus. Um. Hi.”

“Hello, Alec,” Magnus said. “You left this at the Gray Wolf.” Magnus set Alec’s wallet down on the table. Alec sighed in relief.

“I was looking for that. Thanks so much.” He reached out and pocketed the wallet.

“And since I’m here,” Magnus said. “How would you feel about getting dinner with me?”

“What?” Alec set his pencil down and twisted to face Magnus. For the first time, Magnus caught a glimpse of the paper. A single cat’s eye stared up from the page, lined in thick black pencil smudges like eyeliner.

Alec saw Magnus looking and flipped the sheet over.

“I…,” Alec said. “If it’s cheap.”

“I know a place,” Magnus said. “If you’re interested.”

Alec blushed, and Magnus smiled. This was going better than he’d expected.

“Sure,” Alec said.

“I’ll mee you at the Gray Wolf,” Magnus said. “Eight o’clock tonight?”

“Yeah,” Alec said. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Wonderful. I’ll see you tonight.” Magnus winked and turned around, pushing his way past the curtain and out of the shop.

o-o-o-o-o

Alec paced back and forth outside of the Gray Wolf, wondering if he was supposed to go in.

He couldn’t see Magnus through the windows; only Clary was behind the counter. It was 7:45.

“You’re early.”

Alec turned around. Magnus stood behind him, wearing a long black coat, a blue scarf, and eyeliner. Alec had never stopped to consider how attractive eyeliner could be on a guy, but he was thinking about it now.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.” Alec fell into step beside Magnus as he led the way down the block. It was early December, and Alec’s fingers were freezing. He stuffed them into the pockets of his jeans.

“You’re cold,” Magnus said. He unwrapped his scarf and draped it around Alec’s neck. “That suits you, actually. It brings out your eyes.”

“Oh,” Alec said. “Thanks.”

“And…here we are,” Magnus said. He stopped them in front of a small diner that Alec must have walked past a hundred times, but had never entered. “Taki’s. Best food in the city.”

“I’ve never eaten here,” Alec confessed, and Magnus smiled.

“Well then. Prepare to have your eyes opened.” Magnus reached for the door handle. “After you.”

Alec stepped into the diner.

o-o-o-o-o

“So,” Magnus said. “Why a tattoo parlor?”

“What?” Alec looked up from his hamburger. Magnus was right—it was one of the best he’d ever had.

“Clearly, you wanted to be an artist,” Magnus said. “So why did you pick tattooing?”

“Because… the starving artist thing doesn’t pay the bills, and I have three siblings I’m responsible for,” Alec said. “And you can charge a decent amount for tattoos.”

“You have some, right?” Magnus nodded to Alec’s sleeves, which didn’t quite cover the patterns extending down his wrists.

“Yeah. They go up my arms and down my back. I, uh, could show you. Later.”

Alec realized what he’d just said and blushed. Magnus arched an eyebrow.

“Oh? I might take you up on that.”

Alec’s blush deepened.

“So,” he said. “So…what about you? Why the Gray Wolf?”

Magnus shrugged. “I’m kind of between full-time jobs at the moment. My friend’s parents own the shop, and she offered me a job.”

For a moment, Alec wondered what that would be like, to have friends supporting you, instead of always being the one supporting others. Alec’s only friends were Helen and Aline, and they were busy taking care of Helen’s siblings.

“Can I ask you something?” Magnus asked. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. Alec told himself not to get distracted by Magnus’s eyes, and failed.

“What? Sure.”

“How did you end up taking care of three younger siblings?”

Alec blinked. “Oh. Well. I don’t really take care of Izzy and Jace. They’re adults.” It wasn’t true, and Magnus clearly saw that, but Alec kept going. “And Max isn’t so bad. Our father is dead, and Mom… she left for a better job. A long time ago.”

“And she couldn’t help you at all? Even with Max?” Magnus asked. Alec shrugged.

“She wouldn’t help me if I asked, anyway. Neither of them was exactly thrilled when I came out.”

“I’m sorry,” Magnus said. He looked down at the table. “You never should have had to deal with that.”

Alec cleared his throat, slightly awkward. He knew his situation wasn’t ideal. No one had ever told him it shouldn’t have happened. No one had ever implied that Alec should have been able to live his life for himself, instead of for his siblings.

“Thanks,” Alec said. He didn’t know how to say everything he’d been thinking, but from the shine in Magnus’s eyes, Alec thought maybe he understood.

o-o-o-o-o

Alec took Magnus back to the tattoo parlor after the date.

“Do you want to go back to the parlor?” Alec had asked. “I can show you around. Or is it too soon to bring you home? Is that weird?”

“You live there?” Magnus had asked.

“Above the shop.”

Magnus had taken Alec’s hand. “We’ll stay downstairs.”

Now they were standing in the center of the main room. Magnus was spinning around slowly, taking it all in—the art covering the walls, the chairs and padded tables where customers sat, the carts of equipment, and the colorful metallic swirls Izzy had painted all over the floor when they’d first started renting the place.

“Do you draw all of these?” Magnus asked. A lot of the art was painted right onto the wall, but most of it was framed sketches and paintings. Magnus trailed his finger along the bottom of one of the frames. Alec knew which drawing Magnus was looking at without having to ask.

