#i really hope the readmore works or else this post will be LONG

[answrs]

Readmores And You - A Really Great Tumblr Feature!

(this is technically directed at stuff I've seen in a specific tag because of the content of said tag makes it more likely to spoiler things, but it applies to anyone likely learning the ins and outs of a new site. speaking of which, hello! welcome to tumblr!) (this got. longer than anticipated. apologies, I get bogged down in trying to make things as clear as possible. ^^")

I've seen this a lot recently in the VC tags especially, where the post goes something to the effect of "tw bloody animal!" then like six periods and the images of whatever dead thing the post is about.

I recognize this is probably being carried over from some other website (...reddit probably? maybe insta?) but please. I appreciate y'all so much for trying to do what you're doing. but this method of hiding pictures isn't effective on tumblr, but there is an infinitely better option!

"but why? it works fine on other sites?" firstly, a few extra lines typically don't even take up enough space on mobile (let alone desktop) to hide your pics, so even at a glance anyone is likely still seeing at least the top half of whichever picture you posted before even noticing the trigger warning on top. second, because you have to scroll all the way past the images at the bottom of your post anyway to get to the next one on your dash/in the tag/etc. so if someone comes across your post and the trigger warning is applicable as something they want to avoid, unless they have access to a keyboard to use a keybind shortcut that ive been here 12 years and still cant remember, they can't see any other posts after it without either having to scroll through the pics or outright block you. which is... not the most ideal of options I would say.

"but what else am I supposed to do then!?" I hear you ask.

READMORES!

tumblr has a wonderful feature known as a "readmore" that's built into the site! it creates a break in your post, which hides any content - be it words, images, whatever - that you place underneath it, not showing it unless the person viewing it clicks on the words "keep reading" (formerly "read more" - hence the name :D).

Cool, how do I do that?

on mobile you can place one by tapping an empty line and clicking the grey squiggle icon from the selection that allow you to insert an image/vid/link

which will place a squiggly line into the post you're making:

(desktop uses the same icon, it's just in a more compact row of icons.)

you can drag it around after placing it too, just like photos. (note: mobile can get finicky with this and it's usually just easier to remove it -click the big red X- and add it in the new place you want it.)

EDIT: some of the versions of mobile editor are broken and don't show the icons. to add it in manually type ":readmore:" (with the colons, but not the quotation marks) on its own line. Thank you for the reminder, LovingTogetic!

this is also a nice way to keep your blog tidy and not swamped in long and/or spoilery posts (say if you're posting 5k word fics, or extensive meta, or gushing over the ending of the latest game or TV show most people probably haven't seen yet)! it's not required, obviously, but it's generally considered a common courtesy for others that will be seeing your post cross their dashboard.

finally, an example of the readmore in action:

(ta-da!)

have fun out there y'all, I hope this is helpful ^^

as an aside (I wasn't sure where to put this but under the break seemed appropriate), you may also see a lot of personal/vent posts be fully under readmores as well, even if the post is only a sentence or two long. this is mostly so followers don't necessarily see it unless they specifically click, but there's a more frustrating history to it becoming a thing: when a post is reblogged, any content above the break is permanently frozen as it existed at the time, but anything under it will reflect edits made to the post. while not common, a certain type of user sometimes browse the various "do not rb" tags and will purposefully reblog personal posts in order to upset and distress the users. putting those things under a readmore make it so even if that happens, the text can be deleted from all iterations of the post. recently the site rolled out an option to lock a post to reblogs, but you gotta mess with the settings and it's mostly a habit after a decade here dealing with the nonsense.

[nametakensff]

you just casually posting about how long it's been since you've nutted and how its affectin u is insanely hot to this snzfucker combination orgasm denial kink-haver.

So glad to hear that, anon! 🥰 I'm always happy when my oversharing on here turns other people on. It feels like as suitable a place as any for me to be unabashedly explicit

That being said, much more graphic details of my frustration under the readmore for anyone who is interested! 😤

I think by the time Monday rolls around this may well be the longest I've gone without actively masturbating or having an orgasm since I started to actively do so aged 14 lol

I foolishly thought I would be okay to listen to wavs yesterday but of course that was the stupidest idea - had to turn one off after a minute because I was going mad and was moments away from masturbating. I did touch myself a little, just to feel how wet I was and how sensitive, but forced myself to stop before it really started to feel great...

All day today my hand has been finding its way between my legs. I touch myself a lot out of habit, and normally this wouldn't be an issue - I'm home alone on weekdays, I can back away from work for a moment (or longer) to get myself off - but right now the temptation just feels like torture 😫

I was on my daily walk earlier and as my mind is prone to doing, my thoughts wandered into sneezing and fucking territory - my favs sneezing on and fucking each other, me eating out a woman as she sneezes all over me, me pegging a fav whilst they bury their face in a feather pillow and sneeze over and over...

I had to physically stop walking for a moment because my cunt felt heavy and engorged, I was so suddenly turned on. It almost ached with the sudden rush of blood, and I was unmistakably wet. I switched from listening to music to a serious podcast for a while and used to that to distract me, and I was successfully able to get home with no further issues

I feel like I may even have to extend my masturbation ban until Tuesday when I'm alone all day, since this Monday is a bank holiday and my sister and flatmate will both be home...I don't want to start touching myself or I just won't be able to stop, and I want to be able to enjoy orgasms with all my toys for as long as I want and as loudly as I want. Work will just have to wait, I'm afraid 😌

But yeah. I think if I attempted to do this whilst I was going through one of my intense horny spells, I genuinely would not have lasted this long. If it feels like this much of a tease now, I feel like I would actually lose my mind under those conditions!!

Cannot wait to reward myself for my hard work. I feel like I won't be making a habit of this because I'm far too hedonistic and orgasm driven - buuut if I feel again in the future that I need to take a break, I now know I can at least pull off 5 days! Honestly, I would much rather tease somebody else like this for a week then reward them myself if they manage to last 😇

I hope you get something out of this, anon! I'm trying my best to be good but I'm sporadically typing this one-handed. Still not giving in, though!! 🥲

[meatsex]

This may be odd to say. But it is clear (to me!!) that you care about the sauce boss a lot in your art and find a lot of comfort in who he is. The way you draw his eyes & hair specifically really calls to your attention to detail that's present in all of your art. It doesn't come across as parasocial in the slightest either - you just genuinely like what he does and play with the idea of the dude and aren't weird about his personal life. Idk maybe I'm not making sense but it's nice to see.

Also, your art really does reflect the same type of feelings as Sachiko Kaneoya's captures, in my opinion. Your use of line work and shadows also speaks to the ukiyo-e prints of the Edo period of Japan, though I'm not sure if that's intentional!! Specifically, the Takiyasha the Witch print is what the shadowing reminds me of.

Lastly, the dedication to your projects and work as a whole is so impressive. I've been here for a while following your art and watching the progress has been so cool. Your colors have become a little more cohesive and pull pieces together - they always have, but the grasp on color theory is clear there. Seeing that you're going to college to pursue what you put so much work into is the dream and I really hope it works out!!

I'm so sorry for how long this is and if it's weird, absolutely don't feel the need to respond especially since you can't shorten the post and I can't get it under a readmore. I also understand that having an anonymous person do a mini-tour and discussion of your art could be uhh possibly odd. If anything, keep being cool and doing what you love!!! It's awesome!!!!

hey, thank you for such a nice indepth message and analysis on my work, i promise it really isnt weird or at the very least any weirder than other messages ive got LOL

thank you for appreciating my art of vincent, i usually mention this but a lot of times i mostly draw inspired by his music rather than him as an internet personality which is why i end up making these edgy pieces but in general he does mean a lot to me in the most normal appreciate way possible both as a musician and as a streamer, i try not to streamline the way i draw him too much so im glad the small details are noticeable

i can confirm i get inspired (and always have been honesly) by kaneoya sachiko's works if it wasnt obvious enough but i am also happy to hear that i can give off a similar vibe, not because i want to give off the exact specific vibes of her artwork but rather some of similar tones and types; as for the other thing that actually isnt on purpose, id have to look into artwork from that period but thats one hell of a compliment tbh

im really happy to hear that you have been around for a while, i cannot know since when but either way it means a lot that someone would take the time to not just point out my improvement but also to just stay around because they like what i do, i personally feel like ive improved especially in colors like you mentioned but its always better and helpful to hear it from someone else too, i hope that with college i can become better at art too

in any case thank you again for taking the time to send such a positive thought-out message, i dont want to repeat in-depth but it really is and it means the world to me that you took the time to send it and i promise its not weird at all

[cali]

how do you know when a piece like your groudon is finally “done”, or done Enough?

i dont have an answer for this but maybe when i just type a lot i will find one.

