#i just want to see trolls in the style they work best in but its like no one likes that style anymore and idk????

[thewertsearch]

Ask Comp 13/05

@garnetduodecim asked: I always assumed jack spent the first 4 hours in the troll session, before destroying prospit, destroying Aradiabots, there were A LOT of them.

Maybe one of the Aradiabots got in a lucky shot, and was able to tag him with a weaker, non-God Tier variant of her freeze ability. That'd certainly at least delay him.

@morganwick asked: So, you were talking about Aradia "injuring" Vriska (post/704357246751113217) and comparing Vriska to a fairy godmother character (post/722100305374986240)?

@manorinthewoods asked: Serendipity Gospels is by Tamsyn Muir??? Really? Um, that's… hoo. That was one of the fanfics that I didn't end up liking. Might need to revisit that. Side note: 'Doc Scratch's School for Supernaturally Gifted Adolescents' feels more like something Locked Tomb-esque to me. So that's really… ah. ~LOSS (3/5/24)

I do wonder how similar the Gospels are to TLT's writing style.

Actually, can anyone confirm at what point the fic will be safe to read? I could just wait until I'm reading panels from after its publication date, but if I can check it out before, I will.

@abysswarlock asked: Ooh I’ve had this hypothesis for a while now but you just said something that made me lock in my guess that your classpect is Prince of Doom

The classpect wheel continues to turn!

I'm married to Doom for at least one of my 'sonas, but my Class is still up in the air, since we know even less about them than aspects.

@manorinthewoods asked: As a sort of Part 2 to that sylladex comment - how do you think the Sylladex works? Do you think that Homestuck will go into more detail about Sylladices, or do you think they'll fade into the background as different aspects of the magic system come to the fore? ~LOSS (24/4/24)

I think the latter is a lot more likely. Most aspects (lol) of Homestuck's magic system are there to serve the story first and foremost. As much as I'd love the comic to turn into a treatise on Sburb deeplore, it really doesn't feel like something Hussie would be interested in doing.

The story won't really suffer without, say, a detailed explanation of every facet of alchemy - I just really like speculating, because I'm all about shit like that.

@heliotropopause asked: What are your thoughts on Homestuck's translation convention(s)? As an example, take page 2251, line "Arrivederci, Megido.": Is she writing in something close enough to Earth English to scan as such to the reader, no translation necessary? Is Vriska saying a word in Troll Italian, which gets translated to Earth Italian? Is she expressing a sentiment in her usual language that's best translated as the word "arrivederci" as it's used in English? Has Doc Scratch secretly been translating all cross-species communication we've seen so far?

Vriska's arrivederci seems diegetic to me. If we inherited English from Alternia, it makes sense that some of our other languages might come from there too.

tl;dr: Troll Italy is real 🇮🇹

Anonymous asked: im not one to dip my toes into The Vriscourse but this one piece of analysis i really liked is that vriska is jealous of tavros, that hes had a much easier life compared to her and that hes allowed to be more of a wimp while she has to be the toughest fuck alive or else shell die

It's only one piece of the Vriska-Tavros puzzle, but it's an important one. She'll refuse to acknowledge it to the end, though, because the idea of being jealous of Tavros is disgusting to her.

@obscureaeguran asked: Are there any current theories of yours that you want to be wrong about?

Confident as I am in my Vriska death theory, I don't actually want to be right.

I really like Vriska's character, and I want to see her grow past the worldview that's preventing her from finding peace. I just don't think that's likely, given her current trajectory.

Anonymous asked: 'In what universe are 13-year-olds the people most qualified to make universes?' well per the beta version of homestuck (when hussie wanted to make the whole thing in flash before deciding against it) they were all going to be 10 instead, i think this is the much better option!

How young can we go, anyway?

AU where the Homestuck Babies aren't sent to Earth at all, and just start playing immediately.

@manorinthewoods asked: Have you played Deltarune? ~LOSS (9/4/24)

I have! I was actually replaying it on day one of the liveblog - hence the several references I made to it at the time. That feels forever ago, now.

@bladekindeyewear asked: Jade changed pretty drastically as a person after her dreamself died, if you think about it— demanding Feferi stop using her quirk in chat, standing up to the trolls for the first time, getting angry, to such an extent that Karkat was so surprised that it turned his opinion of her around completely in a single conversation. Even forcing a password system to keep talks linear instead of using cloud visions to do everything out of order. This doesn’t just feel to me like dream Jade being a “different individual”, it also feels like a metaphorical confrontation between her NEW self and her OLD self…

I think it's both.

Jade's been through a lot in the last couple of hours, and she really isn't the same girl who died on Prospit.

Being an oracle of Skaia's visions led to disaster. They showed her that John's Dream Self would awaken, leading her to believe she was finally going to meet him, but neglected to mention that she'd die the moment he opened his eyes - or that Prospit would die alongside her.

As a result, the new Jade seems to have made a decision to completely reject all prophetic information. She'll supply the minimum possible intel to her past self, and no more.

It's clear her Dream Self's death was a catalyst for a pretty dramatic shift in her worldview. She's angry - at the trolls, at herself, and at the world that betrayed her trust. She's tired of being jerked around, and her tumultuous emotions are making her rather testy. Basically, she's sick of all the bullshit, and she won't take it from anyone anymore.

Jadesprite has experienced the same catalyst, and has also come to mistrust the clouds, but for different reasons.

Jade rejects prophecies, in part, because she doesn't want to be deceived - but Jadesprite rejects them out of sheer hopelessness. She just doesn't care anymore.

They both have the same trauma, but they're dealing with it in very different ways - and at this point, I really do consider them to be different people.

And then on a metaphorical level, Jadesprite represents the 'silly', absent-minded childhood self that got Jade into this mess.

I think this taunt from Karkat hit very, very close to home for her, and I'm sure she associates the traits he described with her idyllic days on Prospit. It's part of why Dream Jade is such a perfect target for her fury.

@spyril4132 asked: i beg to differ on the entry item similarities only applying to prospit. iirc, rose shatters a bottle, and dave hatches an egg; both involve breaking open some sort of "shell", and neither are associated with a larger object, which could be seen as similar types of items. (while jade does break a piñata, she does so by shooting it, not by splitting it apart)

It's true that Rose and Dave's object's have some physical similarities, but John and Jade are both summoning the same tree, which feels like a much stronger connection.

Rose and Dave's entry cards also summoned auxiliary items, but they were different - a cabinet and bird, respectively. From where I'm sitting, the link between the two Prospit items does seem unique.

@skelekingfeddy asked: what herptiles would sally and sahlee have as their consorts? i feel like a monitor lizard would fit for one of them…maybe losas has like, turtle or tortoise consorts, what with their long-livedness and the wise sagely vibe and all.

I was thinking pretty much the same thing for Sahlee. Let's say they're Galápagos tortoises, because the Sage gives me Oogway vibes.

For Sally's Consorts, I'm going to get really funky and say they're a type of pterosaur.

@sparten4ever92 asked: The HS version of Megalovania is slept on way too much, the Vriska guitar adds so much to it that the UT version just doesn't have. @sanctferum asked: Finally, MeGaLoVania by Toby Fox (feat. Joren "Tensei" deBruin on guitar)! Would you say that Tavros had an…unpleasant chronological progression? (btw I do love the bit of Spider's Claw that plays during the Vriska segment, which is (obviously) unique to this Megalovania) also, the audiovisual style of homestuck flashes is just really cool imo @mimescantscream asked: You have no idea how long we've waited for the Megalovania

This version of Megalovania was a great choice for Aradia's finest hour - or at least, her finest hour so far.

It's moments like this which are why I decided to stop listening to the albums in advance. If I hadn't first heard Aradia's Megalovania in this flash, it wouldn't have hit the way it did.

@elkian asked: MEGALOVANIA TIME BAYBEEEE! Also, let's go back to that theory you had about Aradia getting more alive, because you NAILED it. @iris-in-the-dark-world asked: i am so excited to see aradia again and finally as herself :33<

She's fucking BACK, baby!

Seeing Aradia smiling for real after all this time is genuinely heartwarming - and with her time-stop attack, she's almost unkillable. It'd take some absolute nonsense to take Aradia out of the picture again, and I think she'll be sticking around for a long time. Hopefully forever.

@grippingtraverse asked: notice any similarities during megalovania between aradia vs. jack & sans vs. player? 0u0

The best I can come up with is that Aradia and Frisk are both time travelers whose signature color is red.

Or maybe Jack is the Frisk analogue, since he's the one wiping out all life in the session, and Aradia is the last foe he faces.

@captorations asked: please consider, with this new information about aradia, what it could mean for her literary descendant dulcie septimus. please also keep considering this as you continue and see more of aradia. i am very normal about both of these characters

Ooh, they do have similar vibes, don't they? They're both doomed, they're strongly associated with death, and they both have a cheerful side that comes out when you don't expect it to.

