#obligatory mention that it's april

[aleatoryw]

went outside in a sports bra, high-waisted khaki shorts, and an open hawaiian shirt. hot summer butch looks are BACK baby

[miwtual]

#an iconic moment in reddit stories history

[incredubious]

ooky spooky acesan

[eggmeralda]

okay then. 7 years today since I read that sp fanfic that Actually changed the trajectory of my life forever and is behind every decision I made between like 2017-2021 (the well and the lighthouse by effingbirds)

[cathalbravecog]

today's late (my timezone) daily roller, 4 days until april so here's my obligatory four/FORE joke. combined with wishes' suggestion to draw hr + frost and my personal want to draw the sonboy

he has no bones don't worry about him he needs his enrichment

(i could just draw canon only with zero friend inside jokes or mentions so everyone likes it. however i am a brave solider of cringe who has fun and i like friend mentions)

[wondermacaroni]

Happy 4/13!! Since I’ve been posting group doodles lately, it was obligatory that we draw something to celebrate. Mine is in green (except for the shading, lol). Some thoughts on my history with Homestuck and my reread of the comic with friends are under the cut.

I’ll say preemptively, forgive me if the paragraph spacing is wonky. I don’t post a lot of big text posts, if any at all, so I have no idea if this will show up in a bearable to read format or not. Anyways.

I first read Homestuck on an early morning in April, soon before that year’s 4/13 and a little ways out from my 14th birthday in late May. I hadn’t slept at all that night, and my normal internet circles had slowed to a crawl as the sun began to rise. Bored out of my mind and too energized to sleep, I decided it was finally time to check out that one webcomic that I had seen some people post cool art for.

To keep it simple, I had a pretty big scare in the family that same day I started reading. Everything ended up and has been just fine regarding that, but I think it cemented Homestuck in my mind as a way to process things somehow. Now that I’m about to graduate college, I’ve returned to needing to process things, and of course, my way to process it.

So, one night a month or two ago, I’m looking into some Homestuck browser game (shoutouts to Wigglersim) when my friend asks what it’s about. I get a little clammy, but I do mention the game, Homestuck and all. Imagine my surprise when they ask for a link to check it out as well.

I could hear the interest egging me on like the Green Goblin mask at that point.

Over the next few days, we went from the browser game, to the doll maker, to installing the collection, to almost-nightly streams of our read-along with the comic. It has been a BLAST so far. Sure, we probably could have blazed through on our own much faster. But having someone there to break things down and engage with, especially for a work like Homestuck, has made the whole ordeal even more enjoyable overall.

To be honest with you, I could never really get myself to reread Homestuck before then. I had the collection installed on my laptop but I could never get past some feeling of shame that came with opening it, or even looking at it for too long. Even when I had finally forced myself to get comfortable with Homestuck Posting or die trying, the thought of fully reengaging and not dwelling in the bliss of memories was a little too much.

Having a friend there, one who has been willing to engage despite it all, has made the reread much less daunting. Despite all of my warnings of the future like a frenzied oracle, I’ve been able to expose that long-hidden soft spot after all these years. It’s like unclenching your jaw, in a way.

The time we’ve spent taking it all in has REALLY spurred us to put something out lately as well. Every turn of the New Year, my friends and I boot up a group canvas and collaborate on one big slab of doodles. Lately though, I’ve been wanting to do that a lot more, and so have my friends. With the reread, I finally decided to rip off the bandage and do something I hadn’t really done as a teen first reading through Homestuck— I decided to make some fanart.

It felt like uncorking champagne. Though it was probably more akin to uncorking sparkling grape juice. Whatever. I hadn’t done it, I did it, and it felt GOOD to do it. You get it. If nothing else, waiting to draw that fanart for eight some odd years meant that I didn’t have any old drawings to painfully reflect on, for better or for worse.

I don’t like doing much other than lurking. However, with all of the drawings we had made, it’d be a shame not to share them beyond like ten people. My friend started posting some, to some really surprising amounts of engagement, at least for us. I followed in suit for support, and I’ve seen much of the same myself. It’s intimidating to be perceived, but it has been nice to shake hands with the community from the other side of my normal lurking perspective. Thank you meowrails fans for your support, maybe I’ll cook again soon, who knows?

We’ve now gotten to the point in the comic where this reread just becomes a read, and right before 4/13. I never finished the comic past the second Alterniabound flash, though I’ve picked up on little spoiler things here and there. I’m excited, I’m nervous, I can’t wait to see what horrible ick I’ll get next.

With streaming this to my friend, I have accidentally convinced more friends to look into Homestuck as well. The network slowly grows, and with it, another ticket is reserved for a group movie night of Con Air. I can’t wait to see how it goes.

Anyways, that’s all for my yapping. Have a happy 4/13, consider a reread with friends, and thank you for your interest in my lecture if you’re reading or skimming through this.

[ousamaduo]

What tf is Knights !! arc about, or also why are the kouhais essential to their general arc:

I wrote this as a thread on the bird app, but since someone is k!lling that app, I'm putting this here, with a few tweaks. Obligatory disclaimer that I have kouhais brainrot :)

1. The main !! arc

I've been guilty of complaining that Knights !! arc has been pretty vague, and yeah, it sorta was. The thing is, it was more clear to see how their arc went in !, because it was pretty simple: a bunch of individualists leaning to come together as a unit, and also healing together from their past wounds. But now that they've sorta learned to work together and have a new leader, wtf is their arc even about?

I'd argue it's exactly related to their cute new leader, but first I wanna talk about his cute new kouhais.

2. The kouhais

First we see them mentioned back in the ! arc, in Operetta, which happens in... April, in-game, if I'm not mistaken? Sometime in the Spring, for sure. That was the event that set off my kouhais brainrot <3

Ritsu and Arashi discuss how there are so many newcomers in Knights, that soon it will be as big as Chess was, and how worried they are about it. (They also have a cute moment where they call Tsukasa a miracle, which is sooo adorable, the way they love Tsukasa so much.... sobs).

The convo basically sums up their past arc (the War stuff, Tsukasa being the miracle that helped them heal and come together, etc), but also sets up something that's gonna be recurrent in their future arc: the amount of newbies they have, and how it affects the unit as a whole.

The very first time we see Knights in !!, even before they showed up in the Main Story, was the gacha story Meowsketeers, the first !! gacha. Which, surprise, is dealing with the kouhais :)

In Meowsketeers, Ritsu is bothered by how Tsukasa just bluntly dismissed a bunch of newbies because they weren't taking things seriously. Tsukasa's argument was that it's ok if you just want to have fun as an idol, but in that case they should just go to other units, because, in Knights, he wants only people who take their activities more seriously - after all, they are the top earners of ES. (Which, looking back now, is sooo funny considering how stubborn Tsukasa is in protecting his kouhais later LOL).

Anyway, Ritsu really doesn't agree with that and spends most of the story stressed about it. He understands Tsukasa's point, and he wants to support Tsukasa since they chose him as their King, but he also feels sorry for the newbies. It all gets solved when the newbies send him a video of them practicing, and apologize for not taking it seriously before, and ask him to vouch for them to be let back in the unit, and he promises them he'll convince Tsukasa to let them join again. (We are never told if Tsukasa lets them back in or not btw lol I just assume he did).

In my opinion, it’s not for nothing that this was the first Knights story in !!, as it sets up the important themes of:

- Tsukasa is not adding just anyone, he wants his newbies to make an effort!

- Ritsu is pretty attached to them, despite the worries he voiced in Operetta, and it shows (especially in euthanasia lol)

- Knights as a whole doing their best to support Tsukasa’s decisions as their leader, even if they have complaints (they’re so cute in this story btw, teasing him and all, really, go read it)

But then you might ask, why tf was their first event Next Door, which has nothing to do with the kouhais?

Next Door, my behated <3, sets up another plot that inconveniences Knights later, ESPECIALLY in Sudden Death: Leo getting shipped off to Italy with Izumi. Now, I’m not sure in universe, but irl Leo and Izumi are arguably the most popular Knights, along with Ritsu. So let’s say it might be the same in universe: them being away would be an inconvenience to knights, right?

Exactly :)

Later in SS, when Knights’ orders get leaked, Leo wants to stay in Japan to support them, but he and Izumi have to go to Eurovisio--, I mean, a festival in Europe. Not to mention the amount of times they have to fly back and forth between Japan and Italy in other stories. Back then it was mostly a funny gag, but then Sudden Death actually used it as a real problem for them.

Would Leo and Izumi being there have changed how things happened? Likely not lol but we’ll never know.

I’ll get back to this, but back to the kouhais.

