#or unrefined stuff in general

[lunaryllite]

phossu phossu

[jambalaya-enthusiast]

Weird question but what sort of smells/ perfumes to you think the tulpar crew uses? It’s really bizarre I’m aware but it’s popped into my brain and now I can’t stop thinking about it.

Also I’ve been lurking on your blog for a while (late October I’m an og 💪) and I’m behind a few asks 😇. Wondering if you do emoji anons? If so can I be your ��� anon?

yes ofc you can be 🐁 anon!!<33

Curly— vibrant, fresh, clean.

Curly would smell like a warm hug, I know that doesn't make any sense but he would probably smell like sweat from always working with hints of herbal skincare from whatever soaps and shampoos he might use while showering, with a hint of citrusy notes because he just gives off those vibes, he would also smell like fresh laundry because his uniform of always tidy and neat.

if we stick to the idea of him being a well paid man then I'd assume he's into those classy and exxy💸 perfumes like dior sauvage, and Jean Paul Gaultier. Something which isn't overpowering yet subtle and pleasantly noticeable.

Jimmy— harsh, cheap, unrefined.

Now let's be true to ourselves,i could've damn well just said he dowses a can of axe spray to make up for his lack of showers. But we know that he does in fact enjoy showering and taking care of his hygiene, but the guy who says that 'hobbies are for people with money' i don't think he'd care too much about what he smells like, nor would he be spending money unnecessarily on expensive perfumes.

Jimmy smells of sweat, cigarettes with a hint of whatever cheap perfume he uses, with slight notes of a sour undertone, he's the kinda guy to keep 13-1 shampoos on the deck, so his hair would probably smell like that. He doesn't smell like shit, just very generic. If we talk about fragrances, then if curly offers to buy him stuff, he'd probably go for JPG—Le Male, which has a very overpowering scent, since he wouldn't probably be very good at buying perfumes and would just ask curly what he uses and pick one.

Anya— feminine, floral, gentle.

Anya would smell very clean, her hair would smell of the floral shampoo which she uses, she'll probably have sandalwood tones to her, misty, woody, light scents which don't draw too much attention but are subtle and gentle. Since she enjoys fast food, on a casual day she might smell like burgers and fries, but that's what it means to be human.

I don't think she'd be too keen on spending too much money on scents, but I do believe she picks out the ones which actually smell good. Think floral, fruity, vanilla. Peach or pear, those kind of undertones. I'd say she uses that one Versace perfume she bought 7 years ago in a yolo moment which she uses preciously, or affordable floral perfumes which are actually very pleasant and subtle and not brash.

Swansea— Earthy, Woody, Refined.

Aside from being a sneakerhead, I'll assume Swansea likes taking care of his hygiene as well, which would include what he smells like. On his own Swansea would smell like sweat, but with mechanical undertones like engine oil or metal. He's have sour and warm notes as well, he buys branded belts and would smell like leather.

He'd probably have his wife choose his perfumes for him for what she thinks suits him the best, probably like Tom Ford, or Chanel Coromandel.

Daisuke— Fresh, Playful, Tropical.

Daisuke is a youngster and he knows where the heats at, he most likely keeps up with trends and what's the latest move, but he obviously wouldn't smell like the freaking Italian mafia or a rich grandpa from the suburbs.

On his own Daisuke smells citrusy, hints of coconut and fresh mints. ( He secretly smokes and chews bubblegum to cover up the smell ) he'd smell like fresh soap and shampoo because he'd definitely be up in the taking care of his looks and hygiene game to impress the ladies.

He doesn't have problems buying expensive perfumes like Tom ford, sauvage, Versace, but tropical events would suit him the most like Creed Royal, Hermes or Tommy Bahama

[dopscratch]

so i played the OFF remaster prologue

here are my thoughts so far (spoilers under the cut)

copy pasted from messages i sent earlier because im lazy sorry if its worded weird. also these are just kneejerk opinions straight unedited from the brain juice so they may suck and may change later on

first off ok the extra animations? i absolutely love. gives it a ton of extra life and seeing a few new little bits was really fun and it really smooths out the experience

the new ui? also mostly a win, though i feel iffy on the horizontal menu as opposed to vertical? also i kinda miss the greyscale with a splash of orange palette they had going initially so though i dont mind the extra color i felt like the ui being dark really complimented the batter as not fitting in with the rest of the colorful world. new textboxes are exquisite though battle differences: i like how it feels, attacking and otherwise doing stuff feels a bit more impactful and like you're actually doing something rather than slapping a brick wall.

i mourn the loss of the auto function though because even though i didnt use it i felt like it was a really fun lore bit of the batter taking over with his really aggressive style of battle.

also minor complaint but i do NOT like what they did to wide angle. i miss how it used to give you info on ALL the enemies in the battle with a single use and i also miss being able to see the hp and weakness/resistance stats

now for the REAL negatives. the music. this was just miss after miss after miss for me and though i appreciate having some new stuff it's just not off to me

the songs themselves aren't bad at all. like they aren't bad songs. on their own they are pretty fun. but i don't feel like they capture the vibe NEARLY enough

off's songs have a very specific feel, and the music so far just feels way too polished and sanded down. and they also just feel audibly quieter?

the original songs in my opinion have this sort of weighty, unrefined quality to them that brought extra emotional nuance to it, as well as making them really compound on that slightly uncanny feel. it felt really personal and intimate and the new songs just lack that kind of in your face sort of vibe. its hard to explain

the new soundtrack feels a lot more like generic kinda electroswingy vibes which like. okay i love that kinda stuff but it's not really off

off to me is crunchy, loud, often discordant, often desperate, and the new soundtrack just sounds like it plays itself way too subtle and safe

anyway i'll probably still play the whole rerelease through with the new music to experience it, but i'll definitely be doing any subsequent playthroughs with the old music modded in (or just the old 2.0 version which is my favorite)

the new music just feels like it goes in too much where it should be subtle and holds back too much when it should go wild

for example, the new battle theme vs the new clockwork.

the new battle theme doesn't go crazy enough and just feels kinda like an average little aesthetic lofi background song you'd here pretty much anywhere and doesn't go nearly wild enough with making things skip around chaotically.

in contrast, the new clockwork's extra distortions and very electric/glitchy feel take away from the weighty monotony of the old clockwork. the ticking is way lighter and less chunky, and feels more like someone flicking a pen and letting it skitter across the desk rather than a clock hand's unstoppable passage of time. the background melodies also fit too seamlessly in with each other rather than being stressfully overlain in a slightly discordant manner like the original. also my biggest complaint is the complete LACK of the speedup at the end which was like one of. THE moments for me. like that kicks the feeling that the original clockwork generates into high gear and they just completely left it out and honestly this is such a bummer because the track in the trailer theme was WAY closer to capturing the feeling of off than any of the currently available new tracks right now. like it still felt a little too smooth and manufactured but it was CLOSE and it was also really awesome sounding

ok one more massive complaint is what happened to dedan's battle theme. i wanted to like it i really did but it just doesn't have the right vibe. fake orchestra was really serious and had this feeling of desperation to it. once again its like that weightiness. it plodded forward at a good pace, and it felt pretty grandiose but justifiably so.

the new one... it just feels like its there i guess? it feels way too fast in my opinion which just makes each percussive sound feel more lightweight and agile when dedan is more of like a solid marching figure. and then of course that problem with almost all of the new ost songs where it just sounds way too far away and quiet. i dont mind the bonetrousle nod, i think its a fun little note to where papyrus actually came from and i think it's fun toby snuck it in there, i just wish it could have been utilized in a better way with the vibe matching up to the grandiose nature of the original.

i fear what will happen to endless hallway

[wishing-on-a-staranise]

Ch 4: Sleeping over.

(s.h. x gn!reader)

Summary: a lot of stuff happens and you have a bad feeling about all of it.

A/n: truly scraping the bottom of the motivation barrel. that chapter summary is soooo bad soz bbs :(

Word count: 8.1k+

Warnings/tags: no use of pronouns (gn!reader); use of (y/n); magnets; Hopper being a jealous guy🚩; flashback; weird accurate customer-service interaction;

<-prev ch

next ch->

masterlist

...

You are awakened by the sound of thunder rumbling. When you open your eyes, you have to double check the time to make sure that you haven’t woken up too early.

It reads 8:27 a.m.

Looking out the windows you see grey clouds swirling over the Hawkins’ sky, the trees around the cabin rustling with the fast winds.

You rub your eyes and let out a sigh before finally rolling out of bed, messy from a night full of tossing and turning. another nightmare.

Images of the lab flash in your brain. the sickening fluorescent lights. The hospital gowns. the doctors. The machines. The tanks. The shock collar. the guards. Him. Papa. The people he had made you kill. Their memories. The cold. 

Your brothers and sisters. Eight.

Kali.

That's what her name was now; you found out through El.

you were jealous once again of El. jealous that she got the chance to meet Kali and you didn't. she got to meet her. Kali let her see her, and she hadn't even let you find her in the void back when you had your powers.

You walk through the quiet cabin, the wooden floor creaking under your feet. you fill up a glass of water from the tap. you gulp down the water while opening the latch of the window. when you swing open the window, a gust of wind hits you along with the smell of impending rain.

you take a deep breath in, lungs filling with the earthy smell that comes with these winds. A choir of birds chirps nearby. The branches moved with the winds, their leaves pattering, acting as a white noise. You close your eyes, holding your breath for a while before letting it out. When you first stayed with hopper at the age of 14, he taught this to you, to calm yourself down when he woke up to you screaming in the middle of the night. 

With your eyes still closed, you do it again, holding your breath for longer this time. These days you find yourself doing this entire routine more. A yawn breaks out of you accompanied by stretching yourself out a little– a crack and a satisfying pop sounds from your lower back.

You stay by the window a little longer before finally turning around to get something from the fridge. As you do so, you notice the note Eleven had written, stuck to the refrigerator with some tape– Gone to Maxs sleeping over  --El.  

you smile at the unrefined handwriting, glad that El is becoming good friends with Max.

You open the fridge, gathering the stuff you needed to fix yourself some sandwiches and juice, doing so in silence since Hopper had cut off the TV.

A groan echoes in the cabin. Speak of the devil. You hear the sound of the shower going off, a few more groans heard every now and then.

you sigh, definitely still mad at him. 

When he comes out into the living room/kitchen, he does so with a bottle of pills rattling in his hand, wearing nothing but a towel tied around his waist. He pours the contents of the bottle into his hands before downing them and throwing the bottle in the general direction of the table you all normally ate at. You make a mental note to pick that up later.

The man paid no heed to your presence. You watch with a disgusted frown as he starts drinking right out of the carton rather unmannerly. Your nose scrunches in cringe and a scowl morphs itself onto your features when he lets out a loud burp.