@duorogue asked: "You have to give Nepeta some credit. The literal first thing she did after this traumatic murder was log into Trollian and report on Jack’s activities." To be fair to her, when I have a bad nightmare the first thing I do is log onto discord

nepeta hopping on mic at 2am to complain about the hat man (the hat man is doc scratch)

@absinthe-and-alabaster asked: when the writ keeper was introduced as fifth exile you mentioned that it was a little fucked up how the king was the only prospitian that was preserved - i just wanted to remind you that no, he wasn't ! on page 1974 we see all the other prospitians that were exiled with the white queen on her ship (including ms paint!) WQ just left them to go wander the desert

I'd actually forgotten about that. So much happened during the Act 4 ending that it completely slipped my mind. I even missed Ms. Paint!

Anonymous asked: Hey, as you noticed, the Dave Coin Split is a plot hole. We've never seen the timeline split because of someone's choice before. Compare to John flying to the seventh gate, there weren't two timelines based on his choice, the timeline only changed because Dave came back from the original timeline and changed it. And of course, like you said in the tags, Terezi shouldn't have been able to communicate with Doomed Dave, including to tell him the result of the FL1P. Have you noticed any other plot holes or things that don't seem to make sense?

While I see what you're saying, it might not necessarily be a plot hole! Certainly the Dave Coin Timeline was created in a different manner to Davesprite's - but that might just mean there are multiple ways to split a timeline, or that there are certain requirements that must be fulfilled for a decision to spawn one.

Because of things like that, it's hard to tell whether something's actually a plot hole, or if it'll eventually make sense in light of later reveals.

This is particularly true for aspects of the plot involving time travel, like the one you just described. Like, remember before I learned about Doomed Timelines, when I thought Davesprite broke Homestuck's predestination rules?

Anonymous asked: You said "God Tiering is just another way to inhabit your Dream Self," so do you think the things that Dream Selves can do (such as Jade growing extra arms) can be done by God Tiers?

I never really thought about that!

I think it's definitely possible. God Tier bodies can fly the same way that Dream Selves can, so other powers might transfer, too. Maybe the only reason Vriska, Aradia and John aren't shapeshifters is because Jade hasn't taught them to how to dream up extra limbs.

She might be one of the only Dream Selves who've learned how to shapeshift this fluidly. Logging thousands of hours on Prospit has its perks!

[cringefail-clown]

One problem concerning your turnabout au:

Beforan as a more peaceful less cruel predecessor to Alternia stems from Beforan Feferi ruling the place with her ideology. What is different in this AU that made this Alternia still require Kankri to hide his blood color, despite logically it's still an adult Feferi ruling the place?

(I don't actually know if I missed a post on that topic so please humor me)

i think ive thrown some ideas bout how the beforan and alternian cultures would develop in turnabout somewhere (think it was the calliope and caliborn post) but ive been thinking bout it more since then so ill try to explain it a lil better!

basics are still the same - beforus is more peaceful and alternia is violent - but feferi and meenah swap places as rulers. when it comes to meenah and her time on beforus i latched onto how in canon she really didnt want to be a ruler, she didnt like the whole responsibility of taking care of a whole ass planet. its what would have happened in the au as well, she sees the whole dumpster fire, goes "fuck this actually" and just dips on the whole queen shtick. she didnt want to do it really, at least not alone. i imagine she changed the entire core of how trolls society rolls (kinda like how feferi introduced the whole culling system), but babying every lower cast is not exactly meenahs style, so i thought about her introducing some kind of council to help her make decisions and run from her responsibilities - imagine like one representative of each blood cast to make everything fair and square. basically she bends ruling system into some kind of presidency lmfao, and since everyone has a say in how things are managed it leads to more fair society (or something i need to think bout it more but thats the gist of it)

and then we get to the topic of alternian feferi. she at first tries to mold the trollian society into her utopian dream, but due to calliopes machinations it fails, and it fails hard. no matter what she tries she just cant change how things work, and overtime she becomes more and more bitter and defeated, slowly morphing into the mindset of "well if i cant make the best of it, i WILL make the worst of it" and just totally snaps, becoming the ruthless dictator of the alternia. from this point on it pretty closely follows how things develop in canon, with adult trolls moving into space and her eventual arrival on earth (and her deal with callie)

[iamamythologicalcreature]

Pitch Manor Progress (which is sort of like Six Sentence Sunday but also not)

It's still Sunday for five more minutes, here. SO....

Okay, I haven't written anything on the Haunting of Simon Snow in awhile. But I have been working on my floor plan for Pitch Manor, which is more than tangentially related to the potential progress of that fic. And today's a rough one for me, so I'm going to post about it like it's progress so I might feel a tad better. Ahem.

OKAY. SO. I've been working on a floor plan for Pitch Manor for... pretty much forever and a day. I ran into trouble when I was writing chapter 2 of Haunting and Simon (Construction Worker!Simon) began to describe the house. I realized... I had no idea what he was describing.

(Warning, there is a long winded geeky ramble ahead. It's just how I do things. Ahem.)

What was supposed to be a quick "let's find a floor plan that I can just copy with some minor adjustments" project has since turned into my special interest project. As a history nerd, that means a lot of research, looking at dozens of floor plans for other houses ranging in origination from the 16th century to the 20th (and probably a few older than even that, since a ton of religious buildings were repurposed into estates. Think Downton *Abbey*.)

But this past week, I feel I've really pushed through a lot of the issues I kept running into. (I've ridiculously been trying to make it as true to the descriptions in Carry On as possible, and something that fits the purposes of my fic, which of course I have envisioned in many, sometimes incompatible, ways.) I've had to make some "this or that, you can't have both" choices, but I'm finally happy with the basic shape and layout.

Whew.

Just for funsies, here's a cross section snippet of my floor plan WIP. It's pretty messy still, but I'm still excited LOL

And (finally), instead of six sentences, I will instead offer you all six tidbits of information about Pitch Manor, as I've envisioned it:

There are four (4!) different sitting rooms. Because the aristocracy just loved their sitting rooms. (Parlor, Withdrawing room, Drawing room, and Reception/Receiving room.)

There is a ballroom. Try and stop me.

The original manor house was built in the 17th century, and has been refurbished and updated a few times.

The most extensive refurbishment happened in the 19th century, which is how it gained its current stylings. (Baz is a freaking troll and I love him for it. The most popular architectural style in the Victorian era was "Gothic Revival." "It's not Gothic; it's Victorian." Hah.)

Some rooms were added on during the Victorian refurbishment, including a Smoking room. They were very popular at that time.

The largest room in the house isn't the ballroom. It's the library. (It's two stories. Try and stop me.)

(I do hope to release the floorplans into the fandom wild after they're complete, in case anyone else wants to make use of them.)

I want to ramble more. But it's almost midnight. Sooo.... Gratitude and hellos under the cut!

Thank you to @blackberrysummerblog, @shrekgogurt, @rimeswithpurple, @thewholelemon, @monbons,

and @cutestkilla for the tags. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone is working on!

Thank you also to those of you who have willingly (I hope) listened to me ramble on about this damned project of mine for ages. Because boy howdy, do I ramble. @cutestkilla, @hushed-chorus, @artsyunderstudy, @youarenevertooold, @ic3-que3n,

@best--dress, @monbons, and @mooncello. It's good there are a few of you, that way no single poor soul has to bear the full weight of my obsession special interest. (If anyone reading this actually wants to join these ranks, hit me up on Discord XD)

Thanks also to everyone that has tagged me even when it's been ages in between progress posts from me. I appreciate being kept in the loop on what you all are up to creatively!

Hellos and howdies to @noblecorgi @bookish-bogwitch @that-disabled-princess @bazzybelle @messofthejess

@imagineacoolusername @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @prettygoododds @emeryhall @ileadacharmedlife

@valeffelees @fiend-for-culture @bubble-gumhead @brilla-brilla-estrellita @aristocratic-otter

@j-nipper-95 @whatevertheweather @ivelovedhimthroughworse @drowninginships @alexalexinii

@facewithoutheart @angelsfalling16

[conchcreature]

outlast rant 3

Spoilers for outlast trials incase you haven't found that Easter egg.

Papa knoth was reagent 1616 and was part of the first experiment of the trials along with gooseberry who I'm not sure has a reagent number. They were reagents together and that fucks with my brain when I think about it.

Like wdym the girlies knew eachother? >_< Do you think they got a long in any way? I like to think they did cause of the parallel of both of them being described as charismatic despite their looks. I'm not 100% sure if they would have ever done it though.

They'd definitely try to flirt with the other. Gooseberry wanting to just get after not having for a while but knoth's dumbass doesn't pick up on her flirting. Partially because she'd probably have some weird as style. Knoth would maybe try, he's alway been a horny freak but considering gooseberry's looks I'm not sure if he would want to "go that low" to just get his dick wet. He'd try but gooseberry would look at him weird since he didn't respond to her earlier flirting but was now trying to get with her.

I do like to imagine them being besties but in a "the two worst people you know are now friends" type way. They'd be assholes to other reagents and get them purposely hurt so they would get the best grades out of the others. They'd lead whatever things would chase people before the prime assets to the important spots of the trials just to troll.

After murkoff decided to take another approach at the trials , keeping gooseberry but rebirthing knoth. She'd be really sad and lonely, futterman being of no help whatsoever. Knoth wouldn't have any memories of her since from what we see in his reagent files, he's struggling with memory.

