#on that note: one time i opened the transcript search

[pagerunner-j]

I haven't been watching CR in a while, but tonight I decided to, at least, watch the prologue to the next live show that went up today.

It took Matt eight words to hit one of the words I want to surgically remove from his vocabulary until he learns a few different ways to describe things.

I really wouldn't be sad if it turns out that adding Chris and Jeremy to the mix means they get a couple new DMs at the table.

(Let Matt be a player for a change of pace, that's fine, but I have had enough of his narrative crutches to last me a lifetime.)

[xhmeusworld]

keep on the sunny side | lee jihoon

genre: paramedic! jihoon, single parent! reader, fluff

pairings: lee jihoon x gender neutral reader

warnings: seizures, child injury, medical terms (not a lot but some), jihoon does cpr

word count: 1.7k

note: okay so i work in a hospital and i love paramedics so paramedic jihoon was born. i may return back to this idea if you guys were like me too :)

lee jihoon wasn’t the type that expressed his emotions freely. it wasn’t that he didn’t feel them. truly, he felt everything deeply.

anger, sadness, excitement. they consumed his very existence, but in his line of work, it was just easier to pretend that he felt nothing. it was easier to get through the day if he remained as stoic as possible.

his coworkers often questioned him about the front he created. did seeing sickness and death 24/7 not affect him at all? how could he move from a fatality call to a car accident without even showing a hint of grief? only his partner, a boy named minghao, understood that jihoon was indeed deeply affected by the things he encountered.

so deeply affected that the only thing he could do to survive was to shove the feelings deep inside, not allowing them to resurface.

however, there’s one thing he always remembers.

eight.

that’s how many children jihoon had lost in his career.

it was honestly rare that he and minghao received calls involving children. it had been a couple of years since the last one, but the universe seemed to decide that tonight was the night to reset the cycle.

the call came in around two in the morning. jihoon never heard the 911 call itself or read the transcript. the information was just relied to him and minghao in an urgent manner and then they were off.

the ride would have been peaceful if jihoon wasn’t on duty. the streets were empty, the stores were closed. everything was at peace.

that was until the sound of sirens cut through the night, ruining and disturbing any sense of tranquility that had existed.

unit 205, we have a five-year old male unresponsive as a result of a grand-mal seizure. there has been documented history of cerebral palsy since birth, but his mother reports no history of seizures prior.

when minghao and jihoon reached the scene, racing up to the apartment number that given to them by dispatch, jihoon only had one thought in his mind.

please don’t let this be number nine.

jihoon didn’t even have time after he knocked on apartment 24 to ask questions because as soon as the door flew open, he immediately knew that he and minghao needed to act. now.

a five-year old boy was on the living room floor, convulsing. a dark blue guardian helmet covered what appeared to be his unruly black hair and jihoon breathed a sigh of relief that at least there was no possibility of head trauma.

“i- i don’t know what happened,” you stuttered out. “noori just woke up and we were sitting on the couch together and he started having a seizure. he’s never had one before!” a sob escaped your lips. “please, you have to save my baby. he’s all I have!”

minghao and jihoon quickly got to work to administer diazepam, which was meant to immediately stop the seizure. jihoon hated using diazepam as it had to be used rectally and he thought it took all respect away from the patient, but he had no other choice as a result of the boy’s unconscious state.

jihoon rolled the young boy into his side as gently as he could muster in a hurry as minghao carefully gave the diazepam. thankfully, it worked like it was supposed to and the boy’s muscles instantly relaxed.

you let out a breath you didn’t know you had been holding, but jihoon knew it was too soon to start celebrating. he was proven right when minghao searched for a pulse.

“he’s not breathing! start compressions!”

without hesitation, jihoon pressed his hands into the little boy’s chest, counting the all too familiar numbers out, his voice sounding exhausted. “1, 2, 3… he tried to ignore the sickening crack that sounded, signaling that he had broken the boy’s ribs.

“come on, noori, breathe for me,” the dark-haired boy begged, hitting thirty and stopping the compressions as minghao yelled “hold!” his partner’s fingers reached out to feel for a pulse. “start again!”

jihoon resumed his position. “1, 2, 3…” he tried to ignore the cries from you who was currently being consoled by the other paramedics who had just arrived as backup.

strands of his dark hair fell out of his small ponytail, covering his face and he cursed over the fact that he hadn’t found the time to get a much needed haircut.

“hold!” jihoon paused the compressions. “resume, no pulse!”

starting the third set of compressions caused a huge sense of panic to run through lee jihoon. most child patients responded by the second set and here he was on number ten of a third.

all he could repeat was please don’t be number nine.

“jihoon, i think we have to call it,” minghao spoke, quietly, hoping to god you didn’t hear him over the other paramedics. “his heart isn’t beating.”

one word popped into jihoon’s mind.

no.

and he kept going.

and thank god he did because almost if the young boy knew that he was about to ruled dead, his eyes flew open and he sucked in a breath.

“noori, my son, my sweet boy,” you cried as jihoon finally relaxed his tense muscles.

he did it. lee jihoon didn’t reach number nine.

•••

months had passed since jihoon and minghao loaded the young boy and you into an ambulance. you had your entire attention on your son as to be expected, but as jihoon monitored noori’s vitals and ensured the seizures were not going to resume, he had to force himself to not look at your face.

the dark-haired boy thought you were one of the most beautiful human beings he had ever seen and the pure love you had for your child made jihoon even more attracted to you. he attempted to shove the thoughts into the back of his mind as best as he could.

he was doing his job. that was it.

and that’s what he kept telling himself even as he sat staring at his computer at his local coffee shop.

jihoon had decided to take a day off to get caught up on necessary tasks he could do remotely. he had completed most of everything he needed to do, but his thoughts were so tangled with you that he didn’t even notice that someone was stumbling toward him until he felt weight in his lap.

he looked down to see a familiar sweet face.

“oh my god, I’m sorry! normally, he doesn’t just run up to new people and oh-“ recognition dawned on the your face as jihoon watched you take in his features.

the dark-haired boy smiled as he patted the head of the boy who was lying across his lap. “it’s nice to see you again.” noori’s guardian helmet dug into jihoon’s thighs. it did not feel pleasant and he was sure there were going to be bruises covering him tomorrow, but he didn’t mind. this boy had touched his heart in many ways.

while he was aware that noori had survived and recovered days after he saved his life, jihoon couldn’t stop himself from thinking about not only the boy, but you as well. were you holding up okay? did the hospital provide you any resources to help with noori’s care since it was just you as the caretaker? how were you surviving everything on your own?

minghao teased him that he had a crush on you. jihoon insisted that he was just concerned, but now looking at you in the cafe and knowing that your son had formed an attachment to him as well, maybe his partner was right.

his heart was beating quick. his palms felt sweaty. and he desperately tried to ignore the utter joy that entered his heart when you beamed at him. him and your son.

“i thought after noori’s episode i wouldn’t see you again to thank you,” you explained. “you saved his life. you helped me keep my son and i didn’t know if i could reach out to you because HIPAA laws and-“

jihoon couldn’t control the the smile that crawled onto his face at your rambling. god, it was cute. you were cute.

“you don’t have to thank me at all,” he explained. “i was doing my job.” jihoon patted noori’s shoulder one more time as the young boy shifted awkwardly into a sitting position. “it looks like noori remembers who i am.”

you tucked your hair behind your ear, almost shyly. “yeah, once he was at the hospital, i don’t he understood that you were a paramedic. although he can’t talk, i could tell he wondered why you weren’t coming into his hospital room.”

noori slowly got to his feet, wobbling his way back to you, his guardian helmet resting against your thigh. almost instinctively, you wrapped your arm around him.

“well, i would have checked on him but once you guys were out of my care, I didn’t have any information to find where you guys went,” jihoon stated, shutting his laptop. “but i’m glad I get to see you guys now.”

you grinned. “we’re glad to see you too, jihoon.”

you knew his name? he was going to die.

“and i absolutely hate to cut this conversation short, but noori has a doctors appointment in about half an hour and we should start heading that way.”

jihoon nodded, his brain turning into a thousand of circles. he didn’t want you to leave. “oh okay. maybe I’ll see you around?”

“yeah, maybe.” there’s your cute smile again. “bye, jihoon.”

“bye y/n. bye noori.”

you started toward the exit to the coffee shop something in jihoon’s mind told him that he couldn’t let you walk away. he absolutely couldn’t and before he knew it, he was on his feet.

lee jihoon wasn’t the type that went for what he wanted. it was easier to just let things happen naturally. no point in interfering with the universe. if didn’t happen without him doing anything, then it wasn’t meant to be.

but you were different. he knew you were different and he couldn’t just let you and your son walk out the door.