Next event, the first Knights unit song event, euthanasia, they’re once again the source of conflict. Izumi is upset that Knights funds and time are being used on the kouhais, Tsukasa insists it’s a necessary investment. Leo agrees with Tsukasa, because he wants to support him, as the former King (he actually does this a lot through this arc tbh and it’s so cute). Arashi sort of agrees with Izumi, despite being in Yumenosaki and supporting Tsukasa, she agrees that she doesn’t want to spend her time training the newbies, but instead improving herself. Ritsu isn’t happy with all the fighting and proposes a duel, euthanasia.

The thing is euthanasia is just a play for him to prove the kouhais aren’t just useless deadweight (as he has them performing alongside Knights), but he also understands Izumi’s and Arashi’s worries, so his solution is to leave the kouhais training in the hands of the Producer Association.

This event also brings back the concern Ritsu and Arashi had back in Operetta: with this many newbies, soon Knighs will be like Chess, and we know how Chess ended, right? But Ritsu squashes those worries by showing that: 1) unlike Chess members, the newbies are hardworking, and 2) they have the support of groups like the Producer Association now, while back during the War, Chess (and all other units) were on their own.

Also, one thing almost everyone forgets is that Chess actually ended because of the new payment system the student council set up: units received a certain amount for their lives, and it was up to them to share among the members, so the more members a unit had the less the individuals would be paid. Having a unit with more than 5 members would mean their payment would be less than their investments in the show, making it a loss to have to have so many members.

But Knights is a top earner now, one of the Big 3 of ES, so money is not a concern for them.

So now the newbies are not much of a hindrance to Knights, what else next?

After euthanasia, we get Fragrance, which again has nothing to do with the newbies, just like Sunshine, which is just Knights on vacation. But I’ll get back to that.

Fragrance is a pretty fun story, as it picks up on Arashi’s individualistic side (I don’t think it’s a bad thing btw, it’s one of Knights’ charm points imo). They’re offered to work with Aarashi’s favorite perfume brand, but she hesitates because he doesn’t want to taint her good memories of it. The others try to force her hand on it, and she ends up getting mad at them when they try to turn it into a duel. It’s a pretty good story for Arashi, as she shows her more assertive side again (after being more or less just going along with whatever their cute King suggested), but it’s also a pretty interesting story for Ritsu, imo. Back in !, he was a more laid back character who didn’t meddle so much, and Horror Night Halloween demonstrates this pretty well in the flashback sequence: he didn’t have the courage to step in and change things. When Izumi and Leo had that fight, he could only stand there listening behind that door. Now he doesn’t just stand there doing nothing, but actually takes action when Knights need it. Only this time he goes a bit overboard and ends up upsetting Arashi lol. It worked well with the kouhais conflict before, but he’s still learning how to balance his meddling lmao

Then after this we get, Sudden Death. (Man, I hate the SS arc…)

This time we get an interesting info on the kouhais: there are other, smaller, subunits of kouhais competing in Knights’ name in other regions. And there are about six of them accompanying Knights here, although they’re “in hiding”, as apparently they’re not very good yet.

I won’t give a summary on this story because it’s long and I always end up going on a hate tangent, but what’s important here are two things: the already mentioned bit of Izumi and Leo having to be abroad being an actual problem this time, and Tsukasa’s feelings for the kouhais.

I’ve talked a lot about this before on the bird app, but: Tsukasa LOVES these kids, despite whatever he says. Trust me.

After Tsukasa’s, uh, “execution” he’s too depressed to leave his room, so he can’t help Ritsu and Arashi with the plan of performing for an entire week in the avenue they reserved. Instead, it is the six not-very-good kouhais who step in to help them in his place. He reflects that he hadn’t really seen them as individuals before, but as tools, as an investiment for Knights. “Kohaku” argues that that’s not true, he must have cared for them or else they wouldn’t have stepped in to help as they did.

Sudden Death shows Tsukasa’s first failure as Knights’ leader. He trusted someone else and got betrayed. He then refused to fight back, even though he knew it would affect Knights negatively, to protect Kohaku’s family. In Requiem, when he received the crown, he declared he wouldn’t choose between his career as an idol, as Knights, and his family. But here he’s finally forced to choose between Knights and his family (Kohaku and the Oukawa clan). And he chooses his family. And it hurts him so much he’s almost suicidal.

And this is basically the last we see of Knights as a whole in this year, chronologically. We get a small peek at them during the SS finals, but it’s mostly them bickering. After this event, which reportedly left every TsukasaP dead, we rewind back in the year, to Tanabata in Seven Bridges, and the vacation in Sunshine.

Sunshine is a special case, the “funny filler vacation event”, the “beach episode” if you will. Leo fakes a slump to force Knights to go on vacation, except this vacation is basically performing at a summer festival, but which will allow them a few days to relax at the beach. And yeah, it’s funny and cute, until you realize this happens riiiight before A Dark Night’s Passing (aka that whole GFK mess, actually Leo might have already been involved in that guy during this) and Next Door (aka Leo getting scared his friends would use him, but then plotting a Judgment where he’d purposefully lose and allow them to do whatever they wanted with him, which ended up in him benign sent to Izumi to deal with). Fun stuff, right? Haha…. laughs in sad LeoP.

Seven Bridges once again is an Arashi focus, kicking off the 1.5 Main Story arc, with the plot of the cenotaph being removed and Arashi being upset about it. It also introduces Hitsugi/Negi.

But it also shows the kouhais once again, and how they were being treated by the students in the producer course (basically being ignored by the producers-to-be, who were all starry-eyed about working with THE Knights and only seemed to care about Ritsu, Arashi and Tsukasa), and Tsukasa being upset about it.

Now forgive me for being vague as this event wasn’t fully translated yet and I only read the livetweets a while ago. But basically Tsukasa is pretty upset at the Peace Party (a group of producer students who basically decides who will produce Knights, and has been lowkey bullying Anzu and Hitsugi/Negi), and after it is revealed that the cenotaph is being removed because of the Tanabata plan which the Peace Party forced Anzu to sign as her own, coupled with them treating the kouhais as less then, Tsukasa decides to basically boycott the school’s Tanabata festival and refuses to let Knights participate in it, instead choosing to participate in ES’s Tanabata. Of course, they end up participating later (I don’t remember exactly why, but if I’m not mistaken it’s because Anzu changes the plan to mix the school’s festival with ES, or something like that), but what matters to me is: Tsukasa is SO upset on the behalf of Arashi (who’s upset about the cenotaph being removed), Anzu (who’s being bullied by the Peace Party), AND his kouhais (who are being mistreated and ignored by the producer students).

But didn’t he say the kouhais were just some assets to him??

We get now to Mad Tea Party, which is set in November, right after Fragrance. Knights want their newbies to be the ones to participate in Underland (that Alice themed event we saw in Ra*bits and Alkaloid already), to better promote the newbies. Until Izumi learns that a fashion designer he admires is designing the outfits for it, and then he demands to participate too. They decide the five older members will participate along with the kouhais, but again Izumi is pissed that Ritsu/Arashi/Tsukasa are holding back during practice for the kouhais. He demands they choose only the best ones to participate. Tsukasa wants everyone to participate. Fight (duel) ensues.

We once again get Tsukasa “newbies are just an investment” Suou fighting for his kouhais. Once again we get Izumi on the opposite side of him.

This event also has an interesting point for Izumi’s character, with him complaining, why do they have to take it easy with the kouhais? Izumi himself didn’t have it easy when he started as a model and later as an idol! Remember how his favorite hobby is to bully newbies? His justification is that he wants to prepare them for how harsh the entertainment world is. This ends up clasing with how Tsukasa treats the kouhais.

But wait, wasn’t Tsukasa harsh to them during Meowsketeers?? He kicked some of them off because they weren’t taking it seriously!!

Exactly. Back then, during Meowsketeers, which happens early in the timeline, they weren’t taking it seriously. Mad Party happens in November, after euthanasia, where Ritsu mentions their kouhais are hardworking and won’t set them back. They are Knights too.

3. The real arc

I’ve talked a lot, but I’ll try to put it clearly now: this entire time, Knights arc has been about Tsukasa setting in as Knights leader, and how Knights support him/react to his actions.

Tsukasa is the youngest member of the original five. He’s also many times been referred to by them as their miracle. The one who guided them back to the light. Izumi puts it clearly in Requiem that they only kicked their asses back into gear because they had a “cute kouhai” nagging at them.

But because he’s so young and inexperienced, he also needs their support. He makes decisions they’re not always happy about, but he insists he doesn’t want to be a tyrant, so everytime they’re not satisfied with something they argue and duel until they come to an agreement. It always ends up mostly ok, until it doesn’t in Sudden Death.