for the groudon pic specifically i had a mental image in my head of what scene i wanted. when i started rendering the lava, i did it really detailed and decided i couldnt leave the rest of it simpler and then when the lava was all like that i had to crank everything else in the picture up too. and that made everything take so long that it was far beyond the boundaries of it being "not enough" . it was pleny enough!! so from hour 30-52 i was pretty eager to get it over with. just everything up to the point where its uniform in rendering. sometimes thats a bad sentiment to work on a pic with, but this time it was ok. i kind of like arduous menial tasks. it makes me more patient. so for that one it was done once everything was on par with my detail standard i set for myself halfway thru.

i think i used to have more trouble with this, deciding when its done... my pice now always either end when they reach what i had planned or when theyre the type of pic without a plan then when i get bored / lose the flow of it. actually prior to the groudon pic even some planned ones stopped at a flowloss point.

these two picy both have immaculate rendering on parts but then i lost it and finishdd the rest of the pic with less vigor. in tve green comet one its all the surroundings. i had other versions for that and kept reworking and reworking but i was so ouf of power i just used a slightly polisjed up sketch, kind of works for the pic though. the eel one i also lost power at the backhground, beyond the water. the mountains and clouds i think i coulda put more effort in. but its ok cuz its like 0% the focus of the picture, just sometjing that bothers me alone. hey both of these pics are about a serpent type thing coiling down to earth gently from the sky oops. back to the question um ya im looking at my images and all of them either end when they reach what i had in my head or when i loose flow. when i used to do lsd more my process was that the picture ends when i go to bed. i want to do that again soon it was fun. i drew for like 6 hours while kind of crazy then for the next 12 hours in warm afterglow i just clean and render everything so sweetly and then with a body as hard as a hundred bodies i sink into my bed and click post on it which codifies it as completed. also towards tve end of the picture is usually when im stressing about tiny details and i will message like 1-2 consistent people and 1-2 random people from my discord friendslist to ask about opinions about which tiny detail looks better for the whole pic. when im at that point i cant think straight no more so well no more so i kind of know its time to stop soon. but those final feedbacks always help. ok i guess thats an answer lol i made it very long i will put a readmore. hope u dont mind reading but i think if i sent someone an anon the longer the reply the happier i would be. probably. im in bed but im gonna get up again in a sec and play some balatroooo, 2 people bought a groudon print so far and i spent that money on balatro eep hihi thank u for the ask which i twisted into my babbleplateau

[asksds]

Part 1 | Next

Previous events

((This page was pretty much exclusively asset-flipping from the Clip Studio Asset Store. Materials used: City | Sky | Rain, the latter two get regular use across the entire thing.))

((MOM HOLY FUCK it's finally here!! I'll ramble a bit about it under a Readmore - but this one is 17 pages so more than 2 weeks of updates to look forward to! Yay! Return back to regular asks is nearing!))

((This really was such a particular roadblock for me and I think I have pinpointed 2 big reasons as to why it took THIS long:

I'd been thinking about it and layouting it in my head previously for years pretty much, and if you're an artist you know that overblown expectations like that can rarely be met by reality. Not getting to execute it like I imagined was a little frustrating so that made it harder to work on it

Turns out I was just helplessly overworked/kinda burned out from my job lol. The only time I could really get down to work on this was when I had any longer vacation, and we had a gigantic project at work spanning like 2-3 years that really went into overdrive last year with me pulling 10-hour-days for months basically. That left me no time and energy to really do anything else in the evening, and I'm pretty sure that impacted me until now since I could only finish this entire thing when I had another vacation and finally like...felt relaxed enough to draw?? and have fun doing it?? and have IDEAS?? It felt like I hadn't had ideas or motivation in years so that was a nice surprise, but also abolish jobs man I just wanna draw OCs and their shenanigans...

I'm really glad it's done, it did contribute to my posting anxiety to be honest where I felt bad posting anything because in my head I was like :( People will get mad if I do something else instead of work on this (ridiculous but you know how brains get. Like mate I drew a bunch of things for con prep and got too guilty to post any of it aaah) + for dramatic effect I didn't want to spam too many other asks inbetween which is why that grinded to a halt. Either way, it's done, it might not be perfect, it might show that it has spanned a very long time via some style changes between panels but what matters is that it's finished and I'm happy with it! If you read this (kudos) hope you enjoy, hope you have a great day and upcoming week, stay safe and hydrated in this hellweather, and remember the joy of creation because it's what makes life worth living!!))

[boyfrillish]

your works have me curious, what else do ya headcanon for our boy victor? :o (and other chars too! i'm just esp interested in how you filled out his blank slate)

Ohh this is a good one. Since I only played Sword for the first time starting in January, I'm still very much in my formative phase for headcanons and stuff. For most of the characters I can't even say I consciously headcanoned yet, even with all my thinking about everyone and saying "the whole of swsh is my blorbo" (admittedly with most of my focus on Victor and Hop because they're my number one favourites and OTP lol so there are definitely also ship headcanons in here, hope you don't mind! ^^"). I'll put it under a readmore since it kinda got a bit long ^^"

So here's my personal "fixed"/"core" headcanons for Victor when it comes to my own stuff:

he's transmasc and gay (this one was probably obvious since I've made on-text trans references in all but like, two fanfics haha)

he's the one who becomes Champion and is chosen by Zacian

Corviknight, Sylveon, Obstagoon and Toxtricity (evolved from the babby Toxel you get as a gift at the daycare) on the team

Fairy type association

He and Hop won the inaugural Galarian Star Tournament together and are the dream team everyone wants to battle but knows will be tough to beat (Hop calling them "Postwick dream team" is a canon thing, so!)

a short king

Now for personality and other random things? I'm open for so many things lol I did start out (even before I played) with the timid/soft-spoken/shy headcanon and I'm still so very fond of him being timid initially (and that's why Sobble as a starter + the Isle of Armor Kubfu are a perfect fit lol) — whether it's only when he's younger or still at the start of the game but growing confident once he gets his starter from Leon and finds he's pretty good at battling (the fact that he got it as a gift from Leon aka the Champion he admires + big bro of his best friend when Leon met him for the first time combined with Leon just being such a sweet and encouraging dude probably helped with that)

But yeah I'm open for many other headcanons/portrayals in that regard lol cool and confident? bless all the fanart. Easily flustered? sweet. On the oblivious side? heck yes. Sunshine boy? Absolutely, he is a whole sunshine boy 10000000000000%! Just give me all the positive Victor content and I'll probably soak it up happily and cry and have it fuel me lmao thank you for my life.

As for his starter, god I simply cannot decide. I picked Grookey in my game (I really wanted Sobble but joked I was obligated to pick Scorbunny because I like football and then GMax Rillaboom came and said "hi" lol) but as mentioned above I'm so fond of Victor with Sobble. But Scorbunny is also a perfect fit so I've just been rotating around for a bit between my fics (though I think I've yet to actually write him with Scorbunny???). Maybe one of these days I can make up my mind for both him and Hop which starter they choose ^^" in any case: I also live for the whole "they gift each other eggs of their starters and some of their 'mons are partners" thing so there's that (in fact it might've been easy to guess that in my world of things their Corviknight are a partners for sure)

Speaking of Hop, it's my headcanon that Victor has a crush on him pretty much since they're kids/since they first met, and is very much aware of it being a crush that just never leaves and his feelings grow stronger as they grow up. Meanwhile Hop also has a crush all along but is a bit oblivious about how to interpret his own feelings until along on the main story (Leon, meanwhile, guesses pretty easily that his little bro has a giant crush on that friend he keeps talking about all the time and lightly teases him for it, cue denial lol). So much potential for both fluff and a dash of angst... mmmm. By the post-credits story lines Hop definitely had that "Oh." moment and then is even more loud about his crush.

Based on me associating Victor with the fairy type, I have the silly little headcanon that at first he just thinks Bede is kinda funny, then it gets personal when Bede very largely contributes to Hop's mid-story crisis, and then Opal rejects him as a successor candidate only to later scout/adopt Bede in front of him. Cue him solo-ing battles against him with just his Corviknight (ok I admit this last part is also based on how it goes in my game lmao Bede is far too easy to beat... both as an opponent and if I team up with him)

Recently I've really been into the idea that Victor is asked to take over the Flying type Gym a couple of years after becoming Champion and then he's both Champion and also becomes strongest ranked Gym Leader (this is me guessing that since Gym Leaders can win the Championship, it's possible to be a parallel thing/Champions in general have a side thing they're doing rather than just being fulltime Champ, idk lol also, he totally beats Mustard's record for a reigning streak). His ace as a Gym Leader is Corviknight! (because what else would you expect from me, I adore Corviknight hahaha)

Now for "where's his family from" I am not sure if I have a "proper" headcanon yet. I've seen the headcanon that the protagonist's family is from Sinnoh and I like that hc, so I adopted that for the meet-cute drabble I wrote earlier this week but with a spin where I kinda combined it with some inspo from Elio|Selene (i.e. Dad's still working in Sinnoh/often away for work + combined with the headcanon I've seen for Elio|Selene's mom that she does have an Alolan background. unrelated sidenote, I'm really fond of the Alola protags' mom lol she's sweet). So basically like with all these other things I'm just having fun playing around with different possibilities at this point!