Alec had drawn that himself, ten years ago. He’d been eleven years old, doodling on the back of his math homework. He’d seen that simple swirl of flames and known what he wanted to do. Now, it was the logo of Light Art. Alec didn’t even care that it was weird to have a math worksheet framed.

“I drew that one,” Alec said. “I was eleven. It’s what inspired… this.” Alec gestured to the entire parlor. “Jace and Izzy do a lot of the art, though. Even Max has drawn a few”

“Artistic family,” Magnus commented. He turned and met Alec’s eyes. “It’s all amazing.”

Alec’s breath caught. He was so used to people coming in and out, telling Alec what they wanted and expecting it to be prefect—no room for mistakes or creative freedom. And here was Magnus, who just appreciated the art on the walls.

“Which one’s your favorite?” Magnus asked.

Alec laughed. His favorite wasn’t on the wall.

“I did say I’d show you my tattoos,” Alec said. “It’s one I drew. Izzy and Jace did all the actual tattooing, obviously. It’s not on the wall because I didn’t want someone else to get it.”

Alec shrugged off his old gray sweater and, feeling acutely self-conscious, his tee shirt. He pretended not to notice Magnus’s gaze and turned around.

Alec had tattoos climbing from his wrists up both arms, spilling over his shoulders and down his back. He’d known, starting a tattoo parlor, that he’d need tattoos; he’d put a lot more thought into his than Izzy and Jace had put into theirs.

Alec’s tattoo was one he’d spent hours working on, night after night. It showed four hands, all emerging from the abstract border of strange symbols and flames surrounding them. That border was the same design that extended down to Alec’s wrists. The hands themselves all curved inward in a spiral, each hand cupped so that the fingers formed a circle of clear, unmarked skin at the center of Alec’s back. One hand was larger, with black marks on the back of it. One’s skin was more golden than the others. One wore a silver bracelet. One was far smaller than the rest.

“Alec,” Magnus said. “It’s beautiful.”

Alec didn’t have to ask if Magnus knew what his tattoo was for. It was obvious to anyone who knew Alec.

Alec still had his back to Magnus, but he heard footsteps, and then Magnus was only a few inches away from him. Alec felt the ghost of Magnus’s fingertips on his back, tracing the hand that was modeled after Alec’s own.

Magnus’s fingers moved across Alec’s back, to the space in the center of the hands, where there was no ink, and up Alec’s spine to the back of his neck. Alec wasn’t sure he remembered how to breathe.

“Alec,” Magnus said.

“Yeah?”

“Could you do something for me?”

“Um, yeah. Sure.”

“Could you turn around?”

Alec did. Magnus was so close, Alec almost bumped into him. And then Magnus leaned even closer.

“Is this okay?” Magnus asked. Alec knew that if he said no, Magnus would back off. Alec could send Magnus away and go back to work. He could draft a dozen new tattoos for tomorrow and work without the distraction of a boy in his life, and never see Magnus again.

Magnus, the first person in a long time who had looked at Alec as a whole person on his own. Not just as a member of the Lightwood family. Not just as his sibling’s caretaker. Just as Alec.

It wasn’t a very difficult decision.

“This is more than okay,” Alec said.

“Just wanted to clarify,” Magnus said. “Because I really want to kiss you right now.”

Alec leaned forward and kissed Magnus, instead.

o-o-o-o-o

They kissed for a few minutes in the parlor, and Alec thought about inviting Magnus upstairs, but he shared a room with his brother, and Alec did not want to have to explain any of this to Jace.

Magnus and Alec ended up leaving the parlor. Alec locked the door behind them and sent a message to the group chat he shared with his siblings, telling them he’d be back later that night, or early the next morning. Magnus reached over to take Alec’s hand. Alec let him.

“Where should we go?” Alec asked. Magnus shrugged and tugged Alec after him in a random direction.

They ended up taking the subway into Brooklyn, and Magnus led the way through the streets to his loft. They stopped and kissed on the doorstep, and again in Magnus’s living room. Then Magnus went into his kitchen and made hot chocolate.

Alec smiled when he realized what was in the mugs. “Thanks. It’s freezing out there.”

Magnus sat down next to Alec on his cream-colored sofa. He didn’t even care if he spilled his drink on it.

Alec took a sip of his cocoa. “Wow. This is really good.”

Magnus laughed. “I can’t take credit. It’s the Starbucks stuff.”

“Oh. Do they have good hot chocolate, or something?”

“Alexander.” Magnus shook his head in disbelief. “You’ve never had Starbucks hot chocolate?”

“No.”

“Next date. We’re going to Starbucks.”

Alec set his mug down on the coffee table. “Did you… you want to go out with me again?”

“Of course.” Magnus set his drink down next to Alec’s and reached for his hands. “I made out with you in a tattoo parlor and then brought you to my apartment, Alec, what do you think?”

“I mean, when you say it like that…”

Magnus laughed and leaned in. Alec closed his eyes.

o-o-o-o-o

When Magnus woke up the next morning, Alec was still asleep. His black hair was a tangled mess on the pillow, and he was curled on his side, one arm extended in Magnus’s direction. Magnus vaguely remembered them falling asleep holding hands.

