#i really don't think i worded this very well lmao i just wanted to dump it somewhere

[tempests-bards-and-birds]

i've been thinking about the word choice in neuvillette's voice lines about the archons, specifically how in saying that deus auri "won" the authority of geo and that the narukami "took" the authority of electro he is very much implying that they came into possession of the authorities deliberately; however, he then calls the anemo archon the "recipient" of the authority of anemo, which seems to imply less that he took it deliberately and more that it was just given to him, which does seem align with what little we know about how venti became the anemo archon (because both of the other viable candidates were. yknow. dead). what's particularly interesting about this to me, then, is that it seems to suggest that neuvillette has done at least some modicum of research into the older archons (the stuff with nahida doesn't count because he was actually conscious while it was happening), which it does make sense for him to have done. either that or i'm just reading too much into arbitrary word choices lmao

[anothermansjeans]

Hey i hope you get your mojo back! As my personal indulagance which hopefully also help you may i please requeat 6 and 8 from the first random dialoge list with spencer read and an NONbau reader, exstra love if its an neighrbour reader!

Love and kisses ❤️❤️❤️

thank youuuuuu!!!! i also want to apologize-- you didn't specify gn or fem! reader and i was just about done when i realized i did fem!reader, so lmk and i will happily rewrite if needed 🫶

i also don't know how i feel about this but i tried lmao

also only a little proofread...

prompts:

"Please tell me this is the part where my life doesn’t have to completely fall apart."

"This is the one time I’m wishing they’re calling about my car’s extended warranty."

cw: mention of family member dying, the word vomit being used

wc: 920

++

Spencer was very concerned. His neighbor– his very attractive, down to Earth, and kind neighbor– was frantic, eyes sunken, and just wasn't as… present as she usually is. Spencer was concerned.

His concern also may have been a bit biased because of the small crush he harbored for her… but he didn't want to think about that too hard.

He hadn't been around much recently, getting called into the BAU more often than not, but when time did allow him to linger around his building, he would see the distress on her from a mile away. The other day, right before a case, he was locking up his apartment when she was just getting home. It was quiet this time of day, but that was cut short when her phone started to ring.

“This is the one time I’m wishing they're calling about my car’s extended warranty.”

Her disgruntled mumble was pretty soft, and if Spencer wasn't right across the hall from her he wouldn't have heard it. He wanted to see if she was okay, but she answered her phone and he was being asked for his ETA at the BAU.

When that case was finally over, and he was walking back to his place, he suddenly stopped and turned towards her door. There was a package in his apartment that was placed with his mail in the mailroom, and only really looked at it last week; right before he left for a case. He would've given it to her then if he wasn't already late at the time, and he didn't feel comfortable leaving it in front of her door so this was truly the next best thing.

His plan was the following: knock on your door, tell you he has your package in his apartment, grab said package, and then leave with dignity. There was no way he could screw this up.

His knock was soft, but the way she swung open the door was a sharp contrast to that. “Please tell me this is the part where my life doesn't have to completely fall apart oh– you're not the delivery guy.”

Your dejected look caused a small ache in his chest. “No, but the delivery people tend to not come to our doors, they're supposed to stay in the mail room– you already knew that.” He was getting flustered. This was not a part of the plan. “Are you okay?” He couldn't help himself. After seeing the way you were last week, and how that hasn't changed one bit since he was gone… he really wanted to make sure all was well.

She barely waited a moment before answering. “No,” the crack in her voice was evident. “My great aunt passed and she was a horrible person, but the funeral directors were asking me which address to send the urn to and my sister stepped in making sure I didn't put mine down because I’m ‘most likely to lose aunt Pearl’s ashes’ and the rest of my family overheard and started running with the joke. With me being me I wanted to prove them wrong so I did give them my address and I still don't have the urn but they're saying it was delivered and oh my, God, I’m dumping all of this on you.” Her eyes were welled up with tears, and with how wide her eyes became he was surprised the tears hadn't started to fall. “I’m just going to… let you go on with your day. I’m so sorry, Spencer, maybe we can talk to–” she started to close the door, blocking her face that held a worrisome look.

“I have it!” It’s as if he suddenly remembered why he went over there in the first place “I’m uh, I'm assuming I have it…?”

“You do?” Her door was now wide open again, and a spark of hope was shown in her eyes.

“Yeah, that's why I came over here. I just got back from work and wanted to let you know before I grabbed it. They put it with my stuff and I didn't check it until a couple of days ago and then I had a case and–”

“Spencer?” She cut off his worried rambling.

“Yes?”

“Could you grab it please?”

“Oh! Yeah!” He was like a baby giraffe walking for the first time. His legs were not keeping up with his body as he quickly walked over to his place, unlocked his door, and made way for the box over in the corner by his bookcase. “Again, I’m sorry. I’ve been at work more than not recently and I should've brought it over as soon as I knew it was yours but–”

“Oh, I could kiss you right now!” She grabbed the box so fast it could be considered snatching, but Spencer didn't mind.

“Maybe after I take you on a date?” What the hell was that? She was excited, he was flustered, and for him, word vomit was real. “I’m sorry, I have no idea why I–”

“Spencer…” She stopped his worried ramble once again, and Spencer assumed he died and went to Heaven because there was no way the next words out of her mouth were real. “Ask me tomorrow, when I’m not all flustered. I’ll definitely say yes.”

Yeah, he definitely died and went to Heaven, because the next day, he saw her walking back from the grocery store, walked up to her, stuttered through asking her out for real, and she said yes. Just as promised.

[ectonurites]

Now that we’re halfway through it what are your thoughts on Kon’s solo?

I've been enjoying it! I think it's been fun so far—I do think that letting Kon have a story where he's out on his own just doing a classic little adventure like this rather than... something super tethered to the greater DCU/its continuity messes is refreshing after the last few years he's had.

Like I definitely don't want him isolated from all his friends in space forever or anything like that, but I think him getting to do this on his own right now is cool. I think the thing Porter seems to be going for with Kon 'chasing after the glory days'/trying to find some shred of his old life to cling onto (even if it's just a space imitation of it) is definitely interesting and like... makes enough sense to me for him and where he's at after The Everything.

I just gave this 'how Kon has changed across the eras' post of mine from a while back (fall 2021, so written shortly after the whole Suicide Squad Match Ordeal™) a re-read and something I was talking about at the end was how after all the experiences he's had he has looped back around to embracing aspects of his old self (that he'd been pushing away for a long time because of 2000's-era Trauma And Angst) and I think this current book is definitely like, playing with that.

What I was talking about in that post ended mostly after YJ 2019 though—his state of mind at that point being more or less 'okay I'm back now let's goooooo!!!!!' before The Horrors of realizing he came back to a world that really had moved on without him for years really set in. Like, he knew about that by the end of YJ 2019, but I think he needed to sit on it for a bit and see it firsthand... also even though I know the book was a mess and not well received, I think we should still acknowledge Dark Crisis: Young Justice—where he got a firsthand taste of the olden 90's 'I hadn't died yet, I hadn't disappeared yet, I hadn't been replaced yet' days in Mickey's dream world. After experiencing that and getting some reality checks from the rest of the team, he knows he can't seriously just go back, you can't go back to the past like that... but...

The new understanding of himself he'd achieved just before/while stuck on Gemworld—where we saw he was making active choices about who he's gonna be based on what he wants rather than Clark-based expectations or anyone else's input, and where he was rolling with the changes and circumstances that had been thrown at him—has been thrown SERIOUSLY out of whack!

So rather than it being that 'he's returning to aspects of who he used to be while incorporating the experience and maturity he's gained along the way over the years' situation from YJ 2019, it's started warping into 'he's regressing back to the safety of being the Metropolis Kid/his 90's era self just out in space this time so TECHNICALLY it's DIFFERENT'. Which I think is an interesting approach! And him acting completely and totally in denial of that being what he's doing (even though it's clear he knows damn well it is) is also totally in line with classic Kon—thinking back to the Young Justice (1998) #7 camping trip LMAO.

But like, the thing is, Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #1 started with an editor's note clarifying it takes place before Action Comics #1051 which began the new family-focused era of the book... that Kon is very obviously present for.

So we already know he's gonna figure out that there is a place for him back on earth and that he doesn't need to completely regress and try to relive his past somewhere else, he can just be himself and carve out his own path at home and have a place within the family. We're not stuck guessing about what Kon's fate is gonna be after the fact—instead, this book gets to focus on this journey he's going through and we're along for the ride to see how he's gonna finally reach that conclusion! Which is fun!

Anyways, that was a lot of word dumping—Kon just gets me going man, you know he always does—but in conclusion: I'm enjoying the book overall, it has definitely kept me as a Kon fan engaged, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes!