But he would have a gut feeling of sorts that he's missing some other half of him. He could barely make out a silhouette of a woman but couldn't remember who it was. It leads to some of his obsession with women, a small part since the big part is his lust. He knows she's out there and sometimes he begs God to show him were but since his God is actually just murkoff he doesn't get an answer.

It's kinda why gooseberry looks directly at the reagents face while killing them. She wants to know if its knoth. She can remember him clearly (you don't really forget a piece of work like that). She misses him deeply and wants her friend that made her happy back. It's also why she seems a bit uncomfortable during prime time. It's new men but they're not like knoth. They're sexual like him but there's other parts they're lacking so it's not the same.

Anyway, that's all I wanted to say and it would be cool to get cannon info on their relationship. I also wouldn't mind some fan art of their tomfoolery.

[query-quadrant]

AVICE NEEDED !!!!11!!!!!!11!!

HELP!!! HOW2 ??? ASK SOMEONE OUT PITCH ??//?? NEED GOOD ROMANTIC GESTURE SO THEY KNOW I AM SERIOUS ABOUT THEM

BEST MOST ROMANTIC WAY YO ASK SOMEONE OUT AS KISMESES: ??!??/

ok im gonna start this off with a warning dont start shit off with a bang if you cant keep up that momentum

not to be all sparkly spade emoji vitriol emoji sparkly spade emoji on you but the most over the top romantic way ive ever been asked out is when grey sent me that insane hate letter virus thing and that idiot could NOT keep it going really set himself up for failure there

if you start shit off with a grand romantic gesture you gotta be prepared to keep that energy going 

but anyway here

dubiously good ideas: 

1. once asked a dude out by pouring bleach out in his lawn ring in the shape of a spade so it killed all the grass it was really funny and was stuck like that till it grew back lmao dude got a lot of questions about it

2. one of my best friends got a bunch of calligraphy supplies and ye old ink and a quill and wrote a very fancy looking list of all the things wrong with the girl she sent it to like it looked fancy but the actual letter wasnt it was mostly swear words and shit like “thats why youre so fucking stupid youre a freak youre a freak and your clothes are ugly" and sealed it in a fancy envelope with a wax seal and everything and like a kiss mark on the envelope with her best lipstick it was really funny

3. ok this ones gonna be long and really fucking abnormal but lets be serious here if you actually need something big and grand and unique and dont wanna ask them out normal style and also im not just yapping at you and regurgitating shit i already did or a friend of mine did or that you can find in a list online already like "buy them dead flowers teehee and make them a ransom note winky face kissy emoji five exclamation points" then i mean obviously doing something personal is best i mean grey and i have the internet feud thing going on so tech based shit is it but for you your rivalry is probably based on something else doing something rooted in thats sappy and stupid and sparkly spade gif for real

what i mean is pick something you both already compete in and do it way better than they can or make it a custom challenge for them and mix your confession into it like the stupid virus i got

if you both do baking do something really difficult and annoying or time consuming that you know they cant in the shape of a middle finger 

mod a game or just boot up marioh maker and make them a stupidly hard but also well built custom troll level and hide the confession at the end 

write a custom flarp thing and when you beat their ass have your big evil character monologue be the confession 

a whole custom pitch themed escape room could be really funny if youre rich or have the right friends 

or who knows whatever it really depends on what youre into some of these are insane and embarrassing as fuck but if it works for you it works

oh man this shit got away from me lmao but basically do something specific to your rivalry that says im challenging you im better than you and i want you idk why i didnt just say that youre not dumb you dont need examples anyway

finally heres bad advice youre here for that shit probably lets go bad advice: 

1. ok i have a new idea thats going to totally revolutionize the pitch dating sphere what if instead of asking people out pitchways you try and have the worst possible confession in a different quadrant possible just really shitty awkward insulting badly timed the works 

see if you can piss them off enough with it that they just have to have you as their kismesis its called reverse psychology its very smart and sophisticated and could never go wrong

2. you can always kill their lusus killing their lusus is totally not famous for almost always backfiring and only working in insane romance novels and really shitty movies dont worry about it

3. steal a confession from a fanfic make sure its from a fandom theyre into so you can recommend them that same fanfic later

3. ask them for advice on how to ask people out pitchways and do exactly that 

wait ok actually that one could be good thats hilarious never mind put that on the good list i mean its not romantic but it could be so funny if you did it right

[mynamesaplant]

When Worlds Collide

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Preface: 100% honest up front, I'm not a huge fan of Star Wars anymore. I enjoy it from time to time, I loved it when I was younger, but I just don't have the same spark for it anymore. However, I put that aside, listened to like five different 20-hour audiobooks to get myself into the Star Wars headspace, and got writing. Also, sososososoooooo many tabs for Wookieepedia open on my computer… Jedi is not my OC and, tried as I might, I just couldn't find much info on him on Blue's socials. I dug through Twitter as best I could, trolled through all the associated Tumblr blogs, and tried to get on other socials to find more while still being stealthy about a secret holiday gift. So, to you Blue, I apologize if Jedi is OOC, I swear I really did try to find something about him and did use your Star Wars blogs, but I couldn't find written content about him so I could write this fic. I will admit that I know the timeline for Jedi is off solely for the fact that you mentioned somewhere that Jedi has Anakin's lightsaber (which in all honesty, I thought Luke had), but I wasn't sure when anything was taking place. I am also notoriously bad about reading fics. Unless its an audiobook, I just find it hard to sit and read, but I took the time to read ABYS to try and get a sense of how Blue writes Emmet and Ingo. I doubt I nailed it. I'm not the best at emulating the styles of others - but I wrote this with a lot of good intentions and as much research as I could muster between school, work, and my life. If you celebrate any holidays around this time of year @ingo-ingoing-ingone, enjoy them, and if you don't, I hope this will be a nice gift nonetheless.

Don't want to read it here? Read it here on AO3.

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Summary: Coruscant still has trains? Yes, for a variety of reasons, it still does. Is it the most efficient means of travel? No, not always, but you certainly meet a lot of different characters on the train.

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Blending in was not exactly Jedi’s style – not when he towered over others. There was a lot about Jedi that stuck out like a sore thumb, but oddly he was right at home in the Uscru District on Coruscant. It was all eccentric outfits and bright lights; his feathers and glowing cyan markings didn’t stick out nearly as much in the loud atmosphere. Even if he was not home amongst the bars and clubs, even if there were dangerous beings to be found lurking around the district, Jedi did not mind. He could see the harmony in the chaos in this place.

His night in this hazy technicolor dream was at its end. He didn’t go to Uscru for leisure, he merely enjoyed roaming the high walkways that overlooked the endless city. Through his observations, he realized it was not too unlike a jungle, and he had always preferred seeing the jungle from the canopy. That was why he enjoyed his short time among the Wookies on Kashyyyk prior to his escort mission for an ambassador on their council.

Jedi was to guard the Wookie Ambassador Drrlysh as they traversed the Great Kashyyyk Branch to Umbara and on the planet’s surface. The Umbarans wanted a neutral party involved – meaning they didn’t want more Wookies than necessary on their planet. Once there, talks would begin about trading wroshite, the hard dark gray crystals woven between the roots of wroshyr, for doonium, one of the hardest metals in the known galaxy. He had been told the details at one point about what the metal was to be used for by the Wookies, perhaps for particularly durable bowcasters but the exact reason escaped him now. Both were hearty materials, and Mee Deechi found a particular interest in the wroshite, which was the only way he was willing to trade Umbaran doonium.

Jedi had spent the days leading up to his mission among the people of Kashyyk, climbing just as nimbly as the planet’s native inhabitants and perching in the tops of the towering conifers, staring into the mist shrouding the surrounds like a thick blanket made of wampa pelts. It was a scene that had been achingly familiar- but also alien to the Jedi. So much like home and yet not. He would return to his quarters each night and meditate on that feeling, reaching out through the Force to find an inner peace he worked to maintain.

It was not always easy, mental disciple was always more of a challenge than physical in some regards – especially for his species. However, Jedi prided himself in his training, allowing the Force to flow through him, not for feats of physical prowess, but for contemplative moments that required him flex his mind and soul like they were the lithe musculature that made him such a formidable opponent.

Although his phosphorescent gleam from his stripes grew all the brighter on the dark station platform, Jedi waited for the transport line that would deliver him to the temple in relative peace. A few giggling Czerialan on the opposite side of the platform, holding each other up despite the acute lean. Their diaphanous gowns reeked with the pungent smell of ale, wafting off them in waves which was enough to make Jedi’s acute nose twitch with distaste. Three meters to his left a Volpai and Morseerian were holding a heated debate over a game of Pazaak that the latter insisted their companion had lost their credits to. The Volpai was very clearly intoxicated, belligerent in their belief that it had been the Morseerian who had lost them.

Jedi’s ear flicked toward their voices, the four-armed Volpai slurring their words to their shorter companion, the Morseerian’s icy responses were accompanied by the mechanical hisses and clicks of the ventilator obscuring their face. Although there was clearly some aggravation at their combined loss, he felt no imminent reason to intervene. Nothing indicated that it would come to an exchange of blows or blasters, quite possibly thanks to the prominently displayed lightsaber which Jedi had subtly brought to the duos’ attention when he hissed with a feigned frustration and began to rummage with the pack slung around his torso.