Magnus ran his fingers through Alec’s hair. Alec didn’t wake up, but he mumbled something in his sleep and turned his head in Magnus’s direction.

Magnus thought Alexander Lightwood might be a very easy person to fall in love with.

He got up and made them both cups of coffee.

o-o-o-o-o

One Year Later

“Hey, biscuit. I need to ask you for a favor,” Magnus said.

Clary didn’t look away from the whipped cream bottle in her hand and the drink in front of her. “No guarantees. I have a date tonight.”

“I need someone to clean up for me,” Magnus said. “I’m supposed to be over at Light Art by eight.”

“Can’t, sorry. Jace is picking me up at seven. Can Simon do it?”

“I already asked. He’s at some nerdy gaming convention with Isabelle. I didn’t even know Isabelle liked video games.”

“Oh, she does,” Clary said. “The really violent ones where your character is a complete badass. Didn’t you hear what happened after Simon introduced her to Tomb Raider?”

“Alexander did mention that,” Magnus said.

Clary looked at Magnus and sighed. “I’ll call my parents. It’s their shop, they can put some extra effort in just this once.”

Magnus grinned at Clary. “Thank you, biscuit.”

o-o-o-o-o

Luke and Jocelyn were both behind the counter when Jace walked into the shop. He wasn’t alone.

“Alexander.” Magnus abandoned his apron next to the espresso machine and went to kiss his boyfriend. “I was going to meet you in an hour.”

“Jace mentioned he was coming over. I thought I’d say hi. We’ve got our new artist holding down the fort.”

“How’s Mark doing?” Magnus asked.

“You know, he’s a little strange,” Jace said. “But I like him. I especially like when his little brother makes those pancakes for us. That kid has a future in culinary arts.”

“Come on, Jace,” Alec said. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Yes,” Clary said. She’d appeared from behind the counter, apron off, her red hair tied back.

“I’ll see you later,” Alec said. Jace clapped his brother on the shoulder and followed Clary out the front door.

Alec reached for Magnus’s hand. “Ready?”

“Absolutely.”

o-o-o-o-o

Mark Blackthorn was just closing up the tattoo parlor when Magnus and Alec got there.

“Everything’s put away,” he said. “And Julien came by with more pancakes. I left them on the table in the back.”

“Thank him for us,” Alec said. “And tell Aline to text me back, will you?”

“Yeah,” Mark said. “I’ve got to go, I’m actually late for something. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Mark,” Alec said. Magnus waved.

“Okay.” Alec went over to one of the tattoo stations and pulled out a needle. “You’re sure about this?”

“I already said I was,” Magnus said. He sat down in one of the chairs and rolled up his sleeve. “Go ahead.”

o-o-o-o-o

When Alec was done, he wrapped Magnus’s arm in plastic and gave him the same instructions he’d give to anyone. “I’ll give you a sheet with tips for taking care of it. It’s going to itch, fair warning. Keep it dry for the next week.”

“Got it,” Magnus said.

“Do you want a pancake?”

“I would love a pancake.”

Alec and Magnus went into the back room, where, sure enough, there was a plate of pancakes sitting on the table under a layer of plastic wrap. Alec grabbed them and led the way upstairs. He stuck the plate in the microwave and made hot chocolate to go with them.

“I love this,” Alec said, sitting down next to Magnus on his old, shitty sofa.

“What?” Magnus asked, balancing his plate of pancakes on his knees.

“All of this. Getting this place to ourselves for once. The fact that you just got a tattoo. Hot chocolate in the middle of the night. You.”

Magnus smiled and set his food on the end table so he could tug Alec closer to him. “I love you, too.”

#bloodspeckledraphael #malecsanta20 #*fic20 #*gifts20

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s-fellows-art · 4 years

Text

ART TIPS PART 1

I will link part 2 and other parts as requested subject matters come in and when finished. Note : i plan on doing applications of these pallets and mild character design next. (p-2) Then basic Lighting tips. (p-3)

This is more tips if your stuck or are just starting out with art. I MOSTLY just sorta randomly put colors places and they seem to work out by some miracle. But I did this for years before my brain kicked into spewing color pallets at me at 3am when i should be sleeping, you can draw inspiration from anything even sleep deprivation.

1. Tools and suggestion for making color pallets

(Part 1/2)

here we go. In the post below.

The first tip i suggest is to try to semi have an idea of what you want to do before starting. You will at least need two colors for this to work but honestly just typing in random numbers into this or playing click the random box can be surprisingly helpful.

Now there are things like color pallet tumbles you can use, nothing wrong with that and a simple search will pop one up but Im going to prvide a slightly more complex tool

This website: https://www.colorhexa.com/002bab-to-ffc0cb

What this site is is basically a paint sample tool, which honestly any paint store online works about the same, it just does not give you as much data and can't be used to generate things like this. What i typed in was “blue to pink” and it auto generated this and told me the codes (which seem to be a universal code) for each color.