You were about to get back to your sandwich when there were rapid knocks at the door followed by a call for, “Hopper!” the muffled voice of a woman came. Joyce. “Are you there?”, she asks while knocking continuously against the old wooden door.

Hopper quickly makes his way through the cabin and opens the door, “aww! look who it is!”, he says with mockery dripping in his tone.

Joyce skips all salutations and pleasantries, walking towards the fridge, saying, “we need to talk.”

“Yeah, we do”, he punctuates his sentence by slamming the door. “I haven’t been stood up like that since Alice Gilbert in 9th grade.”

you blink, not wanting to listen anymore of Hopper's love life, you get up from your seat on the couch, Initially meaning to retreat to your room. But as you made your way, curiosity blooms in you as you lean against your room's door instead. You watch as Joyce puts her bag on the floor, scrambling to take some things out of her bag. She does so frantically, deciding to rather just dump all the contents of the bag instead.

“What are you doing?”, he questions with a squint,  “Joyce? Hello?” he asks loudly when he gets no immediate response from the lady.

“Just…. watch”, she said before taking one of the magnets and trying to put it on the metal surface of the fridge. She looks at Hopper and then you before releasing the magnet.

It falls with a clatter.

your mind immediately goes back to two days ago when you had found your own fridge magnets on the floor when you had your first fight with Hopper.

The woman in front of you tries to put the magnet on again, and it falls… again. She looks with wide eyes towards the man, shaking her head as if awaiting a response or reaction from him.

“Okay, you're freaking me out”, he says with no expression.

“You slipped on this, remember?” she says, holding up the magnet.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, it fell in the night and it lost its magnetism”, she explains.

“Oh, did it?” he asks with a pout.

“And the same exact thing happened at my house the day before.”

“Wow--”, he sighs as he says it.

“It happened here too”, you interject his bitchy tone.

“What? no, don’t entertain this”, he holds up what you assume is a warning finger.

But the woman pays no mind to it, turning towards you, she asks, “So, it happened here too?”

You nod, not really maintaining any of eye contact with her, instead glancing at Hopper while answering, “happened like.. two days ago”

"Okay, you're going to your room", he points to the door you are standing by, his inflection almost more protective than authoritative.

you still grit your teeth a little, defensive, "I'll do whatever I want"

"that's weird, right?” she turns back to Hopper, probably consciously deciding to ignore your bickering, questioning the man with wide eyes and her jittery hands, “Like why are all these magnets suddenly losing their magnetism?” you and Hopper share a look. you get him, kind of. it all is a little ridiculous. but you get her as well, everything upside-down related is absolutely ridiculous. and who are you to judge her considering you definitely the second most paranoid person right after Joyce Byers. “Anyway, so I went to Scott.” she continues, also deciding to not pay attention to Hopper's mockery.

“Scott. Who’s Scott?” You sigh and roll your eyes when the man in front of you mocks Joyce; trying his best not to show the twinge of jealousy and failing disastrously.

“Scott Clarke” Joyce states, still not quite catching Jim’s true meaning of his words.

“Your child's science teacher?” he squints.

“He’s pretty brilliant actually”, she explains, hands moving fast and her tongue faster, “And I asked him, ‘how is this happening?’ and he built this magnetic field using an AC transformer and plugging it into a solenoid and with that solenoid–”

“Slow down, slow down”, He sits up a little straighter, holding his hands up to stop the woman from rambling, “I just wanna make this exactly right, okay?”

He bends down slightly to come eye to eye with her, his irritation openly evident on his features, “You stand me up”, he counts, holding up his finger infront of her face. You sigh before burying your face in your palm. “no phone call, no apology”, he adds two more fingers up in the air to add count to the list, “because you had to go to Scott Clarke's house.”

“Yeah.” Joyce replies, as if it were the most obvious thing.

The tall man scoffs and chuckles before clapping his hands once, “you’ve outdone yourself, Joyce”, he says before turning to create some space between them and when she tries to speak up, he immediately interjects, “No, you really have. You have outdone yourself.”

“Oh, c’mon Hop. you’re not even listening to me”, she takes a few steps to cover the distance that he had created, “Scott was able to demagnetize some of the magnets and he thinks–”

“I don’t care what Scott thinks!--” he shouts, irritated, cutting the woman off.

“He thinks,” she shouts back so she can be heard, “that a large-scale magnetic field could be built by using some sort of machine or– or experimental technology–”

a pit forms itself in your gut at those words. experimental. thats never good. you were a experiment for god's fucking sake. and whatever the hell Joyce is saying, you do not like the sound of it-- not one bit.

“He’s brilliant, isn’t he? He’s really brilliant. Is he single too?” he says with a mock smile and gritted teeth, walking away towards his room.

Joyce scoffs, pausing for a second before she asks, “what if it's them?” Hopper stops in his tracks, she continues, “to build a machine like that, you need resources, you need scientists, you need funding, tens of millions of dollars–”

“Joyce.”

“It can't just be a coincidence, Hopper. It has to be them” she insists.

“Joyce stop.” he says sternly, eyes flicking towards you whose eyebrows were pulled together and eyes transfixed on the lady in front of him. Your hands curled up into tight fists, nails digging into the palm. An ache in your gut as you truly realise what the woman was saying.

her eyes follow where he was looking at you with soft, almost pitying eyes. her brows soften as well.

you gulp, blinking a few times before looking away. not really sure what to do with your hands or yourself. as much as you wanted to retreat to your room, you also needed to hear the rest of their conversation.

“It has to be the lab, Hop.” she repeats again, more gently– being the only person in the room who doesn't know about your past and your relations to the said lab.

“It is impossible”, he says it loud and clear, making sure both of you hear him.

“Well, then prove it to me.”

“Prove it?” he echoes.

“Yeah, take me back there.”

“To the lab?”

“Yeah, I wanna go back!”

“Because some magnets fell off your fridge.”

“Yes.” she affirmed with finality and a firm nod.

“Okay. Makes sense.”

“Thank you.” she sighs out.

“It makes sense, I’m sorry”, he apologises like he actually means it, before making a show of looking at his wrist watch, “I’m a little busy right now but maybe we can meet up there, like tonight– like seven o’ clock. You know, of course, unless something comes up– which you know, it will.” Jim pulls the curtain to his room in one quick motion.

“You know after everything that's happened”, Joyce talks to the yellow curtain, “This is no joke.”

“No, I don’t think it's a joke,” Hopper’s voice echoes in the air along with him shuffling behind the curtain, “I think that when I asked you out. I think you got scared.” he says with gritted teeth, “I think you got scared and now, you're inventing things. You’re inventing things to get worked up about so you can push me away.”

You rub at your forehead, glancing awkwardly at Joyce who was looking at you with a ‘can-you-believe-this-guy?’ expression. 

“Because God forbid, any of us…. Move on! Because that”, He trails off before letting out a mock laugh, “that would be too much… right Joyce? You know? That would be too much, wouldn’t it Joyce?” he waits for a second for a response before repeating, “Wouldn’t it Joyce?”

The woman in question turns to you, pointing at the tool shed right out the cabin, "uh, is the shed locked?"

"Nope. all yours." you give her a tight-lipped smile. you watch as she makes her way out the door.

When Hopper gets no response, he says the woman’s name one last time, his voice echoing with a timbre in the cabin, “Joyce?”you have choice words for Hopper considering how much he is contradicting himself, but youre a bit too worried for that right now.

The curtain is pulled aside sharply before asking you, “Where’d she go?”

You all but silently nod towards the door before saying, “you know if you wanna get the lady, maybe try not being an asshole to her?”

Hopper, without acknowledging what you said, takes long strides, crossing the threshold of the cabin door and repeatedly calling out Joyce's name.

“Hopper– Hopper listen–”, you call behind from behind him, trying to make him hear you over his own voice. He walked onto the porch, his eyes scanning the surrounding area. The shed door swings open with a loud bang! as Joyce comes out with a torch and a large wire-cutter in hand.

“What the hell are you doing?” he inquires while putting on his shoes.

“I’m borrowing these..”, she declares, walking past him and not even sparing him a glance.

“No, you’re not going back there", ignoring Hoppers words, the woman keeps walking, “Hey! Are you even listening– Joyce!-- goddammit–” he tries his best to walk down the porch stairs, his foot halfway in his shoes, jumping while trying to push the rest of his foot in.

“Hopper!”, you call out loudly, catching his attention, when he turns his head to you, you speak, “I’m coming with you guys.”

“No. no.” he turns his entire body to you, “You’re not. You are staying", he holds up his finger, “And if you tell anyone about this all– I will–”, his finger stays in front of your face, stern and hard. but then then he sighs, hand falling back to his side before muttering a, “just don’t tell anyone”

“But what if it really is them?”

“It isn't.”

“How can you be sure?”, you couldn’t help the slight quiver in your voice.

“I am.”

“How– I– she’s right about the magnets, Jim. I saw it too.”

“Look–", he raises his hands– perhaps to put them on your shoulder but he stops midair as they once again fall to his side, "I’ll go and check okay?”

“But I need to–”

“No. trust me. Its not them. I made sure of it. last year? i was there when they sealed it. it isn't the lab. trust me on this one thing, can you do that?”

“But…”, your voice trails off, gaze falling to your feet. despite your anger, your rage, and whatever else you feel from him, somehow you feel trust a billion times more.

Somehow, you'll always trust him.

Its other people you dont trust. its the lab. its those monsters.

Hopper sighs once again, before reaching for his wallet in his pocket and pulling out a few bills. “Here. get yourself something from the mall ‘kay?”

“...what?”, just as you whisper into the air, you hear the sound of an engine revving.

“Oh, fuck– she’s– I gotta go– I’ll— yeah. Don’t tell Steve or– or anyone there about this” the man ran, shoes untied, shouting the woman's name behind her.

...

“Hi?”, you greet awkwardly after ringing the bell at the counter. Sitting on the counter infront of the sliding window, engrossed in a book with a pair of headphones on her head was Robin buckley. aka Steve's coworker who also practically hates him. When she doesn’t look up, you ring the bell again. And again. And again. 

Its the constant ringing that finally makes the girl pull off her headphones with a groan and look towards the source of the sound. 

“Hey…”, you wave shyly.

"Hey– how can i help...”, she says, sliding off of the counter, “um– you…", she trails off a bit, recognition flashing through her features, "You were here yesterday, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” you answer a bit unsure.

“Are.. you and Steve friends?” she asks with a tilt of her head as trying to decipher something.

You nod, "y-yeah, i was looking for him actually." it feels like its been forever since you've talked to him. you just miss him. especially after everything that happened back at the cabin.