I'm also so very fond of flower boi Victor and it's one of my headcanons that he loves exploring and really loved the Crown Tundra adventures (and didn't mind that Sonia asked him to do all the work finding the Swords of Justice + was happy about the praise). He really enjoys tagging along with Hop and/or Sonia for fieldwork, and the two make it a habit to invite him along since they value his input and also want to make sure he gets breaks to destress from everything that comes along with being the reigning Champion, especially as the one who caught Eternatus + gained the title when he beat Leon. Especially Hop invites him along since that also doubles as more time together when they're both often busy with their career paths. Also on that note, Leon and Sonia being Victor and Hop's mentor figures just makes me so soft 🥺 the Leon being Victor's mentor doubly so with the headcanon that Leon is transmasc too (which unlike transmasc Victor I can't say is a "fixed" hc yet but I'm very fond of the idea)

(also, while I'm now all on the "Victor is a total career Champ/Gym Leader and thriving" train at this point, I still live for the type of angst where he gets a little bit of selfdoubt crisis — in the early years somewhat more subtle and like a case of stagefright like in my drabble "Believe", then a bit more into the future it's like "oh god what do I even do when I inevitably lose the Championship, can I even continue as a Gym Leader if I lose my title, this is kind of all I have going for me what do I do" but he gets through it since he has such a supportive network of loved ones and friends. Also another tangent here, I also love the idea of Victor as a (part-time) model so lol he definitely has a lot more than just a fulltime battle career)

He likes hanging out in Spikemuth with Marnie, Piers, and Team Yell, and especially Obstagoon and Toxtricity really have fun when they do. On a related note, I like the idea that Team Yell kind of become Victor stans too because Marnie thinks highly of him, so they cheer for him together with her (whenever she's not the one battling him in a match, obviously lol)

I've already rambled so much about various aspects I could think of ahaha so now since I've already talked about Hop + this is a trainshipping zone, I'll add some of my "core" headcanons for him!

is gay (or not clearly labeled but definitely likes boys. this is coming from someone who's very "???" about labels re: my own orientation but definitely is a boy-liker lol so please excuse the bit of vaguess here despite listing it in my core hcs hahaha)

chosen by Zamazenta (easy to guess when Vic is chosen by Zacian)

he's so supportive of Victor's transition, regardless of whether or not Leon is also trans, but it's a bonus when he already grew up with a trans big bro and then his best friend/crush is trans too and that's his two most favourite people in the world so of course he'll do anything to be supportive

fighting type association

he grows tall like Leon

He'd often ramble to Victor about what he's studying and Victor is always happy to listen and loves when he's so excited, so it basically turns into Victor helping him study. Also, they both make sure the other gets enough rest and destresses, already through their teens but especially when they're both grown up and Victor is still Champion (+ a Gym Leader) while Hop is now a fully fledged Professor. Even way into the future it remains a Thing that Hop excitedly rambles about his research or rants when he's stuck on something, and Victor is happy to listen and try to help him get unstuck (and Hop gives him a big smooch in thanks even if all Vic did was just listen and ask questions to hear more).

Most random thing but I so love the idea of either (or both) of them having freckles and same for glasses... bless all the fanarts with glasses for either of them. And while I also love fanart of Prof Hop wearing a more formal look, it's my wholehearted believe that he'll still wear the signature trackies look just with a labcoat now (and — you guessed it — Vic hogs his jackets. Nevermind that he has all the hoodies and fancy jackets and everything, the boyfriend jacket is so much comfier than anything else).

And I'm going to end this looooong ramble to mention that I've been developing fankids for them too! I already talked about them over on twitter and I'll probably talk about them here eventually too haha

Thank you so much for sending this ask, I was "!!!" when I saw it last night and couldn't help myself from rambling on forever lol. I kept the focus exclusively on Victor featuring Hop & them as a couple since they're my main focus so I have a lot more concrete thoughts about them than for any of the other characters (or ships bc I don't quite actively have side ships). But maybe I'll talk a little about others at another opportunity haha.

[sege-h]

Thoughts on the State of Play reveal

Under a readmore just in case

1- I know I said I'd keep the Son*dow tag blocked for a bit after Prime ended but I think I'll keep it blocked till the end of the year now lmao

2- I know the rumor has been going around since yesterday but I took it with a grain of salt since it's. Yknow. A rumor. But even when I let myself think 'what if its real tho' this is SO FAR FROM WHAT I EXPECTED. A!!! I thought at most we'd get is a remaster that'd also make Shadow playable! As soon as I saw the new level I was like WAIT WHAT. WAIT WHAT!!?!? and it just kept going from there!!!

I'm so happy we'll be getting a HD biolizard fight! He'll no longer be contained to the 3DS! Also from what little we saw Shadow will get to have some dynamic posing in the boss fights, like Super Sonic did in Frontiers. Good! I loved those!

3- Ian Flynn has #KnowingSmile'd the announcement and I'm hoping this means he got to write for whatever new content there is.

And speaking of Frontiers! I'm hoping that this ends up being Shadow's 'Frontiers' moment. In that his writing and character get what Amy's, Tails', and Knuckles' did in Frontiers.

4-I had the stream off to the side in another tab since I wasn't interested in most of what was shown. And then I heard the first few notes of the Generations music and i immediately switched tabs and I just!!! Feel like I did in 2011 except my computer/internet is way better, and you tube is shittier!

5- I'm excited for this for such Me reasons. For those new here- I live in a country that had no Sonic stuff for...well, never, really. Not until about 2022. The second movie did what I'd hoped the first movie would do (but then the pandemic happened) and brought over Sonic stuff here. For the first time in my life I went to a toy store here and it had Sonic stuff. I got to buy physical Sonic comics for the first time. For the first time in my life I can go to a video game store and actually see Sonic games there. It's been wild

That being said, 2011 had Nothing. Sonic Generations came out. And I didn't want to pirate it because a friend of mine had worked on it. I was determined to find it. And I only saw it irl one time- for the Playstation. A console I've never had. It was pretty upsetting! I remember posting about it here even....I've been on tumblr too long SHDGSHDHS

Later I'd find that there was a 3DS version. I have that! So I looked for that version of it alongside the PC one

So, for almost a decade, I looked, to no avail. And for this whole time I refused to look at any playthroughs! Any knowledge I had on whats in the game came from the trailers we saw

And then in 2019 my best friend helped me buy the 3DS version. I had 9 dollars on my 3DS and whenever the game went on sale it'd be on for 10 dollars. So he gave me a dollar and helped me get it SHDGSHDH

So I finally experienced Generations! It was surprise after surprise in that one, because I knew it was different but I didn't know how. I didn't expect a Rush level in it, or for the Biolizard to be in there!

And then in late 2020 when I got my new computer and could finally get steam, another close friend got me Generations for the PC! I'd somehow managed to dodge spoilers on it all those years so all I knew about it was: Theres Green Hill, Chemical Plant, City Escape, and a Silver boss fight.

I got to play modern City Escape for myself- which is the level that inspired the current iteration of my main OC, Storm. It was a joy

All this rambling to say...it's wild to think that once this remaster comes out, I'll be able to get it day 1, at least I hope I will. Still-it won't take me almost a decade to get to it

And if there's a physical release? I'll be able to go to a store here- HERE, not in one of our neighboring countries, not from somewhere else, but in a store here. Right across the street. And I'll finally have a physical copy of Generations. That was my final goal with the game-- I love it, I have two versions of it! And the plan was always that even though I'd gotten to play them now, if I ever ran into a physical copy of the game, I'd buy it. And now I'll really get to do it

6- Bonus thought of me being silly: Wowow my OC was shown at the State of Play--

[agalnamedlunasea]

u should do hinata for the character list thing if u want!!!!!!

Hell yeah hell yeah let's gooo

Hi this got long im putting it under a readmore

Favorite thing about him... probably his character arc? I really enjoy seeing his journey going from someone horribly insecure with himself and full of self loathing into someone who can overcome that and look to the future... so so good I eat that shit up. Either that or his attitude. He's kinda... a bitch I suppose? He's really funny, I like that

As for least favorite... idk if I really dislike it but yk. Hes a lil dense, a lil dumb❤

Favorite line... God there's so many... umm, I guess here... all of it hope that helps 👍

HAJIME-FUYUHIKO-KAZUICHI ARE THE BROS OF ALL TIME. They're so close w eachother, they're best bros ever. Im also on my hajime-mahiru besties propaganda, they'd be so funny

Obviously, OBVIOUSLY komahina the world... really can't see either of them w anyone else. They're in love, the wedding is in a couple months they told me themselves

Notp... hinanami... they just.. I really don't like them romantically. Ive also seen a couple people ship him w mahiru which ???? Thats a lesbian also huh. Really any of his besties are a no

Random headcanon... even tho he has a talent for it post game, man can not dress. His ass wears button up shirts and formal shorts constantly. He wears ties casually. When he's working its plain but still unfitting. Its mostly bc he doesn't usually care to think about it, so he just goes with plain "nice" clothes. Nagito has to stop him from wearing long sleeves in 105° weather

Unpopular opinion.. idk if this is unpopular or not but I don't really like to think of him and izuru as separate people, or that post game izuru would like,,, manifest as a voice in his head?? Its just one guy man..