Everything lines up to go wrong in Sudden Death. They’re up against Tsukasa’s dear Kohakun, who he absolutely trusts. Kohaku doesn’t know what the rest of his unit are up to. Izumi and Leo have to leave and can’t help them. Even Ritsu, Knights’ strategist, didn’t predict what would happen, because despite everyone being wary of Crazy:B, they decided to support Tsukasa who thought he could trust them. The consequences of both Knights and Crazy:B’s orders affect Kohaku, who’s loved by both Crazy:B and Tsukasa.

Even if they could have escaped the trap Crazy:B prepared for them, Tsukasa would have still been affected, as Crazy:B NEEDED to defeat Knights, or else Kohaku’s family would suffer. Tsukasa wasn’t aware of that back then, but the results would still hurt him regardless of what happened.

But it did happen, and Tsukasa had his first failure as Knights leader. And when he was at his lowest and couldn’t be there with his seniors, it were his kouhais who were there. Tsukasa thinks he “neglected” the kouhais, but “Kohaku” claims they must admire him, even be grateful to him.

We are never given names or faces for the kouhais. We are only told of their actions and lines through other characters, they’re basically NPCs. Ironically, they’re a tool in the story (but not in the way Tsukasa thinks lol): they’re here to showcase Tsukasa’s leadership skills. Even though Tsukasa believes he “neglected” them, we see it time and time again in other events how he stubbornly fought for them, even against his own beloved senpais. He diligently trained and invested time and money in them. He might have thought of them as mere assets, but they likely didn’t see it like this. What would you think if you had a senpai fighting for you, investing so much in your idol career, trying his best to make sure you flourish as Knights members? “Kohaku” was probably right. They likely admire him. Why else would they continue to perform even after they lost? Even after they saw their leader go through such a humiliating defeat? Everything Tsukasa did for them led to them being loyal to him.

This also brings back the parallel to Chess, which dissolved immediately after the students were told there wouldn’t be many benefits to being in a big unit. They weren’t loyal to each other, even before that the members barely even tried. When Leo offered them money in exchange for them not participating in Checkmate, resulting in their default loss and Knights victory, they gleefully accepted it. Because they weren’t “serious” about being idols. They didn’t have the pride and the will to win. They didn’t really care about that battle.

Ritsu and Arashi in Operetta, Izumi and Arashi in euthanasia, they were all concerned about Knights ending up like Chess, filled with a bunch of lazy members who would just coast along to their fame and not really do anything. But because of how strict Tsukasa was in Meowsketeers, how stubborn he was about how they were treated in Seven Bridges, how insistent he was through most of the !! events about training and investing in them, the newbies are now hardworking, loyal members to Knights.

Tl;dr: Knights kouhais were necessary tools to showcase Tsukasa’s leadership skills and how different Knights are now from Chess, hope this helps <3. Tsukasa is a LIAR, who says he neglected his kouhais but he’s fought basically everyone in Knights to keep them there. Ritsu is also the ultimate kouhai advocate, maybe even more than Tsukasa himself, and always comes up with a way to help them. IzuAra aren’t too happy, but Arashi still does her best to support Tsukasa, and Izumi ends up armstrong into training the kouhais too in Mad Part LOL. Leo had his Opinions, but ultimately he wants to support Tsukasa, as the old king supporting the new king. Knights kouhais are all stubborn hardworking babies who LOVE Tsukasa, and I’ll keep brainrotting over then as long as happyele keeps giving me Tsukasa being cute with them!

4. Conclusion: two kings?

We still have Knights climax story to go, a guaranteed Tsukasa 5* event. My prediction is that it will pick up from where Sudden Death left off, mostly on Tsukasa’s feelings of how he failed as a leader and how his seniors AND his kouhais still supported him after that.

Back when !! released, there was an interesting plot thread that was thrown in and then forgotten: Leo and Tsukasa acting as the two kings of Knights.

Tsukasa is too belligerent in the new arc, according to main story, and Leo usually acts as the face of Knights, to direct any ill comment towards him instead of at Tsukasa. Leo talked more about it in his first idol story, if I’m not mistaken, saying it confused the fans and how it looked like Knights had two Kings now, and that they might need to solve this with a Judgment lol.

And then that plot thread was just. Completely forgotten and dropped LOL. With Leo being shipped off to Italy with Izumi, supposedly Tsukasa was free to act as the absolute King and ultimate face of Knights, right?

I think that might be brought back after Sudden Death, though. We might get some conflict about how his actions led to Knights defeat, especially contrasted with how Leo wasn’t there to take the brunt of it. We were told the fans weren’t happy at all about what happened, in Parallel World Nazuna comments the fans were MAD at Crazy:B lol. So who knows, maybe the ultimate test of Tsukasa’s leadership is still to come.

It might just be my wishful thinking tho because I want leokasa gay fighting again <3

Thanks for coming to my tedtalk :)

[gren-arlio]

You guys voted Something Random, I love and hate you at the same time.

In that case...Y'all know about JUMP HERO? Welcome to...well, rambles about some random things.

(Da Satan Plant. As of writing this I just hit 51 followers. Wow.)

Hey all, Gren here. I know its been a bit since I've properly posted, and frankly, you're not wrong at all. Life's been busy, and with the rate I'm going at (going to college and whatnot, middle of the school year shenanigans,) there's no way in hell I'll be able to keep the once-a-week posting that I've done. Maybe for summer, but I dunno yet.

Also, life's been hitting me HELLA hard recently, so motivation is also not there. If YKYK.

Which leads to an announcement that I made before: I won't exactly be posting weekly anymore. I'll just... post whenever I feel like it nowadays. Adds a lot less stress for me, and I'll be able to send dumb shit about Puyo and Madou here. Ya know, like a normal blog. You might get 3 posts in a week for all you know.

But enough on that. I'm here to ramble. This won't be a Waku Puyo Extras thing or whatever, literally just things I wanna show and explain some nonsense. There's no formula. Enjoy.

----

I've been working on this stuff since April of last year, and it's been going decently well, people partially know my works. Now, what in the world do I want to show y'all this time around, since I got free will?

Well for one, I'd you've been following my work for a bit, you'd know about the pain that was finding Madou Sugoroku content, that game was so elusive to me that I was convinced it wasn't real for a period of time.

Uh, yeah. It's real. Very, very much real. And man do I love the style of the game. It's so dang pretty. I'll mention gameplay some other time, I'll cover it another time, but today's not that day.

Also. Arle's fit.

It's basically Schezo's clothes but it looks so damn good. No complaints here. Though I do wonder how she got it.

I do want to mention the Pairs though. Arle/Satan is fine, Witch/Draco have been paired since like Saturn, Schezo/Incubus at least have Waku Puyo, Minotauros/Rulue is obligatory, but what the FUCK is going on with the pairing of Sasori Man/Zoh Daimoh? The fact they got two word names?

I do wish that Draco just had a little bit more than what she has currently. I love her, she's a funny person and whatnot, I just wish there was...more, you know?

She's been a character I've been wanting to cover for god knows how long, it's just I've never had enough unique things to talk about with her. Lotta the stuff is things we do know, or Puyo Puyo Tetris [2] sorta just making her beauty obsessed.

Least in Waku Puyo, she has some comedic scenes, canonically being able to make 5 chains and confusing Schezo at least 3 times. And in the manga, she bounces off Rulue and Minotauros decently, her fight was fun to read.

(Don't ask how Rulue learned Shadow Clone Jutsu)

And for a second, let me say that the designs in this manga are top-notch. Witch's redesign is nice, Rulue's looks really good, Draco's design is great, Schezo consistently has the best clothes, and Lagnus... somehow looks even better.

Oh yea, speaking of Draco, let's look at someone who sorta kinda maybe perchance looks like her but is actually from JUMP HERO.

... I'm awful with transitions. We're talking about the series. Sorta.

So, JUMP HERO. Series made by Compile, unknown to a lot of us.

(Nexus image)

Frankly, I want to cover this game sometime. It seems so...interesting. The characters, the gameplay, the story, it all seems so interesting to me.

People like Billie Be Babine, Margarita Linda, (the black and red folks in the front), Sugar & Oligo, they all seem so damn cool. Oh, and that Penguin is some fella named Ivan. He has a reeeeeally long last name.

Oh and that robot guy is like 2 years old canonically. Needed to mention that.

This is Sugar and Oligo btw. They seem fun to talk about sometime.

(Nexus image)

The game feels so heavily unexplored. I want to see it sometime. When? Whole other story.

But with that, I think this'll end my small ramble about nothing. Thanks for reading.

Adios.

[kiss-seokjin]

Idol Superstar Event Auditions

Annyeong, ARMY writers! 2023 is only starting and with it a new generation of kpop groups will surely debut — and how would you like being part of one of them?