~ Side Note: i typed in my fave color blue so you will not get this same blue but the pallet looks about the same. i use this color pallet for my Obey me! Mc Yurii’s jacket so i just used my already on hand 2am screen shot.

this is what appears. The other cool thing about this site is if you click any of the colors squares it gives you this information. I find the color blind info at the bottom really interesting. Im going to click the first blue for my example in the top row. :

I often use this tool when im stuck on gradients or don’t feel like i can visualize how something would mix. Using complementary colors and having the different shades and what not on hand can be really helpful when shading as well since it can prevent your image from looking muddy because you used the wrong color or blended the wrong color and got a gross Grey instead of what you were going for.

-----------------------------------------------

The second suggestion I would make would be look at fabric stores and nature. As odd as it sounds I often get ideas from flowers and fabrics because there often multi colored. Sometimes colors in an image can be not what they appear up close. In this image the brown color you see is actually purple!

(This is an image of a Lunar moth I took earlier this year that was outside my dad's office)

If the image is of lower quality the better. It sounds weird but it's easier to make a pallet from if Its blocky and blurry. More detailed images can give you 500 colors but... Too much is a bad thing in this context simplify it!. (the one i posted for an example is complex but shows what you can do honestly keep it 6-10 colors or less to start off i suggest) If the pallet this generates is too dull i suggest inverting it first, then contrasting it but and filter will give you a diff color then what you stared with.

Example of red color adjust vrs lighting/complementary-ish colors : https://s-fellows-art.tumblr.com/post/622695419535818752

In this image I used more of a grew scale idea, since Grey scales don’t actually have to be Grey really It is just all one color. Color adjust just tints the colors to be more blended with that ever color you pick. M going to get more into how to contrast and shade skin tones and how to use these colors to make better shows in another lost but that image uses both colors that go well together.

That's really it BUT! Im also going to show how to apply these to characters and how to use them, in lighting and shading to make things visually interesting and to prevent muddy shadows! In another post (Ill link when done). I’m also willing to do a post on what ever questions you need answers for.

Idk how helpful this is because I draw most of my pallets form having anxiety at 4am and trying to distract myself by thinking about idk space, the endless void, moths. Who knows. Or listening to music and my brain starts yelling at me.

#S.fellowsart #long post #sorry #im very tired #Art tips by sfellowsart

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im-pretending-imthere-already · 3 years

Text

By the warm current

Tw: heavy topics and mention of murder and abuse

My teenage years were regulated by the women of the church who made it their mission to crush my dreams, my life was to be sacrificed for god. Waking up to the screaming children of the church who demanded breakfast, my days were the same every single day. After the tedious mornings of cooking, cleaning and caring tirelessly, we met the citrus trees sprinkled with the soft dew on their delicate leaves in the community garden as we planned to prepare our annual lemon pie. Every year we were to prepare a feast full of food, including our lemon pie as the dessert for the mating party. This glamorous party was only a facade, a sweet glaze over a dark oppressive, controlled, and abusive future. This year was different however, as I was becoming a woman of age, all day I had been thinking about what was to come, the life I was forced to have, pushed into a designated role my whole life. This is it, this is the dream of the church, this is what my life was to be, what my family had planned, what the reverend had envisioned.

That day I realised I couldn't do this, after seeing all the women blatantly eyed by the men of the church, scanned from bottom to up, graded as if they were a gift to be expected, a helpless little kitten to be chosen from a shelter or rescued from a basket left on the road. My older sister stood beside me, we glared at each other exchanging the same thoughts. Our life was more than this, our dreams were not to be forgotten, hidden in the blankets of our mind. I had heard about a couple of people who had escaped before, I didn’t know how to but we had to get out. That night I decided to do the unthinkable, I had to make a plan, I had to take action, I had to escape this cage and fly away.

Reverend Michael was my father however he was never a typical father, more like a shepherd grazing his sheep, controlling us to become nothing more than slaves for his sick fantasies. He slept in the cabin house beside ours, but I knew he was going to arrive late today due to the ceremony, like every year before. It was the perfect time, as if the universe aligned for our freedom. In my nightgown I slid out as my sister was fast asleep. The night was dark, the air thick and foggy, the moon barely lit watching over me as I ran barefoot, in my white gown to the reverend's cabin. I knew where to look, under the vase he kept his spare key, which I used to unlock his door. I walk in knowing exactly where to find what I'm looking for, his diary, kept in the last drawer of his desk conveniently hidden in between his bibles. I flick through the delicate pages looking for something useful, when I stubble across the gold mine. It wrote the name of a woman named “Angela Zachery” and her cabin number''14”, suspected of breaking out “Mary Williams”. I quickly close the book, return his diary precisely into its spot and leave the same way I entered, leaving no trace behind me.