“Oh, he’s… a little busy.”, Robin reckoned she can’t exactly tell you about their super-secret plan to find a super-secret russian base in Hawkins. “He’s not here right now.”

“Oh, so how long will he not be here?”

"uh... a while"

"a while?"

"yeah, a while. can’t say when though– maybe minutes…. Maybe Hours.”

your brows fly up, “Hours?”

“Yep”, she nods to herself, “So, you should probably….” she is about to get you out of her hair, but then she thinks back to the dejected Steve, there is tension there for sure. and though they're not actually friends, Robin would be lying if she said she didn't care about the boy. just a teensy bit though, tiny bit, below the normal amount, miniscule really. and maybe she was just curious.

So, before she knows it, she is asking you to, “Wait. you can wait. Uh— if you want. I have to do some... homework. so I have to..", she gestures back to the counter she had been priorly sitting on, where the book, notebook and a cassette player were laid. 

"yeah, that's okay", you shake your head, “Thanks", you add, smiling timidly before moving to take a seat on an empty table closest to the counter.

You watch as she pulls herself onto the counter she had been on. she puts on the headset, turns it on, drowning out any and all sound.

When you look around in the store, the tables are filled with mostly teen couples, sharing milkshakes, holding hands, looking oh so deeply into each other's eyes and kissing.

Normally, you might've sighed with wistful eyes, maybe called it cute, and Steve would've playfully rolled his eyes before kissing you. Steve.

Steve.

You aren't exactly sure what is happening between the two of you. ever since that day at the cabin when Hopper had caught you both, the boy has been avoiding you. Although you first thought it was because Hopper had really scolded him, giving him earful about his dad. but after finding out that he hadn't in last night's little interrogation, you were utterly clueless as to what was happening.

You are determined to confront the boy, face to face, if he'd actually show it to you.

You sit at the table for fifteen minutes before you spoke up "Hey, robin.”, you call her name out again. time was moving at a sloth's pace, in those fifteen minutes, you had identified a flyer stuck to the wall that read 'we're hiring!' in a deep blue font.

She sighs, pulling her headset around her neck, "yeah?”

"you guys have a vacancy?" you point to the flyer on the wall, “I was wondering, if I wanted to get a job here… How would I do that?”

“We do have a vacancy open so… you could do it. I honestly wouldn’t mind some company other than dingus.”

And that is when an idea hits her. she smirks to herself before clearing her throat. “Okay, how about this…", she slides off of the counter, walking towards you, pointing at you with the red book she had in her hand, "you want a job here?”

You nod at her.

“Well then, you start now”, she declares before reaching for her scooper.. “Get scoopin’ ”, she commands, pulling your hand up and smacking her scooper into your palm. “Or sailing, I guess”, she adds, turning to go sit back in her place. 

“That’s it?”, you question with a pull of your brows, “You don’t get trained or anything?”

“It's just slinging some ice cream”

“It can't be that easy”

“oh, so you think what I told you is easy? well, I guess wouldn't have a problem then", she tries her best to hide her smirk before putting her headphones back on again.

...

may, 1985. graduation. 

It feels like your life was finally on the right route. 

You are soon going to move in with Hopper and Eleven, you and the girl are going to be adopted any time now. you are graduating! and you have a friend– one that you talk to everyday. And that friend is none other than Steve Harrington. 

Ever since that night at the snowball, both of you had started bumping into each other more at school. At first it was just the exchange of little 'hi's' and 'hellos', which then grew to small talk, which further progressed into making plans for every weekend.  Sometimes he'd invite you to his house and sometimes you'd do so to your van. And just like that the rest of the school year passed.

Now, here you are– sitting next to the boy. cheeks hurting from grinning. you wave over at hopper who although had told you the previous night that he couldn't make it but here he was, sitting with the rest of the parents. 

"Hey, you nervous?", the boy next to you asks.

"a little bit", you look at him, the bright sun blinding you for a second, "but I'm okay."

Steve smiles, "you'll be fine. Just a bit more and we’ll be free.” you both giggle at that. The flecks of gold in the boy’s eyes are more prominent, the lines around his eyes and the sound of his laugh make your heart skip a beat and you weren’t exactly sure why.

Your name is heard on the speakers, Steve nudges you out of your trance. You blink, shaking off whatever thoughts that were going through your head before quickly getting up and weaving through the rows of other graduates. Steve gives you a little a grin and a thumbs up as reassurance when you turn to catch a quick nervous glance at him.

When you come back, the boy greets you with a tight hug. The both of you then wait for his name to be called. 

"Harrington, Steve", the name echoes from the speakers. The crowd was mostly tame as compared to how it had arisen in an uproar when Billy Hargrove or any of Steve’s older ‘friends’ were called up.

Steve Harrington is no longer the king he was once titled. and quite honestly, he doesn’t care. Ok, maybe a little. The boy wouldn’t lie and say that he didn’t miss the constant attention whether from girls or boys but at the same time he didn’t want to go back. He didn’t want to go back to pretending to care about things that didn’t matter and pretending that he didn’t care for things that actually mattered. 

So, as he went off the stage, there are no cheers, no chants of his name, just some obligatory clapping. King Steve was dead and somehow Steve didn’t mind.

When he comes back to your seats, you let out a squeal in which Steve joins you, wrapping an arm around you and squeezing you. 

"can you believe that school's actually over?”, you ask as the students slowly start dispersing, getting pictures and leaving with their parents.

"yeah, it's…. holy shit", Steve says as if the realisation had dawned on him just now. you laugh as the two of you moved to leave the place as well, "so, where are we goin’?”, the boy asks hoping he could smoothly segue into telling you what he had planned for the two of you for the rest of the day.

"Steve, I– hopper is here so me, him and eleven are going to have dinner", you try explaining apologetically, "I would have–"

"yeah, no that's cool”, Steve interrupts you, shaking his head and flashing you a smile as if its no big deal, ”I get it.”

"But you can come by after dinner? if you want."

"Ok, cool", he says before waving you a quick bye. he watches as you make your way past the crowd of parents towards Jim. the boy watches the both of you interacting. he feels a little pang of something in his chest when he sees Jim hugging you. His parents didn’t even bother coming home for his graduation.

Without having a single other interaction with anyone else, Steve left in his car.

...

“Umm… sir?” you call out for a third time to a tall blonde, 20-something guy who has just been staring at you a tad bit too much. his pupils are wide blown, hair greasy, forehead covered in a sheen of sweat and he stares at you if he was staring through you and into your soul. the eye contact is unsettling to say the least. "Sir?"

He blinks out of his trance, “huh?”, his dark green eyes finally moving towards the tubs of colourful ice creams.

you force on a customer friendly smile, “Which one did you want?”, you ask for a fourth time.

He looks back up at you. it makes you want to shrivel up, his unmoving gaze, “Whichever you suggest", he says with an accent you can't quite place.

“Oookay. Umm…. ch-chocolate is always a safe option. What do… whatdoyou say?”

“I couldn’t agree more", he grins, a Cheshire smile that doesn't reach his eyes. you quickly move to scoop him his ice cream and get it over with already.

you do so hurriedly, exchanging the cone for his money and quickly returning his change. but the man lingers. he tastes the dessert, another dead smile spreading on his face. "this is great", he states with no true enthusiasm in his words. 

the man puts the change in the tip jar, before turning to you, "thank you so much….", his words taper off, leaving room for you to finish the sentence.

"oh, uh– (y/n)", you help hesitantly.

"(y/n)", he echoes, pupils never wavering, dead set on you. "thank you, (y/n)." he finally says before exiting the store.

You watch as the tall statured man bumps into a person while weaving through the people in the food court. The man gives a final glance over towards scoops ahoy-- towards you. For the one second he looks at you, a chill runs down your spine, goosebumps arising on your skin. It is when he is out of sight, when you finally let out the breath that you had been holding. 

“Was that really weird or is that normal?”, you ask out loud, waiting for a response from Robin who surely should have been watching the entirety of the unsettling interaction. But when you turn around the girl is still engrossed in that book, her eyes flitting between it and the notebook she'd been scribbling in. when you get no response from the girl, you don’t even try to bother disturbing her. You sigh and go back to facing the counter.

About five or so minutes later, you hear banging on the backroom-corridor door. You hand the change to the girl you were serving before turning to poke Robin's shoulder to get her attention. “Hey, robin?”

“Hmm?”

“There's uh.. someone…” you point towards the backdoor. 

She says something about shipment before getting up to check it out while you went back to the counter. You were wiping the surface when you heard the familiar voice you’d been waiting to hear. A certain head of hair emerges from the crowd– in his deep blue sailor uniform, accompanied by Dustin Henderson.

A blur of a sailor uniform and blond hair flashes by you, “Robin, where’re you going?”, you call out behind her. You get no response as she knocks past Steve and Dustin— running through the crowd.

“What're you doing here?”, Steve’s voice pops up beside you, and when you look back from the flurry of people, he is looking at you, awaiting an answer.

“I work here”, you state simply.

“Since when?”

you take a look at the watch on your wrist before answering, “45 minutes ago." Nodding towards the direction where Robin had run off to, you ask, “Is she always this uh… runny?”

...

When you finally take a seat in the car, Eleven pops up from the backseat, "con-gratu-lations", she says slowly (surely a new word Hopper had taught her), with a huge genuine grin. She hands you a card she had made, the words written in her shaky handwriting, the spelling wrong in 'graduation' which is crossed out by a pen to correct it (most definitely Hopper’s deed).

"aw, thanks El!”

the rest of the ride to your van, Eleven tells you about all that the two of them had planned for the evening. A movie and then a well-cooked dinner. it wasn’t a lot or anything special, but you didn’t mind that.

they had some lasagna packed in a pan dish and covered with some aluminum foil. Apparently, Hopper had requested joyce to make some for the special day. It was when you were heating up the food with Hopper when he gives you an envelope.

“Here’s your gift kiddo”, he says with a wide smile.

“what is it?”

“I think you know.”

You have never opened an envelope so fast. and …. There it was. 

(Y/N) Hopper.

You finally had a surname.

“You like it?”

Tears spring up in your eyes.  You tackle him with a hug, an oof! involuntarily sounding from his chest before his arms wrap around you. Soft sobs escape you, tears wetting his flannel shirt.

“Jesus, no need to be so dramatic, kid.”

You let out a wet laugh. Neither of you let go. You sniffle into his shirt as he rubs your back, grounding you. 

Its the beep of the microwave that makes you finally pull away and wipe your face.

“'bout time we get you moving out of this place. So, I’ll come here by, 11:00 a.m.”, he rubs his nose, “Move all this stuff over”

“What?”, you say, plating the steaming lasagna.

“You don’t plan on carrying all of this on your bike do you?”

...

“Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes”, You barely hear Robin's raspy voice over the rumbling of the clouds and the pitter patter of the rain.