“hey, y/n, wait!”

you jumped at the sound of jihoon’s voice, your hand tightening around noori’s. your other hand pressed against the door of the coffee shop, holding it open. you were shocked by the boy racing up to you and the only word that seemed to leave your mouth was “yes?”

now that jihoon had your attention, his courage was almost completely gone. what if you said no? what if you laughed in his face? he was just a paramedic. you weren’t obligated to tell him yes just because he saved your son’s life.

the dark-haired boy awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he studied your face, looking for any sign of discomfort.

“um, uh- would you like to go on a date sometime?”

[hatsukeii]

"WE ARE THE BLOOD IN OUR...WAS IT VEINS OR ARTERIES AGAIN?" / T. KUROO

#2. A BIOLOGIST'S GUIDE TO TUTORING | M.LIST | PREV. | NEXT. |

warning(s): nothing except bio again! no ochem this time so that's an improvement (update there is still ochem sorry!)

wc: ~1.4k

Turns out the seagull on the cover of the biology textbook that splays open on Kuroo's desk is really a pelican, and Kuroo only realises that through quick skim of a random case study as he flips for the chapter you prescribed him during your last session, mumbling beneath his breath words that he definitely does not understand as he searches for the right topic.

Ground rule #1: Always have your materials ready by the next session.

He stops at Polypeptide Sequences, taking a glance at the array of chemical diagrams that seem...surprisingly familiar. Great! Nice! He might have a shot at pretending he understands something by tomorrow! He reads on, watching the organic chains that he has become so accustomed to morph into helixes and rings that burn out whatever polypeptides are responsible for information processing. Transcription of RNA... the RNA that makes up the DNA...? Could that work as a pep talk? Kuroo shakes his head, damp hair from his shower flicking dark spots into the paper of his textbook as he huffs out, highlighters smearing yellows and greens into anything that even remotely make sense.

At 12:46pm, as he has for the past two weeks, Kuroo slips through crowds of screaming children and whizzing basketballs into the eerily still library once again, his previously pristine textbook now creased around the spine as he pushes open the door to the study room. There you sit, squares of orange and yellow and green prodding at him as he plops his book on the desk and pulls out a chair. Polypeptides...RNA... right, his pep talk. Could RNA lead into something more?

"Hey, uh... tutor?"

"Y/n." Well, isn't that such a nice name for somebody so terrifying?

"Right, y/n, got a favour to ask for."

"Does it have to do with polypeptide sequences?"

"Well, not really, but-"

"Ground rule #2, Kuroo."

He groans, throwing his palms into the air dejectedly as you flip open his textbook to the prescribed chapter, the five pages of content clean and untouched spare of six highlighted lines.

Ground rule #2: Tutoring sessions are reserved for prescribed topics and subjects only.

You make a sound, a hum that ticks downwards, so doubtful that it stabs through Kuroo's throat and almost forces a wheeze from him. Raising your brow, he chuckles pathetically, a hand shooting to his neck as he scratches the hairs on his nape. Finding himself and his utter failure to feign any knowledge in the wake of your expectant glare, he sighs when you drop your pen beside the book, leaning down and tilting your head to examine the pages, the tie of your school uniform draping over one of the not so many highlighted lines.

"So, I take it that you had a hard time with this?" Yes, so hard that he actually gave up within five minutes of reading.

"Yeah, really hard time." Not hard enough for him to give up on his pep talk yet, though.

The fading ink of your pen draws numbers and arrows between highlighted and blank sentences, scribbles two word notes between each linked arrow, slings effortless circles around bold keywords. Kuroo’s eyes trace the map of ink that has emerged from the dizzying page of letters, letters that now seem to come together into sentences, and into paragraphs, and into semi-coherent explanations. You tap at the first highlighted sentence. A polypeptide is a continuous, unbranched chain of amino acids. The carbons and hydrogens come to life in his head, linking and bonding the way puzzle pieces fit into each other, and he grins at something finally within the grasp of his spiralling mind.

“Yeah, you’re a chemist alright.” Kuroo rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, pushing his elbows into his chest.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look at you. You read like one."

Kuroo shifts in his chair, and when you sigh in exasperation, he slumps into the plush backrest, legs crossing beneath the desk.

"Well, let’s start here. We’ll get coffee afterwards if you can sit through this without giving up.”

At your proposal, Kuroo successfully makes it through half an hour of lunch time pep(tide) talk. Half an hour of the one hour session.

Ground rule #3: Coffee breaks in the free sessions if and ONLY if the entire lesson is done to completion. (Good for the soul!)

The barista across the counter slides a steaming mug of black coffee on a coaster beneath Kuroo's nose, and sets down another mug of swirling hot chocolate on your side. You stare him in the eye when you switch the drinks around, before smiling at the barista, who chuckles sheepishly as he apologises for his misconception. The chocolate scalds Kuroo's tongue at first taste, and he rubs it against the roof of his mouth, his taste buds now raw and tingly. You sip at your coffee, the bitter sting of dark roast trickling down your throat as you swallow in satisfaction, the warmth of a freshly brewed cup like a fix of hot honey running through your body. Perhaps the temptation of coffee makes you forget about the half an hour of your session with Kuroo left undone. He watches your throat bob, eyes squinting when the liquid pours through your mouth and into your body. You look... happy. Relaxed. A different person from the piercing edge that slashes his ego and rips gashes into his knowledge during the biology sessions.

"So, what are you having the most trouble with so far? We can have a quick chat about it."

A droning hum erupts from Kuroo's mouth as he tilts his head. To be frank, he isn't sure. He was barely able to string together the basics of polypeptides twenty minutes ago, even with your help. The rest of the book has been a jumble of case studies and bodily diagrams that look more like hieroglyphs than anything that exists within the human body. He searches his brain for something, anything, but half-stuttered words get stuck in his throat when he realises he can barely pronounce half the specifics of the textbook. He makes a note to himself, use none of those words in the pep talk.

"Stupid pelicans, that case study was a mess."

"You are kidding me right now."

He freezes at your response. Is that not a valid topic to bring up? What's so wrong with having trouble with pelicans? They look too much like seagulls anyways? The edge has returned, pointy at his throat as he feels the familiar lump form again. For a second, he wishes he could force feed you another sip of coffee, soften the blade around yourself for even just a moment.

"That is, quite literally, the first topic from last year. Evolution? Really? That's what you're having trouble with?"

You shake your head, taking another sip of your coffee as you side eye him from your seat, slurping judgmentally when his irises visibly twitch in panic. Does he want this pep talk badly enough to swallow his pride? Surely not, right? In fact, he should just come clean now, right?

Kuroo glances at you, and his hooked fingers tighten around the handle of his barely touched hot chocolate at the sight of the one-sided curl in your lips, a curl that bares your right canines and has your brows furrowed above one eye.

You're smirking at his confusion.

The same smirk that slithered onto your lips as you slapped the perfect LDPE diagram onto his textbook. The same, sadistic smirk that you must've had plastered across your face when you beat him out by one placement in chemistry.

And that's when Kuroo decides that he's going to ruin you. Pelicans and polypeptides and circulatory system and all. He doesn't care if it has to be biology, or chemistry, or any other fucked up, needlessly complicated subject. If that is what it takes to soften your edge, so be it. He decides that he is willing to do anything to rid you of your blade, the razor sharp mockery that slashes his pulse and rips through his... arteries? Veins?

"Yeah. Sorry, I'm a little rusty." He swears that will be the last sorry he gives you.

Ground rule #4: Don't ask stupid questions.

author's note:

I'M BACK FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER BABY!!! this is not my favourite chapter BUT THE NEXT ONE IS!! im so excited to write it and share it w you guys <3 i've been super busy lately with erm life in general smh but i promise i will keep feeding you my loves frl

also lowkey writer's block is hitting again... i'm afraid but i will power through it!! we're SO back!!!!

tags: @chuuya-brainrot @staraxiaa @hiraethwa @iiwaijime @akaakeis @she-lovesmyheartshapedsunglasses @fiannee @bailey-reeds @wyrcan @catsoupki @cupidsblonde

[ador3rin]

₊˚ෆ you've got a new follower! | return to main | go to next

there’s a gentle breeze wafting in through the open window, carrying the flowery scent of spring along with it as you stare absentmindedly out at the court yard. the earlier conversation you’d had with your homeroom teacher was replaying in your mind on a loop.