When they quieted, Jedi’s attention returned to in front of him just as the transport rolled in – which was odd in and of itself as not many vehicles rolled on Coruscant. This one was a remnant of earlier times in the Republic. It linked major locations like the Jedi Temple, the Senate Building, the Galactic Museum, and the University of Coruscant that had been on the planet for generations. As the metropolis grew, swallowing up the planet in its entirety, all its outmoded infrastructure came under scrutiny, but the rail lines were kept for various reasons.

Some of the local politicians thought it would be good for the tourist, others thought they could be repurposed for moving supplies, and still others fought for the trains to keep the exactly purpose they were built for, a cheap and efficient way to move the near trillion residents of Coruscant.

Since hovering vehicles clogged the sky and Jedi found that many of the Coruscanti incapable of driving without distraction, this was his preferred mode of transportation. The hypnotic effect of the lights blurring into a simmering rainbow beyond the train’s windows was beautiful and very few people took the trains in the evening. Jedi crossed the platform in a few short strides when the cool automated voice announced for new passengers to board, ducking his head with the feathered crest atop it flattened in anticipation for the ride.

Settling in for his long ride through the canyonlike levels of the planet to return to the temple, Jedi allowed his gaze to become unfocused and the extraneous noises of his fellow passengers to fall into the background. Breath in… Breath out… Use this time to extend his mind and exercise his other senses. What was it that Master Yoda was always telling the padawans and younglings? Concentrate and-

“ALL ABOARD!”

Well, it was hard to concentrate when he had hypersensitive ears attuned to the minute sounds of light footfall in the underbrush. Jedi jolted in his seat, his auditory sense assaulted by two overlapping voices. The call made his ears ring unpleasantly and the flexible cartilage twisted backward and pressed flat against his head, his feathered crest puffing up in response and his pupils shriveling to the thinnest sliver. He took a deep breath, the ruffled plumage settling back. The words were still echoing off the walls as a figure nearly as tall as him strode the length of the platform, scanning for stragglers, which they kindly held the doors for, before entering the car. Four gray eyes taking count of the passengers inside and two mouths, one smiling and one frowning, relaying different information as they moved through the wide aisles.

“Please have your tickets! Tickets!”

“Yep! Tickets out please!”

It was not unusual to see an alien species with multiples of any limb really. There was so much diversity to be had in the galaxy, but Jedi had never seen a human that looked quite like this before. Two torsos erupting from the hips. Two heads. Four arms. Four eyes. Very clearly human though.

He broke his stare, recognizing that it would be rude, and fumbled in his pack for the data pad that contained his ticket information. There was an agreement between the government of Coruscant and the Jedi Council that all who trained at the temple received free passage on all public transport on the planet in exchange for protection that the presence of the Jedi provided simply by being present there at all.

“Thank you!”

The one in black on the right said, pressing a scanner to the data pad and removing it when it beeped. Jedi nodded, cocking his head with curiosity, which seemed to catch the attention of the humans.

“Is something wrong?”

The one in white on the left asked, mimicking Jedi’s motion unintentionally. He shook his head.

“I take this transport often and I have never seen you before. That is all.”

Basic had always presented a little trouble to him. It was often pointed out to Jedi that his speech was heavily accented, some of the grammar and syntax a little off from time to time. He had learned to speak Basic slowly for the sake of others on Coruscant just to avoid the reaction of polite annoyance - the rolling eyes when his gaze shifted, and they thought he didn’t see. Didn’t they understand that it was just as tedious as it was for him as it was for them? He at least bothered to try Basic for their sake, he was rarely offered the same courtesy. Around the temple, everyone seemed indifferent to his less than perfect Basic, taking most of his conversational cues from his expression rather than speech.

“Ah, that is because we were new to this route and shift! A last-minute schedule change that we are perfectly happy to cover for a fellow conductor who has fallen ill. A rather nasty case of Knytix Pox on a trip to Thyferra.”

“Yep. Covering a shift. Those pox are verrrrry contagious.”

Jedi replied with a wordless nod, looking them over with a casual eye and listening with a polite half-smile. Their clothes were what caught his notice. Tailored with extreme care and consideration for their condition. He admired the coats idly while stowing away the pad, only to find them still standing before him with looks of equal part curiosity and awe on their faces.

“Is something wrong?” “No – We’ve just never had the honor of running into a Jedi before. That is all.” Jedi blinked but beyond that did not permit his confusion to show. His lightsaber was out of sight, how had they – The man in black raised left hand as if to stop Jedi even before he said a word. “We overheard the gentlemen over there mumbling something about a lightsaber and looking your way.” “Mhm,” the white one hummed, grin widening into something bordering on mischievous, “They seemed concerned.”

“I see. I did not mean to cause a problem.”

Jedi trailed off, his ears twisting on top of his head as if to hone into the hushed conversation that the two aliens across the car seemed to be having about him, before falling silent when they were caught giving him furtive glimpses, and his glowing eyes connected with theirs with a hint of withering distain.

“You have not caused any problems at all! My brother and I are relatively new to Coruscant, there are not many Jedi roaming around Unova. We just moved from the mid-rim at the request of our employer.”

Jedi’s eyes returned to the humans in front of them with another faint smile. He liked their combined enthusiasm for their work.

“Cor-Union, right?”

“Yep! We worked on the trains in Nimbasa City.”

Jedi had never heard of Unova before, but there were countless planets in the mid-trim, far too numerous to be familiar with each and every one of them. He tilts his head, still offering them a cat-like smile – he considers asking about it simply because their enthusiasm is infectious, but he did not wish to interrupt their work.

“I wish you luck here on Coruscant. It can be quite the adjustment for some.” “Ah, yes. Our friend Elesa said the same thing!”

Jedi was delighted to see the man in black mirror his own expression. It was not quite a smile because it didn’t seem as though the man could smile – a sort of paralysis? – but it was the same smile that Jedi could manage that didn’t involve teeth. Others usually found his maw of teeth quite frightening. The humans’ gray eyes crinkled fondly with the mention of their friend, the man in white bearing a similar tenderness at the name.

They bid farewell with a synchronized tip of their hats and made their way down the car, asking for tickets to scan. Jedi would have just returned to watching the scenery, but one of the Czerialan – the one that smelt most heavily of alcohol from what his nose told him – decided that, instead of producing her ticket, she asked with a shrill cackle,

“What’re you? Half Troig or something?”

She clearly thought she was being hilarious, only strengthened by the fact that her companions also laughed.

“No.”

The one in white hissed, his smile not betraying just how he felt about the situation, but his tone was.

“Ticket, please.”

The other man said, whatever warmth in his voice from his conversation with Jedi turning ice cold and jagged with impatience that bordered on snarl. This was something they clearly were asked a lot, and something, Jedi had to suspect, that became more tedious to answer over time. He did not always understand humans, many of the knights or members of the High Council were human, like Masters Windu, and Kenobi – but human Jedi were not like other humans. Not all humans could tap into the Force, so what little reference that he had also intersected with something they were all intimately aware of and felt on a cellular level.

These men looked different than most humans, in some regards, as the Czerialan woman had said, they looked a lot like the Pollillus natives. Not the exact same orientation, but that hardly mattered to the intoxicated mind. They had just told him that they were from Unova. They clearly didn’t act, look, or speak like Troig would, so this woman seemed to be asking out of cruelty or at the very least insincerity.

It was easy to pick on outsiders.

Jedi knew that.

And he promised himself a long time ago that he would come to the aid of those experiencing such cruelties. The Jedi Order was supposed to protect and serve the people of the republic and the galaxy at large, but these were macro problems. There were many little problems in the galaxy. So much suffering and screaming that his satellite dish ears were able to pick up – All of it he just wanted to solve!

Master Yoda always warned about allowing emotion to override all else. Emotions were not inherently a good or bad thing, but they were delicate and could lead to irreversible consequences. Master Fisto, although distant with the younglings and padawans, had spoken to Jedi at length when he noticed how he teetered between his principles and the adherence to the code all the order were meant to follow.

When Jedi was offered private training with the Jedi Master, he jumped on the opportunity. Kit Fisto was a superior swordman within the order, some even rumored that he rivaled that of Master Yoda in terms of technical proficiency. The training was invigorating and exhausting all at the same time. It was not only training with the blade and of the body, but also of the mind and the Force.

“Injustice is injustice, no matter the size of the conflict – we can all acknowledge that. It is admirable how passionately you feel about these injustices and to what lengths you will go to aid those who face them.”

Jedi barely had time to parry the blazing green blade of Master Fisto, the heat of the plasma from the kyber-crystal nearly singeing his white fur and uncomfortably radiating up the metal that was his right arm. In this moment of distraction, his body was pushed back, his own lightsaber was knocked from his paws, and he landed flat on his back. Utterly defenseless even with his own natural weapons at his disposal.

“Emotion is a wonderful thing, but it can cloud the mind. It can interfere with your connection to the Force and leaves room for the Dark side to seize hold. Never stop your crusade of justice, young one. Let that fire inside you burn hot and bright, but never allow it to overwhelm and strip all else away… Do you understand?”

At the time, Jedi could not say he understood Master Fisto in his entirety, but he did now. Take control of those emotions, use them for good, and do not let them get out of control. Be passionate but balance it with perspective and reason. That was why he was told to discipline his mind.