+ as much as ideologically I am opposed to DC Round Robin, I'm definitely (at this point anyways) glad that this book got to exist.

[senblades]

Tell us about the planning doc!!!

thank you very much for indulging me HAHA

So I started writing the planning doc like. When I really shouldn't have LMAO- I wasn't busy right then, but I was absolutely about to be. Oh well! What's done is done.

The planning doc is, essentially, a full outline of all the plot of fftsr, told exclusively in dumb jokes and memes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Or, well, more accurately, a dumping ground for all my ideas in chronological order, marked with dates and some (emphasis on SOME lmao) of the confidant rank ups for Akechi and Ren.

I'll share some of the outline already written in chapters to get my point across: (UH MAJOR AND MINOR SPOILORS FOR FAITH FOR THE SECOND RUN- earlier chapters, mostly)

As you can see, not everything from the doc makes the cut. Sometimes things just don't work anymore, or I can't quite find a place to shoehorn it. I'm pretty sure a line showing how Sumire was struggling without a team never made it into the chapter- or, if it did, it was so negligible that it doesn't even matter.

Plus, I definitely hadn't figured out all the scene-by-scene POV's by that point. The "April 18" bullet point implies that scene might have taken place from Sumire's POV, but the final chapter actually has it as Ren's.

I also put all my Metaverse powerpoint slide intermittently as they become relavent. I'm not actually sure if this explanation ever made it into a chapter... I think Akechi might have implied it? But I don't think it was ever spelled out, since I couldn't find a smooth way to do it. Oh well! Here it is now!

There's also outlines of character conversations and motivations, as expected. The level of detail within the planning doc is VERY uh. Well, it's dependant on a lot of things. There are some major beats that I just hadn't thought of until writing the actual chapters, but some of the character-related convos that are more centred to the plot got written down pre-writing chapter 1

From memory, I think the above scene also changed slightly in the final fic. Sometimes what I write as character motivations in the planning doc ends up being VERY DIFFERENT by the time I get to the actual chapter. And, sometimes, the characters just run away with a scene HAHA

Speaking of character convos, some of my jokes in the planning doc made it, almost word for word, into the fic's chapters. Akechi hysterically wondering if Rank 3 is the "deepest darkest secrets" Rank Up is something that I wanted to immortalise lmao

As you can also see, though, not all of the confidant rank-ups were planned- Magician rank 2 is implied, but I didn't actually know what it was going to be at the time.

And then there's the confidants I didn't have planned at ALL:

(UH SPOILERS UP UNTIL CHAPTER 46)

The Tower and the Aeon are the worst offenders of this: I retroactivaly added the Aeon into the planning doc- an easy feat, since it coincides with the Justice, but just know that it absolutely wasn't there originally lmao. The Aeon came about in two stages, if I'm remembering correctly- I wrote the dream sequence where Ren didn't remember shit, but some vision of Crow was there and did remember, pretty much on a whim, and then thought "okay what if that kept happening though"

I think that descision was one of the best things I could have done lmao- it made October third MUCH more exciting to write (and, I assume, to read)... (originally Metatron was not a factor in the boys remembering- just some annoying headaches and visions. Shadow Maruki was also a last-second addition! While Ren was off galivanting with Crow, I wanted to give Goro something interesting to do as well. So! Impromptu therapy session)

Now the Tower... I did have some. uh. Plans, for cognitive Akechi right from the start; I can't remember my exact thought process for when I started cooking for this confidant, but I think I saw a comment on Throw Away Your Mask explaining why the Tower was particularly apt for the character it's used for in that fic, and thought "wait I can cook with this". or something HAHA I can't quite remember. (I was also VERY MUCH inspired by Marigolds and A Tale of Two Tricksters for all of that... (love those fics you should read them if you haven't))

All of the PT's rank ups are missing from the planning doc, too. I knew I wanted to have all of them as confidants, but I had no idea what their arcana was going to be, or when those confidants would start or rank up.

I unfortuantly can't share some of my best jokes from the planning doc, since I'm joking about MAJOR SPOILERS from future chapters HA

ty very much for letting me gush lmao <3 <3 <3

[citrusrick]

s7e5 Unmortricken (HUGE SPOILERS)

HOLY. SHIT. i did not expect this at all and was so fucking excited!! we've all been waiting for this for a looong time, both the rick prime and the evil morty returns! and they gave it to us in one episode!

there is soooo much to unpack in this episode, but i'm dumping all my initial thoughts into this post. i feel like every scene during this episode my mind was turning so fast. this episode broke me and healed me, idek. i just need to take a minute and stare at the wall in silence for a while. my brain is just a mantra of god i fucking love this show so fucking much.

evil morty not only being smarter than c137, but prime is so fucking cool. definitely hoping we see more of him in the future, especially with how he downloaded the schematics of prime's brain. his plotline is definitely not completely finished. (especially 'the rick project'? very interested in that tbh)

needless to say, c137 and prime's (and evil morty's) fight was fucking awesome and well-done. especially the very last when rick gets to just beat him to death, thanks to evil morty. also, we see a rick’s ego get him once again with the mindset of ‘a morty could never outsmart/get me’, and boom.

i loved how it ended simply like that, no gadgets, just punching the shit out of him until he dies while prime keeps saying things he thinks will cut deep. prime telling c137 that nothing he has now actually belongs to him, AGH! no words. just thinking about how hard that must've been for rick to assimilate into the family, so fucking painful.

learning that prime not only killed rick c137's diane, but ALL dianes across all the infinite realities makes a lot of things come together and make sense. basically, prime threw a massive fit over some rick's not wanting to drop everything to join him in his universe-hopping. also prime giving rick shit for his car sounding like diane when he literally modeled his kill bots after her is so fucking ironic lmao

rick prime saying he missed when he was just him and rick, the only two to actually invent portal travel, really interested me. so this means that both prime and c137 are the 'rickest rick'. also c137's diane was not killed with the omega machine, as we saw her and little beth killed with a bomb.

when i first saw that poster with rick and morty covered in 'spaghetti sauce' while morty hugs rick, i knew it was gonna end up being in an episode with blood all over them and i was half-right, since rick's the only one covered in blood when morty hugs him in this episode lol

another little thing i noticed, they very prominently showed us prime and c137's cybernetic wiring tangling together in a shot during the fight. is this something that'll be relevant later or just like a random shot?

i think it's possible rick prime isn't dead, maybe left alive by c137 for some reason we don't know yet. we don't necessarily see prime die only c137 come out covered in blood and imply that prime's gone. (i noticed tear tracks on in the blood on rick's face and thought i was tripping at first but he was crying, shattering my heart over here).

if it was truly that simple and rick prime is truly gone forever, rick now has to move on with the rest of his life and figure out who he is without this need for revenge driving him. i'm so nervous to see what happens after this. it'll either free him or destroy him.

p.s. that post credit scene, which was (in my opinion) showing us what would've happened with rick and birdperson if things were different between them. just a little thing i thought of, and i'm not even a huge birdperson/rick shipper.

p.s.s. and even if it's not about rick/birdperson specifically, it still means rick could've chosen a different path if he'd been able to let go of his need to kill rick prime and get revenge.

[monstress]

hii. if u dont mind, could u please share that "change of attitude" towards journaling? i feel like i really need that.. since i myself changed my attitude towards drawing and have been much more productive and happy doing it this last year. however Writing About Myself its another beast completely.. hope u r having a nice day! 🍃

hope you're having a lovely day as well! anyways as i was typing this up, what starts as a small tidbit has gone off the rails so i suppose this is my blanket advice as a newbie in journaling:

the materials!

choosing the titular journal aka notebook:

soft vs hard cover - i didn't realize this is SUCH a deciding factor until much later. most people prefer soft covers since journals can get massive with use but it's very subjective. be tactile - if it just don't feel right in ur hands, it's not gonna be something u reach out for when u have free time.

size - the most common sizes are A5, A6 or regular aka travelers notebook. you have to think abt who you are as a writer. do u have a large handwriting that takes up pages and pages? do you like space or are you overwhelmed by a blank page? do you travel a lot and do u want something unobtrusive in your bag? choose something that will reasonable work as a part of your daily life.

paper texture - paper that is smooth to write in are a great source of pleasure. notebooks with 100gsm paper is a good benchmark.

price - pleaseeee do not break the bank to purchase a fancy notebook. an expensive notebook can become an unloved one. you'd be too stressed to ensure every entry is perfect and pretty enough and the notebook eventually becomes too intimidating for you to fill in. check out your local hypermarket or online stores for quality notebooks. moleskins are overrated--in my country, they are v v expensive so don't feel pressure to buy a certain stationary just bc you see them often on ig/tiktok like my journal cost me approximately RM10 (USD2.34) and my new one w 100gsm paper cost me RM17 (USD4) like affordable options are out there!