Spaceman by The Killers is a hajime song to me... ive just about got an animatic for it in my head and everything...

I can't pick a fav picture of him there's too many. I like those pictures where like,,, you can see his stomach bc his shirt is moving? Idk. But MANGA hajime is GOLD look

[friendshipgun]

😈

💖-specifically, when did you start writing, what kind of things did you write, what inspired you, how has your writing journey looked?

and uh i fuckin forget the emoji but character headcanon(s) for mia winters and/or jesse evilwest (and his twin??)

hope these are fun to answer!

Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

i think maybe you asked this one the last time i reblogged this ask meme but there has also been Fic Progression so i also understand lol. but no, not really. a lot of the time i don't even clock something that might read like that until i get comments about it. i am however mean to Karl and Ethan on purpose and so there is probably splash damage from that lol.

(and i'm gonna have to readmore the rest bc it gets long, apologies) What made you start writing?

i don't know when exactly i started, just that i remember putting little books of "stories" together in elementary school. i wrote what i think technically counts as LOTR fanfic and MLP oc fic lmao. but what i mostly wrote was original fiction. a cousin i was close to as a kid was also big into writing and we ended up attending a summer camp for the arts together in middle school, so i was writing mostly poetry there, but prose too. i also started writing fic with another friend in middle/high school (stuff like pokemon crack fic lmao), but i was still mostly writing original fiction. in high school in particular i got BIG into writing poetry (idk if anyone else knows about allpoetry.com but i sure was spending a heck of a lot of time there), was editor of the high school literary magazine, etc etc. basically i was never not writing. i was also posting way more fic in high school, writing primarily angst at that point and largely for Final Fantasy.

then i went to college and stopped writing for a few years barring academic papers. started taking writing seminars the last few semesters i was there which got me writing again. again mostly original fiction. a lot of supernatural stuff, not really poetry anymore though, which is kind of a shame bc of how much i had liked it. started writing fic again too, a lot of Naruto stuff that i never posted anywhere. then my dad of all people got me into Supernatural and i wrote a bunch of fic for that that i also never posted anywhere. then i went to grad school and the "not writing anything except academic papers" thing started up again rip. really didn't pick it up again as a regular practice until after my dad died a few years back. wrote a bunch of stuff about grief that was uhhhhhhhhh pretty clearly me trying to process shit.

and then it was covid and i lost my job and i was watching playthroughs of re7 and re8 almost concurrently going "but what if you put Heisenberg in the swamp WHAT THEN." as for what inspires me, i guess just about everything? like the number of stories i wrote set in Japan after i'd studied abroad there...is a lot. and with fic it's just like "i just think it would be neat if character i like was in a Situation." when i was writing poetry a lot of it was teenage angst bc i was in high school but i'd also write about cities or people or fantasy epics. anyway this is already really long but yeah basically if i think about it for long enough that it becomes "I Just Think They're Neat" territory i'll want to write something about it.

Mia Winters Headcanon:

she doesn't trust easily and has for a long time kept things about herself secret, or lied outright, as a way to protect herself. she'd been doing this long before she met Ethan and then after...it was habit. and it was easy to keep things about her work secret because it did feel like she was protecting him. and it wasn't like it was going to be forever, she was planning on getting out. she was working on it. she hadn't even thought of something like that--a normal life--until she'd met Ethan, and then it had seemed like...like something attainable. there wouldn't be the need for secrets then, when it was just the two of them. (or so she told herself: it's like pulling off her skin, being that exposed, having nothing between herself and someone else. being seen. completely seen.) anyway this got away from me a bit lmao. but basically i like to try to reconcile her going back to lying post-re7 as a defensive move to protect herself, especially when the BSAA knows everything about her past. i don't think she was intentionally trying to hurt Ethan or anything, just that after Dulvey she'd feel ever more the need to have those secrets as a buffer, combined with a deep, deep fear that Ethan would hate her if he knew. (this is how i am personally smoothing down Mr. Capcom's writing decisions.) Jesse Evil West Headcanon: he has had a crush on Edgar since he was a kid and is outright tormented by it. i imagine him taking issue with how his dad treated Edgar. or feeling jealous of Edgar's loyalty to his dad. just let's give Jesse more issues regarding his dad lmao. the little joke he makes in the game about Edgar kissing him is a ""joke"" but like he is internally yelling UNLESS?????? as vehemently as he can.

thinking also about post-game events, how Bloom was joking around with Edgar and Jesse can absolutely get jealous about that too, like just he's a mess and i don't know if it's better (worse) if he has actually confessed to Edgar and was shot down or has just never confessed to Edgar for fear of getting shot down.

and if you want to bring in Jesse's twin (who is also named Jessie i guess we can just give him an extra vowel) i think it's very funny if both of them alternately fight over and tag team Edgar. co-op, as it were.

[foxgloveinspace]

saw your tags on my post and i hope you find that ‘spark’ to really go feral over sleep token again! they’re so much fun to be batshit crazy over, there’s just so much going on and they all seem like such genuine dudes i can’t get enough

that post was sparked by seeing a video of vessel sobbing through the end of ascensionism and like i was so done for after that. like physically shaking so i figured i needed a break for a bit 😂

also i think that altar sounds like an awesome idea! as soon as i move my dresser into my new place i’m setting up an altar on it

1). i am trying so hard to get it back, for real for real. I lit the candle I associate with them this morning, and thinking about the *altar thing has helped a bit.

2). share a link👀?? if you still know the video?? even if you don't know the video still, maybe send some others?? I would like to be a menace over them lol.

3). * I am now going to info dump to you about my sleep token altar a bit. Cause I am thinking too much about it lmao.

(readmore cause this got long and something... 'tragic' happened.)

(a little.. background, I am currently irl in the closet for everything including witchy stuff lmao) So far my idea for stuff on it includes: a small back prism, a small whale statue, a small apple pendant (each to represent the three albums). A bottle of oils (the little one I made, but also maybe something like the prayer oil we talked about). The candle I associate with them. I'm kicking around getting the incense holder if it comes back in stock on their website. bones/teeth (wolf, I'm thinking wolf). I'm thinking it'll be a little place on my main/working/creative altar. I might also try to find a tarot deck that i associate with them, I think that would be fun. something else I have been thinking about, but it would be so freaking expensive to do, is making a rosary with the 'offical' -

shit.... fuck shit fuck. I think I just spoiled myself on accident cause of google. I didn't see much but i think an old pic of vessel came up, but fuck google man. I went to google the official scythe pendant and google change sycthe (yes misspelled like that) to members for some reason, I am so confused and actually mad. Ok. I think I have forced my brain to forget. worst google fuck up ever.

ok, so ... trying to move on... I want to make a rosary with the official scythe pendant, some tahitain pearls and some black amber beads. I think that would be so pretty, and nice to hold and maybe wear. ( i know traditionally you don't wear them, but like.... I am making one to a band/fictional god lmao, it's not traditional at all.) but that would be very pricy for a piece of jewelry and I would probably never wear it cause of that haha. it would be like 400$ to be able to get the supplies.

[sporkdoesclasspect]

Can you do a general analysis of a Page of Time?

yep!! ^-^ i'm gonna try out a slightly different response format here

a page manifests their aspect, summoning it forth to aid their allies. as a passive counterpart to maids, pages can also be said to serve their aspect, both in the sense of performing duty and in the sense of giving something to someone, and to maintain it, in the sense of keeping it on the right track.

time is the aspect of both progression and stasis, of the past and future, and of entropy/decay/destruction. it's also related to memory and context.