Jedi took a slow breath through his nose; he did not think it was appropriate for him to step on their toes in this situation. Some people didn’t like the Jedi butting into their business, so he watched and waited for the appropriate moment where he might have to step in. The Czerialans continued to laugh, their tickets not out, and digging into the two conductors mercilessly with questions that would make anyone uncomfortable. It appeared as though the two men were attempting to ignore the questions, the one in black loudly exclaiming for their tickets over and over again only to be blatantly ignored.

“I am Emmet. You will have to get off.”

“He is right. If you have no valid tickets, we must ask you to get off at the next station or have a security droid remove you. Now, tickets, please.”

Jedi’s ears pinned back. How unfortunate that unruly and rude people were making their jobs so much harder. Soundlessly, he rose to his feet and approached the group, watching as, one-by-one, the Czerialans fell silent. He stood to his full height, his fur and crest fluffed out in a not-so-subtle intimidation tactic. A threat with no words.

“My apologies,” he managed to say in his silkiest Basic, “is there a problem, conductors?”

The two men shot him quick looks out of the corner of their eyes, Jedi noticed their eyes glowed like his. A wordless exchange passed between the three of them in the space of a heartbeat. Jedi recognized it as thanks for stepping in on their behalf as a sort of moderator before things had to get ugly.

“These passengers will not produce their tickets.”

The one in black said, his gaze moving back to the group of women seated before them.

“No ticket, no passage.”

Jedi nodded at the one who referred to himself as ‘Emmet,’ before addressing the Czerialan.

“Do you have tickets?” “Y-Yes!”

One of them squeaked, the ringleader, shrinking in her seat when all Jedi did was offer another nod and said coolly,

“Give the conductors your tickets, please.”

A moment later, the tickets were out and promptly scanned. Jedi returned to his seat without another word and the conductors took their leave toward the head of the train, only offering a silent double tip of their hats to him before the car door closed behind them.

It was about an hour later and the train was only a few stops away from the temple. He was alone in the car, all the other passengers having disembarked long ago, and Jedi was staring past his reflection to the skyline. The sky would have been a velvety black had it not been for the light pollution. The fused urban areas and megalopolises that made up the whole of Coruscant did not offer much of a view of its nighttime sky, just the bellies of looming ships that hung above the planet. The closest facsimile to stars and comets that the Coruscant natives ever saw were the twinkling flashes from orbiting satellites and the red and white streaks of landing lights through the air.

His mind was fuzzed out by the steady rhythm of the train gliding over the tracks, clacking with the same consistency of a metronome. It was mesmerizing. Listening to sounds from inside of the snaking metal beast, Jedi had the luxury to just allow his muscles to relax one by one and all his thoughts go quiet.

The car door opened, and his silence was instantly shattered.

“Master Jedi!”

His ears, already twisted to the new sound, flattened against his head and he inadvertently gnashed his teeth. Jedi knew they did not mean any harm, but conductor in black was so loud.

“The temple is the next stop.”

The one in white, Emmet, he had called himself, informed him with a pleasant smile. Jedi nodded acknowledgment.

“I am not a master but thank you for letting me know about my stop.”

He was quite aware his stop was fast approaching, but it was part of their job to make the passengers aware as they had done with the previous passengers in the car. He rose to his feet, expecting them to head back the way they came, but they remained where they were, looking a bit sheepish as they shifted on their joint feet. Jedi’s brow rose in question, waiting for them to volunteer, and Emmet cleared his throat,

“Thank you.”

“Yes, we wanted to thank you for intervening. The transition to Coruscant – ah…. It has its upsides and downsides. Most cannot wrap their head around our condition. Cor-Union usually keeps us on the dayshift to avoid situations such as this. Regardless, we appreciate your assistance.” “Of course.” Jedi said, understanding more than they could know. “It is my duty to help those in need.”

He was inexplicably charmed by the two, the small smile on his face genuine, as the train slows with its approach to the platform. Jedi easily remains upright, his tail acting as a counterbalance, as do the conductors, probably used to it from years of riding the rails.

“I am Emmet. Thank you for riding with us tonight!”

“We hope to see you again soon. Please, enjoy your evening.” “Likewise…”

Jedi pauses, waiting for the man in black to supply his name in the hanging silence.

“Ingo! Ingo Grey! This is my brother-”

“Full stop! Allow me to introduce myself, Ingo.” Emmet says with a furrowed brow, nudging his brother lightly in the rib which makes Ingo’s mouth twist up at the ends, a snort almost making it past his lips until he slapped a gloved hand other his mouth. “I am Emmet!” “Jedi.”

He replies with a little nod, which only earns him two slightly perplexed looks. Emmet and Ingo looked at each other briefly, their glowing eyes falling back on Jedi while they ushered him out to the platform. The temple rises beyond them, a mesa that stood tall around the neighboring buildings.

“What do you know, a Jedi named Jedi. Never seen that anywhere in the galaxy before.”

Ingo said, scratching his head under his hat. Emmet nodded. It was a long story and Jedi did not have it in him to explain at the moment, so he raised a paw in farewell.

“Emmet and Ingo Grey… It has been a pleasure to meet you both. May the Force be with you, good conductors.”

They offered a simultaneous nod and tip of their hats. Thanking him once more for the assistance, they look up and down the platform for any other passengers, call their signature, ‘All aboard!’, and clamber back into the car. The train whistles once and it hums with energy, but it darts off and out of the station.

[apompkwrites]

I LOVEEE the Traveling!Vanrouge Idea!! So I'm going to expand on it :D !! Wholesome - Vanrouge!Name who's been everywhere in the world and met more people then you can count. They've made their way into the history books much like their brother. The only difference is they go under many names. They see the history books much like a photo album! Vanrouge!Name who's adopted their own little family within time. The Black Sheep! While they don't come to the school or are seen by others. Vanrouge!Name provides to them much like a guardian angel, whisking them away peter pan style away from their troubles Vanrouge!Name getting into the stupidest unthinkable scenarios, and ready to tell them to the Black Sheep children who don't believe a single (truthful!) word they say. Vanrouge!Name who can actually cook, but is bad at handling children Vanrouge!Name who's been playing online with their brother (and Idia) this entire time trolling him Vanrouge!Name who knows how powerful they are, and use it to troll random people on their journeys in random villages or cities, and making friends along the way! Angst - Vanrouge!Name who appears to Lilia in many different forms to check on their brother, despite not being able to truly connect again Vanrouge!Name who Lilia has mourned for thousands of years. He saw their body lying in his arms, and when their body disappears from his grasp, he realizes the best things in life leave at some point. His lessons about time to Malleus have this as an origin. Lilia telling Malleus, Silver, and Sebek about tales of two travelling siblings who fought off enemies, two siblings against the world until one settled on a tree behind, while one carried on. Lilia mourning Vanrouge!Name for years and years, clinging onto anything they left behind. He looked for them for decades until giving up. Friendships - Vanrouge!Name who Lil King has MAJOR tsundere tough love with. Little King will never admit that Vanrouge!name is their parental figure, no way Vanrouge!Name who Young Draconia LOVES, Young Draconia is similar to Malleus in the way that they're overprotective over their parental figure! Vanrouge!Name who Rebel Rosehearts adores, Vanrouge!Name is so cool in their eyes! Vanrouge!Name who met Older!Volt during one of their travels, they two are part time travelling partners! Its literally the Drama Queen x Angry Mature, trope - Aster Anon

traveling!vanrouge is that like trope of a time traveler just going around doing whatever because they're bored. like they've long realized that they'll be alive for a while so they'll do whatever they want.

imagine traveling!vanrouge just collecting all of the history books! and then one of the black sheep are doing something for class, specifically history, and traveling!vanrouge just goes "oh, i can help! i was there when it happened!"

oogh and for angst imagine traveling!vanrouge actually did want to come home but saw the lilia was teaching lil malleus that time will continue to move and all they can do is move on from loss. so they just think that if they come back, it would ruin all of what lilia worked so hard to deal with :(

the vanrouge siblings give the same vibe as aether and lumine ngl...

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Writer asks: 1, 6, 7, 20, 25

Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

Finding a current project is kind of a problem. After focusing on short fiction, it's hard for me to commit to one story. I'll get excited during brainstorming, and by the time I go to write, I'll either find major holes in the concept/things that need further development, or I'll lose interest and get invested in a different project. So maybe I'll just talk about the top contenders for my attention and the appeal of/issues with each.

Goose Girl retelling: I've got two different options here. One that focuses on the Goose Girl going to the court of a king who's known for his political ruthlessness, getting betrayed by her best friend, and having to decide if she's got what it takes to survive in politics. The other is a more worldbuilding focused one, about a cultured princess having to overcome her prejudices against the "barbaric" people she was supposed to rule. The different pieces of each story keep mashing together so I can't decide which direction to take. I love the king in the first option, and I love the princess' character arc in the second. But I can't quite decide if either is worth telling on its own, or if I'm just drawn to the puzzle aspect of filling in the fairy tale.

Shadowstruck: I love the set-up I have here. I love the themes and world. But after the set-up, I'm not sure how complicated I want the plot to get. And I feel like I should flesh out these characters more--I especially need to figure out her father's character.