Managed by @lokidows-yooniverse​, @luaspersona​ and @jinsquishes​, the Idol Superstar Glow Event Company is officially open for auditions, and you can apply as a trainee to debut at the end of the year with your idol!au work!

How can I audition for it?

⇝ Read the following rules and guidelines.

⇝ Reblog this post.

⇝ Pay attention to the schedule! We won't accept any applications after May 1st.

⇝ Fill out this audition form (you will be tested on the form).

What do I need to do to be a trainee?

⇝ must be 18+ to apply;

⇝ every trainee is required to join the Discord server;

⇝ make sure your DMs are open to receive our invitation link;

⇝ anyone can apply regardless of blog size, background, ethnicity, sexuality etc.

⇝ if at any point during the event, you realize the idol life isn’t for you, just let us know! Life is happening for everyone, so we know stuff doesn’t always go as planned.

*Disclaimer: We will be checking the application once a week to administer applicants.

What are the requirements for my debut work?

⇝ it must be a BTS fanfiction.

⇝ at least one or more characters from the main pairing must be an idol (either the reader, the original character or one of the members).

⇝ we will accept mxm (member x member), mxr (member x reader) and mxoc (member x original character) works.

⇝ there’s no genre limitation (it can be smut, angst, fluff, crack etc.).

⇝ the work must have 500 words minimum.

⇝ it can be both SFW or NSFW — smut isn’t obligatory.

⇝ you can debut with more than just one work.

What works won’t be accepted?

⇝ pairings with other kpop idols (they can feature as side characters).

⇝ we won’t accepted already posted works: your contribution to the event must be original.

⇝ plagiarism, repost or translations won’t be tolerated.

⇝ works with non-specific warnings, such as: “warnings: smut” — please, be sensible.

⇝ the password you’re looking for is talk is cheap;

⇝ we won’t accept or tolerate* any of the following: rape/dub-con; abuse of any kind (physical, mental, emotional etc.); glorification of mental illnesses or eating disorders; glamorization of self-harm; sexualization of minors/pedophilia; graphic sexual assault; incest; kidnapping/stockholm syndrome; graphic violence (including suicide and murder); excessive gore (including vore), etc.

*disclaimer: we will accept your work if it only mentions or hints at the listed topics, but please state it clearly under the warnings.

Training and Debut Schedule

⇝applications: from January 1st to April 30th

⇝fic pre-debut (paring; genre; rating and summary): July 31st — Discord channel exclusive.

⇝banner pre-debut: August 20th — Discord channel exclusive.

⇝debut masterlist: August 31st.

⇝fic debut: from October 1st to December 31st.

If you have any doubts about the requirements, feel free to reach out to the managers! We’re here to guarantee you have the best experience possible as an Idol Superstar Glow trainee!

Fighting ✊

[chthonicgodling]

(April’s)Huevember - Day 9!

featuring: Leuke…. & I guess Maci screaming offscreen lmfao

[in which I’ve made my very own #Huevember wheel this year (that you can use too! Pls tag me I’d LOVE to see!) - unabridged version continues, including a wide array of Elysium’verse characters across the rainbow!]

obligatory I absolutely Must Draw Leuke in Every Art Challenge Because It’s Her Only Chance to Be In the Elysiumverse With Zero Canon Appearwnces fgkfkfkg. Behold - THE CONSEQUENCES OF DATING YOUR DOPPELGÄNGER 🥴 I love this one lmfao. notes!!!

Leuke is so much of a background character that she ONLY exists in OoC comics and has never been so much as mentioned in our canon but. she’s Here in the distance and her claim to fame is as Maci’s horribly toxic ex girlfriend from eons ago!!

up until Tory Maci’s really only ever dated awful people fgkfkfkg, I mean due to scythe related activities Thanatos was obviously the worst ever, but Leuke, despite being so so hot (Maci’s singular justification for staying with her 🙄), was also catty and mean and terrible

…and uhhhh Maci is ALSO catty and mean and terrible on most given days!! oops! and so their relationship was a recipe for disaster from the get-go 🤪. please see: THIS DRAWING LOL??

Maci’s soooo moody and dramatic says Leuke, which is ABSOLUTELY true but she is conveniently leaving out that Leuke is that Also. and was instigating most arguments. until they were cohabitating in a battle zone. gods FORBID women do anything.

Anyway in the actual Elysiumverse today Leuke is somewhere within a pile of Lampades wanting absolutely nothing to do with the Princess and that’s perfect cause Maci wants absolutely nothing to do with her. so here’s this one brief snapshot from every single day in the past!

here is with and without text!! day 10 tomorrow uwuuuu. click the link up above to see the whole Huevember wheel - feel free to use the tag AceprilHuevember if u want to play too - and my tag this year can be found here!!

[lithominium]

do you have any OCs or original species?

I have three main ocs!

the first one is John Reddington

He is like, 30 years old, a crow, and runs the galaxy's largest criminal empire. he uses this empire to help people and dismantle major corporations that run the galaxy. Hes a god with a revolver (specifically a Unica 6) and excellent at hand to hand combat. (obligatory overpowered OC moment) His parents were murdered when he was 12 and the man who killed them adopted him and made him into the crime god and excellent fighter he is today. after he found out how his parents died, he usurped his adoptive father, killed him, and then made his own empire to right the wrongs he made over the past decade or so.

The second one, is also my fursona (John used to be, before my transed gender) Her name is April Aviatrix.

shes a radio hobbyist who went to college for electrical engineering (ref is outdated). In the universe where my oc's are set, radio is kinda really outdated, and music overall has become boring (think Human music from rick and morty [god forgive i mention it]) and one day, while messing around with radios in the spaceship equivalent of a ford pinto, she intercepted a signal that was playing music she had never heard before (70's progressive rock) and decided to track down where it was coming from, to find a post apocalyptic Earth, where all humans are dead. She found the source of the signal, which is a massive radio beacon, attached to a half destroyed museum of music, which had all kinds of instruments, and gear, and a massive collection of music made by human beings on massive amounts of hard drives. She took all of the music into her futuristic thumbdrive, including schematics for synths, guitar amps, guitar pickups, pianos, etc. just anything and everything that the museum had on its barely functioning computers. she was able to turn all of this stuff into workable stuff, and taught herself guitar and other instruments, and performs in a local bar every once in a while, that she works as a bartender at (the electrical engineering degree didn't do much). anyways eventually (i ahve no idea how) she ends up meeting John Reddington, going "join my emo band (rush cover band)" and he ends up being absolutely Phenomenal on a drumkit. and she ends up second in command in the empire, as her electrical engineering knowledge is extremely helpful, alongside her being the only genuine connection to another person John's had since he was 12. She uses an HK-USP-S

the last one is Vincent, which. Hes kinda in limbo right now. He used to be a seagull:

and that was pretty neat i think, but i stopped really caring about him as much once i transitioned. Hes supposed to be a bluejay now, but i haven't drawn it, and he plays bass (specifically a Thunderbird). He doesn't really have much of a personality anymore, as that job's been taken over by April. He does wield a fucked up sword that looks like a lawnmower blade.

I have ideas for others, like a rwby oc specifically who has bands around her arms that can turn into swords (think Finn's grass sword, only not hold able, and more attached at the back of the hand like the pacific rim sword) or gauntlets or be used for mobility. Shes neat. Still thinking about a semblance for her though.

[elsanna-shenanigans]

March-April Fanfiction Contest

After the February intermission from the contest format, we’re formally starting the year 2023 with a bit of a shake-up - a March contest for the first time since 2019! 

prompt: Journey. A roadtrip around the country (in a car or carriage)? Emotional growth that leaves you completely changed? Quest to destroy a powerful artefact in the place it’s been forged in, because no other force in the world is strong enough to even nick it? Whatever your reason is, take us (and Elsa and Anna) along on a journey this month. word limit: min. 1,500 and max. 7,000 words lemon: not allowed this month! T rating and below obligatory: do not mention Elsa’s powers (explained below) bonus: include the ‘only one bed’ trope, include a cow, title your story afer a Journey song (explained below)

Please also tag your story (if it has any of it) for: angst, tragedy, major character death, violence or abuse, suicide and self-harm mentions, horror elements or anything not mentioned here that you think might make your readers uncomfortable. Non-/dub-con is NOT ALLOWED, unless it is an important part of the story and not described in detail/used as cheap thrills/glorified. Be mindful and respectful.

Restrictions and Bonuses Click here for more detailed answers to user submitted questions. It will be updated if any more questions roll in, so keep it bookmarked!