(readmore bc this post is long!)

a page is the unexpected skill of a session, the underdog who had it in them all along. they're oddballs who tend to do things a little differently than everyone else, and they face a lot of hardship because of this. others will often try to guide them to change their ways, which causes them to lose confidence in themselves in the face of everyone's expectations. a successful page will eventually realize that their methods and viewpoint weren't any less valid than anyone else's, despite everything and everyone telling them otherwise, which lets them regain that confidence - and a truly confident page is a force to be reckoned with, extremely powerful and effective.

a page of time is someone who does things in a particularly time-y way that others seem to disapprove of or not understand. given time's ties to death and endings, that could mean that they have an unusual relationship with mortality; maybe they're very casual and unconcerned when it comes to death, or they could see it as a completely neutral thing instead of a bad one. or maybe they're just morbid and interested in spooky and ghoulish things that no one wants to talk about.

there are other possibilities, of course: they could be a history enthusiast who's more focused on the past than the present and tries to emulate the mannerisms of people from a certain time period. an collector of antiques or items that have important memories attached could work too. overall, a fixation on the past/memories/preservation is a good angle, but it's definitely not the only one! you could have a music-based page, or tie music into one of the above expressions - like a page of time who's super into retro or classical music. if you wanted to focus on decay/destruction, then a sentimental items-loving page of time could be the type to keep things even when they're totally worn out and falling apart. you could also just get really literal with the time part, and have a page who goes through life at their own pace no matter what, or on the other end of that spectrum, one who's obsessed with schedules and precise timing and gets upset when people ignore their planning.

as far as powers go, a page of time could serve/give time by slowing down enemies while leaving allies moving freely. they could manifest/summon time by calling on versions of themselves from alternate/doomed timelines, or even some other kind of time-based entity depending on their personal inclinations - spooky phantoms who steal years off the enemies' lives, literal dinosaurs from the ancient past, people or creatures from their memories, anything that suits their personal representation of time.

they could maintain time through simple time stops, using the opportunity to change the situation they're in, or they could do so by playing the role of The Time Police, their future self (or some kind of temporal projection) always showing up to stop people from doing things that will doom the timeline. (if you've played any of the older pokemon games, i imagine it'd be kind of like trying to ride your bike indoors and being stopped by the ever-present specter of the pokemon professor.)

i hope this is a decent analysis!! it doesn't cover every possibility of course but hopefully it can be of some use to you. or to someone else, since this ask is really old and i dunno if you'll see this post :p

[alexanderlightweight]

Hello! First of all I want to say I love your work!

I just saw your post about some entitled person complaining about you not using readmore (if I got it right?) and

1. People need to remember that they are able to turn off long post/turn on long post shortening in their settings on mobile so they're really just being rude about something that they can do something about on their own end

and

2. We can actually use readmore on mobile! You just need to type :readmore: in a new paragraph/line and hit enter! Just in case you ever do want to use it, but quite honestly? You do you and if people can't deal with how you do it then thats their problem, they do have options if it bothers them :3

Anon, you and another anon are just the sweetest people who both are trying to help me with this and let me just say, i appreciate it so so much. I have now somewhat figured out the mobile readmore though i need to fix it as i got it wrong a couple times.

But honestly, your reassuring me that i can do what i want on my blog is just, really soothing for my anxiety. so thank you a lot!!! because my brain likes lying to me and sometimes it's easier to believe someone i haven't met than the people i live with.

you 100% got it right. tbh it was just them replying to a fic i really enjoyed writing with a 'use a god damn read more' and nothing about the fic or anything else. which like, if you don't care about the fic and just the length of my posts please block me?

and tbh if it hadn't been so rude or distressing i wouldn't have been so upset. it's just, i only even saw the comment by accident (my notifications are horrible about telling me when someone has replied) so i kind of freaked out because how was i supposed to know it was even a problem for people?

i would have been happy if they'd asked me without swearing or been demanding in an ask and it would have been fine if they'd used anon if they didn't want me to know who they were. and then my bf took over because my social anxiety got triggered and just blocked them and talked me down from my 'omg i'm triggering people to the point they're upset at me and im a terrible person' mental spiral that i fell into. and i'm sure the person didn't mean to trigger me, but i do talk pretty openly about my anxiety on here so saeth agreed i should write a post about how not to request things. so that i can at least say i tried if this happens again.

also they're blocked and i didn't respond to them or call them out because 1) i don't need more negativity/they don't deserve access to me/my stuff and 2) they could have just been having a really, really bad day and they don't need the guilt of knowing they sent someone into a triggered anxiety spiral and almost made them stop writing an entire fic. or the stress of being 'called out'. it's healthier for both of us to just not interact at this point, i feel.

and while bad days doesn't excuse being shitty to other people ever!!! i personally just hope they find their equilibrium and learn better coping mechanisms and how to request things. but its also not my problem to fix, hence why blocking.

thank you for the care and the compliment and just reaching out! sorry i kinda ended up rambling because i'm still a little anxious about the whole thing and how i handled it

lumine

[chaosbound-official]

Update

(Note: this is a long and kinda overshare-y post about getting demotivated. Tldr is I still love this project and am leaving the blog as is in case I want to return to it, but it may be another hiatus for the foreseeable future. Feel free to skim, but it's not under a readmore because it feels too important to hide any longer.)

I hate to say it, but I'm thinking about shelving the pollsim - and this blog project - possibly indefinitely. It's hard to say this, because I still adore Chaosbound with all my heart, and I wanted to see this blog through. We got so close to a few milestones I wanted to meet - like seeing the remainder of the cast, the reveal of a sister blog... I was hoping I could push through to those at least, have a chance to work with some of the cast I don't spend as much time with, help everyone get to see some of the plans I have in the works for the gang.

The problem here is, the operative word became "push" somewhere along the way.

I love Chaosbound. I still love its cast and the work I've put into it and the story I still want to tell. But after burning out in art college, art got harder for me to do. Chaosbound, and this blog specifically, became one of the few things I could put my all into - and if you take a skim through any character's tag, looking at the sprites I made, you can probably tell that.

But somewhere around the ghost event, I got really demoralized. The ghost event was an event meant to encourage a lot of interaction and engagement, something for blog followers to also try to puzzle out alongside the trolls. And maybe this is partially on me for how I presented things, I don't know.

But by this point almost all of my engagement, outside of likes and whatnot, was from the same few people - all of them my friends no less. People in the server I had for the blog at the time. And this is not meant to devalue their input in any way at all. I'm still very appreciative because without them, I probably would have abandoned the event altogether, and may have struggled to come back at all.

But I knew there were others following too. Others interacting, and at points earlier on I'd gotten some wonderful anon messages that I still have saved in my inbox.

But for whatever reason, everyone had gone silent. Watching quietly, waiting to see how things would play out. I was practically relying on prompting friends to send in responses just to move things along, and eventually was forced to give up and have the ghost reveal himself. I was like a puppeteer performing in the spotlight of an otherwise pitch black theater, wondering if I even had an audience to speak of.

I hated working through the ghost event. It was meant to be an exciting part I was building up to, from the start of the blog's inception I had the whole thing planned out. But between being burnt out irl and the passive reception I just. Didn't want anything more than to get it over with.

I went on hiatus. And Tumblr collectively got steadily worse about its responsiveness and support to artists.

When I came back, I thought I was ready. I'd missed Chaosbound and was picking up drawing again, incrementally. Pollsim was meant to be padding for my slow work process, so I could chip away at sprites and event art for my next big reveal. But of course, I signed up for too much. I got too ambitious with the idea, but then also found I was much shakier than I thought.

The votes to decide which troll we'd find were a good amount, though I highly suspect at least a few were just passerby who like to click buttons. But once we actually got things underway, Makkea's first choice poll saw a steep drop in participation. I felt the stress from the ghost event grip me once more. But, I reminded myself, things were just getting started. Maybe people who aren't interested in Makkea aren't voting, and will jump back in later. Maybe I'm not boosting the event enough. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

But I also saw something else happen to me. Now I'm reluctant to pick up my tablet pen. And when I do, I'm always agitated. Angry. Asking myself why I'm even bothering, not just for this blog but at all. Each time I pick up my tablet, I'm suddenly reminded of all the times my art - and these blog events - flopped.

I never thought I'd become the type of artist who relied on the external validation online to do art. For a long time, I wasn't. But art college did something to my relationship with art, and I think creating an art project that intrinsically relied on that external validation was the final nail in the coffin.

I don't want that to happen to me. I don't want to give up art, or to only associate it with stress and rejection and being ignored. And I don't want to associate that with my audience here, either. That's not fair to everyone who's been here, past and present.

A part of me still feels bad for even writing this. For even thinking of posting it, behind a cut or not. I've felt bad for as pushy as I've gotten, about how people need to engage here more often. But keeping this locked up I think only serves to keep the lid firmly on the boiling pot, and I'm tired of it all threatening to explode.

So in short, I'm sorry that this is how things ended up. To those who have been supporting me, quietly, loudly and all the ways inbetween, I'm sorry I couldn't find that as 'enough' - but your support does mean everything to me regardless, and remains why I am still open to the idea of coming back.

The fate of Chaosbound is up in the air. I was hoping the ask blogs I started would be a sort of warm-up to eventually publishing a fan webcomic - a low-pressure venue for character exploration and a way to garner a little audience interest so that, once the webcomic dropped, I knew someone outside my social circle somewhere would be there to see it off on its first day.

I still pick away at Chaosbound, and I still have some assets for the blog that are as yet unposted. A close friend and I have some ideas for pollsim to lead to a potential game, second of its kind for this story in fact. I'd still like to see its realization, and to get the fantroll's stories out into the world, someday. But I have other projects I've been picking at too, so I may just have to give up on regular progress here in exchange for energy to post anything at all.

So, I may randomly post pollsims. I may answer one-off asks I get in the inbox. I may go silent for a year or more inbetween posts. But for now, I really need my art to be for me, and that means I can't hold myself to any external expectations, perceived or otherwise.

If you read this, thank you for doing so. Thank you for your patience, and understanding, and support. Despite how ungrateful I sound, it really has meant the world to me. I look forward to seeing you all where I can, and I hope anything I do come back with does not disappoint.