build a connection with your notebook - listen...this sounds strange but having an attachment with your journal and making it inviting as possible is a great source of motivation. personalize it: add stickers, doodle or paint the cover. get a fabric/pvc cover to keep it clean if you'd like (you can add lil papers/stickers on ur actual notebook cover before putting on the pvc cover! very cute and easy)

and your pens:

again: less is more! use any relatively cheap pens you like - be it for the ink or smoothness. if you want to journal a lot, expect to lose a few pens during traveling or just around the house lmao

for fans of darker inks like me, i use Uni-ball Signo Broad, M&G R3 retractable gel pen and my favorite: Faber Castell RX Gel Pen 0.38mm - which cost like RM1.49 (i dont wanna convert - it's change money in america)

final note: i don't use fountain pens so i'm afraid i'm not well-versed enough to advise in that department but i deeply respect (and a little in awe) of journallers who use them 🫡

the tenet!

purpose: what do u plan to use the notebook for? daily journal? art journal? planner? all three? it's your life! live deliciously! since i have a 9-5 job, i know i can't keep up with more than one journal so i've been using mines as a diary and i dump my daily activities/thoughts/reviews of all kinds of media i'm currently obsessed with and it fills up quick!

don't be too hard on yourself: if you missed a day or two of journalling, it's fine - take it back up. write down anything memorable you'd like in the past few days. if you come across a certain blank page your brain is blanking to fill, perhaps after a previous dark entry, skip the page. skip two pages if needed. don't be scared of blank pages. if it needs to be blank, let it be.

it doesn't have to only be words! add stickers, dried flowers, receipts, ticket stubs, other ephemera you collected in the day. be artful! go crazy on page decoration!!

if there's anything you take away from this post, it's this: if you truly want a journal that is used up quickly, do not have plans to share it on social media. personally, i find once you are in the mindset of sharing your journal for an audience's consumption, you get worried whether it's "aesthetic" enough or is it too boring or too ugly or too dark or that you don't upload regularly enough. social media can be inhibiting your creativity or motivation to journal like let your animal brain ruminate in private! stay free from the shackles of responsibility!

[turtlesocksv2]

Liveblogging DFF episode 9

last time we checked in, Non was having just the Worst Time Possible, everyone was trying to cover their asses and Phi was entering into Murder/Detective Mode.

i know i've said it before but god the opening credits are SO GOOD. i don't think we appreciate them enough.

We're back in the present day! it's been so long! Tan is fucking brave to fight Fluke for the gun.

IT'S WHITE WITH THE STEEL CHAIR TRIPOD! BAH GOD THAT MAN HAD A FAMILY! love you white you're doing amazing sweetie.

...there was just a water bottle there at the shrine? and it looked opened? are you actually going to drink that? at least you smelled it first??? Ahhhh but notice Phi doesn't drink it! he lets Jin drink it but doesn't do it himself! my sus king.

"Why are you being so nice to me" i mean, dude is at least nominally your friend and you dislocated your shoulder or whatever and there's a killer out there after you guys? i think that'd be cause enough for Phi to be nice lmao. I get it though, Jin, i get it.

Aha, so we've got some timeline stuff. PhiJin absolutely happened POST PhiNon, which i had seen some intriguing theories that maybe PhiJin was actually first but this is confirmation otherwise. also that Jin very much had feelings for Phi but Phi was the one pushing the friends agenda, which we mostly knew.

Jin on that "you like Tan!" shit again, no wonder Phi didn't want to be in a relationship with your insecure self lmao. Tan is just his Bestie who helps with his Plucky Girl Detectiving, no big deal.

Once again, Jin sees things that Phi doesn't. shortly after the water. Hallucinogen maybe? guilty conscience definitely.

well that's one way to snap him out of the panic

slight detour inspired by the blood splatter everywhere in this shrine is that if the Janta Cult isn't real/doesn't play a part in this somehow, I'm going to be so upset. why bring up perfectly good murder cults if you're not going to give us the payoff? BOC? Dr Sammon I just have questions! (that said, the theory that the mafia is using the cult rumors as a front for a body dumping ground is intriguing.)

Oh ho, Phi's gonna confess everything to Jin! but will it really be everything? 👀

poor Phi is so conflicted. he's hurt, but he loves Non but he doesn't want to see him but he doesn't want to end up like his divorced parents, he can't stop thinking about it, he regrets what he said, but he still so hurt.

Non's dad got transferred. interesting.

Ooooh Phi found the picture! and the real script!

Non's mom knows Phi. I wonder if she knew they were boyfriends of if she thought they were just friends. lmao at her Ring The Doorbell You Shady Shit, Were You Raised In A Barn?

New contacting Phi as the news breaks...the drama. i love it.

Tan is New confirmed!

OOOF. major oof. "aren't you sad i'm going to England?" "Whether you're here or not doesn't make a difference" just ouch.

He may have been a Not Great brother in your life, Non, but in your death New/Tan is going to Get Answers and Get Justice! giving up a scholarship in England, lying to his parents about it...Tan is going to Fuck Shit Up.

Jin, get your 'there's a cute boy around!!!!" face under control.

Tan just dives right in to asking questions and these bitches are so fucking sus from the word 'go'. yeah, they clearly have something to do with Non disappearing.

lmao Jin does not stand a fucking chance against Phi's seduction.

i am dying at Tan's "You didn't study, dumbass" on his ankle. Top's face is Too Funny.

Aww, White waiting for Tee after school and the group roasting them is really cute.

Phi how dare you take Jin to your and Non's spot! so rude! can't trust men at all, the second you disappear he's taking another man to the place you became boyfriends.😂 Jin awkwardly trying to figure out of this means Phi likes him back is cute.

Why Jin, how bold! asking Phi to stay the night!

oh damn this is full on full on, okay. Ta's ass just out there bare. "don't worry, i won't be too harsh i don't want to dislocate your shoulder" "who fucks so hard they dislocate a shoulder?" somewhere else in Bangkok VegasPete's ears are burning. Anyway, Phi was like 'don't test me, i'm being gentle for YOUR sake.' and that's the Minor Family Theerapanyakul in Ta. i was absolutely waiting for that astronaut dog figurine to fall lmao.

Tan going for the kill with that Did You Cheat On My Brother. Tan i'm sorry but not only is your brother most likely dead but Phi and Non are actually very broken upright now, no matter how much Phi wishes neither of those were true. Phi is in the clear here re: Cheating. He is not in the clear for manipulating Jin into sleeping with him, but like, Jin's into it so whatever for now.

"Fuck him however much you want but don't fall in love. He's with those assholes so he's also an asshole" i mean! He's not wrong! Jin is a good looking nice boy he could absolutely find other friends. the fact that he stays with these fuckheads......

poor Non's parents.

these teenage boys have better skincare routines than I do and I'm

Jin just pass Phi a note in class: Do U Like Me Check Yes Or No

Ah, Jin has such bad timing. Everything about this is brutal. but lol this makes the 2nd boy in a row that Jin likes that doesn't like him back.

Tan doing chemistry shit. he's gonna be drugging everyone i just know it. also, never ever have your cellphone out in a lab and never answer it with your gloves on! Lab Safety 101!!!!

damn, Tan, you could have at least made up a part time job in england or something so that your parents didn't have to sell their house. this entire family's been ripped apart by all this shit.

and now Tan is alone. all he has is his investigation into Non and Phi his sort of brother-in-law.

oh shit, was it Tan's cigarette smoke that was causing hallucinations???! or are they the antidote to whatever Tan drugged the others with or both?

confirmation that Tan was drugging everyone!

lol Tan's face at he very end as he takes in the chaos

[lemonisntreal]

Do you have a Tone Deaf version of Clay Calloway?

(Perfectly fine if you don't. I was just curious, plus I love all your redesigns) 🦁🎸

SORRY THIS TOOK FUCKING FOREVER LMAO [been sitting in my inbox since FEBRUARY THIRTEENTH, HOLY SHIT :D]. YEAH, here he is :pppp a solid draft for you

Lowkey [highkey] gave up on the clothing wrinkles on the arms, but I still like how it turned out I think. I don't have much on him in terms of rewrite, but I do have some, so I'll dump it all here under the cut.