The coming night my mind was occupied with one thought, cabin 14. I couldn’t just leave, I had to make sure it was clear. It took a couple nights which felt like forever but eventually I got there. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a Friday night, everyone had got to their cabins early after a hard day of work and the daily evening lecture was longer than usual. The pathways were empty, the road clear. I made my way, a little more professional than the night of the ceremony, in my brown dress and hand woven cardigan that wrapped its threads around my shoulders supporting me through my journey. If I was found by any person or even if “Angela” was a scam I would end up 6 feet deep into the ground before sunrise. I took the chance walking across the church to his cabin, no one was around, no one to be seen spying. I knocked on the door anticipating the worst, painting the images of my death. My life dissolving into nothing more than a forgotten story in the depths of my memories, an old story tale kept at the back of a dusty bookshelf. The door opened ever so slightly as I felt the fear shake through my body. She grabbed me inside so hard I stumbled inside falling to my knees in front of her as he shut the door aggressively. I introduced myself and explained my story and she sat there listening. Her eyes stared at me aggressively yet with a shadow of love. Her agreement brought me feelings, flushing my skin, red. Independence, freedom, individuality, expression, life. All books that she dusted alive within an instant. My dreams of independence and freedom rushed back through my bones to the crevices of my every thought. It was scheduled Thursday night.

The night before the escape was probably one of the hardest and most important nights of my life, I was breaking the cage and finally getting the opportunity to fly, but the thought of leaving everything and everyone I knew terrified me. I wasn’t to ever clean after my siblings, but I wasn’t ever going to see them again. I wasn’t going to have to make lemon pie for the church, but I wasn’t going to celebrate with all my family ever again. Laying in my bed I couldn’t get my eyes to shut as I laid there staring at the ceiling. The only support holding me together was the sheets I laid in and the light breathing of my sister beside me.

Angela has sent some, waiting for us. He had a car organized outside the fence, we just had to make it outside. In the dark night, we threw our long dress off and climbed the fence gripping the holes with all our strength, looking back I could see Angela in the distance leaving. Climbing faster and faster, our bodies shaking with fear, our hearts anticipating our freedom. Hand over hand, foot over foot, we rose higher and higher. It felt like forever until we reached the top, then at the tip I stared into my sisters eyes when I heard a bang! My soul left my body for a moment from the fear as I saw my sister's body growing limp, her back falling into the fence becoming one with it. I stared into the sky for a moment, knowing I was targeted, I had no time. I had to leave my sister behind, running my way down the fence. I felt the wind brushing my cheeks, the heat irritating my skin. As I reached the last few steps I fell onto the floor, my vision blurring into two. There was no option but to get up, leaving my sister hanging on the fence and running into the truck.

- all feedback is appreciated <3

#religious trauama #creative piece #creative writiting #shortstory #creativestory #sisters #creative #writing #truama

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touchmycoat · 5 years

Note

Hey!~ How about number 9 with MAS for the kiss prompt? I told you just ask and I will send prompts! XD

((send me a ship and a number and i will write a kiss))

yaaaaahhh it’s the Chinese lantern festival today!!! have some Romance, which is apparently good labor, aggressively un-romantic biological manifestations, and the dissolution of class boundaries in Ancient China

MAS, rated G

#9, in Public

Sabo snagged a sprigof spring onion from the planter box outside the window on his wayout.

“Young Master—”

The fig tree outsideSabo’s room has only ever grown wider, and it took only twovaulting steps for Sabo to reach the secondary trunk made of aerialprop roots. Well-worn footholds held as he shimmied up, crossed thetiled roof of the courtyard wall, and was gone.

He’d timed it, ofcourse, so that by the time he reached the village at the foot of themountain dusk would’ve taken over. The night was cold, amid-afternoon heatwave drawing in the cold front with a blanket ofseaside fog. The water vapor diffused all the golden lantern lightlining the streets, and Sabo with a scarf barely draped over hisdistinctive scar could hum and walk boldly through.

Ace’s stall was,of course, completely packed. Mothers and fathers and grandparentsand toddlers and teenagers. His was just one of maybe ten waxsalespeople, but everybody knew Fire Fist Ace’s name and that hiswares were the best: what he sold burned hot but steady, with noimpurities that could suddenly crackle and make a child cry, no cheapfiller that left a lantern too weighted and cold to fly.

“—the smallsize? But da-ge, I got the sixteen here are yousure you need— aiya okayokay, let me unpack it—”

Saboslipped out like a shadow from the crowd, reachedinto Ace’s wagon parked behind his stall, and hauled out theappropriate crate. It wasalready fairly light, meaning Ace was well on his way to selling outdespite the time being so early in the evening. Justas he set it on the ground and priedopen the lid, he felt Ace’s knees gently bump into his back ingreeting.

“Hey,look who snuck out.” As ifSabo could resist the beckon of that warm tone. He peaked frombehind the scarf, and asalways, Ace looked deliciouslygolden in firelight, all tanskin and wide smiles. “Isthe YoungMaster here to romance somebody tonight?”

Liftinga whole plate of the small wax dishes, Sabo held it up above his headfor Ace to take.

“Why?Is there occasion to romance?” he replied ironically with a grin ofhis own. Ace took the plateand bent down to smack a kiss to the top of Sabo’s head.

“There’snot even occasion to piss,” Ace complained. They parted—Ace forthe stall front and Sabo to fetch another rapidly depleting stock ofwax dishes—then reconvened again, like willow branches swimmingthrough the wind. “I swearto Heaven I’ll burst by the end of the night.”

“That’snice,” Sabo said loudly. “Gopee, what the hell.”