OBLIGATORY restriction: powerless. For this month, your submissions cannot mention Elsa having supernatural powers whatsoever. For canon stories it means ignoring her canon ice powers in your story (we’re not asking you to rewrite the entirety of the Frozen canon, just not to have her use her powers or even have her or anyone else talk about them. This includes manifestations of powers such as Olaf), for any AU it means she needs to be an ordinary human - no powers of any kind, including cryptid abilities (so no vampires this time, sorry!). Obligatory restriction means if your story has Elsa with powers it will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION means your story will still be posted (unless it breaks our general contest rules) but will not be eligible to go into voting and win.

Bonus 1: There was only one bed. Have Elsa and Anna share a bed out of necessity or pragmatism. To qualify for this bonus, Elsa and Anna (specifically, not with anyone else) need to find themselves in a situation where they have to share a bed while it is not something they’re used to doing often (i.e. them being a married couple sleeping in the same bed will not count.)

Bonus 2: Cows! Include at least one cow in your story. To qualify for this bonus, the cow(s) needs to be either alive or a positive depiction (i.e. cow plushies, animated/real cows on tv, etc.) The cow cannot be a burger, leather belt, a carcass etc.

Bonus 3: Sing-song title: Journey 50th anniversary edition. Title your story using a Journey (the band) song of your choice - you can go with the song’s title or the lyrics. If you go with the lyrics, your title needs to be minimum 3 and maximum 6 words long. We will be keeping a list of submitted/reserved titles that you’ll be able to access to make sure you’re not submitting doubles! The titles of Don’t Stop Believing and Any Way You Want It are banned from this bonus, please check out the FAQ for more info!

These are not obligatory restrictions, however following them will be rewarded with an additional point in the favorites column for every bonus. In other words, stories that don’t include any of the restrictions will start off with 0 base favorite votes, those that do - with 1, 2 or 3.

Please write down where and how you used the bonuses AND which song you decided to use for the title at the beginning of the submission to make sure the mods can verify your points (the note will be removed before posting except for the song.) If you’re not sure if your story meets the requirements for the bonuses, you are free to contact us to check.

Read the contest rules before participating. We’ll be accepting submissions through the submit button on our blog starting today till Midnight (on Baker Island, GMT-12) of April 8th (to account for Elsanna Week for those participating). Please remember to submit anonymously to make sure the voting is impartial!

If you have any questions, read the month’s FAQ, send us an ask or join us on discord.

Happy writing!

[eldritchaccident]

Timing: April 11th Location: The Party Thrifter Feat: @amonstrousdream & @eldritchaccident Warnings: None! It's very cute! Summary: Teddy brings donuts and hot gossip to Leila

If there were more cursed items in her store, Leila was not certain. 

Within days, she had to deal with murderous turtlenecks, personality changing gamblers hats, and suitcases that held alternate dimensions within them. On their own, that would be a little much for anyone to deal with. Paired with new friendships and relationships that were still defining themselves? Well, that was just downright stressful. 

She was working on a new list of potentially magical items when she heard the doorbell give a cheery little jingle, alerting her that she had company. Leila gave an obligatory glance upward for hardly a moment to voice a “Welcome in,” before ducking back down. Pants from the 70s, no signs of possession, no serious enchantment when worn, simply felt happy and had an overwhelming need to listen to ABBA or Queen. If that was all those pants did, she might keep them for herself for a rainy day. After all, they did fit her quite well… 

It wasn’t until after the figure had walked further into the shop that she recognized the shock of pink hair and the easy smile. “Hi Teddy,” Her shoulders relaxed and the painted on grin became more genuine, if a bit tired. Whoever had made it so that mares could not sleep had severely misjudged just how stressful it was to be undead. “Here for your shirts?”

All things considered, Teddy Jones made out like a bandit with that last escapade. No one even got hurt. And Teddy got a new deal out of it. Not a deal-deal but something the Jones family could profit off of nonetheless. If Leila's shop was a beacon for cursed objects, Mephisto's was going to have a whole new section pretty soon. Excellent. 

The giddy demon strode down the way, ignoring the way their bones ached with the changing of the weather. Nothing could bring them down. Not then. Teddy was normally a pretty chipper thing, but between the cross store team up and the meddling they were very much about to continue with Leila, it was shaping up to be an amazing week all around. Could even excuse the attempted murderer and subsequent sea monster healing period. It was great. 

"Hey there sweets! Shirts, pants, hats, whatever you got!" 

—

Teddy Jones was a delight to have in the shop on any day. She couldn’t remember exactly when they had started showing up at The Party Thrifter, but since the store’s opening, Teddy had become a regular and a welcome guest. She pushed herself up from her place on the floor, surrounded by piles of clothing to go properly greet her guest. 

“A little bit of everything, got it.” At least they weren’t asking about the chaotic events that transpired the last time they had graced the shop with their presence. At least they weren’t asking about Metzli. Light. Easy. “I meant to mention it the other day, but I really do love the new color.” Leila gave a little jerk of her chin, motioning up towards the top of her friend’s head. “You always look so cool. In my next life, I need to take a page out of your styling book.” If she had to leave Wicked’s Rest and recreate herself again, maybe she’d dye her hair purple. Just the ends, though. Nothing too crazy. 

Her gaze fluttered about the shop as if she were trying to locate something before “Ah-”. Leila marched over to a stack of clothing she had been pulling and setting aside, all with the distinct fashion taste of the customer she had grown to know so well. “I saw these, thought you might like to take a look through...”

“Oh! Before I forget, your jelly donuts madame–” Teddy moved closer, rounding the rack of clothing to show off the box of treats they presented as if they were crown jewels. The various donuts were rings of delight. Well. The non-filled ones anyway. Teddy sure was itching to talk about all that had transpired, but they were a good guest and would wait until it was brought up naturally. Always so considerate, that demon. 

“Sweets, you’re too good to me. I like to change it up a lot, but the pink is really nice, gotta say it’s in the top three colors I’ve ever worn.” It definitely helped that Teddy didn’t really have to go through the trouble of actually picking, mixing, and applying dye just to get a color that might not be exactly what they imagined. No, they just had to re-build their body from the ground up. Imagining all the bits they’d like to have different this time. Of course, it couldn’t be too different, people might get a little suspicious then. Even in a town like this. 

The pile of neatly folded clothes immediately drew Teddy’s eye the second it was brought to their attention. The demon melted into a gleeful dance, quickly finding a stable enough surface to lay the box down so they could start rifling through the selections. “Leila! You’ve outdone yourself.” 

A whole dozen donuts sat in the box, sugary and fresh and delicious. She had smelled them when Teddy waltzed through her door, but hadn’t said a word. Smelling a box of donuts from that distance would have been strange to say the least, and while she was fairly certain that they wouldn’t hold a little strangeness against her, Leila wasn’t in the mood to chance it. 

“Have I told you lately that you are the absolute best?” The mare chirped as she took the box and practically danced it over to the counter. Lemon meringue donut first. She plucked it up as if it were the most precious thing in the world before taking a bite and letting the sugary rush akin to dreams crash into her. “God, that is good…”

Leila perched herself up on the counter’s edge, kicking her legs with childlike glee as she happily munched away at her donut. “I do try… otherwise, why would you keep coming in? Consider this an apology for yesterday’s chaos.”

“I could always stand to hear it more.” A kind of sing-songy lilt carried the words from the scrounger at Mt. Clothing. Doing their damndest to act like a miner combing through the valuable ore for the diamonds. Only it seemed the entire pile was rare and shiny goods. Rather than just a few. Really took all the work of going to a thrift store out of it, which was excellent. Teddy liked shopping, sure, but this seemed so much more personal. Like a hug from the store itself. Collaborative. 

The demon smiled, turning with a swish as they held up a paisley number that looked straight out of the 70’s. Long and kind of a tunic, kind of a dress. That beautiful androgynous style that the hippies co-opted and went wild with. “This one might be my favorite of the bunch. But they are all perfect” Teddy grinned, this one was absolutely going in regular rotation. Maybe with that little belt and– Oh right. C’mon Jones. Pay attention. 

“Well I’d come in for the lovely company and your impeccable taste in music.” Teds laid the clothes down (with a great amount of reverence) and waltzed over to the counter. Draping themselves on their elbows and plucking up one of the other donuts to munch on. “Nah but, you are so sweet. It’s no wonder Metz likes you so much.” 

She swore she was in donut heaven. The lemony, fluffy thing she was trying not to cram into her face in three large bites. Leila had always had a bit of a sweet tooth, but ever since her change from life to death, desserts had become a survival mechanism. The sweetness of the sugar was the closest thing in terms of mortal food to a dream. When she couldn’t (or wouldn’t) dine on dreamers, she turned to the nearest candy store or bakery. 