Sincerely, Mod Caspian

[theimperialnuisance]

FFXIV Write 2023 || FFXIV Write info\\Prompt list\\Character info \\Master post ||

Prompt 26: Last

on the last occasion before the present; previously.

Character(s): Kien Eilath, Crystal Exarch (Eulmore ShB AU)  Cw: none Word count: 1572 Notes: This is a continuation from day 14 and part of the Eulmore ShB AU! Super happy the word works for the next part I was thinking of :3 Readmore for length and there will probably be more added to this later as I am getting way too invested in this AU XD

Despite waking up that morning feeling miserable, Kien reported to work. He didn’t really have much of a choice anyway as sick days weren’t really allowed but if one was lucky to have the favor of the manager maybe they could have an easier job for the night shift. 

Kien didn’t have that favor unfortunately so when the daily cleaning was done and he was given his assignment for the evening, he had to hold back a groan. He was to make his rounds in the club as well as dance at least three choreographed dances on the stage. Great. Just great. This was going to be a long night and he could barely get through the day with how awful he felt. 

As expected, the night dragged on. Kien did his best to make his rounds with the patrons, making sure to not let anyone catch on to the fact that he wasn’t feeling so great. No one was allowed to be sick and he didn’t want any of his regulars to possibly complain about his lower performance because of that. It was after he stepped off the stage from his third choreographed dance that he began to feel himself fading but when one of his fellow Honeybees informed him that his mysterious regular was at the Bee Hive tonight, it seemed to give him renewed energy.

Kien was hesitant at first to approach him; the last time he had seen the hooded patron almost a fortnight now, things didn’t end well as the mystel had sorely misjudged the situation between them and while Kien had plenty of time to move on, seeing him again in his usual spot made it feel as if nothing had really changed and this was a usual night of his visits. 

As much as Kien was tempted to just let someone else take care of the man tonight, he knew no one else would. There was an unspoken rule that no Honeybee should take another’s regular and since Kien kept quiet about the previous encounter, no one was any wiser and it was up to him. “Every patron must be tended to” is what the manager always said so if gods forbid were to come out and see one patron not taken care of, the blame would fall on him.With no where else to go, he couldn’t afford any mistakes. Gods, why am I doing this to myself?

Once the fresh pot of tea was made, Kien gathered his courage and made way to the corner table, his heart pounding in his ears. The man looked up and spotted him, a fond smile spreading across his face beneath the shadow of his hood–Kien hoped he was able to keep his expression in check and thanked the gods that the room was too dark to really see the fact that his cheeks were dusting a shade of pink.  

“So we meet again,” the man said in his oh-so-sweet voice. 

“I wasn’t sure if you’d ever come back,” Kien said shly as he set the tea tray down and slid into the chair across from him, his ears pressing back a bit against his head. “The last time when I admitted I’d try and earn my freedom for you–I thought I may have scared you away.” 

The smile on the man’s face dropped a little but it was hard to really know if it was from anger or something else. “I apologize for that,” he said quietly. “I left you at your most vulnerable time. I should have stayed and explained myself better.” 

“So I didn’t misjudge what was between us?” Kien asked before he could stop himself. He almost wanted to laugh in relief when the man slowly nodded his head. 

“More than anything, I would like for you to be free of this place so we can meet without any risks.” The man said sincerely. “However, I still don’t think you should try to win Vauthry’s favor to do it and while I still cannot tell you everything just yet, I promise I will be able to get you out of here soon.”

“How exactly do you plan to do that?” Kien asked doubtfully. “My whole life is in this place. I don’t exactly get to walk out of here on my own accord and I’m not sure what kind of authority you have, no offense.” 

The man raised his hands, nodding his head. “None taken my friend. You have every right to be doubtful.” he paused, pressing his lips into a thin line. “May I ask you if you can recall anything of your life before beginning your work here?” 

Kien blinked. What an odd question. But now that he thought about it… “No, not really.” 

“I feared as much.” The man pressed his lips into a small frown as he continued. “Tell me, what is all you remember before now?” 

“I…I was found just outside the gates of the city about a year ago,” Kien began slowly as he carded a hand through his hair. “I couldn’t remember anything aside from my name. They told me I was likely a survivor of a Sin Eater attack and since I had no one to turn to or no where to go, they took me in which apparently not everyone is lucky to be taken under a sponsorship so easily but my manager kept telling me I was an exception…” Kien paused, realizing he was beginning to ramble a bit. “Sorry, but why are you asking this?”

The man hesitated on his reply. “You were never supposed to be here when you arrived.” Kien tilted his head at him in confusion and the man continued, leaning in to keep the conversation quiet. “What I mean is that you actually have a life outside of this place. Friends who care–a family even, all back home waiting for you. Somehow, in my error of summoning you to me, you wound up here instead with no memories. I’m not sure as to why they took you in but I’m starting to fear they might have done it because they know who you truly are by now and they’re going to hurt you to try and get to me.” 

Kien raised an incredulous eyebrow at him, feeling the oncoming of a headache with all of this new information. “You’re not making any sense.” 

“I know, I’m sorry.” The man frowned. “Trust me, it will all make sense soon but not until I get you out of here but I just need more–” he suddenly cut off, reaching out a hand to place on Kien’s forehead. Kien tried to shy away from the sudden contact but he practically leaned into the touch instead. “Kien, you’re hot.” 

“Oh–I am?” Kien asked with a gentle hum. Was he trying to flirt now? He couldn’t really tell anymore–the information he had just been given was making him dizzy. 

“Yes, you’re burning up.” The worry was evident in his voice. Ok so not flirting. It was concern. “You’re sick and they have you working?” 

Kien gently pulled away from the man’s touch, not sure why he was embarrassed to admit this. “Sick days don’t really exist here. I was feeling a little off today but nothing I can’t handle.” 

“No, this might work to my advantage.” The man suddenly stood. “Stay here, I’ll be back.” 

Kien paled. “Where are you going?” 

“To talk to your manager. I’m taking you out of here so you can rest.”

“That’s not going to be easy. How exactly do you plan to do that?” 

A small smile spread across his face. “I have my methods.” And with that he turned on his heel and left into the crowd of the club.

Kien sat there, his head spinning though he wasn’t sure if it was from his fever or from the information overload of what the man was trying to tell him–maybe both. He let out a sigh, laying his head down on the table, starting to really feel the exhaustion setting in. What exactly did the man mean by all of that? What sort of danger could he be in? As he tried to make sense of everything, he felt his head pound even worse than before. He wasn’t sure when he had closed his eyes but he was suddenly alerted back to reality when the man shook his shoulder gently but urgently.

“Come, we don’t have much time.” 

“What–wait, what did you do?” 

“Not now, I’ll tell you later but if we don’t go now, this will be for naught.” The man said urgently as he helped heave Kien to his feet and handed him a heavy cloak. “Here, put this on and keep your head down.” He didn’t leave room for Kien to ask any question, his tone final. Still unsure as to why he was doing this or what exactly was happening, Kien obeyed, knowing he could somehow trust what was happening. Once he was under the concealment of the cloak, the man walked with purpose out of the club and down a set of stairs just outside the doors.

“Where are we going?” Kien asked quietly as he leaned heavily on the man’s side who despite his small frame was able to support him with ease. 

“To the Crystarium.” He replied. “To your friends. I’m taking you back to where you truly belong.” 

[otherworldlygate]

Today is the day I finish some outlines I hope. Current progress is something like this (under a readmore to save your dashes):

Swallow the Ground: This is the sequel to Break Open the Sky, and is 90% outlined. I just need to wiggle in a tertiary plot that I'd like to carry into the third story in the series. Outline is sitting around 6,200 words and the story takes place over a full calendar year. The main plot is about Regal, Zelos, Sheena, and Raine trying to compile enough evidence against Sybak to have it shut down, with some help from Kate, Presea, Genis, Viscount Alaric, and a half-elf informant who lived most of their long life in Sybak and has plenty of evidence to spare. The secondary plot is the romance, which focuses most heavily on Raine's struggle as an asexual woman who never really processed her past relationship trauma. Even though Regal told her he didn't care how long it took for them to figure things out/things to progress between them, she still feels pressure to be ready before that one-year anniversary hits. She does a lot of conflating love and sex in the "if I love him enough I should be comfortable having sex with him" sense. As far as a tertiary plot goes, I'm thinking something along the lines of exspheres and the exsphere mines—something to draw Lloyd and Colette into the third story in the series more directly.

--

Balacruf Mausoleum Fic: The completion status of this one is hard to define. The trauma of the accident is entirely outlined, but this is the kind of story where it's difficult to figure out where to go afterward because there isn't a big catch-all solution to the issues that plague the characters. The outline is about 6,100 words long right now.