“yn-chan! what’s got you so quiet?” your brunette friend paused mid sentence, catching on to your lack of responses. the two of you were currently hanging out in a classroom, opting to spend lunch inside for the day. 

hina had been rambling on about some ridiculous argument she’d witnessed earlier between two girls in the hallway, all the while scarfing down a handful of sweets she’d pulled out of her bag. you made a mental note to swipe a few later when she wasn’t looking. 

“sorry hina,” shuffling around in your seat, you sit upright and readjust to properly face the girl sitting across from you. “i’m just thinking about what ms maeko said to me earlier.” you explain with a sigh, hands coming up to rub at your temples.

“huh? the college thing?” her head cocks to the side, confusion evident in her features.

“you’ve got good grades anyway, so what’s got you in such a mood?” you wish you weren’t just as clueless as she was. honestly, you weren't expecting the conversation to head in that direction yourself either. 

earlier that day just before lunch had began, you had approached your home room teacher in hopes of seeking out college advice, since the pros and cons list you’d been writing up wasn’t proving to be of much help at all. however, much to your surprise she had a piece of advice of her own. she’d told you to go and join a club.

it would look good on your transcript, she reasoned. you got decent grades so there wasn’t really much else you could do in that department except maintaining them. but according to her, colleges were no longer purely looking for academic excellency. 

you frustratingly relayed the conversation to your best friend and mentioned how you had been mentally browsing through the list of potential clubs ever since then. your options seemed slim.

“that’s it? just join the volleyball club.” unimpressed with your woes, she stares at you with a brow raised, answering with a simple shrug of her shoulders. “i mean, i’ve told you how i’ve been kinda swamped lately with manager duties and school work. plus, it’d be really fun if we were both managers together!”.

and that was how you managed to find yourself standing outside the volleyball gym less than a week later. unfortunately, no one seemed to be there just yet so you were stuck loitering around, eyes nervously searching for any sight of hina. 

“are ya looking for something?” an unfamiliar male speaks up, and you turn to face the disembodied voice behind you. it was one of the miya twins, standing a few feet away with his head cocked to the side. 

honestly, you didn’t really know either of their names despite having seen them around before. you’d only ever registered their existence whenever hina was dropping off something to the gym, or the few times you’d wait for her to finish after school.

 just as you’re about to open your mouth to respond, another male voice pipes up.

“would ya quit bothering the lady ‘tsumu, i’m sure she’s not interested.” the silver haired twin appears, casually smacking his sibling in the back of the head. your eyes widened at the scene, unsure of what to say or how to react. was this normal? you really didn’t want to break up a fight on your first day. 

the two are almost immediately bickering as if you aren’t awkwardly standing in front of them, and you can feel regret slowly creep through your veins. they both were sporting their club jackets, with similar duffel bags slung around their respective shoulders.

“sorry i took awhile!” your attention shifts to hina’s voice, letting out a sigh of relief at the sight of her approaching. “can you two stop fighting? you’re going to scare yn off.” she sternly scolds the males and effortlessly breaks up their squabble. her authority is rather impressive, as this is a side of her you rarely see.

turning her eyes on to you, the brunette beams with excitement as she links your arms, dragging you along with her. “c’mon! the others will be here soon, i’ll show you around inside!”. the gym was surprisingly larger than it appeared from the outside, bright lights lit up the shiny wooden court, and everywhere you looked seemed to be picture perfect. 

you were only somewhat aware of the prestige that your school’s volleyball team held, as you’d never really cared for sports before. the guys were currently nearing the ending of their training, and it had taken you a little while to grow accustomed to the slamming balls and squeaky shoes. 

hina held a brief introduction before training had commenced, but you honestly couldn't keep up with all the names even if you tried. instead, you’d opted to pick one defining feature of each member and memorised it to their jersey numbers. for example, number ten had very distinct, almost fox-like eyes. number seven was.. a character, yet when he's in the zone he's a completely different person.

it was unexpectedly intimidating to see all the players up close, especially when they’d crowded together in front of you for introductions earlier. you had seen a few of them around school before sure, but being face to face made them seem all the more larger than life. 

boasting both height and a sturdy athletic build, it would be a lie to deny that they weren’t all fairly attractive in their own rights. but mostly when they weren’t speaking though.  suddenly the existence of the volleyball club fangirls wasn’t as ludicrous to you anymore. 

after bidding your farewells and ‘nice to meet you’s’ once the training was over, you now found yourself perched on your window side bed nook, lying on your stomach with both feet dangling in the air. the light from your laptop screen illuminating your features, you eagerly scroll through your timeline, grateful for the peaceful downtime.

just when you’ve decided you’ve had your fill of social media, a notification pops up, grabbing your attention. now fuelled with newfound curiosity, you hastily click on the notification and look over the culprit's profile.

@samusamu started following you!  

# mew's notes :

IM SO EXCITED TO BE DOING AN SMAU AGAIN YAY!!!

light mode is yn's pov, and dark mode is suna's

akemi is currently travelling abroad with her family

[archipithecus]

Friends at the Table is a podcast focused on critical worldbuilding, smart characterization, fun interaction between good friends, and asking "what if X was Y? what if W could do Z?"

anyways here's a non-comprehensive selection of some times FatT asked good hypotheticals

(spoilers for Autumn in Heiron, Marielda, Winter in Heiron, COUNTER/Weight, Twilight Mirage, Sangfielle, and some Bluff City i think) (i know Spring, Partizan, and Palisade must also have good "what if X was Y?" but i'm still catching up) (this got way long so i'm putting it behind a readmore) (shoutout to Search at the Table at https://curiosity.cat-girl.gay/ for letting me do this) (also to Transcripts at the Table for writing this all down in the first place)

KEITH: What if I was a snow...hawk… ART: What if you're like, a Dr. Seuss animal? KEITH: Yeah! What if I was a star-bellied sneetch?

KEITH: (laughing) What if the bird was a can opener!

AUSTIN (as Zaktrak): It's like, what if a, what if a factory or train or a windmill could read a book?

AUSTIN (CONT.): And then he, he looks up, he actually has like a very… his build is kind of like, angular and… not thin in terms of like, weak? But he has a sort of… androgynous character about him, in terms of his like, what you would think of as like his body structure. And… very beautiful blue eyes. He’s sort of like, what if David Bowie was super black.

AUSTIN: And that's kind of like, the picture you get of her, is like, What if Fero was like, 30% less hyperactive? Still way more hyperactive than everybody else in-- the world? (laughter) but like, just a little more in tune, with the world.

AUSTIN: What if fire was matte?

ART: What if a—what if a 90s after school special needed some graffiti

AUSTIN: Yeah. He asks you, um... watching what unfolds, and there's, there's, it's--and this is the fuckin' nerdiest thing I'm ever gonna say; it's like what if A-ha's Take On Me was an AMV? Was an anime music video?

AUSTIN: Ali’s character, how did she describe her character, “what if Han Solo used to be Beyonce?”

AUSTIN: It’s like, what if the American government was just another American company?

AUSTIN: It’s like what if holograms did gifs, basically?

ART: You how like Han Solo’s always talking to the Millenium Falcon, but what if the Millenium Falcon-- AUSTIN: Could talk back? ART: Had a chance of, yeah, of deciding he was angry.

SYLVIA: For example. Like just p - yeah, what if they have psychic assassins there. Oh! What if this planet’s an alien? What if this planet is a psychic assassin? Which is a great sentence I just said.

AUSTIN: Yeah, I should note that this is also like "What if the Super Bowl was attended by high fashion models?", right?

AUSTIN: We don’t get a lot of elderly non-binary people. And so Saint Auger is like, what if someone you knew from Portland was 82?

AUSTIN: It’s almost like, what if a crown could be a dunce cap?

AUSTIN: It's like- what if there was a really enterprising twelve year old, who like, [laughs] made a physiology- uh, person- a physiology like, model, but with dirt and rocks and sticks. Also there's no face, the face is also just one of this solid black rock plates.

AUSTIN: And again, there’s just light streaming in through—I think this room is mostly, like, does not have a huge window, but it does have little eyelet windows at the top of the, towards the ceiling, that run horizontally along the room, and just like, bright—it’s almost like, what if colour could be shadow? Do you know what I mean? Like, what if instead of it being that a shadow crosses your face, it is this prismatic glow that moves across the group of you as this thing crawls around this space station.