Paper Wings: An epistolary Cinderella retelling set in an Edwardian world of airships and planes and floating islands. There's a lot of fun potential in the different voices and the character arc/romance, but again, not sure if it's worth telling.

Arateph: I wanted to work on my Princess and the Pea retelling but lost my mojo. (I love the FMC's arc and themes here). The Cinderella is intriguing, especially now that I'm considering keeping it mostly from Cinderella's POV instead of stressing how to fit it into Tanza's timeline as a sequel.

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

I've kind of forgotten how to write for characters, honestly. I want to learn how to do that again. I had fun writing William and Margaret in "For Love of the Princess", and I had a ton of fun writing Alistair and Faith in "A Wise Pair of Fools". I also was surprised at how fun it was to write Snow White in "Reflections"--she's so impossibly innocent and sweet.

7. What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?

Aside from what I've already mentioned, I love writing in second-person--I love to have my narrator talking to someone. I also like to use that POV to write a surreal fairy tale every once in a while.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

"Loving Memory" was a mashup of "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and "Alleleirauh", and I kept being shocked at how perfectly those fairy tales filled in each other's plot holes and deepened the symbolism. Like, it never made much sense to me that the troll princess was willing to sort-of prostitute out her fiance for random gold objects, but one-of-a-kind dresses made of the sun, moon and stars are something worth almost any price, and one dance isn't too much to trade for. The wife having Alleleirauh's coat of all furs as her only possession after betraying her husband deepened the Eden imagery of the story--it calls back to Adam and Eve being clad in furs as they were cast out of the garden. I was shocked by how well they meshed.

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

Right now, it's just writing things on the fly and seeing what I can come up with--playing with images and voice and letting myself be surprised by the results.

[cozymochi]

🌻 >:)

IM FOUND ONE OF THESE MEMES IN MY DRAFts! Im gonna rank my experiences in the major fandoms i’ve engaged with.

🩵 YUGIOH! - Second longest running fascination. Upside!! Made life long friends. DOWNSIDE!! Was my first go at online engagement and in those 10 years so much happened that I still can’t help but feel a little sour. …Though ygo back in the day wasn’t good at tag comments, so I didn’t even know those were a thing for years until I branched out. 5/10. But grows to a 7/10 because i’ve settled into a niche area with so few people that it’s now a silly little club. 💕

🧡 Dragon Ball/Z - GENUINE CHAOS. Started off slow but intensified hard cuz get who got involved while Super was airing??? (I didn’t watch it lol), so the discourse and fighting was at an all time high. I have no idea how I even survived this in retrospect. My slight association with people netted me troll asks and my liking of Yamcha also set me up for those. …and frequent art reposting, and quite a few bizarre interactions. Pretty sure my art and edits have circulated more in latin america than I even know. This was also pre-tumblr purge so the amount of nsfw that got thrown my way is… something. That said!! Made also really good friends 💕 and DB/Z probably desensitized me to longer form discussions. 5/10 for insanity, but 8/10 for good reception and VERY PEAK and generous humans.

I think dbz hardened me.

💚 Invader Zim- started off fun (mostly irl with my friendo from days of YGO), but quickly devolved into territory that tested my patience. WHY ON EARTH THIS SERIES’ CONSUMERS had such a huge morality high ground base is beyond me. It’s this fandoms fault I learned about certain modern day online discourse terms and what instilled an irrational posting fear for a year lol. Fun at first and there’s super creative and receptive folk (then those people got kicked out) and left the most insufferable beings imaginable. There’s no in between. Shoutout to all 3 friends made who are still peak. 3/10, if I ever finish any remaining projects or decide to bite the bullet and show completed work, i’m not engaging again. The base just skews somewhere I can’t handle. Which is crazy given the ABOVE contenders have, on paper, done so much more.

dbz hardened me but iz weakened me. Which is probably why i need the formers bootcamp back. Don’t think I’m as fearful now, but i’ll still be salty.

💜 Twisted Wonderland - this is a work in progress experience. Will require further evaluation if all of the above experiences haven’t set my standards. Will stay in my corner. So far it’s 6/10 in vibes (they’re much calmer than the last one), tho I question how much of the interest is from what i do vs. what I did for others. Haven’t shared a ton of opinions yet and god knows lol we don’t want that /s. Still recovering from the former making me wanna just not do much. Baby steps I suppose.

💙 - Sonic The Hedgehog: This is a cheat, I have never interacted with the fandom directly (purely by happenstance, so thankfully no traces exist), but I have been into this since I was a child with no issues. So by default this is the best one. 10/10, didn’t engage, but I do lurk. Though all the stuff I see on tweeter isn’t exactly anything out of the norm for fandoms in general to do, so it weirds me out that people rag on this one for just kinda talking amongst themselves about innocuous things.

“omg this fandom is arguing over QUILL length ughhh can they never be pleased [30 yt videos about this drop]” ngl, this just feels like par for the course junk fandoms do. It really feels no different from DBZ where people go ham about the art style changes and which one is better. Or stupid shit in IZ where they fight about comics vs movie vs show. Like??? The only major difference here is that StH has more people in it (by the millions).

So literally nothing these folk do or say strikes me as anything more serious than what other fandoms already do??? Its just more outsiders see it then churn out content and perpetuate something worse from what’s honestly….pretty tame stuff. Maybe it’s just twitter’s setup given that’s all folk talk about.

[psychic-refugee]

Here I think antis and trolls can be used interchangeably. They’re really the same beast but given a different name specifically for trolls who hate a specific ship.

I think Jenna said it best, arguing on social media is a war no one can win.

The antis don’t want to win an argument, they want to upset you. They can and will use whatever batshit insane thing that comes to mind in order to do so. It doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to work.

“First, based on the results of psychopathy and sadism, we understand the internet troll as someone who is callous, lacks a sense of personal responsibility and enjoys causing others harm.

The significance of psychopathy in the results also indicates trolls have an empathy deficit, particularly when it comes to their ability to experience and internalize other people’s emotions.”

“Unfortunately, the psychological profile of an internet troll means you will not get far appealing to their sense of humanity. And don’t just brush off the troll as someone who has low self-worth. Their character is far more complex, which makes managing the behaviour all the more challenging.” https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-trolls-dont-just-enjoy-hurting-others-they-also-feel-good-about-themselves-145931) (emphasis added)

“Trait psychopathy and sadism were both significant positive predictors of trolling, corroborating results of previous research and providing further evidence for these traits to reliably predict trolling behaviors. The thrill-seeking nature of the individual high on trait psychopathy could enjoy the thrill of causing online social mayhem through trolling. Furthermore, the empathy deficits and deceitful interpersonal style characteristic of trait psychopathy aligns with the deception of trolling and the callous unprovoked attacks on other online users.” High Esteem and Hurting Others Online: Trait Sadism Moderates the Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Internet Trolling | Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking (https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/cyber.2019.0652 ) (emphasis added)

These people are addicted to the drama and causing psychological harm. It’s why I think the accusers made their claims in the first place. It’s why everyone who rally arounds them has no interest in seeing both sides, and have no interest in this going to court or going to the police.

What they want is to hurt people, specifically PHW and his fans. It’s why they’re reveling in his humiliation, it’s why they want him fired. They may say they want him jailed or to get justice, but they do not go through any reasonable avenue to see that happen.

Notice how they have such a low threshold for the accusers’ evidence, but hold ours to an impossible standard.

No reasonable person would take the garbage the accusers have proffered as gospel, but then come up with excuse after excuse for the accusers malicious and suspicious behavior.

They’ll call an alleged touch SA, but then try to split hairs when it comes to CSAM. They will see SS with no date, no metadata, no proof of a GC of “minors,” or evidence of any party that happened over a span of a couple years and call that undeniable proof. In addition, they think its reasonable to ask PHW to make a statement and prove his whereabouts spanning several years in order to prove he’s innocent.

None of it makes sense because they don’t care about making sense. They don’t need to make sense in order to meet their goals.

Their ultimate goal is to steal your peace.

So, let the dumbasses be dumbasses.

Go read @heyharoldsboo, @heavenlyvixen, and my fanfiction.

Don’t forget to leave a kudos and review!

Happy Fanfic Friday!  

[unnursvanablog]

The movies I watched in 2023

and what I thought of them....

See How They Run: It was a pretty solid movie to start the movie watching for the year. It had fun characters, a nice mystery and just had a really good style to it that I really enjoyed. Just charming overall.

Pinocchio (2022): I loved all those old-feeling special effects, all the props, scenery and costumes in this film. The film felt sincere and imaginative, which I would expect from an Italian film that was almost reclaiming its own fairytale from Hollywood.

The Menu: Some of the speculations and comments that the film presents might sometimes feel a bit stilted at times, but the film certainly offers a fun black comedy with interesting plot twists that you can't exactly foresee as you watch it, and the cast is wonderful.

Troll:  the action was fun, and I enjoyed the folktales and myths features of the story, but damn the plot was so predictable and the clichéd dialogue was so heavily styled from some heroic Hollywood movie that doesn't work in a Nordic film.

Banshee of Inisherin: An incredibly personal, quiet and interesting film that ends up being slightly lengthy at times.