Leila raised food-dreamy eyes to look at Teddy, who had found the paisley piece she’d snuck into the middle of the pile. A grin blossomed across her face at their joy. “I thought you might like that one. Plus, it compliments your eyes.”

She damn near choked on the last of her donut at their mention of Metzli. If she were alive, her cheeks might have gone scarlet. The mare could only pray they didn’t start shimmering like a diamond. Leila gave their arm a playful whack and shook her head. “They do not like me, Ted.” 

Teddy hummed into their choice of pastry, apple, just like they’d said online. Getting a little of the good good goo on their mustache in the process. A snack for later perhaps? Or just something to be noticed by a good friend. Or as close to one as Teddy really had. There were a number of folks in town Teds considered friends, but that wasn’t like capital F ‘Friends’. Something they weren’t sure they’d ever really achieve. But Leila was lovely, and a pleasure to be around. So they’d enjoy it while it lasted. 

“Aww, charmer. With or without the glasses?” With a waggle of their brows, the demon leaned in. Peering over the lenses just enough for their eyes would still look big and brown rather than the strange dark inky color with a bright teal pupil at their center they normally were. Occasionally when the mood struck, they did shift enough to actually hide their more sea-worthy bits. Enough to go out in public and dissuade people from thinking that they had something to keep secret. 

“Oh yeah? Survey says otherwise.” They were close enough now for a wink and a nudge. “Trust me, I know these kinds of things. Also in addition to Spanish, French, Ancient Latin, Korean, and a bunch of others, I speak the language of loooove.” 

“Both. I am the master of pairing people with clothing for all situations, sweetheart.” She chuckled and wiped at the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. If she wouldn’t look entirely ridiculous, Leila would have immediately snatched up another donut to bite into. Patience, it is a virtue… she heard her mother’s voice chide in her mind in a long ago echo. “Heads up: You’ve got a lil apple, there…” She motioned with her thumb to their mustache. 

The mare rolled her eyes and shook her head. Nope, no, impossible. Teddy may have been a master of several languages, even love, but Leila wasn’t someone who got a romantic happy ending. Or even a little romance. She was a nightmare: she fluttered about from place to place in an attempt to preserve herself, and that was that. Metzli called her ‘friend’. That was enough. Besides- she had seen their post. They didn’t want to ruin a friendship, and there was someone they already liked. 

“The Survey of Teddy? Total number of surveyors, one?” Leila sighed a little and bowed her head. “They are my friend, and that’s all…” She pushed away the disappointment that followed that statement. “Besides, there’s already someone they’re fond of.”

The apple remained, as it would until the matter at hand had been settled. Teddy rolled back into their shoulders, bobbing with the sudden laughter that overtook them. “Stars in the sky– You two are exactly the same.” Once again, shared in that oldest of tongues. Only a Jones could understand the words, but the tone and exasperated smile were enough to convey the meaning. The giggling fit that shook them soon subsided, leaving a friendly gaze with just a hint of loving judgment. 

“Lei, hun, I wouldn’t be bringing this up so much if it wasn’t so obvious. It’s you. You are the one they like. They are just too scared to do anything about it ‘cause they think they’re gonna ruin something somehow. You guys gotta communicate, babe.” Teddy took a finger full of jam and booped Leila on the nose. The bright red mark as clear to Ted as the emotions both the (probably) undead dears ‘tried’ to keep hidden. 

“Both of you are so worried about making the first move. You like them don’t you? And I know they like you. Verbal confirmation. Scout’s honor.” Okay so the demon had never been a scout, but Leila didn’t need to know that. “I could set something upppp if you don’t wanna???” 

Teddy shook with laughter in a language unknown to her. She felt a bit silly, though she knew their laughter held no malice in it. Just a tiny hint of judgement tinged with friendly love. While it was obvious to Teddy that Metzli was supposedly in love with her, it wasn’t obvious to Leila. She sighed heavily and head drop back to stare at the ceiling.

“Impossible,” she muttered under her breath. Because it was. It simply was. “They only want a friend.” She said, a sad certainty settling over her. “Why in the world would they be inter-“ Teddy booped her nose, promptly shutting her up. The smell of strawberry jam was utterly intoxicating. 

Did she like them? As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Leila was slowly coming to the conclusion that Teddy was right. She did like Metzli. At least, probably more than a friend should. “Right, they like me as a friend, Ted.” They had to have misconstrued… right?  “What if they go out with me and then don’t like me, and I lose a friend?”

Sometimes, to put some good out in the world you had to work at it. Sow the seeds so you could reap the reward when the harvest came. Other times you had to chip away at a mountain of self doubt and almost willful blindness to something that was clear as the waters in the Bahamas. If Teddy didn't like Leila so much, if Metzli hadn't been to fun to poke around with, maybe they would have lost interest by now. But at this point it was starting to feel like a personal sleight that neither was taking the hint. 

"Leila." Teddy straightened up, placed a hand on either of the woman's shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. "I would not lie to you." To many others, sure, but not her. "So listen to me when I say, Metzli had the exact same worry. Cares about you in the exact same way." Their expression softened, a tinge of concern and the weight of experience giving their smile a more wistful tone. "Even if it's scary, I think it's worth it to try. You are both adults, and I know you aren't the type to leave someone in the dirt just because you aren't compatible like that. You won't lose a friend, I promise." 

With a twist and a hop, Teddy joined Leila up on the counter. Grabbing another two donuts and handing one off to her as they took a small nibble out of their own. Marmalade, delicious. "Life is too short to get caught up on the what ifs. Sure, you could play it safe. But don't you think it would eat at you never to know? You deserve that kind of sweetness, Sweets." The demon offered a playful nudge, almost almost admitting they knew something about Leila's lifespan. How it might be longer than normal because of a certain condition. It wasn't too hard to guess that the strange wanderer wasn't exactly human either. It didn't matter if you were immortal, life was still too short. "Plus you two would look just so cute holding hands and kissing. They're like twelve feet taller than you! Metzli would have to swoop you up in their arms, it'd be like a fairytale!" One where the monsters had a chance at love too. 

She was very distracted by the strawberry jam that was still on the tip of her nose. Leila quickly swiped it off with her finger and stuck the jam-nose-evidence in her mouth. It was a good distraction from the thoughts that were now barraging her mind due to Teddy’s observations… But a short-lived distraction. Teddy’s hands were on her shoulders and they were looking her dead in the eye as they all but promised all they had said was true. There was a sudden weight in her chest, her heart rising into her throat. They were right. It was scary. A better word was probably terrifying. Absolutely utterly terrifying. The irony was not lost on her that she was a thing made of terror. But being cared for by someone she cared about was so utterly foreign, that Leila feared that despite Teddy’s words, it might not really be true. 

The mare’s shoulders drooped a little, the weight of her newfound knowledge pulling her in on herself. And then, just like magic, a donut was hovering in front of her nose like a promise that everything would be alright. A little sweetness in her life. Her. She almost folded and told Teddy why that didn’t make sense. That life was entirely too long for her. That she was a destroyer of sweet dreams. But none of that mattered… what more, Leila knew that none of it mattered to Metzli. Look at the brights, Leila… 

A crooked little half smile crept onto her face as she took the donut out of Teddy’s hand. Blackberry. Another favorite. She savored that bite she took, and she swore that for just a moment, it made her feel a flicker of hope. Like maybe telling Metzli what she felt wasn’t such a bad thing. Leila laughed as Teddy continued on, talking about how cute they would look and other things that didn’t seem to matter as much as the truth that Teddy had shared with her. Another bite of blackberry jelly. She would tell Metzli. Soon. When she’d figured out how to say it. And she’d say a prayer to the moon that they might actually feel the same way.

[stainedglasstruth]

TIMING: Early April LOCATION: Axis Investigations PARTIES: Emilio @mortemoppetere & Arden @stainedglasstruth SUMMARY: After hearing about the PI in town, Arden pays a visit to Axis Investigations and offers a proposal to Emilio. CONTENT WARNINGS: None

Arden walked into the apartment building, glancing around warily. Nathaniel, her boss at the paper, had mentioned in passing that there was a PI in town, and after some googling and asking around she found her way to the run-down residence in Worm’s Row. Slowly, she made her way down the hallway, checking each door she passed until she found herself standing in front of a door at the end of the hall. It bore a sign– a messy scrawl of letters on a piece of paper that seemed to have been torn out of a notebook of some sort– taped to the door. Axis Investigations. 

The door was slightly ajar, but she still gave it a knock before making her way inside. She looked around, taking in the office. It was a bit bare, and it had clearly been converted to an office space from a regular apartment, but it looked professional enough that it calmed her nerves slightly. Being directed to a random apartment in what was commonly considered the sketchy area of town definitely had her on the alert. 