AUSTIN: It’s like white and blue, there are stars, it- you know, I think that the- it’s, it looks like the way you might imagine like, what if the UN had spaceships?

AUSTIN: What if you mixed your- your selfhood, with the notion of wings. Or the notion of flight. Not just flying. That’s where we’re going.

AUSTIN: This giant battleship that’s like ‘what if a millipede instead of legs had guns and what if it was all around it’?

AUSTIN: This thing is like the size of like a major city. This thing is like, what if Manhattan was a battleship. And instead of buildings it had guns. Except now they’re made of weird black glass.

AUSTIN: The first time he showed up I described him as what if Canderous Ordo decided to have a robot body one day? And slowly began to replace it.

AUSTIN: There’s a little— Yes, it’s like what if a cow— what if Christian Slater was playing a cowboy from New Jersey, and also was Canderous Ordo. And also he eats through his hands.

AUSTIN: There is just this like… I think it’s just metal unfolding across space. Like, at some point Volition just kind of spat out a, a, almost, it looks like a cloud of ink but instead of ink, it’s metal. And it’s just unfolding indefinitely in space like a huge— like what if Akira, what if at the end of Akira when Tetsuo turns into a weird flesh monster? It was that but various types of metal, just like bubbling all over the place throughout space, and I don’t know how you deal with that! But suddenly in the middle of the Mirage there is just this, this ink splatter, this, this gaseous, you know, spread of metal.

AUSTIN: And it’s like — again, it’s like a pistol — it’s like what if a pistol was also like a curved sword, like almost like a scimitar or something?

JANINE: What if we do a live show, but the only live show we ever do is at Bakucon?

ART: Um, let me tell you, this is a nice coat, you guys. Um, I think it’s sort of like what if… What if a leather duster jacket was like an ephemeral idea.

AUSTIN: It’s like … I think the way I described it was, what if there was a Companion Cube that could have its corners pulled apart and in the middle is a weird glowing sphere?

AUSTIN: He has this dope, like, “What if the Millenium Falcon was a deep V?” Instead of just that little bit at the top, it goes really deep down. Or like, “What if Pacman was really long?” You know what I mean?

AUSTIN: Okay. You find him like, rolled under the bottom of his, uhh, or like on a, it’s not rolled under, he’s on like a little, like cart that has a pneumatic lift, or it’s like, it’s like a, it’s like a robot that walks around. It has like- it’s like a Boston Dynamics- like what if a Boston Dynamics, like four-legged robot was also a thing you laid on top of? Like one of those carts that goes underneath a car, to repair it. You know what I’m talking about?

AUSTIN (as Morning’s Observation): [exhales thoughtfully] Like what if milk was a solid.

AUSTIN: But it still has that ribbony-quality? [chuckles] It still has the sound of fabric rubbing on fabric? But is definitely amplified a great deal, probably? And also, we know it’s sharp, so there’s probably some… sharpness to it? You know… there’s probably, like�� what if a ribbon could be a sword you pull out of a sheath?

AUSTIN: And also, Saint Sommer is a big lion man. Saint Sommer is, like… Skein. And is a big… a big… like, a big lion man. Not like Lion-o from Thundercats. Like… what if Scar could… had a big human body? Was, like… What if Scar was cut?

KEITH: And it sort of like, snap! Like, that, it's like… when we were talking about what the sound it makes, I was picturing… what if folding a blanket sounded like sheet metal?

AUSTIN: Yeah, yeah. I don’t know I think it’s like, I think this is very much like, what if the Venom symbiote was made of thread, right?

AUSTIN: So maybe it's like a- like imagine, what if a mop could just mop by itself.

AUSTIN: I won’t talk more about that stuff, but you already saw the big picture of “what if Connecticut was a space ocean,” so, you have at least some context there.

AUSTIN: It’s huge. It’s the size of a continent, right? It’s “What if South America was a big circle?” It’s “What if Europe and Eurasia was a big circle?”, constantly cast on this planet. And, you know, from space it kind of looks—not flat necessarily, right, because it’s a curved planet, it’s a sphere, or spherical, but, you know, it’s flat.

AUSTIN: It’s like what if Texas stood up.

AUSTIN (as Morning’s Observation): “What if cars brought things to you instead of bringing you to things?”

AUSTIN: It’s just like a very bright, colorful—like, what if Steven Universe did the Sailors of the Ark? What if that team did it? It’s very good.

AUSTIN: It’s like what if it’s a can opener that does that. Like a living can opener like. Grrrngaaah! I’m going fucking open holes in things! Grrngaah!

AUSTIN: Imagine that they're almost- in my mind they're like what if a martini shaker was a piston.

AUSTIN: It's like what if you could package a sunset, y'know? Into like a cube

AUSTIN: I can't believe we started this recording by looking at pies [KEITH and DRE laugh] that make me hurt and ended with ‘what if all foods could be jelly juice?’.

AUSTIN: I saw a big buffalo picture and I was like what if that was a person, that looks cool.

ART: But what if some of these skeletons are like, sick of this shit?

AUSTIN: I think I pitched this show as like: what if Ghost in the Shell but-but magic and witches instead of cyborgs and stuff?

JACK: So, out come this nascent organization who we’re calling Shapeknights. Who are -- I think the easiest way to say it is “cowboys for trains?” They are, like -- what if instead of the cowboy riding alongside the train on his horse, he was corralling the train? Or he was trying to understand the train, or was trying to --

ALI: I think Marn, herself is a little bit more like—like what if a capybara was a siamese cat?

KEITH: Yeah. So, I wholeheartedly recommend this movie, but if not, if you don't know what I'm talking about with the goggles, at least look at that. ‘Cause it's a good image. It's sort of like, what if you had a jeweler's loupe that had a jeweler's loupe that had a jeweler's loupe?

ART: It’s like, what if the antagonist won the Mummy movie right, this is what happens-

KEITH: What if instead of one, big, beautiful hat I have two small, beautiful hats?

KEITH: Like what if they made headphones just for being cool at a party?

KEITH: What if you make pizza by opening the box? That it was an empty box until you opened it.

AUSTIN: What if insects were made of teeth?

JACK: She’s the fuckin’ person of the train. She’s like what if a train could output a person.

KEITH: What if the train was a nice train?

ART: What if a Madame Tussauds came to life?

AUSTIN: What if fire could be a ghost?

AUSTIN: Looking through this here, sounds like what you wrote here was “What if a dolphin was like a velociraptor?”

AUSTIN: They’re hitched. Yeah, they've been hitched. Three of them have been hitched. And I said horse, but I want you to imagine is what if…what if a shrimp were a horse?

JACK: You sort of just like rise up the slope. It's a bit like what if a train was an escalator.

AUSTIN: What if Beyonce was Poison Ivy?

AUSTIN: All my cards on the table, Millennium Black is like what if Blade stopped being a vampire hunter and started being a casino owner.

AUSTIN: He's sort of like what if Alex Jones wasn't terrible

[best-non-english-word-torunament]

Word of the week rules and submissions!

What is this?

This is no longer a tournament as that takes too much time and admin. We have also already decided that многоꙮчитїй/ mnogoočitii from Old church slavonian is the best word, so no need to do that again. Instead, I will use this blog to highlight a word (or a couple of words) every week (or other time period if the queue runs out) from languages which aren't English. This will be based on reader submissions with me editing for clarity and adding a blurb about the language, much like in the tournament.

In short, tell me about your favourite words! Let's all learn something new! (My favourite phase of the tournament was definitely research/round one)

Who are you?

I'm a linguistics student and language nerd from Sweden who decided to run a tournament of non-English words because I wanted to highlight language diversity. My native language isn't English, so please be kind if my posts are worded weirdly sometimes (or my username is misspelled lol)

What makes a word good?