“Yeahbut the outhouse is outthere—”

“Andwe can cover you in here,” came a deep and familiar voice behindSabo. Sabo didn’t even turnaround, just walked forward shoulder-checking Ace until Acerelinquished his position atthe front of the stall. Ace’s mouth was open, but any protest diedaway when Marco—the muchmore publicly beloved Young Master withthe blue robes and goldenembroidery, the lazy smile anda doctor’s bedside manners—immediately started handling thesales.

“Yeah,we’re here,” Sabo said,quieter now that they had their own little pocket of shadow to workwith. “Take a break. Bringsome drinks back.”

“Mmh.”Keeping eye contact with Sabo, Ace slowlyreached his hand into the fold of Sabo’s shirt. Hispatting motions weren’t suggestive, but they certainly weren’t…collegial, either.Sabo let him, fighting hard not to smirk when Ace’s fingers clampedaround his coin purse and tugged it out.

Alongwith the springonion.

Aceburst out laughing when he saw it, andlooked over Sabo’s shoulder.

“Yo,Marco! Is the Newgate Houseready for a marriage tonight?”

Thespring onion went flying through the air like this was a farmer’sstall, and Marco, in the middle of taking an order from a young girlaround five years old, straightened to catch it. Saboshould’ve snagged his coin purse back from Ace at that point, butinstead, he caught a glimpseof something in Ace’s sleeve and reached—

Itwas a fistful of watercress, roots still muddy by the looks of it,which meant Ace probably did actually steal it, per tradition. Sabosnickered, “oh you’re a romantic,”as Ace tried to snatch it back.

Thewatercress ended up being thrown at Marco too, who shotthem both a flat look for, presumably,not only leaving him with all the busy work, but also flingingvegetables at his head.

“Howabout two?” Sabo said to Marco, now involved in a minor wrestlingmatch with Ace as he tried to prevent Ace from leaving for theouthouse. The bastard could pee in his pants for all Sabo cared; it’swhat he deserved. “It’snot like your father can’tafford you two spouses,right? Wanta harem, Young Master?”

“Please,”Marco muttered, tossing both the watercress and spring onion back atthem with a grimace, “stop giving them ideas.”

Themwas the three, now four olderwomen crowding at the front of the stall, allof I have a lovely daughterage. Their attentions weren’ton the display of wax dishes for use inside the floating lanternstonight, but on the shinyclothes of the shiny, richnobleman behind it whoapparently wanted a harem.

Acecaught the onion and Sabo the watercress. They exchanged a lookbefore approachingMarco in twin determined steps. On either side of him they paused.Each placed a hand on Marco’s shoulder.

Agust of wind swept in,momentarily diminishing all of the flames lighting Ace’s stall.Frosty fog pecked at all their cheeks.

Aceand Sabo, too, both leaned in andeach pressed a kiss to Marco’s face.

Theflames steadied, and lit thestall in full gold again. All three of them were grinning and lookingahead (except perhaps Marco’ssmile was tinged ever so lightly with pleased embarrassment).The green onion andwatercress were bundled andtucked into the front of his robes.

Theolder women all saw this, and shuffleddisappointedly back into line for their lantern fires.

“See,”Ace laughed quietly, “we take care of you too.”

“Willyou hurry up,” Sabo sighed in exasperation, wrapping up an order offour for a gentleman in the back, “and go empty your bladderalready?”

AsAce finally wentscrambling off, Sabo andMarco worked side by side for a while, no words exchanged between thetwo of them. As Saboreached behind Marco’s head to cut some candles from a hangingbundle though, he felt Marco suddenly turn. Fingers on his wrist.

Lipson his knuckles. Idiotprobably thought he was so smooth or something, stealing so small akiss, in such an innocuousplace, before turning back around again. Toobad he hadn’t met Sabo’s eyes, or he would’ve seen Sabo’sutterly unimpressed expression.

(Ormaybe he would’ve seen Sabo’s utterlyincriminating blush, but since Marco didn’t look, that was a mootpoint.)

Marco’scharacters were better than Sabo’s, much less Ace’s. He’sthe one designated to calligraphy duty then, when all the wax disheshad sold and Ace officially closed down the stall. The night wasstill young, and beautifulbubbles of paper-dressed flames went gliding into the far skies abovethem. Their own lantern stoodbefore Marco’s brush.

“Whatare you writing then?” Ace asked, securing away the last of hisempty crates. He’d made apretty penny tonight, and glowed with the pleasure of a day’s hardwork done. Sabo leaned around Marco to ask for another kiss. Got it.

“Mushyshit,” Sabo answered.

“Marriageproposals,” Marco snickered.

“Mushyshit,” Sabo said again, this time sighing in a long-beleagueredway. “Why is he like this?”

“Youtwo brought the vegetables,”Marco pointed out, gesturing at the bundleof green on the table besidehim. Sabo picked up thewatercress, and took a bite.

“Okay,”he said, chewing deliberately loudly, “so now we’re marriedright?”

“Oh.And you didn’t even wash that.”

“Areyou calling your fiances dirty? Here Ace, have a—”

Pickingup the spring onion, Ace too took a bite. The moment he did, Sabo andMarco exchanged looks.