I do think any story centering on certain characters in ToS probably tends to struggle with a similar issue to what I'm looking at here, which is more or less difficulty finding a good/believable stopping point because the grind never ends. Think about Lloyd's journey to gather all the exspheres or Zelos's responsibilities in Tethe'alla in the post-game: it feels like there's no stopping point in their lives because the characters will never get a real break. In the case of this story, Raine and Regal pay pretty heavy prices for being in the wrong place at the wrong time when the Balacruf Mausoleum caves in on them. While Raine is at least logically free to do whatever she wants after this is over, Regal has to return to his life in Altamira and all the responsibilities that wait there for him while continuing to deal with his share of the consequences. Like Zelos and Lloyd, there isn't really a point where he gets a break; too many people depend on him.

This also isn't the usual kind of story for me. Sure, I love torturing my blorbos, but I don't usually delve into trauma-bonding or magic, and one of the big plots of this story is centered on the idea of what might happen if Raine severely over-extended herself as a healer as a "last stand" kind of thing and accidentally formed a very literal link/connection with the person whose life she was trying to save. And because I'm writing it, of course, this device skews toward having far more downsides than upsides, and it's almost made worse with the trauma-bonding. So while Raine is logically free to go her own way once the dust settles (so to speak), emotionally it becomes a much more difficult decision for her.

But where does a story like this go, other than smack into the daily grind of the characters as they try to untangle everything? And this, I am finding, is quite difficult to outline.

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Declining!Tethe'alla: Character backstories are 90% complete and part of the journey arc is outlined. Sitting at 6,300 words. I don't really know what else to say about this one except that there were at least 10 ways to write any particular character arc, and I went with what seemed most appealing to me/what worked best in tandem with other character arcs.

Here are some small tidbits: Seles is Tethe'alla's Chosen of Regeneration. Zelos is the one tasked to carry on the mana lineage. Both Mylene and Seles's mother (named Carina in this story unless she has an official name) are alive. Sheena is a celebrated hero/summoner. Colette is Sylvarant's Chosen of Mana and Lloyd is her right-hand man/bodyguard/sidekick/bestie. Anna is alive. Regal has been at a human ranch for half his life. Raine and Genis are Sybak's property. Presea's story is similar to the game but somehow 10x worse.

A few characters were aged up for the sake of a better/more interesting/more believable storyline. Several relationships from the canon are also altered or changed in some way (including Raine and Genis's).

Speaking of Raine and Genis, I really wanted to avoid them being in Sybak because I feel like everyone jumps to that, so I toyed with the idea of Raine as a Desian (thanks @ciryze LOL) and while this would grant me some great storyline stuff between my blorbos if they were both at the same ranch (rapport before they meet the others!) I felt like that sort of story had a lot of short-term strength, but not enough staying power for the rest of the tale I wanted to tell. It also makes Genis a tough character to write.

Also, it's probably worth mentioning that I don't think many people actually want to read my take on Raine as a Desian; it wouldn't be that dark or interesting lmao. (I might have a one-shot brewing for this, though.)

Anyway, as it turns out, it's exceedingly difficult to ensure all these characters meet without some outside influence. While it's true that Raine and Genis could meet the Chosen's Group by pure coincidence, I would prefer a story that felt a little more intentional, especially for characters who will matter even more in a story where the Chosen herself is a half-elf. So I went with Sybak. But oops, it's not the Sybak you know and love!

The most difficult part about outlining this story is definitely getting all the characters together in a timely manner and not boring the shit out of my audience. We all played the game, after all, and we know what the Chosen's journey entails and how it should theoretically end. The second most difficult part is purely logistics-related: which human ranch goes where, which grand cardinal oversees it, how to weave in so many varying perspectives into one story, what the fUCK to do with Kratos other than let him show up, do nothing, reveal nothing, then leave, the order of the seals, and so on.

And then the third hardest thing is being nitpicky about character stuff. Let's use Regal for an example. So if he's been at a human ranch for the last 18 years, he should be long dead. He's not, so I had to figure out why. Through pure spite (or any other strong emotion) he doesn't let his exsphere awaken? He's too physically useful to be thrown away? He's not allowed to die too easily because he has to pay for the sins of his family? The Desians are intrigued by his ability to heal and use a little magic even though he reads as human to them? He has elven blood way back in the bloodline and the Desians take a small measure of pity on him? Is it possible he is being used in an experiment like the Angelus Project? Multiple of the above?

And then bigger questions, like which cardinal is most likely to have allowed this to happen? And where should this ranch be located so that the main characters can run into Regal at the right time?

We can't forget the emotional stuff, either! For example, after 18 years of mistreatment in a human ranch and seeing so many humans die at the hands of half-elves, how does Regal react to the literal Chosen being a half-elf? What about Raine and Genis, who were exploited by humans for the last 14 years?

And this isn't even getting into the backstory of his family, or George's role in anything. And this is just Regal! There are a lot of other characters, and I feel exceedingly picky about all of them.

I'm maybe 20% through this outline because there's just so much to consider.

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One-night Stand Fic: The happier outline is 1,800 words (while the tragic version is 4,600) but it's maybe only like 30% complete. I think I'm going to go with the happier story because my blorbos need a break and there's something to be said about the consequences of a one-night stand being terrible enough on their own.

Like, imagine having to tell the friend that you banged a couple of months ago on a whim that uhhhh there's a baby now. There's something particularly bad about Raine being the one who has to get up the courage to say something, too; the world is prejudiced and while logically she's certain Regal will take the news in stride/take at least some responsibility, it's still a scary conversation to have.

Like, he is her friend, and she likes him, but this is a life-changing thing to announce. There is no way for her to know with 100% certainty how he will react to it. He has literally all of the power here.

What a terrifying situation to be in. And also to have to sail to Altamira when already suffering morning sickness? Hahaha. RIP.

[m80495]

|| OutOfCombat ;;

Every day I think about how bad Mercury is at expressing his emotions. Even when he tries so hard. Readmore bc it got a little long sorry he’s running on a hamster wheel in my brain folds

Obviously with his upbringing he's NEVER had a good outlet for it, but he's just so goddamn emotionally constipated it's insane.

The moment that immediately comes to mind is the Battle of Haven in V5 (everyone’s favorite scene in everyone’s favorite volume :eyeroll:), specifically after it’s over and the Heroes Have Saved The Day or whatever and Emerald is about to have a meltdown on the floor. And Mercury just goes “Emerald, get up, we need to go. Emerald...” and like he’s whispering and his voice is still a little aggressive but you can tell he’s trying to be soft and gentle with her because he knows that’s what she responds better to and it gets me eeeeevery time. He cares for her so much in his stupid little repressed Mercury way. He just wants her to get out of there and be safe. 

ANNNNDDDDD. He defends her from Tyrian later in V6E4(I think). But before he even does his little “Back off, freak.” thing he’s trying to get her away from him before the confrontation starts. “Emerald, come on.” because he knows Tyrian is just gonna get in her head and make her upset (because it is evidently not that hard to upset her). When Emerald turns and does her “I will cut off more than just your tail.” line, Mercury behind her is like O_O cause he’s like ahh great now I gotta make sure she doesn’t kill herself trying to fight Tyrian. (Tyrian meanwhile is unfazed because he is Tyrian. That shot of him cutting his face against her weapon and Emerald’s little OnO face lives in my head rent-free.) AND MERCURY’S HAND ON HER SHOULDER IS SO GENTLE. And he doesn’t take his hand off her shoulder until they turn around!!!!!!!!!! UGH oh my GOD. (Also, just as a little note, Emerald leans just the slightest bit against Mercury’s hand and turns so slightly towards him, but when Salem touches her on that same shoulder minutes later, she tenses up something fierce. I’m just mentioning that for me.)

This has nothing to do with the rest of the post, but I’m mentioning it anyway because it came to mind. Mercury is the first person to realize how enraged Salem is when Hazel tells her that rwbyjnr&qrow are being led by Oz. He’s the first to realize the atmosphere completely changes, the camera focuses on him when the windows start shattering. Tyrian and Watts start talking while Mercury is like uh ohhhhhh. He knows rage when he sees it. My poor boy. He’s the first person to be OUT of that goddamn door.

And then there’s That Scene in V6E9(lol 69). I fully believe Emerald is the only person he’s ever, ever opened up to about ANYTHING in his past. That scene is SO emotionally charged. Actually wait before I talk about it I need to point something else out. Mercury doesn’t ever really talk to anyone else in the show except for Emerald. And when he does he’s threatening/intimidating them. (The scene where they visit the Branwen tribe comes to mind. “Hey, ugly!”/”I was hoping you’d say that.” (irt cinder “Make him [cooperate].”)/“We’re the guys you should be afraid of.” etc.) (Or the scene with him and Ruby in V3, “polarity vs metal, that might be bad”/ “let’s just keep this between us friends” etc.) But every time he talks to Emerald, he’s much more casual. And he talks to her less when there’s other people around (V3, the scene in the ambulance, the scene where he’s repairing his legs.) but she’s still the main person he talks to. It’s evident in V6E9 too where he casually calls Cinder “a pain” and the tone of his voice with his “Just made sense.” and his subsequent explanation. He’s talking about how he was raised from birth to kill people, and how he killed his dad, but he’s using the cadence you’d use to talk about the weather. 