There are many ways that a word can be good, but here are some examples: it sounds good/feels good to say, the script looks nice, it denotes an interesting concept, it denotes a concept you like, it does something interesting grammarwise, usagewise or soundwise, it's funny, it's an interesting/fun compound, it has an interesting/fun etymology, it just has good vibes... The possibilities are endless

Rules:

No words in English, but loanwords from English are allowed with good motivation

No conlangs (I love them but the focus is on natural language)

Words from signed languages are allowed and encouraged as long as you can provide an explanatory picture or film for the sign

Words from pidgins are allowed

Words from extinct languages are allowed

Usage should be widespread within a language community (if it isn't/wasn't used in the language it doesn't belong, neither does words only your family/friend group uses, but slang words are allowed)

No words that have appeared in the tournament or previously on word of the week (search for the word on my blog, all words are tagged)

How submissions and posting work (read these before submitting):

Each person is can make two submissions at a time. Please wait until yours have been posted before you submit more

The submission form is currently open. It will remain so until I have too many unposted submissions, then open again when those have been scheduled

If you're able to, please provide an IPA transcription for your word (the International Phonetic Alphabet has a sign for each sound used in any language, which makes transcription of exact pronounciation possible)

You will need to provide a translation/explanation of the word in English since that is the language used on the blog for ease of communication and reach. If the exact translation of a word is part of what makes the word good, please provide that too

It is possible to be credited for your submission if you want to

If more than 5-6 words in the same language are submitted, all of them might not be posted until some time has passed to avoid one language dominating

I reserve the right to pick which words I want to share if I have many submissions and don't want to do all of them. I do this in my very limited spare time because I think language is fun and if it doesn't spark joy I won't do it

Submissions will be fact-checked, edited for clarity and get a short text about the language. If I find something interesting while researching I might add a note about that as well

Have fun! I can't wait to see your submissions and learn something new!

Submit your word(s) through this form

[zabala0z]

Welcome back to “I’m listening to season 2 of The Magnus Archives and yeah it’s official, season 2 is currently my favorite season”

Surprisingly some tamer episodes. By tame, I mean I didn’t shriek and pause every 5 minutes. Though some characters popped up again which I was excited about like yay reoccurring characters!

MAG 48:

Not much to note. But Gerard Keay appearance! Or maybe appearance since the man didn’t give a name but come on, he had long black hair, that’s Gerard. I was pretty happy he helped out Andrea. Like it’s clear Gerard knows some stuff but he doesn’t use his knowledge to harm people, he uses it to help them and for that, I am so thankful there’s one character in confident in. Okay not confident. I don’t wanna say anything or God forbid, someone is going to die or get “replaced”

He also said she was marked, whatever that means. I’ll prob figure it out later

MAG 49: The Butchers Window

All Pryor wanted to do was to get that bag 🫡 Also Jared Hopworth appearance! Low key I forgot about him until the name Jared was mentioned and then I was like “oh that’s that weirdo from the bone turners tale”. I had to read over the transcripts from that to refresh my memory and man, he was a shithead from the beginning. Also I like the signs showing of him testing his power like on that deflated rat (which might’ve been his pet?? It was implied the rat looked like a pet so I’m assuming it was Jared) and maybe his mom. Also totally screwed up that he (presumably on my end) killed Sebastian. Like they were childhood friends man 💀

But I find it hilarious that he used his power to steal bones from other people and make himself as tall and buff as possible.

MAG 50: Foundations

Not much to note. I usually zone out more during the old timey statements but I got the general idea. Robert Smirke appeared again, I’m wondering what’s his deal. They say his buildings have a higher percentage of supernatural occurrences and he was rumored to have suspicious religious values so my theory is that he did some deal with something and now his buildings are just fucking like that. Also he said like “Balance, Equilibrium. The hardest thing for an architect to achieve. Symmetry is easy, but does not, in and of itself, result in balance. To stir, yada, yada” so this guy is already a little weird.

Also Tim congratulating Jon is the funniest thing ever wtf. “Don’t worry, I’m cool. 😏😏😏 good luck boss” like god. I mean supportive friend???? I guess??? 😭

MAG 51: High Pressure

God I hate the ocean. On another note, Simon Fairchild is back. When Jon said the case number, I had to go through the transcripts to figure out when he appeared before (thankful I understand the very confusing system) and he was in Freefall!

Anyways, looking back, this guy is definitely evil. This like 85 year old has evil schemes to make people go through an open area of sky or ocean like bro. In Freefall, the instructors name was Harriett Fairchild so I’m assuming she was in on it or like related to him. For gods sake, Simon said to Robert, “enjoy sky blue” like this man is a bastard. He knew what was happening. And he did say something to Antonia before he went down which I’m gonna assume “enjoy ocean blue” or shit like that. I hate him. And it’s definitely not because I hate being alone and open spaces.

Also another thing to note; fake Sasha. She’s been staring at that table. Jon described it as a fractal and she described it as a web. Both things that have been brought up a couple times in this podcast. I had to search up fractals to figure out what it was. That one guy I think in “Burned Out”, his dad was super obsessed with fractals. I don’t know how it ties into the plot but they do in some way. Also Gerard Keay made that eye painting that was described to get more intricate and minuscule which I think is a fractal?? Again, I have no idea.

Jon said “Sasha” has been going to a wax museum during her extra long lunch breaks. I got no theories why because what. Although it’s interesting because wax museums are replicants of real people most of the time and whatever that replaced Sasha is a replicant of a real person. So. Yeah no idea.

Anyways, I think that’s everything! They were some pretty calm episodes compared to the last couple ones which I’m grateful for

[gatheredfates]

Good morning all, happy Sunday! It is time for the weekly update to Sea's Community Compendium for XIV Creatives. 🪸

I need to remember not to reach out to people right before I put together the update, so this is rather small today!

As of 05/05, the following resources have been added (in no particular order!):

MISC

Roleplay Sonar — A XIV plugin that allows you to see people roleplaying out in the world.

Final Fantasy XIV Game Script — A simple transcription of the FFXIV game script, all on one page for easy searching. Still in progress, starting with MSQ and with plans to expand into optional content, side dialogue, etc. Maintained by @eriyu!

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here, send me an ask with the relevant information contained on the Compendium, or join my Discord at SEAFLOOR (21+ only)!

As a reminder, the answer to the question of "Is my resource/community applicable to the Compendium?" is almost always a resounding yes. I want to know what's out there. I want to feature your project!

However, for the sake of clarity, I'll pop the FAQ from this post below in a read more for you to check out if you're worried. ✨

I want to put my community on the compendium but we have an application process. Is this okay?

Yes! Just note somewhere in your application that's a requirement. The only thing that is mandatory for the Compendium is that you must be open to new members or have a public-facing/accessible facet. There's no point advertising a community if no one can join it in some way!

I want to put my community on the compendium but I only have x number of members —

Also totally okay! People don't start with large communities. Activity is a must but, whether your server has two or two thousand members, if you're looking for new people to join, I'd love to help you find people.

I want to put my community on the compendium but I worry its too niche?

Okay, and? If your Eorzean Fishing Alliance has four members but you roleplay every second weekend, I still want to know about it.

What resources/communities can I add if I'm not the owner of them?

Mutual consent is extremely important to me, so anything that isn't a large-scale community OR a publicly accessible resource must be endorsed by the owner/admin/moderators in order to be added to the compendium. I operate under the assumption that a resource posted to a public space (tumblr, googledocs, youtube, etc) is open to all. A large-scale community is one with a significant member count or openly advertises itself as being accessible to everyone for whatever purpose it serves. If in doubt, please get in touch with me. I'm happy to contact your community owners for you!

How active does a community need to be?

If you find a community has not been active in about two/three months, send me a message and I'll take a look at it. Communities have ebbs and flows, especially event spaces that may take hiatuses depending on member interest/life events. I'm not strict in my implementation provided a space isn't dead. If a link or anything is broken, absolutely contact me about that.

I have [insert a question not stated here]?

No drama! Send me an ask or use the #Compendium channel in my Discord!

[scoobydoodean]

hey pk I was wondering about something since I saw this analysis post about about the moc storyline, and i realised since you seem to have such a comprehensive understanding of the show AND are currently doing a rewatch AND always without fail have good and fair analysis, I could just ask you! so if it’s alright/if you have time, could you tell me if dean ever says stuff like ‘I wanna punch sth/c’mon let me just [do sth violent]’ before he ever has the mark? does he ever say it aside from that one scene in 10.20 i can remember?

btw love you you’re the best <3 coolest blog badge for you 🎖

Hello Jo! 🩷 Thank you for the badge it is a great honor to receive such an award. 😌

I cannot think of an example of this up to my current rewatch episode (6.06) though admittedly this isn't something I would think to take particular note of. However, perhaps butch—dean's transcript search could be of assistance!

I found Sam and Dean both saying they "want to hit/punch something" in season 12?

Dean in 12.14:

Dean: You know what? You find us a case. 'Cause I need to hit something. Now. Sam: You wanna talk about it?