You were drenched, confused out of your mind as to why you were all on a rooftop, in the middle of a storm, spying on the mall guards while simultaneously battling the highly possible chances of being charred by lightning. 

When Robin had come back from wherever she had run off to, she'd pulled Dustin and Steve into the backroom. You'd heard muffled quarrelling before you decided to lean in a little closer to hone in what was being said. 

“Oh, no, Henderson. We’re not getting (y/n) into this. that is an awful idea”

“Look, steve. if Dustin is right about this entire ordeal. Then we need as many people as we can get.”

"yeah, dude, strength in numbers!"

"well, i don't that number to be (y/n), you hear me?"

“....no. No! I said no. Hey! Henderson!-”, the door bursts open. They pause for half a second, probably realising that you heard all of that.

“We need your help.”

And now here you are, ‘helping’, apparently.

“So why are we doing this exactly?”, you finally ask, wiping the wet strands of hair from your face– hating the awful feeling of wet clothes and hair clinging to your skin.

“To become American heroes”, Dustin states as if that made a single iota of sense.

“oh, okay. That makes so much sense", you mutter mostly to yourself, Hopper's sarcasm has definitely started to rub off on you.

“There, with that whistling guy. Ten o’clock”, Dustin informs, watching from his binouculars while you and the others squint through wet lashes.

“What d’you think’s in there?” Steve asks, referring to the boxes the guard carried.

“Gun? Bombs?” Dustin answers as if it were no big deal.

“Chemical weapons?”, Robin suggests.

"What?", you ask, rightfully shell-shocked. What in the actual fuck is happening? alarm bells ring in your head, you dont like this plan anymore.

“Whatever it is, they’re armed to the teeth.”

You really dont hear what they say anymore. Armed guards never ever mean anything good. you would know, you have been chased by a fair share of them. Their voices, the rain, and the thunder get drowned out and all you can hear is your own damn breathing and heartbeat.

Its a loud clang! that alerts you and breaks you out of your head. it echoes through the air along when the binoculars hit the railing, alerting the armed guards. 

Given the options of fight or flight, your brain still decides to do the unthinkable and freeze. You barely hear a ,"get down!" over the sound of your own blood rushing. You barely felt the arm pulling you down, out of the sight of the guards.

There's a warm hand holding yours, when you look up, it is Steve’s. Both your chests heave as you look at each other for a second before Steve pulls his hand out of your grasp. You don't get a moment to process anything that happens.

A shout is heard below you. And before you know it, you were being pulled– maybe it was Steve, maybe Robin, or maybe even Dustin, their grip on your forearm tight as they pull you through doors you’d never been through. 

Your heart is loud in your chest, eyes burning. Rainwater drips from your clothes as you walk past the now closed stores of the mall.

"I think we found your russians.”

...

“Hey, where are you both going?”, Steve's voice rings through the haze of your brain.

“Going home? You don’t expect me to stay and investigate all night do you?”, Robin quips.

Steve scoffs lightly before saying, “c’mon I’ll drop you guys off. I’m dropping off this little demon anyway.” he says, pointing his thumb at dustin.

“Steve, it’s okay-”, Robin shakes her head.

“No, its raining and late and....", he gestures to you, "you don't even have a bike." When none of you move, steve tilts his head towards his car, his hands on his hips, “C’mon. Buckley, you can put your bike in the trunk of the car”

Robin lets out a quick sigh, “alright, fine then”, she says, strolling her bike over to the back of Steve's car. Steve helps her mount the thing before slamming it shut. And while the blonde makes her way to the seat, Steve turns to you who was still standing where you had been; having made no movement towards his car.

Steve looks at your drenched and shivering frame, he mutters a small “c’mon” into the air.

“Are you sure?” you ask all unsure after a brief pause, "i'll ruin your seats." when you shrug, the fabric of your shirt squelches and sticks to your skin.

“you wont. I'm sure. come on.”

You lick your lips, taking the one remaining seat next to Dustin without another word; as Robin had taken the front passenger seat. 

The storm was over now. Steve drops off Dustin and then Robin, helping them unload their bikes out of the trunk. 

The rest of the drive to way to your cabin is silent. The radio turned all the way down, Steve doesn’t need directions to your place as he’d taken the route nearly everyday since the first time he sneaked in right after graduation.

There is no particular road that leads to the cabin, it is surrounded by thick groves of trees. He parks his car on the main road, making sure to lock it before wordlessly leading you to your own house. 

You want to hold Steve's hand. you want to hold him so bad. you miss the warmth. but something in you stops you. something in his body language and tightly closed fists that say that he doesn’t want you to hold his hand.

You both walk in silence, the crickets chirp, the frogs croak, wind blows and rustles the tall trees around you.

You want to break the silence. Ask the question that had been on your mind– why is Steve acting so distant? Why does it now feel like you had conjured up your entire relationship in your mind?

This is nothing like the past two weeks had been. Where is the constant flirting? Where is the unending banter and jokes? Where is the constant touching? Where is the warmth?

You're deep in your thought when Steve’s shoe slips a little in the muddy grass, but he catches himself.

“Are you okay?” you immediately ask, arms extending on their own accord to steady him. But before your fingers could touch his arm, he mumbles a “yeah” which you almost don’t hear. and then he keeps walking– not even sparing a glance at you. 

Your hands fall back unceremoniously to your sides. Your shoulders slumped and you decide that maybe you shouldn’t speak. you just want to go to sleep now.

You silently follow the boy through the bushes. When you finally reach, alarm bells immediately ring in your head when you see that none of the lights are on. neither do you notice Hopper's Blazer.

Steve might have noticed it too, "Is– is no one home?", he asks.

"I... guess not", you answer, voice barely above a whisper. 

Theres this awkward silence, this pause where neither of you say a thing. you wring your fingers around your wrist. "I'll uh–", Steve cleared his throat , "I'll leave now. um...", he nods to himself as if trying to convince himself, "See you." He slowly steps away, turning back to where you both had come from.

He is already a few steps away from the porch when you speak up, "Steve?"

He halts, head turning, "... yeah?"

you lick your lips. worry and anxiety eats at you from the inside. you're soaking and cold. you want to ask him to stay. you want to hold him. you want him to hold you. you want him to stay. you dont want to be alone.

you swallow, "... be– get home safe."

The boy gives you a tight-lipped smile before turning once again. You watch his retreating figure. when he is finally out of sight, then you finally let yourself in, immediately calling Max’s house.

Eleven is with Max, you know that much after that call. So, you know she was safe.

What concerns you is Hopper. He and Joyce were supposed to go and check out the lab. Surely, they should’ve been back by now. A knot ties itself in your gut as you walk through the empty cabin.

You are thinking of what to do when you hear a knock. You open the door, fully expecting Hopper with maybe a bottle of beer in his hand.

But it wasn’ him. 

An all too familiar face meets yours, his hair in a disarray as if he had run his hand through it a million times. Before you could say anything, he starts, “Hey, sorry– it just didn’t… I’ll stay till– till Hopper shows up", he says, stumbling through his sentence.

“You don’t have to–”, you shake your head reluctantly.

“Look, I know he isn’t my biggest fan, and he might freak– but I'd rather stay", he finally looks you in the eyes. his warm honey eyes that you're sure could heal anything. "You hate being alone.”

you sigh of relief at that, “Okay,” is all you say before moving aside to let him in.

...

There is a knock at the door. Hopper had left with Eleven about twenty or so minutes ago and it could expectedly be only one person who would be visiting you.

you opened the door immediately.

“Hey", he greets you with a grin.

“Hi, Steve”, a smile comes onto your face as well, “what's that?”, you point to the plastic bag in his hand.

“Well, I remember that you said that you’ve never tried it so I brought some beer to celebrate. You obviously don't have to drink if you don't want to but-- I don't know maybe I didn’t really think this through--”

“Steve.” your voice manage to stop his rambling, “we can try it.”

“Yeah, okay– that’s what I thought”, he nods, making his way in through the door.

You giggle, closing the door behind him, “do you just plan on getting me drunk as a graduation celebration?”

“Of course not. I your favourite movie, snacks as always; and I know what you’re thinking– ‘Steve we do that like every week!’”, the boy says the last part in a mock voice at which you rolled your eyes, “Well, we are going to lovers lake for a late night swim!”

“What–”

“well, its beautiful out tonight, and late night swimming sounds perfect right about now, we can even bring food if you have any leftover or we can just buy some on the way--”

“Steve, slow down–”, you put your hand on his shoulders to decelerate his words, “Lover’s lake?”

“Yeah, Lover's lake– its like the only lake in Hawkins--”

“I know what Lover’s lake is. I just–”, you hesitate, “I... don’t know how to swim.”

“Oh, that’s okay! I could teach you?” he shrugs.

“No. I–”, you stutter, wringing your wrists, “I don’t like water, Steve. I just– it… scares me.”

the boy reasons, “I’ll be there the entire time (y/n).”

“Yeah, but I– I don’t know… I guess, its just an irrational fear that I have." Well, it isn’t completely irrational. Maybe it had something to do with being forced to stay in sensory deprivation tanks filled with water and no escape for hours on end because you couldn’t do what they wanted you to do.

“I just can't." you declare with finality. "please?" you add with brows pulled together.

“... okay." you can tell he agrees reluctantly, "Okay. do you have any suggestions for what we’re gonna do, then? Because I’m stumped now.”

“I don’t know”, you frown, eyes falling down to your feet.

“... You know what? Lets have a drink and we’ll figure it out.”, he moves to put the six pack on the coffee table before taking a seat on the rickety old couch. he takes one out for himself and holds up one for you as well. "you sure you still wanna do this?" he inquires with a lifted eyebrow.

the corner of your mouth lifts up a little, “What? D’you think I’m a pussy?”

An involuntary laugh bubbles from his throat at the unexpected word usage, “Damn, where did you learn such vulgar language from?”

you lift your chin, “You, potty mouth.”

“Please, I’ve never used that word. I'm a gentleman.”

“Well, maybe Dustin, then.”

“Ah, yes. That checks out.”

“I can't believe that I’m friends with Steve Harrington yet it’s Dustin Henderson that is the bad influence”, You laugh.

Steve produces a bottle cap opener out of his pocket, “Yeah, that kid is like a profanity machine”, he mumbles, opening the bottle cap before handing you your bottle, “Alright. You ready?”

You give him a quick nod.

“Bottoms up.”

you cough at the taste, holding up your hand over your mouth, “Aww that’s disgusting"

"its an acquired taste”, he chuckles, taking another swig and you fake gag as he does so.

the both of you fall into conversation, something that flowed so easily between you that you don’t even notice when you subconsciously end up finishing the bottle. you still continue to complain about the awful taste when Steve recommends to play a board game to decide who would clean up the mess you two are conjuring up.