“Hello?” she called, eyeing the door that led further into the apartment. “I’m looking for an Emilio Cortez.”

—

It had been a long night. A couple hours of pretending he had some intention of sleeping before his restlessness got the better of him and sent him out into the night, stake in hand to take on whatever Wicked’s Rest had to throw at him. The hunt itself had been tame — nothing substantial worth mentioning — and the empty feeling that lived in his chest had taken hold once again before he’d even hung his jacket by the door. He’d been on the couch for a while now, just sitting, wanting a distraction but not knowing where to turn. 

Luckily, it seemed, he’d have one delivered to him.

He heard the footsteps in the hall long before the knock sounded on the door, listened absently as they made their way hesitantly towards his apartment with the occasional pause. He’d gotten good at picking up when someone in the hall might be a client and when they were just a person in the hall. Typically, someone who stopped at multiple doors did so because they were looking for a specific one. And in this building? That usually meant they were looking for Emilio. So the knock on the door didn’t come as much of a surprise. Nor did the person who entered. He gave her an obligatory once-over, trying to determine whether or not she was a threat. She wasn’t undead, at least. “What for?” He asked, neither confirming nor denying that he was the person she was looking for.

—

She gave the man a once over. He was handsome, though quite disheveled; he couldn’t be much older than her– mid 30s maybe. It seemed his Yelp reviews weren’t lying; he didn’t strike her as much of a people person, even less so as he spoke. She had her fair amount of interactions with similar men. No bullshit, then. 

“I’m Arden Han,” she said, pulling a business card out of her shoulder bag and offering it to him, “I’m a journalist at Something Wicked News. I’m trying to build some more connections in town, and I heard you’re someone who can get shit done.”

-

A journalist? Emilio had to admit, he hadn’t been expecting that. He’d had clients from all walks of life throughout his short career in Wicked’s Rest, but this was a first. He eyed her carefully, as if trying to deduce what she might be after through suspicious looks alone. Surely there was some ulterior motive here, right? There had to be.

“I don’t make a very good connection,” he said dryly. “Whoever told you to come here was probably fucking with you. I only get shit done when someone’s paying me to do it, and you don’t look like you brought cash. So, why should I do anything for you?”

-

Arden shifted uncomfortably as the man stared at her, and after a moment, she placed the card down on a nearby table. He didn’t immediately seem to intend her any harm, and, granted, if he was trying to run a business, killing a potential customer probably wouldn’t be the most sound strategy. Not that she was a business major or anything of the sort. 

Regardless, she wasn’t about to let her guard down quite yet, and she found some comfort in the weight of her knife in her jacket pocket. Even if it was a false sense of security.

“You wound me, Mr. Cortez,” she replied flatly. “I did my research before coming here. From what I’ve heard, you’re a man who’s good at your job. You have your ear to the ground, you’re discreet, you maybe don’t mind getting your hands dirty now and then. However, you’re not the people type.” She didn’t bother putting it lightly. 

“As a journalist, I need to be good with people. It’s the only way I can get my hands on information while being above board and maintaining my reputation. But, I need to have solid evidence to back my findings, and, sometimes, my digging can only get me so far, especially in a town like Wicked’s Rest where it seems everyone has secrets,” she throws it out as casually as the rest of it, but Arden focuses intently on the man’s reaction to these words.

—

“If I want to wound you, you’ll know it,” Emilio replied, tone still remarkably dry. He wasn’t entirely sure how to navigate this situation, which wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling. He was good at thinking on his feet when something was trying to kill him, but when someone was trying to talk to him? It became so much harder to know what his next move ought to be. 

He let out a small, amused sound as she commented on his reputation. He knew there were reviews online — Javi had told him about it with an expression that said they weren’t particularly good reviews — but he’d never read them himself. He could only imagine what they said. Good detective, terrible person. It certainly made sense that they’d spell out plainly that he wasn’t ‘the people type,’ as the journalist put it.

Her dilemma made sense. Reputation probably mattered to a journalist more than it did to someone like Emilio, after all. And there was a certain level of danger to it, too; dig too much without knowing how to watch your own back and you’d wind up another corpse in the pile, another case on the desk of some overworked cop. Emilio leaned forward, a little intrigued in spite of himself. “And what is it you want from me, exactly?” 

—

Arden smirked at the comment. “Noted.”

Her lips pursed slightly at his non-reaction. If he was a good investigator, he would have to have at least some idea that this town was not a normal town, right? She could only do so much before losing all sense of subtlety. She ran a hand through her hair, she could find out more later, he would be a good contact regardless. 

“Look, I think we could have a beneficial partnership here,” Arden replied. “I would, of course, pay you if I needed you to look into something specific for me, but maybe we could help each other out here and there; we do both deal in the market of information.

“My job requires that I keep my finger on the pulse of what’s going on in town so, I can keep you updated on anything that might be relevant to any case you might be working on. I could also help out with the people side of things. I can be rather charming and persuasive, and, when the situation calls for it, I have been told I can be quite persistent.” Annoying had been the word the police officer used, but-

–

It was an interesting offer. She seemed less annoying than his usual clients, to be sure, but… Emilio hesitated. He might not know a lot about journalism, but he knew the people who pursued it tended to be nosey individuals. People who wanted to uncover every stone, people who wanted answers to every question. And for him, where he was concerned… that wasn’t the best thought. People digging too much into Emilio’s past wouldn’t end well for anyone involved. He knew that.

But saying no would look suspicious, too. Saying no might pique her curiosity even further, might make her want to dig to find out why a detective living in an apartment that was just this side of ‘crumbling’ would turn down an offer for easy money. It was one of those ‘no right answer’ situations, one of those questions with no good outcome. Emilio had always hated those.

After a few moments of silence as he considered the offer, Emilio decided that it would be better to keep an eye on her. If she was as persistent as she claimed, she wasn’t going to give up easily. So he pursed his lips, nodding his head. “Yeah, all right,” he agreed. “That sounds like it could be…” What was the word she’d used? Oh, right. “Beneficial. But what exactly would you want me to look into?”

—

A thrill of triumph ran through her as the man agreed to her proposition. She honestly hadn’t expected him to concede that easily. Noticing his initial hesitation, Arden decided to take some pity on him. She had just barged in and kinda pushed him into a partnership, and he gave her the impression of someone who liked to work alone. He was giving very “darkness, no parents” Lego Batman vibes. 

She dropped the excessively confident facade somewhat and gave him a slightly more genuine smile, ignoring his question for the moment. “I can sense your hesitation, so how about we give it a bit of a trial run? I can show you how much of an asset I can be, I can see if you’re really as good as people say you are, and we can see if we can put up working with one another.

“If you decide it’s not worth it, you can tell me to fuck off, and I’ll only come bother you when there’s cash involved. How’s that sound?”

–

A trial run. That sounded a lot better than committing to anything long term. If worse came to worse, Emilio could always leave town — he was good at disappearing — but he’d like to avoid that. A trial run seemed to be a good option to offer him an easy out without arising any suspicion that might encourage this reporter to look into the surly detective with the standoffish attitude. 

“Okay,” he agreed, a little more at ease now. “But if I say it’s off, it’s off. No questions, no asking why. When I say to fuck off, you have to fuck off.” And he was pretty sure it would be a ‘when’ situation instead of an ‘if’ one. Emilio wasn’t the type to keep anyone around long-term these days.

–

Arden nodded, mind already racing. She would need to be cautious with this; she didn’t have many contacts in town yet, and Emilio had the potential to be a huge help. She couldn’t fuck this up. 

“Deal,” she said, holding out her hand. 

“Now, as for your earlier question,” she raised an eyebrow, “what do you know about Erebus Extractions and Refineries?”

–

He looked at her outstretched hand for a moment before sighing and taking it, giving it a firm shake. “Deal,” he agreed. Christ, he hoped this one wasn’t going to come back to bite him in the ass. He had enough trouble in this town without adding to the pile.

She was quick to cash in on the deal. In a way, that was almost a relief. It meant less time wondering what the first question she’d ask might be, less anxious mystery. Unfortunately, the question wasn’t one he had much of an answer to. Emilio clicked his tongue, shrugging a shoulder. “Not much,” he admitted, “but you give me a day or two, and I can figure some shit out. What are you after, specifically?” 

–

The journalist wasn’t exactly surprised by his answer, but it just served to make her more perturbed by the situation. “Honestly? Fucking anything would be nice.” She gave a humorless smile, her frustration seeping through slightly. “I can’t find any information on leadership, and everyone I’ve spoken to– or tried to speak to, at least– has either refused to comment or seems to be kept entirely in the dark. Not to mention, everyone is still clueless about what’s been happening since the accident.” 