I swear I love asks, please feel free to say/ask whatever, I'm just horrible at answering in a reasonable time-frame because I always want to make it this beautiful masterpiece and end up turning all of them into full-on posts- or, at least I want to ~_~

Headcanonssss-

Ash gave him that button off her jacket [probably needs to be resized I'm realizing lol] [also I totally adopted this headcanon from someone elses post- might've been yours. Whoever came up with it I love it <3]

Born during the reformation that happened after the war- basically, nobody was really fighting anymore during this time, but some big people in power were still being stupid [aka: not letting their prisoners go]

So that would be somewhere around 1947? Which would put his age at 61 in my universe [which is in 2008- the times are pretty much random, nothing really lines up irl. Ignore how they use tech and other things that shouldn't have been invented yet lol]

He grew up when the Skunk Dolls were new and popular and stuff. And he loved them- so much that the band actually kinda inspired his music career

[Skunk Dolls also made loads of protest songs btw. War stuff]

Takes a ridiculous amount of care with his mane, and if he lets you touch it, that's a true sign of trust

So the Piglets always like to play with it, and Ash has given him braids a few times

He's had that scruffy red jacket since his early days

I should draw patches on it-

Ash probably'll give him a quill or two to put in it too with all the patches and repair stitches

He wears a lot of plaid, I just didn't wanna draw it <3

Rough and torn up clothes too

Everything he owns has some sort of smudge or tear in it from motorbiking and/or just being himself <3

His ears are pierced in almost every way imaginable, and when Ash found out, she went CRAZY

Cue her getting him to try on a bunch of stuff

He likes wrought iron jewelry and has never been a fan of anything with gemstones in it

Buster is terrified of him, but Clay is just kinda a blunt person and it doesn't mix well with Buster sometimes. They get along eventually tho. There was also some really bad timing with the circumstances of how they even met in the first place too lol-

Johnny is also. Super terrified.

Buster and him are like "Ahhh.... that guy scares the living daylights out of me." "Ohh, thank god it's not just me-"

He has a strange out-of-pocket interest in astrology.

And in herbology and plants in general, but he picked that up from Ruby. Astrology was all his, and it is the one thing he will "nerd out" over

Also the kind of guy to make fun of you for nerding out too

Making fun of people is his love language

So is giving people food

He's not great with his words and can find it hard to express love by just telling someone. Back to the bluntness thing, you can often find him accidentally offending someone and he doesn't even realize it

The troupe very quickly learned this and it's more of an endearing trait of his to them [and to most people who know him]

REALLY good cook. Fantastic, in fact. Probably one of the best chefs out of any of the characters.

Learned the hard way that enlisting Buster's help in the kitchen is a bad idea. Also Ash isn't great either, but he actually tries to teach her some of his recipes. And she's quickly improving

Buster was just being an idiot and forgot you shouldn't microwave tinfoil

Clay travels a lot, but spends most of his time in Calatonia [he technically still lives at his and Ruby's house, but he's super scared of accidentally closing himself off again, so he only visits to check up on the flowers and maintain the property pretty much]

He's like Ash's second [and very cool] dad. Which- also intimidates Buster quite a bit :D

I feel like their dynamic could be a sitcom. Clay is Ash's awesome dad and Buster is Ash's lame [endearing] and oddly unhinged and anxious dad who feels like he has to be as cool as Clay [and always fails heehee]

Clay is more entertained by Buster's ridiculous criminal record than horrified and I don't know if that's worrying or just a classic Calloway W

He's a very nonchalant person

Ruby's death is the only time I can really think he had a legitimate emotional break that wasn't just him being snappy [which is also pretty rare]

Clay's also like an uncle to the Piglets

He's kinda just taken up the role of "super awesome miscellaneous family member" for everyone at this point

He's back performing again after Sing 2- just not frequently or putting out any new songs [on his own at least- he might do a collaboration or two with Ash]

[shai-manahan]

Hollowed Minds Progress Update 5/08/23

Hi! I know I failed at making a progress update last month, so first of all, apologies for that! Things have just been busy tbh and life has been too stressful that at some points I just couldn't write. It's why I've been a bit inactive here as well, and why I've been barely answering the asks I've been receiving.

I cannot report yet how many words I've written for the update so far because I haven't really taken a look at it myself, but I will do so at the end of the month if there's still no confirmed schedule by then. My eye health has just been very consistent at making my life harder as well until recently, and here's hoping I'll at least be able to function properly for a whole month🤞

Some things that will be in the next update:

For Chapter 2's Part 2:

Everything still goes as planned, except now both routes are expected to be fast-paced and action-oriented, though one is still more intense than the other.

This will be a massive one, not because of the word count but because of the variations that will play out. There won't be much issues in arranging the transitions to Chapter 3, so there's at least that, but your choices will matter a lot. So you might have to be careful with them.

One of the routes gets Alonzo actively involved, but please be assured that this doesn't mean you have to romance them. I actually encourage you all to check out both routes once they come because you'll gain more discoveries that way. 👀

Alonzo's route will be so memeworthy, I have to admit. Please try it.

There's an info dump in Chapter 2's Part 1 that I'm not really a fan of, so I'll be moving some of those to this part instead if needed.

For the overall IF:

Alex will now have a set skin tone if a lighter one is chosen for the Ripper. I will discuss this in detail soon, but I just wanted to emphasize that Alex and Ripper's mother are canonically PoC.

You will have options for your Ripper to wear contacts or glasses (or neither ofc).

You'll be able to bring a weapon with you in Chapter 2 depending on your choices so far.

You might remember a section of Chapter 1 where you can choose what your Ripper had been doing for the duration of the five months. I might reduce it to a few, just so I could have them properly recognized in the story.

There will be a couple of changes in the character descriptions in the game's stats page, with plans to make them shorter, too, for easier readability.

I will make sure you'll have saves at the end of this. So please don't be surprised if there'll be more page breaks in the future, as well as more choices (that are still as meaningful.)

In connection to above, I also plan to make the in-game descriptions snappier and easier to read while still maintaining the quality they should have. Your feedback will be very important for this, and this also applies to the beta testers (sorry I've been so silent. I swear I'll get back to you all soon lmao)

Not really too related here, but I also plan to be more consistent with my updates in the future. It's just that my irl schedule is still a huge mess, and it's very hard to be consistent when that happens.

Just a last piece of my mind. Some anons have been very aggressive with harassment the past few months, and I really have no interest for more drama right now. So if you have issues, if you think you can back your own words, send them through a DM or at least turn off anon so we could have a proper conversation.

It's honestly tiring. Being an Asian in this community can already be so tiring, so I am begging people to be mature and responsible with their words. After all, I've repeatedly said that you can always come to me with your concerns or whatever you have against me. As long as we can actually talk about it.

Anyway, that's all, and I hope the week will be good for everyone :) I have a few more things to post on Patreon tomorrow, so if you're a current patron, do look forward to that!

[clockwards]

i watched all 15 seasons of criminal minds in 29 days. these were my thoughts

----------

Garcia being normal Garcia: 🤪

Hotch, quietly: remind me to have her drug tested

-

Reid: Kevin and Penelope sitting in a tree? JJ, that's just dangerous, do you know the statistics on-

-

"yeah I'm fine, he wrote me a letter explaining why he left, just like my father did when he left my mother and I" REID LMAO

-

Gideon and Hotch giggling happily over charlie chaplin films <3<3 work dads

-

man with multiple personalities: do I *look* like personality no.2??

Reid [staring directly into the camera]: 👁️👁️

-

Reid making mini rockets and Hotch being a grumpy proud dad about it fhevfhhevdhsgdvsh THEM

-

"If I weren't a lesbian, I would absolutely jump your bones" [aimed at Gideon]

-

psychopath who only wants to talk to Reid: 😚

Reid: why don't i ever get any normal fans :(

-

Random detective [about Reid]: where did you find this kid?

Rossi, whispering: He was left in a basket on the steps of the FBI

-

Hotch: we do not have jurisdiction over this very personal set of cases

The Team: 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Hotch: ......okay just be quIET ABOUT IT

-

Rossi: My wife always said I had a flair for the dramatic

Hotch: Which one?

Rossi: ...all of them 😀

-

Morgan, Reid, Emily, Garcia [staring Hotch down]: we love and care for you

Hotch: im gonna kms

-

Rossi, interrogating a suspect: I fucked your wife (real not fake)

-

Hotch: Son, you're taking over the business

Morgan: Oh! A promotion!?

Hotch [dumping paperwork in front of him]

Morgan: Oh no! A promotion!!

-

[during Hotch's review after The Reaper incident]

Strauss, to the team: 😡😡 Hotch 😡😡

Strauss, to Hotch: 😔😔 Hotch 😔😔

-

Hotch: any word on Prentiss?

JJ: she's arguing with the doctors

Hotch, nodding: Good

-

Hotch: There are lots of ways sons defeat their fathers

Reid, cheerfully: I just keep getting PhD's!