Steve loses; purposely, but he wouldn’t tell that to you. Steve would have played fairly, he really would have and he did, for the first round atleast. But when you won the first round, your drunken victory dance was a little too cute for him to not witness again. so, that’s what he did. he lost on purpose.

while he is wiping the table, you appear behind him, calling his name, “I wanna show you something!”

“Yeah?” you take out the envelope from your back pocket, a huge grin on your face as you do so. “what’s this?”

“open it!” you say all excited. the boy does so, his eyes skim over the page, “You got adopted?” he asks with a small grin.

“Yes!!” you exclaim, tackling his torso like you have made the habit with Hopper; you nearly knock down the both of you but his hands instinctively fly up to hold your waist, making the both of you stable in your footing. “Sorry,” you apologise shyly, pulling away but the boy doesn’t allow you as he pulls you back in, “congratulations”, he mutters into your hair.

“I’m so happy.” you state, warm breath tickling the skin on the junction between his neck and shoulder. the two of you finally pull away, “We’re moving tomorrow morning, so goodbye to this shitty van.”

“Wait, really?”, you nod, excited. brows fly up almost into his hairline, “thats great! but don’t you think you should pack a little maybe?”, he suggests, gesturing towards, well, everything around the two of you.

“Oh…”, you pause, “Oh, shit”, your forehead creased as you frantically look around at the van, it is a mess to say the least and the thought packing had completely flown over your head.

“It’s okay dude,” he reassures, and for some reason, cringes at his use of ‘dude’. he isn’t exactly sure why. that’s what you two were, afterall. just buddies, best buddies, pals-- that’s it. “I’ll help you out.”

“Oh my god– thank you so much Steve!” you flash him a huge thankful grin.

“Yeah, I know, I’m your knight in shining armor”, he mumbles. it is completely normal to feel a little giddy from your best friend’s smile. right? Right.

The night goes quite the opposite of how he had planned it. packing up wasn’t anywhere near hanging out around a lake but he, once again, finds himself not minding. because of you. 

oh. oh yeah. that makes sense.

it is 12:17 a.m., you had fallen asleep in the middle of the task of organising your books. And although he had assigned you the task, he makes no efforts to wake you up. Instead, he does that as well, listening to your soft snores and a random mixtape you had been playing in the background.

it is in that moment, Steve realises that his feelings for you might be a bit more than platonic.

You wake up about a few minutes past 1:00 a.m., apologizing profusely and then thanking the boy when he tells you that everything was done.

“Alright I better get going”, He announces, getting up when everything was packed up.

“Steve. Its one a.m.”, you state, pointing at the clock, “Its too late. C’mon you can stay the night.”

“And sleep in your rickety couch?”, he jokes.

“We could share my bed?”

“If you want me in your bed, you just have to ask”, he says before even realising what he had said.

why is he trying to flirt with you? 

“I am asking you, Steve”, you insist, not quite understanding what the boy had actually meant.

“Uhm, yeah– okay cool.”, he sighs.

why is he trying to flirt with you and why is he disappointed when you don't get that he's trying to flirt you?

So, the both of you share your small bed, but still managing to maintain an appropriate amount of space. as much as you remember atleast, and you don’t remember a lot. but Steve did.

He remembers that it was about 3:30 when he was awoken by the urge to take a leak, but there you were, arms laid out over his torso, nose snuggling into his shoulder, and those same cute snores. 

Despite how much he didn’t want to, he had to get up. so, when he does, he does so slowly, making sure to not wake you up. when he is finally out of bed, he is nearly jogging on his way towards the bathroom. He sighs, disappointed, because when he comes back, you were now on your back, robbing Steve of his chances of having you snuggled up against him again.

...

“Hey, Y/N”, you groan all groggily, pressing your face further into the pillow, “Hey, sleepy pants”

“fuckyouiwannasleep”, your words are barely audible, muffled by the sheets.

“C’mon”, he laughs, “don’t you wanna move to your new home now?” You jolt awake at that, hair a mess, mouth sticky, trying to rub your eyes free of sleep. “There you are. C’mon brush your stinky teeth, I made breakfast”

...

[eldritchbanana68]

Ok just throwing this idea out there cause its been rattling around my head and with how unrefined it is I gotta get that out.

So like, In Stars and Time AU that's just inscryption.

Call that shit like.. In Scrybes and Time or something cause it keeps the acronym and it kinda rolls off the tongue.

Probably gonna spoil stuff from the actual game and both endings because like rambling, so here's the spoiler warning!! specifically for both endings and such!

Alright anyways let's get rambling

So, Loop replaces Leshy, call them the Scrybe of Stars or something like that.

Siffrin is the player character instead of the nameless protagonist, no irl stuff with the disk and such.

The party is now cards, I'd imagine the find order is probably Mira, Bonnie, Odile and then Isa, order will be explained later but all I've thought of right now is Bonnie is a Crab that generates 2 cards that function like mealworms.

It's 4 maps, going through the boss sadnesses, the king, and then, if requirements are met (think getting the film in the main game, probably finding the silver coin?), Loop themself as the Leshy fight replacement.

All the bossfight masks are lit with this nearly spotlight thing behind them cause Loops head is a fucking star and that cannot be good for Siffrin to stare at, but it only really ramps up when Loop slaps a mask on.

The boss sadnesses are minorly developed into like, actual scrybe followers instead of just voiceless beasts, still keeping some of their gimmicks I'll figure out how to translate all this into inscryption terms later

Any time Siffrin wins (not including winning the Loop fight) or dies, they get looped back to map 1, funny little remark from Loop, i.e "Oh! So close Stardust, but not close enough :)"

It's basic but I'm probably gonna try to doodle this out later, Party Cards and Loop too.

[physalian]

Segway Characters (Or when your protagonist knows jack about the story)

This is the protagonist of a sci-fi or fantasy world, generally a nobody who gets dragged in either by circumstance or by being the long-lost-something prophesied to save the realm. They know absolutely nothing about the plot, the other characters, the magic system, or the new world, the audience proxy that asks all the questions on the audience’s behalf.

I call them Segways (read; not segue) because they look dumb and you ride their ass through the narrative.

This is a very, very broad concept for a protagonist, everybody from a superhero origin story to Harry Potter, as opposed to a character like James Bond, an expert in their craft and a *seasoned protagonist*.

Segways usually aren’t a problem… until it becomes rather painfully obvious that they only exist to be the audience proxy to ask those questions, when another character could and should be the protagonist because they’re far more interesting, usually because the protagonist is way less cool and active in the plot than their constituents. Or, they’re a perfectly fine character, but the exposition dumping to them is sloppy and unrefined.

The difference between just a protagonist and a Segway is how smoothly they integrate into that story.

So.

—

Inception

I love this movie. It has inspired so much of my writing.

Ariadne is a poster child of Segway characters. Aside from the villain, Mal, she’s the only woman in the cast, and though Dom (DiCaprio) is the hero, Ariadne is his protege, the audience vector through which all the world mechanics and important backstory stuff is told. Every other character already knows how dream heists work and who Mal is, so explaining redundant information between experts would look weird—enter the Segway, Ariadne.

For what it’s worth, she’s not useless otherwise. She’s the new ‘architect,’ she builds the mazes the rest of the team runs through and is the innocent cinnamon roll dragged into problems that Dom created. Her name could not be a more heavy-handed symbol.

She’s active in the story and her perspective foils against Dom’s well enough, but Inception is a movie with layers and an infamous amount of necessary exposition to understand the story. Someone has to be there to ask all the questions the audience has. Ariadne unfortunately gets the lion’s share, instead of the script figuring out how to weave more of it into the interactions of the other characters. They spent so much time on the complex narrative it’s like they forgot about a layman audience and threw her in too late for a seamless integration.

—

Netflix’s The Old Guard is better than it should be, given its budget. I didn’t read the comic it was based on and have no idea if Nile’s character is the same in the original, but she’s another Segway with only one reason for existing in the plot otherwise: Andy’s got to pass the torch to someone.

Yes she comes to save them in the end and yes, her advantage in the story is being unknown to the villains, but she’s there, in this version of the story, so the other four heroes can info-dump to her about all manner of things from how immortality works to their backstories to the setup for the sequel the movie never got.

I just rewatched it recently and if the script just had two or three passes to tackle the exposition problem, it could have off-loaded some of the burden onto other characters, or better told it through action, and not just info-dumpy monologues. When the movie came out I remember a critic I like commenting that it could have been a more interesting story if it had been told from the sympathetic villain’s perspective (Not Dudley’s). As in, if he was on a mission with all his conspiracy-level research and dedication to track these people down, throwing out his own theories for them to then correct or something.

Like this, the story is just waiting for Nile to ask the right questions. Nothing is volunteered freely without Nile directly asking for it, because it runs into the same problem as Inception: Every other character already knows everything, and they wouldn’t exposit to each other.

—

A lot of isekai anime also do this. I’ve tried getting into older, tentpole shows like Sailor Moon and Bleach and Yu Yu Hakusho and I don’t know what it is about anime pilot episodes, even modern ones but particularly the old ones, the exposition dumping is atrocious. To the point where it feels like they all know it and are like “listen just bear with us and we’ll get this done fast and sloppy and get to the good stuff later”.

I just can’t. I think I made it 15 minutes into Bleach before noping out of there years ago.

—

Obviously all these movies and shows have their fans, but if you’re a writer struggling with exposition or noticed this trend like me, here’s some suggestions to avoid the need to info-dump, assuming you do want to keep your Segway.

Try not to give all the exposition questions to one character, and don’t wait for that character to ask, out-of-character on behalf of the audience, what’s going on in the story. Instead, let it flow more naturally in conversation and let the more experienced characters brainstorm with each other, or let the protagonist uncover some of this information actively on their own through other means, for variety’s sake.

Figure out a reason why these questions are necessary to the story in this moment. Why is the hero asking now, as opposed to any other time? You can also let the hero draw their own conclusions and have the other characters correct their misassumptions, feeding that information in a more natural way.

Give the hero more to do in the story beyond being the exposition vehicle right from the start. I don’t care if they’re the chosen one and the plot just falls into their lap, why are they the chosen one?

Spread out the exposition to come only when it’s necessary. Front-loading it can tarnish the immersion and overwhelm the audience, especially if it’s complex, or if there’s a lot of it. You can pepper it all the way through the story if you want.

If you really want to front-load it, you can go to the extremes and slap in a prologue or meta-narrative dump that’s fun and entertaining from a third person omniscient perspective. First thing that comes to mind is the opening 2D scene from Kung Fu Panda that covers a lot of ground. Go ham.

None of these characters are bad, I just think with a few more rounds of revisions and forethought, they could have been integrated better into their stories.