“It’s suspicious, to say the least, and it’s certainly got my interest piqued. I’m going to keep looking, but I’m hoping you might have some more luck investigating through your channels.” 

Arden paused, debating on if she should say her next words, but, after a moment, she sighed and turned to look Emilio in the eyes, facade dropping a bit more. “You’re a smart man, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this, but just… be careful.” I can’t have anyone else get hurt– or worse– because of me. 

—

Oh. So she was looking for that kind of information. Things seemed a little more complicated, all of the sudden. Emilio wasn’t just a private investigator — he was a hunter, too. And while he’d never quite bought into the idea that humans ought to be kept in the dark about absolutely everything (he’d always been open enough with Vida, after all), he did know that things could get messy pretty quickly when people dug into things outside their comprehension. The last thing he needed was for the journalist to run around telling people he was nuts if he told her the truth of things that went on behind the scenes in Wicked’s Rest. 

He’d tread lightly, then. Test the waters before revealing anything too deep, figure out what she thought was happening and either confirm or deny those theories. 

“I’ll look into it,” he promised, making up his mind with a curt nod. “But I can’t promise I’ll find what you’re looking for. I’m not about to go digging through those mines myself.” Not without a better reason than money, in any case. Emilio might not care about his life as much as some people thought he ought to, but he wasn’t looking to get himself killed by something as stupid as a haunted mine. That wasn’t how he wanted things to go. “And, hey, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m good at making it out of shit.” Whether he wanted to or not.

—

Even the thought of him going down into the mines made her stomach turn. Arden was not a fan of enclosed spaces to begin with, but going into the mines of Wicked’s Rest seemed like the kind of thing that would absolutely get you killed. “That’s entirely fair, not that I would ever ask you to do that, for the record. Even on a good day, there’s weird shit in those mines, and currently there’s a leakage of some unknown inky substance.”

”I figure it might be a long shot, but maybe you can find something I’m missing. I just-” She paused, realizing she was maybe about to be a little too honest with this man she just met. As a journalist, she felt the need to maintain an air of professionalism in her public interactions, and especially to never air her theories or worries to people. People were already panicking over the incident with the mines, her being honest and telling them that she had a bad feeling about the entire situation would not be a wise decision. Granted, this conversation wasn’t exactly public, but it still felt wrong nearly letting her worries slip out. 

However, she was attempting to form a sort of partnership with the man, and while he told her not to worry, Arden still felt guilty asking him to do something that could potentially be dangerous when she wasn’t even sure he knew the full extent of dangers that lurked in town– especially not without being upfront about her concerns. 

“I just don’t feel great about this whole situation,” she said, after a moment, “and I’d feel better if I were armed with some more information.” She looked up at him with a small smile. “So, I will likely continue to be somewhat worried, but I’m glad to hear it.”

Shaking herself out of the mess of emotions bubbling in her chest, she backed up slightly, her smile turning confident once more. “Anyway, I’ve taken up a good chunk of your time. My card’s on the table if you need to contact me, and I’d be happy to help if you need me to look into something or someone for you. Thanks for hearing me out.”

–

At least there was that. Plenty of people came to a detective and figured there was no real limit to what they were allowed to ask that detective to do, figuring that Emilio was a puppet whose strings they could hold for the right price. He’d never liked clients like that, even if he couldn’t quite afford to turn them away. This concern, while irritating, was preferable to that. “I wouldn’t do it if you did,” he told her, but the tone wasn’t quite as harsh as the words might imply. She wasn’t the worst person who’d ever walked through his door, at least.

He raised a brow as she continued, making note of her voice. She was passionate about this, and Emilio understood that. That need to find answers, that unquenchable thirst for the truth. Part of why he’d gotten into the PI gig was because he wanted the truth, too. He never wanted to be in another situation where he was caught entirely off guard by something that had been happening under his nose for months, never wanted a repeat of the betrayal he’d suffered from his uncle. He wondered if she, too, had a story like that, some awful thing that made her need the truth no matter what it cost her. He wouldn’t be surprised if she did. Everyone, he’d found, had something in their past making them the way they were.

“I get it,” he offered, shrugging a shoulder. “You want answers. I get that.” And maybe he could give them to her, and maybe he couldn’t. It was hard to say for sure, hard to be certain. He nodded his head as she smiled, not returning the expression but not looking quite as irritable as he had when she’d walked in, either. “Yeah,” he agreed, “sure. I’ll let you know if I need an assist, and I’ll keep an eye out for your shit, too.” 

It might be the beginning of a decent partnership… or the worst idea either of them had ever indulged in. Time would tell.

[albertonykus]

Doraemon Vol. 4 from The Complete Works of Fujiko F. Fujio

The stories in this one were published in 1971–1977. At this point, we’re essentially free of early-series oddities (well, until we eventually return to some of the earliest years of the manga in volume 18, due to the way these compilations are organized). Although there will be additions and subtle changes to the lore in works to come, the stories here are more or less what I’d expect of standard Doraemon, so I’m going to skip ahead to the overview of iconic entries in this volume (as determined by my personal experience and biases):

“ウルトラミキサー” (“Ultra Mixer”, 1972): Nobita and Doraemon have fun with a gadget that can combine objects together. Notable for featuring “Nobiemon”, a fusion of Nobita and Doraemon who has been the subject of merchandise despite being a one-shot gag character.

“ぼく、マリちゃんだよ“ (“I’m Mary”, 1973): Nobita switches lives with an overworked celebrity to give her a chance to rest.

“ぞうとおじさん” (“Uncle and the Elephant”, 1973): Nobita’s uncle tells him a story from his childhood about about a zoo elephant that was killed during World War II, so Nobita and Doraemon travel back in time to save it. Includes a hilarious scene where Doraemon casually informs a Japanese soldier that Japan will lose the war while trying to convince him not to kill the elephant.

“さようなら、ドラえもん” (“Goodbye, Doraemon”, 1974): Doraemon has to return to the future forever. This is actually not the first story to show Doraemon leaving Nobita seemingly for good (two earlier ones are compiled in volume 1), but it is by far the best known, the only one that has been adapted into the 1979 and 2005 anime series, and was apparently intended to be the true finale of the manga. Well, we’re still on volume 4 out of 20 in this collection, so as you can guess, that wasn’t to be. Reader popularity soon convinced Fujio to continue Doraemon, which leads us to...

“帰ってきたドラえもん” (“Doraemon Returns”, 1974): It turns out Doraemon left Nobita with one last gadget just in case he needed it, a potion that turns anything the user says into a lie. Nobita drinks it to get back at Gian and Suneo for pranking him, accidentally mentions that Doraemon will never return, and... wouldn’t you know it, Doraemon comes back!

“ゆめの町 、ノビタランド” (“City of Dreams, Nobitaland”, 1974): Nobita and Doraemon create a miniature version of their town, then shrink themselves and their friends so they can play in it. The first episode to air from the classic 1979 anime series was an adaptation of this story.

“たとえ胃の中、水の中” (“Even Through Stomach and Water”, 1975): The obligatory “Fantastic Voyage” plot. Shizuka swallows a gemstone by accident, so Doraemon and Nobita enter her stomach in a shrunken submarine to retrieve it.

“化石大発見!” (“Great Fossil Discovery!”, 1976): Nobita and Doraemon create fake fossils as an April Fools’ joke on a fossil hunter, but as they come clean and turn the fakes back to normal, they happen to revive a trilobite, demonstrating that there were fossils in the area after all.

[thefeathercollective]

eva forgot to do the 12th april thing so this is a two-in-one post

12 April: Were/are you in speech therapy? If so, for what? If not, do you think speech therapy could have helped you?

yes, from age 5-9 I believe. portuguese doesn't have the th sound, and we were using it instead of S and F, so it was usual child speech problem stuff.

two speech therapists...... the first one would watch us forget to do the "homework" nearly every day of the week despite it being on the fridge as a reminder and saw us zone out and stim and I don't think we ever made eye contact with her. the second one literally started to implement little activities to get us more into "things other children like". seriously. and we had to seek out our own diagnosis >:/

anyway someone (in-system) mentioned in another post, I don't remember who, that we want to go back to speech therapy for our difficulty with certain sounds and just overall stuttering and unclearness. I'd like to add to that: we want more control to make the body's voice sound a little more like our inner voices. only eva can do it out of all of us and we envy him lmao

13 April: How important are routines to you? Are your routines more based on time ("I always do this at 6pm!"), on habits ("I always drink from this cup!") or both?

we can live without them but having them is comfier. they're a bit of a mix in that they have no obligatory starting time, but are time-dependent, like "we wake up we go to the bathroom and we must take Exactly 14 Minutes".