“I—What?”

“Ohno,” Sabo mourned, as the strong scent of green onion scatteredthrough the air. Ducking a grin, Marco went back to his preciselettering. “I can’t believe nobody’s going to kiss Ace on ourwedding night.”

“What!”Ace squawked in indignation. “What do you— It’s not thatbad—”

“Ican smell it from here Ace,” Marco murmured, finishing the lastcharacter of the couplet with flourish. Strong and full ofvitality, Sabo’s calligraphy teacher might’ve said aboutMarco’s characters. “Green onion breath… Well it’s hardlyromantic, is it?”

Blinkingonce at them both, Ace scowled, then crammed the entire spring onioninto his mouth, chewing with vicious abandon. Sabo straightened andimmediately began to back away. Marco wasn’t so lucky; Ace had sunka hand into his arm, keeping him within reach.

“Comehere then,” Ace said, breathing heavily until Marco’s nosewrinkled with the overwhelming scent. “Give us a kiss now and I’llshow you romance…”

#fic fills #thanks for the prompt~!!!!!!#i'm determined to write but got life'd and then got a headache fucking rip me #but i'm here now #marcoacesabo #my fic #vervada-stormrider #asks #oh i totally forgot to explain skdjfnksdf #it's a taiwan thing where if you steal some veg or green onions and then go lanterning #you'll marry a good husband ksfjdnksdjfskdjfsd

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pangolin-404 · 4 years

Text

Delving into what chapter 2 of Bendy: Rewritten (or just the side scroller AU, as a couple people have called it- still working on a vaguely clever name hh) would be like, where there are choices and reactions! More canon divergence! Things set up and hinted at!

The background music changes. No shame to batim's music, I quite like it, but it can be better. Whenever Sammy's around (carrying the cutout, looking over the band room, giving his ritual spiel) a banjo is added to the bg track. The followers get string instruments, more added depending how many are in the room. The sacrifice room is mainly string instruments

Sammy is somewhat a lost one. He loses his buff rights and is a mix of his pre- and post-update designs. I say somewhat because, while he is skeletal, he drips a lot and doesn't really have feet.

Sammy actually has followers. It can be pieced together from notes and dialogue that he split from the Lost Harbor after a close run in with Bendy permanently mangled his body and converted him to worship. He brought a few other lost ones with him (like, only a dozen but a couple died on the way). They wear Bendy masks, too, yet he's the only one wearing pants (mostly to hold his legs together). He also wears gloves to hold his fingers together, and only takes them off for brief periods to play an instrument before having to put them back on. Bendy left him with a lot of lasting damage

They all look the same and they know it hh

He's a proper prophet figure now that people look up to him. If Henry can find them huddled around a statue in prayer or drawing a ritual circle, they will talk about how much hope he gives them and how kind he is, despite how strict or overly optimistic he can be at times.

The followers' opinion of Henry changes with his behavior. Suggest Sammy is nuts? Say Bendy is evil? Drink too much soup? Break cutouts? They don't like that. Ask to learn more, give them some fresh soup, maybe even draw Bendy for them if Henry comes across fresh paper, and they'll appreciate it.

The cutouts are decorated with soup and candles. Drink a couple cans and the followers won't notice, drink more and they'll be upset, drink them all and they'll get concerned. Ink rats will scuttle out of hiding and can be found licking the empty cans.

Oh yeah you think humans were the only thing the ink affected? No there are ink rats and they scuttle around. Sometimes they become an enemy if multiple melt/fuse together and it's just a Lump Of Rat

"Did you drink the soup?" "No, did you?" "We don't have mouths! We can't eat!" "Who drank all the soup then?" "I don't know, but now there are rats everywhere!"

The whole chapter 2 area is bigger, kind of. Lots more signs of being lived in, with offices turned into little bedrooms and such. The followers are shy, though, and lurk behind locked doors, so finding them is tricky. Signs of life are everywhere but finding the life itself is difficult. Finding ones that talk more than a sentence is even harder.

Sammy is unhinged. Well-meaning, but ultimately mentally...cracked. He claims to have visions he interprets, but it's ambiguous whether they're nightmares/dreams or if Bendy's messing with him. He genuinely believes that Bendy will set them free, and he wants the best for his sheep. He'd be amicable if he wasn't trying to sacrifice Henry.

Instead of pressing the switches to open that first door, Henry had to find a pipe valve. A new "mechanic" of sorts is draining flooded halls. Ink pours down from piped above in an unpassable wall, and one or two valve are needed to shut it off completely.

Remember those notes I mentioned earlier? Well, some found around the music department contain buckets of how the followers see Sammy and their situation in general. They range from "oh hey here's Sammy's favorite tune-" to "note: don't play the organ! D:"

It's possible to find old newspapers and comics. Some of the pictures have been carefully cut out and pasted on the walls in various memorials, ranging from Bendy letting them outside to Sammy being "blessed" by the Ink Demon.

Some of the more petty depictions paint Alice as a jerk. She's an angel, he's a demon, so they're opposites. Since Bendy's so great, she must be awful! Rumors of a cruel Alice in deeper levels are hinted at.