This is neither here nor there but I think it’s very sweet and cute that Emerald is just kind of hanging out while Mercury works out or trains or whatever the hell he is doing in that scene. Yarrgh! Hiyaa! Grunt noises! And Emerald’s just sitting there. They feel comfort in each other’s presence, your honor! (Remember in V3 when he was doing pushups on the floor and she was playing on her scroll laying on the floor beside him? UGH THEY’RE SO SPECIAL TO ME.)

He’s nonchalant about it at first but we see pretty quickly he has a short temper. “Hey, what’s your problem?” He opened up (in his own Mercury way) and Emerald didn’t respond the way he thought she would, so he’s immediately on the defensive. But she isn’t aggressive (yet) so he backs off again. “Salem’s promised us everything.” and subsequent lines are again said casually. And then Emerald calls Cinder ‘family’. For someone like Mercury, who has likely only had bad experiences with ‘family’ (and there is NO way Cinder treated Mercury the same way she treated Emerald, like there’s no way, from the way he talks about her, he does not give two shits about that woman) he does not respond well to it. “Wake up already.” He sees through Cinder’s act of ‘caring’ about Emerald when she’s really using the two of them to further her own goals. I don’t think he’s fine with it, but he puts up with it because his ultimate goal is to be “top dog” in “Salem’s new world”. Cinder just also happens to be part of that. I’m also not convinced that’s the first time Mercury has tried to have the “Cinder doesn’t care about you/us” conversation with Emerald, it is way too emotionally charged on both sides. They’ve talked about this before I KNOW it.

I think it’s also important to note that Mercury is not the one who starts their dinky little slapfight, Emerald throws the first blow and nearly every other attack. She doesn’t even land any of her hits, Mercury effortlessly blocks and dodges his way out of all of them. “I’m sorry you didn’t have a mommy that loved you! But I had a father who hated me.” He physically stops the fight so he can say that. I do think he really is sorry that Emerald didn’t have a loving family, but I think he’s also, like, hey, I didn’t either, so tough fucking shit. It’s the difference between having no family at all vs a family that was actively abusive. I think Mercury would’ve rather had nothing at all than Marcus Black for a father, and Emerald would rather keep clinging to Cinder (who literally has hit her before and actively manipulated her) than have nothing at all. He’s trying to help her recognize that her circumstances are, uh, bad, but he’s so aggressive and frustrated that she’s not getting it, that it just turns into him being, um, not-gentle about it, because that is the only way he knows how to do it. He doesn’t know how to be soft and gentle about it, especially when it’s something that hits so closely to home. He’s been through this cycle before, and he can see both himself and Emerald trapped in it, and it frustrates and probably enrages him to no end. 

Regardless of his frustration, he barely even tries to fight back. He knows he doesn’t have to, because he knows he can beat her in a fight. “Every day of training was a beating.” He’s literally just walking forward, hands at his sides. He’s doing nothing but intimidate her because he doesn’t want to fight her. He wants her to back down. He doesn’t start ‘fighting back’ until “This is a crutch.” with an extremely telegraphed punch, and “This makes you weak.” with a telegraphed high kick that barely even gets close enough to Emerald for her to even need to dodge from it. And those are the only two ‘attacks’ he throws out that entire time, and they are telegraphed, and easy for Em to block/dodge. He spends the rest of his little speech just circling Emerald with his hands up. Mercury spilled his guts out to Emerald, probably the first time he’s ever opened up about what happened to him in his LIFE. And that’s something that can be so personal........

And that’s why he’s so frustrated when Tyrian interrupts them. Because he’s an extremely private person, and someone he hates just overheard him unlock his Tragic Backstory to Emerald. And then get his ass handed to him both verbally and physically by Tyrian, he’s humiliated! He just tried to open up, and for what? I don’t think Tyrian was making fun of him, per se, but he did absolutely nail all of his insecurities right to his face. To be honest? I think Mercury sees a lot of Marcus in Tyrian. Marcus the assassin and Tyrian the serial killer. Kind of a tangent but I think it’s interesting how he doesn’t even try to fight back against Tyrian. He sees pretty quickly they’re unevenly matched and he just... stays there underneath him, staring at his stinger. Mercury doesn’t pick fights he can’t win...

I want to say something about Emeralds “Mercury, I wanted to...” thing because she definitely was coming to follow up on their fight, but Mercury is literally paralyzed with fear watching Salem create the winged monkey grimm (Beringel?? I cant remember what theyre called off the top of my head rn). We could’ve had them try that conversation again in private in V7 but CRWBY hates me specifically.

We didn’t see Em and Merc for the entirety of V7, and I can’t help but wonder what on earth went on between them during all of that. I feel like, from what we know from V8, with Mercury leaving Cinder to work under Salem directly, he had to have told Emerald before he did it. I think he made one last-ditch attempt to get through to her about Cinder not truly caring for who she is as a person, only caring about what Emerald can do for her, but again couldn’t reach her. So he decided to just leave, to prove it to her that Cinder never cared. And the thing is, too, Mercury outlived his use for Cinder. He had that fake leg trick at the Fall of Beacon, but aside from that, Cinder just uses him as muscle. And she could just as easily find anyone else with that ability, someone who has a semblance, too. I think Mercury actually might’ve been a little worried he’d get left behind (even if he didn’t quite realize it) when he decided to work under Salem directly. I dunno. Wait I’m going on a tangent again okay focus Combat focus we are talking about Mercury’s soft side. Okay maybe not soft just less rough than the rest of him. ANYWAY

As far as V8 goes, I don’t think Mercury has completely given up trying to get it through Emerald’s head that Cinder is bad for her. But I do think he tries a little less cuz it kills him inside to see that cycle happen and feel powerless to prevent it but he at least has to try. In V8E6. After Emerald brings Cinder back to the whale. She was just trying to help. “I think she’s had enough help.” Mercury is now bold enough to shittalk Cinder to her face, why’s that, I wonder, hmmmm??????? “Would you stop trying to protect her, already? She doesn’t care about you.” Where’s all this coming from? Huh? Oh, Cinder’s mad. So she tries to kick them out. And Mercury’s like SURPRISE BITCH I don’t work for you anymore. When he says that. Emerald doesn’t even look surprised at all. I just knowwww Mercury told her beforehand!! Like I said! She’s just like :(... meanwhile Cinder is like !?!?!?. I might just be brainrotted but Emerald leaves without waiting for Cinder to leave first, she follows Mercury instead, and I think that’s a nice little detail. Later in that same episode, when they’re all gathered, Mercury looks over to where Emerald is kneeling, just to check on her. I think that is also a sweet little detail.

And Then Volume Eight Episode Seven: War Happens. “He’s a prisoner, Em, he’ll say what he thinks will get him out.” I’m sure you know all about saying what you think will get you out of a little pain and punishment, don’t you, Mr. Black. Also I screamed when he called her Em. And I want to mention. Emerald did not go to Cinder with this. Emerald went to Mercury with it first. Emerald did not tell Cinder a single thing about the lamp and Jinn, she told MERCURY. MERCURY!!! I think, even if it’s just the slightest, smallest bit, he did get through to her just a little bit by telling her Cinder doesn’t care. “I know better than to disobey Salem.” I think that might’ve been a dig at Cinder actually. But also he knows the price of disobedience. So.

His voice drops so much between “Look, even if what he said was true, we can’t stop Salem.” Mercury is just as afraid of Salem as everyone else is, he just puts on airs to seem like a detached cool tough guy. “Big guy’s not gonna pick fights he can’t win. Neither should we.” Mercury knows that well, and it’s showed in so many aspects of him. He stops the fight with Pyrrha when he gets what he needs. He almost singlehandedly defeats Coco and Yatsu at Vytal. He loses on purpose to Yang at Vytal. And he kinda does kick ass during the battle of Haven. He intimidates Emerald into not fighting in V6. He doesn’t fight Tyrian back. And he takes whatever orders are given to him by Salem. He knows what it’s like to lose a fight and he does not like it. 

Tyrian coming up to retrieve Mercury to take him to Vacuo... that scene is so... ough. Mercury tenses up SO much when Tyrian grabs his shoulder I can feel the tension in my own muscles. Mercury has so many second thoughts in that one short moment where Tyrian talks about Salem ending the world, and you can see it all over his face! I want to cry. “Come along, Mr. Black.” I just know Mercury hates being called that more than anything. I knowwww that’s what people In The Know called Marcus. I mean, hell, he probably had to call Marcus ‘Mr. Black’ on occasion. When Tyrian shoves him forward, he looks back at Emerald. But Tyrian keeps him going.

And then, finally, the last time we saw Mercury Black, literally almost two fucking whole years ago now, was him in the manta about to fly out to Vacuo. And he exchanged that LOOK with Emerald. (That Look is still my phone lockscreen to this day.) So many silent thoughts are communicated just through his nod. You’ve got this. You’re gonna be okay. I’m gonna be okay. We’re gonna be okay.

Reader, they are not going to be okay.