Mr. Malcolm's List:  I adore being immersed in this kind of costume-drama and this movie kind of checked most of the boxes I want to be ticked when it comes to a romance costume drama of this kind. A very fun watch.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande: A sincere, humorous, and interesting character story about an older woman experiencing her own body and such things for the first time in her life.

Wakanda Forever: I just thought it was nice, and it's certainly not as formulaic as most of those marvel movies that are coming out right now. But it didn't move me as much as I thought it would.

Viking Wolf: everything about this movie was pretty predictable and typical of such a monster movies. I was a bit bored.

Volaða Land: A rather slow, bitter and sad film, which is totally in the spirit of the subject matter and there are a few humorous scenes in between to break it up, but I still thought it was a bit too long.

Sisu: Incredibly fun action and bloodshed and although the scenarios often felt a bit unrealistic it does feel part of the fun and the film is very exciting and time flies by while you're watching it.

Coccaine Bear: The trailer for this film made it look a lot more fun than it turned out to be. I was tired of the humor present there after about half an hour.

Dungeons and Dragons – Honor Among Thiefs: funny and just the fine little adventure film. I didn't expect it to go super deep on the characters or anything. It is just such a fun popcorn movie, and I was happy with that.

The Last Kingdom – Seven Kings Must Die:  I watched this one with one eye open, not really caring about any of it, but I was just trying to finish it off so I could finally see how the tv show that preceded this movie was going to end.

Nimona: Followed the comic very well and expanded on it and just was one of the most entertaining animations I have seen in a while. There is good humor in it, and the characters are awesome. Loved the animation as well.

Indiana Jones 5: This is just a fun Indiana Jones movie. That’s pretty much it. Maybe the third best Indiana Jones movie in my opinion. You basically get everything you want from Indiana in this one, even though Ford is getting a little tired and it shows.

Hansan – Rising Dragon: It's a grand and spectacular visual film that puts a lot of effort into everything but ends up being a little too long in my opinion.

Dream: While the film certainly has heart and humor, it still felt like the story was in a bit of a hurry to get to the finish line before it's completely earned it.

Harry Potter 7 and 8:  I started watching the first movie with my little niece and then she got into the books (before Rowling went full on terf) and I have sort of just allowed her to enjoy the world that I once found solace in. Now my little aunt had finished the last book and I kept my promise to her to watch the movies it with her once she did.

Lord of the Rings 2: My little niece was once too afraid to watch Lord of the Rings but before the summer she had watched the first one – just not with me. But she wanted to hold on to this until I came over to her part of the country in the summer so we could watch it together. Also this is my favorite of the Lord of the Rings movies.

Polite Society: a strange mixture of Bollywood splendor and very dry British humor that works so fantastically well. A cool action-comedy with very charming characters and all sorts of fun shenanigans and wonderful female friendships.

Zom 100 - Bucket List of The Dead: Japan and Korea seem to be far better at making zombie movies than the Americans. This one was so much fun, before it lost its steam.

Barbie: The only movie of the year I watched twice because it was just excellent entertainment. Colorful and campy yet with a big heart and seemed to have something to say about the society we live in – although through a very narrow lens. Interesting and thoughtful, but sure was interesting that the one that got the most hype from the internet of such a female-centric film the main male character of the story. But that’s also telling of the society we live in.

Downton Abbey – New Age: Although I find the formula that these stories follow little tired now and you tell that from this film how some of the conversations and jabs and almost don’t come natural sometimes, I do think the characters are awesome and I've followed most of them for so long that they do have a dear place in my heart. Downton still makes me cry.

Ehrengard - The Art of Seduction: This film has its funny moments, and it is a fun little period piece. But Ehrengard, the title character, is more of a plot device than a character for most of the film, which I thought was a little silly.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter: A very good horror movie that made me cover my eyes and cry out as I sat alone in the movie theater watching it. Good horror, interesting characters, and thrilling storytelling. Great fun.

Sister Death:  It's has a really cool style to it, but that's kind of the only thing I thought the movie had going for it. There was something about it that made it difficult to follow the story, in my opinion.

The Marvels: It felt like another draft of a script that had been written with the same old story structure that Marvel still hasn't updated in a long time. It still somewhat works, but it's also really predictable and tired. I knew almost what each character would say before they said it, because Marvel has become a real cliché.

In Love and Deep Water: Just a really adorable Japanese romcom movie. Cute characters with a funny little murder mystery lurking around in the background. Just good fun.

We have a Ghost:  a fun idea and the cast was awesome, but wow this script felt stilted.

The Hunger Games – the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Followed the book very well – I haven't read in years, so therefor I didn't do a proper review. There's a lot crammed in there in a rather short period of time, but I thought they were able to deliver Snow's character so the message of self-satisfaction and the promise of comfort and power trumps everything else for many people in this a position of privilege, even if other people suffer because of it. Did everything they needed to do.

This is Christmas: a cute little Christmas movie that, in a sense, is just a traditional romcom set around Christmas. But still it does manages to have a little more going for it than just two strangers falling in love around Christmas and I did enjoy the characters a lot.

1000 Miles from  Christmas: romcoms like this don't usually have the structure of pining and the buildup that I enjoy in a romcom. I thought things were happening a bit too fast here, but the story was adorable and the characters were fun though predictable. And although I thought all the little fact that one of the main characters 'hated Christmas' was a little overdone he didn't seem to be cured too swiftly of that ‘ailment’. But I would have liked more depth to it all, but there just wasn't time for that.

Monster: A heartwarming and heartfelt Japanese film where the three changing perspectives of the film keep surprising you until the very end without feeling too dramatic. Very attentive and compassionate.

[animehouse-moe]

I think you're being a bit too harsh about the Kagurabachi "hype" lol. A lot of people KNOW it's pretty generic- the community began hard trolling about the previews being the next "it" WSJ manga before the 1st chapter even officially came out. Most of the high scores and praise are coming from a sense of being ironic. The meme (and therefore the series too) just became extremely popular because it parodies/makes fun of Shonen Western fandoms on social media. So the less you take the Kagurabachi "hype" seriously, the more you're going to have fun with it.

I agree and disagree in regards to that last point. Kagurabachi has only ever been "alright". If you want something to fill the time, I suppose it's alright. But just look what's debuted around it. Mama Yuyu has a strong art style and character design, a creative story with an idea that it executes upon, and arguably the best paneling and layouts we've seen from a new manga within the last 5+ years. Two On Ice completely trounces Kagurabachi in terms of the quality of art, character designs, and its ability to convey movement. Stories are incomparable since they're entirely different, but even then I'd still say Two On Ice shows more potential for being able to give readers something.

I do agree with my being harsh, especially since it can be rude and dismissive of the effort that the mangaka has put into their work, especially since it's something I'm certainly unable to beat them at. I think one of the best parts of Kagurabachi is its environment art, personally. It's just that we don't get to see that too often.

Now, in regards to first piece about it "being a meme" and that it's not actually popular or well regarded. Yes and no. A lot of people do still take it as a joke, the issue is the fact that people see the joke of it being "the greatest ever" and buy into the series being good because of it. I think you're potentially a little... lax (?) about the idea of it being generic? It's hard to explain, but let me provide a little anecdote from people that I know, that I've talked to.

I just witnessed a conversation in a Discord server (via a friend) where people were trashing on the Frieren anime. Even though they echoed some of my complaints with the manga, bagging on what's visually the greatest anime of the season hands down is just sort of mind boggling.

But that's the tip of the iceberg. I know people out there that will watch every harem series. People out there that will religiously commit to isekai series, and have said "I don't care if doesn't look good". I know of people that will refuse to watch Cloverworks series because of The Promised Neverland but can't tell you which series are from Cloverworks.

Until you really come across it, it can be really hard to understand. But in my experience, the average animanga fan is borderline insane in how they approach media. Rhyme and reason in the way that someone like you or myself see it doesn't register on their radars. So where there's hype, whether it's ironic or not, people like the ones I mentioned will flock to it in a genuine fashion. Hopefully that helps explain my harshness on the popularity/reception of Kagurabachi.

[satoruhour]

any tips for starting a new writing blog?

hello dear anon!! oh my days it’s been so long since i started mine i cant really remember.

i would say remember that the first post is always nerve-wrecking and it’s ok to be nervous!! and subsequently the lack of notes since people wont know you and your style right off the bat! it’s ok to feel discouraged when you arent getting much attention too, since you are a newly established blog. the algorithm on tumblr sometimes sucks too :/

to me its personal preference but i like to have some semblance of a theme, or rather more of a post to consolidate everything that you post, not just your writings but also your faq, introductions, links, rules, etc. i usually look at a few writing blogs to see how they format things - everyone has their own ways of organising their pinned post and you can always mix and match to how you want to organise yours but it is NOT an invitation to plagiarise directly (yes, even if you change the colours of the theme to avoid suspicion). think of it with your own ideas and whatnot!!