[loz-furbies]

Breath of the Wild / Age of Calamity / Tears of the Kingdom Zelda, part 1/2

The final Zelda (so far) of this character review series is the most developed of them all, and probably has more character content to her in just one game than any of the others, and she has three to boot! With full voice acting (I'm JP voice only), a huge and personal role in the story, diary entries, notable relationships to multiple characters and being discussed by many NPCs there is a lot to talk about, but I'm mostly going off of memory and rewatching the cutscenes since it would be too much work to research every mention of her in all three games.

Design

(Ancient dress Zelda model from here)

Not going to copypaste my thoughts on her BotW look since this is long enough already.

It is a pity that Zelda didn't get a full redesign for TotK, but I'll take what I can get. The bob is really cute! And unusual among the Zeldas too, and I guess a nice way to represent that she has moved to the commoner lifestyle.

As for the ancient dress, it looks perfectly fine on its own, but since I value it when the designs have their own unique identity, I wish it wasn't so similar to her white dress from BotW. Maybe there is some connection, like Sonia used to be a priest so maybe the dress design survived through millennia as a prayer dress or whatever, but since that's not actually in the game, I'm not giving credit for that.

The bulkier and sort of unrefined jewelry does a good job making the outfit look ancient, but it's still fancy enough that I can believe it to belong to the royal family. That decorative accessory on the front of the dress is really cool looking and a nice and consistent detail among all the ancient clothes, but man is it a pain to draw. Finally I really like the big earrings and the tear makeup is a great little detail.

When I first saw the Light dragon in the final Zelda memory I thought it looked kind of doofy, with its bright colours, clumpy eyelashes, bulging eyes and borzoi nose, but it has since grown on me. I once read that some Pokemon designer said in an interview or such that if a Pokemon design looks too cool, they add something uncool to it to make it more memorable, and I think it's a pretty good design philosophy. There have been several LoZ designs that have shocked me at first, but eventually I get used to them and they will look just right. They could have given the dragons a more cool or elegant look, but that would have also risked making them more generic. Also the eyes give a good impression about Zelda's state that nobody is home there.

Character

This iteration of Zelda is easily the most fleshed out of them all, since we get to see so much of her relationships, character development, emotional reactions to plot events, and also stuff she does outside the immediate plot.

BotW Zelda's dread over the impending doom and the self esteem issues that rise from it are a large part of the story. There are other Zeldas who also worry about the Plot, but in BotW Zelda's case it's incredibly personal since her failure to do her crucial job in preventing the disaster is at the core of the story. According to Rhoam's diary, she had already internalised her duty at the age of six (and this caused her to not show any weakness even at her mother's funeral), and from there she spent her life trying and failing to awaken her powers. This lifelong crushing sense of responsibility and guilt and the failure to live up to her demanding father's expectations give BotW Zelda a very melancholic vibe that constantly pops up through the game. Though I must say that in the memory where the champions perform their little ceremony and Zelda gives a long speech to Link, her voice acting gets really awkward when it sounds like she's about to start crying with every word.

Once she finds her inner strength, Zelda gets her badass moments as well. I especially like the grand finale of BotW where she, glowing with power, calmly stands before Calamity Ganon's pig form and doesn't even flinch when he charges at her. And in the TotK flashback cutscenes she can apparently be taken to a battle against Ganondorf as a part of Rauru's sage posse.

I called out Skyward Sword Zelda for being a bit too much of an ideal girlfriend, so I'm really glad that the memory where BotW Zelda lashes out at Link exists. It works to prevent her from being just a pure maiden who is victimised by unfair outside circumstances. Or I mean that does happen to her, but letting her display some negative traits (like frustration and jealousy) that she's personally responsible for as well makes her feel more like an actual person and not just a perfect victim.

Even if BotW Zelda's heavy burden is a huge part of her character, luckily that's not all there is to her. And not just because being multifaceted of course makes her more interesting, but also I find it a lot more realistic that not every moment of her life had been constant suffering.

One of her most charming and notable traits is her nerdy scientist side. It certainly sets her apart from the other Zeldas, and also gives her something else to do than just worry about the plot and be a princess. The memory where she geeks over a frog and goes on such a ramble over its scientific properties that she forgets basic social norms is such a great piece of characterisation, and it's cute how her enthusiasm returns in TotK where she's excited over Zonai discoveries, and is also into Mineru's constructs. According to AoC, studying was also apparently something she did with her late mother as a child.

Her research notes also detail how together with Purah and Robbie they discovered various things about the ancient Sheikah tech, but I do think it's a little disappointing how we don't get much anything concrete about Zelda's contributions specifically. There's a lot about her being interested in the Sheikah technology and how she apparently was a part of research group, but all actual discoveries are attributed to different characters or left vague, so as a result she comes across more like an enthusiastic hobbyist who in the end doesn't actually get anywhere. I would have liked it if for example Purah's diary had a line of how Zelda's efforts helped them understand the Guardians better or something like that, but now you have to imagine her contributions yourself. The closest we get is how in AoC she gives one Sheikah artefact to Rhoam, which ends up saving his life, but it's not quite what I'm looking for since Zelda didn't know what the item would do, so it feels more like luck. But even if the execution didn't quite land, I'm glad that AoC took the time to give some kind of resolution to the Rhoam-forbids-Zelda-from-Studying aspect and has to admit that he was wrong. And regardless the Sheikah tech works well to give Zelda her unique identity, and it's also nice how two of her weapons in AoC are based on it.

BotW Zelda also has a playful side, like for example she runs up to play with a dog she just saw, or jokes with Urbosa about how they both had to act all formal in front of an audience despite being long time friends. She is also a very proactive character; thanks to the "find the memories" gameplay, we see her travel all across Hyrule instead of just sitting at her castle, she's the one to handle all business with the Divine Beast pilots (and since they're all high ranking individuals among their people, this makes Zelda pretty politically active as well), and BotW ends with her wanting to work on rebuilding Hyrule.

Zelda being active continues in TotK, where there's a lot of little snippets how she has founded a school, installed memorial monuments, managed survey teams, worked on gardens, and so on. And of course she also immediately volunteered for investigating the Gloom situation at the start of TotK as well, and from the stone tablets we can read how she also got into fiddling with Constructs and fashion in the ancient Hyrule. Obviously it would have been nice to actually see all of this instead of just reading or hearing it second hand, but I understand that not everything can get a fancy cutscene, so it's at least nice that this was included in the game at least in some fashion.

I touched on it in the part about her nerdy side, but let's also bring specific attention to the fact that BotW Zelda also has a delightfully weird and chaotic side to her. She tries to feed a frog to Link, and the TotK stone tablets tell about how she would ride Mineru's construct despite the protests of the chamberlain. And while the recipe she cooks in AoC is a legit BotW recipe, the way the scene is depicted clearly makes her come across as eccentric in her cooking.

AoC also casts her in a leadership role once her powers finally awaken and she becomes more confident. Honestly I prefer the insecure nerd Zelda over the charismatic leader because I don't think she quite has enough credibility to pull off rousing speeches to masses at this point of the story, but I guess it does make sense for the kind of story they're telling

Her powers are pretty inconsistent between games, BotW is obviously all about awakening her sacred sealing power, and the game ends with her saying that she used all that up. And then TotK reveals she had two different powers all along; Sonia's time power comes out of nowhere and Rauru's light power overlaps with her BotW ability a lot. But I can live with a discrepancy like this since I like the story of TotK.

Since I brought up how it's nice that Skyward Sword is implied to have a knitting hobby, I suppose it should be mentioned that BotW Zelda made the Champion's blue clothes and accessories. Though here it feels a lot less important and even a bit tacked on, since BotW Zelda already has so much going on that is more important and meaningful to her character. But I guess crafting clothes is princessy enough of a subject that Rhoam approves of spending time on it instead of prayer practice and even brags about it. A different little detail that I like more than this clothing thing is that we get to learn Zelda's favourite food (fruitcake).

In Japanese Zelda uses polite language, but no honorifics. I'm no Japanese expert, but to me this comes across as keeping a polite distance from everyone, while also implying status ("I'm a princess so I don't need to use a honorific for you"). Also in the beginning of AoC, Link (who at this point is just a random knight to Zelda) kneels in front of her and she doesn't even acknowledge him, so it appears she's pretty used to her standing. The stone tablets in TotK also describe her having an undeniable air of nobility.

[cybercasket]

What is the Behavioral Event Network?

I just went through the last arc of the ARG (finally), and when paired with the full context of the rest of the ARG, it actually answers a lot of questions regarding what BEN is, its abilities, and its past. However, I feel like it's not very clear to people what exactly "Behavioral Event Network" means and what it does, especially if they don't interact with the BEN Drowned ARG much.

(Forewarning: While I will be trying to write as accurately to the ARG as possible, at the end of the day this is my own interpretation. Many things in it are not only left unclear but are made open for interpretation on purpose, allowing a range of theories to technically be true.

Additionally, content warnings for cults, human sacrifice, and a little bit of talk about general death and violence. Largely average Creepypasta stuff.)

What a character involved with the creation of the Network has to say about it:

The Behavioral Event Network was created by The Moon Children cult, who later renamed themselves to The Eternity Project sometime after 2012 (or the events of the second arc). This statement from Abel implies that the Behavioral Event Network isn't necessarily a single entity or a group of entities that act in sync with each other, but instead a collection of the ascended/digitized people who exist in Majora's Mask.

The purpose of ascension is to supposedly allow the ascendant to free themselves from the fear and struggles of everyday life so that they can live on forever in the digital realm, where they can supposedly go anywhere and be anything that they can dream of and enjoy it, traveling between The Eternity Project's several digital realms for the rest of eternity. After their subject is sufficiently manipulated into wholeheartedly sharing the Moon Children's beliefs, they do this by utilizing a mysterious process that seems to turn them into ghosts and trap them inside a digital AI in a digital realm that the ascendant chooses before they die.

However, this doesn't typically go as planned. For Ben in particular, he allegedly (according to Matt, an ascended member of the Moon Children) wanted to become Link in Majora's Mask. However, the ascended don't always have complete control of what happens to them--leading to things like Ben being trapped inside of The Elegy of Emptiness instead of getting to be Link (at least while the game was being played by someone else, as two people can't use the same model at the same time). Most people who ascend are seen lamenting having done so in some way. There's a theme of betrayal throughout the entire ARG, with phrases like "THEY LIED TO US" being used throughout.

The Father and Absorption

Despite Ben's death being the one that sparked the creation of the Majora's Mask world, Ben was not the first to ascend. Rather, that accolade goes to The Father (also known as Kelbris).