-

[about budget cuts]

Rossi: Let's just hope they don't take the coffee

Reid, very seriously: I'd quit

Rossi: well yeah, that'd save them about 50 bucks a week

-

[looking at a machine gun]

Reid: I don't think I have the qualifications to use that

Hotch & Morgan, in unison: You don't.

-

[the most suspicious man alive, saying something extremely suspicious]

Emily Prentiss: yes sir I will follow you to this dark secluded secondary location

-

Every member of the BAU: ily

Prentiss, with an arsenal of guns: BACK! BACK, STRANGE CREATURES!

-

Strauss holding back the entire BAU by the scruffs of their necks like feral cats: I Wish I Had Dogs

-

Morgan, sending all the press to Reid: 😀

Reid: No more FBI I'm becoming a criminal just to kill you

-

Strauss: Please hire someone normal

Hotch: Here's Doctor Reid, a child who has never passed a field test

Strauss: I'm literally begging you

-

Victim: what are you doing????

Unsub: well this is a *gun*, and inside of it are what we call *bullets*

-

"a member of the team is in jeopardy"

me: is it Reid? I really hope it's Reid.

-

Garcia: altruism is sexy

Hotch, very seriously: yes it is

-

The BAU team's nosiness

VS

Reid's secrecy over a girl

- FIGHT -

-

Random teen: Get fucked old man

Rossi: Gamer on gamer violence. This is so sad.

-

Blake: I don't have any children...except Reid

Reid: I'm not your child though?

Blake: EXCEPT REID

-

Anyone: I love you

Reid, just not like other girls: ....Thomas Merton?

-

Blake: People just need to say what they mean

Reid: Life would be so much easier without chit-chat

[A Tale as Old as Time - Autism Bros™]

-

Reid: I don't like technology

Garcia: Technology doesn't like you, genius

-

Rossi: All of my marriages have failed, I'm not exactly what you would call a family man

Hotch: We literally have 5 kids together

-

[on first meeting]

Hotch: I'm offering you a job hunting psychopaths

Garcia, caught trying to stop animal testing: I *am* a psychopath

-

Rossi, joining the BAU: I have gotten a first husband, fourth wife, and multiple children just by entering this office. I'm the real family speedrunner

-

Reid: My dad leaves and suddenly I've got new contenders lining up like it's the bachelor

Hotch: You're not even that great a son

Reid: You were literally first in line

-

Bomb Squad: You called??

Morgan: Early bird gets the explosive worm, bitch

-

Hotch: How long do you need to do this impossibly long task that no one else could complete?

Reid: Like 30 minutes

Hotch: Awesome. Do it faster

-

Reid: I'm arresting you for murder

Cat: ...are we about to kiss?

-

Cat: You have mommy issues

Reid: L + Ratio. You have daddy issues *worse*

-

Morgan: It's my turn to be kidnapped and tortured

Reid and JJ: nnOOO MY BRAAAANDD

-

Alvez: Why won't you be nice to me

Garcia: I'm always nice. Look, this is my nice face 😒

-

Prentiss: This guy is probably a loner, definitely has commitment issues...

Alvez, just made a full-course meal for his dog: 😤

-

UnSub: I NEED A DOCTOR

Tara, cocking a gun: I'm not taking appointments

-

Reid: I need to take some time off to look after my mom

[is arrested for drug posession and murder in Mexico]

Reid: ........so how's my mom?

-

The Team: We're so worried about Spencer in prison

Reid: I made friend :]

-

Prentiss: Luke is snarky. You are snarky. Please just try to get along

Garcia: You don't understand. We cancel each other out

-

Reid, entering prison: I am going to make So Many enemies

-

Mr Scratch, doing anything: 😏

The Team: It's a trap. Let's go!

-

Alvez: I can tell, you're a cat person

Prentiss: Got the nine lives to go with it, bitch

-

Cat: I'm pregnant. It's yours

Reid, shocked: You mean you're not a virgin?!

Cat:

Cat: I wish I killed you the first time round coME HERE-

-

Prentiss: I need a person I love and trust to relax with

Reid: ....are you gaslighting me into resting?

Prentiss: Yes. And it'll fuckin work.

-

Barnes: Don't you want to be unit chief? Don't you have....ambitions?

JJ: I'm ambitious about killing you. Wanna see?

-

Garcia: I hate newbie. He's terrible and stupid and has a dumb face and dumb thoughts-

Alvez: We literally just took a selfie together

-

Alvez:

Tara: ur mom

Alvez: I DIDN'T EVEN FUCKING SAY ANYTHING?

-

JJ, married with 2 kids: I'm a little bit in love with you

Reid, who took her on one date 15 years ago: 😯

-

Rossi: You can't ground me! I'm your dad!!

Prentiss: AND I'M YOUR FUCKING BOSS. GROUNDED!

-

[Luke and Matt go missing]

Prentiss: The boys! They took our boys!!

Reid: I'm.....right here?

[genericpuff]

How long do you usually take to plan for a really long story/comic? Do you do a rough plan or a fully detailed one? Any apps you use for planning?

Thank you in advance!

It depends on the project. For my long-term series, it definitely takes me a good while to finalize everything from start to finish, but as a general rule, I try to keep my writing one step ahead of where I'm drawing, for two purposes: so I can have a goal in mind to propel the comic forward (I don't want to be writing or drawing on the fly more than I have to), and so I can have enough planned ahead for editing, because by the time I get to the thing I've planned, my writing has likely grown more and my perspective on it has shifted, so I'm not releasing "first takes", so to speak.

Usually I use LibreOffice and just sort of keep a few separate files for different purposes. I always have a "[story] shit" file of some kind where I just dump thoughts and notes that I don't wanna lose lmao but then I usually also have a file that's meant for outlining. I think Rekindled is the first comic where I haven't employed my spreadsheet method, which is when I'd use Excel/Spreadsheets to lay out panel descriptions and dialogue. So like this:

(Episode 14 of Time Gate: [AFTERBIRTH])

Rekindled is more just note-taking, what I want to happen in each episode, and if there's any dialogue I come up with that I definitely want to include, I write it down in there. I've done all of Rekindled's process through Scrivener, which I learned how to use shortly before starting it. IDK yet if I like Scrivener enough to use it for my bigger projects, but it's been helpful for organization and keeping my files all in one central "hub" area.

So right now I have up to about Episode 70 drafted out like that ^^^ but things do change during the actual production of the episodes. Sometimes I'll write something in my notes that doesn't flow well in actual comic form. Sometimes I'll write dialogue during the sketching stage that I don't like anymore by the time I get to the final rendering. It's all a stage-by-stage process from drafting to final release.

The question of "how long" really just comes down to the note-taking process. I tend to work in bursts, the last time I did any written episode layouts was a few weeks ago and that was because I got like, 40+ episodes done in a day LOL So I'm all set for the next little bit, but I'll have to get back to planning by Episode 50 if I haven't done any before then. I'd like to have the entirety of Rekindled plotted out by the end of the year so I can get a more exact answer of how long Rekindled will be :' )

When it comes to software/apps, keep it simple, use what you know. I've been using standard word editors and spreadsheets for years now because it works for me. Scrivener's been fun to learn but as I mentioned, IDK if I'm gonna be able to stick with it for bigger projects like Time Gate because it feels like I'm wearing different shoes that I'm not used to lol But that's just me, feeling "at home" with my software is just an important thing to me, for others it might not matter so much. Scrivener definitely has the most features for drafting/writing/editing, but it's also not very beginner-friendly and there's a huge learning curve to really understanding how the software is designed and what it fully offers.

There's also Plottr which I've been using for [AFTERBIRTH], it's really helpful for people who need visual aids because it allows you to lay out story timelines through imagery. But I really only use it for laying out story beats from end to end, I don't use it much beyond that, any extensive note taking or scripting happens in actual word documents.

(idk if this is how you're actually supposed to use Plottr but it's how I use it so w/e lolol)

Ultimately it's all up to you, what works for me might not work for others so don't be afraid to try things even if it ends up not working out for you. Obv that might be a bit more of a "nah" when it comes to paid software like Scrivener and Plottr, but there are loads of tutorials on Youtube that teach you how to use the software that you can hopefully use as a glimpse into how they work to see if they'd be up your alley before paying money for 'em.

Hope that helps! ˋ( ° ▽、° )

[jovieinramshackle]

Hello! Your art is very eatable /pos

Also, do you have any HCs (well not really HCs since you made the ship) for inky ribbons you'd be willing to share?