NEVER. NEVER write on tumblr drafts on mobile. PLEASEEEE remember this. bc notifications appear on the bottom of the screen, sometimes the keyboard will go down and your finger might accidentally brush up against it. you will lose your work. it’s very very disheartening. another instance is also getting out of the app to fact check smtg for ur fic for eg and you come back to a previous post of your own from the notif ... and ur work is gone lol. writing on drafts is easier on desktop although i would say still have a safety net on google docs / notes / ur own writing notepad.

in regards to posting, if you are looking to fully be a sfw or nsfw blog then you can ignore this but i try to plan what kind of works i plan to post. if my smut works are doing well i try my hand at posting a fluff. smut works unfortunately will always get more notes imo, but dont get discouraged from writing fluff bc its still very fulfilling but the reality surrounding these genres are very distinct.

dont be afraid to delete asks or feel an obligation to answer every ask. at the end of the day it is ur blog and u choose what to put on it. if u get trolls and spammers just delete them or if u want to entertain them go ahead too.

be prepared to write out of your comfort zone. i know i said it’s ur blog and you choose what to put on it but sometimes i dont want to write the same trope with the same character and some of the requests allow me to improve my writing with characters im not too fond of for eg. i personally am still trying to push myself more, but it’s a good way to grow!

i like to attach a good amount of tags to my writing. the max on this site is 30 tags, i like to do around 15 or below that. to me it just looks less cluttered and neater. ofc w/ masterlists i usually just tag everything but for individual pieces i dont do a lot!

the writing community is to uplift too 💟 it isnt about who gets the most notes and interactions but rather to celebrate our love for the characters, so much so that we create stories out of thin air. be respectful and kind and dont be afraid to form mutuals! ignoring all the drama and craziness on tumblr sometimes it really is one of the best places to be at the height of your fandom!! enjoy anon!

[backslashdelta]

Oh hi. I just reread Dont Say You Miss Me! Ive read that one several times—no idea why i never smashed the love button. Probably because i was too gutted. 😢 (I know Ive read other things of yours, because I know ive trolled your author page looking for more. More than once.)

I love your style — your bare honesty and willingness to leave us hanging in the heartbreak.

This passage:

In the end he opts for silence, peels his eyes away from Kurt and turns back to the shelf, slowly continuing to sort through the contents of the bathroom they used to share, picking out the things belonging to him and trying not to linger on the things that don't. Eventually he hears Kurt's soft sigh, hears the footsteps as he walks back out into the open area of the loft, talks quietly to Sam for a moment, and then slips back out the front door to leave Blaine and Sam to the task at hand.

is lovely in its truth… such a completely real and relatable end to a relationship. It feels like it could be any one of us standing in that bathroom.

You definitely should be writing. If you’re anything like me, you need an idea to grab you, and if it doesn’t, it’s hard to get going. (And/or you pick apart every single damn syllable you write until you drive yourself distracted.)

So, are you working on things? Or are you stuck in the “I want to write but nothing’s speaking to me” place? Or…?

Thanks for responding to my note! Go write all the things!

Okay ohhhhmygod this is such a lovely ask thank you so much! So sweet of you to take the time to ask me what to read and then go read it RIGHT AWAY and send me such a lovely message - I really really I appreciate it 💜

Now, on to the actual contents!

First of all - honoured that you've read this and some of my other writing before!! And to have had multiple rereads is just gkdhsksks to me. Like realistically I know people reread fanfiction all the time, but I forget that that's true of my fics as well you know? So that's a very welcome and needed reminder!

And also that comment on style THANK YOU. I love angst and I love stories that leave me heartbroken so it's definitely something I try to incorporate into my own writing, and that's some of the best praise I could receive honestly. And the particular passage you pulled out is so interesting to me, like I definitely do really love it but it's so cool to see that other people appreciate the little moments like that as well, it's not big and dramatic or anything but that it still has an impact is just so lovely to hear. And here's a link to the fic in case anyone else wants to read it.

Now, for my current predicament! It's not really an ideas issue - I have ideas, I have a wip that I've been posting since summer 2021 that I would love nothing more than to finish. I'm really invested and interested in the story, and I can spend time thinking about it and what I want to happen, but just about any time I sit down to write I just can't. Not sure if you've read it (or even if you'd want to since I'm not sure your stance on wips and also on Sebastian/Kurtbastian, but it also involves Klaine and is Blaine/Klaine friendly so maybe that's a plus), it's very angsty and it has a couple of my favourite ships so it should be everything I love to write but I just can't do it.

So I guess it's "I want to write, I know what I want to write, I just can't write," lol, which is possibly the most frustrating place to be of all.

I'm not really sure what the solution is, so my plan is to try not to stress too much about it, and hopefully I'll feel inspired again before too long.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Justin Timberlake - Man Of The Woods

Justin Timberlake has had an interesting few years, whether he’s been involved with the Trolls movies, or just touring nonstop, but after six years, he’s putting out a new record. The album’s called Everything I Thought It Was, and he released the single “Selfish,” which is a nice little “throwback” to his early 00s sound, but not quite as “experimental” as FutureSex / LoveSounds. It’s a smooth R&B / pop song, but it sounds like he’s in a good place. It seems like a lot of people love the song, and it debuted in the top 20 of the Hot 100, so that’s a good sign. With that said, I wanted to revisit JT’s last album, 2018’s Man Of The Woods, ultimately wanting to see if the album has aged well, because I remember it being successful when it came out, yet its critical consensus was more so mixed. The album did well on the charts, and he sold a lot of copies of it, but no one’s really talked about this album since its release. Let’s change that, shall we? Justin Timberlake is one of my all time favorite artists, especially I listened to FutureSex / LoveSounds back in 2012 for the first time, and it was one of the first pop albums I listened to that I fell in love with (which made me realize that pop music has a lot of merit behind it). I also really loved his 2013 comeback album, The 20/20 Experience (which I like more, but that’s a discussion for another day), so Man Of The Woods had a lot to prove.

I’ve been looking at my old posts about the album, because it came out around this time in 2018, and even looking at my first review of it, this album was one of those that took some time to grow on me. Man Of The Woods is a record that takes more simplistic forms of music, such as soul, funk, R&B, pop, and Americana / folk to make for an amalgamation of Timberlake’s sound. He wanted to have a sound that best represents his native Tennessee, as a lot of other styles of music exist other than country exist in the south. This album is definitely his most “simplistic,” because its songwriting isn’t very expensive, experimental, or as interesting in comparison to his last couple of albums, but I would make the argument that this album has aged relatively well, especially in an era when genres are being blurred. This album is a lot of sounds at once, and in a few cases, the album combines some of these sounds together, such as a few songs having an R&B meets folk sound, but it works. This album isn’t perfect, mind you, but it has its moments that I really like. Chris Stapleton pops up for the big single “Say Something,” and that song still sounds great all of these years later, and songs like “Sauce,” “Midnight Summer Jam,” “Wave,” and a few other tracks, are a ton of fun. The album slows down a bit, too, especially on tracks like “Flannel,” “The Hard Stuff,” and “Young Man,” and those are a few of my favorite tracks. They’re more of the emotional epicenter of the album, as this record’s main theme is family, whether it was to celebrate his son or his wife.

Where this album works is in the music itself, and the instrumentation, but the album falters a bit with two things — the lyrics and the length. The lyrics aren’t horrible, or anything close to that, but JT was never known as being a lyricist. Both FutureSex / LoveSounds and The 20/20 Experience aren’t well-regarded for their lyrical prowess, but they have their moments, as this album does, too, but a lot of the lyrics just aren’t interesting, or they’re downright forgettable. That wouldn’t be too much of an issue it the album was shorter, because there isn’t a lot that he’s saying, let alone even doing, so this album didn’t need to be an hour and six minutes. It’s as long as his other albums, but this should have been around 40 minutes, give or take, as that would have trimmed a lot of the fat. This album isn’t bad, or offensive, in any way, and that might be another issue with it: it’s too sanitized and simplistic. On one hand, I like that, because it’s a very pleasant and accessible album, but it doesn’t push any boundaries, or do anything unique, so it’s almost like, “What’s the point?”

I don’t know, I’m a sucker for his stuff, so it doesn’t bug me as much, and JT has a great voice, so I really enjoy this album. I’d say revisit this album if you haven’t listened to it in awhile, because it’s held up rather well, especially if you’re a fan of his. It’s nothing revolutionary, and the album does have some filler, but it’s a lot of fun, and JT does sound great throughout. I’d say this is his most underrated album. It has some merit to it, even though a lot of people have thrown it under the bus or just forgot about it. I’m really excited for his new album, Everything I Thought It Was, especially if it has the same sound as the new single. I love its smooth R&B sound, and it seems to be more on brand for him than his last album. Man Of The Woods was both an experiment and his most accessible album to date, and that could be why the album didn’t perform as well as it should have. I was sort of conflicted on it when I first listened to it again for the first time in years, but you know what? I love this album, warts and all. I’ll take any JT, and aside from the second part of The 20/20 Experience that I honestly forget about, saying that this is his weakest album still isn’t bad, because it has its moments that I really enjoy.

[minimoll7]

gfjdksgf just a little complaint here but hrrrngghfds recently an artist left the VE team and it was announced that the comic was gonna change art styles (which would’ve happened regardless if that artist had actually stayed). A new update just came out today and oof. If that’s the new art style, I am very disappointed and upset :( Its not a bad art style or anything, but its something I kind of hate seeing trolls in? I just want the normal head round, cartoony-ish style

This would happen to when I end up developing a special interest towards 2 characters whose designs I’m picky with when it comes to art styles uughh