Sam in 12.21:

Sam Seven Hunters are gone. We can't grab a signal from Mom's phone. Cas has Kelly Kline who knows where. Mick has slipped off the grid. Ketch is lying to us. I-I... I wanna punch something in the face. Dean: Good. Hold on to that, 'cause it looks like we got a hellhound to deal with. Which means…

The phrases "hit something" and "punch something" don't appear anywhere else in the transcripts said by Dean or Sam tho <3 I also tried "kill something", "hunt something", "murder something", "punch", and "to hit".

This isn't the same thing exactly but maybe tangentially relevant:

Dean has said "I need/want to work" before—once during the MoC arc in 10.04 but also in 4.08, but the context of the line in 4.08 is Sam is badgering him to open up about hell when Dean is not ready, so Dean says "I want to work" as a way of proving he is fine and getting Sam off his back and off the subject of Dean's trauma. Sam says the same thing in 7.11, and then in 2.18:

DEAN: Yeah. I just figured that, you know, after everything that happened with ... Madison, y-you could use a little R-and-R, that's all. SAM: Well, maybe I wanna work, Dean. Maybe it keeps my mind off things.

In 1.20, Sam also insist when Dean suggests R&R "we got work to do, and you know that."

[alliminoobers]

Finding the Truth

also known as "Shirevas (lightly) fucks around and finds out about project Shatter- (The overview that is mentioned can be found here.) Rooks mentioned: Nels - @madrabbit014 Esha - @i-creatied-au Isiah - @a-mumbling-nerd Dáire - @legendstrauma Zeph - @grenyxx

CW; Mentions of torture

Word Count: 904

“Damn stupid wisps.” Shirevas grumbled as they made their way to Esha's office. Their sketchbook was gone again, it obviously being the wisps again, and after checking out Zeph's room to see if it had been brought there, which it hadn't, they had gone to Nels’ office and carefully searched there, then to Isiah's room and then Dáire's room. It wasn't in any of their rooms either.

So Esha's office was the last one out of their siblings. So knocking twice on the door, they opened it, peeking in. “Esha? You in here?” No answer. Guess she isn't here then. She won't mind if I search around.

Closing the door behind them, they placed their hands on their hips. Shirevas would rather not make a mess of things so they should try and be careful. Either way, let's just start.

It clearly wouldn't be an easy search this time, it wasn't like it was disorganized or anything. There was just a lot to comb through and they still were not keen on making a mess. 

So making their way through the room, they kept checking various spots and small spaces, frustration growing by each second.

Not having access to their sketchbook made them feel restless, and worried. They shared their sketches freely with others so they could see any information and so on, so that aspect was fine but their sketchbook just more or less disappearing for no apparent reason was unacceptable. 

Checking over the desk, still grumbling about the stupid wisps and their kleptomaniac needs, either they or something else knocks over some files and folders.

Their sketchbook was not among any of the folders but one file caught their eyes. Picking it up, they noted the text on it. ‘Project Shatter’. Odd.

Shirevas shouldn't do it, but there was a gnawing feeling in the back of their head that this was important.

Taking a look at the closed door, they sat down and tentatively opened the file. Eyes scanning the page, it was like their heart stopped.

Project Shatter was about Nels, and not only that, about those four years they were gone to the military. They really shouldn't be reading this at all.

Shirevas never found out what had happened during those four years, Nels being very tightlipped about it. 

Every word on the page had them grow increasingly angry. They never knew the former Imperator had such interest in their family. The fact they had been under such scrutiny simply for their dad adopting “non-humans”. The thought of them and their siblings being handed over to Imperial custody and essentially becoming slaves had them feeling sick to their stomach.

They knew if they kept reading, it would only get worse. With near trembling hands, they flipped the page to continue.

For each thing they read, the nauseating feeling kept growing. The things they found, from letters to missions, to torture resistance training. They had to stop reading the transcript for those, the image of their older sibling getting tortured was too much to think about. 

“Torture resistance” their ass, they were just plain and simply torturing them for the heck of it. 

There was anger boiling underneath their skin, Shirevas wanted to burn down the magisterium, for all the pain they had caused their sibling, and they wanted to scream because of how unfair this was. Why did no one tell them about this?

Shirevas had to stop reading every few seconds to compose themself so they didn't turn their older sister's office into an ice cube.  

As they continued reading, they kept processing every detail until they gave up and threw the file on the desk, hands still trembling. It was like they had blasted themself with their own ice, every nerve in their body felt numb.

It was clear that only Esha (and Nels obviously) knew of this entire thing, and now Shirevas knew as well. 

Nels was currently away in Ventus for a few days, so they had time to figure out what to do, if they go ahead and come clean that they know or if they just keep it secret.

There was no way they could keep it quiet, this was not a thing you just up and forget about entirely. Shirevas needed to speak with Nels about this and then deal with the possible fallout of that knowledge. 

Shirevas didn’t bother to place the file back in its original place, still feeling numb from what they've uncovered. Tears fell and they hastily wiped them away, fuck, they just wanted to sob. 

The nauseating feeling was still there as they left Esha's office, not caring that they hadn’t found their sketchbook. They were so lost in thought they didn't notice where they were headed until they were in front of Nels’ office.

Biting their lip, they decided to go for it. Opening the door, they peered in even if they already knew Nels wouldn't be there. Esha the kitten was there though, napping away on the bed. It was so tempting to lay down and nap as well but no, not when it felt like lighting under their skin.

Walking over to the desk, they grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and began to write. Once they were done, they left the note folded on the desk and left the room.

—

“Once you are back from Ventus, we need to talk. Please.

-Shirevas”

[breakerwhiskey]

185 - ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE

Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.

Transcript under the cut. For more episodes, click here.

[click, static]

I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but I’ll be quick, I promise.

I came back to the house. I staked it out for a good three hours first, to be sure that no one else was here, but it’s clear that someone has been here. The house is torn apart since I was last here—I don’t know what Junior is looking for…maybe nothing. Maybe his father’s watch. Maybe he heard my broadcast the other day. Maybe he just wanted to break anything and everything in his path, just because he could.

A lot of our supplies are gone too—I don’t know if Harry took some when she left or if he’s taken them, but I just hope they’re being used by someone. I’m still not sure how to feel about the whole Junior thing—I’m mostly trying to not think about it at all if I’m entirely honest—but I’d be happy to inadvertently be feeding him or helping him survive somehow. Mi casa es su casa, I guess.

I’m not thrilled about my Carhartt jacket though—that seems to be missing as well. I’d been hoping to…I don’t know, I didn’t really pack all that many sentimental objects when I left but I wanted to—I don’t know. I liked that coat. And coming back here made me realize how much I missed—

[click, static]

Well, I fucking miss cigarettes that’s for sure. If I ever have a garden again, I wonder if I can figure out how to grow tobacco and roll my own. Though, at this point, with everything I’ve been dealing with, I might have to resort to smoking the seven year old packs lying around.

Anyway, the jacket is gone. It wasn’t on its usual hook and I searched the whole house and its…gone. I’m assuming Junior didn’t take it, but I can’t remember if it was here last week when I came back to the house for the first time. Maybe Harry threw it out the day I left. Maybe she took it with her when—

(scoffs) Probably not that. More likely she just tossed it. Or cut it up into scraps to line the chicken coop.

I should get going, I think. It’s not good to linger. But I—well, I left Harry a note. On the off chance that she does come back here. It’s got the same info I’ve said on the radio, with a new meeting place in case…

Well, in case. I also—well, I wrote—I know he probably wouldn’t want to hear what I have to say, so maybe I’ll just keep it and—

[click, static]

(sigh) I don’t know. I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t know if there’s anything I should be taking with me from the house. Any other bits of sentiment, any remaining supplies.

I have this feeling…I don’t think I’ll ever be back here after this. I think—

[a creak of the door opening behind her]

(gasps) Wh—

[click, static]

[rorystormandthehurricanes]

Interview with Lu Walters regarding Ringo Starr. (July 18, 1963) (my own notes below)

" I met Ringo during the old Skiffle days. He was appearing at the Mardi Gras with Rory Storm and was dressed in a long black Teddy Boy suit. Later, I joined the group which was then known as the Raving Texans and we played numerous dates around the Liverpool area.

Ringo was not an exceptional drummer at the time, but as the group progressed he improved to such an extent that we realized he would be a very good drummer.

We had some good times when we made our first appearance at Butlin's holiday camp. Ringo was the lazy one of the group. In the mornings he used to sleep late, and if woken would be very bad tempered. The first signs of him waking took the form of one open eye which was staring round the chalet. Then it would be between one hour and 1 1/2 hours before he'd stir properly. Then he wouldn't speak for an hour or so. After that he'd revert to his normal self. He was the life and soul of any party we went to and was well liked because of his sense of humour.