TYYY IT MEANS A LOT

I strive to make my art as eatable as possible

Also yay more excuses to ramble about them teehee 🐙🎀 (these are all for their established relationship)

🐙 They enjoy spending time together alone after the mostro lounge closes, enjoying a nice cup of tea and just talking about anything that comes to mind. (usually jovie info dumping about their current hyperfixation).

🎀 Azul pays close attention during those info-dumps and gifts Jovie merch of her strongest hyperfixations, despite her never asking or even expecting gifts.

🐙 They're the only person Azul can give a gift to without feeling indebted to her.

🎀 Jovie hoards earrings. She ADORES earrings. No wonder Azul's gifts tend to be...well, earrings! (sometimes necklaces too).

🐙 Jovie sucks at giving gifts (and often doesn't have the money for them) so instead she asks Azul what they wanna do for the day. Whatever he says, it happens, just a special day where they can do whatever he wants.

🎀 Similar, for Jovie words often feel empty. So Azul makes sure he shows how much he cares about them through various actions (taking food for them at the cafeteria, remembering the things she tells him, offering to carry her books etc). It's the small things that get her.

🐙 If Azul wants to convince Jovie to do something all he has to do is smooth talk/flirt with her and she gives in HDKABSKS

🎀 Jovie is not the best when it comes to words, but Azul finds the biggest comfort whenever they hold him and just tell him he's doing great.

🐙 Jovie's main love languages are physical affection and quality time, Azul's being physical affection (tho he had to ease up on it in the start.) and acts of service.

🎀 They're in the same class!! This usually means Azul playfully scolding Jovie for not paying attention in class. Jovie can get help from him with homework (for a price ofc) (the price being a date).

🐙 Azul did an excessive amount of research on Jovie's culture so he's prepared for the day they'll tell him "my family wants to meet you". He thinks it'll prepare him to make a good first impression if he's knowledgeable about their culture (It, in fact, does not help him regarding his stress over actually meeting them tho lmao).

🎀 Jovie would love to meet his family, and wants to ask when she could, but is embarrassed to tell him "I'm afraid of small fishes nibbling me because they remind me of bugs." (she has entomophobia like me lol💔)

🐙 The first time they publicly held hands was during the SDC and he was the one to initiate it, causing Jovie to freeze in place for a moment as they tried to process what he had just done (they're very private about the relationship so it was a surprise).

🎀 They don't properly kiss until the end of the school year. They were only giving kisses on the cheek/close to the mouth but never actually KISSING...they were nervous but got through it.

🐙 She's the only one allowed inside the bathroom in cases where his potion has worn off and he needs to wait for the next refill inside the bathtub.

I'll stop here because this will get long if I continue LMAOOO

tagging: @ramshacklerumble @thehollowwriter @summerspook @scint1llat3 @skriblee-ksk @cyanide-latte (lmk if you wanna be added)

[bonefall]

time to dump a whole bunch of clanmew translations on you!!!!

Stemcurl- Prryemarreoopa, this is a really long one but I really like saying it for some reason. I imagine they would get a nickname like Squilf, but I could not for the life of me figure one out lmao

Dropletbreak- Kipimkerroch, technically this should probably be translated as Dropletshatter, but I prefer -break! it's meant to evoke that very first raindrop that splats right on your nose and makes you think 'well. it's definitely going to rain.'

Lightflood- Anelalm, there's not a specific word for flood, but I think -wave works pretty well here!

Basilsnap/star- Mwelkaygurga/Mwelshai, so apparently basil doesn't grow naturally in the UK??? you learn something new every day, I guess? anyways I just replaced it with spearmint, since it's in the same family and looks at least a little bit similar.

Shadedance- Horrlshigashig, the 'danced' here isn't exactly what I wanted? I was looking more for a 'trembled/swayed,' since his name is supposed to be like the shadows of leaves on the forest floor, but I couldn't find anything in the 'movement' semantic field...

Flickerfate- Swarfssamep/Swarforrmep, these (to me) would be translated the same way in English, but they have very different meanings. 'fate' as a suffix is a bit of a weird one, but it was originally granted as an Honor Title due to their affinity to see omens in fires; it eventually turned into a Dishonor Title for fun story reasons that I won't bore you with lol.

Nacreclaw- Solyskkachit, this one is... interesting. There's no word in Clammew for nacre (probably because they don't live by the sea and wouldn't see it), so I attempted to combine 'solyss' and 'sek' into a sort of compound word, and ended up with 'solysk,' so, there we go?

Oh I love these, absolute MVP goes to Dropletbreak, that's such a neat image! On Prryemarreoopa, I think that a good nickname would be Prryoo. It takes a piece from both the prefix and suffix, and keeps that "fun to say" vibe from the full name.

New words;

Flood = Worrl Translates directly. (Note: a syke, mawss, is a stream that floods seasonally.)

Basil (Clinopodium vulgare) = Pomba (Heart + Flower) An important astringent, used to speed up heartrate, help a cat cough up phlegm, and even treat mild infection. In times of excess, it's even used for making yellow dye! Has orchid-like, delicate little purple flowers. You were probably looking at the wrong type of basil! Basils in the family Ocimum (such as sweet basil) don't grow in the UK, this is the historic type of basil used as medicine.

Plant Movements

I think I see what you're looking for with Shadedance, and this is a good area to expand in I think. I'm going to give you a bunch of words for the movement of plants, from the perspective of Clan cats.

Twanged/Twanging/Will Twang = Ookooau/Ookooa/Ookoo SPECIFICALLY the unnatural movement a plant makes when an animal interacts with it. It's the tremble of a branch as a squirrel runs on it, or the bow of a flower when a fat bee grabs it, or the spring of a twig that a sparrow perches on. A plant that is bearing the weight of a creature.

Rolled-Together/Rolling-Together/Will-Roll-Together = Shalalshe/Shalashe/Shalshe AN IRREGULAR STEM, watch out! The wave-like movement of wall grass as it bends with the wind. Also used metaphorically, for when you ALL move together. "SHALSHE!" is a full sentence on its own, a command, that the entire group you're referring to should move as one.

Sway = Hayyssassa/Hayyssass/Hayyssa The gentle movement of plants in wind.

Tattled/Tattled/Tattling = Cha'ha'hach/Cha'ha'ha/Cha'ha The odd, irregular dancing of rain or hail on leaves or roofing. Like English, this word can also be used for "telling on someone" or "giving something hidden away," because you may not know it is raining except for the tattle of the den above you. Also used by tunnelers when they could tell something was above them, based on the sound of pawsteps.

Rattle = Shewshioo/Shewshi/Shewsh The violent shaking of leaves and branches under high winds; arbitrarily different from "sway" from the fact that it makes listening difficult and stops the singing of birds.

Collapsed-Swayed/Collapsing-Sway/Will-Collapse-Will-Sway = Goorraoa/Goorrao/Goorra WHEN THE WIND IS SO STRONG IT'S MAKING THE TRUNKS GROAN. VERY powerful word, because it will also describe the sway of the roots in the ground as they're pulled by the tree. The ground might literally dance. Also applied emotionally to a cat whose "world is shaken," swaying as if they might collapse, from news so powerful it's making them dizzy. I don't know how to put the power of this word into English so I just made it red lmao. The grass it-bows-together, the oak it-collapes-sways. I would use this for Honor Titles.

Rustle = Kish The sound plants with leaves make when shaken. Compare to Russ, the word for leaves AND the sound they make when wind gently passes through them. A bonus for you.

[we-pay-for-everything]

Nancy Drew season 3, episode 10 review:

I don't really love this episode. All the romance scenes felt unnatural. I hate it when a character randomly, and confidently, states another character, especially one they barely know, is in love before they even admit it themselves. Like, why would Hannah say Ace is in love with Nancy? Is it really that obvious? To me it's not. And she barely has any scenes with Ace. It felt so cheesy and forceful. And George saying Nancy sounded like a single woman with agency and options was a bit annoying. She'd been dating Nick for months. Why was she acting like she'd wasted her entire youth on him? And that was such fake girl power moment. I get that women get slut shamed so George was being supportive, but it made me roll my eyes a bit. How much can Nancy care about Ace if she's crushing on Park? She's attracted to, and impressed by, Park, and also wants to feel wanted after being stood up by Ace, I guess? I can never understand liking multiple people at once, because it's personally almost impossible for me to even like one single person. But that's on me, I guess. Nancy's the "normal" one.