In life, Kelbris was known as a prophet who was the only one who could hear the voice of Luna, the Moon Children's diety. He believed that the world would end soon and that the moon would consume everything--and this influenced the developing cult significantly. In 1998, the Moon Children discovered his electrocuted corpse next to a power outlet. Despite not knowing whether it was foul play or suicide, Kelbris was hailed as the first one to ascend and the cult began to sacrifice its own members, experimenting with ways of having others achieve the same "spiritual release" that Kelbris had.

According to The Moon Children, Kelbris had managed to inhabit a vessel that was "archaic" and they described his ascension process as "unrefined", possibly referencing how Kelbris feels less human than the ascended that came after him. While he is a prevalent force in the cartridge (self-identifying as a god) and the ARG as a whole, he appears to only respond to "stimuli" and react based off of what his code tells him.

When Kelbris/The Father appears in the ARG, he's typically tormenting, threatening, or killing someone--most kills in the ARG are implied to be The Father. However, this behavior may have been coerced by other characters in the ARG.

When The Father kills someone, they are absorbed into the Behavioral Event Network. The most obvious example of this is when it happens to Jadusable (the ARG's first protagonist) after going too far into the cartridge in "THE FATHER.wmv", a video from the 3rd arc. This is implied to happen to a few other characters as well, such as Matt (who appears in the cartridge in the 3rd arc after Kelbris is presumed to have killed him in the 2nd).

Additionally, one of the videos uploaded on Jadusable's YouTube account before the first arc started (the "Creepypasta story" that most people in the fandom know,) a video called "Prototype: All Consume Kills (Warning: Extremely Graphic)" was uploaded, which was confirmed by Jadusable to be a "vague metaphor" for how BEN operates. (So canonically, the Behavioral Event Network kind of works like Alex Mercer in Prototype 😭😭 have fun with that one...) This alludes to the fact that as more characters in the ARG die, more souls get added to the BEN or Majora's Mask world.

Who is in the Behavioral Event Network?

The short answer to this question is... A lot. A lot of people. Pretty much every dead Moon Child is in it, as well as every participant in The Eternity Project after the Moon Children rebranded--most people who have successfully ascended besides from Sarah are in the BEN. Not all of them were absorbed by The Father, a lot of them are implied to have been ascended through other means and somehow ended up in Majora's Mask instead of their intended world.

I might make a longer post about people who are or are likely in the BEN, though I do want to touch on the dominant forces in BEN briefly. This is who I think is largely responsible for BEN's actions as a collective in the ARG as a whole:

The Father: See the above section. He's very powerful and sometimes even breaches the outside world, and some people interpret him as a type of overseer of the BEN. He could have been easily manipulated due to his simplistic and poorly developed AI.

Ben: Typically represented via the Elegy of Emptiness statue. It's not entirely clear the role Ben (the kid who drowned) plays in BEN, though he is confirmed to be involved in terrorizing Jadusable in the first arc (aka the "original Creepypasta story"). Additionally, the Elegy of Emptiness statue is a common motif throughout the ARG--the "canon BEN" image is an AI-generated image with the Elegy of Emptiness likely being used as a source, and in the second arc, dead or missing characters would often have the Elegy of Emptiness statue pasted on their page. While in the 3rd arc, Ben is treated as the innocent, tortured soul who inhabits the Elegy of Emptiness, (eg. Matt says that he was trapped but conscious in the statue unable to do anything, and Circle also refers to him as innocent,) he may have (or previously had) more influence over the game than it seems on the surface. However, it is notable that in The Last Hero.wmv, Matt appears to be able to summon an Elegy statue to a location on his own seemingly without any input from Ben, and that Ben is frequently seen terrified of The Father.

The Masked Children (Goht, Odolwa, Gyorg, Twinmold, and Majora): They use the models of the Moon Children seen on the moon in the original Majora's Mask, and are implied to be inhabited by different spirits. When they're in agreement (or "consensus"), they speak like The Three Witches in Macbeth, but when they're not, there's often a lot of bickering/infighting between each other. Their participation in the events of the first and second arcs is hinted at several times (the dream that Jadusable has in the first arc where a mask is being forced onto his face is connected to (and may have even been induced by) them, one of the first arc's entries is updated in 2020 which includes an added dialogue sequence similar to the way we see the Maksed Children talk to each other in the videos, Goht in particular is connected to DROWNED, the largely silent admin of the Moon Children website in the second arc,) though the third arc is when their actions are more directly connected to them. In the third arc, a few of them are seen fighting Sarah as their respective bosses so they can appease The Father. They're credited with posting signs that have messages like "GET OUT" written on them (which are similar messages seen when something didn't want players to see a webpage, video, or document in earlier parts of the ARG), and they're regularly hostile to Sarah and call her a monster.

This is most of them together, though Odolwa is missing after their encounter with Sarah. You can see better images of their in-game models here.

Rosa: Rosa is another character I find a bit vague and confusing, because she seems to be dead and inhabiting a non-Majora game in the prologue, but appeared to be alive in the second arc. I don't believe Matt makes any comments about his "sister" being dead, though she also disappeared when players used The Song of Healing, so I'm really not sure... Maybe Matt was dead too? Was everyone on that forum dead when the players discovered it? However, she claims to have previously had power in Majora's Mask, though this ended up being heavily diminished by 2020. Another reason why Rosa is notable is because depictions of BEN as a more uniform collective (such as in iseeyou) often contain feminity to some degree, which is usually credited to her by people trying to make sense of it.

Rosa talking about her previous power over Majora's Mask.

A more feminine image of BEN from end.wmv.

An image of a feminine person (assumed by the Jadusable Wiki editors to be Rosa) used in conjunction with the "canon BEN" image and Kelbris/The Father.

TL;DR: BEN can absorb people and makes them Majora's Mask NPCs (like Alex Mercer!), the BEN page on Jadusable Wiki could probably be renamed to World Alpha, and no, you can't fuck it.

Feel free to ask me any questions about this, the ARG, or Creepypasta in general, and I'll do my best to respond!

[avissapiens]

Jockbull Summer Week 4 Set C (3/12/23-10/12/23)

Model used is Onome Egger

1.

I have continued the trend of fasting+cardio day. It’s actually not that bad. What was bad was the decision to bake while fasting. It’s not that I wanted the food. I don’t eat most of what I bake. But I couldn’t realistically test things too much to make sure they came out well. Luckily they were quite good the next day. Only half of one. It’s still cutting season.

2.

I got two in again! The first one was just kind of a general muscle flash. Brain producing lovely images for myself. Who needs AI when your head is already so full of muscle.

The second one however was a deeper introspection done together with Abg. We’re both POC but in many senses we are atypical. And yet still the presence of stereotypes still kind of gets in the way of both of our minds, and in particular our muscular journeys. We are both dead-set on breaking stereotypes and still coming out on top, so that was the seed for this meditation. There’s a lot of stereotypes for Black folks. And I know they are nonsense because not only do I not embody them, but most of my friends, relatives, peers etc from back home don’t either. But every time that one encounters a situation where you do meet that stereotype in yourself or in others, you pause for a second. Because especially while living in a mostly white country, you become extremely aware of the fact that everything you do is a form of ambassadorship for anyone who looks like you and visa versa. Which is a shitty burden to bear. Even after coming from a background of Black excellence in the Caribbean, there’s still so many stereotypes that come to mind. The perception of black people being unattractive, or if we are, it can only be in a brutish, animalistic, unrefined non-aesthetic way that doesn’t adhere to societal norms.

The mental stereotypes of underperformance and stupidity. The lack of ambition.

So many stereotypes are strangely contradictory too

That we're just needlessly loud and confrontational all the time but still get portrayed as servile slaves.

That we can only be good at sports but still deserve to be excluded from them. That we can't perform well at anything else. The strange juxtaposition of the athletic achievement that many POC are forced into because they lack the resources to pursue other interests and the idea that Ethnic food is unhealthy, dirty. And the very real reality of unequal access and outcomes for healthcare. The idea, often reinforced within the community, that we do not belong in certain places. In certain professions. In nature, in the world at large. That we should remain forever in this conservative slave mentality while we exist in the west.

Frankly, I see muscle and hypnosis as ways of outgrowing and defeating these stereotypes. Of changing perceptions not only for me but for my community. Perception is everything because it means that those who come after can see something different for themselves.

3.

Anyway on a lighter note. Yup, we’ve entered an edging period. It always feels so fucking good after a full week of building that erotic energy. It takes you to new and darker places and makes you vulnerable to things you might not have been before. Sometimes thats good. Sometimes its dangerous. But even that danger comes with a certain appeal.

4.

Its been a rough and busy week working on the first comm. I have some ideas brainstormed with Jockrs for an avis abstraction, it’s just always a whole different story putting pen to paper. Wish me better luck for the next week.

5.

So this one’s been interesting. It’s less been a process of drafting and then sticking. More a progressive building of momentum. Incorporating more and more things until the morning and myself feels more whole. I’ve ordered a bunch of supplements to take. A bunch of skincare stuff to harden my routine. I’ve expanded my already existing routine and even incorporated some new concepts from the world of Looksmaxxing. Truthfully, there is this deep desire in me to grow so much more in so many dimensions.And the himbo programming has definitely made one of those dimensions my aesthetics. Not for anyone else’s pleasure but for my own. I already know i’m gorgeous to other people. I want to be brilliant for myself and to be able to use that element of me like a tool and a weapon.

[dollsahoy]

I often wonder how much "tiny phone screen" influences people to do things like believe really bad photo edits are real, or not notice all the weird artifacts endemic to unrefined generative images

(I have seen some algorithm images this morning that, at a glance, are Very Aesthetic houses, but, go beyond a glance on my 27" monitor and stuff starts looking downright queasy)

[hellowoolf]

tell me about not a lot, just forever right NEEEOWWWW 💳💥💳💥💳💥

HEHEHEHE i love you ok snippet first and then ramble:

joel has been a selfish man, and for this he is unregretful. under the brutish force of his fingers the world has bent to him, and insofar as this bending has served him, he is satisfied. if he must be so largely violent and unrefined, he might at least, he supposes, enjoy the immenseness of it. he has been big, has left great footprints behind him, ones he imagines will last. but still, as fleeting as he imagines his time with you will be in the scheme and glittering flash of your life, your appearance in his existence has changed him, minutely and irrevocably. not a lot, just forever.

OK so this is the opening !! general setup is that joel is your bodyguard as a young actress, and as a lover of drama you drag him to the opera and….in the balcony box you’re watching from….yeah. anyway. i write most if not all of my stuff in response to the music i listen to, and this one is in the shape of “not a lot, just forever” by adrianne lenker. on a conceptual idea it’s about carnal desire as a minuscule and unyielding altering of the soul…not that it’s intense or anything…. :D

thank you for the ask and the original tag lovely !!!<333

[gigaroni]

Theme, and design for an automation that corrupts a much larger automation. Design inspired by bacteriophages. Log entry form inspired by Metroid Prime 2 Echoes's log entrances.