We had quite a laugh watching him take swimming lessons off Ty*. At one time he seemed to be doing fine until he realized that he was out of his depth and in the twelve-footer. Then he just yelled and vanished from sight. It ended when three of us dived in and pulled him out - we had a good laugh about it afterwards. " (full interview here)

My thoughts/corrections, some things to consider, and more interviews below the cut!

This interview is strange because who is to say it actually happened, yet it does have accurate information for the most part and if it was made up the author seems to have a grasp on the Hurricanes and their individual members. However, one thing that could possibly be incorrect is the whole "swimming lesson" thing.

* Vi, Rory's mother, has a slightly different version of the swimming story.

“Rory found out that Ringo could not swim a stroke so he decided to try and teach him,” recalled Vi. “It was fine at first, but then they became more ambitious and decided to go underwater swimming which almost caused a tragedy. Rory told me that suddenly a pair of hands appeared from beneath the waves, desperately searching for something to grab onto. Ringo’s swimming obviously wasn’t good enough for underwater yet. Luckily, Rory saw what was happening and pulled him out.” (via Beatles Book monthly, section taken from this article)

Beatles Book monthly also has some mistakes and made up stories from time to time, but their interviews can be somewhat reliable, and this seems like a pretty obscure thing to make up. While memories just might be obscured because I can imagine all of them were together during the swimming incident, it's becoming a determining factor for whether or not this interview is legit.

To me, it sounds like the interview itself is legit however whoever wrote the transcript flubbed a few things. However, we will never know for sure if this is the case. If anyone has any other information, please let me know!

[starberry-cupcake]

tmagp ep 10 commentary

OK...SO

yt comments were right and I found it very useful to be at least somewhat caught up with the arg narrative for this one

on that note, thank you to @ryutarotakedown who responded to my previous post about it and offered useful links

and thank you to the fans who have compiled a summary of narrative content of the arg (found in the replies of the post) because the official rq post on it is lacking the narrative content aspect of it, which is the most important part imo

also thank you to reddit user Bonzos-number-1-fan and this comment which includes a document with some of the arg info and the CHDB scores

also thank you to reddit user Mrf1shie for this comment with a link to an official arg repository of some codes, files and texts

it would be much better if it was written text of storyline that I could understand more than codes and folders but still, much appreciated

like, I don't want to rant about it, and about how an official written down and screencapped compilation and organization of information that is no longer available to search online would have been great to have, but come on

I also found that it was absolutely essential to read the transcript on this one

it would be so much easier to have the transcript added as a subtitle in the yt upload of the podcast, it would be so so so helpful, but ok, it's fine, it's fine

like, yeah, I did open the transcript alongside the pod but there is so much added detail in this one in very important descriptions that I had to pause many times to not have the dialogue move faster than I could read the context

worms???? in my magnus institute??? more likely than you think!

new repeat voice actor who was in a previous episode just dropped with [ERROR] being credited as the same voice actress who played my namesake the meat pit lady

colin is back and better than ever, if something happens to him I'm gonna hunt down the evils who take him for sport

tape recorder is back and better than ever, we missed you friend

I felt that I could listen to The Previous Podcast without having to be deeply involved in fandom spaces, but this one is making me feel left out and that I'm missing half of the conversation with all this info I don't have

I made graphics and notes of The Previous One for my own personal enjoyment, but this one is giving me Team Homework which is something I dread

I don't think it's enough yet to push me to become a reddit user after so many years of being a reddit lurker, or to join a discord server of a fandom I'm terribly scared of, so I'll continue to look for info from the shadows

Bonzo might be the one magnus creature I'm actively annoyed by, I'm gonna listen about him but I'm gonna complain the whole time

[mollytranscribes]

[Profile picture transcription: An eye shape with a rainbow flag covering the whites. The iris in the middle is red, with a white d20 for a pupil. End transcription.]

Hello! This is a blog specifically dedicated to image transcriptions. My main blog is @mollymaclachlan.

For those who don't know, I used to be part of r/TranscribersOfReddit, a Reddit community dedicated to transcribing posts to improve accessibility. That project sadly had to shut down, partially as a result of the whole fiasco with Reddit's API changes. But I miss transcribing and I often see posts on Tumblr with no alt text and no transcription.

So! Here I am, making a new blog. I'll be transcribing posts that need it when I see them and I have time; likely mainly ones I see on my dashboard. I also have asks open so anyone can request posts or images.

I have plenty of experience transcribing but that doesn't mean I'm perfect. We can always learn to be better and I'm not visually impaired myself, so if you have any feedback on how I can improve my transcriptions please don't hesitate to tell me. Just be friendly about it.

The rest of this post is an FAQ, adapted from one I posted on Reddit.

1. Why do you do transcriptions?

Transcriptions help improve the accessibility of posts. Tumblr has capabilities for adding alt-text to images, but not everyone uses it, and it has a character limit that can hamper descriptions for complex images. The following is a non-exhaustive list of the ways transcriptions improve accessibility:

They help visually-impaired people. Most visually-impaired people rely on screen readers, technology that reads out what's on the screen, but this technology can't read out images.

They help people who have trouble reading any small, blurry or oddly formatted text.

In some cases they're helpful for people with colour deficiencies, particularly if there is low contrast.

They help people with bad internet connections, who might as a result not be able to load images at high quality or at all.

They can provide context or note small details many people may otherwise miss when first viewing a post.

They are useful for search engine indexing and the preservation of images.

They can provide data for improving OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology.

2. Why don't you just use OCR or AI?

OCR (Optical Character Recoginition) is technology that detects and transcribes text in an image. However, it is currently insufficient for accessibility purposes for three reasons:

It can and does get a lot wrong. It's most accurate on simple images of plain text (e.g. screenshots of social media posts) but even there produces errors from time to time. Accessibility services have to be as close to 100% accuracy as possible. OCR just isn't reliable enough for that.

Even were OCR able to 100%-accurately describe text, there are many portions of images that don't have text, or relevant context that should be placed in transcriptions to aid understanding. OCR can't do this.

"AI" in terms of what most people mean by it - generative AI - should never be used for anything where accuracy is a requirement. Generative AI doesn't answer questions, it doesn't describe images, and it doesn't read text. It takes a prompt and it generates a statistically-likely response. No matter how well-trained it is, there's always a chance that it makes up nonsense. That simply isn't acceptable for accessibility.

3. Why do you say "image transcription" and not "image ID"?

I'm from r/TranscribersOfReddit and we called them transcriptions there. It's ingrained in my mind.

For the same reason, I follow advice and standards from our old guidelines that might not exactly match how many Tumblr transcribers do things.

[middle-earth-mythopoeia]

12, 19, 22, 23

Thanks for the ask! :) Someone else asked me 12, 19 and 22 as well, so this is for both of you.

The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them:

Emeldir! It’s not that she’s unpopular, exactly. She’s just a female character in the Silmarillion, and she doesn’t appear very often at that, so all of this gets her thoroughly ignored. But I think she’s fascinating and I wish more people talked about her. (Goodness knows fans devote plenty of time and attention to male characters more obscure than she is.) I wrote a longer post about her here. There needs to be more about Emeldir!

Speaking of obscure characters—not unpopular per se, just obscure—I feel like people should pay WAY more attention to Miaulë. We need to talk about Miaulë. I love him. I’m obsessed with him. I will not rest until the whole world loves him as much as I do. I have a similar soft spot for Tevildo, and I’ve even tried justifying his inclusion in the later mythology. Which goes double for Miaulë. All hail Miaulë!

You’re mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

I don’t really feel shame—I just enjoy things! But horrified? That’s different! Once I stayed up until literally 4am deciphering a manuscript from the LOTR movies written in the mode of Beleriand (but in English, it’s not like I actually know Elvish). Keep in mind that I didn’t read the mode of Beleriand at the time—I’m way more comfortable with the Sindarin mode and I’m alright with the Quenya mode—and I was like, “Oh, this page is in the mode of Beleriand! Well, that won’t stop me!” And I chose the middle of the night to do this?! Anyway, AFTER all that, I found a link to the transcription. But it was a fun challenge.

AND THEN I decided to read this other manuscript in the mode of Beleriand, Thorin’s letter to Bilbo (this one was written by Tolkien himself). It was even harder, because not only is it in tengwar, not only is it in the mode of Beleriand, the handwriting is also very difficult in parts AND the spelling is weird. I had so much fun. And then I was like, “What the fuck is wrong with me?” (Note: I didn’t read it with a copy of the letter in English to refer to. Oh, no. That would have been too sane.)