The band room is slightly different. The projector's bulb is burst and there's a sticky note on it saying something about how touching it when you're made of ink is a bad idea, and to fix the projector before Sammy notices. Henry has to find a lightbulb and fix it now before he can turn it on.

The fight after opening the sanctuary affects the followers' opinions. They begin to realize what Sammy has in store for Henry. Killing all the searchers make them either makes them wince or frustrated, depending on their view on him up til that point.

I feel like you could probably click/interact with the banister to look over and it shows a still image of the band room below, and it shows whether or not the projector is fixed/playing and also shows any Bendy cutouts that pop up. I tried to draw that but couldn't get the angle I wanted, so

Sammy's sanctuary is like...just a big ol Bendy shrine. It's also where he sleeps, writes songs to Bendy, and where his banjo is kept. He has a Bendy plush on his bed

The further the chapter goes on, the quieter the followers are to Henry. They're gathering candles and offerings of personal belongings. They might be bittersweet, neutral, or glad to be away from him, depending on Henry's actions.

Jack is important to Sammy. They worked closely together and so they somewhat remember each other. He acts as Sammy's personal treasurer and doesn't let go of anything given to him. The first encounter with Jack is relatively the same, with needing to grab a valve from him. However, instead of holding the valve, it's sitting on the box

Henry's notes in his sketchbook also change depending on his interactions with things. If he annoys the followers and develops a bad relationship with them, he'll treat them like blind fools. If he helps them or is generally nice, he'll sound more sympathetic towards their situation and wish them well.

One is in the infirmary, badly hurt, missing a leg, practically a searcher, and delusional after getting just grazed by Bendy's aura. They believe they've been blessed by his presence, despite falling apart more and more by the hour (Bendy and any ink creature do not go together-). Henry can kill them and put them out of their misery, if he so chooses. The others won't like that.

Whether Henry kills him or not, Jack remembers. Getting items from him in the future becomes harder if he's killed multiple times, until eventually he's downright scared (I'll delve into more detail on the mess that is chapter 3). Befriending him completely later in chapter 3, on the other hand, will make the task easier.

Killing Jack triggers a horror vision. Henry briefly becomes unable to move, visibly distressed and looking around until the vision ends.

Not necessarily the sewers you first encounter him in, but close enough. You know you've entered an area Jack's in if there's a random item on a box that's under a light in an otherwise dim ink-flooded room

He goes through 'stages.' First the valve is on a box. Henry tries to grab it, but Jack (moving through the ink) pushes the box away. The methods of dealing with him is a messy web of cause-and-effect, with chances to crush him, corner the box slowly and steal the valve, it rush at it and cause it to slide off, or snatch his hat and bargain. (It's possible to steal his hat, kill him, and then keep/wear his hat, but why would you do that? Jack would forever loathe Henry and later on Sammy may ask for it back)

Nothing will stop Sammy from knocking Henry out. No matter how kind or cruel Henry is to his followers, Sammy will smack him over the head with a dustpan. He can't run, but the man can be sneaky if he wants to be, lurking through shadows and phasing in and out of the ritual portals.

(Clarification: because it would be a side scroller and the player could see Sammy sneaking up on Henry, instead there's a ritual circle on the wall that he'll jump out of when Henry walks past it.)

The sacrifice room is more of a hallway. The followers are all watching from the sidelines, peering through knocked out walls and over makeshift fenceposts. Candles and other offerings are around Henry. Sammy gives his spiel as always, first starting with a quiet "that face..." whispered mostly to himself but then using his Big Loud Musician Prophet voice to put on a show about how grand the sacrifice will be and how happy Bendy will be. The followers get excited for it.

Messy rendition but you get the picture

Sammy enters the room off to the side and calls for the Ink Demon. Ink leaks from the vents, and his aura is making some of the followers unsteady/weak. They become more restless, and unstable, until the calling reaches its climax (Sammy also sounds out of breath and his voice becomes wet and labored) and Bendy arrives out of sight. Sammy is torn apart, as per usual, though it's a slower, more audible mauling, and drags on through Henry's escape.

Some followers flee into the ink, while one or two are liquidated just by Bendy's aura. Others panic and attack Henry when he breaks free, messed up by Bendy's aura and so they resemble searchers.

Whether or not Henry powers through the onslaught or axes the frenzied followers may alter the number of followers he encounters later on, and (combined with how he'd treated them) how they react to seeing him again. "Oh I kind of remember you" vs "I don't blame you for using the axe" vs "Did you slaughter your way down here, too?"

Like in the updated chapters in game, the you can see ink machine lowering past crates/wood boards

Bendy actually pries himself up out of the ink with effort. Like, hands planted on the ground, lurching up, ink sloughing off of him, generally more detailed for a 2D animation.

Boris time! The boy himself peeks out from behind a wall before stepping out of the shadows

Feel free to send an ask for clarification/more detail about anything- I'm happy to go on more tangents!

#rants #batim au #Bendy: Rewritten #batim but it's a side scroller multiple choice game #but not really a game because i'm not a programmer so i will instead share every single choice and outcome #batim

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