All pieces for worldbuilding project: SCREI

Bonus: current music for this chunk of the project. the takedown, and recovery of VN-AP, along with concepts.

Salones De Obscuridad - Internals of VN-AP with all Sabojai Active

A blip of light - Internals of VN-AP: 3 Sabojai Active

Ground to Air Assault - Taking down the Rouge Vanai Aproacia.

Solar Captain - Battle against Halberisa atop VN-AP

Concept of VN-AP's general form. Still unrefined as of this post.

Crude unprofessional (as usual for me) sketches of design ideas for the legs for VN-AP.

Please note that this project will take literal years to finish up just the worldbuilding aspects of. Maybe even a decade. However: If you like what you're seeing so far: perhaps this? Note: idk how to word this type of stuff. never tried it before.

[stargazeraldroth]

I like to imagine that the Stars specialize in cooking the cuisines of the cultures or ethnicities they’re associated with, either via general aesthetics or because of their creator’s ethnicity or native culture- If, uh, that makes sense, haha. Hope you don’t mind me ramblinggg- Also Ink gets more because he’s got two cultures I associate him with whoops-

Like! I think Ink would be good with French and Japanese cuisine, since Comyet has stated he’s french and his aesthetic is largely based on Japan, I believe? Or maybe just eastern Asian culture, but I’ve largely seen most people specifics Japan. From French cuisine, I really enjoy the idea of him making, like, macarons and crêpes (both French and Japanese styles!), as well as more savory stuff, like aligot and gougère (both involve cheese because for some reason Ink strikes me as the type to enjoy cheese???). He also strikes me as the sort to like drinks with fun names, like rinquinquin (a peach flavored alcoholic beverage!). From Japanese cuisine, I could see him loving mizu manjū (very pretty clear buns with a bunch of different fillings, they’re gorgeous and very artsy looking!) and shirokuma (shaved ice mixed with condensed milk and decorated to look like a bear!), and I could see him really enjoying age-onigiri (rice ball that’s been fried!) and takoyaki. Drink wise, since Comyet says he likes burnt food, I could see him enjoying akumochizake (sweet rice wine made with charcoal or ash), or maybe matatabicha (tea made from silver vine, because Ink has big cat vibes haha).

Dream would be good with Spanish cuisine (though I imagine he specializes in sweet no matter where they come from, but that! Isn’t! What I’m focusing on!). If we’re talking Spanish sweets, I see him being good at most of them, but I think he’d like smaller stuff or handheld foods the most, like pionono (small cylindrical pastry soaked with syrups and topped with toasted cream) or churros (which are actually commonly a breakfast item in Spain, he’d love it!), and for savory food, I could see him enjoying stuff easy to eat on the go, like pinchos morunos (skewers of diced pork or chicken marinated with olive oil and other spices) or pa amb tomàquet (toasted bread rubbed with tomato and seasoned with olive oil and sea salt!). For drinks, I could see him liking agua de cebada (malted barley mixed with sugar and lemon!) or calimocho (red wine mixed with cola).

Blue is difficult for me because I can’t find anything solid about associated cultures or where his creator might be from, so I usually imagine he specializes in Mexican foods (with a bit of American), mainly because he’s so associated with tacos and also I like doing research on different cuisines. Obviously there’s his aforementioned tacos, but I could also see him being very good with stuff like enchiladas or machacado con huevo (eggs scrambled with shredded dry beef!), and for sweets, I could see him making stuff like hot milk cake (butter sponge cake made with scalded milk) and marquesitas (a crêpe that’s been rolled like a taco and filled with a variety of sweet things). For drinks, I could see him making café de olla (coffee made with cinnamon and unrefined whole cane sugar which is specifically prepared in an earthen clay pot- Blue seems like a coffee drinker to me, haha).

This got too long but I wanted to ramble so I hope! You don’t! Mind!!!

My brain's only processing half of this but yes, I agree! I don't really imagine Ink as someone who drinks alcohol very often, but I also imagine he has a higher tolerance for it than most people. Dream also has a higher alcohol tolerance, but through self-conditioning rather than naturally high tolerance. I headcanon Blue and Stretch as Canadian, but it's interesting to see your headcanon too!

I imagine Dream as the main baker of the group, so I can see Ink going to him like "I wanna try this!" and showing (well, more like describing) the food or drink to Dream. And you can bet your entire bank account that Dream has snatched recipes from the two, particularly dessert recipes. I don't make the rules (yes I do).

[queenofbaws]

an old one from me,

14, 17, 20, and 25 for Book of Retribution because I'm obsessed with it (and the favorite line of mine for 14 is "How does it feel to be on the other side for once?")

!!!!! oh my GOSH!!! talk about a blast from the past!!! i would love a little stroll down memory lane, hehehe!!!

14. My favorite line from this fic was [xyz]. What inspired it?

ahhhh, i love that that line resonated with you - i felt sooo slick writing it, way back when!

so!!! as this was a silent hill crossover, i was really, really trying to capture the idea of the town (or in this case, world) using the protagonist's inner turmoil against them. "how does it feel to be on the other side for once?" was absolutely meant to sort of twist the knife in the sense that it alluded back to the experiments done by the RG crew - they were the ones in charge back then, they were the ones pulling the strings and doing horrible things to people...so now, pray tell, how does it feel to be tormented in return?

as we later come to find out, it's a line that's probably mostly meant for zexion.............but that doesn't mean it doesn't apply to anyone else ;)c

17. What was the hardest scene to write?

any! of! the! combat! scenes!!!!!!!!! the fight with zexion in particular, i remember just. staring at my screen like "how on earth do i go about this?!" dsklfjskldjf straight up-and-down action scenes have always been difficult for me, i find it hard to write that sort of thing without it reading like "then he punched him. it hurt. a lot. it hurt, like, a lot. so he punched him back." any time one of the basement boys found themselves facing off a monster (or one another, heheheheheheheee), there was definitely a very, very exasperated and self-conscious struggle involved on my part.

20. What is something you wish more people noticed about this fic?

hmmmmmmmm...well, since it IS a silent hill crossover, i for sure poured the symbolism on thick, let me tell you sldkfjksd oooh i wish i could be more specific than that, but i wrote this puppy several computers ago, so i'm sure my original drafts and outlines are lost to time 😔 the monster designs specifically i remember spending sooo much time on, trying to line up as many sneaky little details as i could to make them line up with my hcs of the guards, ansem, and just zexion/ienzo's inner struggles in general. the use of a doppelganger as an antagonist, too, was SUPER pointed but i feel sort of fell by the wayside - i was trying to be so smooth like "get it? get it, because you...you can't...you can't trust...the schemer......you...do you get it??????"

but again, like i said with an earlier fic, the fact people read this story at all meant - and continues to mean!!! - the absolute WORLD, so regardless of what my intentions were when i was writing it, i'm just touched and flattered and honored that others got something out of it! <3

25. Is there anything you would change now about this fic? Why or why not?

i'm sure i could change......most things. about this fic. now. hahahaha, but not because i hate it or anything!!! BoR is an interesting study, imo, because it really sort of...marked the beginning of the end of my time writing kh stuff, and the beginning of me REALLY focusing on horror more generally. a lot of the spooky stuff i was experimenting with in there feels pretty...idk unrefined to me now??? if that makes sense???

i think it comes down to the fact i've just kind of evolved as a writer over the years, and that the way i approach psychological horror now is very different to then, when i was taking my first tentative steps into the genre. but you'll notice i said i COULD change things - not that i WOULD. BoR was and is, like i said, suuuuuuuuuch an important piece in my heart, and even if i do feel those little 'omg i can't believe this was how i used to write' cringes when rereading some sections of it, i wouldn't change any of it for the world!

[miraclemagpie]

what do you think of the original version of the lego movie which is called the piece of resistance? https://www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/wp-content/uploads/screenplay/scripts/The-Lego-Movie.pdf

copy and paste the link

THANK YOU FOR SENDING THIS TO ME!!

i read this ten years ago when it was first posted but i honestly don't remember much.

here are some thoughts

i am really unbelievably glad that emmet doesnt have issues with his mom in the lego movie because that would have just ruined it for me personally. i think it's great to have a character like that in a movie but i dont think lord and miller are the ones to do it. they're AWFUL with women

that being said, the piece of resistance has a lot more unrefined lord and miller bullshit in it, which is really pleasing but im glad that you can't see them as clearly on tlm because they can be kind of immature and bigoted

i love love love proto-lord business being a master builder. i've seen a lot of people in the fandom with the hc that lb is a masterbuilder, which is why he knows about them so well and hates them so much. i also ascribe to that theory, fwiw

DISGUSTED by the straight stuff with him and doris. ew. stinking of comphet + gross misunderstanding of that character.

its so so interesting to see how built in to lucy's character her being essentially a sex object is? i feel like that's what i hate the MOST about the lego movie, is she's super cool and super badass but still just a trophy in the end, going from one relationship to another blah blah blah

i wish they had included more about masterbuilder spirituality, because it's such an obviously spiritual practice but i understand why they cut most of it out. i just feel like virtuvius wasnt used to his fullest potential :/

i honestly love the deadbeat uncle human character. but i dont think he's an appropriate character for a kid's movie and i do prefer the dad, even tho i hate the live action parts to the point where i usually skip them. i just love the spoiled manbaby archetype so much its one of my toxic traits

i understand fanon benny now

generally there are things i like and i see why they made all the changes that they did to create the perfect movie that they did. i think the original script was much too adult for the target audience of the film and really lacking in a lot of charisma and charm that tlm has, including a lot of wackiness

even tho i did love king karl. im just a sucker for willie wonka types

okay that was basically a liveread lol. thank you for asking!

[did-we-imagine]

Y'all guys i have a question, is using AI to discuss and analyze fictional scenarios considered writing with generative AI or only if you fully generate the text with it?

I personally don't publish any of my original work or fanfics but i use ai to criticize/analyze (basically instead of venting like a crazy fan girl to my friends bcz everyone is so exhausted nowadays and my 01 sib is 2 continents away and busy with their education, i vent to ai lmao?) my amateurish unrefined unpublished stuff. I do feel that ai writing is bland and often doesn't even understand more complex timelines/characterization, but it is useful as a distraction or if you have 100 scenarios for the same story/universe/characters and you want to choose by comparing. I think AI ultimately should stay a tool in the writer's pocket, NOT become the fucking writer. Idk if it gonna steal my shit either 😂, but the good thing is im so stuck in executive dysfunction/paralysis by analysis/and confusion im not gonna write anything soon. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Also please, for the love of God, stay civil.