Anyway, Park and Nancy are entirely wrong together. She's barely 19 and he's at least in his mid twenties. It's not the age gap that's the issue, but she's not even old enough to legally drink. She's practically a teenager, with no job or plans for the future, and he's already a well-respected agent, much more mature than her, as their interactions often show (eg. when she threw his words about space back at him and refused to ride in his car), with no plans to stay in Horseshoe Bay. But, really, the main issue is that she's too young. He's also in charge of a case in which she's sort of a person of interest, and she's working at the police station. He's supposed to be an authority figure of sorts. Furthermore, the fact that Nancy thinks there's nothing wrong with their relationship just shows she's still very immature, even if she's super smart, and that's okay because she's super young. But Park is old enough to know better so I don't know what his excuse is. And I also don't understand why the rest of the gang don't think it weird that Nancy almost only shows interest in older men (Owen, Park, the other detective - whatever happened to him? lmao, Gil...).

I think the most annoying part of the episode was George and Nick's fight though. It came out of nowhere to me and sounded like George was trying to make Nick into the bad guy so she felt better about dumping him. I don't love George so I hope I can be objective, but I honestly don't get why she said what she said. Nick wanted to save George? He always saves people and runs away? When did he try to save George? She didn't need saving when they got together, and he accepted her proposal because he loved her. Maybe her death curse was a factor, but young love is also intense and makes people act hasty. I don't get what she was accusing him of, and I also don't get why George thought she was settling? Maybe he was the first man who showed her what a good relationship was, but he didn't pursue her. She liked him first, so she didn't go for the first nice guy who showed her attention, because he still liked Nancy when George became interested in him. This whole argument was a bit forced.

Nancy and Ryan's fight felt forced too. I think this was the issue with the whole episode. The circumstances were forced as well. Why did Temperance even throw a party? In these small towns everyone's always throwing a ball lmao. Bess remembering to spike Temperance with a truth serum because she needed proof of her real intentions in Horseshoe Bay was so idiotic. "Nancy needs evidence!". Well, Bess, if you told her what you read in the letter she wouldn't think you made it up. Do you think she trusts you so little? Or that she thinks you're an insane compulsive liar and manipulator? Why would she think you made it up, especially when it was you who trusted Temperance first.

Lastly, Hannah's master plan was just knocking on Nancy's door? And she was upset Nancy didn't figure it out? Even if Nancy thought it was a ghost, she's too used to that. But then, at the party, Hannah magically remembered to mess with the radio! She was right to go after Ace though, because Nancy already had a mystery on her hands and when that happens she doesn't care about anything else.

[monitorchakas]

343 Guilty Spark Mega Fan Girl DUMP

Hi welcome to my trash takes that started sometime before 2007 and has continued well into the future

Fyi: I will talk spoilers without warning for both forerunner saga and rion forge trilogy

Part 1- Bungie Era

Yes I loved 343 Guilty Spark before he got any of his big character development. I'm a huge fan of scifi robots I was also obsessing over portal and hal 9000 around this time. I defend hal 9000 too lmao read the books to find out why

He's round hes cute hes really just following protocol ok leave him alone.

I VIVIDLY remember my highschool friend being like BUT WHY DO YOU LIKE HIM??? and me responding :

I've always been in love with the "mystery of the forerunners" especially in Halo 1 where we are just walking around this ancient beautiful place with 0 knowledge of it. Guilty Spark has always been the one connection we have to forerunners and that makes him awesome.

even before 343 industries made those (absolutely perfect amazing) terminals we knew that Guilty Spark had been alone for 101,217 years on a ring, he witnessed everyone who was susceptible to the flood die as planned.

Halo 3 Era we learn all he knows is his halo ring because his makers limited his knowledge to only about his ring thru

compartmentalization

(which is clever mention at the end of primordium. I know bungie didn't intend it, I don't care still think it's neat) (halo 3 the ark cutscene)

He's always been interesting to me, he never meant to be evil, he's just programmed to be the way he is. He literally doesn't know any better

"Protocol dictated my response"

"Now I have only one function to help you reclaimer as I always should have done"

"The installation was my responsibility"

"I take no pleasure in doing what must be done"

P.S. I've watched the halo 1-3 cutscenes so many times that I can recite some of them word for word. Lmao

I legit made a cardboard foam version of Guilty Spark during this era (and tim dadabo saw pictures of it online!!!) Also wore a Guilty Spark dog tag to school for many days. It was confused a few times with Wheatley and sometimes I just let people think it was Wheatley lmao.

Also NO JOKE First time I played the library (I was in middle school mind you) had a dream about walking around in the library (empty of flood) and finding a broken little guilty spark. Weird takeaway but Im convinced the universe was foreshadowing my blorbo obsession lmao

Around this time I made a Master Chief costume out of cardboard and got my helmet signed by Steve Downes. I was around 15yrs old, this was literally the greatest thing to happen to little me

Part 2- Forerunner Saga

I really didn't expect my beloved blorbo bleebus the one skrunkly mofo that everyone else seemed to hate to get content past Halo 3's Saddest Anime Ending. Yet here we are!

Prelude: the halo 3 terminals. I definitely printed the transcript out and read them in class instead of actually paying attention in school lol I remember being obsessed with Mendicant Bias. Funny that he'd later be involved in killing Chakas...

Jan 4, 2011, 2 days before my bday, 1 day after my best friend's bday, Halo Cryptum was released. During the time before this day I was major hyped about this book. I was caught up with all previous halo books, I wanted the mysterious forerunner lore, and best of all here is the chance to get some lore of my favorite Guilty Spark.

I remember preordering this book without paying the extra amount to get it signed. I remember being very confused as to why I'd pay to have a book signed before I had read it. I'll regret this for the rest of my life.....

I absolutely adored Cryptum. I love adventure books and the beginning half is just so amazing and special!!! I remember being slightly disappointed that Guilty Spark never showed up (lol to my knowledge at the time) but the book was SO GREAT that I didn't even care. Also Chakas name was so funny at the time I had recently seen "shaka when the walls fell" - Star Trek TNG

I started stalking when the next book in the forerunner trilogy would release because I MUST KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO CHAKAS RISER AND BORNSTELLAR MY POOR BABIES also hopefully Guilty Spark will show up?? Haha!! I remember someone asked 343i in some panel if Guilty Spark had any lore in the forerunner trilogy and they responded something along the lines "we have something big planned for him but we can't elaborate"

Needless to say my hype was astronomical

Later that year GUILTY SPARK CRASHED COMICON!!! HALO CEA (my favorite halo game) REMAKE WITH TERMINALS!!!! SCREAMING AGCTJCDYUC!!!

I watched this video about 101,217 times:

Also hey!! Primordium is releasing Jan 3, 2012 on my best friend's bday!!!

A Great Time For Guilty Spark fan like me

I watched the first few terminals in early Dec then went on vacation and had to finish the rest later which unbeknownst to me worked nicely because this meant Id be reading Primordium and watching the halo cea terminals side by side which made me suspicious of the chakas/guilty spark connection because

Guilty Spark in the library and the maw terminal speaks VERY FONDLY of the Librarian, and Chakas also just speaks very FONDLY of her thru most of the book. Plus Chakas is revealed to be a monitor at the beginning of the book so I definitely was thinking THATS SUS!!!!

Going back to Dec I remember reading the preview first chapter of primordium on vacation at the top floor of my grandma's house by stealing neighbors internet and I don't know why I remember this so vividly I must have really enjoyed this moment

When Primordium released I spent the entire book going "Is Guilty Spark Chakas? No it can't be thats stupid" because reasons explained above and also every time a monitor would show up id think "uhh Guilty Spark???" Thought the same of Genemender lol.

Also forgot to mention: I was at first very upset that they had killed my boy Chakas like what the heck they mean saying he's a monitor How Dare They??? LOWKEY STILL UPSET

FUN FACT: I WAS 18 YEARS OLD WHEN PRIMORDIUM RELEASED

I remember being like WOW CHAKAS IS around the same age as me!!!! Which just makes his death ever more tragic.

I've said it before I'll say it again, even before the Guilty Spark reveal, I genuinely enjoyed Primordium. I like adventure books and I like character development. Walking around aimlessly on a halo ring by characters Im already in love with from the previous book is great. Also Gamelpar.... he's so absolutely great.

Remember when people started using Salty as a term? Well I found that silly and slightly annoying so I started telling anyone who would use that word "WELL THE GODS PISS SALT THATS WHY SOME ANIMALS LIVE BETTER IN SALTWATER" Nobody around me understood and my explanations only caused more confusion and I still think thats hilarious.

Anyway book ending. I immediately recognized

COMPARTMENTALIZATION

Because this is legit my favorite Halo 3 Guilty Spark cutscene. He looks so absolutely adorable here. Look at him!! He does a twirl!! Cuteee!!!! AAAA!!

I definitely was very happy that my earlier suspicions were correct, but very sad that my boy's human life had ended. Such conflict, much sad.