This was in 2020. I’ve only gotten worse since then.

Another time someone asked me, “There seem to be a lot of twins in Tolkien’s books—are there more twins in Middle-earth than in the modern world?” And then I, myself a twin, determined to answer this question definitively, made an Excel spreadsheet of all named Tolkien characters and what percentage of them are twins, and I found that the number of twins in Tolkien is about the same as we have now, or lower, depending on which characters you count. But it’s not higher! So now we know.

Another time I saw a post saying, “But are we SURE that all of Tolkien’s male Elves had long hair?” So I opened my PDF of LOTR and did a word search for “hair” and looked at all the examples. And then I opened my PDF of the entirety of HOME and did another word search for “hair” (there were over 400 mentions) and also “locks” and other synonyms, and then I looked at EVERY SINGLE ITERATION in order to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Tolkien’s male Elves have long hair. Because I’m insane, but I’m also right.

Another time I spent literally hours trying to calculate how long it would have taken Fingon to reach Angband on foot when he set out to rescue Maedhros, depending on how far he travelled each day, etc. We’re talking actual math here. Measuring distances on the map of Beleriand. Entering different variables. I was very dedicated.

Am I normal? No. Do I feel shame? Also no. Do I sometimes horrify myself nonetheless? Yes I do.

Your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores:

I love this question. It’s hard to answer because I have so many favorite parts of canon that most people ignore. (Like the entirety of the Lays of Beleriand.) Admittedly, whether this is part of canon is debatable because it’s from the Book of Lost Tales, but I absolutely love this part. For context, Ælfwine and his companions had been looking for Valinor for years and had almost given up hope of ever finding it, and then this happens:

Then none spoke for wonder and amaze, seeing deep in the gloaming of the West a blue shadow, and in the blue shadow many glittering lights, and ever more and more of them came twinkling out, until ten thousand points of flickering radiance were splintered far away as if a dust of the jewels self-luminous that Fëanor made were scattered on the lap of the Ocean… Then came there music very gently over the waters and it was laden with unimagined longing, that Ælfwine and his comrades leant upon their oars and wept softly each for his heart’s half-remembered hurts, and memory of fair things long lost, and each for the thirst that is in every child of Men for the flawless loveliness they seek and do not find. 

It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to read this without getting chills, or without it bringing tears to my eyes. The blue shadows? The lights? The music? The flawless loveliness they seek and do not find? Tolkien captures such a bittersweet feeling in this passage that it’s actually excruciating, because we can’t go there. What happens next is that Ælfwine leaps from the ship and goes to Valinor, and his comrades never see him again. The reader, like Ælfwine‘s companions, is left behind—allowed to see the Undying Lands for just a moment, but never able to go there. The feeling I get from this is very similar to the feeling I get at the end of LOTR, when we catch a glimpse of Valinor through Frodo’s eyes—but that’s it. And even though it makes me sad, I love it so much and I wouldn’t wish that it be written any other way.

A ship you’ve unwillingly come around to:

Alcarondas. I don’t like the fact that Ar-Pharazôn tried to make war on Valinor, obviously, but the ship itself was pretty cool. (Sorry for answering this in such a chaotic way, but I couldn’t resist!)

[phantomguild]

Star Sending Part 1

PokeAsk Star Sending Gift for @sweetdreamscafe // Part 2

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

Minerva looked over the wishlist she’d been given. Several of these things were definitely in the realm of possibility for her, though a few of them would require her to leave to scavenge them from ruins. She took note of several bullet points on the list in particular. Astrology books, a telescope, a lunar feather, and interesting gemstones. Giving a nod, she opened the gate to the Phantom Guild and set out towards one of the ruined towns.

It was a good few miles off, which gave her plenty of time to think about how she’d even find the items once she got there. She knew that there was a library that was mostly intact, so she could probably find the books and telescope there. Lunar feathers were typically used as good luck charms and were quite popular, so there was a good chance she’d find one searching through someone’s bedroom. She’d scavenged for evolution stones from the shops in the town before, so she knew they had some interesting things.

Faster than she thought, she arrived in the dilapidated village. Another town, devastated long ago by the Hollow, most valuables taken by scavengers ages ago. There were only a few buildings left standing, at least half of them being little more than rubble. Most of the other smaller towns in the area had been annihilated, and while the larger cities in the world were hanging on, they’ve had a few times they were hanging on by only a thread. Shaking her head to dismiss her thoughts, Minerva entered one of the few buildings that was still standing, the careful stonework and tiles weathering the test of time for the most part.

While there were a few broken windows and the library was covered in ivy, there was still a good chance that what she was looking for was inside. Hollow Pokémon didn’t normally just destroy random things, they almost exclusively attacked other Pokémon, and anything that got in the way of that goal. Looking through the listings for books in the inventory (dated 30 years ago, yeesh), she saw several listings for Astrology books.

A few of them were transcribed from memories of the human world by one of the previous heroes, by the Fennekin that had helped stop Dark Matter, specifically, but the majority of them were on this world’s version of it. She noticed there were plenty of similarities between the two interpretations of it. While she did intend to give at least one copy of most of these books, she’d just grab an extra copy for her own interests.

Stepping onto the second story, she took note of the toppled bookshelves, specifically over the section that had the books she needed. She grunted as she attempted to push the wooden shelf upright, and while she did manage to briefly accomplish it, it tilted too far in the other direction, threatening to topple again. “Shit-” was all Minerva managed to stammer out before it slammed into the wall, the noise echoing through the library and likely the surrounding ruins as well. Her body froze as she heard that thundering ‘thud’, expecting a horde of Hollow Pokémon to appear.

She waited three minutes, standing still as a statue in the dim light of the afternoon sun shining through a nearby window and nothing showed. She decided to grab the gift copies for now and grab some for herself later. Grabbing a book with an ornate cover about her world’s version of astrology, a few books about her world’s zodiac Pokémon and the human world’s zodiac, and the transcription of the human world’s astrology, she darted towards the skylight in the center of the room. There sat a refracting telescope, partially in disrepair, but it’d be easy enough to fix. Minerva grabbed it, locked its three legs together, and vaulted over the railing back onto the first floor. “Two down, two to go… I just have to hope I’m fast enough.”

Taking off back outside, she could sense the dread in the air, already able to tell that something had heard her. She needed to wrap this up quickly if she wanted to make it out. Deciding that subtlety was out with Hollows already closing in, she burst through the front door of a mostly intact home, and began tearing through the shelves for the feather. Eventually, she found it under a bit of stray bedding. Picking up the Lunar Wing, she bolted back out the door.

“One more left…” She whispered under her breath as she ran. The sky was already turning crimson, a dark aura surrounding the entire village. It was getting harder to breathe, and her body burned with exhaustion from not normally running this long. Approaching the old Kecleon stand, now in ruins and nature having reclaimed the majority of it, Minerva began to dig through the rubble. While she found plenty of Gravelrocks, she figured that it’d be a bit plain for what Boo had in mind writing his list.

She heard a roar and immediately froze, knowing that running was no longer an option and that hiding would be pointless. She set down her bag containing her gifts and stood up, looking over her shoulder. Standing on top of the library was what looked like a Hollow Entei. Though she quickly realized it was a counterfeit as soon as she saw that it looked off. Its body was losing its shape before slowly moving back into place, as if it was struggling to hold its body together. Though counterfeit or not, it was still powerful and at least half as dangerous as the real thing, and with her unable to predict what Pokémon went into its creation, she didn’t know its types.

“I see that it’s been busy trying to make more Legendary Pokémon since Hollowgigas turned out so well…” she muttered under her breath. She was in a tight spot, especially considering she was out of practice for battle. Still, she readied herself, a dazzling aura surrounding her body. Though before either one could launch their attacks, an angry, high voice shouted from the forest.

“Leave Minerva…” A streak of green whizzed by Minerva, azure embers trailing behind. “Alone!!” A thick, glowing tail slammed into the Entei, knocking it back. Though the wound from Mint’s Dragon Tail was quickly healing, the young hybrid wasn’t yet finished. Summoning whatever fragments of power she could gather within herself, she let out a massive shockwave of blue fire, healing Minerva, and wounding the counterfeit Legendary.

Though she knew that Embers of Life harmed Hollow Pokémon, that wasn’t her primary intention in using it. She was really trying to dispel the Hollow Aura surrounding Entei that increased its power and allowed it to quickly recover from most attacks.