Also HOLY SHIT HIM TAKING CONTROL OF THE RUBICON I LEGIT ENJOYED THAT ENDING WAY MORE THAN I SHOULD HAVE

Anyway I made this 343 Guilty Spark plush this year (2012) lol

So lets talk about primordium releasing in 2012 and renegades releasing in 2019. Do you know how long 7 years is to a nerd like me? Yes Silentium Continued part of the story, but holy shit getting spark back in the current halo timeline then waiting 7 years to continue

I begin to understand how guilty spark felt after the halo rings were fired just waiting alone for 100,000 years just like me waiting alone for 7 years gosh this is so corny lmao

Silentium was great my favorite part was when Monitor Chakas rescued Bornstellar and said the whole "chakas could have murdered you back on erde tyrene and he didn't" because you know BEST FRIENDS SO PRECIOUS

I have lots of fond memories of listening to the forerunner trilogy audio books during long car trips. One time we were on our way to take a ferry to an island and I jokingly went "I hope they are playing the right songs" to which my brother rolled his eyes (I was referencing the merse lol). I associate a lot of my adventures with halo audiobooks and its awesome.

I remember Halo 4 came out and I thought for sure we'd see Spark when we saw the Librarian

Lol Nope. Not mad, Halo 4 is a masterpiece and I will forever miss that era of halo especially now that we have the train wrecks that are 5 and 6.

When Halo 5 came out, I didn't buy the game. I watched the cutscenes on youtube, was horrified and didn't interact with halo for about a year or so. I fell behind on the halo books. I'm still behind.

I still occasionally stalked Guilty Spark's Halopedia for that possible Primordium sequel but this was much less often than before. I was very upset at what they did to our Cinnamon roll Cortana.

Part 3- Rion Forge Trilogy

So May 11 2019... I check Guilty Spark's halopedia page because hey I haven't done this in years what the heck

and I see the Armiger...

So after waiting 7 years. I finally got my book.... But Im almost 3 months late...

Needless to say I went that same day to Barnes and noble and bought the book. Started reading it and didn't get very far. I still had not read Smoke and Shadows so lol didn't make much sense. I couldn't find a local bookstore that had it so I got the digital copy. I hate digital copies.

I genuinely LOVED Smoke and Shadows I was very upset when they killed Cayde and its cool that Rion is Halo Wars Forge's daughter. Also FINALLY SOME EVIL SPACE CIA LORE. I hadn't enjoyed that since back when hunt the truth came out

On to Renegades: I was so genuinely excited for this book after 7 years, we got the sequel, And what a great sequel it was.

I love how organic and down to earth these books are. It's own style not something epic and out there like Greg Bear. It's the perfect place in time for Spark to regain touch with his own humanity.

I love the relationships of all the characters! I love watching them all forced interact with Spark whether they wanted to or not (Niko sure wanted to lol)

Gonna list some highlights from the book in no particular order:

When they went to Myer's Moon and Spark sat on top of a rock waiting for the right moment to shoot a fish out of the water. You don't understand. I grew up near the ocean, sitting on top of rocks waiting for an opportunity to catch a fish (which I later released)... this is absolutely great and so oddly close to me...

When Spark compared himself to Niko, where he said something along the lines of "the life and friendships stolen from me (chakas) since he was Niko's age when he became Spark. Also him wondering if his mom and sisters ever looked for him, if they thought he died in a knife fight. My brother is now near Chakas age. So that hits differently now...

When they got their stuff back from ONI and Spark snatched up Rion from falling and him later snatching up the siblings and lecturing them to be more careful!!

Spark going back to Erde Tyrene.... holy shit. I remember him asking to go back in Silentium...

Spark telling the librarian that "the greater good is merely an excuse for the strong to make decisions for the weak"

Them doing the ritual at the end and Spark letting go of his friends....pain...

This book was definitely very special to me. I'm really glad they put so much thought and love into this redemption arc. (Even though he didn't need redemption in my eyes lol)

I remember how EXCITED I WAS for Point of Light

I remember just doing the weirdest most EXCITED scream when I saw it announced. And I mentioned it before will repeat I legit was freaking out internally when buying this. I was legit stupid levels of excited. I remember vividly how I felt when buying this...

I loved the connections we got in point of light to forerunner trilogy. I said this before but for the sake of this post: To prepare for this book I had reread a month or so before the forerunner trilogy and the two Rion Forge books and that was so absolutely rewarding especially since..... poor Spark got sent back to Zeta halo by the librarian. What a great mom!! /s

Gonna list some highlights from the book in no particular order:

Spark's redesign for this book is not only lore accurate but he looks GREAT much better than renegades

Spark and Little Bit interacting. I wish we got more....

The as was before place or w/e where Spark liked to pretend he was still Chakas on earth

Going back to installation 07 was great (horrible for Spark) but great to read, the silent cartographer.... omg... why wasn't it in infinite...

There were a few moments where Spark was doing "cool ai stuff" like when he destroyed all of ONIs bugs and trackers

Spark's (brief) interactions with Veridity (lowkey mad we didn't see her in infinite

When Spark was explaining how Chakas (innocently) thought he could trick the primordial/mendicant bias and escape

The ending.... where Spark says goodbye to Rion as Chakas and does a smirk..

Fun Fact! At the beginning of this book Spark talks about how his mom says to not dip you toes in still water since there's crocodiles and I read this a few days before I had plans to go kayaking in a swamp with gators and I was already pretty spooked about it and this didn't help lol.

Anyway I could continue but I think this enough random incoherent babbling from me. If I forgot to add anything Ill reblog or something

Thanks for coming to my SparkTalk

Ill leave you with my custom figure of Spark ❤

Never forget that he's baby lol

[cleverthylacine]

fiddleford and jazz for the ask game?

OK! Re Fiddleford - if you love Fiddleford, I'm sorry, because...

I don't.

First of all I spent the first 26 years of my life in West Virginia and Kentucky so when this was the "Appalachian" character in Gravity Falls in the first season, before we knew his history, I was completely fucking PISSED OFF about that. That's where "why do they look like that" comes from. Sure we have people that look like that but they're not the majority, and so does every other fucking place in the world.

Second of all, I still don't like him. I have a lot of sympathy for him with regard to having to put up with Bill but that's where it begins and where it ends. The rest of what we know of him is as follows:

He had some kind of relationship with Ford, quite likely romantic and certainly queer, but after they graduated he fucked off to the suburbs and got married to a woman who was taking care of him, because before big tech got big, in the 1970s, that's not what your house looked like if you were someone like him. People who aren't me don't all know how Earth worked in 1982 so I don't blame anyone who wasn’t even born then for thinking he'd already hit it rich on his own but no, someone had to be supporting him, and to those who say he got married and had Tate after he left Ford, I'm just going to say that Roe vs Wade was passed in 1973 and even if you were drunk enough to screw him after he gave himself brain damage, would you actually have a kid with him? Plus, who was paying for the house?

Second of all, he dumped her to go back to Ford and his kid hates him. In other words, he's a shitbag at handling his relationships. He was queer until graduation, married because it was the thing to do in the very early 70s I'm sure, almost certainly wasn't honest about his relationship with Ford, and abandoned his kid. He sent giant robots after his wife who divorced him, which he bloody well earned.

And then he started a conspiracy secret society to erase people's memories whether they wanted them erased or not.

I don't. like. Fiddleford. And I do NOT ship Fiddauthor. Honestly I always ship Ford with OCs because there's nobody in the canon but Jheselbraum who deserves him and (hahaha) Valiska Courinna, my OC, did most of the stuff that Jheselbraum did, in my RP and in my fic, before Journal 3 came out and I even knew about Jheselbraum's existence.

Sorry. I know some of my mutuals ship Fiddauthor really hard, so I usually keep my mouth shut about it as I believe that everyone has the right to ship what they want, but from a canonical perspective, I think both Fiddleford and this ship suck.

Jazz is cool, sexy, and funny. There's not enough of him anywhere. They should have spent more time on Jazz. Mirage is a bougie wannabe Jazz and not nearly as cool. I adore JazzWave as a sexy rivalry even though RavWave is my OTP (it's not like they're strictly monogamous LMAO) and if you've got far enough in Voice of Stanix to be past the point where Jazz shows up you probably already knew this. He is also very open and loving and I think he is almost certainly poly.

There are not a whole lot of Autobots I like all that much (compared to the number of Decepticons I fucking adore) but I love Jazz and I would bang the hell out of him if, you know, allowances could be made for size differential and the relative tolerances of flesh and metal. I feel like he would be really smooth and really good at it. He's just adorable and fun. And also an incredible special ops dude and good at assassination and sabotage but um, we all know that's what I like in a mech right?